The question one will be begged to ask about the rain-marred one-day series against Bangladesh is -- did the series serve any purpose? As it is, an India-Bangladesh contest is a low-profile one. The latest one was played in the midst of the FIFA World Cup fever. Further, India themselves did not seem interested, sending a second-string side to for the three ODI series. Not least of all, the matches were played in a season where the weather was expected to play a major role. In hindsight, the weather conditions actually dominated the series, which is never a good situation for a sporting event.
If you look back at the series, only one match was actually lasted closer to the full duration. The second produced a result, but the conditions were unfit for batsmen. The third ODI did not even give Bangladesh a chance to bat. In such a scenario, we cannot expect to look at too many positives. Still, if India are keen to look for a few pluses, they can come down to a few names especially in the bowling department, and if they want to stretch things too far, some in the bowling department as well.
The one man who can never forget this series is Stuart Binny. Ok this was Bangladesh, the series meant little to India, but Binny was under pressure no doubt. The fact that he was selected in the Test team for England put the spotlight on him further. There were so many negative stories centering his surprise selection. His effort in the series against Bangladesh still doesn't justify his choice for the five-day games in England, but the success will give him further confidence for sure. Binny used the helpful conditions to great effect, and came up with a splendid spell in the second one-dayer. The assuredness led to a confident batting performance by him in the final ODI, on a pitch where all others struggled.
Mohit Sharma was the other pace bowler, who utilised the conditions well, and led the Bangladesh batsmen to struggle. He has had an impressive start to his career, and has proved to be useful in helpful conditions. It remains to be seen how he reacts when there is nothing in the pitch for the bowlers. In the batting department, Robin Uthappa and Ajinkya Rahane, both half-centuries in the opening ODI, which saw India pulling off a tough chase. The knock was exceedingly important for Uthappa, considering it was his international comeback. But, they failed in both the other two games, which definitely translates to an opportunity lost. No other batsman or bowler really made any sort of impact on the series.
On the contrary, there were quite a few disappointments for the visitors even in the short series. Skipper Suresh Raina had a good chance to come up with some substantial knocks. But, it was a case of another missed opportunity for him. He was the highest scorer in the second ODI, but got run out when he should have carried on to a bigger score. Umesh Yadav proved to be expensive again, and the batting order struggled except for the opening game. Thus, in spite of a series win, there weren't many gains for Team India.
--By A Cricket Analyst
