Another match gifted away by Indian bowlers

Another match loss for India, and the bowlers playing a major role in India’s downfall. None of the 4 Indian bowlers looked in form today, and as a result Dhoni had to use his other part-time bowlers. If we look at the statistics of the specialist bowlers (Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda & Ravichandran Ashwin), they bowled 34 overs, out of which 2 overs were maidens by Ishant Sharma. That means they gave away 252 runs in 32 overs (192 balls), and took 2 wickets via Ashok Dinda, with boundaries getting slammed all over the ground. If we look at the part-time bowlers (Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina & Virat Kohli), they bowled 16 overs (96 balls), gave away 73 runs and took 1 wicket through Suresh Raina.

India are still struggling to find bowlers to bowl the death overs, with Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar & Zaheer Khan not available for the series. It’s getting difficult for Dhoni to find a perfect bowler for the death overs, and if we see at today’s match, 70 runs were concluded in last 37 balls, which proved to be the turning point of the match.

India also struggled to find their all-rounder, as none of the all-rounders except Yuvraj Singh performed well today, neither with bat nor with ball (Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin & Bhuvneshwar Kumar). They gave away 159 runs in 26 overs (156 balls) and they scored a mere 40 runs.

India’s batting was very good today. They started positively today, with Gautam Gambhir (52 runs) & Ajinkya Rahane (47 runs) hitting the ball all around the ground, followed by a beautiful 61 runs by Yuvraj Singh, which was later followed by the cameo of Suresh Raina, who got an important 50 runs down the order. Raina got out later after playing a needless shot. Mahendra Singh Dhoni once again showed his brilliant batting technique, and the beauty of his innings came to the fore when he got those 4 crucial sixes to keep India in the hunt. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was later caught by Root off the bowling of Jade Dernbach, which was the turning point of India’s innings. Ravindra Jadeja’s poor form with bat in international cricket continued, when it was the most important for him to stay on the crease and guard the tail enders. Virat Kohli also struggled today, as he scored just 15 runs before edging it to Kieswetter.

India captain Dhoni will now be looking to bring out the best from his bowlers, as his batsmen are scoring runs. He will also look to bring Cheteshwar Pujara into the playing 11, as he can stay on the crease and bat, and it will bring an extra stability to their batting line-up.

Now, it will be interesting to see how Mahendra Singh Dhoni comes up with his plans in the second match, as it will be the first ever match to be played at Jharkhand, the home town of India’s 2011 World Cup winning captain.