Yet another unimpressive series win for India

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It were the rains, for a change, that allowed India to clinch the ODI series in the Caribbean. Although India were in the driving seat when the torrential downpour brought an early end to the fourth and final one-dayer in St Lucia but going by their past record they could have easily lost the focus and settled for a drawn series.

It’s not often when the rains have brought joys in the Indian camp but after having watched them surrender in the second game at the Sabina Park, the rainy weather of St Lucia certainly seemed to have proved a blessing in disguise for them.

The Indians had landed in the Caribbean soon after their miserable campaign in the ICC World Twenty20 in England where they had not only been dethroned but also humiliated in a most disgracing fashion.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his boys had very little time to regroup after the debacle in England but they were still the overwhelming favourites to prevail over the West Indies, who had gone on to reach the semifinals of the World Twenty20 event against all odds.

The Indians had arrived in the Caribbean with even bigger reputation in the past but failed to deliver with the 2007 World Cup being their worst outing in a major competition for quite sometime. They had fared miserably in the ODI series there in 2006 as well even though they were in possession of a formidable outfit under the command of Rahul Dravid.

The Indian fans, therefore, must not have taken anything for granted when Dhoni, a known aggressor, arrived with a very strong combination at his disposal. They knew that they would have greater pains to endure if they were to expect the Indians to translate their dominance into emphatic wins.

Yuvraj Singh’s dazzling knock in the first game gladdened their hearts even though the heartbeats must have stopped occasionally when the West Indians, more famous for choking under pressure than bringing about heroics, came perilously close to the Indian total.

The second game of the series was yet another classic example of India’s self destruction. As we have seen so many times in the past the ordinary mortals came up with the performance of their lifetime against India. It was the turn of Ravi Rampaul to steal the limelight at the expense of the fancied Indians.

After watching the events of the second ODI at the Sabina Park one had become completely unsure which way the series would be going. Nothing could have been ruled out if the Indians decided to play for fun and not for glory.

The Indians were in complete command of the situation in the third one-dayer at St Lucia that was hit by the weather but their supporters didn’t know until Dhoni struck a six in the final over if they would actually win the contest. One would not have been little surprised if India lost because they have had this rare quality of throwing it away when least expected to do so.

The Indians got off to a flying start in the fourth and final game too with Ishant Sharma producing lethal deliveries first to unsettle and then to remove Chris Gayle for a duck. Ashish Nehra was also bowling very well from the other end and the West Indian batsmen were barely surviving before the rains came to halt the action.

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Another Yuvraj classic gladdens hearts

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

There’s hardly anything more recreational than watching Yuvraj Singh play a long innings. He has his own style of doing things. Since he is in complete control of the situation more often than not it’s always a great fun to have him at the crease. 

The cricket-crazy community of Kingston, Jamaica, witnessed the mighty full flow Yuvraj in full flow for the first time. The old-timers must have in their memory the dazzling stroke-play of the likes of Gordon Greenidge, Vivian Richards and Clive Lloyd but they might not have witnessed the home bowlers at the receiving end at the Sabina Park.

In the past the Indian bowlers used to be at the mercy of the giant West Indian batsmen who had the capacity to destroy all varieties. Yuvraj’s magnificent knock on June 26 brought to light the fact once more than it has become a different ball game now and the balance of power has shifted from the shores of the Caribbean somewhere towards the other side of the globe.

One was getting reminded of the era when the West Indian master blasters toyed with the Indian bowlers and the speed merchants from the Caribbean gave no chance to any batsman to have a crack at them. Now it was completely the other way round as Yuvraj smashed spearhead Jerome Taylor to all parts of the Sabina Park at will. 

Hardly there ever had been a precedent when a genuine fast bowler from the West Indies was being attacked in such a decisive manner in the Caribbean when Yuvraj took on Taylor in the batting powerplay overs.

Yuvraj was looking good for many more when he glanced a delivery that would have most probably been declared a wide had he not made a contact. Dwayne Bravo could not believe his luck when the ball was collected by wicketkeeper Dinesh Ramdin to signal the end of one of the best one-day innings in the Caribbean.

It was a soft dismissal as well as an unfortunate one. Yuvraj could have hammered the ball anywhere but the leg glance landed in the hands of Ramdin instead. He made 131 off 102 balls but one knew that India could still lose their way after his departure.

That very nearly happened once more. With Bravo proving more lethal than Michael Holding and Andy Roberts, there was a feeling that the Indians might be bundled out well inside 50 overs even after the heroics of Yuvraj.

India played out their quota of overs without causing the kind of destruction that any other side would have done after raising 250 for the loss of only three wickets in the 37th over. They finished with 339, instead of posting something well past 350, and as it was discovered a few hours later they had to sweat it out to defend their eventual total.

The Indians, as usual, were up against it even against the lower-order batsmen of the West Indies, who otherwise have pathetic records. There were quite a few anxious moments for the Indian fans until the contest was finally over with 20 runs separating the two sides.

Yousuf Pathan, who had batted well in the closing overs to prevent a collapse, came to India’s rescue with the ball too by picking up three wickets. Left-arm quickie Ashish Nehra also picked up three wickets to complete the job in the penultimate over.

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