Yes...Yes...would you believe it?
We have done it....And could victory have been more sweeter?After the Sydney fiasco when most people had written India off,we have come back strongly to beat Aus in their own backyard,at Perth..
What a game?It had so many ups and downs....When Ind made 330 in the first innings,I felt that they were once again 60-70 runs short,having lost the crucial wickets of Dravid and Laxman just when the first days play was drawing to a close...Then when the Aussie openers came out to bat,Pathan bowled beautifully and swung the new ball,had good control and dismissed both the Aussie openers quickly...At 61-5,Australia were tottering..Is it?hang on...They have this uncanny knack of clawing out of difficult situations....This time ,it was Symonds and Gilchrist who came to the rescue with a wonderful partnership..At one point of time,they were going along at 7 runs per over( I was being reminded of Gilli's century in last year's WC when he bounced back after a series of dismal performances..)..That was a brilliant counter attack ....Just when they were gaining momentum,Kumble struck for his 600th wicket,getting rid of the dangerous Symonds,and when Gilli was out,there was little resistance from the tail as they surrendered quickly to be bowled out for 212...
When India batted for the 2nd time,Sehwag made his intentions clear and he was not going to hang around,though Jaffer was clawing his way out.By the end of the day's play on the 2nd day,Sehwag had quickly raced to 29 of just 35 deliveries and Pathan had been sent in as a night watchman following Jaffer's dismissal.The morning of the 3rd day belonged to Aus...Brett Lee once again stood out ...And India were reduced to a hundred odd..for the loss of 5 wickets...Following that,Laxman and Pathan notched up a good partnership and then Laxman once again in the company of Dhoni and Rp Singh added useful runs towards the end and we managed to set Australia a target of 413....
As the chase began, Pathan bowled well once again with the new ball,getting rid of the openers and by the end of the day's play on day 3,Aus still required a further 348 runs to win with 8 wickets in hand....
Hmmm...So what did you think would happen?Would India win or would Australia once again get the better of us? As it turned out,On the 4th day morning,the Indian bowlers were disciplined,and dint give away too many runs easily...Ishant Sharma bowled a fiery spell and after beating Ponting a couple of times,he finally had his man,when he got one to just straighten a bit and Dravid took an easy catch at first slip....Symonds and Hussey were clearly unlucky to have been given out lbw.In Symonds's case,luck had evened out!Just when India seemed to be gaining the upper hand,Austalia were clawing back .. Meanwhile Clarke remained aggressive at the other end,putting away the loose deliveries and carved out an excellent half century.
At 220 for 5 ( 200 odd runs further required)or so,Sehwag was introduced into the attack.I got the feeling India were trying one option too many and may be there was a sense of frustration creeping in.It was a gamble but it paid off... Sehwag got Gilli bowled round his legs...(that would have made Shane Warne proud...!!) And soon Lee followed,caught at silly point once again of Sehwag,,,And When Dhoni had Clarke stumped for 81,the score board read 253-8.Thats when Clark came to the crease...
Johnson and Clark hit some lusty blows and the score board began to move along at a rapid pace...Oh man,I must admit that when they added 50 runs or so for the 9th wicket,their were a few jitters going around in our Tv room and though Johnson slogged a few deliveries of Kumble,he looked organised and composed...while we started to lose our composure! Meanwhile,I was persuading Harish to go and have his lunch,since I felt that his departure would bring another wicket and I was also telling a few others to remain seated in particular positions only...(Superstitious!!)Finally,when Pathan got Clark ,caught behind...we sensed that victory was just a few moments away....
Eventually, the end came...Rp Singh accounting for Shaun Tait with a well pitched up delivery and as the celebrations began on the field,we were dancing around...hugging each other...shouting and screaming as though we had just conquered the world...!!!could anil Kumble ask for more..?Having got his 600th wicket in test cricket and to have captained the team.Hope we can go on to win the test at Adelaide....Wouldn't that be the icing on the cake??
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Sydney Test
The Sydney test will be etched in my memory for a long time, not for good reasons though.Right from the point when Symonds was given not out on thirty ,the Indians were at the receiving end of some poor umpiring decisions.I strongly feel the time has come for Steve Bucknor to hang up his boots and bid adieu to international cricket.Yes,not doubt he has been a great umpire but there is a point in every sportsman's career when he/she starts going downhill,and to me Bucknor is right now at that point...And added to the fact that historically,the Indians have been at the receiving end of some of his most controversial decisions...
How on earth was Symonds given not out,i still cant understand...My grandfather could very well have heard the sound (of bat hitting the ball)if he was a spectator,given that there was a huge gap between bat and body.......Ricky Ponting given out lbw of a clear inside edge...Ok,the umpires i understand are also humans like us,and are prone to errors but what puzzles me the most is the third umpire ruling Symonds not out when there was clear daylight between foot and ground suggesting he wasn back in his crease when the bails were whipped off....Yes,we all say technology should be brought in as much as possible but even with such sophisticated technology in place,if right decisions are not made,we have only ourselves to blame.Added to the fact that on the last day of the test match,Dravid was adjudged out even when he clearly had not nicked the ball.And Ganguly too was another victim of a poor decision.
Talks of racial abuse continued and the conduct of some of the players left a lot to be desired.Between all these there were centuries from Laxman,Hayden,Sachin and Hussey.....Laxman came good once again against the Aussies and Sachin showed that he still has a lot to offer to International Cricket....Hussey and Hayden batted very sensibly on the 4th day when the match was delicately poised and made sure that their team would not lose the match.....also Harbhajan and Hogg did some justice to their batting talents with well composed half centuries....... BrettLee was superb.... RP Singh too bowled with a lot of fire... and Kumble showed us the kind of ''never say die attitude''that has been his trade mark over all these years by playing a captain's knock on the last day...
Unfortunately,the umpiring decisions cost us the match dearly...Having said that some of our batsmen,notably Dravid ,i felt batted very much with a defensive mindset....thereby allowing the Aussies to pile up the pressure and with a line up that includes the likes of Lee,Johnson,Hogg and Clark,they were asking for trouble....
The spirit of sportsmanship suffered the most.The Australians take pride in saying that they play the game"hard and fair"...I would rather not include the 2nd adjective there.
How on earth was Symonds given not out,i still cant understand...My grandfather could very well have heard the sound (of bat hitting the ball)if he was a spectator,given that there was a huge gap between bat and body.......Ricky Ponting given out lbw of a clear inside edge...Ok,the umpires i understand are also humans like us,and are prone to errors but what puzzles me the most is the third umpire ruling Symonds not out when there was clear daylight between foot and ground suggesting he wasn back in his crease when the bails were whipped off....Yes,we all say technology should be brought in as much as possible but even with such sophisticated technology in place,if right decisions are not made,we have only ourselves to blame.Added to the fact that on the last day of the test match,Dravid was adjudged out even when he clearly had not nicked the ball.And Ganguly too was another victim of a poor decision.
Talks of racial abuse continued and the conduct of some of the players left a lot to be desired.Between all these there were centuries from Laxman,Hayden,Sachin and Hussey.....Laxman came good once again against the Aussies and Sachin showed that he still has a lot to offer to International Cricket....Hussey and Hayden batted very sensibly on the 4th day when the match was delicately poised and made sure that their team would not lose the match.....also Harbhajan and Hogg did some justice to their batting talents with well composed half centuries....... BrettLee was superb.... RP Singh too bowled with a lot of fire... and Kumble showed us the kind of ''never say die attitude''that has been his trade mark over all these years by playing a captain's knock on the last day...
Unfortunately,the umpiring decisions cost us the match dearly...Having said that some of our batsmen,notably Dravid ,i felt batted very much with a defensive mindset....thereby allowing the Aussies to pile up the pressure and with a line up that includes the likes of Lee,Johnson,Hogg and Clark,they were asking for trouble....
The spirit of sportsmanship suffered the most.The Australians take pride in saying that they play the game"hard and fair"...I would rather not include the 2nd adjective there.
Friday, December 14, 2007
My First Day @IITK
July 24th(i think) was when i reached iitk....i was accompanied by my father ..After the tedious journey by train lasting for more than a day and a half ...(We came by the famous Raptisagar express! ) we finally reached Kanpur station. around 11 am......When we got down,i was in for a rude shock...Was it a city in the first place?Such was the pathetic state of affairs,that i felt"Oh God ,where have i come to?"...So dirty,so badly maintained and so disorganised ....As it is ,i was feeling very home sick.....Luckily there were some volunteers from our institute who had come there and had arranged a bus for the newcomers....so that eased things a bit....
All along the route from the city railway station to our campus,there were several thoughts that swept across my mind(How would life be here?more importantly,how would life be in a hostel ?what kind of people would i come across?...when would i go back to bangalore?!!)....meanwhile it was terribly hot outside ...and peeping out of the window,i caught a quick glimpse of the city......i cud mainly see overcrowded buses,autos,cyclerickshaws,jampacked matadors(called as 'vikram's here)..Vast majority of the people whom i saw were going about their work with a kind of resigned look on their face... and I got a feeling that may be life here was not easy ......Finally after 45mins of travelling so..we reached the institute and as the bus moved on from one hostel to another,....i started feeling much better as the campus looked clean and inviting..(in stark contrast to the city!)... eventually we reached hall-8 and it was time to get down from the bus....
After a quick round of introduction and verification of documents...we were handed my room key and led into my room...(D-block,room no 106)...the cleaner just told us to wait outside for a couple of minutes and after the dusting and cleaning was done....we made our way inside....He also told us"brother,u are very lucky..u have got a very nice room....its close to the tv room,mess,cycle stand etc..)..i felt happy and smiled at him...and gave him 5 Rs extra other than the 20 bucks which my father had given him....then we brought in our baggages...,rested for a while .....all along my father was advising me on various issues such as keeping the room neat and tidy,becoming systematic....And how necessary it was for me to learn hindi ... etc etc...
By around 1 pm we had lunch ..that was my first visit to the mess!Seemed to be quite an occasion as we stood in a queue and waited for our turn...I casually looked around at the people who had sat down for lunch....(in the hope of recognizing someone i knew...or even someone whom i felt was from our part of the country..!,)....As we moved from one counter to another in the queue,we were greeted by the staff and that made me feel better.We had a sumptous meal and then returned back to my room,following which we had a nice nap...
Later in the evening, we went around the hostel and i got acquainted with some people...(managing with hindi at times and with hindi mixed english at times...!)..As the Sun set in the background and the birds hovered about in the sky,the evening drew to a close and it was a sight to behold...and reflect upon the day so far.Around8.30 or so,we had dinner,chatted with a few ppl..(who apparently had come by the same train!)and then at about 10 p.m. charted out the activities for the next day and retired to
bed...
All along the route from the city railway station to our campus,there were several thoughts that swept across my mind(How would life be here?more importantly,how would life be in a hostel ?what kind of people would i come across?...when would i go back to bangalore?!!)....meanwhile it was terribly hot outside ...and peeping out of the window,i caught a quick glimpse of the city......i cud mainly see overcrowded buses,autos,cyclerickshaws,jampacked matadors(called as 'vikram's here)..Vast majority of the people whom i saw were going about their work with a kind of resigned look on their face... and I got a feeling that may be life here was not easy ......Finally after 45mins of travelling so..we reached the institute and as the bus moved on from one hostel to another,....i started feeling much better as the campus looked clean and inviting..(in stark contrast to the city!)... eventually we reached hall-8 and it was time to get down from the bus....
After a quick round of introduction and verification of documents...we were handed my room key and led into my room...(D-block,room no 106)...the cleaner just told us to wait outside for a couple of minutes and after the dusting and cleaning was done....we made our way inside....He also told us"brother,u are very lucky..u have got a very nice room....its close to the tv room,mess,cycle stand etc..)..i felt happy and smiled at him...and gave him 5 Rs extra other than the 20 bucks which my father had given him....then we brought in our baggages...,rested for a while .....all along my father was advising me on various issues such as keeping the room neat and tidy,becoming systematic....And how necessary it was for me to learn hindi ... etc etc...
By around 1 pm we had lunch ..that was my first visit to the mess!Seemed to be quite an occasion as we stood in a queue and waited for our turn...I casually looked around at the people who had sat down for lunch....(in the hope of recognizing someone i knew...or even someone whom i felt was from our part of the country..!,)....As we moved from one counter to another in the queue,we were greeted by the staff and that made me feel better.We had a sumptous meal and then returned back to my room,following which we had a nice nap...
Later in the evening, we went around the hostel and i got acquainted with some people...(managing with hindi at times and with hindi mixed english at times...!)..As the Sun set in the background and the birds hovered about in the sky,the evening drew to a close and it was a sight to behold...and reflect upon the day so far.Around8.30 or so,we had dinner,chatted with a few ppl..(who apparently had come by the same train!)and then at about 10 p.m. charted out the activities for the next day and retired to
bed...
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Yuvi's 169....
The stage was set....India were reeling at 61-4..Arafat had just dismissed Laxman..what a memorable debut it was turning out for him,having got the wickets of Dravid,and Jaffer earlier..
In walked Yuvraj...having waited all along for this oppurtunity....well looking at him..i just got the impression that may be he didnt expect to be out there so soon...and he took quite a while to get off the mark....letting alone deliveries outside the offstump liberally on either side of lunch ,then as he slowly started to get a feel of the wicket and the pace and bounce of the pitch....Yuvi was soon back to his elegant best....and it was a treat for the spectators as it rained boundaries at the Chinnaswamy stadium...no one was spared..Kaneria,Sami were clueless....Akhtar seemed like he was fighting a losing battle...Yuvi had an answer almost always,yes there was the occasional delivery when he was beaten comprehensively...but for most part of his innings ..(especially after tea)...he drove and flicked glorioulsy, cut and pulled with disdain,well...it was actually a test match,but i couldnt take my eyes of for a second also...such was the quality of strokeplay....eventually at the fag end of the day...Yuvi was dismissed but not before he and Ganguly had sent the Pakistani bowlers on a leather hunt....It was an innings to remember...Well we did miss him in the first 2 tests ..didnt we??
In walked Yuvraj...having waited all along for this oppurtunity....well looking at him..i just got the impression that may be he didnt expect to be out there so soon...and he took quite a while to get off the mark....letting alone deliveries outside the offstump liberally on either side of lunch ,then as he slowly started to get a feel of the wicket and the pace and bounce of the pitch....Yuvi was soon back to his elegant best....and it was a treat for the spectators as it rained boundaries at the Chinnaswamy stadium...no one was spared..Kaneria,Sami were clueless....Akhtar seemed like he was fighting a losing battle...Yuvi had an answer almost always,yes there was the occasional delivery when he was beaten comprehensively...but for most part of his innings ..(especially after tea)...he drove and flicked glorioulsy, cut and pulled with disdain,well...it was actually a test match,but i couldnt take my eyes of for a second also...such was the quality of strokeplay....eventually at the fag end of the day...Yuvi was dismissed but not before he and Ganguly had sent the Pakistani bowlers on a leather hunt....It was an innings to remember...Well we did miss him in the first 2 tests ..didnt we??
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