Skip to main content

What a campaign!

April 2nd, 2011 is a day I'll remember for a long time. Not just for this shot but the way in which India handled the final overall. Barring the last 5 overs of the SL innings and the first 5 of India's innings, I've rarely seen the team look in such complete control on a big day. It was just brilliant overall and for me will remain a highlight of my India watching days forever. And I would have to disagree with Nirmal Shekhar that this victory was not as epochal as the first one in 1983. Back then, there were no expectations from the team and therefore no pressure, whereas this team was expected to win from day one by a billion plus people. Performing under that kind of pressure is an achievement that can't be overstated. I do agree with Andy Bull's view that there is going to be a big talent drain post the World Cup. Ponting, Sangakkara, Vettori, and Smith have already given up the limited overs captaincy and Murali has played his last international game. Tendulkar, Kallis, Lee, Dravid, Laxman, are going to be gone soon as well. I'm confident though that there will be plenty of replacements and with talents like Kohli, Raina, Mathews, deVilliers, Morgan, Bravo etc there won't be a lack of future stars.

India's campaign also reminded me in many ways of Stefan Edberg's last Grand Slam victory at the US Open in 1992. As the defending champion, he was amongst the favourites and had a relatively easy first few rounds but then thrice in a row, he got through five-set victories and near defeats to get through to the final (just like India did against the Windies, Australia and Pakistan). And in the final against Sampras, he dropped the first set and the next two sets were tightly contested but was then in cruise mode in the final set. The similarities don't end there, he defeated an ageing Lendl (who had been dominant at the US Open in that era) in the quarters like India did with the Aussies, then beat Chang in the semis (when few had expected the latter to get that far). And then he met Sampras who was the smoothest through the tournament (much like Sri Lanka were) and defeated him (in the end) quite easily.


To sign off, loved Dhoni's quote when asked what next for him as captain - "I don't mind repeating everything"...way to go!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Et tu?

As a single sport website, I think Cricinfo has brought about a revolution and the fact that they were bought by ESPN is testament to how highly valued they've become. Their editing and approach to articles/opinion has been refreshing to say the least and even though they seem to have had a lot of editorial staff movement they've usually maintained very high standards. Off late though, both in their headline styles as well as in actual content, there seems to be an occasional slippage of standards and an inching towards the modern media sensationalism which is a bit of a pity. This piece  by Siddharth Monga is a classic example. Granted that the last two press conferences by Dhoni and Sehwag  indicated clearly that the captain and his deputy did not agree on this aspect of selection but "discord", "dissent", "public sniping" feels rather presumptuous and heavy handed. Yes, it is a team sport but there is no reason why everyone on the team needs ...

First thoughts on the Ashes

The only minor surprise for me in the 2013 Australian Ashes squad announced last week was the selection of James Faulkner ahead of Moises Henriques as the second all-rounder. Minor because given  the Shane Watson shenanigans of recent times, I would have thought that Inverarity and co would have opted for a second batting all-rounder (which is what Henriques clearly is). Instead they've gone with a bowling all-rounder in Faulkner and it'll be interesting to see what happens if Watson's batting woes in Test match cricket continue in the first two Tests. As for the rest of the squad, given the way the inexperienced batting performed in India, Rogers and Haddin were always going to make it in to the team and the choice of Khawaja over Smith appears sound too given that the latter's strength is in playing spin bowling. The batting still looks as unsettled and shaky as the Indian fast bowling line-up and its here that the series will be won or lost for the Aussies. The retu...

Much ado about a run-out

Judging by the amount that's been said and written about Ian Bell's run-out-that-wasn't at Trent Bridge, you would think that it has been the most significant occurrence of the series so far when nothing could be further from the truth. Andrew Miller  and Samir Chopra seem to be of the opinion that it was the crucial turning point in the match, which I completely disagree with (the post-tea sessions on days one and two were far more critical and momentum shifting). Andy Flower says that if Tendulkar had been run-out similarly in Bombay, it would have caused an international incident. He's clearly feeling the effects of having been in the England cricket set-up for too long given that a) its very improbable that Tendulkar would do something as daft as Bell did, and b) when a controversial run-out (but within the laws) did happen to him (against Pakistan at Eden Gardens no less), Tendulkar went out to the crowd and appealed to them to calm down and let the game proceed...