World Cup 2011 - India vs Bangladesh

India vs Bangladesh

Sehwag had declared before the start of the series that he will try to bat 50 overs in a one day match form now onwards. That he will become more responsible and sensible while batting. Everyone had their doubts whether he will be able to do it, because this was so un-Sehwag. Everyone was thinking whether he can curb his instincts for that long, and most were of the opinion that if he does, it would be humongous. Indeed it was. The shots came in control, and a boundary at every ball came down to singles and twos, at a pace that worthy of a one-day innings in every sense. The boundaries duly came at bad balls and good balls alike, with the difference that the opposition had much much lesser chance to get him out. And God save you when he is batting like that. Sachin’s run out was all forgotten and pardoned, and runs came at a much healthy pace of six plus every over, gradually gaining momentum until the end. Kohli played a fantabulous knock to score another century (the only by an Indian on a World Cup debut), Gambhir’s help was appreciated. But through and through, the man of the day was Virender Sehwag. It was only second or third time when he had played more than 100 balls in an ODI innings, and he was duly exhausted by the end of it. So much that he did not turn up on the field during the day, duly satisfied and fulfilled by the innings he had played. The opposition teams have every reason to be worried this world cup and beyond.

The rest of the match looked like a mere formality. Bangladeshi batsmen did sparkle for some time, but a chase of 370 knocks the wind out of the greatest teams of the world. It was hardly ever going to be a close contest, and at the end India won it comfortably. Sreesanth will always get a mention in this match, but I think he was plain unlucky. He swung the ball too much, arguably nervous playing his first world cup match and I don’t think he should be criticized for his efforts. Most of the runs were attributed to the famous French Cut, and a couple of fielding errors. But I think Dhoni will always have to make a choice between Sreesanth and Nehra. Nehra is injury prone, but has more teeth in the attack. Sreesanth also can make the opposition cry on his day, but always always leaks runs. It will be very interesting in the coming matches, and I believe the result of the match might just depend on one of these bowlers if the batsmen are having an off day.