Harbhajan and Raina Rescues India..!!!
By balu_maris
@balu_maris (240)
India
June 21, 2011 6:26am CST
Dear All,
India has started yet another tour on the back foot. But thanks to the heroics of Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina, India managed to procure some respectability to the score. At one time, India were reeling for 85 for 6. Then Harbhajan's counter attack exposed the flaws of the West Indies bowling. The fact that the West Indies did not have a fifth bowler came back to haunt them.
The best part about the partnership between Harbhajan and Raina was that it was a good mix. Raina was initially peppered with some bouncers. Raina did not throw his wicket way. He fought through that session and Harbhajan on the other side was plundering runs. Raina too, accelerated towards the end. It was most heartening to see Raina grind it ut and not throw his wicket away by playing his usual get out shot; a slog to wards the leg side.
There was a time when the two of them where together the run rate was close to eight. they ended up taking 150 runs in twenty seven overs with a run rate of 5.7. With Harbhajan getting out, it was only a matter of time before the others got out too. It is a pity that the Indians were not able to bat out at least one whole day's play.
This is turning out to be an interesting test match as it is now evenly poised. But the West Indies do have a slight upper hand as they have wickets in hand. If the Indians manage to get the Windies out cheaply then the Indians have a chance. Or will this be another tour where they have to come back from the dead???? Let us wait and watch.
Share your views...
Balu
2 people like this
6 responses
@ram_cv (16513)
• India
21 Jun 11
It was good to see another counter attacking innings from Raina. I think this role suits him very well in the test matches rather than the defensive roles. Bhajji has really grown in stature as a batsman over the past couple of years and the hardwork at the nets again showed up yesterday. I think it could be the partnership that could decide the fate of this match given the state of the pitch.
Cheers!
Ram
@balu_maris (240)
• India
22 Jun 11
Dear Ram,
Normally I am very critical about Suresh Raina, because he has this habit of giving his wicket away at crucial times. But this time he played well. He played the short ball well. He stuck it out till the bowling became easy and reaped the benefits... I just hope he continues to play the way he did this time...
Share your views...
Balu
1 person likes this
@madhuvamsi (1185)
• India
22 Jun 11
Well India will win this match because they have put a target of 325 and it is tough one because Indian batting is little bit stronger than West Indies and in the both the innings, Indian batsmen were able to score 250 odd runs and not more than that. West Indies already last 2 wickets and that too of Sarwan who can play a long innings. Now if India can pick up the wicket of D Bravo and Chanderpaul then it is all over for West Indies but Indian bowlers should never be relaxing in this match and try to bowl tight line all the time. Time is not constraint in this match only the patience of West Indies batsmen will be tested, if they are patient enough then they can win the match.. The 4th day will be more interesting and today i hope India picks up another wicket at the end of the day.
1 person likes this
@ptrikha_2 (46951)
• India
23 Jun 11
While the Indian team fought back well in this match, the Indian top order batsmen need to improve a lot, if they want to perform better in the rest of the series.
The bowling attack has been good but they have a real challenge in the second innings.
@shaileshrm (256)
• India
21 Jun 11
its been terrific the way india has come back into the game.
i think great performance shown by both raina as well as harbhajan and that is what makes india best team nowdays.
such fightback from critical situation has given india a tab of no 1 team.
1 person likes this
@keenan_savio (416)
• India
21 Jun 11
After winning the toss and also seeing off the first 10 overs of the new ball I expected India to get going and post a good score at the end of the first day. But as things went India collapsed and were 6 wickets down for just 86 on the board and were left with just Raina and the tail to follow.
A splendid job by Raina and Harbhajan. Had it not been them guess India could have found themselves with just over a hundred on the board and that would have been a disaster. The most important thing which Raina and Harbhajan did was to attack and not be defensive. That put the captain Sammy and his bowlers in a bit of a fix and also took back some of the motivation from the WestIndies after the position they found theirselves in.
Its definately going to be an interesting contest and WestIndies have a bit of the upper hand going into the second day but at the same time having seen the ball turning on the first day itself one has to say that with Harbhajan and Mishra India will have a seriously good chance to come back and take control of the match.
Will have to wait and watch and see how day two of the test match unfolds. Hope we have something exciting in store and good luck to Team India!!
@msrr1975 (8)
• India
21 Jun 11
Dear Balu,
Yesterday, we are six down for 85 and it seams as if our team will wind up before 100. Thanks to the partnership of Raina & Bajji who rescued from a meer collapse to a better total. Though the team is not in commanding position in the first innings, today after watching WI collapse in their first innings, the match turned interestingly. It looked as if it is a one sided match but there are 3 days to go and we can watch a challenging match. Since the seniors are rested, new commers have a good chance to play in the series.
Let us hope for the best & team India definitely retain its place at No.1 for the years to come.
Regards
Sirish M
