MANCHESTER: Cricket follows its own queer rules. Teams may make uncomplimentary headlines when they win. Players can draw attention for wrong reasons on days they do well. And, at the end of the day, both may close accounts with more on the balance side. Thursday was one such day for India.
More than the victory over the West Indies which put them in touching distance of the semifinals, the talking point at Old Trafford was the performance of the batting unit. The 268 they put on board was exactly what the average total batting first in this tournament has been.
On a sluggish pitch, it was actually a commendable effort. Certainly good enough to earn a comprehensive win. And yet, the performance with the bat wasn’t entirely convincing.
There was more on the strange front. Under the circumstances, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s unbeaten 56 was precious, considering it held the innings together when things were threatening to fall apart.
The partnership he shared with Virat Kohli steadied the boat and his association with Hardik Pandya provided the much-needed impetus. Then again, the way Dhoni batted for a major part of his innings raised more questions than it answered. And yet, it proved to be vital at the end of the day.
Above any sort of doubt was another commanding display with the ball. The trigger happy Caribbean batting line-up was under the leash all the time. Their 28/1 was the lowest in the first 10 overs in this edition of the World Cup. There were 40 dot balls in that period.
Pace and spin both were spot on and had many edges not run down vacant areas or not shaven the stumps, the end would have come sooner. That bowlers make India serious contenders this time was well known. Here was a complete display of how formidable this unit is.
But then, Dhoni had to be the talking point, despite Kohli completing a fourth successive half-century and Pandya showing how big a menace he can be for the opposing side.
On a day when ball dominated bat, these two were the standout batsmen. Sandwiched between them was an innings which was bizarre and almost unbelievable. Rarely does a batsman score a half-century without getting anything right for the most part of it.
Almost everything tried by the former skipper was unsuccessful. He was playing and missing, barely making proper contact when he got bat on ball.
There was a stumping reprieve before he had crossed 10 and running between the wickets at great speed was the only thing he got right. The first 20 runs he scored came off 40 balls, most of which were not played with the middle of the bat.
And yet there he was, walking off with an unbeaten half-century against his name. The strike rate was above 150 in the later stages of the innings and irrespective of the way it was compiled, this was the effort which helped India post a formidable total.
It was not an easy pitch to play shots on and one reason India finished where they did was Dhoni. So at the end of the day if one argues what’s wrong when on a bad day one contributes valuable runs, it becomes difficult to refute.
So at the end of a profitable outing, India head for the next challenge with mixed takeaways. It’s great for a team if it pulls off a big win when certain things don’t happen the way they are expected to.
At the same time, that can be a cause for concern as well, considering that better teams may not allow them such leeway. But then, it was a kind of a strange day.