Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes Men in Blue should consider themselves lucky as they registered a four-run win (DLS method) in the second ODI against New Zealand at Hnry Stadium, Wellington on Saturday.
The visitors were chasing 135 runs for the win in a 47-over match and were 113-7 after 26 overs. Ergo, India were four runs ahead of the DLS score of 109 when rain intervened.
Play could not resume due to rain and thus India were able to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Aakash Chopra said on his Cricinfo, “A 135-run chase turned out to be a tough one. We were staring at defeat if it was not for the rain and also for Rahul, who saved us the blushes to be fair. Nabi can bat, so he was still there. So I was hopeful till Nabi was there. But KL Rahul was looking extremely assured, so you would expect him to actually farm the strike and expect Nabi to just play sensible cricket. I was hoping that Rahul would actually take us across the line.
“In all fairness, it takes only one ball to dismiss KL Rahul. If that would have happened… Yes, we have dodged a bullet, it’s a fair assessment,” Chopra added.
On the other hand, Indian skipper Shubman Gill admitted they kept losing wickets at regular intervals in the run-chase, which put them under the cosh.
He said in the post-match presentation, “It wasn’t easy out there. I think we bowled very well. Getting them around 130–140 was good. At one point, we thought it might be an easy target, but we kept losing wickets. We got over the line in the end.”
The third ODI between India and New Zealand will be played at Seddon Park, Hamilton on Tuesday.
