In the opening act
Captain Dhoni’s decision to promote Raina in the batting order and smart use of bowling options pay dividends in crunch game RISING AGAIN TO FIND TOUCH
on to the bat. Conditions were even better than in the subcontinent where often a dry wicket tends to become two-paced.
Raina was the perfect pick to exploit the conditions at a time when the Pakistan team’s body language looked down following the 129-run stand between Kohli and Dhawan.
“The trick was to evaluate at what point the match was. To me, our top three is fixed in the batting order. The rest I prefer as floaters who can come in at any order depending on where the match is. I felt it was the 30th over and if Raina could play himself in, the Powerplay from the 35th to 40th over would be ours. He played exceptionally well, and what I liked most in his innings was that he was calculative in his approach. He evaluated the bowlers well and put pressure on the opposition,” Dhoni said at the post-match media conference. “Sending in Ajinkya at that point would have put undue pressure on him.”
The other ploy that worked in favour of India was taking Umesh Yadav off the attack after three overs and bringing him on later. The pacer came back to take two wickets in one over, and with Ravindra Jadeja removing Umar Akmal in the next, Pakistan had lost three wickets for one run.
“There was constant improvisation going on,” said Dhoni. “You could see the bowling order was very different from what we were following in the tri-series and warm-up matches. You have to gauge how a bowler is bowling and how comfortable the batsman was looking against him. We still need to improve in bowling. We have to dry up the boundary balls in the initial overs,” he added. Team India’s out-of-form players came good to hand the world champions a good start. Here’s how they fared: After Rohit Sharma fell early, the left-handed opener stayed watchful without succumbing to a rash shot. In his
76-ball 73, there were no wild flashes outside off or nervous prods, both having led to his downfall through the tour. Dhawan seemed unsure of his off-stump, often nicking deliveries pitched up and doing a bit. But Sunday’s patient knock in a highpressure game augurs well for his World Cup campaign. Batting being their biggest strength, the defending champions need their top-order to come good and give the cushion of runs to their bowling unit. India team management backed Dhawan through his poor run as his aggression is crucial. He looked good for a ton until his unlucky run out. After his mediocre Test series, Dhoni seemed to lose faith as he played in just one tri-series game. He was positive on Sunday, and stifling the opposition on a batting pitch and giving the breakthrough will boost confidence. After a pair on his Test comeback, he had a miserable run in the tri-series too. Even spinners, against whom he dominates, troubled Raina. So, it was important he struck form. He can now build on it as the team continues its progress in the event. Ashwin stood up in the key contest, justifying Dhoni picking five bowlers, who shared the spoils. With Ashwin out of form, Ravindra Jadeja on a comeback from injury and only rookie Axar Patel as the other option, India were getting desperate. Without an in-form Raina, the batting looked brittle.
The team struggled to find someone to bind the middleorder and launch attacks. But after Sunday’s knock, the batting unit again looks solid.