India wins the Hutch Cup in Pak

Another ODI to go. India are leading the series 3-1. They have won the Hutch Cup convincingly. A team that was known to have choked on previous occassions is beginning to show a great spirit by coming from behind and defeating home teams in their own land.

India has turned around its skills in a lot of departments. Fielding is spirited. Fielders are diving to get the stops! Bowling is having more sting than ever before. India seems to be finding more and more pace bowlers which is a good thing. And Batsmen are doing a much more matured job than earlier. There are always batsmen who land a rough patch at times. Kaif is in one of those lows. Yuvi, on the contrary, seems to be among the crests. He is doing a great job by holding back when he should and going after the bowlers when he smells the opportunity.

Another sight to watch today was Dhoni. He was content to play the singles and watch Raina in the action. And even applaud his fluent boundaries. For a man who is a natural at attacking batsmanship, this is a welcome thing. Dhoni can now seem to do whatever he wants. He can bludgeon the bowlers into submission or he can toe away the ball to singles and give the support to a batsman who is firing away. Yuvi can patiently wait and create great partnerships with other batsmen - something that is typical of Dravid.

Noteworthy among the bowlers were Rudra Pratap Singh and Pathan. I am beginning to feel more and more these days that Pathan may just hold the key to WC 2007. It is becoming normal for him to scalp atleast 3 wickets - most of which are key, contributing well with the bat... etc. Makings of a great allrounder. And he does not like being labelled that. He prefers to be called as a key pace bowler for India who can score a bit with the bat. Now, scoring into the 50s and 90s is not a bit, right? :-) It is only humility on his part that he downplays his efforts.


Team India celebrating Kamran Akmal's wicket.

India's spirits are soaring high, Pak's spirits need some steroids. The only way India can go beyond from this point is by winning the fifth and final ODI too. It would be like driving the last nail in Pak's coffin... But I really doubt that happening. Having won the series, India may want to rest 2 of their key players and play Karthik and Powar to give them some opportunity. Pak might go ahead with their full strength, or whatever remains after so many players have withdrawn, to salvage some pride by winning the last game. It would be interesting to see what really happens in that game.