An open letter to the Indian Cricket team

Captain Charismatic – Captain Courageous

To,The Indian Cricket Team.Australia.This is not the time to sit there and pass the buck. This is not the time to sit and brood. This is the time to sit up and straight and tell yourselves “Guys, we almost beat Australia in their backyard!”

The team and the entire nation was convinced we would win the first Test match. But alas! Cricket is not predictable and Test cricket even less so. From 2 for 242 to all out for 315 is the sort of collapse Indian cricket fans have been subjected to and hence used to.

This defeat should build team spirit extensively. The 11 members who participated in the Test match have most probably tasted the worst Test defeat in their lives. It was a roller coaster experience and whoever said Test cricket was boring and not engaging enough is hiding in shame.

In my 22 years, I do not remember another Indian team with similar arsenal in the pace department. and what better time than with the Cricket World Cup being held in Australia and New Zealand in 3 months time. With Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron and Ishant Sharma capable of continuously bowling at speeds in the higher 140s and even 150 at times, and the guile and accuracy of Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will make the Indian bowling line-up difficult to handle.

DRS is a system that has been developed to help players seek justice from the field of play. It is time BCCI and the team should start accepting DRS in their overseas series. The outcome at the end of the day had all those wrong decisions been reviewed and corrected could have been very very different.

Murali Vijay. You’ve proved your critics wrong, well, almost. We fans and the team know that there is somebody opening the innings who we can depend on. Although your entire innings was safe and circumspect. When you reached the nervous nineties, you brought it down a gear further. In the end, you were just trapped being over cautious. That same shot of similar deliveries- you kept milking them all day.

You had faced 307 deliveries before the one you got trapped. At least 150 of those were more difficult to play than the one that caused your fall. You looked tired and the pressure of getting the century had clearly gotten to you, I hope you take this knock in your stride and come out all guns blazing in the next Test.

Virat Kohli. Whatever I can put in words will fall short. All the superlatives together might still be an understatement. You’re the new hero of Indian cricket. You will be the one carrying the expectation of the “little” cricket watching population our country has. From being aggressive on the field to taking the plunge to win shows signs of great character. Both the centuries were outstanding. The free flow of strokes all over the field was a treat to watch.

You were the only Indian batsman who had the right approach against Nathan Lyon. Although he took a 12-wicket haul, the Indian batting line-up should not be troubled with his variation and guile. After all, we are the world champions and we are from the subcontinent. Someday I hope to see you converting the centuries into bigger ones. You might ask why only you. It's not only you, it is because you’ve scored two back to back centuries and converted neither into anything bigger. Someday we will watch you score Test triple hundreds with as much ease as you score centuries now.

Do not stay under the misconception that Australia outplayed you guys. They certainly did not. Rather they almost got beaten at their own game in their own backyard. the second Test and the Test thereafter will be a test of this team’s character as a whole. Will show the world if you guys have the mentality to keep calm under pressure and win games.

Lastly, the entire country have liked what they’ve seen from you guys. We all know it is just a matter of time before we win Test matches on the trot. We know we are in safe hands as far as cricket is concerned. We believe in you. We have faith in you. The MRF bat is in safe hands.

From,A Team India fan.