Saturday, February 2, 2008

Indian young guns ready to be fired on all cyliners!!!

Tomorrow will come like a breath of fresh air with the first ODI match of the triangular series to be played on Sunday. Life me ek Sunday miss nahin hoga.
Let us see how the youngsters fare tomorrow. Aussies captain Ponting has started playing the mind game by saying that Ganguly's exclusion will prove to be a big mistake in the upcoming series to which Yuvi has reacted by saying that the present team is just right to take on any challenges. It is doubtful how highly Ponting rates Dada but it is all about exposing the chinks in the armour of the opponent. The infighting in Indian cricket leagues has lead to a psychological break-down, which is not visible from the looks of it.
However, the young Indian batsmen, many of whom have joined the team only for the T20 and tri-series, will be keen to make amends for the ordinary batting display in Melbourne where the team was shot out for a paltry 74 in 17.3 overs. Lack of practice might be one of the reasons behind the poor show, something which Dhoni had previously alluded to. In India, both the aftereffects-the euphoria after a win or the repurcussions after a loss- are intense in the extremes.
The Indian team can hope that Gilly's swansong will not be the one that befits him.

Something about the wicket!

The wicket, despite having slowed down a bit over the years, is still one of the livelier tracks of Australia and the humidity because of inclement weather is only going to add sting in the tails of the home pacemen.

It rained considerably in Brisbane on Saturday and more thunderstorms are predicted for Sunday.

We hope that this will not play a spolisport.

On-the-neighbour's-front, unlike the Government, Pakistan's cricket team should earn plaudits for completing a 5-0 whitewash of Zimbabwe in the ODI's in the Mobilink Cup.
A new-look Pakistan, without a handful of senior players, drove Zimbabwe into the ground with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory in the final one-dayer in Sheikhupura to clean sweep the Mobilink Cup 5-0. The overcast and bitterly cold conditions didn't faze debutant Khurram Manzoor and Younis Khan as they chased down a meagre target of 182 with 19 overs to spare.
What bodes well for the shpe of things to come insofar as Pakistan's cricket team is concerned is the emergence of spright youngsters who are ably complelmenting the experienced ones like Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq!
We Indians can also take a cue from Pakistan's line-up and must not rely on 'Josh' alone but on 'Josh with Hosh'.
All said and done, one match debacle does not sound a death knell for anyone. It can be one-off case in the one-off TT match. Let us hope for the best!

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