I will start the write-up with a one-liner: Hopefully it’s the beginning of a very good period for Suresh Raina as a player.

Cardiff proved a happy hunting ground for India and all credit must be given to the team the way they played in cold, overcast conditions right throughout the day during the win over England in the second One-Day International on Wednesday.

It was a good toss to win for England on that surface as the persistent rain for the few days allowed enough moisture to be retained on that pitch, and all was right to have a good bowling day as they say in English cricket.

The English bowlers did bowl well early on and had managed to control the Indian batting until the Raina storm came in and the aforementioned star scored a superb ton.

It was an amazing innings in such situation and the importance of it was much more than the runs he scored.

Firstly, it was his best knock in one-day cricket.

With the time he has been around in Indian cricket and not to get a hundred away from the subcontinent for such a long period must have troubled him a lot. Hopefully this knock will break his mental shackles in seaming pitches and make him believe that he is equally comfortable in such situations.

Also with the selectors not showing faith in Yuvraj Singh any more, it is important for the team that the number five batsman becomes a player for all conditions as it is going to be a vital slot for the rest of the series and in Australia and New Zealand for the next six months.

The impact of this knock in the Indian team will have been enormous.

There was the introduction of fresh players in the team after the Test series and the side needed such brilliance to get the confidence back.

The cricket-loving public and former cricketers believe that India are a much better one-day side then a Test outfit in away conditions.

But seven one-day losses, including back to back in South Africa and New Zealand, can create a dent in that belief and that’s why I feel the value of Raina’s knock is immense. Also when you saw Raina play in Cardiff you could see a marked improvement in his batting. We saw that in Dhaka in the T20 World Cup, but this was one level higher.

There was a question mark about him against the short ball and he must remember that the great players in the world have scored runs without playing the hook shot. The best thing he did in his innings was the way he played the ball after the bouncer. His feet got forward, which is an indication that he wasn’t expecting the short delivery again, and this made some of the cover drives breathtaking again.

The Indian bowling, which has consistently provided 300 runs to opponents in the recent past in one day cricket, looked a lot better.

There was purpose in their method and it was great to see Mohammad Shami run in. It was not visible in the Test matches, but I really don’t know whether the thought of just 10 overs makes life a lot easier for bowlers, but he hit his stride straight away. He bowled fabulous lengths with good speed and that rocked the England top order and made life easier for the spinners. This had been a problem in the past as the spinners had bowled to set batsman and hence couldn’t control the game.

India play in Nottingham in the next game on Saturday, which I presume is a lot flatter surface if the Test match there was any indication.

The side will remain unchanged with the exception of Rohit Sharma, who has been ruled out of the rest of the series with a fractured finger and the biggest challenge for India will be to be consistent. They would want a repeat after Lord’s and I am sure the experienced heads in the dressing room will make sure of that. For England they have to play Steven Finn. Every time I don’t see his name in the final XI I get disappointed as for me he is a match-winner. His pace and bounce will be very handy in these conditions and England need that injection of speed, especially in the death overs. Also they need to fit in Moeen Ali. He cannot be made to sit out after the exceptional Test series and what he will do is bring depth in the batting. For India they must remember that England will play better then what they did in Cardiff, so better be prepared.

 

— The author is a former captain of India