India Cricket

There was a depressing inevitability about it, watching Angelo Mathews scrap to conjure something at least bordering on a competitive total for Sri Lanka against India at Ahmedabad in the second one-day international of the series on Thursday. 

Such is India's dominance when chasing that Mathews' endeavour was admirable, but it also felt pointless. It was like watching your not-too-bright friend spend hours on an application for a job that you know is far beyond their reach. 

Battling against the tide of a stuttering innings, the Sri Lankan captain, with little fluency, made 92 unbeaten runs of his own to help the visitors set a target of 275 for the home side. 

But on a flat pitch underneath the baking sun of western India, it was never enough. Not against these Indians, anyway, who continue to dispose of opponents when chasing as though they're merely carrying the recycling to the curb on a balmy summer evening. 

Just as they've done rather emphatically to England and Australia in recent times, India reached the required total with alarming ease. When Ambati Rayudu slapped the winning blow over cover from Seekkuge Prasanna, it was done with five-and-a-half overs still up the sleeve. 

"The 300 mark, [it] makes a lot of difference," Mathews remarked in defeat after the match, per the Press Trust of India (via IndianExpress.com). In truth, however, 300 wouldn't have been enough either—India would have reached that figure without adding a single mile to the pace with which they were travelling. 

What's sobering for opponents is that one doesn't have to delve too far into the numbers to see that this is a trend.

India have now won six of their last eight ODIs when chasing. Scarily, a six-wicket margin has been the narrowest in any of those triumphs.

And if you limit it to only matches played in Asia, the men in blue have won 27 of their last 32 completed ODIs when batting second, dating back to 2010. 

The old adage of scoreboard pressure? India, in coloured clothing, don't seem to know what that is. With their moderate total of 274-8, Sri Lanka didn't stand a chance. 

Since the beginning of last October, India have six batsmen (Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Rayudu) averaging in excess of 40 in 50-over cricket. Of those, Dhoni is almost touching 70, while both Kohli and Sharma sit above 50 with ease. 

The lowest strike rate among them? Rayudu's 81.28, which may take you by surprise after he crashed his way to 121 from only 118 deliveries in Thursday's resounding victory. 

That those figures also exclude one-day batsmen as fine as Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane only serves to reinforce the staggering extent of India's power with the blade.

In theory, that dominance with the bat should see India enjoy a deep and successful World Cup campaign when the global tournament begins in Australia and New Zealand in February.

Since the turn of the century, cricket's showpiece event has been defined by batting excellence. At both the 2011 and 2007 editions, both victors (India and Australia, respectively) recorded tournament-highs in run rate, while Australia's capture of the 2003 edition was achieved with the highest collective batting average. 

Quite simply, runs—not wickets—win World Cups. 

But there's a catch for India: The team's travels to cricket's southernmost destinations have been as successful as a British teenager's attempts to stay sober in Magaluf. 

When visiting Australia, New Zealand and South Africa—the game's locations that own the sort of pace and bounce that isn't found in wickets elsewhere—only Dhoni and Kohli have maintained strong records among the aforementioned Indian stars. 

Raina, Sharma, Rayudu and Jadeja all average less than 30 in such destinations. For Dhawan, the figure drops below 20. For Rahane, it's less than 10. 

The team's result in its most recent visit to New Zealand? A 4-0 loss.

Last time to South Africa? A 2-0 loss.

Last time to Australia? A 3-1 loss (if you consider only the matches played against the home side in a triangular series that also included Sri Lanka). 

And the defeats haven't been narrow ones, either. 

Plagued by the limitations inherent in their subcontinental games, there's been no carryover effect for India's batsmen when swapping Mumbai for Melbourne or leaving Nagpur for Newlands. 

On paper, India's batting unit will undoubtedly be the strongest in the approaching World Cup, but Asian dominance will count for little when the tournament kicks off in less than 100 days. 

Sri Lanka are likely to be flattened across the next week, the impressive Indian figures will likely be added to and expectation will grow for the defence of India's title. 

Whether any of it holds a single degree of relevance for the World Cup, however, remains rather doubtful. 

On Sunday, Pakistan's 40-year-old Misbah-ul-Haq scored the fastest-ever Test half-century and equalled the fastest Test hundred, and the red and blue sides of Manchester clashed in a pulsating derby. On such a day, yet another contest between India and Sri Lanka in a meaningless, makeshift, one-day international series wouldn't have found many watchers around the world.

Two weeks after the West Indies bid sayonara and flew home midway through their tour of India, the hosts began their series against their accommodating neighbours with a ho-hum, totally one-sided 169-run victory at Cuttack.

The winning margin and total of 363 for five equalled India's second-highest and third-highest against Sri Lanka, respectively. 

But then, this isn't likely to be the only high-scoring game in this five-match series; it also won't be a surprise if India win the series, having never lost a trophy to Sri Lanka at home.

So aside from further filling the coffers of the richest cricket board in the world, what can India take from this series? 

With a long tour Down Under starting at the end of November culminating with the World Cup in February and March, India should use this series to look ahead to the next four months.

The Men in Blue had many positives to take from the game, like the form of their openers Ajinkya Rahane (111) and Shikhar Dhawan (113).

After enduring a testing first 10 overs when the ball was moving around and generating good bounce from the pitch, the left-hand-right-hand combination put on 231 runs—India's third-highest partnership ever in ODIs for the opening wicket—in 35 overs.

However, as much of a powerhouse as India are when it comes to batting, their bowlers will hold the key to success in Australia.

Sunday's game marked the first time that Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron all played together. Watching Yadav and Aaron, both of whom clock upwards of 140 kph, bowl in tandem from either end would have been mouthwatering for Indian fans.

Unfortunately for the hosts, Aaron, who clocked 152 kph on the broadcaster's speed gun in his first over, pulled out of the game after bowling less than five overs.

ESPNcricinfo later reported that the 25-year-old had injured a quadriceps muscle but hasn't yet been ruled out of the series.

The injury, not Aaron's first in his short career, was the only blip in an otherwise inspiring display of fast bowling by the Indians despite of having to counter the dreaded dew factor in the evening.

Yadav was quick and extracted plenty of bounce and movement from the surface. He swung it both ways and brilliantly set up Tillakaratne Dilshan to break the opening stand.

Ishant, meanwhile, was playing his first ODI since January and responded with his best-ever figures in the format, 4-for-34. He also generated good bounce and was extremely persistent with his back-of-good-length deliveries angling either way.

The Indian bowlers were assisted by coming up against an under-prepared Sri Lanka, a seaming surface at Cuttack and a cushion of a huge total to defend, but they still had to bowl well to keep the Sri Lankans below 200, considering the dew.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India would be prudent if they ordered similar tracks for the remainder of the series.

The Indians are definitely not going to find sub-continental highways to bowl on in Australia, and it would help if their bowlers could get more seamer and pace-friendly tracks to practice on prior to the tour.

India will be looking to take at least five fast bowlers with them to Australia. They had taken six to England in the summer, excluding the medium-paced Stuart Binny, and ended up using all of them.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami are certainties, barring injuries.

If Umesh Yadav continues to bowl like he did on Sunday, there's no reason why he shouldn't get a ticket.

As for Aaron, India absolutely need to have him fully fit for the Test matches against Australia starting December 4, even if it means resting him for the rest of the ongoing series.

If India manage to have at least five fit and in-form fast bowlers on the flight to Australia, it would be much more valuable than a few broken run-scoring records and an ODI series win in their own backyard.

More importantly, it would be their best chance of avoiding yet another hammering away from home.

The dust seems to be settling down in the premises of the Board of Control for Cricket in India following a week of utter madness.

On Tuesday, India named a 15-man squad for the first three matches of a hastily arranged five-match one-day international series against Sri Lanka in the first half of November.

Fortunately for the BCCI, the announcement of the squad has taken some of the spotlight away from the uproar caused by the touring West Indies team last Friday.

The picturesque and serene Dharamsala in the north of India had become a scene of chaos, at least in the world of cricket, when the West Indies announced they would be heading back home with a one-dayer, a Twenty20 International and three Tests still left to play.

The reason: a three-way dispute between the players, the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over wages.

However, three days later, the BCCI announced that their most hospitable neighbours from the Emerald Isle had agreed to step in.

India made some changes to the squad that took on the West Indies. Most notably, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been rested for the first three games, with Virat Kohli taking on the armband.

Not many would argue against Dhoni warranting seven days of rest from his crammed cricketing schedule.

As someone who plays and captains all three formats of the game and with a long tour coming up Down Under, beginning at the end of November and culminating with the World Cup in February, one could even argue that Dhoni shouldn't play the entire series.

But then, one could even debate whether this entire series was needed after all.

Assuming the series ends by November 15, that leaves India just nine days before their first tour game against a Cricket Australia Invitational XI at Adelaide.

The BCCI had its (financial) reasons. The West Indies tour was India's only international home series this year and, according to the Guardian, the board stood to lose around $60 million with the pullout.

There was no way the BCCI were not going to try and fill up the gap in the calendar again. And there was no way the Lankans were going to turn down a request from the richest board in the world, no matter how their most experienced player felt about it.

So, without going into a fruitless discussion of whether India and Sri Lanka should or should not be playing each other, let's go back to discussing the Indian squad, with an eye on Australia ahead.

One can only wonder whether Dhoni would indeed have been rested had Kohli not rediscovered his form against the Windies. The 25-year-old couldn't buy a run in England, but he came back to score a fifty and a century in his last two games to take a load off the selectors.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has had a long summer after playing all of India's matches on their tour of England, has also been given a rest. His replacement is the promising speedster Varun Aaron, who impressed in England.

Giving Aaron company in the pace department is Umesh Yadav, who will be raring to impress the selectors ahead of the Australia tour. The prospect of seeing a fit and charged up Aaron and Yadav bowl from opposite ends in Australia would be a mouth-watering one for Indian fans.

Rohit Sharma, who has just recovered from an injury, is also not being risked by the BCCI for the first three games, although he has surprisingly been named in an India A squad to play a warm-up game against the Lankans before the ODI series.

The logic? Quoting one of Dhoni's favourite phrases at press conferences, ask the BCCI.

Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin, who was rested against the West Indies, is back in the mix to lead the spin department along with Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja.

India and Sri Lanka have played each other in 15 ODIs since they clashed in the World Cup final in 2011. Between 2008 and 2010, they played 33 ODIs against each other. By now, they would probably know each other's mannerisms better than their wives.

India vs. Sri Lanka is probably not going to offer anything unique, apart from perhaps a couple more run-scoring records being broken on highway-like surfaces.

But as long as the fans keep flocking through the turnstiles, which they will, and the BCCI's cash register keeps chiming, which it will, all is well.

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Akshar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron.

One man who would have been especially disappointed to have seen West Indies’ tour of the subcontinent ended prematurely was Virat Kohli after the Indian star’s belated return to form with the bat in the recent one-day internationals against the men from the Caribbean.

Kohli had entered this month’s ODI series under some pressure after a particularly lean patch in England last summer in which the silky-smooth batsman had amassed just 134 runs in 10 Test innings at a paltry average of only 13.4 and a highest score of 39.

And the right-hander then found the going equally tough in the one-day series that followed, compiling a mere 54 runs in four internationals at 18, with not a half-century in sight in any of the nine matches he played in those two forms of the game.

So what relief for Kohli earlier this month when on his home ground, the Delhi-born batsman made his first fifty for 15 knocks in either 50-over or five-day cricket—a run stretching back to February—as India won the second ODI against West Indies.

Not only that, though, but Kohli then followed up his 62 in the Indian capital by turning in a man-of-the-match display while scoring a 20th one-day hundred in Friday’s fourth game in Dharmasala (see video), as the home team turned around a 1-0 deficit to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

However, the fact that the 25-year-old is suddenly now back in the runs will not have surprised too many people, as Kohli has always appeared a man more at ease in the helter-skelter environment of the one-day arena, as opposed to the confines of Test-match cricket.

And one of the reasons that the player’s free-flowing game is more suited to the cut and thrust of ODIs, where it can flourish more, is that in that form Kohli’s glaring technical weaknesses outside off stump against the moving ball are exposed far less often, especially on the flat pitches of the subcontinent.

But it is not solely the change from red-ball to white-ball cricket that is behind the batsman’s sudden return to form, as Kohli struggled badly in the one-day series in England in August and September as well.

It is that Kohli has also been given some much-needed time in order to go away and work on those obvious issues in and around the corridor of uncertainty, something that in the increasingly hectic modern-day schedules international batsman simply cannot find time to do while on tour.

And with India playing five Tests in the space of a little over five weeks last summer, Kohli was forced to correct his faults out in the middle invariably against James Anderson armed with a new cherry, and with a ring of slip fielders waiting to pounce on any little mistake.

However, since returning home at the start of last month, Kohli has been able to go away and work on his game in the nets, something he touched upon after registering his 31st ODI fifty at the Feroz Shah Kotla, per ESPN Cricinfo:

I've worked hard over the past two weeks, during which I've attended two different camps and concentrated on the areas I have to improve on.

It's very easy to let it [getting out the same way] affect you but I choose not to. At times, it does play on your mind and this is where as batsman you go back to the basics and improve.

At the end of the day, it's all about the mental confidence and letting your instincts take over. Having that break was really good. I got to work on my game and went in this ODI series with a positive mind set.

And yet there are far sterner challenges awaiting Kohli this winter following Sri Lanka’s hurriedly arranged visit to the subcontinent next month to play five one-dayers, specifically a four-Test tour to a revitalised Australia over Christmas.

As facing the distracted bowling attack of the world’s eighth-ranked ODI team on a flat Indian surface is no real gauge of whether Kohli has indeed returned to the sort of imperious form with the bat which had seen him rise to as high as eighth place in the International Cricket Council’s Test-match batting rankings only last February.

But come through that exacting trip Down Under with runs in the bank and his reputation further restored, Kohli can start looking forward to next year’s World Cup with renewed optimism.

And it would be no great surprise were the second-rated one-day batsman in the world at present to play a starring role for the holders in the tournament to be held in Australia and New Zealand in February and March.

However, not only in the 50-over game going forward, though, but in the Test arena, too, with Kohli keen to remind his growing number of doubters of late about his worth to India not just in one-day cricket.

“They [the critics] tend to forget my contributions in the last four-five years. I've been scoring consistently in all three formats of the game,” he said recently after his belated return to form.

No one, though, will be criticising Kohli anymore if he continues plundering runs like he has done these past two matches against the West Indies.

India beat West Indies by 59 runs in the fourth one-day international as the tourists produced a lacklustre display after it was earlier announced they were abandoning their tour of the sub-continent.

As reported by ESPN Cricinfo, the men from the Caribbean will now fly home following an internal pay dispute which was revealed in a statement by the Indian cricket board during the home side's innings.

A fifth one-dayer, a Twenty20 International and three Test matches have now been shelved after India claimed a 2-1 series win following a meek WI performance in Dharamsala.

West Indies, who won the toss and elected to field at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, saw the hosts make an imposing 330-6 with Virat Kohli compiling a century.

In their reply West Indies could only muster 271 despite 112 from Marlon Samuels.

Kohli ignored the off-field distractions to make 127 from 114 balls, an innings that featured 14 boundaries and three sixes,

He put on 138 for the third wicket with Suresh Raina, who thumped 71 from 58 balls, after Shikhar Dhawan (35) and Ajinkya Rahane (68) had given the hosts a solid start.

In their reply, opener Dwayne Smith went for a duck in the second over as they limped to 26-1 at the end of the powerplay.

Samuels, at least, offered some expansive strokeplay but wickets fell regularly at the other end with captain Dwayne Bravo going for a second ball duck.

A 57-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Andre Russell (46 from 23 balls) gave WI a glimmer but Samuels was the final man out in the 49th over.

A dramatic West Indian batting collapse that saw them fold from 170-2 to 215 all out gave India victory in the second ODI of the five-match series in Delhi on Saturday.

India, having won the toss and elected to bat, set what appeared to be a below-par total of 263-7 thanks largely to fifties from Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina. And despite a superb start from the West Indies that took them to the brink of victory at 170-2, with Dwayne Smith striking 97, a mad passage of play proceeded in which the visitors lost their remaining eight wickets for just 45 runs.

Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra were the stars with the ball, taking nine wickets between them and carrying their side to a crucial victory that levels the five-match series one-all with three to play.

However, with only a handful of months until the World Cup begins in Australia and New Zealand early next year, the means of these matches are as, if not more, important than the results themselves. While winning is obviously important, finding the right strategy, team-balance and form is crucial ahead of the main event next February; and Saturday's return to form for India’s leading batsman Kohli will give them a much needed lift.

Kohli has struggled for form since the middle of the Indian Premier League in April and May—after which he offered precious little returns in England during both the Test and ODI series—however, his 78-ball 62 today—his first ODI fifty since February—may well spell the end of the drought.

Kohli’s last five ODI scores before today’s match were: 0, 40, 1*, 13, 2, and in the lead up to this series had been seeking technical assistance from Sachin Tendulkar.

His innings today displayed all the characteristics of a man desperately battling for form. It was not an innings containing the usual Kohli arrogance or swagger; he was cautious, tentative even, watching the ball carefully outside off stump. Indeed, his strike-rate Saturday of just 79 is 10 below his career strike rate of 89, but that he scored runs supersedes their nature or design.

Kohli batted at number four today rather than three, where he has played more innings, and although his record in either position remains strong, dropping Kohli to four rather symbolises the nature of his entire innings and India’s handling of their precious star.

India need a strong and in-form Virat Kohli. Shifting him down the order one place protects him slightly from the new ball, cushioning his fragile technique and confidence, while the nature of his innings reinforced that this is a period of time in which Kohli is fighting hard for runs; however they may come.

Indeed, many analysts have pointed out Kohli’s technical frailties outside off stump, and there is little doubt he is struggling in that area—close observers have watched on as he has dedicated entire training sessions to drills for facing such deliveries.

But while he continues to work away from matches on that area of his game, a return to form and a boost in confidence via runs, in whatever manner, will likely bring Kohli back towards his natural game—the game that has taken him to the upper echelons of modern cricket, and, in fact, modern batting.

Kohli looked scratchy on Saturday, he didn’t look perfect, but he scored runs. If he continues to grind them out, it won’t be long before he’s churning them out. Today was a big win for India, and a small step towards retribution for Kohli.

West Indies crushed India by 124 runs in the opening one-day international in Kochi.

India, who won the toss and elected to field, saw the men from the Caribbean make 321-6 in their 50 overs at the Nehru Stadium as Marlon Samuels blasted a century.

In their reply, the hosts could only manage 197 all out as they were dismissed in 41 overs.

Samuels smashed 126 not out from 117 balls to guide his side to the highest team total at the ground.

He hit 11 boundaries and four sixes in his sixth ODI century, with his total matching his previous best, which was made against Bangladesh two years ago.

He came to the crease in the 18th over with West Indies on 98-2 after Dwayne Smith had given them a solid foundation with 46 from 45 balls.

After the dismissal of Darren Bravo (28), Samuels shared a 165-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Denesh Ramdin.

Ramdin played a supporting role in making 61 from 59 balls to help his side forge a formidable target.

Shikhar Dhawan carried India’s innings but he watched wickets fall at regular intervals at the other end.

After a 49-run opening partnership, Ajinkya Rahane (24) and Virat Kohli (2) departed in the space of seven balls.

Ambati Rayudu (13) and Suresh Raina (0) also went in quick succession, and when MS Dhoni was bowled by Darren Sammy for eight, India had lost half their wickets with just 25.1 overs gone.

The writing was on the wall for India when Samuels bowled Dhawan for 68 in the 29th over, and although Ravindra Jadeja (33 not out) had a late flourish, Ravi Rampaul bowled Mohammed Shami to seal the win.

The ODI series continues in Delhi on Saturday with five one-day internationals to be followed by three Test matches and a Twenty20 International.

For India, Friday's dead-rubber with England was just another of the inconsequential one-day internationals that litter their annual calendar. 

With the series already won and little left to play for, it was hardly surprising to see MS Dhoni's men aimlessly meander to a 41-run loss that spared the hosts an embarrassing 4-0 whitewash.

Indeed, to understand how little Friday's contest meant to the visitors, you only had to see Ajinkya Rahane's careless swipe in the first over, Ravindra Jadeja's innings that essentially became a personal practice session, the wide smiles on their faces as Suresh Raina received his Man of the Series award and their uncontrollable laughter as Virat Kohli fell over an advertising board following the post-match presentation.

After two-and-a-half gruelling months of almost non-stop cricket that began in June, and with the trophy already in hand, Friday was nothing more than just another day to get through for India, a meaningless afternoon of cricket that carried no wider context. 

The celebratory champagne was perhaps the only thing that lured them to the ground at all. 

Prior to the fifth and final match, however, the series carried an undeniable importance for India.

In the wake of the team's capitulation in the preceding Test campaign, Dhoni's side had been engulfed in negativity and doubt, many questioning both India's resolve and their appetite for the five-day game. 

The now-concluded one-day contests, therefore, were an opportunity to compartmentalise the team's problems, a chance to show disappointing results in the Test arena weren't about to spill over into the nation's outstanding limited-overs play. 

Reassuringly, India have done exactly that. 

Dhoni and his team can now leave England—well, after their sole Twenty20 match at Edgbaston on Sunday—having regained their belief, eyeing the chance to defend their World Cup title when the tournament heads to Australia and New Zealand in February. 

Such a feat is well within their grasp.

Boasting a top order that few sides can compete with in the 50-over format, India's World Cup defence will predictably hinge on the fortunes of Rahane, Kohli, Raina, Shikhar Dhawan and, possibly, Rohit Sharma. 

As that group again showed in their plundering of 304 in Cardiff, and in consecutive waltzes when chasing at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston, India possess a unique balance of power and nous in their one-day batting that is responsible for the nation's position at the top of the ICC Rankings. 

A stifling, spin-based attack only further compounds the challenge facing opposing sides. 

If there are issues facing India in their quest to match only Australia and the West Indies as consecutive World Cup champions, though, it's the team's ability to contain with the ball on hard pitches and their overall record Down Under—two highly related concerns. 

In 115 completed ODIs in Australia and New Zealand, India have only emerged victorious on 43 occasions. When Dhoni's team last contested a series on Kiwi shores, they were blown away 4-0. When they took part in a triangular series along with Sri Lanka in Australia in 2012, they didn't reach the finals. 

On rock-hard surfaces in the middle of expansive boundaries—particularly in Australia—India have typically struggled to squeeze the opposition in the way they're used to with their subcontinental approach, placing an added burden on a batting lineup not comfortable with the ball above the waist. 

Yet, both India's draw for the 2015 World Cup and their recent record in ICC tournaments suggests such concerns can be overcome. 

In Pool B, Dhoni's team will face Pakistan, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe. Of the six, only the Proteas have the capacity to uncover any of India's lingering issues in the anticipated conditions. 

That will give the defending champions time to ease into the game's showpiece event—a commodity India's opponents won't want them to have. 

After capturing the 2011 World Cup, cricket's behemoth has claimed last summer's Champions Trophy and reached the final of this year's World Twenty20. 

Excelling in those environments involves a certain knack, an ability to adapt, to counter the contrasting skills of varying opponents with little preparation in a congested schedule. 

India's recent record suggests they handle it better than most. 

But such qualities are worthless without belief, without that powerful inner steel developed from winning.

And despite Friday's loss, India have won comfortably in their one-day series with England, outplaying the hosts with supremely rounded performances in the second, third and fourth games of the contest. 

After an abysmal Test campaign, the triumph is a timely boost, reminding both India and their opponents of the team's capacity to dominate the white-ball formats as the World Cup approaches.