Feb 22, 2006 05:14 PM
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(Updated Feb 22, 2006 05:14 PM)
Well Well Well, all those MSians who thought that I had gone underground are in for a rude shock. I took a week off before I decided to write on something worthwhile and funny. The Hutch Cup 2006 seemed like the perfect comeback to regain form and prove myself. Oops, am I beginning to sound like a certain Bengali bloke who recently lost his place in the squad? Please forgive if I am.
SILLY SERIES
Inzamam and his lads surprised the Indians at Karachi in the final test. The world-famous batting order consisting of the likes of Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly wilted and collapsed under pressure. All those self proclaimed cricket critics got their swords out and began disecting the Indian Cricketers. Even Sachin was not spared. Dail newspapers called it ''ENDULKAR'', a truly silly phrase to describe the Indian maestro. Inzamam and Woolmer were praised to the skies for being aggressive whenever necessary.
Cricket pundits said that India would lose the ODI series and that Tendulkar would soon follow in the footsteps of sacked skipper Ganguly. They said that that he did not have the timing or power to play his shots anymore. Only Dravid and Tendulkar were not listening. sachin hit up a ton and Dravid marshalled his resources well in the opner. Sadly, Duckworth-Lewis did not think too much of Dravid's efforts and India were forced to concede a seven run win to Pakistan.
The Indians by now must not be knowing what to do. They made 328 but still lost. Should the blame be taken by Karthik, an average spinner, or did the quicks disappoint by not being too quick. in fact, I should not be even calling them quickies.......
THE FIGHTBACK
Rahul and his boys in blue were determined to stage a fight back and prove to the pundits that they could repeat the 2004 feat, Ganguly or no Ganguly. the Indian guys just got their foot in the door and even the burly form of Inzy couldn't hold the eager Indians back. Soon, Dravid had his face and shoulders in the door. India levelled the series 1-1. They then went on to win the next two games to make the fifth ODI simply academic.
Pakistan Skipper did not know what to say: his team was bowled out for 160-odd at the fourth ODI and the absence of S.Akhtar meant that his pace-attack was wafer thin. roll on to Karachi...
Even after resting two key all-rounders in the form of Pathan and Tendulkar, India cruised to a stylish 8-wicket win. I'll tell you something that was not so stylish----- Powar's silly red & black glasses which looked as though they were bought for Rs150. Yuvraj (which means Prince), struck golden form in the series and finally graduated from young prince to mature king. Dhoni was at his dazzling best.
The fielding improved vastly as the lethargic old legs of Laxman & Ganguly were absent and were replaced by the young energetic legs of Raina and Kaif. Speaking of Kaif, was he batting with a thin bat or dense brain? He scored 13 runs in four innings.
Anyway, the Indian team is shaping up nicely for the 2007 world cup. But Chappell has proved that India can win without Tendulkar and Pathan. Are they the next to be sacked? One hopes not for their sake!!!!!!!
