Suresh Raina, India's stand-in captain, praised his side's "fantastic job" after a seven-wicket win in the second and final Twenty20 game over Zimbabwe saw them clinch the series 2-0 yesterday. Needing 141 to win, the Indians emerged emphatic winners with two overs to spare, which followed an impressive bowling and fielding performance.
And Raina, who spearheaded the Indian run chase with an unbeaten 72 off 44 balls, admitted he was elated with the way his side played in clinching the series. He said: "The guys played really well here and we did a fantastic job in the last two games. It's been a great two weeks so far for us, and especially for our coach Gary Kirsten. He worked really hard for us. That's what he believes in." Zimbabwe had been put in to bat by the Indians, and had looked to be in trouble at 21 for two.
But a spirited unbeaten 40 from Tatenda Taibu, the wicketkeeper, got their innings going and they were able to make 140 for five from their 20 overs. Ashok Dinda was the pick of the Indian attack as he took two for 15 from three overs. Any danger of India failing to chase that target after they had lost Naman Ojha, the opener, for 10, was dealt with by a stand of 79 for the second wicket between Raina and Murali Vijay. Vijay fell for 46, but Raina saw his side home to win in comfortable fashion.
Following their embarrassing exit in the recently concluded tri-nation one-day series - involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe - Raina insisted the team had responded in the best way possible by seeing off Zimbabwe in comprehensive fashion. "It was good to see the players do well especially Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli [the stand-in vice captain] and also the bowling department," he said. "They have done really well in this tournament. We didn't do well in the one-day series, but we came back really strongly, and I hope we will do well in the Asia Cup as well."
Looking ahead to the Asia Cup, which starts tomorrow in Sri Lanka, the stand-in captain of a young, second-string Indian side is confident he can ease back into the role of a player under MS Dhoni, the regular skipper who sat out the action in Zimbabwe. "I've played under Dhoni in the IPL [Indian Premier League] and also in 94 one-day internationals," said Raina. "He is a very nice person and is a good friend of mine also."
But the left-hander warned that the team needed to do a great deal better in limited over matches to follow especially with the World Cup only eight months away. "A lot of hard work is also required for the Asia Cup. And I too have to put in a lot more hard work and discipline into my batting." India, with a full-strength team but minus the rested Sachin Tendulkar and dropped Yuvraj Singh, start their Asia Cup campaign on Wednesday against Bangladesh at Dambulla. The other teams in the tournament include Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the current champions.
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