What a reversal of fortunes! After the disastrous tour of England (and Wales), India seem to have got their cricketing mojo back, albeit only in the 50-over format. So was it just an aversion to European wickets which made them so dreadful with bat, ball and attitude during the summer? They seem to have recovered their zest and talent in the heat and dust of the subcontinent, and now it's England looking distinctly second best as the home team made it 3-0 in Mohali, and there are still two games to go in this series.
At least today, Alastair Cook's side made a decent fist of it, following their two thumping defeats at Hyderabad and Delhi. The skipper himself failed again but his team-mates all contributed runs to the cause. Jonathan Trott anchored the innings, only just failing to reach three figures. Pietersen made 64 while Samit Patel supplied the late fireworks with 70 off 43 balls including a last-ball six off Vinay Kumar. At least 298 was a decent target, and Mohali has a reputation for favouring teams batting first. However, it is also known for high scoring, so England could not rest on their laurels.
As many predicted, Steven Finn bowled tidily but the openers made a steady 79 before Parthiv Patel was trapped lbw by a Bresnan inswinger. Rahane and Gambhir added 111 for the second wicket before Pietersen leapt to catch the latter in the covers for 58. His younger colleague progressed to 91 before mistiming a shot to Cook off an ungracious Finn. Rahane has a sensational first-class average of 69 so will we soon see him in the Test side, too?
There followed a three-ball duck for Raina and a Kohli cameo, after which MS Dhoni and Jadeja needed 64 off 50 balls to make it three consecutive victories. The captain is an old hand in this sort of situation and he took charge in inimitable fashion. The pair needed to strike fours and work the field. Maybe if Kieswetter hadn't fluffed his run-out attempt of Jadeja in the penultimate over, the pressure may have been too much. However, MS produced two brilliant boundaries off Bresnan in the 50th over and the triumph was secured four balls early.
At this rate England are improving enough perhaps to gain a consolation win or two, but India are doing what England did just a few months ago, namely spread the runs between them. Dhoni and Raina in the first match, Gambhir and Kohli in the second and now Rahane top scoring. No Tendulkar, Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbajhan or Yuvraj Singh so maybe there is hope for the future for the world champions. They just need to regain their reputations in the five-day game. They ought to make mincemeat of the West Indies on home soil next month but may face a much sterner test in Australia who also seem to be recovering from their Ashes hammering last winter.
England thought they had forgotten how to lose but if they can learn from this ODI experience and remember what they achieved Down Under and throughout the summer, they can remain top dogs for a while yet.
