T20I tri-series - Last-ball six gets India the Nidahas Cup

After the South African tour, the Indian selectors picked virtually a second-string Indian team to participate in the tri-series with hosts Sri Lanka and neighbor Bangladesh. No room for players like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya. In came new faces like Washington Sundar, Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur. With such a galaxy of new faces, India stormed to the finals and won the Cup, thanks to a cool Dinesh Karthik!

The Indian team closed out the international season with a memorable win and a dominating performance in the tournament, even with a second-string team. Kudos!!

All images from ESPN Cricinfo website

Clearly convincing wins by the Indians  over Bangladesh by 6 wickets, 17 runs, 4 wickets in the finals and over the hosts by 6 wickets, Only one loss versus Sri Lanka in the first match dented the performance slightly!

Karthik fidgeted around in his case and changed the lengths of the eight balls he faced, to slap a quick 29 to seal the match and tournament for India.

Throughout the tournament, it was consistent performances by Washington Sundar, Y. Chahal, Shardul Thakur that caught the eye of the Indian fans and Management. It augurs well to see that the pool for the Indian team is expanding with new faces. If Vijay Shankar had contributed as well with the bat, as he did with the ball, it would have been brilliant. But, nevertheless, this tournament was a BIG gain for the Indians! Next is IPL, where I am looking for newer faces!

South Africa T20Is - India finish series at the pinnacle

After the ODI series drubbing,the Proteas decided to rest most of their seniors and announced a new-look team. With nothing to lose, the Indians continued their momentum to win the T20I series 2-1 to finish a great series for themselves (especially after the revversal in tests). The Indians won two matches by comfortable margins(28 runs, 7 wickets). Like the one-days, there was just one loss, mainly due to the weather. The confidence was so high that the Indians rested their captain in one match and still won!

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's good performances throughout the series was remarkable for his consistency, irrespective of the format - he started with a five-wicket haul in the first match and ended as the joint highest wicket taker in the series!

Suresh Raina chipped in with fast-paced knocks that were not convincing - his skills and temperament though will be useful to the Indian team in days to come.

The Indians on the field were super, probably better than the home team in some cases! If they can continue this progress for few more years, it is difficult to stop them!
In MS Dhoni, Kohli has a great guide and friend on and off the field - he can only get better from here!

The emergence of Jasprit Bumrah as a dependable force in the limited overs format was another BIG takeaway for India!

Shikhar Dhawan shone in the limited over variety but could not translate the same to whites! But, he was a revelation in the T20I format!

All images from ESPN Cricinfo website

South Africa away ODIs - Comprehensive win for the Indians

"Hisaab 25 saal ka" screamed the promos on television. Right on cue, the Indian team won their first ODi series in South Africa in a very convincing fashion. 5-1 was the final result, which left everyone stunned and numb to an extent, even an ardent Indian fan like yours truly was shocked at what happened.

Batting first or second, the Indians won convincingly (6 wickets, 9 wickets, 124 runs, 73 runs, 8 wickets). Just the one blip thanks to a wet pitch and DLS rule helping the Proteans once, the Indians were on a roll!

The captain played a BIG role in the series win, no doubt. Getting to 35 tons in his career is no easy feat - only Sachin stands in front of him now!

He was supported with the bat by Shikhar Dhawan in most matches!

With the ball, it was the wrist-spinners who provided the key breakthroughs to dismantle the Protean lineup ( already depleted by injuries to AB De Viliers, Faf du Plessis). Injuries, inability to face the spinners on seemingly slower ( and lower) pitches were a critical sin from the South Africans. The focus seemed more on a long-term vision, rather than the series ahead - this backfired badly. They learnt a HUGE lesson in the process and lost the series in a manner that their fans might have felt depressed.

All pictures from ESPN Cricinfo website

Kuldeep Yadav, helped by MS Dhoni's guidance from behind the stumps, was critical. Both the spinners were awesome with their performance, barring that lone defeat on a rain-truncated Pink Day!



Finally, a century to seal the series convincingly, for the captain! His first ODI series win after his wedding was very sweet!!

ODIs - India reach No.1 position

Thanks to their wins away versus Sri Lanka and at home versus the Aussies, India reached the No.1 position in ICC Rankings!

Sri Lanka series

The ODIs were closer as compared to the test series, thanks to the young spinner Akhila Dananjaya. India coasted while chasing - winning by nine, three, six and six wickets  - and crushed the Lankans after setting a huge target.Openers Rohit, Rahane or Dhawan continued their good form while Pandya surprised everyone with his exploits with bat and ball. MSD showed he could still win matches for his country while Manish Pandey remained in contention for a spot in the middle order with Jadhav. Bhuvi took his first five wicket haul while Shardul Thakur impressed as a backup quick The spinners and Bumrah were terrific to hand India a sweep of the ODI series!

England Home T20s - India win 2-1

Another series for him - not one with youngsters like Kedar but with veterans like Raina, Yuvraj, Dhoni winding the clock back - vintage performance that one can go miles to see. Bumrah, Nehra and Chahal shared the spoils with the ball to complete a 2-1 of the T20 series, reflecting the closeness of the teams.