Saturday, January 26, 2008

Is the Adelaide Test heading for a draw?

This is about a structured effort to outline what happened after the recent Perthquake test in which Australia lost to India after notching 16 Test wins in a row. Taking a lot from what I had previously wriiten, it is more about about Day 2 and Day 4 and the ripple effect it had on quite a few good men:
Perth Test 2K8, Day 2:
Every underdog has its day:
Talking of cricket, it was a great day 2 for India at Perth test match at the WACA stadium.
The crowd enjoyed real cricket bereft of any unsportsmanship antic. Aussies were skittled to a paltry score of 212 in reply to the India's first innings total of 330. Symonds was again threatening to be India's nemesis but fell short of that just in time. Gilly was also intimidating the Indian pace attack. He too did not last that long. In the end, the bowlers were able to mop up the tails.
This test will almost surely have a result if the rain gods do not intervene. However, the paradox is that in the attempt to play true cricket, the mighty Oz have crumbled, which brings forth the question if cricket is not just a mind game. Can true cricket be played without employing the mind game, so as to enjoy it in toto? Certainly sensationalism or sensitizing adds a wee bit of spice to everything. But the question is how far is too far?
All said and done, Aussies deserve kudos for behaving with such restraint and even if they lose the match, they will win so many hearts. With due respect to the Indian who have come as underdogs, they have been doing this since so many years.

After Day 4's historic win and the Indian selectors announcing the latest ODI squad:
BushWACA by Team India:
India has won the Perth test in a cliffhanger and without taking a cue from it the new ODI has been announced in which Dada and Dravid do not find a place. It has really been a bold but controversial decision of the selectors. Few have even gone to the extent of calling them names.
Yesterday, I was going through a World Cup TT match in which the young Indian side ousted the mighty Proteans in a tantalizing and gritty display of raw and fearless cricketing talent. It was a match in which Rohit Sharma from Mumbai excelled as a batter as well as a fielder. His devicing an impossible run-out was awesome. It made me realize that we need supple cricketers in the quicker format- the ODI's or TT. Dada has been awesome in the year 2007, amassing the highest ODI runs for Team India. However, he and Dravid do not carry the spark of Jonty Rhodes or our very own Dinesh Kartick, Yuvi, Robin Utthapa or for that matter Rohit Sharma. Fielding can be ignited by inspiration and if batting and bowling matter, let us not forget that fielding is given a short shrift. It also matters. Do not forget that catches win matches. Here, Team India has always been weak. For the first time, we have a team comprinsing the young blood that is raring to go for or after any shot in the stadium. We will have to supress our emotions for the larger good. A young and promising team is in the making. Personally, I idolize Sachin. However, for the sake of the larger good, if Sachin is axed once in a while to retun into fold later or take some rest temporarily, I will supress my love for the God of Indian cricket.
Let us think of a befitting team for the would be economic superpower-INDIA!!

A bit about the Adelaide Test 2K8:

It seems that the selectors have got the timing of announcement of the latest ODI squad wrong and Kumble seems to be right in pointing that. It has perchance played on the psyche of Dada and Dravid as they were out cheaply. Sachin and Kumble played like the virtuosi. A brilliant century (153) by Sachin, an ably lead example by Kumble who scored 85, and a scintillating batting diplay by the tailenders saw India amass more than 500 runs on the batsman friendly pitch. The Aussies are resilient and have started off quite well with Hayden scoring yet another century in the series like Sachin did and Ponting breathing down the neck of Sachin in terms of number of centuries. Hayden is not far behind too. More than 300 runs have been scored by the Aussies for the loss of 3 wickets. Ponting andClarke seem are consolidating the middle order. This seems to be a level playing field.
India can still take a sense of pride if this match draws in the worst case scenario. The Sydney match is not being seen as a genuine one because of bad umpiring in favour of the Aussies by Steve Bucknor, who is back to the Caribbean islands and it serves him right.
Despite Aussies being 2-1 up in records if this test is drawn, it should be perceived as a 1-1 draw in actuality by the honest blokes.
Let us see what happens.