Into the void

It’s been several months since I last blogged. Nothing else would have brought me back – apart from Dravid. Sadly, it is his retirement announcement that has. While I will reserve my tribute for a little later, I must say that this brings a huge void to Indian cricket. Watching India in Tests will not be the same. I will be switching the TV on only for Laxman!

Dravid and the ODI tamasha: Recall and Retirement

Saturday evening’s news brought most unexpected tidings. A Rahul Dravid ODI recall was something that wasn’t even thought of. We might have in 2008, in Australia, but not this day.

As an ardent Dravid fan and supporter, I must admit that momentarily, it was leap of joy.

But the usual questions muddled the joy. Was this a stop  gap? Would this have happened if India were playing at home? What after this series? “Rested” again, or worse, just no word?

Someone else might have had a slap to offer to the torturers. But no, Dravid, merely admitted surprize and suggested some face saving reasoning – because he didn’t get a chance to tell the selectors of his intentions.

Much has been said about this by me, several times in the past, and by many others now. I will not add to that.

The best way respect India’s most devout team man , and a true ambassador of the gentleman’s game, would be to savor his ODI swansong.

India’s tour of England 2011 – Trent Bridge Test – shall we sing the lament now?

Four days of Test cricket.

Two and quarter days of fighting cricket. The remaining was trash. Add in some vaseline, Bell runout gate and all you get is a waste of time.

India’s 2nd innings was a joke. Laxman and Dravid perhaps were too frustrated and let the others do some of the cleaning. What did the others do? Sachin made another meaningless half century. Harbhajan forgot to feign injury while batting to score 40 odd. Dhoni and his ODI boys did the usual. There is no excuse for this.

One cannot blame the bowlers too much. They toiled hard on day 1 and on day 3 without support. Some of field settings at key times were the most defensive I’ve seen in a decade. It felt like we were back to the post-Azhar Sachin and second-innings-Azhar age. Granted, the bowlers caved at time, bowling outside off, wide, and making it easy for the batsmen to score. What was required was some unity and team spirit. There was nothing like that going on. Maybe that had to do with divisiveness on Bell run-out-gate.

Ganguly was right. This season will tell us just how good a captain Dhoni really is.

As after any drubbing, there are more questions than answers. But I don have one answer – India are losing this series.

I will eat crow if they level!

Century # 34 for Dravid

Take a bow, Dravid.

He’s now statistically on par with the greats – Gavaskar, Lara,et all.

Congratulations Dravid, the ego less mighty colossus! We have much to learn from you!

India’s tour of England 2011 – Trent Bridge Test – an Ad for Test Cricket

The Trent Bridge Test has been a great advertisement for Test Cricket. From the packed stands to the quality pitches, the game has provided entertainment to all. Granted, it has been a low scoring match, but has had all other ingredients that an engrossing Test match need.

The English collapse and recovery, Broad’s hat rick , Laxman’s art, Dravid’s colossal century, Yuvraj’s comeback,  the Indian collapse all interspersed with a bit of Indian tadka – the Praveen Kumar rant and the Sreesanth antics.  A word must be said on the umpiring – while Erasmus has been inconsistent, Asad Rauf has been so accurate, its almost inhuman.

Day 3 will be key. So will Ishant. This day will decide who the winner of the Test will be, for this most certainly will not be Draw.

Cheers to Test Cricket! It is alive and kicking!