I wonder if England missed a trick in attacking India enough when the critical sixth wicket stand was beginning to take shape in the second one-dayer. Ameager total can only be defended if the opposition is bowled out. Teams bat way down these days and there are no rabbits. Rahul Dravid did so well in Delhi with his small total; it was Freddie's chance to catch the hint in Faridabad.
Maybe he, or none of us, suspected Suresh Raina to be that good. Raina, who had dropped a chance in the morning, was not asked to bowl his tweakers on a spinning surface and was "caught" for a good few seconds by James Anderson in his follow through.
Raina, then, let England feel the weight of his talent in the final hour and two of his signature strokes -- one a thump over mid-on against Andrew Flintoff no less and a scoop over fine leg will be frozen in memory for long. Indian cricket has discovered a new hero.
I am amazed at Indian cricket's ability to throw new stars every day though admittedly it does not say much about England. Rainas and Powars can make the likes of Dhonis and Pathans look old hats and can give jitters to Yuvraj-Kaif combine in batting and Harbhajan in bowling. Suddenly and not so silently, a revolution is apparently taking place in India.
Powar was impressive. His success proves that you do not have to bowl "doosra" all the time to earn your wickets. He beat the two Andrews, Strauss and Flintoff, in flight and dip. He is a conventional orthodox spinner the likes of which you do not see in international arena these days. May be a little less girth around his middle would allow him to accept such a dollop catch as he missed in his follow through.
All of India may swoon if it must, but please do not ignore the stench too. Your top order has been failing too regularly: it has happened in Karachi and Mumbai in Tests and Delhi and Faridabad in one-dayers. Dravid was too clever by half in feigning a run and Mohammad Kaif's attempted pull on a pitch such as this was dreadful.
Yuvraj Singh attempted a cut against the spin and Virender Sehwag and Gautam Ghambir, despite the early promise, triggered a collapse which quickly changed a position of 61-0 into 80 for 4.
England, meanwhile, continues on its journey of self doubts. It could have won both the games but that's hardly comforting. One-dayers, by its very nature, can go either way. There is no credit in running the opposition close if you arepepped at the finishing line.