The ‘bench-strength’ of Indian cricket had a great opportunity to prove its mettle, in a tri-series (involving the hosts and Sri Lanka), and two T20 Internationals against Zimbabwe, in May-June 2010.

India, captained by Suresh Raina, batted well in the opening game of the tri-series against Zimbabwe. Rohit Sharma’s 114 and Ravindra Jadeja’s 61 set up a final score of 285-5. However, the bowlers failed to deliver. Each of the top six Zimbabwe batsmen applied himself splendidly, and the end-result was a well-deserved six-wicket win.

Rohit Sharma got India’s campaign back on track with an unbeaten 101, his second consecutive hundred of the tournament, in the next game against Sri Lanka. Like the Indians, the Sri Lankans had also rested their main players and sent a young side captained by Tillekaratne Dilshan. The Indian bowlers put up a much improved performance after Raina won the toss and elected to field. Dilshan and Angelo Matthews both got fifties, but they were not allowed to launch an offensive. Seamer Ashok Dinda, and spinners Pragyan Ojha and Ravindra Jadeja bagged two wickets each, to bowl the Lankans out for 242.

Rohit Sharma joined Virat Kohli in the middle at 47-2, and the duo proceeded to add 154 for the third wicket. Kohli fell for an impressive 82, and Raina kept Sharma company when the winning runs were scored.

The Indians then undid the advantage they had gained from the victory, with a shoddy display against Zimbabwe in the subsequent game. The batsmen just could not get going, and 194-9 was hardly a score to be proud of. The result was a foregone conclusion once the Zimbabwe openers Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza put on 128 for the first wicket. The hosts in fact rubbed salt on Indian wounds by winning the match with more than ten overs to spare, and thus gaining a bonus point. With Sri Lanka having gained a bonus point in their first game against Zimbabwe, India’s chances of qualifying for the finals were virtually non-existent.

After India batted first in the last league game against Sri Lanka and scored 268-9, they were faced with the task of restricting their opponents to 214 or below, and then hope that Zimbabwe beat the Lankans a couple of days later. In the event, nothing went according to plan. The bowling was patchy, and Dinesh Chandimal batted brilliantly to score 111. Sri Lanka won by six wickets with ten deliveries to spare.

The Indian cricketers then had a week’s gap before they took on Zimbabwe in two back-to-back T20 Internationals. The practice they did during this period paid off in both games.

The bowlers put the brakes on the Zimbabwe batting in the first game, and 112 was what Raina and his fellow batters had to get. They achieved the target for the loss of only four wickets, and with five overs to spare. Yusuf Pathan top-scored with 37.

Zimbabwebatted first once again in the second T20 game, and this time scored 140-5. Dinda bowled well to finish with figures of 4-15 from his allotted overs. The Indians chased well, with Raina essaying a captain’s innings of 72. The ‘2-0’ win was a creditable achievement after the mediocre showing in the tri-series.