ICC Champions Trophy 2013: Match 6 - India vs West Indies - Hits and misses

It was the day for the moustache twirlers- Ravindra Jadeja and Shikhar Dhawan – as India crushed West Indies to march to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. Ravindra Jadeja, twirling the ball, set the tone for the victory with his maiden fifer and Shikhar Dhawan followed it up with another spectacular ton, sending the West Indies bowling into a twirl.

Five star Jadeja

Nearly four years ago, at the same city of London, Ravindra Jadeja was pilloried and lambasted by experts and fans alike for his inability to put bat onto ball as India crashed out of the World T20 against England. From being Indian cricket‘s punching bag to calming pillow, his career has come a full circle. Without an atom of a doubt, Jadeja is an instrumental cog in India’s machinery, bolstering all three departments.

In the crucial Champions Trophy clash against the impromptu West Indians, Sir Ravindra Jadeja produced an inspiring bowling spell – his first fifer (5-36) to reduce the World T20 champions to paupers. Besides attacking the stumps as he often does, Jadeja got a few balls to spit out venom and turn prodigiously. He was found an able ally in the ever steady Ravichandran Ashwin.

Rolls Royce Dhawan

The dashing Delhi batsman was not supposed to succeed ,outside the subcontinent at least. He has for now. Mastering the difficult England conditions, Dhawan hit his second consecutive century in as many matches to reaffirm his class. Dhawan is a Rolls Royce that loves the rut-roads.

Rohit Sharma, the pick up truck

Rohit Sharma, Indian cricket’s ultimate enigma, has finally come off age. With back-to-back fifties in the ongoing Champions Trophy, Rohit has staked claim for a long tenancy at the top order, alongside Dhawan. He has been the right pick-up truck for Dabangg Dhawan thus far.

West Indies batting: A tale of two fifties

Johnson Charles is the kind of batsman who gives you the impression of striking every ball out of the park. After the early dismissal of Chris Gayle, the hard hitting batsman smacked a quick-fire 60 to inject the early impetus.

Ahead of the Champions Trophy, Sammy was stripped of the captaincy and Dwayne Bravo was thrust into the hot-seat, with Sammy being dropped for the West Indies’ opening game. Sammy brought the never-say-die Caribbean spirit to the fore and scripted an admirable rearguard action to lift the West Indies to a healthy 235, that was eventually overhauled with ease by India’s famous batting unit. Unfazed by the fall of wickets in clusters, Sammy, farming the strike intelligently, carved 56 off just 35 balls.

India’s unending death bowling woes

While Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav swung the new ball early on, they were taken to the cleaners in the death overs. India hemorrhaged as many as 51 runs in the last 4 overs, raising concerns about limitations in their bowling. They will have to shore-up their death bowling skills, hit the block-hole on a consistent basis as the tournament hurtles towards the business end.

West Indies’ middle order meltdown

Stumbling to 182-9 from 103-1 is highly unacceptable, especially if you have batsmen like Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard in your ranks. Their misfiring middle order also copped plenty of flak in West Indies’ narrow victory over the already ousted Pakistan.

Roach blows from hot to cold

The fast and furious Kemar Roach, who threw a spanner in Pakistan’s works, lacked that cutting-edge incisiveness against India, conceding 47 in 6 overs. Sunil Narine tried his best to hoodwink the Indian batsmen, but the mild drizzle limited his effectiveness.

Honorable mention: India’s agile fielding

Gone are the days when India looked at its fielding like a chef does at chutney in a thali. India’s ground fielding and catching was equally sharp, mounting the pressure on the Bravo’s boys. With Jadeja, Kohli and Raina in the mix, India are arguably the best fielding side in the competition.