Why 3-2 for India, not for Pak

Jaipur result was a kind of anti-climax, but the one brought in by India’s desire to give its substitutes a chance. Three-two was still a great result as it mean India have now won three of the four bilateral series played in India or Pak in last four years.

Probably, the only surprise has been why India failed to make it a dead series with two matches to spare. Had they shown little bit of more discipline, they could have even romped home at Mohali.India were definitely the superior side. They had too much in their arsenal in most of the departments, which Pak did not have.

Partnerships

If we take the Individual scores of five top batsmen in this series, Pakistan have three in the list (Younis Khan 231, Salman Butt 252 and M Yousuf 283) while India have two (Tendulkar 259 and Yuvraj Singh 272).So where Pakistan went wrong was in having match-winning partnerships. Despite some great individual knocks, they simply could not rub it in unlike Dhoni-Yuvraj Pair, who finished the job so well in the 4th ODI and took India to the victory in the 1st match. The duo had two century partnerships in both the matches in the final stages, which proved to be the big difference. They were threatening to do it once again yesterday, before Yuvraj got a shocking decision.

Old pros prove their worth

Against a side brimming with confident youngsters, Pakistan needed to strike well against two old pros – Tendulkar and Ganguly. But while Tendulkar made two big, telling statements, Ganguly too came up with two useful knocks at Guwahati and Kanpur, which ensured that India’s momentum will not be halted. Imagine India’s chase without Ganguly’s 39 at Guwahati after Tendulkar had been snared cheaply. His 82-run partnership with Gambhir then did ease India’s nerves and helped them to a 1-0 lead.

Opening woes

Four opening pair in five matches thanks to Akmal’s dismal form did no good to Pak’s confidence. Probably, Afridi could have been utilized better in the closing stages of the chase at Kanpur, than as opener. Tactical errors and failure to have a quality opening pair cost them dearly. There looked to be a definite confusion regarding some positions in the batting lineups.

Left armers

For India, It is rare to have three-left arm pacers playing all the matches (Save the dead rubber match), and they complimented each other so well. If one feared that the attack will become uni-dimensional and predictable in the absence of a righthander, it simply did not happen.

While RP has been little costlier with six runs per over, his six wickets including the most important one of Butt at Gawalior, ensured that Pakistan were always struggling. Pathan with five wickets and an economy of 5.6, and Zaheer with five at an economy of 5.1, delivered well at critical stages.

Spinning web

Magical Kartik-Harbhajan in tandem -- the Australian series was not a fluke after all! Their combined economy of 4.5 from 56 overs before the final dead rubber match had been a great feat against a middle order boasting of the likes of Yousuf, Younis, Malik and Misbah. Failure to dominate the middle overs against them just hurt Pak too badly. Before the final showdown, even make-shift spinner Yuvraj Singh had given away just 30 runs from his 8 overs. And his economy was 5.5 after all the matches – still quite respectable. Pakistan spinners, both regular and makeshift and traditionally so strong, were simply no match for the Indians.

Discipline

Pakistan gave away as many as 116 extra runs in the series compared to just 86 by India. Take away leg byes and the figure comes to 88 for Pak and 55 for India. So India were little more disciplined side, and it helped! Incidentally, the matches at Mohali and Jaipur, that India lost, they had given away quite a few extras. The hosts’ tally of highest extras came at Mohali, at 26.

Statements and acts

Shah Rukh Khan, during a TV chat with Rameez Raja, praised the camaraderie between India and Pakistan team and lack of acrimony on the field. Well, that was also one of the reason for Pak defeat.

From their statements and various acts, the Pakistan side never looked a patch on the aggressive outfits of yesteryears. Imagine Afridi apologizing to Gambhir two years ago! Then the tactical blunders like Shoaib’s comment before the do-or-die battle on his fitness. Pakistan could have done with more aggression.So a series win for India with one match to go was no surprise at all. They could have even made it 4-1 or 5-0, had they shown little more discipline at Mohali, and chosen to experiment a little less at Jaipur.