Dhaka: After the roaring success of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament, Indian cricket got back to the more traditional mode of One-Dayer at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Victory came easily but did the players find it difficult to adjust?
When the Indian innings started, it seemed that someone forgot to tell Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir that the IPL was over.
The opening duo cashed in on their recent good fortunes in the shortest form of the game and made Pakistan pay. But it wasn't just all slog and the balls were judged on their merits with the bad ones shown no mercy.
Sehwag and Gambhir put on 155 in 21.3 overs the perfect start in an ODI and the wait to bat did leave a few in the Indian dressing room twiddling their thumbs.
"Well I was waiting to see because we have played one and a half months of Twenty20 cricket do this 50-over version felt a bit longer than usual. It was nice the start that we got from Viru and Gambhir," Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.
There had been talk in the Indian team about making a smooth transition to the ODIs as the team had difficulties adjusting during Australia's trip to India right after the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.
But this time the homework was done and the long hours at the nets paid off.
Both Yuvraj Singh and Gambhir paced their innings to perfection even as the pitch started to change character.
"I think the wicket was tough. It is not easy when a wicket falls to go in and straightaway start rotating the strike and get after the bowlers. Then it started turning," Dhoni added.
Faced with an imposing target of 331 runs Pakistan crumbled as Praveen Kumar hit the right areas.
And despite a brief passage of resistance the bowlers held their nerves waiting for the right time to strike.
It was all over in the 34th over when Pakistan were bowled out for 190 to give India victory by 140 runs. But for some the match stretched way to long.
Former India skipper and the brand ambassador of the IPL team Chennai Super Kings Krishnamachari Srikkanth said, "One of my close friends called me at 7 O'clock (in the evening) and he said ‘Hey Cheeka what is happening still the match is going on. In Twenty20 the match by now would have been over’."
Before the match there seemed to be an apprehension if India could get rid of the hangover quickly. They seemed to have passed the test with flying colours and have shown that all it needs is a bit of application for modern cricketer to switch modes.
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