Today Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni played a very responsible knock to take India to victory after yet another failure by the top order.
I was most impressed by Raina's approach. He is one of the youngest player in international cricket today but has already shown a very mature head.
He paced his innings very well and when the situation demanded was not afraid to play big shots. This shows that he knows how to approach a target and is confident about his game.
Raina has a good understanding with Dhoni and this is not the first time that they have bailed India out of a difficult situation. They had done the same against Sri Lanka in an ODI played last year.
Seeing Raina in a good form, Dhoni played second fiddle and that according to popular perception is not how he plays.
But Dhoni has shown that he is a very good student of the game and can adapt accordingly. In Pakistan he played some blinders to take India to voictory when the asking rate was over six and today he showed that he can also play the waiting game.
In him India have got a real match winner who knows how to finish the match and one more thing that bneeds to be highlighted is that his wicket-keeping is also improving. Today he effected a run out and too a brilliant diving catch that goes on to show that he is totally committed to the team's cause.
However, the major worry is the failure of the top order. Time and again India's top order is failing and the lower order is called upon to bail the team out.
In the Delhi ODI too, it was the lower order who took the team score past the 200-run mark and today also it was the same story.
Our openers threw away their wickets after getting into the groove. Sehwag missed out a great opportunity to make a big score. Gambhir followed in the footsteps of his senior partner.
Now the time has come for the team management to take some tough decisions as the repeated failures of the batting stars cannot be excused on the ground that they have won matches for India.
Their failure has nearly cost India both the One-Dayers and they have made an ordinary England bowling look very hostile.
England have just very ordinary spinner in Blackwell and the only world class bowler in their team is Andrew Flintoff.
So with just one main bowler England have managed to push the strong Indian batting line up on its knees in both the matches.
The wickets have been spinning tracks and if we think that India is a champion side after winning on tailor made pitches then we are wrong. These pitches have been turning right from the first hour.
Now the time has come when we must ask ourselves if we are doing the right thing by preparing wickets suited only for ouir bowlers.
(Krish Srikkanth is a former skipper of Indian cricket team. He maintains a regular blog on IBNLive. His website is www.krishcricket.com)
About the AuthorKrishnamachari Srikkanth Krishnamachari Srikkanth was one of the most destructive batsmen who could decimate the strongest and most fearsome attacks in the world by his vast r...Read Morefirst published:March 31, 2006, 20:16 ISTlast updated:March 31, 2006, 20:16 IST
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Faridabad match has shown that the youngsters in the team are realising their responsibility.
Today Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni played a very responsible knock to take India to victory after yet another failure by the top order.
I was most impressed by Raina's approach. He is one of the youngest player in international cricket today but has already shown a very mature head.
He paced his innings very well and when the situation demanded was not afraid to play big shots. This shows that he knows how to approach a target and is confident about his game.
Raina has a good understanding with Dhoni and this is not the first time that they have bailed India out of a difficult situation. They had done the same against Sri Lanka in an ODI played last year.
Seeing Raina in a good form, Dhoni played second fiddle and that according to popular perception is not how he plays.
But Dhoni has shown that he is a very good student of the game and can adapt accordingly. In Pakistan he played some blinders to take India to voictory when the asking rate was over six and today he showed that he can also play the waiting game.
In him India have got a real match winner who knows how to finish the match and one more thing that bneeds to be highlighted is that his wicket-keeping is also improving. Today he effected a run out and too a brilliant diving catch that goes on to show that he is totally committed to the team's cause.
However, the major worry is the failure of the top order. Time and again India's top order is failing and the lower order is called upon to bail the team out.
In the Delhi ODI too, it was the lower order who took the team score past the 200-run mark and today also it was the same story.
Our openers threw away their wickets after getting into the groove. Sehwag missed out a great opportunity to make a big score. Gambhir followed in the footsteps of his senior partner.
Now the time has come for the team management to take some tough decisions as the repeated failures of the batting stars cannot be excused on the ground that they have won matches for India.
Their failure has nearly cost India both the One-Dayers and they have made an ordinary England bowling look very hostile.
England have just very ordinary spinner in Blackwell and the only world class bowler in their team is Andrew Flintoff.
So with just one main bowler England have managed to push the strong Indian batting line up on its knees in both the matches.
The wickets have been spinning tracks and if we think that India is a champion side after winning on tailor made pitches then we are wrong. These pitches have been turning right from the first hour.
Now the time has come when we must ask ourselves if we are doing the right thing by preparing wickets suited only for ouir bowlers.
(Krish Srikkanth is a former skipper of Indian cricket team. He maintains a regular blog on IBNLive. His website is www.krishcricket.com)
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