Arm Ball

The RoI has set a target of 378 to win for Delhi. And that’s a formidable total, which didn’t quite look possible at the end of day 1 when the team was shot out for 252. Despite Sehwag heroics in Delhi’s first innings, RoI bowlers did a good job to take a 75 run lead which came in handy in the second innings. And after Dravid saw off the threat from Ishant Sharma, the 75 runs were always going to hurt Delhi in long interest of the game.

People might have different ideas about Dravid’s contribution to the RoI, but he was the difference between a target of below 300 and the current one of 378. Rest of the batting around him except MSD collapsed around him, so in a way RD stands vindicated and that gives a message that he is not finished and he ‘s got lot to offer to the India’s test fortunes. For Delhi Ishant Sharma in both the innings and Nanda in 2^nd innings were the exceptional performances. And that sounds alarm bells for Australia as Sharma managed to get lot of bounce and pace on a benign wicket. Bangalore, Mohali would for sure offer more bounce and help to seamers than this Vadodara pitch.

Dravid made valuable contributions of 46 and 69 to the RoI batting and was instrumental in forging partnerships with Jaffer, Badrinath who disappointed, Laxman (will he be under scrutiny?) and Dhoni of course. He saw off the threat of Sharma who troubled him in 1^st innings. And that’s the difference between a good batsman and great batsman. You wont fall for the same bowler again in the same style.

For RoI Munaf Patel was the standout performer along with Zaheer Khan who got Gambhir early and now critics have started baying for Gambhir’s blood after an indifferent SL ODI series and the first innings failure out here. Proves that how fragile are the critics who need top performance, but forget to note that they come across as a headless chickens. 4 wkts for Munaf in my opinion complete the resurrection of the bowler who promised much but fell out ultimately to the demands of international cricket more to his laidback attitude than the talent. I feel he s got back his pace and also the zip and fire is back in his belly.

And if there were any slim chances for Delhi to win the IT, they are gone with Zaheer Khan nailing Virender Sehwag. Does that also mean that Virender Sehwag should be kicked out of the Test team (0,37 , 43, 3) ? Tough task , somebody got to stand up and perform.

Standout performers :

Delhi :

Ishant Sharma

C Nanda

RoI

Rahul Dravid

Munaf Patel

Zaheer Khan

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

While writing this post Delhi need 369 more runs to win with 9 wkts in hand and little over 2 days of play remaining. I am sorry to say but the critics , journalists, Rakhi Sawant’s cousins and bloggers baying for Rahul Dravid’s blood have got to shut their mouth. A possible RoI win in the store

1. Beginning of the end of fab four should they fail to perform in this game.
2. A warmup for fab four (RD and VVS) before Test series begins on Oct 9.

Critics have been very unfair to the Fab four after the SL failure and most of them have been written off. Too much has been read into Ganguly’s non inclusion in RoI squad. Tendulkar has been accused of feigning injury and opting out for “mystery” reasons. Dravid has been scratchy in form. And VVS just 33 now has been always the one on the edge. He has been performing consistently as unsung hero, but he is the one who has been always put on sword, be it Yuvraj hitting hundreds or Badri hitting a domestic 100.

Pretty unfair. I have been ranting on this space for support of fab 4. Yes. I dont feel this is the time to see the 4 greatest batsmen of Indian test history as of yet. Not long ago in England the 4 combined to produce a spectacular 1-0 win and then back home against Pakistan. Dravid shot back at Perth and Tendulkar, Laxman continued their love with Sydney down under. Ganguly played a series levelling 80s in Kanpur when nobody else crossed 70. RD scored a 100 in Chennai in the same series. Didnt he ?

Tomorrow on a flat track the match would be played with more than usual interest from everybody. Selectors to bloggers, media from print to electronic. Yes every body. From Dubai to Bombay, USA to UK and Bangalore to Pune. A question on Kumble’s leadership skills, a delicious contest between Sehwag-Gambhir and Zaheer along with 2 spinners. Ishant testing Rahul Dravid who would once again step early in innings given the opening combo of Patel and Jaffer for RoI. Laxman at 4, Badri and Kaif at 5 ,6 with Dhoni at 7.

What if Kaif performs and Badri fails ? Badri has got one more chance to impress selectors may be for 2nd test ownwards then. And what if both fail ? What if RD and VVS hit good form ? Lot of questions, but no answers right now. Speculations are on, the swords are ready to come out of the shells to cut the seniors to pieces. Most crucial home season for India. 6 tests against Ashes opponents. Followed by a tour of Pakistan and NZ.

Good to hear that Yuvraj will lead the Board Prez XI against Australia in a tour game. May be this is one more chance to resucrrect his fading Test career. Guess its got to do with his attitude and mindset more than his ability and class. Class and talent are no doubt supreme. He needs to redefine his priorities and refocus on game. He should be the first candidate to replace a Fab 4 than the T20 kids.

May be we are at the cusp of either a new phase in Indian cricket sans Fab 4 or a major victory against all odds and time. I would support the second option. I dont know if i would like to see the game without the fab 4 playing Tests. After all i am used to see Tendulkar for 19 years of 22 years of following the game.

1. MSD got to wait for Test captaincy a bit longer. Pretty logical.
2. No new “yung shot” for test series against the best.
3. Jaffer — bhai konsi chakki ka aata khate ho ? 175 runs in 11 innings and you still in dude. Ganguly 600+ in 11 innings and he finds himself out. Perhaps thats an advantage Mumbai has when its got a reputed ex-player as selectos head. No matter how irrelevant it might seem as cricketing logic might suggest. Rohit Sharma still finds a place. Dhanya he.

Comment karo bhai.