India Beat West Indies in Style

Throughout the Test series Indian cricket team looked possessed to win, they were very hungry. West Indies on the other hand had looked competitive in the final test but their main concern was regarding their batting collapses. To level out the teams, India had rested many of their senior pros. Captain genius MS Dhoni, God of cricket Sachin Tendulkar and many others were missing from the ODI line up. So India had a young team led by the make shift captain Virender Sehwag. There was a fight on the cards. Many promising players had this one scope to cement their place in the Indian outfit. How did the series go, let’s see.

1^st ODI, Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, November 29, 2011

Umesh Yadav looked impressive and took two wickets

India won the toss in this match and elected to field first. West Indies reached a total of 211 on a pitch which was not too easy to bat on. Darren Bravo (60 off 74) top scored and was supported by Danza Hyatt (31 off 54) and Andre Russell (22 off 20). Two young speedsters Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav took two wickets a piece. Little did they know they will have a crucial role to play with the willow in hand too. India never got going until Rohit Sharma (72 off 99) held the ship with Ravindra Jadeja (38 off 62). Rohit had a crucial partnership with Vinay Kumar (18 off 48) too. But it came down to the last pair to hit the winning runs. India won the match by a narrow margin of 1 wicket. Rohit Sharma was adjudged the Man of the Match. So it was an exciting start to the series.

Rohit Sharma & Ravindra Jadeja had a match changing partnership

2^nd ODI, ACA-VDCA Stadium, Visakhapatnam, December 2, 2011

Virat Kohli scored a century and was ably supported by Rohit Sharma

Virender Sehwag won the toss yet again and he elected to field too. West Indies put up a competitive total of 269 with contributions from Lendl Simmons (78 off 102), Ravi Rampaul (86 off 66) and Kieron Pollard (35 off 30). Umesh Yadav picked up 3 for 38 for India. India lost Parthiv Patel and Gautam Gambhir early but then started the magnificent partnership between Virat Kohli (117 off 123) and Rohit Sharma (90 off 98). India notched up 270 runs in 48.1 overs for the loss of 5 wickets. Virat Kohli notched up his 8^th ton and won the Man of the Match too.

3^rd ODI, Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera, December 5, 2011

Darren Sammy & Andre Russell scored quick runs

Virender won a hattrick of tosses and his decision was the same. West Indies provided a solid batting performance. There were many impressive performances for them. Marlon Samuels (58 off 93), Andre Russell (40 of 18) and Darren Sammy (41 off 17) were the leading contributors. West Indies plundered the Indian bowlers in the end overs. India went off to a bad start with two ducks from Sehwag and Gambhir. Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja also did not last long. It was only the gritty innings of

 Rohit Sharma (95 off 100) and Ravichandran Ashwin (31 off 64) which raised some hopes of victory. But once they were gone the hope faded and India ended at 244 in 46.5 overs. West Indies won the match by 16 runs and Ravi Rampaul got the Man of the Match award for his spell of 4 for 57.

Ravi Rampaul was the MOM with 4 wickets

4^th ODI, Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore, December 8, 2011

Who knew that this match would go down into the history books! West Indies came into the match full of confidence after beating India in the last match. One of the concerns for India was the lack of form of their captain Virender Sehwag. But did he answer the critics in style. It was Sehwag’s day and he made the most of it (no one has ever done better). He became the highest individual scorer in an ODI innings. He compiled a mammoth 219 of 149 ball slashing and thumping the Windies bowlers to all parts of the park. Other contributors to the Indian cause were Gautam Gambhir (67 off 67) and Suresh Raina (55 off 44). India reached their highest score ever with 418 for 5 in 50 overs. West Indies never really looked to threaten the total. Denesh Ramdin played well for his run a ball 96 runs. West Indies innings ended at 265. India won the match by a massive margin of 153 runs and won the series.

5^th ODI, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, December 11, 2011

Manoj Tiwary celebrates after scoring his maiden ODI ton

Gautam Gambhir started as the skipper for this place and Sehwag was rested. A few new faces were thrown into the Indian team. Gambhir won the toss and elected to bat first. India lost their first two wickets very cheaply and when Gambhir fell the innings was shaky. But in came the duo of Manoj Tiwary and Virat Kohli. Manoj Tiwary who had only found a place in the line up due to absence of so many senior pros proved his point. Playing only his sixth ODI he went on to score a century (104 off 126). Virat Kohli (80 off 85) also aided the youngster in his partnership. India reached 267 for six wickets in their allotted overs. In reply to this total Windies faced early collapse but the innings was held together by a smashing century by Kieron Pollard (119 off 110) and able company of Andre Russell (53 off 42). But West Indies fell short by 34 runs. They ended their innings at 233 in 44.1 overs.

Kieron Pollard scored a century in vain

India would get much confidence from this series victory as it was achieved without most of their frontline players. India venture to Australia next and the form of their players will keep them in good stead. West Indies had very few positive on this dismal tour to India. 

Who Fits in the Finisher Shoes?

Gone are the days when we used to envy the likes of Lance Klusener, Chris Cairns and Moin Khan, now Indian cricket team has their own group of end over finishers. The role of the sixth or seventh batmen is pivotal in any ODI side. Muscle strength and cool mind comes in handy at such situations. The players should also have a knack to innovate. The search for such a player started during the period of Greg Chappell. He tried to make Irfan Pathan fit into this role. Later on this experimentation with Irfan losing the plot both with the bowl and bat, so India looked at M.S. Dhoni to provide them with this cutting edge. Virender Sehwag gets the Indian side off to a breezing start on his good days. But alongside M.S Dhoni there is need for another player who will share the burdens. 

Pathan Brothers After Taking India to Victory

The IPL unearthed many big hitters. Foremost among them were Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja. The idol status of Yusuf Pathan got him picked for the Indian national team. He got many successes initially and went on to score two centuries against New Zealand and South Africa. He also proved to be an ideal off spinner in the Indian conditions. But Ravindra Jadeja has also made many notable contributions in his time with the Indian team. If he does not have hard hitting finesse of Yusuf he has the capability to crafty left arm spin bowling. 

Yusuf Pathan During his Century Against South Africa

Recently Yusuf has not had a good time with the bat and thus the selectors decided to bring in Ravindra Jadeja for the key series against England at home. The willy all-rounder performed admirably in this series. He finished off as the leading wicket-taker with 11 wickets and scoring 74 runs in 3 innings, including a pivotal 26 not out of 24 balls in Mohali which helped India beat England in that match. Thus he has laid a strong claim and holds an upperhand over Yusuf Pathan. 

Ravindra Jadeja Congratulated by his Teammates

Making a selection on both of them would be unfair. Yusuf Pathan has the mettle to destroy any bowling attack with his willow. He is the superstar of IPL for the last few editions. Even when Yusuf was in the Indian colours he helped India get out of a tight spot with his batting skills. With the ball he is very accurate but does not have the same skills as Ravindra Jadeja does. Jadeja on the other hand does not seem to be a long innings player. In the end overs he can play the support role to do his best. He is a partnership player using the long handle only when need be. If you are looking for consistency in players coming to bat at six or seven then you are asking the unexpected. Amount of risks such finishers have to take does not permit them to accumulate the runs. 


If you are playing on Indian or sub-continental wickets then Ravindra Jadeja is a good choice, but when confronted with seamer friendly wickets he struggles. Yusuf Pathan on the other hand is a more accomplished batsman. I would ideally like both these performers to be given their fair chances. Another player who should now be given a look in is Yusuf’s brother Irfan Pathan. He seems to be slowly getting back his old skills. The Australia tour would be a great place to test the skills of the Pathan brothers. 

Why Play When You are self Assumed Kings?

There are times when I feel proud to be an Indian. We pride ourselves on our rich culture and we should too. We know the manners and how to take defeats. This capability is missing in many other super powers of the world. Take Australia and England as an example. They want to win (that’s fine) at any cost, which is how a competitor should think. But often the fine line between competitiveness and desperation is crossed by the English cricket side. In the recent India’s tour of England, this aspect of the English present and past cricketers is coming to the fore.

Some of the ex-cricketers had claimed that England is the number one test side in the world even before the Indian team landed on English soil. Knowledgeable cricketers of the yester years such as Ian Botham, Graham Gooch and Nasser Hussain have been shelling bombs at the Indian team from time to time. Accusing the Indian team for some reason or the other seems to be the only news worthy item for the English press this English summer.

According to Indian senior ex-cricketers this is a type of mental disintegration planned by the English press beforehand. Well, if this is the way you treat a guest, then I am proud I was not born with the legacy of English culture.  

IPL 4: Country or Franchise?

Though Sachin Tendulkar's 140 not out at Bristol in 2009 World Cup was just another century amongst many, but it won him many accolades. It is not because of the inings but the soel fact that only a few days ago he had lost one of the most loved persons in his life. His father Ramesh Tendulkar had died and after finishing off the ceremonies back home he rushed to serve his country. This elevated his stature in the minds of the cricket lovers. This is the kind of patriotism you would expect from a player representing their country. Now let me come to the last soccer World Cup where there was much talk of Rooney, Messi and Christiano Ronaldo magic, but hardly did these players deliver to their hype. Why? Even the players admitted that they were too tired after a full season with their respective clubs. So does country come first in todays date or the clubs/franchises?

Isn't This Glory Enough?

Indian cricket team gave the best gift possible to the nation by winning the much craved for World Cup. All the players admitted that they had a draining time (both physically and emotionally) on their path to glory. But the BCCI paid no heed to it. They had to pull up their socks over again and participate in the glamorous IPL 4, which by the way is organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Indian Premier League barring the presence of the Indian players would not be a crowd puller, thus the BCCI had to involve the Indian cricket stars. Its great that they are performing well in this searing heat, but the cause of concern comes next. Most of the players have opted out of the West Indies tour that India will soon undertake. Let me remind the readers Indian teams have never fared well in the Caribbean Islands, so this was a great occasion to win a series in Windies. But with the exhaustion of World Cup and IPL 3 the players need rest and time for their families. Thus their demand for rest are valid. But does this mean the BCCI is encouraging the players to choose franchise ahead of their nation? The IPL could be dropped this year as we have already had a dose of great cricket with the World Cup 2011 being organized in the sub-continent. But the cash rich Indian cricket board just crave on for more money, at times at the sake of their star players and nation's pride.