C r i c k e t

Its that time of the year, you know. December. The season of cricket. So many international teams are busy at this time of the year.

Let's start with the India Sri Lanka series at home. With the 1st test drawn and second easily in India's pocket, it will be interesting to see the approach of Indian batsmen in the third. Will they attack or defend? Will they try to squueze in 2-0 or try to defend 1-0. Looking at the current form, it seems unlikely that SL will be able to beat India. Now about the second test.

It all started with the century by Tendulkar. There is no doubt that this country has been hit with the Tendulkar mania since that day on. Every TV channel and newspapers carried big stories on him on the day he became the first person to score 35 test centuries. In my opinion, focussing too much on such individual records is not correct. And especially when it is done with a bias, it sucks. Take for example, the time when we won the test series in Zimbabwe a month or two ago. It was India's first win outside the subcontinent in about 15 years. Did the media glorify this fact as much? Or, the time when Kumble took his 30th 5-wicket haul in the 2nd test - The only Indian to have done it so many times (By far & Long). Did the media sensationalise this personal achievement? No. Why? Because Sachin sells more than Kumble or sometimes even more than Team India. These facts certainly gives a sad impression of the India media.

Media apart, it was a good overall show by the Indian team. Sachin, Kumble, Pathan, Bhajji, Gnguly, Yuvraj, Dravid and in the end Dhoni all played well sometime or the other. Kumble was no doubt the star performer. It is just impossible to imagine an India test win without him contributing. He will leave a big hole when he stops playing. Other Indian bowlers need to pick up wickets more frequently before that happens.

Gambhir and Agarkar were disappointing to say the least. I will put my money on these two playing very well in the third match as that will be a very important match for their careers. Gambhir is just not getting decent starts and Agarkar not getting the consistency that he found so well in the one dayers. Agarkar is my favourite fast bowlers nowadays. His confidence after returning to the one day team was amazing. His ability to bowl the yorker and to reverse the old ball is spectacular. However his consistency in tests remains a big question mark. He will have to do much more if he wants to retain his place in the team where he will soon face fierce competition from guys like Zaheer, RPSingh etc.

On the dropping of Ganguly. Let's say that he played very well in this match before saying that he does not deserve a place in this team right now. The time is ripe for him to hang up his boots with pride. His career had finished the moment he took the press conference after the century in Zimbabwe. However, I do feel that it was wrong to drop him for the 3rd test. He should have been told that this series would be his last. Or else, he should not have been picked in the squad for the series. India have a tradition of looking down at their past captains starting with Azharuddin and now at Ganguly. Even Steve Waugh was dropped from the Aussie team, but that was with pride. He was not cornered the way Azhar and Ganguly were. It will be interesting to see how well Saurav plays in domestic cricket to plan a comeback now, which seems near to impossible.

Another gripping series is on in Aus with SA. SA looked a handsome ODI team but tests are different. And very difficult in Aus. I predict that Aus will crush SA without much trouble. But SA have some new and exciting players to watch out for and their fight will be interesting to follow.

In another series, Pakistan defeated England very easily in ODIs as well as tests. It shows that the game is a great leveller. Now so long ago, England was branded as next best only to Aus, only to be mauled in Pakistan. Yousuf Youhana (I will always call him by this name) and Inzamam Ul Haq, in the meanwhile, continue to impress with their every knock. Inzy by far is my most favourite cricketer on the planet right now. The command, ease & elegance with which he plays is quite beautiful and at the same time his consistency is amazing. He is on a huge high right now and I hope he stays there for long. When he came on to the international scene, he was branded by Pak as the answer to India's Sachin. I think with his recent consistency and captaincy, he has definitely outclassed both Lara and Sachin.

That's all for now. More after the 3rd test.
Cheers,
- Tosh