Badani displays his talent

The Indians have the knack of making easy wins appear difficult. The home team should have coasted home against Zimbabwe in the first one-day International at Cuttack but almost gave the match away.

Full marks to Hemang Badani for piloting the side to victory even as his more senior colleagues failed. He is a talented batsman and hopefully this knock will help him cement his place in the side.

It was indeed a fine knock from Badani, who showed a mature head on young shoulders. In tight situations it is important that the batsman who is set, carries on till victory is achieved and Badani did just that with a mixture of caution and aggression.

The left-hander was rarely perturbed, got his runs with authentic strokes and rotated the strike well apart from coming up with a few big shots himself. This was an effort which showed his temperament in good light.

Once again the Indian lower order contributed with Vijay Dahiya and Ajit Agarkar producing some timely blows. This is one area where the Indians have shown marked improvement.

Coming to the Zimbabwe innings, it was surprising to see the batsmen not going after the bowling in the first 15 overs. So many deliveries were wasted, runs that could have made all the difference in the end.

Though the visitors ended up with a reasonable total, the lack of a planned approach was obvious. The Zimbabweans will have to score quick runs early on to put more pressure on the Indian bowlers in the middle overs.

Reetinder Singh Sodhi, playing his first match, was fairly impressive while sending down his seamers; he didn't show any sign of nerves. The Sardar, however, will have to work hard on his batting.

However, Agarkar went for plenty of runs again and there have been far too many occasions where he has come in for such punishment.

The Indian fielding too left a lot to be desired. It is time the Indians held all the catches that came their way. They may get away against sides like Zimbabwe, but stronger outfits will surely make them pay a heavy price.

The Zimbabwe attack was very ordinary to say the least. In the event, it was surprising that the star-studded Indian line-up huffed and puffed before the winning runs were scored.

K. SRIKKANTH

www.krishsrikkanth.com

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