The roller coaster ride for the Indian cricket team continues in England, from a bottomless pit in their final three Tests to a Himalayan peak in one-day internationals.
What happened to turn disasters into triumphs for the mystifying Indians? It can be summed up in two words – Suresh Raina.
Omitted from the Test squad, the cheeky left-hander and man of the match Raina scored a hurricane hundred off 75 balls, smashing 12 fours and three sixes at Cardiff in the second ODI after the first one was rained off.
Together with skipper MS Dhoni (52) he added 144 spectacular runs as India totalled 6/304.
Raina demonstrated to the demoralised Indian batsmen that England’s bowlers were playable – nay, smackable. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja went on to take 4/28 and India won the second ODI by 133 runs.
With their morale high, India won the third ODI at Nottingham by six wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin spun the ball viciously to grab 3/39 and England was dismissed for 227.
India replied with four for 228, Ambati Rayudu being the only batsman from either side to hit a fifty (64) and India won again with 42 balls remaining to lead 2-0 in the series.
The lowlight of this match for England was their fast-medium bowler Chris Jordan bowling an 11-ball over – 4, 1 (wide), 1, 1, 1, 1 (wide), 1, 1 (wide), 1 (wide), 1 (wide), 1 (leg-bye) – costing 14 runs.
Imagine, five wides in an over.
Will India continue their dream run or go back to their old evil ways in their next ODI in Birmingham, wondered the experts.
Not so. They were at their dazzling best in the fourth ODI. After dismissing England for 206, Indian openers Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan batted magnificently to put on 183 runs for the first wicket.
Rahane hit his maiden ODI century (106 off 100 balls, embellished with 10 fours and four sixes). Left-handed Dhawan matched him stroke for stroke as he smashed an unbeaten 97 off only 81 balls, belting 11 fours and four sixes. He ended the match by lifting a six as India won by a huge margin of nine wickets with 117 balls remaining.
At the post-match press conference Dhoni said he was happy with the way India had bounced back.
“The good thing is, we have kept improving from the first ODI on. That’s definitely a big positive. It was a good toss to win today [Tuesday],” he said.
“The fast bowlers bowled really well initially and gave us those early breakthroughs, because of which we were able to put pressure on their middle order. Overall, I’m very happy. Jinks [Rahane] also got a century. We got an opening partnership. So a complete game for us.
“It’s not about consolation prizes. It’s about winning the series. Once you have lost the Test series, there is no real point thinking about it, because it is done and dusted.
“With the World Cup coming up, it is very important we start doing well outside the subcontinent. We don’t think about what happened in the Test series and what will happen in the future series.”
India leads the ODI series 3-0. Whatever happens in the final ODI at Leeds this week, India has pocketed the win.
This is an excellent preparation for them for the World Cup starting in Australia and New Zealand next February. Or is it a false promise?
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