Finally, a Good Win for Dhoni and Co.

Yes, finally, a well deserved victory for the Men in Blue yesterday on 15 January. Perhaps the fact that I was completely indifferent about it helped! :P  I have been told that whenever I am not interested and not watching India match, we win! So much for superstition! On a serious note, the spark which was not seen in our players for quite some time, (inspite of being there) shone well on a reasonably pleasant afternoon in Kochi.  A poor run of performances was finally given a full stop, for the time being. Even as there were a couple of things to be worried about, India got it right for most part in yesterday’s encounter.

It was not at all heartening to see the likes of Gambhir and Rahane failing to click and deny India a good start once again. But propelled by Chandigarh Southpaw Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Raina, Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, India put on a formidable score – 285 on the scoreboard. Kudos to them! Dernbach had his last laugh, which was actually very early in the day, ironically, as later on he was not spared by Dhoni (72 runs, 55 balls) and Ravindra  Jadeja’s (61 of 36 balls) onslaught. Jadeja hit Dernabach for 20 in his last over! Much to the chagrin of the naysayers, Jadeja proved his worth with the bat this time around and justified his place in the team as a capable all rounder. Later in the day he scalped important wickets of rookie Joe Root and Chris Woakes to almost seal an Indian victory by a whopping 127 runs. Captain capable (I would like to call him that) and cool again showed his mettle in this format. He is in a great knick currently. India scooped almost 110 runs in the last 10 overs, because of his gargantuan effort denting the morale of Captain Cook and his band.

In the second innings Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed gave India the early breakthroughs with Jadeja and Ashwin chipping in with 2 and 3 wickets respectively. Young Kumar took 3 in his 10 overs with an economy rate of just below 3 runs, which was seriously superb. It was all over when the new improved Dernbach (sporting a month long beard) got run out, thanks again to the effort of Jadeja and Dhoni. Indian captain’s astute captaincy and presence of mind too had a lion’s share in yesterday’s comprehensive win over the English. Making smart bowling changes, sticking with Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and getting close in fielders for a new batsman to the crease, all proved crucial for this win. I was delighted to see the result late in the evening and immediately rushed to see the highlights and felt that it was really a well deserved victory  for Dhoni and Co. Although I wonder what if Dhoni , Raina and Jadeja had not gone about their business well, what would have happened after we were down 18 for 2.

All the same, I think it is not for me to be worried about, Captain cool in Dhoni is tailor made for that and will surely know how to deal with this nagging issue. At the end of the day, I was happy to see our team rising up to the occasion. Of course there is still a lot more cricket left in this ODI series. I hope we keep the winning streak and morale booster from this win intact.

Adios!