Tri-Series Cricket: India Do The Improbable! Now Wait, Watch and Pray!

A divided, devastated and demoralized team accomplished the impossible today at Hobart in the 11^th ODI of the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Tri-Series in Australia. It was an improbable technicality, but finally it became a roaring reality.

Miserable Team India had been losing the tosses too apart from the games, but today they won the toss and skipper Dhoni elected to field first without any hesitation as India wanted the exact target before them and needed to chase it down within forty overs to win the bonus which could alone keep them alive in the tournament.

The story was no different with listless bowling and fielding by the Indians and Sri Lanka making merry from the very start. Dilshan and Sangakkara had their centuries in quick time and a total in excess of 300 runs looked possible. Sri Lanka amassed a huge 320 runs for 4 wickets in allotted fifty overs. Facing a target of 321 runs to chase down within forty overs and an asking rate of 8 runs per over India seemed ready to be kicked out of the tournament.

From hereon the story was different and it was a story you had never witnessed in this tournament. Team India put up a fight. For the first time the openers Tendulkar and Sehwag gave the team a fiery start scoring the first 50 runs in just 33 balls. At the personal score of 30 Sehwag got out, but the dream chase continued. Next to go was Tendulkar at 39 with the run-rate nearly 10 per over.

Then evolved the partnership of the day between Gambhir and Virat Kohli yielding 115 precious runs and most importantly the momentum was kept going. Never for a moment had they lost track of the target irrespective of how impossible it could have sounded at the start. ‘Youngster’ Virat Kohli finally delivered the innings of his life playing an incredible knock of 133 runs not out off just 86 balls. After Gambhir’s run-out for 63 Raina joined in and with Kohli they robbed 24 runs in the 35^th over bowled by no other than the feared Malinga. And, the miracle win was achieved in 36.4 overs. India won by 7 wickets with a bonus point. This was the fourth highest run-chase ever by India and could very well be the fastest run-chase above 300 runs in one-day cricket history. Skipper Dhoni gave full credit to his ‘seniors’ for giving a quickfire start that made the run-chase possible. Kohli was the unanimous choice for the Player of the Match award. Scorecard.

Now it’s going to wait, watch and pray till the last league match between Australia and Sri Lanka on 2^nd March. If Aus beat SL India will be in the finals. What about the mind games involved here! Sri Lanka must find themselves a bit unnerved today getting beaten after scoring the highest total of the tournament. Australia on the other hand would consider Team India a better opponent in the finals for its known obliging nature and for its glorious ability to capitulate anytime. But Aus and SL are teams that always aim to win and never give in to external pressure. You can get ready for a treat of a charged semi-final.

India never deserved to be in the finals. But today they have demonstrated a kind of a resurgence sorely missed all these days. Maybe if they get into the finals they can be a changed team altogether.

Meantime the Indian cricket selectors have their job cut out to announce the one-day team tomorrow for the forthcoming Asia Cup in Bangladesh.  On whom should the axe fall—the ‘seniors’ or some of the ‘youngsters’ or the captain or the vice-captain? And from where at all they are going to find the replacements?

Suspense At Midnight!

The family of four had frayed nerves, flying tempers and irritability throughout that miserable Saturday. Everybody quarreled with everybody over petty domestic issues or watching TV. Nobody could pinpoint the exact reason why though!

They had a quiet dinner. When they assembled again in the sitting room for their drinks they just froze. Their attention got riveted on the dining table. Knives of varying sizes were arranged there delicately. Night light shone ominously on those.

Loy looked at his younger sister Zuma who gave back an intrigued stare. ‘What’s happening? An inside job to be executed?  Then who is against whom? Or an outside assignment? Even then, someone from inside has to be involved!’, thought Loy furiously. Zuma was getting frightened. There were recent reports of a serial killer at large in the city.

Pop Dinesh sized up his children staring furtively towards the kitchen door with fear written large on his face. His wife told him nothing about what to expect next as was the rule always!

Nobody could just speak it out. Who could be the predator and who the prey?

Mom Mridula came in with the tray of coffee cups and glasses of milk. Distributing the drinks she announced, ‘Get to bed immediately after, all of you. I have a very important assignment!’ All stared back at her from the knives.

Sitting down relaxed with her steaming cup of coffee Mridual continued, ‘Now you are staring at the knives! Do you understand how I suffered cooking for you, giving attention to your tastes and choices…and all that! …Don’t you see! Edges of the knives became useless long back.’ She took a sip and went on, ‘At last he is coming! You know, I’ve arranged! I am his first customer! At sharp 8 o’ clock tomorrow morning the knife-sharpener (dharwala) is coming with his machine!'

Cricket and Hockey: A Mixed Sunday For India!

India fielded a full-strength team today against Australia in its do or die match in Sydney. But, when you concentrate on rotation-experimentation instead of trying to win matches, when your ego-play gets prominence over cricket and when you mess up things unnecessarily even God does not help you when you finally wake up to reality. Team India exemplified that fully today in the tenth match of the CB Series one-day cricket played in Australia.

They wanted Zaheer Khan desperately today, but he was declared unfit. When he was fit you did not consider taking him! Even then, the Indian bowlers did a decent job getting Aus restricted to 252/9 in allotted fifty overs—a total that was very gettable. This time captain handed over the ball too to the vice captain Sehwag who obliged him with three wickets bowling the last over of the Aussie innings too. For the first time the Indian captain placed his full faith in the big three of top order. But it came too late.

Sehwag failed again with the bat getting out to the Demolition Man Hilfenhaus. Tendulkars’s run-out was the most tragic incident of the match. After that failure after failure including both seniors and youngsters with bowler Ashwin getting the highest individual score of 26! God thought you just did not deserve to go any further in the tournament.

And yes! India is out of the CB Series except for an improbable technicality of winning their last match against Sri Lanka with a bonus point and hoping that Aus beat SL in the last league match of the tournament.

Team India must learn its bitter lessons from this devastating Australian tour. It’s now or never for them if they really mean to improve their performance overseas.

Meantime great news from Indian hockey—the national sports of India! Indian Hockey Team qualified for playing in the London Olympics thumping France 8-1 in the Olympic Qualifier final today evening in New Delhi. Yes, the past king of hockey now has to qualify now-a-days for the Olympics by playing a tournament involving six teams! They won all their matches in the tournament and now are set to figure in London Olympic 2012 Hockey. Yesterday, the dream of playing in the London Olympics was cruelly broken for Indian Women’s Hockey Team when they lost against South Africa.

Hurray for the National Sport of India! And, shame for the cricket billionaires who care the least for their country India!