Cricket India

India did enough to give a helping shove to the Englishmen who were quite reluctant in their attempt to score even a consolation win. The four-zero winning lead must have made the Indians less hungry and they looked half-hearted in their attitude to the fifth one-dayer. The washout at Guwahati has given both the teams a well deserved rest but that was not enough to keep the enthusiasm going, especially for the Indians. Otherwise the collapse at Jamshedpur on a belter of a pitch which had all the ingredients of a 300-plus total would not have happened. One felt really sorry for Sehwag when he missed out on a run feast. The pitch was so good that even a good club level batsman would have made merry on it. Instead the Indian stars approached this innings so casually that India had fallen to 70-plus for five before a rearguard action could even be contemplated. Dhoni who keeps on impressing you, came out to open the innings and quickly found himself in the middle of a first class crisis. He kept his natural instincts under a tight leash and prevented England from wrapping up the innings. Making use of the excellent support from Powar, he milked the bowling for safe runs and only when he was presented with rank bad balls did he attempt those biggies. He was unfortunate to miss his third one day hundred but his enviable efficiency could be gauged from his scoring rate.
Without that sixth wicket partnership, India would have gone under for about 100 runs. From 70-plus for five, 223 was a satisfactory score. But the sense of satisfaction is not enough to win matches. On a placid pitch, 223 was simply a fighting total even against this England minus Flintoff, their best player. A very good opening partnership did enough to stop England from worrying about an Indian fight back. Harbhajan tried his best but his three wickets were unable to put brakes on the Englishmen. The Indian pace battery of Patel, R.P. Singh and V.R.V.Singh looked out of depth at this level as the frontline bowlers in the absence of Pathan and to some extent Agarkar. Pathan’s ability to cause initial damage has regularly helped India to control England’s innings. He might not have been unable to do that on this pitch but his absence certainly dampened the spirit of the young boys. The ball flatly refused to move in the air or off the pitch. The spinners also got no help. Whatever was achieved by Harbhajan was the result of his skill.
Dravid and Pathan will be back at Indore. And back to normal strength, India might prove to be a much more difficult team to beat. Well, preparation for the WC or not, no one would like to lose the last match of a series after having established such a superiority over its opponents.

At Delhi, almost everything was in favor of England and they failed to exploit the favorable
conditions. At Faridabad, it was a reversal of fortunes for India. The pitch suited their style
of batting, the ball gave just enough help to its spinners, the think tank opted in favor of
Romesh Powar which was amply vindicated. The opening overs gave the tourists a good start though the openers never showed any signs of confidence or skill to play the low ball that came a wee bit slowly. Edges and unintentional shots were unavoidable. But Pathan and Sreesanth could not get the breakthrough and the spinners came on very early.There of course was some help to the spinners in terms of turn but the spin was so slow that a cautious batsman could negotiate it comfortably. Harbhajan bowled well without having the luck to be among wickets. Powar did enough even without having the variety of Harbhajan and it was he who caused the batting collapse of England. He got more turn and forced the batsmen to be honest. Even irregulars like Yuvraj could bowl with some effectiveness as the ball gripped well enough to
rip.
But England- mainly Strauss and Pietersen- could find means to keep the score moving nicely without taking undue risks. Once Strauss left, England lost its rhythm and wickets began to
tumble with indecent haste. They lost their way half way through the innings. They could have
added another twenty runs which might have made the Indian chase a bit more difficult and
exciting.What separated the men from the boys was India's ability to pull the chestnuts out of fire. This ability to retrieve the lost advantage is becoming increasingly evident in India's batting. One doesn't have to tell you how crucial it is when you chase a score with pressure acting as the twelth player in the opponents' ranks.Suresh Raina had already shown glimpses of his talent and this innings did not come as a surprise. He has the technique required to handle quality bowling and with experience he will only become more and more important to India.But my man of the match goes to Dhoni. Without forgetting the rach stroke in the Mumbai test, I
would still say that Dhoni has become one of the more important members in this India team. His extraordinary temperament-it is not easy to ignore one's image of a swashbuckler in the backdrop of the frenzied crowd yelling for sixes-was the crucial factor for more than one victory in the past. He has repeatedly shown that he could eschew the big blows and milk the bowling, making one think of Clark the Superman.Now, it is a pretty feeling to be 2-0 up in any series but let us be honest about onething. This lead was gained by a full team against an 'A' team.