A Look Back on the First Three ODIs of the Idea Cup Tri series

by Sumit Srivastava

Before the start of the Tri series, it was a general belief that dew would certainly create some problems and the results of the first three matches have shown that it is indeed the real problem for the team bowling second.

tri series in bangladesh

In all the matches so far, the team bowling second has always found it difficult to defend, irrespective of the fact that how big a total they are defending.

All the three teams have put up decent batting performances so far but looking at the present scenario, it seems that the main job will have to be done by the bowlers. Bangladesh heavily depends upon its spinners as they have three to four spinners playing. Sri Lanka is without the magical duo of Mutthiah Muralitharan and Ajanta Mendis but till now their bowlers have done reasonably well. India, playing with their full strength in the bowling has been found wanting on most of the occasions.

Ravaged by injuries, the Sri Lankan middle order was looking a bit shaky at the start, without the experience of Mahela Jayawardene. But with Tillakeratne Dilshan continuing his golden run with the bat, Thilan Samaraweera coming good in the middle order and Jayawardene making his come back into the side, Sri Lanka now looks in a very decent shape and can feel that they have a very decent chance of winning the Idea cup.

Bangaldesh, in their own backyard, is always a difficult side to beat. With a mix of aggressive and cautious batsmen, their batting looks good. They are a very decent fielding side too. But the strength of Bangladesh lies in their spinners and for their spinners to come good, they will have to bowl first and not second.

On papers, India looks the most balanced side but their bowling has not come good in this series till now. Neither could they defend their target against a depleted Sri Lanka nor could stop Bangladesh from posting a huge total even after getting top five wickets rather cheaply. The fielding and catching as always has been ordinary till now.

Except Gautam Gambhir, the rest of the Indian batting has been amongst the runs. But Mahendra Singh Dhoni would certainly want to see Gambhir back to his fluent self as soon as possible. Fielding and bowling at death have been areas of concern for the Indians for quite some time now and they need to raise their standards especially fielding for they might be considered as the worst fielding unit in the tournament.

Dew does come into play as it starts settling in as early as the start of the second innings and by the time the spinners come into bowl the ground becomes soaking wet and then it becomes very difficult to grip the ball. Even pace bowlers find it difficult to get any assistance because of the heaviness of the ball. On the other hand, with dew, the batting becomes a lot easier as the ball skids on to the bat.

Half an hour early start is not going to make much of a difference because sooner or later, the dew will certainly come into play and the team bowling under lights would always find it difficult to bowl. If you win the toss, bowl first so that your bowlers can bowl without using towels and while batting, you would be benefitted by the dew. If you are asked to bat first, make sure that at least 325-330, try to take early wickets and hope that the middle order of your opposition is not good enough to cope up with the pressure of chasing 325-330.

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