India in WI - Oh no, not again!
I hate it when the Indian cricket team tours the West Indies . Seriously, I hate it. And when I'm at it, let me also add that I hate the rain, Chanderpaul and Lara. What is it with our West Indian tours? Its always one thing thing or the other. Just rewind back a little and think about how many sure-win matches have been snatched away from our grasps. Ofcourse, some of them are of our own making. The game under Sachin's captaincy, when Indian could not get a 100 odd runs and threw away a game they should have won, comes to mind.
But I thought this current tour would present India with the best opportunity to put a West Indies series win under their collective belts. After all, West Indies is not the team it once was. Not even close. They were just coming off of a pay dispute over their board. They had quite a few untested youngsters. Their pace attack is like watching Ramesh Krishnan playing in slow motion. And Lara would be a senior citizen in most countries. Okay, that last statement was an exaggeration, I agree. But at 38, he's not getting any younger.
Ofcourse, India too have their problems, chief among which is the fact that Sachin, the greatest, is not part of the team. Still, we do boast of quite a few talented youngsters, who have been tested in the one-day arena and came up trumps. I, like most people, thought this would be a cake walk. That India would run all over the Windies, and then some more. That it'll be such a David-Goliath mismatch that they would have to stop it mid-series on humanitarian grounds. But no, the famous India suck in the Windies syndrome has reared its ugly head once again.
After losing the one-day series miserably, and then letting WI take a huge lead in the first test, I thought India had lost its mojo. Then came Jaffer's double ton followed by a superb bowling performance. It finally came down to whether India could remove the last three WI wickets in something like 17 overs on the last day. I was at work, following cricinfo text commentary and biting my nails. Lets just say that productivity was not on the top of my list right then. Then it boiled down to getting the last wicket in 3 overs. And ofcourse, India couldn't do it. WI celebrated like they'd won the game. I heard reports that Dravid came out smiling. I do admit I like him a lot. But right that moment, I could've socked him in the jaw. Sometimes, you have to be a street fighter rather than a gentleman.
The second test was even more heart-breaking. India did everything right, including 3 centuries and getting WI to follow on. With WI needing to bat the entire last 2 days to save the game, we were ready to get our champagne bottles out (Not me, it was still a working day!). And then, what happens? It f@#$in rains, that's what happens. It rains cats and dogs and the fourth day's play is called off. Just when we thought no play is going to be possible on the final day, their groundsmen do a splendid job (looks like the WI board does not have enough money to bribe them!). So again, we need to get 9 WI wickets on the last day. And then Lara along with Chanderpaul, that perennial thorn in the Indian flesh, come to spoil the party. By the time, we get them, its too late. And the Windies scrape their way to another draw, this time by 3 wickets.
I'm only thankful for one thing - that I did not sign up for the live streaming package. Once I'd bitten my finger nails off, and then my toe nails with some effort, I would've gone skydiving without a parachute. What can we expect from the next 2 games? Can India pull it off from here? Will fate, weather, Lara and a million other factors again conspire to deprive this valiant Indian team of a well-deserved series victory? Who knows? Let's just wait and watch. In the meantime, I've taken to actually working at the office, in hopes that this would somehow be less stressful for my heart.
But I thought this current tour would present India with the best opportunity to put a West Indies series win under their collective belts. After all, West Indies is not the team it once was. Not even close. They were just coming off of a pay dispute over their board. They had quite a few untested youngsters. Their pace attack is like watching Ramesh Krishnan playing in slow motion. And Lara would be a senior citizen in most countries. Okay, that last statement was an exaggeration, I agree. But at 38, he's not getting any younger.
Ofcourse, India too have their problems, chief among which is the fact that Sachin, the greatest, is not part of the team. Still, we do boast of quite a few talented youngsters, who have been tested in the one-day arena and came up trumps. I, like most people, thought this would be a cake walk. That India would run all over the Windies, and then some more. That it'll be such a David-Goliath mismatch that they would have to stop it mid-series on humanitarian grounds. But no, the famous India suck in the Windies syndrome has reared its ugly head once again.
After losing the one-day series miserably, and then letting WI take a huge lead in the first test, I thought India had lost its mojo. Then came Jaffer's double ton followed by a superb bowling performance. It finally came down to whether India could remove the last three WI wickets in something like 17 overs on the last day. I was at work, following cricinfo text commentary and biting my nails. Lets just say that productivity was not on the top of my list right then. Then it boiled down to getting the last wicket in 3 overs. And ofcourse, India couldn't do it. WI celebrated like they'd won the game. I heard reports that Dravid came out smiling. I do admit I like him a lot. But right that moment, I could've socked him in the jaw. Sometimes, you have to be a street fighter rather than a gentleman.
The second test was even more heart-breaking. India did everything right, including 3 centuries and getting WI to follow on. With WI needing to bat the entire last 2 days to save the game, we were ready to get our champagne bottles out (Not me, it was still a working day!). And then, what happens? It f@#$in rains, that's what happens. It rains cats and dogs and the fourth day's play is called off. Just when we thought no play is going to be possible on the final day, their groundsmen do a splendid job (looks like the WI board does not have enough money to bribe them!). So again, we need to get 9 WI wickets on the last day. And then Lara along with Chanderpaul, that perennial thorn in the Indian flesh, come to spoil the party. By the time, we get them, its too late. And the Windies scrape their way to another draw, this time by 3 wickets.
I'm only thankful for one thing - that I did not sign up for the live streaming package. Once I'd bitten my finger nails off, and then my toe nails with some effort, I would've gone skydiving without a parachute. What can we expect from the next 2 games? Can India pull it off from here? Will fate, weather, Lara and a million other factors again conspire to deprive this valiant Indian team of a well-deserved series victory? Who knows? Let's just wait and watch. In the meantime, I've taken to actually working at the office, in hopes that this would somehow be less stressful for my heart.
posted by c2c at Thursday, June 15, 2006
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