Proteas actually bounced OUT !!!!

This image of Kallis swimming in the air will not fade from my memory, NEVER !!! I am glad I bunked office and watched this match !

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A lot of murmurs were shut out at Durban, all that trash about bounce and grass aptly replied to, wonder who is at an advantage on the green tracks now… !!! My excitable self is totally Cock-a-HOOP !!!!
For the record, the match was played in South Africa, in Durban, in Kingsmead, on the greenest track (as they like to call it), on the bounciest South African track (yea that too), South Africa won the toss, bowled under a cloud cover on the first day, South Africa was bowled out in 37 overs on a sunny day, enough South African batters were hit body blows, lots of verbals returned with full interest and yes… if you didnt notice, India won by 87 runs !!!!

Take that !!! I say !

India has been the no.1 Test team but all the Proteas were taunting and it is so so so heartening to see our team put one across them. We beat the Proteas in their own game and the victory was sweet. Not only did we win, we won convincingly.

Cricket is a funny game, the attack that didnt look threatening at all didnt allow South Africa to score one individual 50 in the entire game. Yes this was the same pitch where South Africa bowled India out twice in less than 75 overs in 1996, but, then this Indian team is different.

This Indian team does not take backward steps, they snarl back as fiercely as their opponents and even if the opponents dont it doesnt mean we cant snarl on our own . It was fantastic to see Kallis being dished out a Snorter… I have always had images of Indian batsmen being made to jump, duck and sway..

it was refreshing to see one of the worlds best getting the same from an Indian pacer… it was most satisfying watching Steyn getting three bouncers in a row and then being given the sucker ball and he getting sucked into it big time… it was lovely to see Morkel quiver in the crease and being struck on the body…

Above all, it was a great privelege to watch the silk, the master class of Laxman. The steel inside his body is totally masked with the silk he has, he may not run fast between wickets, but that is the only drawback, he makes up for it in more ways than one. The uncanny knack of getting runs when the team needs it the most is one of the most precious gift this Indian team has. On a wicket where no one could cross 50, this guy got 96 in the second innings and even in the first innings it took a brilliant freak catch to dismiss him !!!! India must be thankful they have this supreme batsman who always gets runs when India needs it the most. Do not ever forget, Indian cricket’s renaissance started in 2001 in the Eden gardens on the back of that 281 against Australia where I am sure even God would have quit any hopes of revival had he been in India’s position.

Very Very Special he surely is Laxman !

The catching was another feature of this match and the Indians proved to one and all that they are deserving number 1 in the world. The number one team in the world just showed why it is no.1. Remember there was no Gautam Gambhir, there were two failures by Rahul and Sachin, Ishant didnt pick up many wickets either, but the team fought and fought together. Zaheer is almost a father figure for the two young bowlers as he ensured SreeSanth and Ishant do not get excited with the bounce, no matter how much SreeSanth lost his temper, he never lost his line and length !!!! That was the difference for me. Smith can keep waving the bat as much as he wants we dont mind as long as he is hooking in the air !!!! Harbhajan Singh after a long long time has really performed like he should on such bouncy tracks and it was heartening to see the lion hearted Sikh get into wickets, this will do his confidence a world of good ! Also it was nice to see young Cheteshwar Pujara, although he didnt score too many, he has the prescence, his eyes are full of determination and I think India has found a batsman for the future. He does not fret and is quite at ease dealing with the fast and short pitched stuff. With time we will see him mature into a fine batsman. Raina & Kohli will just have to wait for the time being.

The one thing missing in the CV of Laxman, Dravid and Sachin is Test series victories in South Africa & Australia. This year has ended with a bang with a victory in what used to be a graveyard for Indian cricket, DURBAN ! Its time to correct the South African bit, we are headed for Cape Town and the one thing I hope is the Proteas prepare a sporting or even better, a hard, green, bouncy surface !!!!! I would hate it if they prepare a flat track and opt for a draw.

I am all set for New Lands CapeTown !

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On a passing note, Mr. Darren Gough thinks this England team is the worlds no.1 and can beat India every day of the week.

The comment makes me smile, here is a player who during his entire career was carved by the Australians. Never could they taken on the Aussies, which India regularly has done in the past 10 years. India infact beat England in their own backyard just a few years back and before that series we drew one in their own backyard. England is also beating an Australian team which is no where near what it was. England couldnt do anything when Warne, Mcgrath and all used to play. Even in the 2005 ashes it took a freak McGrath injury for them to win that too after some really close victories.

So my advice to Darren Gough is that he has made a good attempt at drawing attention to himself. Yes, India is the hottest team, also the one which has the most media attention and also always has lots of moolah around it so no wonder that Darren Gough thought that is one way to attract attention.

We will see you and your no.1 team in May/June 2011 and quell all the murmurs just like we did in Durban. !

Not one more inch

Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.” – Wilma Rudolph

The world no.1 Test ranking is one of the most important achievements of this Indian Cricket Team. Yes there are only 10 Test playing nations, but Cricket is our country’s biggest romance.

Yea Hockey is our national sport, but Cricket, is our national aspiration.

Over a period of time, India has always produced brilliant, rare, talented, gifted and humble cricketers. They always have had some really wonderful individual cricketers and hence the demigod worshipping. Sunil Gavaskar was I think the first Indian cricketer who told India that they could produce the best in the world, better than anyone. Kapil rode the Indian spirits with him, he gave us highs we never thought could be ours, while Gavaskar gave us the belief we belonged and that we were equals, Kapil gave us the thrill of being fearless, taking risks and doing the impossible, he exhilarated us.

We always had magicians in spinners, Bedi, Prassana, Chandra the trio was a fascinating pairing and they wove a web around the batsmen. Wristy Vishwanath or stylish Azharruddin, the sneezing coughing Srikanth or the Champion of Champion Ravi Shashtri. India got Sachin at the age of 16 and with it we also got a boon, he would never age !!!!! If Anil Kumble displayed a lion heart, Dravid showed India what the bulldog spirit was all about. Ganguly and Laxman gifted with boons of timing could do almost anything at ease & in Sehwag they had a fearless maniac whom all opposition dreaded facing.

India were always blessed with individual talents, but in a team sport, you need 11 individuals who collectively win you matches and not just one or two brilliant performances. Yes, we won the world cup in 1983 and the World Series in 1985-86, but never have we consistently won outside the subcontinent in Test Cricket.

We Indians marvel at staggering individual records, we get obsessed with personal milestones, however we always miss the bigger picture that is the team.

“I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.” –

Mia Hamms

Some glaring mistakes were made before this very, very important South African series. India is claiming it is world no. 1, but people in South Africa & Australia claim its a mere statistic. Not just people, even cricketers from these country’s taunt us and challenge us to beat them in their country. Yes, we have won many a game, but is it not the biggest sign of champion teams to do well in the most demanding of situations ???

Yes, Sachin scored his 50th ton, but ask Sachin, its a monkey off his back, he was always going to do so. Yes Rahul scored 12000 runs, but then again, he was going to do so.

Sachin and Rahul would be most happy to be scoring two golden ducks and India winning the first test !!!!

The second test starts on Boxing day and anxiety as it were is around me, Durban will have the GREENEST and the BOUNCIEST pitch in South Africa If India wants to claim to be number 1 team in the world actually, we must conquer our ghosts here.

There is no shame in losing. But the way we lost in the first test was as humiliating as it could be. Not for 30 minutes in the entire test match did we look as if we could beat them. Rave as you might like about the brilliant performances in batting in the second innings, what actually is a fact is that in 2 innings we couldnt even score what South Africa scored in half an innings. Imagine that one specialist batsman, Ashwell Prince in South Africa was not even required to bat !!!!!!!

The truth is India was PUMMELLED into submission in the first test match. We were embarassed. It was not as if there was a contest and we competed well and we lost. We were totally ousted in all departments of the game.

Yes, we should have reached here a lot early to prepare well for this series and yes, we should have played practice matches et all. That is for the board to learn and keep in mind, however that can only happen if the board thinks of having the number 1 test team is the most important thing rather than being the richest board in the world. Yes, we should have taken better support bowlers but all that is a passe.

It is time for our players to once again rise, show, that no matter if their board will not help, no matter if the going is tough, that they are fighters. That is the situation the team finds itself in. The next 5 days starting from boxing day will actually be most crucial, can India find enough grit, courage to stand up and actually put up a show worthy of some respect.

The one thing you can be sure of though is that each one in that team must be hurting. The team takes pride in calling themselves no.1 in Tests. This was a goal set up by the team. They dont want to be ousted like this, no ways.

On Boxing day it will be time to display character, it will be time to fight back, it will be time to re-gain lost momentum.

“A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.” – Jack Dempsey

The Indian team watched, Remember the Titans before the 2003 World Cup, its time they should watch the movie again as they face a herculean challenge :

We shall not let the Proteas gain one more INCH !!!! NOT ONE MORE INCH !!!!! That should be the mantra… !

at times you must sulk…

when nothing works,

everything sucks,

the brain jams,

yea, at such times, traffic too jams, (invariably)

all efforts, down the drain,

nothing to show, no silver lining, wonly dark heavy clouds,

depression everywhere,

rewards ?????? Pah….

are you out of your mind…. !!!!!!!!!

only firing,

yea thats the time when

sigh….

I decided to watch this movie….

lol… its just not hitchy style to sulk….

here are a couple of scenes of this movie that will have you ROFLING !!!!!

and the climax scene… !!! this is classic Farooq Sheikh !!!!