MSD eyes homecoming party
The Jharkhand State Cricket Association International Stadium Complex in Ranchi city will be ushered into the cricket mainstream when it hosts its inaugural one day international, the third of the ongoing series, between India and England here on Saturday. And with local boy and Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni in the pink of form with the bat, diehard fans are anticipating an ‘MSD Special’ to mark the historic occasion.
However, Dhoni’s participation in the match is under a cloud of uncertainty following an injury scare on match eve. The Indian skipper was hit on his right thumb by a rising delivery from bowling coach Joe Dawes while practising on Friday. But the Indian team management was quick to dismiss any doubts of Dhoni’s participation.
India top batsmen, meanwhile, will want to avoid the kind of embarrassment, which has become a regular feature in recent times, leaving their skipper to do the repair work. Pressure will be on Dhoni too, if he plays, because in front of his home fans he will hope that the law of averages doesn’t catch up with him.
The series is levelled 1-1 after a brilliant rearguard action by Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja in the second one day at Kochi. But both teams will be well aware that winning here will put them in a vantage position to wrap up the series in the penultimate game in Mohali. The hosts will not want to be in that position for the second con- secutive time in a bilateral tournament after the three match series against Pakistan was decided in the second game itself in Kolkata.
The current one day world champions, however, will enter the contest with a slight edge on their opposition as the visitors have not been quite able to match the intensity they displayed in the Test series. India, moreover, have more match winners in the side as compared to England. The biggest worry for India is an offcolour Virat Kohli. Kohli, who has had a fantastic last year, has not been among the big runs. But the Delhi boy showed intent in staying at the wicket in the last match, something which skipper Dhoni has stressed on time and again repeated failures by India’s top order.
The other worry is the openers — Gautam Gambhir has not been able to provide India the best of starts and a new partner in Ajinkya Rahane adds a new dimension to the problem. The emergence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, however, has been a welcome change in bowling.