All round effort seals Indian victory
A low scoring game means that it is unlikely that any one player would
capture the attention. To do that, he must excel in all possible ways,
and have the bits add up to something larger than the sum of the
individual parts. The big matches cause some people to choke and others
seem to thrive on the pressure. Reetinder Singh Sodhi certainly rose to
the occasion today.
With the ball in hand, Sodhi was miserly. He bowled wicket to wicket and
tied the batsmen down. Though he did not deliver a single maiden over,
his ten overs cost just 26 runs. Unlucky to pick up no wickets, Sodhi
rapped the pads of the batsmen several times but could not impress the
umpires.
After finishing his spell, Sodhi took what was certainly the catch of
the tournament. Ranil Dhammika attempted a pull shot to a ball that was
faster than he expected. The ball ballooned into the air and looked like
it would land in no man's land. Reetinder Sodhi charged in from
mid wicket, threw himself full length and just about got his hands
under the ball. Tumbling hard on the ground, Sodhi held onto the ball
and came up in exultation. To complete what was an excellent day on the
field, Sodhi flicked the ball superbly from his fielding position
to complete a direct hit and run out the last man.
When India came out to bat, the openers could not duplicate their effort
against the Australians. They both got starts but could not go on. The
captain Mohammad Kaif followed but he too could not stick around. Yuvraj
Singh, the most sensational of the Indian batsmen batted confidently but
was given out LBW after he had made 27. In walked Sodhi and took the
match away from the Lankans. Sodhi was solid, mixing aggression and
patience judiciously. He was defensive when the situation demanded
it, but never let the bowlers dominate or bog him down. His virtually
run a ball, unbeaten innings of 39 took India to a memorable victory.
Having taken India to victory in an Under-15 World Cup in the past where
he was the man of the match in the finals, Reetinder Singh Sodhi
has taken a step forward. Speaking to the press afterwards, Sodhi said
that he was eyeing a spot in the senior side for the 2003 World Cup. If
he goes on at this rate, he will certainly be a part of the senior side
in the near future.