If it was one-sided, the blame lay with Bangladesh. lack of experience was very much evident in their failure to arrest the Indian progress after having matched their fancied opponents in the initial phase of the quarterfinal. Bangladesh, however, was engulfed by the pressure that came from India’s 300-plus target. To overhaul it, Bangladesh would have needed a superman in the batting order. Sadly, they did not have one.
There were some worries for India. When they chose to bat first, the course the innings took was not to the liking of the Indian camp. At the half way stage the score was 99. Not healthy at all. But Bangladesh made things easy for India with some poor work in the field. They just crashed and it was shocking to see Bangladesh conceding overthrows at this level. They just did not know how to control the match and gradually India came back, thanks to the wonderful century by Rohit Sharma and a match-swinging knock by Suresh Raina. We knew Rohit had the capacity. It was a matter of applying his mind to the job because his shot selection had led to early dismissals in some of the matches. Once Rohit decided to hang around in the company of Raina, Bangladesh’s task became difficult. The good player that Rohit is, just seized the opportunity to get into the rhythm that can come in handy in the semifinal. Raina’s was as significant a knock as Rohit’s because it gave the Indian innings the momentum that was missing in the first 25 overs. Rohit batted with freedom that marks his style and Raina took charge when it really mattered. It was clear that the two batsmen were in excellent form even though Rohit had not been doing justice to his awesome potential. It was a treat to see Rohit react to the challenge like a matured batsman.
He took time to assess the attack which was the right strategy. You are bound to make runs if you stay in the middle and Rohit realised there was no need to rush into playing his shots. I rate this innings by Rohit high and certainly one of the finest from an Indian at this level. He walked out to bat under pressure and showed the way with some sensible strokeplay.
Raina swung the match India’s way. He has looked a different batsman and was at his best against Bangladesh. He was able to time and place the shots so perfectly it should give lot of comfort to Dhoni, who has done well to back his players. That India have stuck to the same combination for most matches speaks of the confidence the captain has in his players. By achieving 100 wins in ODIs, Dhoni has reconfirmed his status as one of India’s finest captains. The results speak for his leadership qualities. After two one-sided quarterfinals, one can hope for some high voltage action in the Aus-Pak encounter. Australia are favourites to win but I will keep my fingers crossed.