India v/s New Zealand: Men in Blue's fledgling finishers falter

The fourth ODI in Ranchi was a perfect platform for India’s Nos. 5, 6 and 7 to prove their credentials as batsmen and take India across the line when chasing a not-so-high total of 260.

However, it was a collective failure on the part of Axar Patel, who was promoted at No. 5, and better established batsmen Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya following him that let the fighting New Zealanders level the series and with the decider to be played in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

Going by the way the last pair of Dhawal Kulkarni, who has shown that he is no bunny with the bat as he has four first-class fifties, and Umesh Yadav took the score from 207/9 to 241 all out it was natural to expect a better show from the more accomplished batsmen.

Patel justified his promotion by making a fighting 38 but in his anxiety to continue in the same attacking vein, he was castled by Trent Boult. Patel will learn from the outing that once a batsman is set and has got used to the “slower-and-slower” pitch, he should not gift his wicket away.

Pandey and Pandya got out to catches in the outfield while Jadhav was done in by a straighter and lower one from Tim Southee. But these are batsmen who will do well to learn from their failures of Wednesday.

Batting looks easy when the conditions are perfect and even tall scores are achievable. But it is in such challenging conditions as was on offer in Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s home town in the fourth ODI that brings out the character of the players.

Of course, it is also a new challenge for these players who are to be the potential finishers, taking over from Dhoni, who has expressed his desire to bat higher in order to be able to face more deliveries. The likes of Jadhavs, Patels, Pandeys and Pandyas will have to get used to the challenges that the team throws on them. They can only getter with experience, as Dhoni said post match on Wednesday.

“Batting down the order, especially on wickets like these is always tough,” Dhoni said. “You have to give them time. It is important that they will get more games and they will figure out what is best to chase down a total like this. Unless they get an opportunity like this, will be very difficult. That's how you get experience. You can learn a lot from watching. But ultimately, when you feel the pressure and go through the motions, that's when you learn a lot. It will be a good learning curve. Give them a bit more time and they will be fine.

“Batting down the order is one of the toughest things to do. On pitches like these, there will be pressure to rotate, pressure to get a partnership going. It is not easy, you don't every time get a complete batsman at 5, 6 or 7,” Dhoni said.

The failures of Nos. 5-8 also confirmed the fact that India depend heavily on Virat Kohli to come good with the bat, especially when chasing. Kohli played a gem of a knock in Mohali in the third ODI to anchor India’s successful chase. He scored 85 not out in Dharamshala and 154 not out in Mohali in both of India’s wins this series while his scores in losing causes were 9 in Delhi and 45 in Ranchi. Kohli has also enhanced his reputation as king of chases in ODIs.

It also reiterated the fact that successful chases need solid foundation, which the current openers of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane have failed to provide this series, what with their opening stands of 49, 21, 13 and 19 putting pressure on those that follow.