Ind Aus ODI 2: The Zing Is Back!

The second ODI was as one sided as matches go. That it was Australia at the receiving end was the most shocking aspect. But Indian cricket enjoyed a rare day of much celebration - even tempting enough to field a headline like - The Zing is Back! for the second ODI in Nagpur.
On a day when the batsmen, and the Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, stole the thunder, the Indian bowlers showed they were not far behind in the credits.
The much criticized man of the first ODI of the seven match India Australia ODI series, Praveen Kumar, sounded the deathly knell first for Tim Paine and then, for the Australian captain, Ricky Ponting as Australia chased a phenomenal total of 356.
That aggression can be contagious is a lesson Australia must learn as Praveen’s celebrations clearly reflected the mood that the Indians were every bit in the mood to return the favour of the aggro shown by Mitchell Johnson and company earlier in the day.
Ishant Sharma was not far behind and after Ashish Nehra’s miserly spell first up, took the wicket of Shane Watson and the Australian camp had been brought to a halt at a run rate of less than four when over eight an over was required.
The recovery was carried out by the Man of the Match of the first ODI, Michael Hussey, in the company of Adam Voges. While Hussey notched another half century in vain, Voges’ thirty-six keeps things interesting only as far as team selections go.
Ishant’s two wickets were added to Praveen’s two as even Ravindra Jadeja managed to hit the right tones to pick up three wickets.
The Australians will know that it was not just Brett Lee’s absence alone that has led to this dismal performance. There is much thinking that Ponting must do. For team India, they need to keep their feet on the ground, but criticism is but only always around the corner.
Revel tonight, relaunch tomorrow should be India’s mantra because Australia will take this 100 run defeat to heart.