India thrashes West Indies by six wickets
By Kersi Meher-Homji
India under new captain Rohit Sharma has started the One Day International [ODI] series on a high by beating the touring West Indians by six wickets at Ahmedabad with 22 overs in hand. A massive victory.
Sent in to bat the Windies started shockingly, losing 7 for 79. They were rescued by Jason Holder (57 runs) and Fabian Allen (29) who added 78 runs for the eighth wicket. With leg-break and googly bowler Yuzvendra Chahal capturing 4 for 49 and off-break bowler Washington Sundar 3 for 30, the visitors were bowled out for 176.
India marched towards victory in style, openers Rohit Sharma (60 runs with 10 fours and a six) and young left-handed Ishan Kishan (28 with 2 fours and a six) added 84 runs. Virat Kohli, not captaining India after more than a decade, failed with the bat and was caught for only 8 runs.
Suryakumar Yadav (34) and debutant Deepak Hooda (26) remained unbeaten and India reached the winning target with six wickets in hand. India leads the three ODI series 1-0, Yuzvendra Chahal made Person of the Match for his mystifying bowling spell.
Chahal explained his change in bowling style at the presentation, “[I thought] my usual slower pace won’t work here, because the quicker balls were spinning. I changed my line also, made it more middle and off. I bowled according to the pitch. I knew that here, the batters will find it easy to hit if I slowed up. So I continued bowling quicker. You can bowl the odd slower one for variation. When I came back from South Africa, I watched each of my games three or four times [on TV] to see where I was missing. I spoke to Rohit bhaiyya [skipper Sharma] after coming back and with Paras Mhambrey sir, our bowling coach. I worked on where I felt I was missing in South Africa.”
And Chahal succeeded for sure in this match. You may hum the old Hindi song, “Chalti Chahal ka naam gaadi.”
The second and third ODIs will also be played at Ahmedabad, on 9th and 11th February.
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