Mahendra Singh Dhoni could not have asked for more. The ruthless demolition of the Pakistanis that lifted the spirits of a billion Indian hearts would have done a world of good for his team. It didn’t matter that it was just a practice game, but the intensity matched that of a World Championship final, the one played in 2007 in Johannesburg, where India beat Pakistan by a whisker to emerge Twenty20 champions.
On Wednesday at the Oval, the result was the same but the margin was as wide as the ocean. It would have been a rout had Ahmed Shahzad not run for his life and dived to hang on to a catch that sent back Rohit Sharma, the only Indian wicket to fall as the Blues chased down 158 with three overs to spare to send the predominantly Indian crowd into raptures — they chanted, sang and danced to bring the house down. Rohit ravaged the Pakistan XI bowlers, hitting nine fours and two sixes in his 53-ball romp that fetched him 80 runs.
Seasoned opener Gautam Gambhir played sensibly to chip in an unbeaten 52 (47b, 5x4) as the two put on an opening stand of 140 in 16 overs that shut Pakistan out of the match.
“I am happy with the performance of the side. This was our best ever win so far. It is tough to repeat such a performance,” an elated Dhoni said after the match.
Asked to choose the turning point, the Indian captain mentioned Suresh Raina’s direct hit and Harbhajan Singh’s spell. “Raina came up with a superb effort to run Kamran Akmal out when he was going good (Pakistan XI were 45/1 in the fifth over then). Harbhajan also bowled well, (giving away 27 runs in his four overs while he took the wicket of Younis Khan, who had put Pakistan back on track with a 50-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Misbah-ul Haq).”
Asked if he thought the Pakistanis got away after being 45/4, Dhoni defended his cautious approach. “We could have gone for the kill. But there’s a thin line between bravery and foolishness. We were happy to stop them at 158,” he said.
Later, Misbah-ul Haq (37 n.o) and Yasir Arafat (25 n.o), raised 52 runs off the last five overs. The India captain was all praise for the crowd as well. “The intensity of an India-Pakistan game, be it a practice match or a charity one, is entirely different and crowds like these pump you up,” he said, adding that the team “did not take any chance to experiment as we were playing Pakistan.”
The thumping victory apart, Dhoni admitted there were areas India needed to improve upon. “We didn’t bowl the last two overs really well again,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment