All those missed hours of my morning sleep were waste. I am on a holiday and yet I woke up enthusiastically to watch the “Agnipath” series. And it has all been for nothing. Except for the Australians, no one else has played good cricket. I even fail to understand the meaning of he word “Agnipath” in this context. Or were the promoters of this series aware of the fact that it would be a road full of fire for Indians?
India has been consistently helping the cause of he opposing batsman or the bowlers for that matter. Ponting, the out of form man has come to his senses due to some sloppy bowling by the Indians. Hilfunhaus had been out of form and the team for quite a while. This match has done good for both these players. The Australian tail-enders got the much needed batting practice, and their team, the much needed runs.
Go for the kill, would have been a good punch line for the “Agnipath”. When the captain spreads out the field for the tail-enders and hope for a miracle edge, there will be none to come. Miracles have to be made; they don’t come cheap. Attack the last batsmen, put in slips, put men in catching positions. That’s what the great analysts of the game kept on saying. But I discount Dhoni due to the fact that walky talkies are not allowed in the game. So how could he know?
Early today morning, before the Indian innings started, my brother predicted that the match would end today with us losing. Its headed that way and I will be surprised if Dhoni manages to keep the other batsman alive for the day. Or if he manages to stay alive himself. I had a feeling in my mind that Tendulkar would get his 100th today and that would be the only medicine to the bruises. That too out of the window with his wicket.
And someone please explain to Gambhir that you cannot get out twice in a similar manner. Bowlers tend to take this as your weakness and capitalise on that in the next games. It has become a habit for the Indian players to forget about their past mistakes and never learn from them.
Full marks to Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav. They have done their part brilliantly. Ishant, well, not much to speak, apart from his 152.2 Kmph delivery, “fastest” by any Indian bowler till date!
Nothing is lost yet. Not atleast keeping in mind the entire series. Dravid and Laxman, the masters of the away game can still make a difference. And we have the above praised Zaheer and Umesh. But then, that’s only four players to depend on. The team is normally made of 11 in form players.
Before I finish off, a reminder. Whenever a series has been given a fancy name, we have failed to even level the series.