Dinesh Karthik’s remarkable stumping proves he belongs to the international arena

It was a morale-boosting win for India at Lord’s on Sunday. The 23-run win over England also ended their winning drought. India lost the series, but the win came as a much-needed relief for all the team members. It only suggests how badly India needed a favourable result.

The dysfunction of the team, discussed for over the last two months, should now hopefully come to an end. The boys really applied themselves with rigour and resilience to get out of the rough patch. A victory always brings back self-confidence among the players and they start looking at the game in a new light. The communication within the team also gets a lift, propagating positive feelings for one another.

It was a great sight to watch Ashish Nehra running in with more purpose. As the new ball bowler, that’s the kind of response expected from him. After his World Cup heroics against the same opponents, Nehra had not inspired confidence. Under the present situation, it may be hard to leave him out of the team. But at the same time, it would be difficult for him to be the first choice for the final eleven. Captains sometimes find it hard to evaluate such players.

Sunday’s performance should elevate Nehra’s game. He should now be made to bowl more at nets to sustain the rhythm. When a bowler bowls well, it is always important for him to bowl more to maintain the form. I hope Nehra stays fit and performs with the same agility during the ICC Champions Trophy.

Irfran Pathan is still a cardinal part of the Indian attack. The team should find the third bowler between Lakshmpathy Balaji and Ajit Agarkar. I strongly feel that India should go with three seamers.

Harbhajan Singh is in scintillating form at the moment. The control with which he is bowling is truly world class — one cannot remember him bowling a single bad ball in the last two matches. By breaking the huge seventh-wicket stand between Ashley Giles and Michael Vaughan, he turned the match in India’s favour.

Dinesh Karthik made a remarkable comeback with one of the best stumpings seen in international cricket in recent times. It was good enough an act by the youngster to drive home the point that he belongs to the international arena.

The dismissal of Vaughan must have worked in reinforcing his self-belief, which perhaps took a little beating when he batted for the first time at this level. International cricket is all about mind over matter and only such performances can build confidence and sustain a youngster.

Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly played with great determination. When it comes to returning to form, no one knows it better than Rahul. His knock was by no means up to his own standards, but the way he ground the innings to spend more time at the centre was simply commendable.

It is always important for the captains to perform and lead from the front. With a few runs behind him, Sourav’s body language, I have noticed, changes drastically on the field. Naturally, captains have got to lead by example.

But this strange phenomenon of getting run out after a mix-up is becoming very productive for the opponents. The top brass of the team should work together to eliminate such mistakes.