His form has been Bradmanesque in ODIs and Virat Kohli wants to make each and every remaining day of his international career count. The Indian captain scored a staggering 558 runs in India s 5-1 ODI series victory against South Africa and is now ready to scale greater heights. I have got eight or nine years left in my career and I want to make the most of every day. It s a blessing that I am healthy and getting to captain my country Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony. Kohli attributed his success to wife Anushka Sharma for being a pillar of strength during tough times. Virat Kohli while chasing in ODIs:113 innings28 not-outs5772 runsAverage 67.90SR 94.0550s: 21100s: 27Yet another chasing masterclass from King Kohli.ICYMI here s how it unfolded:https://t.co/IWRzpN4fse pic.twitter.com/sVTnsefBan The Field (@thefield_in) February 16 2018 People who are close to me deserve a lot of credit. My wife has kept me going throughout the tour. I am grateful for that. She has been criticized in the past but she is one person who kept pushing me. Obviously you want to lead from the front and that s a wonderful feeling. The skipper said that he was in right frame of mind while batting in the final ODI. He scored an unbeaten 129 off 96 balls in India s eight wicket win in the final match. It was a day where I felt really good. Last game I was not in the right kind of mindset. This is a beautiful place to bat under lights. That s the idea behind bowling first. I like setting up for the short ball. It was a blessing in disguise and they kept bowling short. I think the pitch got better to bat on under lights. Kohli termed the current tour as a roller-coaster ride. It has been a rollercoaster till now. They have shown great character - especially the two young spinners. Shikhar (Dhawan) at the top Rohit. The way the series went augurs well for us. We are looking forward to the T20s. The tour is not over yet he said.
By: Express News Service | Updated: February 17 2018 7:43 am Virat Kohli celebrates his 35th ODI century in the 6th and final game against South Africa in Centurion. (BCCI Photo) Related News Virat Kohli s 35th ODI century sets up six-wicket win for India over South AfricaIndia vs South Africa: My wife Anushka Sharma kept me going throughout the tour says Virat KohliIndia vs South Africa: Twitteratti hails Greatest ever ODI player Upstairs at SuperSport Park the former South Africa greats stood up for the champion. Virat Kohli had just sauntered to his third hundred in this six-match ODI series; fourth of the tour. A gorgeous straight drive against Imran Tahir took the India captain to three figures his 35th ODI century off just 82 balls. Kohli punched the air and thumped his chest before getting down to business. He was once again resplendent in another Indian victory remaining unbeaten on 129 off 96 balls with 19 fours and two sixes. In an unbroken 126-run third wicket partnership between him and Ajinkya Rahane the latter s contribution was 34 not out off 50 balls. But Rahane was in the box seat to watch Kohli s genius. Together they took India to an eight-wicket victory with 107 deliveries to spare. The scoreline read: 5-1. International hundreds have now become almost a routine for Kohli. He finished the ODI series with 558 runs in six matches to walk away with the Man of the Match and the Man of the Series awards. But spare a thought for the bowlers who laid the foundation for this success. On January 5 at Cape Town Jasprit Bumrah made his Test debut and took to the long form like a duck to water. On February 16 at Centurion Shardul Thakur played his first ODI in South Africa only two 50-over internationals in Sri Lanka previously and returned with four wickets to roll over the Saffers batting. In between the Indian bowling accounted for 113 South African scalps bundling the hosts out in 10 innings. South Africa were all out four times in the ODI series. On Friday in the final game at Centurion they slid from 135/3 at one stage to fold up for 204 in 46.5 overs. If the ODIs against India marked the beginning of South Africa s Vision 2019 project with an eye to the next year s World Cup then their young batting group has had a rough initiation. Back to the drawing board South Africa s stand-in captain Aiden Markram said. The Indian wrist-spinners had a quiet day by their present standards. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav shared only three wickets between them two to Chahal and one to Yadav who was a tad expensive as well. Still South Africa lost wickets in a heap after a 62-run third wicket partnership between AB de Villiers and Khaya Zondo. Chahal got the prize scalp of de Villiers but the day belonged to Thakur who overcame early nerves and reaped rich benefits. Thakur was the only change in the Indian playing XI a like-for-like replacement for Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The visitors certainly wanted to carry on the winning momentum a dead rubber notwithstanding. Thakur started at military medium around 127kph and conceded back-to-back fours to Markram in his first over. He was bowling short and wide and Hashim Amla too decided to join the party with a lofted drive for four over the cover region. Bumrah took a maiden but Thakur leaked another boundary in the next over; this time Markram clipping him over mid-wicket. Then the lucky break arrived as Amla gloved a short and wide outside-the-leg-stump delivery from Thakur to MS Dhoni behind the stumps. The breakthrough came against the run of play which proved to be the turning point for the Mumbai seamer. He removed Markram with a slower off-cutter that the batsman played early and scooped it to cover. Iyer took a fine overhead catch. After dropping a couple in the previous two games Iyer redeemed himself with that effort. Thakur s next wicket Farhaan Behardien came in his second spell when Bumrah charged in like a sprinter at third man and dived like a goalkeeper to take a superb one-handed catch. No disrespect to the young pacer but Behardien s shot bordered on the atrocious. Shot selection has had been the hosts biggest problem in this series as their batters refused to learn from their mistakes. Looking back Behardien would regret the choice he made as also Chris Morris who attempted an across-the-line heave against a Yadav googly and holed out to Shikhar Dhawan at long-off. A dogged Andile Phehlukwayo s scalp gave Thakur his career-best ODI figures and rounded off the Proteas innings. In the context of the game however de Villiers dismissal was the key. South Africa made four changes to their playing XI leaving out JP Duminy David Miller Kagiso Rabada and Tabraiz Shamsi and bringing on Zondo Behardien Morris and Imran Tahir. De Villiers came at No. 3 and an iffy middle-order made him very circumspect to start with. He warmed up with three fours in a row off Yadav. He and also Zondo was reading the wrist-spinners well. But Chahal still had some tricks up his sleeve. The leggie dismissed de Villiers with a flipper. The great batsman had set himself up for a cut making plenty of room outside leg. But the ball pitched skidded on and disturbed the timber. It was sensational stuff which spoke volumes for Chahal s rise as an international bowler. The 27-year-old finished the ODI series with 16 wickets. Yadav returned with 17. For South Africa the only takeaway from this game was Zondo s 74-ball 54 the youngster s maiden ODI half-century. He read the spinners off the deck alright but he played late and at times took the attack to the opposition. A couple of sixes off Chahal after Zondo successfully reviewed a leg before decision showcased his positive intent. For all the latest Sports News download Indian Express App More Related News Virat Kohli hits 35th ODI century 13th as captain of India India vs South Africa 6th ODI: Virat Kohli hits 35th ODI India beat South Africa Tags: India Tour of South Africa 2018 Virat Kohli MMurthyFeb 17 2018 at 7:36 amWell done Virat and team.. dian Ladies Cricket Team too beat the South African ladies......Great guns our Indian boys and girls - batsmen-women and bowlers..... Bharat mahan.... Pseudo-secular feminist-posturing Indian Express you should have given more publicity to our Ladies Team s victory...Our Ladies team has great players with increased following among the Indian Public....(0)(0) Reply
If we were to have one image associated with every player that has played international cricket MS Dhoni would probably be remembered by his six in the 2011 World Cup final Lance Klusener would be linked to an image of him running to the pavilion after South Africa tied the 1999 World Cup semi-final and Sachin Tendulkar s mention would bring up an image of him walking down the aisle of Wankhede one last time. For Manish Pandey it would in all likelihood be him carving Mitchell Marsh through third man for four to reach his maiden ODI hundred with India needing six to win from four balls. He would seal the game in the next ball and establish himself as another of India s icy cool laidback finishers in just his 4th ODI. It has been 25 months since Pandey showed at the highest level in front of an Aussie crowd the unflappable temperament he possesses. However he warms the bench as India struggle to identify the right candidate to up the ante in the final few overs of a game. File image of India s Manish Pandey. AP At Wanderers in the fourth ODI India got stuck in a rut after a great start and ended up making just 59 runs in the final 10 overs. At Port Elizabeth even as India celebrated their first series victory in the Rainbow Nation their inability to kick on from good starts provided by the top three stood out. The dismissals of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli before the last few overs led to India s middle-order crawling their way to 274 when they looked well set to make a 300-plus score. Just 55 runs came in the last ten overs and they lost three wickets in this period. Of course the supreme brilliance of the wrist spinners meant that India won by a fairly big margin. But it is probably time that they accepted that their middle-order is only another Champions Trophy 2017 final away from being dismantled. Why the management is waiting for something similar to unfold when they have the option of investing in the nonchalance of Pandey is beyond logic. Pandey is cut from the same cloth as a MS Dhoni in his younger days and possesses the same disdain and fearlessness that made the former Indian skipper a crowd favourite. If anything Pandey has already showcased this multiple times but sadly it has gone unnoticed in the alluring prospect of a few part-time off-breaks. It is interesting to note that in the five ODIs he has batted at the No 6 position Pandey averages 45.66 and more importantly strikes at a rate of 118.10. He may have just one half-century and his average has been boosted by two not-out scores but it is his go-hell-for-leather rate of scoring and penchant for tough runs which should ideally catch the selectors eyes. The first step to blooding Pandey in the line-up would be to accept that he comes with a disclaimer: he may not make runs when everyone else does. As Kolkata Knight Riders stared at a monstrous 200-run target in the 2014 IPL final Pandey who had made just one half-century in the fifteen matches prior to that in the season knew that he had to intervene. He walked out in the fifth ball of the run chase with Kolkata s back against the wall. 98 balls later 50 of which he faced he had 94 against his name and had all but overshadowed Wriddhiman Saha s marvellous ton. It is well known that he is the first Indian to make an IPL hundred. But more than these big innings which he has had in plenty it is his quick-fire high-voltage knocks that complete him as a player. In the 2017 season of the IPL he showed an exceptional ability to switch gears and go bonkers at just the right moment. Take his 47-ball 81 against the Mumbai Indians where he made 31 off the last eight balls or the 49-ball 69 against Delhi Daredevils after Kolkata were reduced to 21/3 in a chase of 169 and you notice that there is a clear-cut ability in the 28-year-old to take the game by the scruff of its neck. Even as he made a return from an injury that saw him miss the climax of tenth season of the IPL and the Champions Trophy Pandey exhibited his unmistakable disposition to turn on the heat in the crucial moments of a game. Skippering India A against South Africa A at Pretoria in August Pandey anchored a tricky chase of 267 with a flamboyant 85-ball 93. He warmed the bench in three of the five ODIs against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka but in the three matches he figured in India s plans two ODIs and one T20I he slammed two half-centuries both at a strike rate greater than 100. The Australian series which followed saw India blood him in all five games but he was played at No 4 in two of the five ODIs as India fruitlessly tried to identify the right man at the crucial batting position. In the three games he batted down the order Pandey made a 32-ball 36 a 25-ball 33 (both at No 6) and an unbeaten run-a-ball 11 (from No 5). He got just one chance to bat in the three ODIs against Sri Lanka at home. By the time India reached the ODI leg of the South African tour their thinking had changed quite a bit. Ajinkya Rahane who was earlier zeroed in as a back-up opener was suddenly deemed good enough to fix India s No 4 woes and Shreyas Iyer who made back-to-back half-centuries against Sri Lanka back home was brought in when Kedar Jadhav was down with a hamstring injury. The move was a fair one when you consider Iyer s returns but the Mumbaikar isn t an ideal No 5 batsman by any stretch of the imagination. He loves the hard leather ball coming onto the bat and is a natural top-order batsman. His inability to up the ante against the soft ball has been sorely exposed and his shoddy catching further muddles things. Jadhav on the other hand has been offering Kohli some much needed back-up overs especially with Hardik Pandya s bowling vulnerable to visits to the cleaners every now and then. But his batting supposedly his main gig hasn t quite made an impression. An innate gift to make his presence felt be it with the bat or in the field makes Pandey a far more appealing option. The manner in which he walked away from Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2011 and switched allegiance to Pune Warriors is another example of his daredevilry. It is also this attitude that attracted Gautam Gambhir to him at Kolkata Knight Riders. A Rs 11 crore deal for him from the usually heedful Sunrisers Hyderabad at the IPL auctions last month revealed the kind of value his big-match temperament holds. It is perhaps time for India to make a long-term investment in Pandey for he can switch his gameplay adeptly as per situation and also cover up for India s run rate in the death overs. An ability to churn out big runs in tough situations makes him an enticing option for India in the middle-order. Yet he hasn t been given the backing or confidence that a player like him deserves. As they take on the Proteas in the final match of a series which have already won India might want to take a punt on Pandey considering the World Cup is close by and an over-reliance on the top three isn t ideal as their Champions Trophy debacle showed. Follow live coverage of the 6th ODI between South Africa and India at Centurion on our blog here Published Date: Feb 16 2018 01:54 PM | Updated Date: Feb 16 2018 03:53 PM
Written by Bharat Sundaresan | Mumbai | Updated: February 15 2018 8:03 am Virat Kohli was run out in the fifth ODI against South Africa. (BCCI Photo) Related News One hundred per cent Virat Kohli: Man-of-the-Match Man-of-the-SeriesVirat Kohli s 35th ODI century sets up six-wicket win for India over South AfricaIndia vs South Africa: My wife Anushka Sharma kept me going throughout the tour says Virat KohliAt the exact moment Rohit Sharma put his hand up and sent Virat Kohli back on Tuesday he was just two yards outside his batting crease. By then Kohli had already crossed the halfway-point of no return. He was nearly parallel to where the ball had pitched. Rohit had tucked the length delivery in the direction of point. While Kohli set off at full tilt immediately his partner took two strides out and then changed his mind. The ball had barely gone 10 yards to his right and reached the second practice pitch. And JP Duminy at point wasn t in the frame when Kohli turned mid-stride. But the South African still had enough time to pick up the ball under-arm it and score a direct-hit at the non-striker s end. Just like that Kohli and Rohit had been party to a run-out again. It was the seventh time in 62 innings that they d batted together one out of nearly 9 partnerships. It shouldn t surprise anyone though that for all the runs they ve put on together over the years the two have very often disagreed on the feasibility of a single. In Rohit and Kohli you have one batsman who starts with a stutter and seems to have one hand on the hand-brake when he sets off and his partner who doesn t seem to have any brakes at all. It s a disaster literally waiting to happen. To their credit though despite the occasional mix ups the two have put on 3518 runs together at an average of 60.65 which is by far the highest for any pair that has put on over 3500 runs. The Rohit-Virat combo are just 52 runs short of going past the Dhoni-Raina pair and entering the top-20 batting pairs of all time. Abhishek Nayar veteran Mumbai all-rounder has vast experience of running between the wickets with Rohit. He also has been part of a run-out with Kohli. Nayar recalls having never really had much of a bother in terms of judging and completing runs with his longstanding Mumbai teammate. He puts it down to compatability and understanding the two vital hallmarks of a successful batting pair s ability to run between the wickets. Rohit has never been one who looks to drop and run. He s always more comfortable with safe singles. He s got so much time on the ball you ll see him getting singles to thirdman square-leg or fine-leg but never off just a push towards the off-side says Nayar. The Indian opener s tendency to take a couple of strides instinctively upon playing a stroke can be a put off for his partner especially if it s one like Kohli who s always ready to scurry across at the first signal. In a couple of their run-outs like the one at Port Elizabeth and in 2013 when Rohit scored his first double-hundred at Bangalore Kohli has been left stranded because of his partner seemingly calling off the single after those two confusing strides. So what you end up having is one batsman who seems wary of commitment on occasions and another who s always keen on going all the way. Nayar puts Rohit s stutter at the start to his inherent quest for runs. Rohit and Virat are both aggressive batsmen and are always looking for runs. You ll see batsmen like that always looking keen to push for a single as soon as they connect with the ball. It s their instinct he explains. The reason Nayar believes Rohit at times then pulls the chain on a run is because he always prefers taking a punt on avoiding a risky single and backing himself to make up for it with his destructive abilities with the bat later in the innings. The traditional coach s manual recommends that line of sight dictates who takes a call on a run. The striker calls any shot played in front of the wicket and it s the non-striker who decides on those where the ball goes behind the wicket. In a way the point region becomes a contentious zone. Nayar admits that whenever he batted with Rohit he would take the responsibility for runs in the cover-to-point region. Running a single to point is all about understanding not only between you and your partner but also of the opposition s intent. From the non-striker s end you can make out whether the point fielder is attacking almost at 15 yards trying to stop the single or they re being defensive and he s back at the 30-yard circle he explains. In his opinion what made the run difficult at Port Elizabeth was that Duminy had been closing in from point. And the fact that he could underarm the ball to the bowler s end is testament to that. Meanwhile in the mix-up with Ajinkya Rahane who was run-out as well it was perhaps a case of the batsman himself commiting to the run late once Rohit had turned his back and was looking at the ball to reach the mid-on fielder. Question of trust The quickest runners aren t always the best runners. It s not about getting to the other end quicker than anybody else. It does help yes. But what s more important is for you to not only ensure your wicket is safe at the end of the run but also that your partner isn t sacrificed in the process. It s about trust the kind Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir shared to just tip and run without calling. Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan too Nayar adds. Or even when the Kohli-Dhoni combination is batting. These two are lightning quick between wickets and seem to have a telepathic understanding when it comes to judging a single. More often than not they manage to run two when it always seemed that there was only a single. But having an aggressive runner like Kohli at the other end can make life difficult for his partner too at times especially for a younger partner. Just think back to Karun Nair s Test debut a year-and-a-half ago when he seemingly had no choice but to respond to his captain s call for a single and be run-out in his first innings. But it s the Kohli way always. Nayar recalls the time he played a flick shot in the Emerging Players Tournament final at Brisbane back in 2009 and found Kohli literally next to him before he d completed the shot. He reacted instinctively by running and was easily run-out at the other end. Kohli went on to score a ton. Perhaps at this stage of his ODI career Rohit can stand his ground. He mayeven holds an edge over his captain in terms of the mayhem that can be generated towards the end of an innings. And it s no coincidence perhaps that in their seven mix-ups it s Kohli who s been run out on 5 occasions. Rohit has justified standing his ground too scoring two centuries and two double-centuries on those occasions. Incidentally the two times Rohit has been at the receiving end came only last year. Rohit is not the quickest runner and he knows that. But he s one of the smartest at judging a run. He knows when he can make his ground and you ll see him go for the run only then Nayar chips in. For the high percentage of mix-ups Kohli and Rohit do enjoy batting together. And they seem to enjoy watching each other bat too. Kohli was the first one to jump up in delight when Rohit was dropped at thirdman by Tabraiz Shamsi while in his 90s. Nayar sums it up best when he says The few times they have a misunderstanding while running the opposition gets a reprieve. On days when they don t it s curtains for the opposition. For all the latest Sports News download Indian Express App More Related News India vs South Africa: Twitteratti hails Greatest ever ODI player Virat Kohli hits 35th ODI century 13th as captain of India Tags: India tour of South Africa Rohit Sharma Virat Kohli RRamchandranFeb 15 2018 at 7:48 amEveryone saw the at ude of Rohit Sharma. He in fact was responsible for two run outs. Thanks to the spinners. Otherwise India would have lost the onedayer only because of Rohit s unprofessional at ude on the field.(3)(1) Reply
PORT ELIZABETH: Former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock feels Virat Kohli sees a bit of himself in Hardik Pandya and predicted a long run for the allrounder in the Indian team. ALSO READ: Disappointed by India s approach in Tests: Pollock I clearly get the impression that Virat Kohli loves Hardik Pandya s attitude. It s very similar to the way Kohli plays his cricket. And because he loves that attitude there is a good chance that Pandya will get a long run in the side to settle himself and cement his spot in the team Pollock said on Wednesday. South Africa s leading wicket-taker in Tests added That s the nature of cricket. If the captain likes the way a player goes about his business then that player will get an extra run (of opportunities). Pandya proved to be the fulcrum of India s attack in their 73-run win over South Africa in the fifth ODI here which paved the way for their maiden series victory in the country. I liked Pandya s attitude and approach in the Cape Town Test the way he played that knock and he is learning. He will be ultra-positive in Indian conditions where he can take on the spinners. Lot of people have got potential but to take that to the next level is always the key. He will learn the art of what he needs to do in England and Australia. He still needs to find how he wants to play mix his aggression with sound technique and if he can get himself in for a period of time then I am sure he can learn. Pollock said that India need to identify if two wrist spinners are enough to carry the team alone through a long tournament like the World Cup. If you look at their ODI statistics Kuldeep (Yadav) averages under 20 and has 38 wickets. (Yuzvendra) Chahal is pretty similar averaging 22 and their economy rate is fantastic. But can they win the World Cup for India in England? It s fantastic that you have a tour there to be able to judge what performance they give. You don t always get surfaces that hold up and turn in England. I think that s the challenge for India. They need to work out whether those two can be relied upon to go all the way through in a big tournament. Yadav and Chahal shared six wickets again coming back from the beating in Johannesburg and took their tally to 30 in five matches. When we went to the World Cup in England last time in 1999 we were expecting surfaces to be nipping around. But because it was a World Cup it was almost like the surfaces were over prepared. India were good in the 2017 Champions Trophy but that was a different time of the year. And they played with same pitches over and over again which meant that they started to hold up and grip. He added So that s why I think India s tour to England is important. The World Cup is only a year away and you will be able to gauge whether those two wrist spinners (together) will work or not. And not for the first time on this tour Jasprit Bumrah was singled out for some praise. He has something different doesn t he? His action is different he bowls wide from the crease is skidder and rushes batsmen a little bit. So if you are different you can always be effective and you can channel it that way. I think he learnt as he went through the Test series about the lines that he could bowl. He learnt what he could do and couldn t do. He was exposed to some nice surfaces. I asked him wouldn t you like it if the rest of your Test career was played on surfaces like this? And he said definitely said Pollock revealed. Playing his maiden Test series Bumrah turned out to be a revelation and picked his maiden five-wicket haul in the third Test at Johannesburg. So it s going to be more of a challenge when he gets to India. He is going to learn to reverse it bowl on different surfaces and at different stages of the game. It s a learning curve. But in the old days you almost learnt your trade before you got the opportunity. Nowadays kids like Lungi Ngidi as well they are all learning on the job. He has played only 9 first-class games before he got his Test cap and picked six wickets so he is learning on the go Pollock signed off.
The X-Factor.That s how Hardik Pandya was billed heading into this tour of South Africa. Everyone who was asked for an opinion was saying - former cricketers analysts writers. Rahul Dravid said it before leaving for New Zealand with his Under-19 boys as well. The hype as is almost always the case with Pandya was real.And when the first innings of the first Test came to an end there was a feeling that Pandya was starting to live up to it. A blistering counterattack at Newlands saw his stocks rise once again. But since then the great leveller that cricket is Pandya s tour was oscillating between ordinary and utterly forgettable. His batting has seemingly deteriorated as the tour has progressed as evidenced by the numbers.In Tests: 93 1 15 6 0 4In ODIs: 3 14 19 0But that s the thing about all-rounders. Well the good ones anyway. They are never truly out of the game.Even as he was struggling to adapt to the South African conditions with the bat - conditions that far better batsmen have failed to conquer it s worth remembering - he has stepped up with the white ball in his hand.The first three ODIs where Kedar Jadhav was bowling his round-arm below-sea-level deliveries it did not feel like Kohli will use Pandya s full quota of 10 overs in this series. But the injury to Jadhav opened up an opportunity for Pandya - and like good cricketers do he has grabbed it.Consider this: In the fourth ODI in Jo burg when bad weather stopped play during South Africa s run-chase and reduced the innings to 28 overs Virat Kohli found himself in an interesting situation with 7.2 overs already bowled. Bhuvi and Bumrah had bowled four each & could bowl two more with three bowlers allowed to bowl six. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were going to bowl a minimum 11 between them which meant Pandya absolutely had to bowl five overs - he was the easiest target for the South African batsmen to go after. As it turned out Chahal and Kuldeep were taken to the cleaners and India lost the match. But Kohli gained a confident bowler in Pandya. His 1/37 kept India in the match - it helps when the solitary wicket you get is that of AB de Villiers (in the pink ODI that too). Even in defeat Pandya impressed under pressure.In Port Elizabeth in the fifth ODI he had once again failed with the bat a first-ball-duck no less. Kohli was once again without the services of a recognised sixth bowler. India were once again short of their expected first innings score thanks to a late failure. The pressure was once again on Pandya to deliver with the ball and this time he had to bowl the 10 overs.And once again Pandya turned in a mighty impressive spell - finishing with figures of 2/30. The icing on the cake? De Villiers wicket for the second match in a row.It s fair to say despite Kuldeep and Chahal sharing six wickets between them Pandya s wicket of de Villiers and his direct hit to run Hashim Amla out by the finest of margins were the two decisive moments in the match that handed India a famous series win. Pandya even finished the day with a one-handed reflex catch (after some poor communication with his fellow fielder) - a more-than-acceptable ending to a match that started for him with a golden duck.Rohit Sharma touched upon Pandya s influence specifically after the game: Hardik has come a long way since he made his debut. He understands now what the team expects from him. He is a proper all-rounder not a batsman who can bowl or a bowler who can bat. But a proper all-rounder and we expect him to come out and bowl 10 overs all the time (...) Hardik special mention to him the way he came out and bowled got crucial breakthroughs. It will give him confidence going forward.Pandya is the kind of cricketer who will always have doubters. He s too flashy. He seems too full of himself. Next Kapil Dev? Pffft! But he is also the kind of cricketer who backs himself under pressure and knows an opportunity when he sees one. And as Shaun Pollock pointed out Pandya will get a long rope from Kohli just for that attitude. I clearly get the impression that Virat Kohli loves Hardik Pandya s attitude said the former South African skipper and a man who knows a thing or two about being a good all-rounder. It s very similar to the way Kohli plays his cricket. And because he loves that attitude there is a good chance that Pandya will get a long run in the side to settle himself and cement his spot in the team. That s the nature of cricket if the captain likes the way a player goes about his business then that player will get an extra run (of opportunities). Failures will come along the way and that s where Pollock s comments are crucial - Pandya has a captain who evidently backs him to the hilt. That is why when Jadhav got injured he trusted his all-rounder enough to not bring in another bowling option. And with the ball in his hand it was not Pandya being his flashy self. This was not him creaming bowlers out of the ground. This was no counter-attacking masterclass that will be remembered for a long time.This was just a bowler turning up for his captain and doing the job asked of him - hitting the right lengths bowling the cutters keeping things tight. This was the man with the X-Factor doing the ABCs right.
After a highly-anticipated return from injury two AB de Villiers shots in the last two matches stood out. The first from Wanderers when he played a wild pull and stuck the ball straight down fine-leg fielder s throat off a nothing ball and then the second dabbing away at a decent delivery outside off-stump but without much feet movement only to be caught behind cheaply. Just like that Hardik Pandya had dismissed South Africa s most lethal batsman twice in two innings. In a series where Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have wreaked unprecedented havoc on a tour where Jasprit Bumrah has been India s stand-out bowler a betting man wouldn t have placed money on this to happen twice in succession. Yes strange things have happened in the game of cricket and this ought to go down as another such instance. India s Hardik Pandya talks to captain Virat Kohli. REUTERS To his merit though Pandya has evolved as a bowler from the start of this tour. Never mind the lack of contribution with the bat ever since the first innings in Cape Town he has been ever-present whenever Virat Kohli has thrown the ball to him. It might not have resulted in a high number of wickets sure and for good reason. Centurion was not conducive to his bowling while there was no need for him to bowl in the third Test at Wanderers given India had four full-time pacers playing. Yet Pandya has fitted in well with the holding role the Indian team management has wanted him to play especially in the longer format. Even if his spells have only allowed a breather to the main bowlers Pandya hasn t let the game (or situation in any session of Test cricket) get away from his grasp. In the restricted environment of this ODI series Pandya has even been an aggressor. Certainly his spells in the last two matches at Wanderers and Port Elizabeth have suggested nothing less. In the Pink ODI India were hampered by rain as Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had bowled four overs each by resumption of play. Kohli was restricted in how he could use them again. In that light Pandya did an immaculate job even if India lost (owing more to circumstances than poor bowling). At St George s Park though Pandya really shone through. The Indian bowling revolved around him. Despite the threat of rain the match wasn t truncated and India needed their fifth bowler to put his hand up to get through 50 overs. Kohli s plan was to not bowl Chahal and Yadav in tandem instead to use them in summation with Pandya and it worked much to his credit. It was very important to win with five bowlers. It will give a lot of confidence to those guys. Even in Johannesburg it was a shortened game. Anything could have happened if we had got a full game. But we have confidence in those five bowlers that we played. Hardik has come a long way since he made his debut. He understands what the team expects of him. He is a proper all-rounder. Not a batsman who can bowl or a bowler who can bat we expect him to come out and bowl 10 overs all the time said vice captain Rohit Sharma after the historic series win. The fact that he talked about using only five bowlers underlines the aforementioned point. In most situations Chahal comes on to bowl in the 11th over. Yadav too comes on before the 20th over. It is because Kohli has Kedar Jadhav in the bank should things go awry with Pandya s ten overs. In case he gets taken for runs or simply if the pitch is too conducive to spin there is always the option to fall back on the part-time pie-chucking spinner who has a knack for picking wickets. For the last two games Jadhav has been unavailable owing to his hamstring injury. The big http://lit-oboz.ru/user/kfreecharge/ problem for the Indian team management currently is that they don t have anybody else to bowl a few overs with some consistency. Rohit and Shreyas Iyer are known to bowl some spin and Kohli can bowl seam up. But if India have to call up any of this trio to bowl then surely the situation is desperately getting out of hand (remember Champions Trophy game against Sri Lanka?) The merits and demerits of Jadhav s continued selection in the playing eleven is a debate for another day. So is the fact that India do not have a sixth bowling option in his absence something any captain would like to have at his disposal in the unpredictable limited-overs formats. Sure in Jadhav s absence the attack isn t one-dimensional given the different qualities of all five bowlers yet there is an element of repetition about it. Again though this is about India playing with five bowlers and making it work. The very basis of this plan was dependent on the all-rounder and Pandya rose to the occasion particularly in the last two games. The slow pitch especially in the fifth ODI played into his hands because he could use clever changes of pace and off-cutters to greater effect. Perhaps it was the pressure of having failed with the bat. Maybe it was just the sense of lack of a back up plan should he fail to produce the goods with the ball too. Make no mistake though this was a step up in every sense of the word for Pandya the all-rounder. In the build-up to the 2019 World Cup India ought to play more with this same formula if only to aid the progression of Pandya the bowler. That in doing so they will also benefit from growth of their five-pronged first-choice bowling attack as a whole is an add-on bonus. Published Date: Feb 15 2018 01:03 PM | Updated Date: Feb 15 2018 01:03 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment