Sunday’s match between India and New Zealand was a classic case of a team losing from a winning position. At 224 for 4 in the 43rd over, chasing 293, India were firm favourites. They had two set batsman in Virat Kohli, who had crossed his century, and MS Dhoni, who was batting fluently at 40. India just needed them to carry on for a few more overs, and a victory would have been a mere formality. But, New Zealand fought back superbly to restrict the Indians following the loss of Dhoni’s wicket.
The wicket of Dhoni did give New Zealand a big break, but it was what followed the cost India the match. The visitors needed Ravindra Jadeja to support Kohli, but he had yet another failure, and two quick wickets suddenly put India on the back foot. This is not the first time that Jadeja has let India down in a situation where the team expected a decent cameo from him. Had he shown some maturity and put together a nice 20 not out, India would have been through without much trouble. This is what is expected of a number seven batsman, but Jadeja disappointed playing a poor shot under pressure.
What the quick wickets of Dhoni and Jadeja did was put unnecessary pressure on Kohli. He now had to accelerate the scoring and single- handedly try and take India past the victory line even though Ashwin could have stayed around. Often in the past, Kohli has seen India through to victory under similar circumstances. In this match at Napier too Kohli seemed to be doing the same as he continued to hit some superb strokes even after the two quick wickets. But, Kohli got unlucky when he hit a full-toss straight to a fielder, and that was the end of India’s hopes.
Kohli has won India numerous matches in the past under much tougher circumstances, so he was obviously expected to see India home again. But, Kohli is no superman, and there was bound to be a time when he would need some support from the others to pull India through. It just did not come though. After Kohli fell, the pressure completely got to the Indians, which was evident in the manner in which Bhuvneshwar Kumar was run out. Ashwin hit one big six, but the task was too much for him as well.
If one takes away Kohli’s magnificent knock, the performance by India was rather disappointing in most parts, their batting in particular. Rohit Sharma added another failure to his growing list away from home. Shikhar Dhawan for the umpteenth time got a start and got out, not for the first time to the pull shot. Suresh Raina continued to raise questions over his place with yet another low score. With the ball, Mohammed Shami came up with an excellent effort, and was well supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but the rest were poor. All in all, India showed glimpses of brilliance, but not the desired level of consistency.
--By A Cricket Analyst
