After pitch row, Bhuvi puts India on track

Pune, October 26
A day of extraordinary events ended in a rather tame and routine evening, India winning the second ODI by six wickets to level the series 1-1. The day’s main topic of debate was whether the curator of the ground here had revealed anything significant to an under-cover reporter apparently posing as a bookie. In the event, the International Cricket Committee match referee, Stuart Broad, took a look at the pitch and decided all was well.
A day before the start of the series in Mumbai, Dinesh Karthik was game enough to take off his shirt and run laps of the ground under the watchful eye of conditioning coach Shankar Basu. At the age of 32, he might not be a hare, but he clearly knows that cricketing skills might not be enough to secure a place in the Indian playing XI.
In the second ODI here today, Karthik combined his supreme fitness and his sublime skills with the willow to construct an unbeaten innings of 64 from 92 balls to help India level the series against New Zealand. Karthik’s classy innings and Shikhar Dhawan’s 68 (84 balls) ensured there were no calamities in chasing a modest total of 230. Theirs was a match-defining partnership and perhaps India just may have found the perfect solution for their No. 4 woes.
Over the past year, 10 players have batted in that position but none has managed to lock down the spot. Karthik’s composed knock in a must-win match will ease the pressure on the team management, at least for the immediate future.
At first Karthik’s selection in the ODI setup might have raised a few eyebrows, but the wicketkeeper-batsman was the leading run-scorer in the domestic limited-overs cricket last year, helping Tamil Nadu win the Vijay Hazare trophy.
Karthik’s next challenge will be to ensure he can produce a substantial innings if India lose two early wickets. But for now, he has at least ensured that he would get another chance to lock down the position.
Bhuvi spells trouble
While Karthik’s batting was the backbone of India’s victory, the bowling by Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the start of the day set up the match for India. Kumar is no longer a one-dimensional bowler who desperately needs the ball to shape through the air. He has learnt to change his release points at the crease and with the added yard of pace, he now has different weapons to deceive the batsmen.
Today, he found the edge of Martin Guptill’s bat with a beautiful outswinger, uprooted Henry Nicholls’ stumps by going wider of the crease, and then bowled Colin Munro with a well disguised knuckle ball. Kumar’s ability to strike at different times of the innings ensured New Zealand were never able to generate a huge partnership, which they’d managed in Mumbai on Sunday.
Axar ahead of Yadav
India were also wise with their selection, picking Axar Patel ahead of Kuldeep Yadav. The combination of the wrist spin of Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal might have been fruitful against Australia, but the Kiwis had showed in Mumbai they had a game-plan to unsettle the two spinners.
The quicker pace of Patel ensured the Kiwis could not sweep the ball with ease, as they’d done two nights ago in Mumbai. Besides, Virat Kohli also turned to Kedar Jadhav, another bowler whose low-arm skidders make it difficult for the batsmen to sweep the ball. The variety in the spin bowling ensured New Zealand were tied down through the middle overs and India kept making breakthroughs on a regular basis.
Not a single New Zealand batsman managed to notch a half-century and the highest partnership of the innings was only 60. Through some accurate bowling and distinctive bowling plans, India managed to choke the Black Caps and in the process recorded a comfortable victory. The match might have been overshadowed by the curator controversy, but through the tough times India found a new answer to their No. 4 problems.