So what exactly does it take to beat Team Australia?
I don’t have an answer. Neither would I not try to find any. For when a team without the services of half of its main players turn up and produce such an inspiring performance and still maintain the same aura that had propelled this team to unattainable heights in this decade, it is better to remain clueless.
But this is not about the Kangaroos. This is about Team India.
I am sorry.
This is about a bunch of players representing Indian Cricket. For the performance showed up today could be called anything but team work. It seemed like we were headed back in time, during the 90s. The team that turned up today lacked the same spine which was absent throughout the 90s.
The 90s was the time when the Men in Blue solely depended on that curly haired boy – still in his early twenties – to deliver the goods. The time when miracles were expected of this genius in every match. When every failure from the champion was considered a sin. And when the television sets were switched off – or broken in disdain – the moment this batsman got out.
As time passed by, this period got phased out. The emergence of Ganguly, Dravid, Sehwag and other youngsters in the team eased the pressure from the broad shoulders of this little man. India was no longer dependent on one man to shape their destiny, and definitely the team got better, even attaining the top ranking for a brief time.
Yet, some things never change. The 5th ODI between Australia and India at Hyderabad brought back that very picture right in front of our television sets.
The bowling, which had become our strength on many occasions was as impotent as ever, while the fielding reminded us of the same greasy hands of Venketesh Prasad or Anil Kumble.
Yet one can be forgiven for not looking too much into it. For Sachin Tendulkar once again proved that he is heads and shoulders above any player of each of the three decades that he has graced this game with.
In a knock that can arguably be considered as his best knock ever played – his craziness after the sand storm at Sharjah included – Sachin took us back a decade in time when the 25 year old played with a fearless passion.
The innings was paced to perfection: cautious at the start, when Sehwag was creating havoc, increasing the tempo in between while consolidating the innings as well and keeping the pace with the scorecard so that the asking rate never went out of sight.
The old leg glances were back, the cover drive was as ferocious as we have ever seen, the paddle sweeps were placed fine, while the strokes had enough power to send the ball outside the ground, yet keeping that elegance alive.
Perhaps it should have been of no surprise when his colleagues made desperate attempts to keep the average intact.
Eight. Nine. Six.
In a typical fashion, our middle order, one of the best in business, crumbled away leaving the Little Master with no choice but to take over the mantle completely in his own hands and bringing his team as close to victory as possible.
But, even a God cannot help the humans who do not help themselves. And this is where our famous 90s meltdown happened.
Suresh Raina got out on an unnecessary stroke, Harbhajan Singh looked as clueless as Courtney Walsh in the two balls he faced and Ravindra Jadeja who could not rotate the strike during the third power play allowing the man in form only three balls during that period.
Some comic running between the wickets – which can only be classified as high school stuff – inability to absorb the pressure, familiar throwing of the wickets away and some mindless batting ensured that the champion knock by the Little Master went in vain as India felt agonizingly short of the target in the final over.
Perhaps it was Sachin’s fault. He should have remembered his knock at Chennai back in ‘99, when the last four wickets could not add 16 runs. History repeated itself today, the only difference being that they could not add 19 runs this time.
Perhaps it is better this way. The fantastic team effort from Australia did not deserve to go in vain. Neither did Sachin’s masterclass, though.
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Author: Rajat Jain – Seasoned Keeda
A baniya by heart. A mazdoor by work!
Has written 18 Articles, posted 31 Comments, 1 Post, has 7 Fans and was thanked 14 Times
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Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. Man! What else can Sachin do for the team?
Anyway, winning that match would just have been the cherry on top of the cake .. his innings was this delicious dark chocolate cake – whose taste will be described to the innumerable generations to come … yet, they’ll never know how heavenly it feels to actually savor it.
I think I can start writing on my resume – I grew up watching the God play.