BOOM BOOM INDIA!

India completed a dominating victory against England in the 1st ODI of the ongoing 7 ODI series. India out performed England by far in batting and bowling. Put into bat on a pitch the promised bowlers early swing, Indian openers, Sehwag and Gambhir put up 127 for first wicket. While that was phenomenal, what followed was incredible - Yuvi blasted out 138 runs in just 78 balls. Owing to the efforts of Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvi, India posted the highest ever target against England of 388 runs in 50 overs.

Indian opening bowlers then managed to find all the accuracy and swing that English seamer's were missing. Both Zaheer and Munaf bowled miserly spell's and also bagged 4 wicket's even before the spinners were introduced. After that there was no real hope for England and they folded up for a meagre total of 229 runs in the 38th over - giving India a victory margin of 158 runs.

For me an Indian win was almost a certainty, still the margin of victory was incredible. Reading England's writers before the match and listening to English commentator's before Sehwag and Gambir got the show on the road, one were lead to believe that we are up for a very stiff and competitive series.

David Loyld in particular predicted a almost Australia-India like contest, drawing parallels which were funny at best. http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/talk/content/multimedia/377984.html?view=transcript In a obvious effort to bring interest in the series and perhaps to dream out aloud, he came up with real good stuff like - Sehwag will be found wanting against England's pace attack (after he has proven himself against likes of Lee in Australia), Zahreer and Bajji can be out focused by playing mind games (last time England tried that with 'jellygate' incident in England, Zaheer came up with a match winning performance), India is vulnerable without Ganguly and Dravid in its ODI team (when was the last time Loyld watched India in a ODI?) etc etc.

Even the commentators during the start of Indian inning's sounded not pleased when Gavaskar or Shiv tried to talk about India's strengths - made one wonder if the English caught up in the 90's or worse the 80's? When Gavaskar tried telling them and the viewers how Gambhir unsettles the bowlers by shuffling across and forward, there was just this silence from his fellow commentator Ian Botham. Botham just said that Freddie (Flintoff) is one of the strongest arms in world cricket. Compare that to the acumen and grace of Ian Chappel - feels like English lack not just on field.

End of the day, if you ask me to select players from this England's side who have the hunger, the edge, the attitude, fit for current Indian side, only two qualify - Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.

While this attitude of under estimating India was clearly seen in English writers and commentators, it is only the result of the inferiority complex affecting English cricket. Only when you can see your self as you truly are, can you acknowledge others as they are. In ECB's quest to undermine India's financial superiority, they have forgotten that ultimately all that matters is cricket. In today's world, financial excellence is key to achievement and confidence - you keep your players off IPL, you send them on a gold diggers quest which is more a statement of one millionaire's ego. How do you expect to do all this and have it not affect the confidence of your cricketer's?

Wake up and realise that IPL is not just about money, IPL is a opportunity which will let you recognise your own faceless champions and to see your best tested in the hardest grind of cricket on earth. All cricketing nations who participated in IPL have benefited from it - not just the players, the selectors found more talent pool than was visible previously. And England, you manage to keep your players from such promising and productive venture - hats off! Till you realise your mistake and are able to admit it boldly and without ego, you will always be ridden with self doubts and small satisfactions.

The drum roll started in Rajkot and will continue till Dec 23rd in Mumbai. This is BooM BooM India.

Is Singh the King?

Is problematic prince, finally the King? He has the power, he has the style, he has the eye, the hand and the coordination, he has the rhythm and he has us with him. But naah .. one ingredient missing is consistency. Yuvi once again mesmerized us with what he is, just hope he does it more often. This was emphatic return to the side. 138 from 78 balls is not a child's dream, its a man's destiny. But so has inconsistency been his destiny. This match Yuvi had a platform provided by Sehwag and Gambhir, he had a pitch which warms his heart, the attack lacked decent spin and it has been a while since he blasted - I think all this went to make this knock a bit less special than it deserved to be.

Now is the Time

As the Bengalooru curtain raiser ended, two things were proved to be correct - Aussies are no more the world beaters they were & India are not yet the world beaters they hope to be. As this scale is maintained we will witness more and more thrilling contests (hopefully). Ultimately a status quo can not be maintained indefinitely; one side or the other has to stake their claim for supremacy. It will be mighty interesting to see who that will be.

In the same vein of thought, it can be said that the current selection committee of BCCI has on it a job of immense proportions; one of a magnitude of which was never thrust up on it before. Hopefully Kris Srikanth and his men will prove up to the task. No, I am not merely referring to the retirement plans for Fab-4 and the Lone Raider (Anil Kumble). The task before the new selection committee is much more complex and multi faceted. BCCI is now for some years has been rolling in money that is also nothing new, albeit the scale has increased significantly. The major task is to take advantage of a vacuum that is about to form at the top of the international cricketing community - "Who fills Aussie shoes?" is the BIG question. India have a very realistic chance of being that country. And if India does manage to achieve even half of that - to become a formidable and feared foe in test arena, then this proud cricketing nation whose claim to fame was mostly borne by few shoulders can rejoice in its "team" supremacy.

May the seniors in their retirement plans and the juniors in their commitment-hard work and the selection committee in their acts of balance and the BCCI in its quest for coffers and the public in their continuing support, come together and strive to achieve that extra 100 yards (or half) to reach the pinnacle; let no IPL blind us into self congratulations. Amen!

Tail thunders! - Retain Fab-4!

While half the top order of India did not put up a fight, the tail is showing some spirit. Most annoying was how Tendulkar, Laxman and Dhoni got out. Tendulkar and Laxman just followed the script Aussies wrote for them; wonder even if the "director" Ponting would have hoped for such a "Oscar worthy" performance! In fact the person who is being forced to play his last series was the best Indian batsman today; in spite of a nosebleed Ganguly played within himself and ultimately got out LBW to a faulty decision for 47. His innings almost had no bad shots. So again the question - does Sourav deserve this treatment? India's bravest and most successful captain by far, a fighter to the core. Sourav's fall can never be India's gain.

Dravid also is getting back to his old self. If a single tour is a fate decider for the seniors then will rest of the fab-4 receive same treatment as Ganguly if they fail the whole series. Naah .. that's not gonna happen, they all did bad in SriLanka .. but its just Dada who has to leave - others can congratulate their luck or PR skills.

I am not advocating that any of the fab-4 should leave. I believe they are all great cricketers who have a year or two in them. I am just sore an sorry for the treatment meted out for Ganguly. Why not have a rotation policy and keep benching one of the fab-4 for a test and let a junior take his place? Guys these people are called fab-4 for a reason - they had quality, they had the grit and they were consistent. I firmly believe that none of the Indian youngsters-in-wait have all this right now, as that fab-4 did when they took their place in Indian test side. Apart from that the fab-4 can and will still perform for at least a year or two if given opportunity. Does the selectors even know the meaning of the phrase "to phase out"?

Sourav : The Brave

Ganguly is correct, he has been humiliated time and again. He is paying the price of being a straight talker in a nation whose cricket is always about false-ego's and behind the back talks. Yes Sourav has ego but its up to ur face and he has quality (even now) to back it up. Sourav was never one to hide in a closet or weep silently. It might be a wrong time to voice his views but again will the world even care this much if he vents his anger after he has retired? What the "we-know-best's" of Indian cricket have done is to use Sourav when they needed him (bowing to his straight talk) and then go for his head at the first oppurtunity available. Every great player goes through bad patches. If you just want to talk about current form, I would say Sourav is just one series bad. I don't understand this concept of age in test cricket. I know that Sourav is a sloppy fielder, but his presence in the batting line up fills one with bravery. He is the BRAVE ONE, a rarity in Indian cricket.