March 22nd, 2001, 10:39 AM
First of All Congratulations to India and Indians on a very enthralling victory. But my question really is did we actually win the match?
First of all Every Batsman has accepted that there was no demon in the pitch then how can we make such heavy weather of chasing 155 runs? To me it seems a moral victory for Australia. If I was an Australian I would be proud of my country having given India a run for their money despite putting only 155 on the board.
Next, Harbhajan Singh is all fine, But lets not get excited Its Just One Series and I have seen a lot of One Series Wonders (Heard of Narendra Hirwani? He was incidentally a part of this squad too) After Harbhajan with 32 our next best bowler was Tendulkar....with 3 wickets (Zaheer Khan as well) But Really is that what our Bowling Attack is? Just one Bowler? How long can we Expect him to perform?
Thirdly, How is it that we have not won a series in Australia ever? I dont think we have ever won a series in West Indies either. England I do not consider a cricketing nation their recent success notwithstanding. For that matter even in South Africa we have not won a series or even a test match. Why is it that our Paper Heros look so uneasy against Fast Bowlers on Bouncy tracks? And Dont say it is only fair since the Goras look uneasy on our spinning tracks..... The fact is that we have had better batsmen, Gavaskar has an Average of 55 + against Australia in Australia, Even Sachin is far behind with a 46.14. So now that raises a doubt in my mind, Is Sachin as good as Gavaskar? Gavaskar has scored most of his runs against tough oppositions when the team around him was floundering. Sachin on the other hand has scored most of his AWAY hundreds opposite teams like Sri Lanka, England NZ etc. So to my mind Sunil is a better batsman (Mind you I am as big a sachin fan as they get, But I believe in Stats as well).
Sadly India does not have an Opening Batsman, Das and Ramesh will always struggle on Foreign Pitches. Laxman will do good in Patches, sadly he has shown the class that he has a few times but Unfortunately having played in Indian conditions he has not been able to Develop it therefore he shall score occasionally on Foreign Pitches. Ganguly seems more interested in the "Surs" and "Nagmas" of his life to be interested in cricket or even show that he was initially picked into the team as a batsman. The Less said about our tail the better. Mr Dravid is perhaps a hard working cricketer but unfortunately he rarely performs under pressure (Like the Calcutta Innings).
I feel the best thing to do would be to send all these players to play in the Aussie Sheffield Shield or the Pura Cup trophy, Most of the Players in the National Team would struggle to make it to the Regional Teams. And none of the Indian Bowlers would ever get a chance to be in an Aussie or a south African attack. Steve Waugh might not have been able to conquer his Final Frontier but India tried their best in making him win......
Lets hope India can learn How to Bat, Bowl and FIELD (Perhaps even how not to gesture at touring team supporters) and the New Coach John Wright can teach them to be as determined as the aussies, beofre Wright himself becomes Victim of the "Chalta Hai" attiude of the Indians. Lets Learn from the Aussie never say die attitude rather than Feel Happy for pulling off a miserable win..... And Lastly Lets make cricketers not just a pack of cards that falls at the slightest pressure...... Lets All Stand and Salute Mr Steve Waugh for being such an astute cricketer and For being the best in the thinking business.....
......BUT before that Lets Say "...Bhaad mein Jaaye Sab Kuch, India ne match jeet liya na, Jaise marzi Jeeta ho, who cares"
(Give up on this Lax attitude India)
Regards,
A Disillusioned Cricket Lover
First of all Every Batsman has accepted that there was no demon in the pitch then how can we make such heavy weather of chasing 155 runs? To me it seems a moral victory for Australia. If I was an Australian I would be proud of my country having given India a run for their money despite putting only 155 on the board.
Next, Harbhajan Singh is all fine, But lets not get excited Its Just One Series and I have seen a lot of One Series Wonders (Heard of Narendra Hirwani? He was incidentally a part of this squad too) After Harbhajan with 32 our next best bowler was Tendulkar....with 3 wickets (Zaheer Khan as well) But Really is that what our Bowling Attack is? Just one Bowler? How long can we Expect him to perform?
Thirdly, How is it that we have not won a series in Australia ever? I dont think we have ever won a series in West Indies either. England I do not consider a cricketing nation their recent success notwithstanding. For that matter even in South Africa we have not won a series or even a test match. Why is it that our Paper Heros look so uneasy against Fast Bowlers on Bouncy tracks? And Dont say it is only fair since the Goras look uneasy on our spinning tracks..... The fact is that we have had better batsmen, Gavaskar has an Average of 55 + against Australia in Australia, Even Sachin is far behind with a 46.14. So now that raises a doubt in my mind, Is Sachin as good as Gavaskar? Gavaskar has scored most of his runs against tough oppositions when the team around him was floundering. Sachin on the other hand has scored most of his AWAY hundreds opposite teams like Sri Lanka, England NZ etc. So to my mind Sunil is a better batsman (Mind you I am as big a sachin fan as they get, But I believe in Stats as well).
Sadly India does not have an Opening Batsman, Das and Ramesh will always struggle on Foreign Pitches. Laxman will do good in Patches, sadly he has shown the class that he has a few times but Unfortunately having played in Indian conditions he has not been able to Develop it therefore he shall score occasionally on Foreign Pitches. Ganguly seems more interested in the "Surs" and "Nagmas" of his life to be interested in cricket or even show that he was initially picked into the team as a batsman. The Less said about our tail the better. Mr Dravid is perhaps a hard working cricketer but unfortunately he rarely performs under pressure (Like the Calcutta Innings).
I feel the best thing to do would be to send all these players to play in the Aussie Sheffield Shield or the Pura Cup trophy, Most of the Players in the National Team would struggle to make it to the Regional Teams. And none of the Indian Bowlers would ever get a chance to be in an Aussie or a south African attack. Steve Waugh might not have been able to conquer his Final Frontier but India tried their best in making him win......
Lets hope India can learn How to Bat, Bowl and FIELD (Perhaps even how not to gesture at touring team supporters) and the New Coach John Wright can teach them to be as determined as the aussies, beofre Wright himself becomes Victim of the "Chalta Hai" attiude of the Indians. Lets Learn from the Aussie never say die attitude rather than Feel Happy for pulling off a miserable win..... And Lastly Lets make cricketers not just a pack of cards that falls at the slightest pressure...... Lets All Stand and Salute Mr Steve Waugh for being such an astute cricketer and For being the best in the thinking business.....
......BUT before that Lets Say "...Bhaad mein Jaaye Sab Kuch, India ne match jeet liya na, Jaise marzi Jeeta ho, who cares"
(Give up on this Lax attitude India)
Regards,
A Disillusioned Cricket Lover