Mumbai: New Zealand scripted a dramatic turnaround in Ranchi on Wednesday to clinch the fourth ODI by 19 runs to level the series 2-2 against India.
By winning the Ranchi ODI, Kiwis have not only kept their hopes alive in the series, but have also ensured that the Indian fans would now be looking forward to the last ODI with a renewed interest. If Ravi Shastri is asked for his opinion on the result, he would say, 'in the end, cricket was the real winner.'
However, as an Indian cricket fan, you have every right to feel gutted. India not only gifted away the game to the visitors with their careless batting, the hosts also squandered the opportunity to jump higher in the ICC ODI rankings.
India had to win the series 4-1 to move up to third position in the ICC rankings.
After opting to bat first, New Zealand were off to a flyer and looked set to cross the 300 mark. The Kiwis put up 184/2 in 35 overs, however, Indian bowlers worked brilliantly to peg back the visitors to 260/7 in 50 overs.
In return, India made an equally solid start before losing their way in the middle. The hosts went from 128/2 to losing all their wickets for 241.
This was India's second loss in the series and both the games have a commonality in that Virat Kohli failed in both of these games. At the same time, the other Indian batsmen yet again failed to take the responsibility.
Kohli has played the match-winning innings in both the games that India have won in this series. The men in blue have batted second in all four matches. If they are to do the same in Visakhapatnam and also considering the larger picture, it looks like 'only' Kohli holds the key to India's success.
The Indian openers have failed consistently in this series. Both Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane together have mustered only one half century till now. Other than Kohli, the only innings that comes to mind is that of MS Dhoni. Coming to bat at number four, the skipper struck a fluid 80 off 91 balls to help India win the third ODI in Mohali.
It was a different story in Ranchi, Dhoni huffed and puffed to 11 off 31 balls. The local lad played 22 dot balls, and has played over 100 dot balls in the last three ODIs.
The problem is not limited to India's top order, the lower order batsmen are performing even worse. Two of the three wickets of India's number 5-7 were a result of reckless batting.
India hammered the Black Caps 3-0 in the Test series, and now sit at the top of the ICC Test rankings. Apart from the necessary bowling contributions, a collective effort from the batting line-up, that included Murali Vijay, Chetashwar Pujara, Kohli and Rahane allowed the team to register a convincing series victory.
India have not been able to enjoy the same luxury in the shorter format. A lot has been left for Kohli to do. In a way, it feels like we are going back to the 1990s.
The time when the whole Indian batting revolved around Sachin Tendulkar. The time when, one dismissal decided the fate of the Indian innings.
Things changed with the emergence of Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. India shed the over reliance on Tendulkar and went on to become the World Champions in 2011.
India will do well, if they can repeat the same again and stop depending heavily on Kohli.
In fact Kohli is so important to India that if you have to give the Man of the Series award after the four ODIs, you would give it to Ross Taylor for making the series interesting by dropping Kohli's catch in Mohali. The mistake allowed the flamboyant batsman to lead India to a win, courtesy of which Dhoni's team is still alive in the series.
Cricket is a highly inconsistent game, it's so inconsistent that Martin Guptill, who had done absolutely nothing on this tour before the Ranchi ODI was adjudged the Man of the Match in the fourth ODI for his match-winning 72.
In such an inconsistent game, Kohli has been the epitome of consistency. The batsman, however, would definitely be hoping for a helping hand.
