This was the thought that crossed my mind when I read this piece on Rediff.
Okay, so India lost an ODI against South Africa.. Big deal!!! This was a series no one, barring Lalit Modi, wanted in the first place.
On top of that, 70% of the Indian team is nursing some ailment or the other. So much so that we could not front up 4 bowlers who were healthy/fit.
And yet, South Africa was pushed to the limit. Two spinners in the squad on a cold, blustery Irish morning did not deter the Indians from putting up a fight.
The loss of two early wickets did not hamper the Indians from putting up a decent score, given the conditions.
The way I look at it, Sachin and Rahul had a pretty decent hit in the middle. The bowlers ( the fit ones , that is) had a decent outing in the middle. The players could stretch and test themselves in match conditions, coming as they were from a longish layoff ( Any break greater than 2 days is long when it comes to the Indian team).
And the players showed bottle- in spite of the odds stacked up against them. And that, for me, is the biggest positive we take going into the test series against England.
And with Ranadeb Bose and Ishant Sharma joining the squad, they will get a first hand experience of English conditions in less than testing circumstances.
All that remains to be done is to get the remaining batsmen ( besides Sachin and Rahul) some time in the middle.
This is no do or die battle - the war begins on July 19. Everything between now and then is just preparation and shadow boxing, nothing more, nothing less.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Why the doom and gloom?
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4 comments:
You're right, Homer. But then our media needs to create a beast to chant up a mob, no? I already read a headline today (I think it was Express) that 'India faces do or die situation' - laughed my ass off...except that it was tragic.
'Do and die' for a series they were, along with all other outlets, conveniently blaming the board for having forced down the Indian team's gullet.
Our media is surely a master at the art of having their cake and eating it. But then...I guess we've had this discussion earlier. *sigh*
Aye Worma... The worrying thing though, is that some of the bloggers have espoused the media line..
Cheers
See..the media creates, and then panders to a gullible section of the cricket fan base (and this is a pretty big section). And who said that these people are not allowed to blog? ;-)
hahaha!!!
Even I found that headline funny. And print media is better than electronic media where they talk even more rubbish and spit venom!!
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