Northwards down south

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Nihal Koshie: Kochi, Jan 16 2013, 03:49 IST

Tags: MS Dhoni | India Vs England | Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Recent top-order failures have resulted in MS Dhoni arriving at the wicket earlier than expected for an ODI No.6. Nearly every time, he has held the innings together before providing acceleration towards the end. On Tuesday, he made 72, his fourth fifty to go with an unbeaten century in his last six games. Dhoni’s role as a batsman cannot be underestimated in India’s 127-run win over England, which levelled the five-match series 1-1. When he is hitting the ball well Dhoni brings out his signature `helicopter’ shot and that was the case as changed gears in the last 10 overs of the innings.

Each time he has bailed the team out, the skipper has immediately had to shift his attention to his inexperienced bowling attack, especially his four medium-pacers, two of whom are yet to play 10 ODIs and a third who has played only 13 games.

The bright spot has been 22-year-old Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s ability to swing the ball both ways. Kumar had picked up nine wickets in five games, including two T20 Internationals against Pakistan, before Tuesday.

Dhoni, for the second time in three ODIs, opened with Kumar and got him to deliver all his 10 overs on the trot. He had done this in Delhi against Pakistan, a game India won by nine runs. Kumar had then reduced Pakistan to 14/2, dismissing Umar Akmal with an in-swinger and inducing an edge from Younis Khan to have him caught behind. In that game, Kumar finished with two for 31.

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