On a day when everyone thought the ouster of Ashwin from the playing XI could mean end of India's campaign in the 2011 World Cup, the men who mattered most proved the pundits wrong. ....And when one looks into the match details, one could definitely agree that Pakistan's characterless batting was the main cause to loose the match than India won on their own.
Yes, a painstaking 13 from 32 balls from Younis and his aged partner Misbah's initial 25 from runs from 50 balls were the main reason for such a startling defeat. The required rate rate from the 30th over went to above 7 runs an over and the batsmen only allowed the RRR to climb. When the ninth wicket fell at 199, on the 44th over, Misbah suddenly woke up to produce another 28 runs from 18 balls, when even the Pakistanis at home had already switched off their TV sets in anguish. Why was the batting power play not taken earlier is a question that will raise a few eyebrows - interestingly enough, the batting power play was taken by the umpires on the 46th over, to help them take a few lusty hits.
In the meantime, all Dhoni had to do, was just implement the plans he had for each of the batsmen and it worked perfectly. Dhoni was spot on in his captaincy where his field placing and bowling changes were simply perfect.
In the afternoon, Pakistan helped India reach a compatible score of 260, by having Sachin dropped four times in his 85 and MS Dhoni once. By contrast, India's display in the field was simply professional, and that was the difference in a match that lived up to the pre-match hype. The decision to leave R.Ashwin out to make room for Ashish Nehra was an odd choice on a pitch offering plenty of spin, but Nehra and his bowling colleagues built the pressure and gave Pakistan's batsmen little to attack after they made a promising start by reaching 70/1 of 15 overs.
Retaining Suresh Raina in the team has definitely added a lot of strength to the overall team's performance as well. He was my player of the match, and too me his contribution towards the end was a telling effect of how he held the innings together.
For now, the dream of their first World Cup in 28 years is very much on the cards....
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