After being thoroughly decimated and
pummeled into submission by their ebullient and clinical English hosts this
summer, Team India came back home to a tepid welcome, brickbats and humungous
disappointment. Much was expected from MS Dhoni and his confident unit, but
alas! They flattered to deceive (on second thoughts, all they did was “flatter”
the English team and “deceive” cricketing sense!). Team India came a cropper
and endured one humiliating loss after another. The fact that they returned
without a single victory on their torrid English tour was symptomatic of their
lack of adequate preparation, “luckless injury syndrome”, dubious team
selection and a general absence of fundamental application. The World Champions
had been humbled and how! Knocked off their high pedestal…licking their wounds;
the Indians returned to regroup for their Home ODI series against the same
opposition.
Billed as the “Revenge Series”,
there was a veritable degree of attention directed at the series, even before
it got underway. Beset by injuries to key players, MS Dhoni and his young squad
had the unenviable task of beating (some would say, “bringing down to Earth!) a
buoyant and well balanced English unit, fuelled by confidence and a welcome
injection of young blood. Without the likes of stalwarts such as Sachin
Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh in
the side; Team India
faced an uphill task. Defeat was an ostentatious luxury they could no longer
afford. “Failure” was a word that couldn’t have a place in their motivational
lexicon. The time was ripe for India
to step up to the plate and “defend their territory”…and defend their territory
they did with aplomb and how!
Under the talismanic leadership of
MS Dhoni, a young and relatively inexperienced Indian side put paid to England’s
plans, ruthlessly trampling over them to clinch the ODI series 5-0! They “kick
started” their victory run in Hyderabad
and never looked back after that, improving with each passing game. They used
their home conditions effectively to neutralize any sort of English resistance
(there was hardly any!). The English never really got going, failed to come to
grips with the Indian wickets and eventually stuttered, fumbled and floundered
their way to spectacular capitulation! The World Champions rose to the occasion
and obliterated a hapless opposition…
There were numerous positives to
take away from this series for India.
The batting and bowling clicked as a collective unit for the first time in many
months. The manner in which the youngsters donned the mantle of responsibility
and came out trumps is most praiseworthy. On the batting front, MS Dhoni led by
example and played some critical knocks to put India into match winning positions.
He finished with 212 runs in the series; without being dismissed a single time!
He has definitely transformed himself to become one of the best finishers in
present day ODI cricket. The likes of Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh
Raina and Virat Kohli too shone with the bat. Kohli has been in stupendous form
all throughout this calendar year and has merely carried on in the same vein.
His maturity, consistency, confidence and insatiable appetite for success are exceptional.
If his recent form is anything to go by, the future appears more than bright
for the talented Delhi
lad. Rahane too staked a claim for a Test berth with his relatively consistent
showings. However, he does need to learn how to rotate the strike more often
and build on his starts to eventually log substantial scores. The diminutive
Parthiv Patel failed to impress while opening the batting with the perennially
improving Rahane and did himself no favours by throwing his wicket away after
getting off to reasonable starts. What was noteworthy was the fact that,
someone or the other always raised his hand and “did the job” in testing
situations; wresting the transient initiative back from the Englishmen. The
same English bowlers that had the Indians hopping in grave discomfort in their
own back yard were now being thrashed all over the park. In the absence of
senior bowlers like James Anderson and Start Broad, the young English bowling
lineup struggled on the docile and unresponsive Indian tracks and lost the plot
entirely, especially in the death overs.
On the bowling front, the Indians
evidently outperformed their English counterparts. The likes of Praveen Kumar
and R Vinay Kumar bowled with verve and consistency, giving India the
crucial initial breakthrough on more occasions than one. It was more than
heartening to watch Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron go flat out and beat the
English batsmen with some ferocious pace! For far too long now have we
incessantly clamoured, pondered, wondered ”Where is our Brett Lee?”, “Why don’t
we have out and out pace bowlers to trouble the most competent international
batsmen??” Yadav and Aaron certainly did their future prospects no harm by
rattling the Englishmen with sheer pace on the flattest of “batting utopias”
(read Indian pitches!). If the performance of the India’s
pace battery was satisfactory, then India’s spin duo in R Ashwin and
Ravindra Jadeja were not less than revelatory. The markedly contrasting off
spinners bowled with guile and zip, using their myriad variations to good
effect to bamboozle the jittery English batsmen. The likes of Ian Bell, Ravi
Bopara, Jonathon Bairstow and Samit Patel struggled to counter the spin and
allowed them to dictate terms with som
e poor shot selection and inefficient
foot work. Ashwin appears to be growing in confidence with each outing and has
now emerged as a serious contender for a Test berth. Jadeja too turned in some
fine performances, with both bat and ball; furthering his growing reputation as
a promising all-rounder.
e poor shot selection and inefficient
foot work. Ashwin appears to be growing in confidence with each outing and has
now emerged as a serious contender for a Test berth. Jadeja too turned in some
fine performances, with both bat and ball; furthering his growing reputation as
a promising all-rounder.
Team India’s fielding also definitely
deserves mention. The young outfit, brimming with energy and confidence,
excelled on the park; backing their bowlers to the hilt. The likes of Suresh
Raina, Virat Kohli, Manoj Tiwary and Ravindra Jadeja displayed their athletic
prowess as they dove around to save India some precious runs in the
field. If Dhoni’s batting left the Englishmen scratching their heads in utter
bewilderment (“How do we get this lad out?” would have been a common question that
would have been discussed in excruciating detail during the English team
meetings!); his performance behind the stumps was also tidy. His bowling
changes and field placements were spot on. Suffice to say; when you’re on a
roll, it is hard to put a single step wrong! In sharp contrast, the Englishmen
appeared to be bereft of ideas as they failed to conjure any remotely
successful solutions to the “Indian conundrum”! What a cruel reversal of
fortunes…The tables were turned and the English were humbled 5-0…
Revenge or no revenge…retribution
was served in ample doses to an unwilling English side that surrendered rather
tamely to the “Indian juggernaut”. Alistair Cook and his men will return home a
bruised outfit…whitewashed in ignominy. They say sport is a great leveler.
Certainly rings true for the English – they have been comprehensively “leveled”
indeed! For India
though, it is now a matter of capitalizing on their recent success and
consolidating their position. But for now though, they can bask in the glory of
successfully conceiving and serving the Englishmen an unappetizing dish we
call…sweet, sweet revenge!
Pradyut Hande
The Writer is presently pursuing his Bachelors in Business Administration at NMIMS, Mumbai. He attempts to address myriad issues of both domestic and global consequence, ranging from Business and Economics to Geopolitics...from Sports to Arts and Culture. He is also a keen Debater, Munner, Quizzer, Painter and Amateur Freestyle Rapper.
The Writer is presently pursuing his Bachelors in Business Administration at NMIMS, Mumbai. He attempts to address myriad issues of both domestic and global consequence, ranging from Business and Economics to Geopolitics...from Sports to Arts and Culture. He is also a keen Debater, Munner, Quizzer, Painter and Amateur Freestyle Rapper.
