India vs Australia: Dean Jones thrilled by batting, saddened by bowling
While explosive batting in the series has left Dean Jones thrilled, the former Australian cricketer says bowlers too cannot use any excuse to defend their shoddy bowling.
A record-breaking double hundred by Rohit Sharma and a gritty performance by most of the Indian bowlers ensured that India successfully defended their total of 383/6 in the seventh ODI to win the series versus Australia 3-2. In a sensational game of one-day cricket in Bangalore on Saturday, 38 sixes and 59 fours were hit in a fitting finale to a thrilling series.
"It has been an incredible batting series," said NDTVs cricket expert and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar. "We have some terrific cricket shots, some great innovation and batting at its very best."
Despite the new ODI rules favouring batsmen, former Australian batsman Dean Jones made no excuses for the bowlers. "Make no mistake, the bowling has been poor. None of the bowlers seem to be able to bowl yorkers," he said, summing up the bowlers' plight.
"This series will be remembered for some of the cleanest hitting of all time," Jones added. "A bit like the Olympics, we like to see how much a man acan lift, how fast he can run. In a silly, morbid sense of way I haven't minded what has happened in this series. I want to see how far we can take this," he adds, in reference to the daunting totals posted by each side."
Gavaskar though was a bit more circumspect with regards to the future of ODI cricket. "Scores depend on the type of pitches that are provided. The pitches need to be a little more helpful for the bowlers for there to be a balance between bat and ball," he said.
The series has seen the bat dominateing the ball. There can be no doubt, that with more flat pitches being prepared, and more restrictions on the bowlers, the complexion of one-day cricket has changed dramatically.