India vs Sri Lanka, Rajkot, Nov 9 2005

A fit Dravid took a break and sat out the sixth ODI in an apparent move to groom Sehwag to be the next captain. Staggering how things have moved on in Indian cricket! This was Sehwag’s opportunity to stamp his authority on the game and he did it well, probably having rubbed off on some of Dravid’s Midas touch. His bowling changes produced wickets that ensured Sri Lanka could never build a significant partnership and were bowled out for 196 on a good batting pitch. His batsmen had no trouble chasing it down and the old hands of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif guided India to a thumping win.

At the start it looked like vintage Sanath Jayasuriya was back as he pounced on some wide offerings from Shree Santh and Sri Lanka were off to a rollicking start. But, Santh went around the wicket and brought the ball back into Jayasuriya to get an inside edge into Dhoni’s hands. Sangakkara came in at one drop to sweetly time a couple of balls to the leg side before he tried an expansive pull shot at a short ball from Pathan. It was a slower one and the ball looped to Sachin at mid on. It was a terrible shot and not the first time that Sangakara has tried something like it, but this time it jump started the disarray that was to follow. RP Singh was accurate and sharp and got one to lift appreciably surprising the other opener Upul Tharanga for an easy catch to Dhoni.

Dhoni was having a great day behind the stumps and it looks like his batting confidence has improved his keeping. Sehwag introduced Karthik in the first power play and off the very first ball Mahela Jayawardene reached forward to the perfect left arm orthodox delivery that looped and turned to beat the bat. As the batsman over balanced, Dhoni whipped off the bails before you could say Jiminy Crickets. It was a fantastic stumping, and Mahela walked off even before the third umpire’s verdict. In the next over Atapattu tried to hoick a good length ball from RP Singh and it landed safely into a delighted Sehwag’s hands at mid on. It was as if the Lankans had told themselves that since they didn’t have Muralitharan today, they needed to score 350 to win the match. Half the side was gone for 83 and Sri Lanka were in deep trouble. Tilekaratne Dilshan counter attacked as he knows best and got away to a flying start with 2 fours each of Karthik and RP Singh. Harbhajan Singh was brought into the attack and he started off with a maiden and immediately put a break on the scoring rate. Dilshan was cautious against a menacing Bhajji and Russell Arnold was tying himself up in knots against Karthik. The Sri Lankans tried to take quick singles to get a move on, but Mohammad Kaif was prowling the cover region and swooped down on one and flung it back to Dhoni, who picked it up smartly on the half volley to break the stumps and run out Arnold. It was a brilliant collection by Dhoni as Kaif had thrown the ball with all his might. Dilshan fought a lone battle as wickets continued to fall. Chaminda Vaas’ defense couldn’t keep Karthik out as the ball snaked through off his bat and pad and rolled onto the stumps.

India’s fielding has been excellent in this series with all the young blood diving around the field, and today the veterans Kaif and Yuvraj, (can you call them veterans?) stepped up to the party. After Kaif’s brilliant work earlier, it was Yuvraj’s turn to run out Dilshan with a direct hit at the non strikers end from backward point. Dilshan was gone after another attacking half century in his third successive match. Maharoof was subbed in the place of Zoysa for his batting but he didn’t last long. RP Singh came back and Maharoof looped a cover drive on a ball that was held back and it went high to Kaif, who had no problems with it. Singh then cleaned up Chandana with a good yorker to end the Lankan innings at 196 and finished with 4 wickets to claim the Man of the Match award. India’s bounty of left arm fast bowlers is swelling.

India got off to a rollicking start with Gautam Gambhir continuing on from his aggressive century from the previous game. He charged down in Vaas’ first over to smash him over cover. Gambhir was strong square of the wicket with cuts and pulls and punished both new ball bowlers, while Tendulkar played the more cautious role. Fernando has been in pretty good form this series and today he finally got rewards with wickets of both openers with his brilliantly disguised split finger slower ball. It is a new way of bowling the slower ball that bowlers around the world are slowly mastering. Steve Harmison bowls a similar slower ball and it is very difficult to pick as the arm speed is the same, and there is no turning of the wrist, the ball is slower because the index and forefingers fingers are split and not behind the seam propelling the ball down the pitch. Gambhir played too early to chop the ball onto his stumps and Tendulkar drove too early and looped the ball to mid on. Sehwag came in and blasted a few boundaries square of Maharoof, who must be thinking that he perhaps should bowl in the slog overs as only that seems to work for him in India. Mohammad Kaif settled in with a sweetly timed punch through covers of Fernando’s slower ball and the runs continued to flow. Sehwag was looking good and even played a cheeky reverse sweep for four of Jayasuriya but he was foxed into a leading edge by a beautifully flighted leg break from Upul Chandana, who picked up his first wicket of the series.

Sri Lanka had a small window of opportunity here, but Chandana struggled against the left handed Yuvraj Singh as he didn’t have any variation like the googly to trouble him. Both Kaif and Yuvraj played him well and the slow turn did not bother them. While Kaif worked the ball around, Yuvraj was in a belligerent mood with a point to prove in the series. It has been a while since the pair batted together and Yuvraj and Kaif seemed to revel in their partnership and it was evident how much it mattered to them when after completing a single to reach their 50 run partnership, Kaif called out to Yuvraj and said “Yuvi, 50 runs”. They celebrated by converting it into a century stand, with Yuvraj smashing the ball around to quickly bring up the second fifty. He danced down the track with authority to both Chandana and Dilshan to loft them for sixes. He even unleashed a brutal lofted off drive of Fernando for another six. The boundary appeared small as the full power of the strapping Yuvraj Singh was revealed and the match finished in a hurry.

Atapattu looked a beaten man in the presentation ceremony and will struggle to lift his team for the next match and the Test series that follows in December. Sehwag was a proud captain and said that his boys deserved the win and that it had nothing to do with the conditions. Heady days for India; and one can only look forward to the one day series against South Africa with anticipation. Of course there is one more match to be played against Sri Lanka which the Indians won’t be too worried about, but Sourav Ganguly will be dreading the Indian team announcement after that match.