There was a strikingly similar pattern to India’s loss at Wellington. They bowled first, got a couple of early breakthroughs before Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor rebuild the innings, and led the hosts to a match- winning total. India’s bowling was once again ordinary in the middle and death overs after a decent start. The story was identical with the batting department. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan struggled at the start, the middle and lower order collapsed with the exception of Virat Kohli. MS Dhoni held one end up but he could do little without support from the others. In short, India did not show any improvements from their performance in the earlier games.
India got off to an impressive start with the ball as they have so often done in the series. Both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami were impressive early on. But, throughout the series, it has been their inability to build on the start that has cost the team dearly. The Wellington ODI was no different. Once Williamson and Taylor got their eye in, there was no stopping them, just like it has been throughout the series. Kumar and Shami had no idea how to stop the onslaught of runs, bringing their inexperience to the fore.
Varun Aaron showed that he has pace, but he hasn’t done much to impress in the games that he has played. He did pick up a couple of wickets at Wellington, but again when it mattered at the end, his rawness came to the fore. The spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja also disappointed. They aren’t expected to pick up many wickets under the conditions but their inability to keep the runs down is what has hurt the side in a major way. Ironically, Nathan McCullum has tasted more success that the pedigreed Indian spin duo.
Shifting focus to the batting, they just did not seem to have a plan in place to tackle the buoyant Kiwi attack. Sharma and Dhawan tried to be extra careful at the start, but even that didn’t work in their favour. Both looked completely perplexed during their stay at the crease, unaware of where their next run would come from. Without doubt they have lost the confidence with which they amassed runs last year. Their technique was exposed again, and that was the reason they couldn’t survive even while not playing attacking cricket.
The man problem with India’s batting has been the fact that apart from Virat Kohli and to an extent MS Dhoni all the others have failed to show any sort of dominance. Ravindra Jadeja got a couple of brisk half- centuries at the death, but India actually had to depend on Ravichandran Ashwin’s heroics with the bat to tie the only game they did. Suresh Raina’s poor form has forced India to experiment, and Ambati Rayudu didn’t grab his chances. Similarly, Ajinkya Rahane has also failed to make an impact. Overall, India’s performance was ordinary at Wellington as well.
--By A Cricket Analyst
