India repeated history at the Adelaide Oval and changed it completely at MCG — and on both occasions, it came away with glory. Having defeated South Africa for the first time in a World Cup match, that too by a huge margin of 130 runs, that too at the MCG, Team India showed they are worthy defending champions. And, life’s good when you are setting the pace and quality of life of more than 86,000 people, mostly Indians, bleeding blue around you.
Shikhar Dhawan proved this with his match winning innings this Sunday. With 137 runs, he blossomed in his purple patch with a big first — this is the highest any batsman has gone against South Africa at the World Cup, it is his personal best against the Proteas and it is also India’s highest against their fearsome rivals. Stephen Fleming scored three short of Dhawan against South Africa in 2003.
Dhawan decorated his run wheel with 16 boundaries and two sixes, sparing no bowler, not even the much-feared Dale Steyn. He took his time, picked his shots and shifted gear depending on the opportunities he saw. “I respected the good balls and hit the loose ones. After the 25th over, I was set and you hit more shots when you are set. Also, I was playing on the merit of the ball. Virat gave stability and Ajinkya good pace,” he said after thanking the crowd and picking up his first Man of the Match award in this edition.
Though Dhawan was the master of ceremonies at the MCG, what was more becoming was the fact that the entire unit gave a picture-perfect performance - if that is, you could negate the Indian retreat in the last ten overs which restricted the score to 307, at least 20 less than what was being projected. This multi-point power presentation had it all — India’s top order took care of the score-line without those wanton fireworks which come with high casualties. There was measured professionalism instead; the start was adequately cautious and none among the top three got restless with an under four run rate till the 14th over; the batting was flawless and the running between the wickets exceptionally agile. Add to that the two strong partnerships engineered clinically to navigate the pace of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander at the outset and more than half the job was done for India by India.
Next came the bowling and the way the Indian quicks kept a tight cordon around the South Africans not giving them any width to try shots, pleased skipper MS Dhoni no end. The Indians looked good in the outfield too. The two run-outs, both orchestrated by Indian bowlers showed how young India is fit and ready to go for it. Forget the preceding Test and Tri series. This is new India, in a gear it reserves only for the World Cup.