There have been many fabulous matches in the history of one-day cricket. Some marked by great batting, others by lethal bowling spells. Matches remembered for stunning victories, earth-shattering upsets or even riveting ties, where the honours were shared. Matches that showcased captivating leadership or great teamwork or even flashes of individual brilliance.
Sunday’s World Cup game between India and South Africa was not such a match.
On Sunday we saw the transformation of a cricket team right before our eyes. A metamorphosis so beautiful that it felt as though someone had sprinkled magic dust over Team India!
However. The tournament is a long one, though with these two initial wins, India looks to be in pole position as far as Group B is concerned. As things stand, if they beat the West Indies and also see off the group minnows (which is definitely not going to be a walk-over) there is a possibility of meeting either England or Bangladesh in the quarterfinals.
Then, if they cross that threshold, almost surely they will be facing a seriously strong contender. Good teams regroup and bounce back and the way the event is throwing up surprise performances, complacency is an evil Team India must seriously guard against. The middle and lower order have not really done well in the two matches so far mostly because they haven’t played too many overs – but the day may not be far when they have to stand up and deliver.
Luckily, the team is full of high octane performances at present, which is a good sign. But players need to remember that there will be no option for slip-ups especially during the business end of the event. Batsmen will need to back each other and bowlers will need to operate in tandem and with precision every day so that one bad day in the office for an individual player does not bring down the overall team performance.
Most important, good teams who win big championships peak at the right time. Team India has to ensure that every match is transformational, every player is ready to push himself to the limit match after match. And make winning a habit like the great Australian teams of Waugh and Ponting.
Beating South Africa
What did Sunday’s comprehensive victory over South Africa show us in this regard? The average score for a team batting first on this pitch is 280 plus a few. So India’s total of 307 was not its biggest achievement. The magic lay somewhere else.
After winning the toss and batting first, the Indian openers were quite circumspect in the initial 8-10 overs. One of the best opening bowling duos on this planet, Steyn and Philander were steaming in on all cylinders and barring a few boundaries (which, given Power Play field placings, are almost regulation nowadays) the Indians were quiet.
And then Shikhar Dhawan decided to take matters into his own hands once again. Almost as if he was continuing from where he left off against Pakistan, ripping strokes emanated from his broad blade and such was his dominance that his partner Virat Kohli, who is in great form himself, realised that he needed to step back for a bit and quietly played second fiddle.
South Africa were hampered with Philander’s tight hamstring but with Imran Tahir and JP Duminy being their experienced spinning options, they thought they would soon see a false stroke and a wicket. After all, mercurial batting giants are known to make mistakes.
But mistakes were few and far between. And when they happened Lady Luck was not on the side of the Proteas. In all this, Dhawan continued to explore new realms of batting greatness. The moustache was curled firmly and there was a soft smile on his lips as he went about wielding his bat like a maestro at a Philharmonic performance.
As Parnell, Duminy, Morkel and Steyn all started feeling the heat, a worried De Villiers and Amla could only watch helplessly. Shikhar had shots from the entire book of batting on display – audacious cuts, hooks and pulls intermixed with carefully crafted singles and twos which kept the scoreboard ticking steadily without the loss of a wicket. The first transformational innings – from a man who a couple of weeks back was probably living his own version of cricketing hell.
No setbacks
Virat Kohli was dismissed against the run of play and South Africa probably thought they were being given a chance to get back in the match with a few more tight overs and hopefully quick wickets. In stepped a small man called Ajinkya Rahane – small in size and someone about whom there have been occasional murmurs on the ability to handle quality fast and short bowling. And this is where we saw the second transformational innings.
Allowing Shikhar to continue his free flowing attack on whatever South Africa threw at him, Rahane played a classic knock of nibble and snap. Without any risky shots, he started picking off ones and twos, constantly supported Shikhar and before you knew it they had struck up a 100 run partnership as the South Africans saw the game slowly being taken away from them. When Dale Steyn tried to browbeat him with extra pace during the Batting Powerplay, Rahane clobbered him as he and Shikhar together added 125 runs in only 16.3 overs. The little man showed that size had nothing to do with it!
Teaming up
When South Africa came in to bat – the match was still far from over. The top six was not bereft of batting geniuses – De Kock, Amla, AB, Du Plessis, Miller and Duminy were all dangerous and explosive on any given day. But Mohd. Shami, the smiling assassin, had other ideas. India’s opening weapon has truly come a long way since the disastrous early days of the Australian Tour. The confidence is back and it is his inspirational bowling that pegged back the South African batsmen and prevented them from smashing the Indian attack.
A couple of rocketing throws from the outfield by his compatriots Umesh Yadav and Mohit Kumar led to run outs for De Villiers and Miller in the middle order and practically ended the run chase abruptly as the team folded for 177. The bowlers were charged up and in control, the captain looked busy and happy, the fielders were chirping and backing up every delivery – and the smiles were getting infectious. A team that had coalesced into a tight and efficient unit – one that snuffed out the strong challenge of South Africa without looking unduly perturbed.
The MCG looked like the Colosseum, that iconic symbol of gladiatorial combat – a cauldron of noise and cheer from an army of Blue who egged on their team stroke by stroke, ball by ball. Around 85-90% of the 90,000 odd spectators were Indian fans and they had the time of their life as they enjoyed a beautiful game of cricket.
As Captain Dhoni led his team to another special victory, one can only hope that the sprinkling of the magic dust continues with every game. As the juggernaut moves on. Inexorably.
Sunday’s World Cup game between India and South Africa was not such a match.
On Sunday we saw the transformation of a cricket team right before our eyes. A metamorphosis so beautiful that it felt as though someone had sprinkled magic dust over Team India!
However. The tournament is a long one, though with these two initial wins, India looks to be in pole position as far as Group B is concerned. As things stand, if they beat the West Indies and also see off the group minnows (which is definitely not going to be a walk-over) there is a possibility of meeting either England or Bangladesh in the quarterfinals.
Then, if they cross that threshold, almost surely they will be facing a seriously strong contender. Good teams regroup and bounce back and the way the event is throwing up surprise performances, complacency is an evil Team India must seriously guard against. The middle and lower order have not really done well in the two matches so far mostly because they haven’t played too many overs – but the day may not be far when they have to stand up and deliver.
Luckily, the team is full of high octane performances at present, which is a good sign. But players need to remember that there will be no option for slip-ups especially during the business end of the event. Batsmen will need to back each other and bowlers will need to operate in tandem and with precision every day so that one bad day in the office for an individual player does not bring down the overall team performance.
Most important, good teams who win big championships peak at the right time. Team India has to ensure that every match is transformational, every player is ready to push himself to the limit match after match. And make winning a habit like the great Australian teams of Waugh and Ponting.
Beating South Africa
What did Sunday’s comprehensive victory over South Africa show us in this regard? The average score for a team batting first on this pitch is 280 plus a few. So India’s total of 307 was not its biggest achievement. The magic lay somewhere else.
After winning the toss and batting first, the Indian openers were quite circumspect in the initial 8-10 overs. One of the best opening bowling duos on this planet, Steyn and Philander were steaming in on all cylinders and barring a few boundaries (which, given Power Play field placings, are almost regulation nowadays) the Indians were quiet.
And then Shikhar Dhawan decided to take matters into his own hands once again. Almost as if he was continuing from where he left off against Pakistan, ripping strokes emanated from his broad blade and such was his dominance that his partner Virat Kohli, who is in great form himself, realised that he needed to step back for a bit and quietly played second fiddle.
South Africa were hampered with Philander’s tight hamstring but with Imran Tahir and JP Duminy being their experienced spinning options, they thought they would soon see a false stroke and a wicket. After all, mercurial batting giants are known to make mistakes.
But mistakes were few and far between. And when they happened Lady Luck was not on the side of the Proteas. In all this, Dhawan continued to explore new realms of batting greatness. The moustache was curled firmly and there was a soft smile on his lips as he went about wielding his bat like a maestro at a Philharmonic performance.
As Parnell, Duminy, Morkel and Steyn all started feeling the heat, a worried De Villiers and Amla could only watch helplessly. Shikhar had shots from the entire book of batting on display – audacious cuts, hooks and pulls intermixed with carefully crafted singles and twos which kept the scoreboard ticking steadily without the loss of a wicket. The first transformational innings – from a man who a couple of weeks back was probably living his own version of cricketing hell.
No setbacks
Virat Kohli was dismissed against the run of play and South Africa probably thought they were being given a chance to get back in the match with a few more tight overs and hopefully quick wickets. In stepped a small man called Ajinkya Rahane – small in size and someone about whom there have been occasional murmurs on the ability to handle quality fast and short bowling. And this is where we saw the second transformational innings.
Allowing Shikhar to continue his free flowing attack on whatever South Africa threw at him, Rahane played a classic knock of nibble and snap. Without any risky shots, he started picking off ones and twos, constantly supported Shikhar and before you knew it they had struck up a 100 run partnership as the South Africans saw the game slowly being taken away from them. When Dale Steyn tried to browbeat him with extra pace during the Batting Powerplay, Rahane clobbered him as he and Shikhar together added 125 runs in only 16.3 overs. The little man showed that size had nothing to do with it!
Teaming up
When South Africa came in to bat – the match was still far from over. The top six was not bereft of batting geniuses – De Kock, Amla, AB, Du Plessis, Miller and Duminy were all dangerous and explosive on any given day. But Mohd. Shami, the smiling assassin, had other ideas. India’s opening weapon has truly come a long way since the disastrous early days of the Australian Tour. The confidence is back and it is his inspirational bowling that pegged back the South African batsmen and prevented them from smashing the Indian attack.
A couple of rocketing throws from the outfield by his compatriots Umesh Yadav and Mohit Kumar led to run outs for De Villiers and Miller in the middle order and practically ended the run chase abruptly as the team folded for 177. The bowlers were charged up and in control, the captain looked busy and happy, the fielders were chirping and backing up every delivery – and the smiles were getting infectious. A team that had coalesced into a tight and efficient unit – one that snuffed out the strong challenge of South Africa without looking unduly perturbed.
The MCG looked like the Colosseum, that iconic symbol of gladiatorial combat – a cauldron of noise and cheer from an army of Blue who egged on their team stroke by stroke, ball by ball. Around 85-90% of the 90,000 odd spectators were Indian fans and they had the time of their life as they enjoyed a beautiful game of cricket.
As Captain Dhoni led his team to another special victory, one can only hope that the sprinkling of the magic dust continues with every game. As the juggernaut moves on. Inexorably.
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