Pollard special not enough for West Indies
India completed a fantastic year as far as home one-day internationals are concerned with another victory over West Indies in a topsy-turvy ODI to make the series scoreline 4-1
India completed a fantastic year as far as home one-day internationals are concerned with another victory over West Indies in a topsy-turvy ODI to make the series scoreline 4-1
Scorer: Binoy George | Commentator: Sidharth Monga
That brings an end to the coverage of India's home season. On behalf of all involved, I, Sidharth Monga, say thanks and so long
Ravi Shastri leads the presentation. He invites Darren Sammy first. Sammy says, "Congratulations to Pollard on his first one-day hundred. It was really good to watch. We have been paying some good cricket, we have been fighting throughout, but unfortunately we are not finishing things off. Everybody expected us to roll over, we didn't. The attitude was good to see. I'd like to congratulate the boys on the effort, the way they supported me in the tough series. We can only move forward from here. Congratulations to Sehwag and his team, we can hold our heads up."
Gautam Gambhir says, "We know what Pollard can do on his day, but credit to the bowlers who stuck to their game. It was a matter of just one ball. Every ball he middled was going out of the ground, but you have to stick to your line and length. Good to see Manoj get the hundred, hopefully he will go on and get many more. We thought 240 would be a good total. Good to see the bench strength available."
Manoj Tiwary is the MoM. I thought Pollard and Tiwary would have shared it. Tiwary says, "I enjoyed it. It wasn't coming onto the bat, it made my game easier. Generally I play spin retty well, so I made sure I took advantage of the loose balls. I have to say that the team management have backed me really well, and made me comfortable in the dressing room. I didn't hydrate enough before the match, that is my mistake. I want to dedicate the award to all the people who died in the Calcutta Hospital tragedy."
Rohit Sharma is the Man of the Series. He says, "I didn't want to think about the past. Whatever has happened has happened. It was a new beginning, I analysed my game, I rectified the mistakes. Hopefully it won't be repeated. It [the injury in England] was frustrating. I was in good form from WI, and wanted to carry on. Hopefully no more injuries. Touch wood, I will be playing for a long long time. I have been watching closely MS Dhoni and Yuvraj bat with the tail and finish matches off, so I have learned from them."
Virender Sehwag says, "Satisfied with the young team. Especially with the young fielding and bowling unit. They were all eager to play. I asked everybody can you take a break, they said no, so I had to take the break. Good to see Manoj come in and score the century. It's a good end to the season. Beating England 5-0 and West Indies 4-1."
A special century from Pollard. His first really big innings against big opposition at international level. India have hung in well. bear in mind they had only two specialist bowlers in the side. India have won the series 4-1, their home season has featured only two losses out of 14 matches. And Gambhir maintains his unbeaten record as captain
KA Pollard c Rahane b Raina 119 (140m 110b 4x4 10x6) SR: 108.18
"I'd like to see WI win and Chennai give them a standing ovation" Blaze, you can count on that I suppose, but you can never guess how a crowd responds. Here is Raina
Long-on comes in. They want to deny him an easy single. The partnership is 19 off 11. Martin is yet to face. Jadeja goes round the stumps
The target is under 50
ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the fifth ODI between India and West Indies in Chennai
India completed a fantastic year as far as home one-day internationals are concerned with another victory over West Indies in a topsy-turvy ODI to make the series scoreline 4-1