CHENNAI: If one looks for protagonists in England's ODI revolution, you don't need to look beyond their openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow.
Part of a side that doesn't like its batsmen to hold back from playing shots irrespective of the match situation, England's middle-order batsmen couldn't have asked for better openers to give the platform that allows them to get their eye in without worrying about run-rate before switching to top-gear.
The West Indies of the 80s and the Australian team of the noughties, considered as one of the all-time great ODI sides, had a pair of openers who dictated the way the rest of the batting unit played.
Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes stitched 15-century stands in a period where many teams were yet to crack the ODI code. Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist were the faces of an all-conquering Ricky Ponting side that didn't lose a game across two World Cup editions in different continents.
Now with England on the way to establishing themselves among the best-ever ODI sides, they are being shown the path by two openers who are pushing all the boundaries. In terms of runs, they are still way behind Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar (nearly 4000 runs apart for those interested).
But there hasn't been a more violent pair than the English duo. Roy and Bairstow, after their 110-run stand for the first wicket, helped the visitors level the three-match ODI series, now have 13 century stands at the top from only 49 innings. It is just three behind Hayden-Gilchrist's 16 in 114 innings.
There is an even more frightening number. Roy and Bairstow score 7.01 runs per over while batting together, a number no opening pair in history can come close to. Their aggressive approach at the top means, those coming in next have to seldom worry about picking up the run-rate or required rate. Of these 13 stands, eight have come when England were chasing. And it is even more outrageous that six have come with them chasing totals of above 300 and a 294 against West Indies. For a change in Pune on Friday, they shelved their aggressive approach.
They were relatively slow by their own standards in England's chase of 337. With Eoin Morgan missing and the middle-order failing to finish the job after they put on 130 in the first ODI, they chose to play safe, but even then they were effective as Roy scored 55 and Bairstow finishing with 124 and stitching together 110 runs in the opening 16.3 overs.
On any other day, they would have walked away with all the accolades for killing the game early. However, they were overshadowed by another once-in-a-generation all-rounder Ben Stokes, who played a brutal inning that ended one short of a century (99 off 52b, 4x4, 10x6) to leave India completely demoralised.
The left-hander took time to settle, but once he got the hang of the wicket, nothing but flat, the southpaw found his range and India began to bleed runs. Such was the brutality of Stokes' assault that he went from 50 to 99 in just 11 deliveries — 6,6,6,1,6,4,2,6,6,2,4.
Though the carnage did end, it was way too late for India, who thought 336 was sufficient. Like in the first ODI, a total of above 300 appeared beyond them when they lost their openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma inside nine overs with only 37 on board.
Virat Kohli and KL Rahul then steadied the ship with a 121-run stand for the third wicket before the Indian captain was dismissed for 66. From there on India changed gears with Rishabh Pant and Rahul upping the ante with a 113-run stand for the fourth wicket off just 80 deliveries before the Pandya brothers, Hardik and Krunal, gave the finishing touches.
Having scored 112 runs in the first 25 overs, India scored 224 in the next 25 to total 336, but against an attacking England side, it was 30-40 runs short.