FIyer & Cold Chakravyuh in Dubai

We are back working in corporate mode as the sunday gets over and monday blues hit. India Vs New Zealand in ICC tournament is always a contest, the one which goes south for us. Though it had no role to play for knockouts but to keep the momentum going on especially when both teams are unbeaten from start of the year. So, Let’s Play!

Kiwis Flying all over Top order

We lost the toss again and the streak is 13. Surprise came when Varun Chakravarthy replaced Harshit Rana, You hardly see a spinner replacing pacer and considering the Dubai track we thought it is a good experiment to do so.

Rohit and Gill starting against Matt henry with lot of swing for the bowlers. Matt henry is kinda nemesis for our top order and gets it right everytime. Jamieson too kept it tight. Rohit started his fireworks stepping up down the ground to Henry and we were seated for 2023WC like start soon to know it’s 2019WC. Henry plumbed Gill very similar to Kohli lbw by Boult back then. Rohit was pulling the short balls only to misjudge one in hands of Will Young. Kohli started well with a great intent as it was a powerplay and it took a Superman dive from Glenn philips to get him.

Crazy how he got his hands on it before Virat Kohli completed his bat swing. We don’t really enjoy these stunners when it’s us on the other end and especially Kohli. Our Clutch man Axar was on the crease with SavIYER. Both took their time and started building a partnership with Shreyas getting a lot of short balls. Santner kept things tight and India started the Counterattack against Bracewell. Soon the partnership was nearing a hundred and one miscued shot from Bapu switched momentum towards NZ.

The Buildup

Iyer took his chances against the short ball and had his luck on some of them dropping in no man’s land. How good he has been against Kiwis especially in ICC matches. Feels like he overcame the threat of Kiwis against India. Ironically, No.4 performing well against Kiwis with 100 in last outing and on verge of another one but O’Rourkee had other plans as he continued bowling the same short length onto his body and Iyer did hole out one to deep midwicket. You win some and you lose some but importantly he made sure there is no collapse and we are back on track.

Rahul and Hardik were ready to out and about and a top catch by Tom latham sent Rahul back and it was down to last batting pair. Jadeja started off positively and eventually both of them had to take chances in the final 10 overs. They took on Bracewell and as soon as pacers came back to the attack it was slowed down. Kane mama took a brilliant catch and it was only Hardik Hope left on the crease. He rarely disappoints in times like these an took on Kyle Jamieson to push the total near 250. He was the difference between 200 and 250. Handy knock!

Spin to Win

Contest was on as it wasn’t a Pakistan road where you can hit 300+ for fun. Hardik striked the first blood with superb catch by Bapu. Kane mama was had two single digit scores but you can’t keep him out of the game, he fights back. Signs were omnious and Axar was brought into attack alongside Varun. Axar dried up the runs and pressure was building up. That’s when Varun striked and Will young couldn’t see that one coming straight. Daryl mitchell came in and he couldn’t get a single in 10 balls, Axar pulled the strings tight and how. He bowled 8 overs straight. Soon Kuldeep got Mithcell and game was on. Two NZ veterans on the crease Tom latham and Williamson stiching a partnership. Kane mama completed his half century and we know how much he loves playing against us. Jaddu castled Latham and after that it was just Varun Vs Kiwis

Philips took on him and he squared him up on the next ball. Bracewell too had no clue what the heck that was. Pure quality and subtle variations. Kane was fighting alone and Axar tempted him with flight on his last ball of the match and Kane was stumped so was NZ. Skipper Santner kept the fightback on hitting a couple of sixes and as he hit one against Varun he was bowled just after that. You just can’t see it coming and it comes after you. Varun got a 5-fer and we had the match. What an amazing low scorer.

Architect knows how to build, where to build and Varun applied his profession here in his passion. Can’t get better than this when you are left out of from the team after a performance at the same venue and you come back with a 5-fer on the same venue. Stuff of dreams!! Varun said post match how he was nervous in his first spell and this T20WC 2021 past was dwelling upon him but soon he overcame it and conquered. He said how massively Vijay Hazare trophy has helped him taking his game from T20 to ODI in the same way. Recent form justified his selection and he delivered as well. We hope he makes it to Semis and we are in for another Chakravyuh in Dessert.

Semi-Circle

Life comes full circle and here we are with India Vs Australia in ODI Semis after that Nightmare day. All we can do is hope for the best and our team will make sure they are playing their ‘A’ game to move to Finals.

Rohit is due a hundred in this ICC ODI tournament and hopefully it is queued. We haven’t seen Rohi-Rat partnerships in ages and we can dream for one. Expecting Harshit to be back in 11 and most probably Kuldeep will miss out which doesn’t feel like but will be the right call playing Varun over him.

Hoping for a Disprin over Headache and Gujrati over Inglis.

Jai Hind!