As I pen the just concluded India-Sri Lanka ODI series, I am little in two minds whether the Kumble-led experienced team that conceded 2-1 defeat in Test series was better or Dhoni-led young brigade that won the ODI with a 3-2 victory. Certainly, MS Dhoni has the lead by all accounts: he is a fine leader, a better strategist and has a greater sense of judging the game.
The Test side's failures against Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan have been compensated by ODI win. For India, this 3-2 triumph, the first ever series win in Sri Lanka came as sweet success. Some fine bowling by Zaheer, Munaf, Habhajan Singh and gusty batting by the skipper along with Kohli and Raina helped India got the better of the Lankan.
While Dhoni top scored with 193 runs in 5 outings, Kohli and Raina socred 159 and 157 runs in 5 matches respectively. In the process, the victory eclipsed the out of form Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj, who scored 72 each in 5 matches. At any time in all the games, Team India perhaps never felt the absence of Sachin, Sehwag and Ganguly.
If Zaheer was fiery and accurate, Munaf's comeback was a boon as he showed he had worked hard on all aspects of his game. Imitating Glenn McGrath, Munaf bowled very tight line in all the matches and provided important breakthrough. He made the ball dart both ways and was staggeringly accurate when opening the attack. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, bowled craftily in the final game.
Though Ajantha Mendis topped the wicket taking list with 13 hauls to his kitty from 5 matches, Zaheer and Munaf got 9 and 7 respectively. Parveen Kumar, as always, is emerging as another swing bowler. The combination of Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel looked exciting and achieved more than any Indian fast bowlers over the past year.
After dropping catches like hotcakes during the Asia Cup, India's fielding was efficient, bar the last game when they missed run-outs and conceded overthrows. Dhoni maintained his standards behind the stumps and the bowlers were mostly adept at saving runs off their own bowling. Badrinath took a good catch on debut, Kohli pulled off some good stops - though he dropped a relatively straightforward catch off Jayasuriya at cover - and Munaf and Praveen covered good distance in the deep to save boundaries. Yuvraj, far from the livewire he once was due to a nagging knee injury, was shuffled around in the field and didn't always impress. Rohit was good at backward point.
However, the remarkable accomplishment is the maturity with which Dhoni led the side. He is now reliable, calm and considerate. He was rightly chosen Man of the Series. Under Dhoni, India have won the inaugural World Twenty20, their first trophy in Australia for 22 years, and their first ever ODI series in Sri Lanka.
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