Victory to the valorous

The Freedom Series is a perfect example of the same, while there was assistance from the tracks, it is the way the two sides extracted maximum benefits out of these tracks is what determined the result of this series.

Hence, to give an outright judgment over how the pitch made it unfair for one team would be to say that a localite at a college could outclass a hosteller in the exams because he was served better food, we must remember, this was until this series, the best touring side and had an undefeated streak which lasted for a little over 9 years.

Contrasting performances by both teams

South Africa, for most part of the series, were defeated way before they even stepped out on the ground, and that was evident in the way they applied themselves all through the series, especially their batting unit.

There was so much that was talked around the premise of there being square turning wickets that all the South African batsmen, for a major part of the series, could do was to anticipate square turn on every ball, eventually getting out to the straighter ones, to the illusion of spin than the spin itself.

At the end of this series, ironically, the two teams stand at opposing ends of a paradox. India have hit almost all the right notes, their fast bowling seems to be the most improved of all (given the state it has been in for a long long time).

The spinners have stepped up to every instance where they were required, the batting with a few issues with a few of the batsmen, has largely been pretty good.

For South Africa, as they say, it is time to drag their feet back to the drawing board and look at what went wrong, and for a team of their repute and conscience, they must already, somewhere deep inside, know what went wrong where.

The brouhaha settles, and we come to the end of another series. End to an exhilarating period of play. Think of someone who batted for 297 balls for a 43 and ended up on the losing side just when he could see the light of the rescue boat, at last.

Cricket is a game which opens so many books for us, at times even the quintessential “Life Lessons” one, doesn’t it?