Adelaide, Feb 10: Riding on Rohit Sharma’s (150, 122b, 12×4, 7×6) strokeful innings India finally registered a win in Australia but once more their bowling left much to be desired. The inconsistency that has plagued the Indian bowling during the entire tour Down Under once more became apparent even against the minnows of World Cricket.
ODI cricket demands a consistent length and line. The three pacers on view in the last warm-up game at the Adelaide Oval here showed that they were yet to settle down. There was at least one boundary ball in an over as Umesh Yadav (1/35), Mohammed Shami (0/39) and Mohit Sharma (2/40) sprayed the ball all around. In spite of the handsome margin of victory, the Indian skipper MS Dhoni will certainly not rest easy. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (2/38) and off-spinner Ravi Ashwin (1/37) bowled a tidy spell, but then the Afghan batsman did not really threaten them.
Earlier electing to bat, India did not have the best of starts as they lost opener Shikhar Dhawan (4) and Virat Kohli (5) early but Rohit’s knock helped the Men in Blue post 364 for five. In reply, Afghanistan could score only 211 for eight but will take heart from the fact that the Indians failed to bowl them out. Kohli’s recent form will certainly be a cause of worry to the Indians, but Suresh Raina stated after the game that ‘Virat is a big stage player and will certainly come good when it matters’ the most.
But the day belonged to Rohit, whose dominating innings laid the foundation of a strong batting show. He stitched a 158-run third wicket partnership with Raina (75, 71b, 5×4, 3×6) to help India gain ground.
The innings of the day however, was played by Ajinkya Rahane (88 n o, 61b, 12×4, 2×6) as he put on 95 runs for the fourth wicket with Rohit. Rahane has been moved up and down the batting order but he proved once more that class with a capital ‘C’ can adapt to any position. The shimmy down the wicket six over extra cover off pacer Dawlat Zadran testified the form that the Mumbai batsman is at present.
The only time Afghanistan looked like posing a challenge was when opener Usman Ghani (44, 72b, 4×4, 1×6) and Nawroz Mangal (60, 85b, 2×4, 2×6) put on 93 runs for the second wicket. But then the asking rate was always beyond their reach.
Brief scores: India 364 for 5 (Rohit Sharma 150, Ajinkya Rahane 88 n o, Suresh Raina 75) bt Afghanistan 211 for 8 (Nawroz Mangal 60, Ravindra Jadeja 2/38, Mohit Sharma 2/40) by 153 runs.
PTI
