Team India — Today the time was simply not favorable!

So, a draw seems to be a fair result. In this cricket mad country, expectations of the fans will always remain sky high. But we all must admire the fighting spirit displayed by team India while playing against the best test team of the world – that too, when the match was on South Africa’s home ground. I always applaud the bold stand MS Dhoni usually takes.

In the first test against South Africa, India chose to go with 7 batsmen and just 4 bowlers. The thinking here was that if our bowlers are not able to deliver, it becomes a logical decision to put the onus on our capable batting line up.

It is imperative for the overall growth of any batsman, that he should have an ample exposure of playing on the different kind of pitches. But the cricket administrators have not foreseen the need of exposure to bouncy pitches for young Indian cricketers.

Earlier we had Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Saurav Ganguly and bowlers like Anil Kumble and Srinath – who were capable of taking up any challenge. But there has to be a new start for any squad. For a team aspiring to grab the next world cup, it is necessary to outperform on any given pitch. In this process, losing a couple of encounters is not at all abnormal. Our expectations have surely gone wild on account of the recent glorious performances of team India. But we need to be practical.

In any case, there has to be fresh beginning. Critics, highlighting the so called failure of the young guns, especially the upcoming bowlers, must remember that we have won many matches only due to the concrete contribution given by the young new bowlers. In absence of any practice match, it will not be fair to expect miracles, but the name of the game is to stay focused.

In the next match, players such as Bhuvneshwar and Yadav need to be given a chance.

Team India is known for its fighting spirit. The only negative development is that most of the members of our squad do not have any exposure to play on the bouncy and fast tracks, otherwise there is no dearth of talent in our batting or bowling attack. Team India should encash this opportunity irrespective of the result. We need to give exposure to our youngsters. The way our senior Zaheer Khan dug in despite being 35 years of age, it has shown our intense fighting spirit, and the future appears to be bright.