I do feel we owe a collective apology to the Indian bowling attack after they performed with determination to beat the tournament favourites, South Africa, to top Pool B of the International Cricket Council’s World Cup 2015 (ICC WC 2015).
For the past two weeks, ever since the tournament began, every expert worth his salt has been predicting that India will not be able to defend its title due to the lack of bite, right attitude, consistency, etc. (add a few more adjectives, if you please…) of our bowling attack. The five-prong Indian attack has, effectively, thrown eggs on their faces after a superlative win against the Proteas.
Good enough score?
Even after India had scored 307 runs against a pace-oriented South African attack, thanks to an inspired knock of 137 off 146 balls by Shikhar Dhawan and superb support by Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, the experts had doubts if our bowlers would be able to defend the massive total put up by India’s batsmen.
The Australian legend, Shane Warne, said the Indian score was a ‘bit over par’ during his mid-break comments on television. I do wish he had been brought on air after the ‘underdogs’ beat the ‘favourites’ by a massive 130 runs and 9.4 overs to spare! One would reckon that this win will be rated as one of the finest by an India team in one day Internationals.
Having said that, one is glad to have kept the fireworks in one’s closet knowing that India, led by the master tactician in the shorter form of the game, MS Dhoni, would certainly like to change the statistical equation between the two countries. The mauka (chance) of using the fireworks was too strong even if they were delivered just a few days ago.
What India did right
So what did MS Dhoni do to get his team back into contention with gusto in the ICC WC 2015? He used the KISS principle - He ‘Kept it Sober and Simple’. The top order used the right mix of caution and aggression and milked the Protean attack throughout their innings to post a big total and put pressure on their opponents when they came out to bat.
The fact that Proteas made one change – replacing batting all-rounder Farhaan Behardien with bowler Wayne Parnell – meant they were on the back foot even before the toss. They were worried about the Indian batting. In crucial encounters such as this, small changes that seem insignificant can have a huge impact on the morale of the opposite team. With that change, not only did India know the Proteas considered them highly as a batting powerhouse but the Proteas bowling attack was under a lot of pressure.
How to keep winning
Now that India have weathered the initial storm by beating Pakistan, by 76 runs and devastating South Africa on a ground which was suited to the strengths of the Proteas team, they have time to re-group and form strategies to counter the other teams in the rest of their league encounters.
They need to ensure that they continue to remain leaders and finish their league encounters in the pole position so that they have the advantage of playing the lowest qualifiers of Pool A. More often than not, it is the team that peaks at the right time, against the right opposition that walks away with the ultimate honors.
“Memory se khelo,” (play by memory) was a sentence often used by my cricketing colleague and 1983 World Cup hero, Balwinder Sandhu. A top-class coach and thinking cricketer, Ballu often told his wards to remember the good times, when they were in form and performed well, and delete the negative failures from their memories.
If ‘memory’ serves me right, though India had lost to South Africa in the three ICC WC encounters before this, they have never allowed the Proteas to beat them in another ICC event – The Champions Trophy. MS Dhoni’s team has indeed changed a few equations – they have (finally) buried Javed Miandad’s last-ball-six ghost in an unmarked grave at Adelaide and given their fans a mauka to set off fireworks.
For the past two weeks, ever since the tournament began, every expert worth his salt has been predicting that India will not be able to defend its title due to the lack of bite, right attitude, consistency, etc. (add a few more adjectives, if you please…) of our bowling attack. The five-prong Indian attack has, effectively, thrown eggs on their faces after a superlative win against the Proteas.
Good enough score?
Even after India had scored 307 runs against a pace-oriented South African attack, thanks to an inspired knock of 137 off 146 balls by Shikhar Dhawan and superb support by Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, the experts had doubts if our bowlers would be able to defend the massive total put up by India’s batsmen.
The Australian legend, Shane Warne, said the Indian score was a ‘bit over par’ during his mid-break comments on television. I do wish he had been brought on air after the ‘underdogs’ beat the ‘favourites’ by a massive 130 runs and 9.4 overs to spare! One would reckon that this win will be rated as one of the finest by an India team in one day Internationals.
Having said that, one is glad to have kept the fireworks in one’s closet knowing that India, led by the master tactician in the shorter form of the game, MS Dhoni, would certainly like to change the statistical equation between the two countries. The mauka (chance) of using the fireworks was too strong even if they were delivered just a few days ago.
What India did right
So what did MS Dhoni do to get his team back into contention with gusto in the ICC WC 2015? He used the KISS principle - He ‘Kept it Sober and Simple’. The top order used the right mix of caution and aggression and milked the Protean attack throughout their innings to post a big total and put pressure on their opponents when they came out to bat.
The fact that Proteas made one change – replacing batting all-rounder Farhaan Behardien with bowler Wayne Parnell – meant they were on the back foot even before the toss. They were worried about the Indian batting. In crucial encounters such as this, small changes that seem insignificant can have a huge impact on the morale of the opposite team. With that change, not only did India know the Proteas considered them highly as a batting powerhouse but the Proteas bowling attack was under a lot of pressure.
How to keep winning
Now that India have weathered the initial storm by beating Pakistan, by 76 runs and devastating South Africa on a ground which was suited to the strengths of the Proteas team, they have time to re-group and form strategies to counter the other teams in the rest of their league encounters.
They need to ensure that they continue to remain leaders and finish their league encounters in the pole position so that they have the advantage of playing the lowest qualifiers of Pool A. More often than not, it is the team that peaks at the right time, against the right opposition that walks away with the ultimate honors.
“Memory se khelo,” (play by memory) was a sentence often used by my cricketing colleague and 1983 World Cup hero, Balwinder Sandhu. A top-class coach and thinking cricketer, Ballu often told his wards to remember the good times, when they were in form and performed well, and delete the negative failures from their memories.
If ‘memory’ serves me right, though India had lost to South Africa in the three ICC WC encounters before this, they have never allowed the Proteas to beat them in another ICC event – The Champions Trophy. MS Dhoni’s team has indeed changed a few equations – they have (finally) buried Javed Miandad’s last-ball-six ghost in an unmarked grave at Adelaide and given their fans a mauka to set off fireworks.
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