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Thursday, November 06, 2008 

Tour Diary #4

So here we go, one last time. The next test match between India and Australia will be after 2.5 years. This will give them enough time to keep licking there wounds. The job is half done yet and now its time for the final blow. We as spectators of cricket, so called loyalists of the game and the blue uniform have to summon all our energy, strength and desire for one final time as our team prepares to crush Australia in Nagpur.

Cricketers are superstitious, and the most common prevailing superstition across all teams, is to not change your position in which you are sitting, standing, knocking the bat etc if runs are coming or wickets are falling (whichever is appropriate). You just stay put there for the rest of the match if you don’t play any further part in it. I spent an entire inter-IIT cricket meet sitting outside the shed in a hot Chennai sun, because it proved lucky a few times and I didn’t want to lose that edge. I got all tanned and lots of other stuff too. So in line with that trend I am actually happy this time that my post is delayed by a day, as has been the case on the previous three occasions.

311-5, Australia will be very pleased with the effort. Not so much there bowling effort, because none of their bowlers looked like getting a wicket. The least likely was Krejza. Only Watson got a good ball which deserved a wicket, others just sprayed it around. Indian batsman played some poor shots. Well I mean Sehwag’s bread and butter is the same shot he got out to, so can’t blame him. Dravid, has gone from hopeless to disaster. I think Dhoni will do well to bat him at 6 in the second innings if at all the need arises. Sachin played very well, and although he came out like a young boy playing an ego match with Krejza, he batted beautifully to get the hundred. Laxman and Sehwag did well also. But India should again have been much more for much less. Similar story to Mohali.

The most interesting thing of the first day’s play to me was the ball that got Dravid out. Bite and kick on the first day first session, says that we are in for a result here. Saurav is playing well and Dhoni does well, apparently for some people, when he is Captain. It’s upto the bowlers now really to win India the trophy and bring it to its suitable location. Just four more days of good cricket and we will be there and I will take off my shirt for one last time.

The last test match, we let the Aussies away. Should have won it, but for a few drop catches. No let ups now, we need to stick it out for another 4 days and win this series. Win it for Kumble, win it for Ganguly, win it for Sachin. Don’t win it for Dravid he has been a terrible disappointment. Win it for Laxman, I think he can get the record of scoring 50s in his first and 100th test match and winning it. Ok weird correlation.

This is perhaps the last time Sachin, Dravid, and even Laxman will play Australia in a test match. Perhaps also the last time for Ponting, Hayden, Hussey maybe even Lee. It looks like the end of the road for many of the game’s greats. This for all the talk of India-Australia test cricket is really the Final Frontier.

Zor se bolo….

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Your cricket related pieces are really really good, comparable to the better ones on Cricinfo.

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