Two back-to-back wins and that too from crisis situations will put India in good heart, as they take on New Zealand in the finals of the Tri-Series at the Harare Sports Club ground. Both the wins came after the Indians had lost early wickets and were under some pressure, but the manner in which the youngsters tackled the situation and carved out wins, will certainly put the team in a happy frame of mind.
India though missed the opportunity of trying out Suresh Raina in the last preliminary game against Zimbabwe, which was only of academic importance and so did themselves no favors by sticking to the batting line-up, which has not quite fired for some time now. If Pathan and Nehra, both relatively young, can be rested, then why couldn’t some of the senior batsmen also be given a rest, so that both Raina and Venugopal Rao could be tried out? In the event, Rao who was used as a super sub, was shown as being a bit uncertain against the short ball with his technique of angling the bat and coping with it, and Raina? Well, he has had a good sightseeing tour I guess. I am a firm believer that if a batsman is among the runs, then he shouldn’t be rested, as he is likely to lose his rhythm and those who are struggling should take a break, which gives them the time and opportunity to look back at what they are doing wrong and trying to improve on it. It may be farfetched, but the whispers coming out are that Kaif was kept in the playing eleven so that he can win the man of the series award. He of course has a chance to clinch it with another performance in the finals, but in the game against Zimbabwe, he was out cheaply, which will not help his rhythm.
It’s not just the batting but even the bowling that is in need of a big improvement, for if Zimbabwe can score 250, then New Zealand may score even more. As it is in the preliminary game here, they got 278 and if they get a similar total, then it could well be a different story, for the mindset of playing in the finals, where there are no comebacks and playing in a preliminary game are totally different. The bowlers are giving more than five runs an over, especially in the final overs where the slog is expected, but when they go for almost 9 or 10 an over then it does demoralize the team. That’s an area that the team will have to work on, and look at the kind of deliveries they should be bowling in those last overs, and the field setting that they should have. In the last preliminary game, Ganguly did the right thing by not completing the quota of both R.P Singh who was making his debut and J.P Yadav, who is also new to international cricket. It’s important to keep their confidence and by not exposing them to the slog, Ganguly did the right thing.
Yuvraj’s century was a sparkling effort and the way he batted showed that he is maturing fast. He took his time to get used to the pace of the pitch and then in the company of Dhoni, opened out to take India home with 11 balls to spare. Dhoni seems to have ice in his veins and fire in his belly, for he looked cool even in the tense situation that he came in to bat and then after he had built a partnership and given Yuvraj the confidence that there was someone to stay with him, the muscular keeper hit the ball into the boundary boards and above with a ferocity that was thrilling to watch.
The toss may well prove crucial on the final day, though India may have after these two successful chases made up their minds that batting second suits them on these pitches. There’s also the not so small matter of tackling Bond, batting first, for they didn’t do that too well batting second at Bulawayo. Still, its hard to imagine the batting line-up failing again and that’s what makes one optimistic that this final will be different than the ones India has played in the last two years or so.
