India erased the memories of the Test series defeat by winning the One-day series and that too with a game to spare with a facile win at Multan in the fourth match of the series. What this win does is allow the team to have a look at the reserve players in the team and see how they fare, albeit in a match whose result is inconsequential with the series already won. Still, it will give the selectors an idea of how those who have sat out so far can cope in an Indo-Pak encounter, which has pressures of its own. India have got two spinners sitting out and the last one-dayer at Karachi gives them a chance to show their talent and temperament.
Even if spinners haven’t played a major role in the one-day series because the pitches in Pakistan have invariably proved the finish to many a distinguished spin career, it still is an opportunity that must be grabbed, for who knows the one-day series against England may be too close to call and experiment with new faces.
Winning the toss allowed India to chase, for that has been the winning trend in the series so far, and so it proved once again. Pakistan have been sending non-regular batsmen up the order and have paid the price as they have not been able to play the seaming ball, and by the time the in-form batsmen have come in to bat, its been too late. Why they shuffled around with their batting order is a mystery, for their batsmen, especially Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, had dominated the Indian bowlers in the Tests and were in great touch as well and so to keep them down the order while sending the so-called pinch hitters match after match defies cricketing rationale. India learned quickly and stopped sending Irfan Pathan up the order and sent their top batsmen and the results are there to see. Pinch-hitters can never be consistent and so have to be tried on a ‘match situation’ basis rather than as a regular tactic, for then the opposition too is prepared for it.
The manner in which the captain Dravid handled the pressure after the early loss of Tendulkar showed the value of sending the top batsmen in their regular positions. Gautam Gambhir once again disappointed as he continues to throw his wicket away after getting a start. Why he chose to play that shot inspite of already having hit three fours in the over is hard to understand, and it does raise a big question mark on his temperament. Kaif failed again, but Raina was impressive, and with his fielding being a plus, has turned out to be a valuable asset to the team, but then he has now started to get regular opportunities, and if others sitting out or not in the current squad also get the same treatment then India can have a bench-strength to challenge the regulars and keep complacency away.
RP Singh too continues to improve and though he may look innocuous, his late movement troubles the best of batsmen. His Man of the Match award is well deserved and an inspiration to players from non-metros that they too can make it big at the international level. The much-maligned Agarkar picked up wickets too and the Indian performance was quite outstanding with all bowlers chipping in and tremendously supported by some great catching and fielding.
