Off the Mark!

India were always the favorites in their tournament opener against Afghanistan. It turned out to be a battle between the Experience of the Indians and the Enthusiasm of Afghanistan. As Virat Kohli rightly said at the post match presentation, it was tough batting against an opposition bowling attack who had nothing to lose. It was an important toss to win and Afghanistan made the right decision to make India bat first considering their strong batting line up which should be capable of chasing down good totals.

Batting has always been a strength for the Men in Blue but the silence of their openers is a cause of worry. Gambhir looked out of sorts once again and was fishy against that outside off stump line as he dragged one on to his stumps. Sehwag, on the other hand, never got going. It was that man again - Virat Kohli. He came at the crease after the early dismissal of Gambhir and saw Sehwag getting out early too. He shouldered the responsibility with his classy cover drives, powerful straight drives and the magnificent strokes through the leg side as he scored another half century (a 39 ball 50 with 4 fours and 2 sixes). Yuvraj looked like making it big when he got off the mark with an effortless six but could not make it count as he was dismissed on 18. Raina looked a bit scratchy in his knock of 38 and it was the skipper, MS Dhoni, whose big hitting at the end (including a last ball Six) made sure India had a good looking 159 on the board.

Afghanistan began their chase with a positive approach and were 24/0 at the end of 3 overs. It was Lakshmipathy Balaji who delivered the first blow taking the wicket of Shahzad. Skipper Nawroz Mangal tried to steady the ship but it was Yuvraj's part timers that took the game away from them. Yuvraj took 3 for 24 in his 4 overs and was ably supported by Balaji who took 3 for 19. Mohammad Nabi did give Indians a scare when he played a cameo (17 ball 31 with 2 fours and 2 sixes) but it was too late as Indians kept on picking up wickets at the other end.

It was a good victory for India but certainly could have been better. The batsmen looked a bit uncertain at times and the fact that Afghanistan dropped as many as 4 catches also means that Indians gave them those chances! Zaheer Khan, their premier bowler, looked a bit off target as he went for 32 in his 3 overs. The seven batsmen strategy followed by Dhoni will be questioned more seriously as the tournament progresses and then we might have a toss between Balaji, Bhajji, Irfan and most probably, Rohit Sharma. The times will tell us what lies ahead. For now, the Indians can be happy that they've got off the mark but at the same time, they should be prepared for the challenges waiting ahead.

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