India win thriller against SA and retain No. 1 position

Hurray!!!!!! You bet I am delighted. This was test cricket at it's best. Congratulations to team India for a splendid show and for retaining the No. 1 spot.

Ofcourse, SA supporters can argue that SA was a better team overall in this series.Well, probably they are right. But India's performance in the second match was nothing short of brilliant. MSD & Co. came back superbly after the defeat in Nagpur. Being one down in the series and the no. 1 position at stake there was enormous pressure to deliver and boy did they!!

It all started with the incredible bowling performance in the post tea session on the first day by Sharma, Khan and Bhajji. Then the magical  Sehwag - Sachin and Laxman-Dhoni partnerships to take the match out of SA reach. Finally Bhajji, Mishra bowled superbly on the final day.

Yes, can't help but  feel sorry for  Hashim Amla in particular. Few batting performances have been as heroic, or as tragic. His unbeaten knock in the second innings will be remembered for a long time.

Uthappa's match winning knock

India, with a rare display of gutsy batting went past England's total of 316 runs to level the series 3-3, with one match still remaining. The victory came in the last over with 2 balls to spare. Robin Uthappa, in his first match in the series, played a delightful knock of 47 runs. It surely was a match winning knock coz when he came out to bat India needed almost 9 runs per over with Sachin, Sourav, Dravid and Yuvraj back in pavilion. The innings showed a lot of character and ensures Uthappa's place in the side for the final at Lords.

This was a must win match for India and the win now gives India a great psychological advantage going into the final.

Ofcourse, the anti climax came in with the man of the match announcement. The less deserving Tendulkar ( as has happened so many times before) got the man of the match
award.

Chappell Quits

Greg Chappel handed in his resignation on Wednesday. The news was unexpectedly expected. The world cup debacle followed by his showdown with the team seniors had left him with no option but to put in his papers. Given the circumstances , I don’t think he would have been allowed to continue even if he so desired.

Greg Chappel took over as India coach in May 2005. His tenure had a few triumphant moments like India’s win over Sri Lanka 6-1 , victory against England 5-1 and the test series win in the Caribbean.

Having said that, I am afraid he would be largely remembered for being one of the main reasons, if not the only one, responsible for India’s world cup fiasco.

His public fall out with Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar , his disregard for the Indian cricket lovers and Indian cricket at large, would have been overlooked by all, had he only delivered what he promised when getting the job.

Now that he’s gone, we can atleast look forward to a better coach, coz getting a worse one would be a daunting task even for BCCI.

Set Max's pathetic coverage of the world cup

The pathetic standard of the world cup telecast on Sony TV makes my blood boil. The advertisements shamelessly pop up even as the live action is still on. Mandira bedi looks completely out of sorts and Charu Sharma can't touch Harsha Bhogle even with a barge pole. How I miss the good old ESPN Star days. Their fantastic team of commentators and the pre - post match shows made the dullest or the most disappointing of matches watchable. Mind you, the adverts were there even then, but not at the expense of live action. Can't BCCI be more judicious in awarding the television rights? (slap, slap) how did i even use BCCI and judicious in the same sentence?

The day after the defeat.

Well, so India has suffered it's worst ever defeat in the world cup. And news channels are asking people who should be blamed? Sachin Tendulkar's perennial ineffectiveness in bailing India out of crisis is now being expressed in studios and as for Dravid, he is fast becoming the perfect example of how great players do not necessarily translate into good captains!!! Anyways, well done Bangladesh!! U really deserved to win.