Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Birmingham
Yet again Mahendra Singh Dhoni, possibly India’s greatest ODI captain, undoubtedly India’s greatest ever finisher, was booed by a house full of Indians at this World Cup, this time at the Edgbaston ground.
When Kedar Jadhav joined Dhoni in the middle yesterday, one thing was almost absolutely certain — they’d not be able to win the game for India. India needed 71 runs from 31 balls. That’s over 14 runs an over; almost 2.5 runs per ball. That can’t be done by this Indian middle-order. Not by this Dhoni, this Jadhav. Dhoni has scored his runs at 91.20 per 100 balls in this World Cup — .912 runs per ball. Jadhav is much slower, at .8 runs per ball. Dhoni no more has the ability to hit sixers on demand; Jadhav can spank the ball pitched up, but when it is quick and short and directed at his body by a top-class paceman, he’s unable to hit a forceful stroke. He can fend it, nudge it, push it — for singles. That’s the harsh truth.
3×4, 1×6 in 5 overs!
In the final five overs, Dhoni and Jadhav hit only three fours and one six. The six and one four was hit in the final over, when India were already sunk, needing 44 off six balls; another four came off a Ben Stokes misfield in the 49th over.
Dhoni and Jadhav took singles with greater success. But picking up only 20 runs off 20 balls when you need 2.5 runs per ball is not going to get you success. They did not run even one double — clearly, they were unable to place the ball away from the fielders in the deep.
India’s middle-order muddle was exposed yet again. Dhoni and Jadhav are not fast enough when the team is chasing a huge total.
Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant are fast, but both are only a gamble — you hope the gamble will pay off, but you also know that you’re hoping against hope.
Certainties
When this Indian team chases a big total against a top-class team like England or South Africa, one of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli must bat right till the end — well, maybe until at least the 45th over. Else India have no chance.
In the last six years, India have won five matches when chasing over 300 runs. In those six wins, 4 100s were scored by Kohli; 4 100s, a 99 and a 79 by Rohit; 1 100, a 95 and a 78 by Dhawan. Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav too a 100 each in those six wins, but those innings were surprising outliers, outside the bounds of repeatability.
So, a total of 1,234 runs were made by Rohit (471), Dhawan (278) and Kohli (485) in these five wins. They made an incredible 71.49 off all runs India made in these wins.
Awesome threesome
Clearly, if India are to win while chasing totals over 300, these three must fire in unison. Not one, not two, but all three. Now one of them, Dhawan, is not playing due to injury. Rohit knows this doubles the load on him and Kohli. “Yes, the majority of the runs have been scored by the top three, but that’s why we are here,” Rohit said.
Rohit likes to take his time to build his innings at the start, but India were only 28/1 after the first 10 overs. In the last 10 overs, they made 72/1. That’s 110/2 in those 20 overs — very poor when you’re chasing 337.
“Losing an early wicket always puts you under pressure, and we lost KL (Rahul) right at the start, and they bowled pretty well in the first 10 overs,” Rohit explained. “When MS (Dhoni) and Kedar were batting, I think they were trying to hit, but they were not able to because of the slowness of the pitch.”
Batting first was important, and thus Jonny Bairstow, the Man of the Match, captain Eoin Morgan and Kohli agreed that England winning the toss was vital.
For India, this led to a nightmare at the end, when Dhoni-Jadhav dropped the ball and ran singles at a time sixers were needed.
Seven dot balls, 20 singles, 3 fours, 1 six off 31 balls: That was the Dhoni-Jadhav story. A pretty sad story. The fans booed and trooped away sadly from the ground.
Semifinals line-up
Who would India take on in the semifinals? India can still top the standings if they win their next two games, against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Then India would face the fourth team on the qualification, which could be Pakistan or Bangladesh or New Zealand. It could be England, too, if England lose to New Zealand and Pakistan lose their final match to Bangladesh. India could end up No. 2 if they lose one of their next two matches. In that case, they’d play the third team, which could be New Zealand or England. In short, we don’t know yet who India’s semifinals opponents would be, except that’s it’s very unlikely to be Australia.
Agarwal to replace injured vijay shankar
Vijay Shankar has been ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a fractured toe. Mayank Agarwal will replace him in the Indian squad. “Vijay sustained a non-displaced fracture of the left big toe, which will require a minimum of three weeks to heal,” an Indian team media statement said today. Vijay had been hit on his left foot by a yorker by Jasprit Bumrah during training on June 20, but he did play in India’s matches against Afghanistan (June 22) and West Indies (June 27). But Vijay’s discomfort increased before the match against England. “Before the game he got a toe issue. He got hit on his toe by Jasprit in the net session, so he was not fully fit for this particular game,” Rohit Sharma said yesterday.
