It has been ages since I have posted anything on my blog. So welcome to my first post for the year 2008. The best news, sports-related, has to be India's convincing win over the famed Aussies at the WACA, Perth. Yes, Perth. I would not have dreamt to type that we won in Perth...yes even in my dreams, but here we are to face the reality. When the entire world dismissed India's chances at Perth, there was a bunch of 15 people who decided to prove the world wrong. This bunch, led by a great, aggressive and a true match winner, answered the critics in fine style and made millions and millions of Indians proud. As my friend GK wrote in his blog http://whowrites.blogspot.com/ it gave us all a feel good factor for the rest of the day.
The concept of teamwork was very visible in the entire game. We were expected to struggle on a fast and bouncy track, with one guy wanting to bowl at 170kmph. A man on return to the testfold decided to attack the fast bowlers and gave us a solid platform. A fabulous cricketer, who recently has struggled to get going, decided to battle it out in the centre for an all important 93, ably supported by our Little Master with a beautiful 71. We should have scored about 400 but we folded in for 330. The next effort from team India was what gladdened my heart. A bowling trio, who would have a rating of 5 on 10 from most experts, plus a champion in our skipper decided to prove all of them wrong once more. It was the finest exhibition of swing bowling seen in a long long time. You do not have to bowl at 150kmph+ but all you need to do is pitch the ball in the right areas. Thats what India did better than the Aussies and had an impressive lead of 118.
Although we had a shaky start to our second innings, another very very special cricketer decided to release his script along with an up and coming w/k batsman. A target of 413 is going to be difficult for any team, even if you are a champion team like Australia. Day 4 will be etched in any cricket crazy fan's memory for years to come. A tall lanky 19 year old (reminded me of another called Mysore Express) gave one of the best batsman in world cricket a thorough workout for nearly 45 minutes and finally nailed him with an absolute beauty. This is what is exhilarating about Test cricket. Yes the T20 can get quick results and so can the ODI but this test cricket is what is the "real" cricket. You do not play over 20 or 50 overs but play by sessions. And this is where Team India played exceptional in all sessions. They deserved to win. Yes, it has finally sunk in that India beat Australia at the WACA, Perth.
After the controversy surrounding the Sydney test, where supposedly there were issues relating to "racism" and some absolutely "shocking" umpiring on display, the test match at Perth was a breath of fresh air and it ended up with the sweet smell of victory for India. In hindsight, we should have been 2-1 up, but if everything is looked up in hindsight, we tend to lose the importance of the "present". Let us enjoy this awesome feeling for the time being.
Hats off "Team India". You made every Indian very very proud for beating the Aussies at WACA, Perth. Yes, at Perth!!!!
2 comments:
Madan,
So, finally a post after a real long time. Good to see you back!!! Thanks for the reference. It was a special day certainly, and it is made all the more sweet just for the fact that we have won it in Perth. It just cannot get bigger for a traditionalist. As you pointed out, it is not T20 or it is not a one day match, but what purists consider as the only form of legitimate cricket :-) If this is what test cricket is all about, I am all for it!!!
GK,
Thank you. Yes this is what "real" cricket is all about, a battle of attrition.....Hope they repeat their performance at Adelaide.
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