This statement was reiterated all over again the past weekend in the Indo-SA test series. Indians have had a terrible time in the ODI leg of the South African tour - they have returned back to their hopeless ways of playing cricket, meaningless and without application. With a 4-0 thrashing that they received from the South Aricans in the ODI series, one feels even the best of Indian supporters gave them no chance what-so-ever to give a real fight to the opponents, let alone winning a test match in foreign soil.
History was against them (they had not won a single test match in South African soil), and so was the formbook. With a certain Saurav Ganguly returning back to add some meat (if not matter) to the middle order, one realized that the Indian cupboard is bare - with no fresh talent to grab a position in the team. Those youngsters who had been given chances were disappointing. The bowlers were performing decently, but was it enough?
Come the D-day and India decided to grit it out in their performance on field. A determined batting approach ensured a respectable total on the scoreboard with Ganguly top scoring with a patient 51 not out. But the South Africans had not anticipated what was coming at them. Awesome bowling from the Indians, primarily from Sreesanth, meant the South Africans were shot out for 84, playing out a mere 25.1 overs in all.
From then on, the Indians had to play out to the set theme - and they emerged victorious with more than 5 sessions to spare in the game. On a different part of the globe, the Australians continued their English route, and duly captured back the Ashes. But the Indians had entered a new territory, they have test victories in all the test playing nations now. And they achieved this in a period which was full of turmoils and uncertainities.
The South Africans were given a rude awakening. The roles had reversed, the hunters became the hunted...and man of the match Sreesanth saw the funnier side of it as evident here.
History was against them (they had not won a single test match in South African soil), and so was the formbook. With a certain Saurav Ganguly returning back to add some meat (if not matter) to the middle order, one realized that the Indian cupboard is bare - with no fresh talent to grab a position in the team. Those youngsters who had been given chances were disappointing. The bowlers were performing decently, but was it enough?
Come the D-day and India decided to grit it out in their performance on field. A determined batting approach ensured a respectable total on the scoreboard with Ganguly top scoring with a patient 51 not out. But the South Africans had not anticipated what was coming at them. Awesome bowling from the Indians, primarily from Sreesanth, meant the South Africans were shot out for 84, playing out a mere 25.1 overs in all.
From then on, the Indians had to play out to the set theme - and they emerged victorious with more than 5 sessions to spare in the game. On a different part of the globe, the Australians continued their English route, and duly captured back the Ashes. But the Indians had entered a new territory, they have test victories in all the test playing nations now. And they achieved this in a period which was full of turmoils and uncertainities.
The South Africans were given a rude awakening. The roles had reversed, the hunters became the hunted...and man of the match Sreesanth saw the funnier side of it as evident here.
No comments:
Post a Comment