That sounds good doesn’t it? For once, Australia are playing in a format in which they are not the best. Right, its time for party-cricket: the 20-20 encounter that will conclude Australia’s tour of India.
For once it is the Indian side doing the ‘bahaduri’ talking with Uthappa taking Ponting’s place with the word-campaign and captain M S Dhoni’s coming up with a new tag-line for an automobile company. Robin Uthappa oozes confidence in this T-20 team “..You want to think of the positives, go out there and give your best. Everyone in the team has been absolutely positive.” Dhoni on the other hand seems cautiously positive yet upbeat and seems to have more confidence in this successful young line up: “I want 14 players who, if I ask them to, will stand in front of a truck.” Check out the match preview article from NDTV.com for details. This statements makes me think two things: firstly, this T-20 team will be one with very little team-politics, where Dhoni will be captain in all senses of the word; after all it can’t be as straight forward in the normal ODI side with 3 ex-captain egos clashing; secondly, after hearing some the recent statments from MSD, I think if he didn’t end up in cricket, advertising would have been a good fit :). A few days ago, I though my favorite Dhoni quote was the one on the Bangalore one-dayer: “Bahaduri aur bevakufi ke beech bahut kam fark hai [There is a very thin line separating bravery from foolhardiness]”, but it seems to be getting better. Check out quote-unquote from Cricinfo for the entire context.
Having said all that, the reality check is that the T-2o game can be a little bit of a gamble, where the toss can matter big time. One bad over can cost you the game; a few good overs can win you one. This is where I think nerves play their part, and the T-2o World Cup proves that India can indeed hold nerve. Go India! You’ve done it before, do it again! Chak de!
VM\'s Random Ramblings 