We,the Indians, have yet again let a test-series slip away from our hands and to make matters worse, that too on home soil.
A team, far inferior compared to the Ashes winning England squad, without Marcus Trescothick, Simon Jones, Steve Harmison, Ashley Giles and Michael Vaughan came out with flying colours by levelling the three match series 1-1 beating us comprehensively at the Wankhede Stadium.
The high-profile and globally feared(?) Indian batting line-up, comprising of The DemiGod, The Wall and The Nawab of Nazafgarh broke down like a card-house in front of what was being termed as a C-grade bowling line-up by many experts of the game.
Rahul Dravid, the Indian skipper, committed a suicidal mistake by choosing to bowl first on a track which has over the years been a nightmare to bat on on the 4th and 5th days. The Rahul Dravid - Greg Chappel super combo keeps a batsman of VVS Laxman's calibre out and go out in the field with only 5 specialist batters. Laxman, who has had the reputation of being the saviour of Indian cricket in difficult situations on numerous occasions had to sit in the dressing room as a mere spectator watching the 'MIGHTY' Indian batting line-up collapse for a meagre 100 runs. The in-form Mohammad Kaif,who scored a match-saving wonderful 91 in the second test at Mohali had to make way for Yuvraj Singh who coming back from an injury, scored 37 and 12. Doesn't the question 'Why did Laxman and Kaif have to sit out?' make sense?
Still, no questions will be asked, no fingers will be pointed. Why? Because :
1. Come on, people...Dravid is just a new captain. Give him some more time.
2. These are Chappel and Dravid's experimentations which will take Indian cricket forward and will be beneficial in the long run.
3. Rahul is such a nice guy.....Such a 'yes Sir' man deserves more chances.
and....
4. Rahul Dravid is NOT Sourav Ganguly. So he can be spared.
Four good enough reasons not to question Dravid's abilities as a test captain. Aren'y they?
<<<<< Don't we remember how the media and many ex-cricketers were after Ganguly's life after he chose to field in the World Cup 2003 final and we lost? >>>>>
If Sourav wasn't good enough to be in the team and if the team management has a same yardstick for performance evaluation for all the players, then why the hell is Virender Sehwag doing in the team? One innings of 76 after his double ton in the first test in Pakistan....nothing in between.
Sachin Tendulkar fails in eight consecutive innings after his 35th ton and nobody says anything. Whoever was questioning his form after his failure in the first innings has shut up suddenly. He too can be spared because he has a shoulder injury.
According to BCCI officials this shoulder injury was there since September last year. Then why the hell was he in the team all this while? Couldn't they take necessary action then only? May be playing with a hidden injury has aggravated it. But it could have been avoided, no?
So Tendulkar, by virtue of being Tendulkar will take a break from the game for at least a couple of months and will be back again with a bang (a great innings or two) followed by a l-----o------n-------g series of single-digit scores, until his next injury gets detected. Fair enough. Isn't it?
A team, far inferior compared to the Ashes winning England squad, without Marcus Trescothick, Simon Jones, Steve Harmison, Ashley Giles and Michael Vaughan came out with flying colours by levelling the three match series 1-1 beating us comprehensively at the Wankhede Stadium.
The high-profile and globally feared(?) Indian batting line-up, comprising of The DemiGod, The Wall and The Nawab of Nazafgarh broke down like a card-house in front of what was being termed as a C-grade bowling line-up by many experts of the game.
Rahul Dravid, the Indian skipper, committed a suicidal mistake by choosing to bowl first on a track which has over the years been a nightmare to bat on on the 4th and 5th days. The Rahul Dravid - Greg Chappel super combo keeps a batsman of VVS Laxman's calibre out and go out in the field with only 5 specialist batters. Laxman, who has had the reputation of being the saviour of Indian cricket in difficult situations on numerous occasions had to sit in the dressing room as a mere spectator watching the 'MIGHTY' Indian batting line-up collapse for a meagre 100 runs. The in-form Mohammad Kaif,who scored a match-saving wonderful 91 in the second test at Mohali had to make way for Yuvraj Singh who coming back from an injury, scored 37 and 12. Doesn't the question 'Why did Laxman and Kaif have to sit out?' make sense?
Still, no questions will be asked, no fingers will be pointed. Why? Because :
1. Come on, people...Dravid is just a new captain. Give him some more time.
2. These are Chappel and Dravid's experimentations which will take Indian cricket forward and will be beneficial in the long run.
3. Rahul is such a nice guy.....Such a 'yes Sir' man deserves more chances.
and....
4. Rahul Dravid is NOT Sourav Ganguly. So he can be spared.
Four good enough reasons not to question Dravid's abilities as a test captain. Aren'y they?
<<<<< Don't we remember how the media and many ex-cricketers were after Ganguly's life after he chose to field in the World Cup 2003 final and we lost? >>>>>
If Sourav wasn't good enough to be in the team and if the team management has a same yardstick for performance evaluation for all the players, then why the hell is Virender Sehwag doing in the team? One innings of 76 after his double ton in the first test in Pakistan....nothing in between.
Sachin Tendulkar fails in eight consecutive innings after his 35th ton and nobody says anything. Whoever was questioning his form after his failure in the first innings has shut up suddenly. He too can be spared because he has a shoulder injury.
According to BCCI officials this shoulder injury was there since September last year. Then why the hell was he in the team all this while? Couldn't they take necessary action then only? May be playing with a hidden injury has aggravated it. But it could have been avoided, no?
So Tendulkar, by virtue of being Tendulkar will take a break from the game for at least a couple of months and will be back again with a bang (a great innings or two) followed by a l-----o------n-------g series of single-digit scores, until his next injury gets detected. Fair enough. Isn't it?
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