All of India's top six batsmen have stood up when their country has needed them, in this tournament. This particular bunch is totally capable of setting or chasing and always winning. This indicates the superb depth in the Indian batting lineup, which will be crucial as they battle to retain the cup.
For Mahi, it is rewarding to see his side continue to score runs, even if some individuals fail.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli , both are fiery and passionate batsmen adept of engineering a huge match-winning innings, and they have raised their standards during this world cup.
However, they managed only nine runs between them in the quarterfinal win over Bangladesh, which is quite unexpected of the duo. Neither batsman touched double figures in a very important match opposite a very average team.
Kohli nicked a wide delivery from RubelHossain and was caught behind, while Dhoni got an edge while slogging unnecessarily and was caught off the bowling of Taskin Ahmed.
To be very frank, at one point I expected India to struggle to post a match-winning total, but they reached 302 which I was definitely not anticipating.
Thanks to Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina, who took the initiative and set the ball rolling and made 137 and 65, respectively.
Shikhar Dhawan (73) and Virat Kohli (107) set a new Indian record against Pakistan in a World Cup match, adding 129 runs for the second wicket. Both men battled poor form and severe criticism to help India win the Adelaide ODI by 76 runs while they were supported by contribution from Raina (74)
Suresh Raina (110) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (85) combined in an unbeaten fifth wicket partnership of 196 at Eden Park to give their team a sixth successive victory in the tournament after a slight wobble at 92-4 against Zimbabwe.
Raina seems to be in form at the perfect time for India.
Dhawan along with Rohit Sharma led the Indian charge with a mammoth 174-run opening stand and kept Ireland at bay helping India avoid the defeat. India's chase was without much incident, as Dhawan and Rohit ticked off boundaries almost at will in a stand of 174 - the second highest they've achieved as an opening pair.
Ajinkya Rahane walked out to bat at No. 4. at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, versus South Africa and he did even better than Raina (74 runs off 56 balls), scoring 79 off just 60 balls against what is widely regarded as one of the best bowling attacks in this World Cup, South Africa; taking India past the 300-mark despite a late collapse.
Indians are surely a force to be reckoned with when they are batting, with any one of the top six capable of playing a match-winning knock.
Even RavindraJadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are capable with the bat at No. 7 and No. 8, respectively.
This hunger in the players to retain the cup is an indicator that even without one standout batsman leading the way in the tournament’s crucial matches we Indian fans and supporters can at least be somewhat secured in the knowledge that one or two of our players should be capable of contributing in every game.
"I think what’s important for us is that we have scored runs in all the games, whether we batted first or chased, but at the same time we don’t have our batsmen in the top-five scorers list for the World Cup, which means everybody has chipped in and contributed which is a good position to be in especially in the knockout stages."
Dhoni said after the win over Bangladesh
India’s batsmen look like a determined lot to take on Australia’s strong bowling lineup at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the semifinals on Thursday, March 26, 2015.
For Mahi, it is rewarding to see his side continue to score runs, even if some individuals fail.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli , both are fiery and passionate batsmen adept of engineering a huge match-winning innings, and they have raised their standards during this world cup.
However, they managed only nine runs between them in the quarterfinal win over Bangladesh, which is quite unexpected of the duo. Neither batsman touched double figures in a very important match opposite a very average team.
Kohli nicked a wide delivery from RubelHossain and was caught behind, while Dhoni got an edge while slogging unnecessarily and was caught off the bowling of Taskin Ahmed.
To be very frank, at one point I expected India to struggle to post a match-winning total, but they reached 302 which I was definitely not anticipating.
Thanks to Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina, who took the initiative and set the ball rolling and made 137 and 65, respectively.
Shikhar Dhawan (73) and Virat Kohli (107) set a new Indian record against Pakistan in a World Cup match, adding 129 runs for the second wicket. Both men battled poor form and severe criticism to help India win the Adelaide ODI by 76 runs while they were supported by contribution from Raina (74)
Suresh Raina (110) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (85) combined in an unbeaten fifth wicket partnership of 196 at Eden Park to give their team a sixth successive victory in the tournament after a slight wobble at 92-4 against Zimbabwe.
Raina seems to be in form at the perfect time for India.
Dhawan along with Rohit Sharma led the Indian charge with a mammoth 174-run opening stand and kept Ireland at bay helping India avoid the defeat. India's chase was without much incident, as Dhawan and Rohit ticked off boundaries almost at will in a stand of 174 - the second highest they've achieved as an opening pair.
Ajinkya Rahane walked out to bat at No. 4. at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, versus South Africa and he did even better than Raina (74 runs off 56 balls), scoring 79 off just 60 balls against what is widely regarded as one of the best bowling attacks in this World Cup, South Africa; taking India past the 300-mark despite a late collapse.
Indians are surely a force to be reckoned with when they are batting, with any one of the top six capable of playing a match-winning knock.
Even RavindraJadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are capable with the bat at No. 7 and No. 8, respectively.
This hunger in the players to retain the cup is an indicator that even without one standout batsman leading the way in the tournament’s crucial matches we Indian fans and supporters can at least be somewhat secured in the knowledge that one or two of our players should be capable of contributing in every game.
"I think what’s important for us is that we have scored runs in all the games, whether we batted first or chased, but at the same time we don’t have our batsmen in the top-five scorers list for the World Cup, which means everybody has chipped in and contributed which is a good position to be in especially in the knockout stages."
Dhoni said after the win over Bangladesh
India’s batsmen look like a determined lot to take on Australia’s strong bowling lineup at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the semifinals on Thursday, March 26, 2015.