A season of learnings…

With still a week to go for this year’s TATA IPL to end, yesterday, curtains were brought down, albeit prematurely, upon Mumbai Indians’ campaign as they failed to qualify for the playoffs. The fact that they took as many as nine games to register their first win this season pretty much sealed their fate. They ended on a winning note though, helping RCB stay alive in the competition.

The first season after the mega auction isn’t always easy, for any franchise. I believe, it does take a while before you figure out the combination that works best for you. Also, with the shuffle of players, it must take time for them to buy into the team’s philosophy as well as aligning their capabilities with the roles and responsibilities carved out for them by the captain/coach. The team that manages to accomplish the aforementioned quickly goes the full distance.

There were many things which didn’t go our way this season. For starters, we didn’t play well as a unit. The bowlers went for plenty in a few while the batsmen completely lost the plot in others. Its not as though the eleven that turned up did not compete, its just that they were good in patches. If only they had been that much better over the course of the match. Regular chopping and changing of the eleven, which by the way is so unlike MI, didn’t help in arresting the slide either. Given the way things were turning out for MI this season, it was understandable for Rohit to try out different combinations in search of the elusive two points on the table!

There are, however, a few positives to take back for MI. Tilak Varma, Tim David, Daniel Sams, Dewald Brevis have all shown glimpses of how good they can be. Tilak Varma has advanced his game considerably ever since walking out for the first time in Blue and Gold. In the different match situations which he has had to come in, one can say he has matured beyond his age. As with regards to Timmy, you only have one question: ‘Has the baton passed?’. The answer to it, I’m afraid might not leave enough room to accommodate Pollard who has been an MI stalwart in his own right! I’m most impressed with Daniel Sams with the way he has made his comeback, especially after the mauling he received from Pat Cummins in the game versus the KKR early on. Sitting out, I guess he had a chance to reflect and improve upon his game and that showed in his performances with the ball thereafter; constantly providing key breakthroughs in the powerplay.

This season may not have gone as we would have hoped, but all the learnings from this year will definitely help the team make a stronger comeback. In the last few games, we saw the coming together of a group who wanted to play for pride and for the joy of their fans. And believe you me, Paltan couldn’t have asked for more.

Let’s join in on the MI dressing room custom for one last time this year:

Mumbai… Indians…

Here’s to having a crackerjack of a season, next year!

Reboot, and Restart!

A zillion plus cricket fans in India hoped against the hope of Afghanistan defeating the Kiwis. But as it so happened, Kane & Co. rather comfortably, and much deservedly so, made it to the final four of the tournament bringing curtains down on India’s campaign, rendering its last match against Namibia inconsequential.

Looking back on the four matches played by the Indian team thus far in the tournament, they have no one else but themselves to blame for the early exit. They have failed to be consistent which ultimately resulted in them depending on other results in order for them to qualify. The losses in the opening games versus Pakistan and New Zealand hurt India’s chances tremendously, virtually knocking them out inside the first week unless some other results went in their favor. In this format of the game, there are no clear favorites as such, since any team on their day can beat the best team going around purely because you only have to be that much better for only that period of time. Having said that, there is no denying the fact that India made errors, both tactically and in terms of execution.

While it was refreshing to see India play the way they did against Afghanistan and Scotland, it was, one would feel, too little too late. The brand of cricket they played was particularly endearing where fans finally got to see potential translating into performance. I won’t be surprised if they play the same dominant form of cricket and steamroll past Namibia in their last match to end the tournament, ironically, on a ‘high’, so to speak.

As Indian cricket readies itself to turn a page to the next chapter, with Kohli giving up T20I captaincy and Shastri coming to the end of his tenure, there is this pressing need to ‘Reboot and Restart’. For starters, we need a settled eleven for T20 internationals with at least 22-23 overs being available at the captain’s disposal. Rohit, who, by all means, is the next in line to lead India in the limited-overs format, has his work cut out for himself since the next edition of the World T20 will be held in a year’s time from now. Here’s hoping the winds of change bring about a change in fortunes for the team in the shortest format as well.

Over and Out?

Everyone, yes e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e, has gone through a period where nothing seems to go their way. This Indian team just had one of those days for the second match in a row. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong – and in the list, I am not including the toss following which we had to bat first, neither do I believe that had we chased, we could have ended up on the other side; simply because I see no point in stressing over the could-haves.

India went in with two changes in the playing eleven, with Kishan / Thakur replacing Surya / Bhuvi. Well, one of them was a forced change, while the other one, not as much. Then came the baffling decision of not sending Rohit to open alongside Kishan. Not that it mattered since he made it to the middle in the third over itself, but over the course of the match and looking back now, there have been several decisions that blew my mind. I know it’s a very cliched term but ‘controlling the controllables’ on the cricket field almost guarantees that you are not disappointed at the end of the game. While we tried, we didn’t manage to do it as well as one would have imagined. 61 dot balls and only 2 hits over the ropes in 20 overs – pretty much tells you the story of how we went about putting up a total on the board. Yes, the Kiwis did keep it tight but the staggering amount of dot balls faced meant that there was constant pressure and the run-flow was always kept under check.

Indian bowlers tried their best to take the game as deep as they possibly could, but defending 110 was never going to be easy, especially if you don’t take early wickets. Another shocker for me was Kohli giving Varun as many as three overs inside the first six. He bowled most of his deliveries short of length revealing the ‘mystery’ a tad bit earlier. Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers for me and our best wicket-taking option that night. Kiwis made the run chase look rather simple, scoring freely, never allowing the pressure to get to them – not that there was any, but low-scoring games do tend to get interesting sometimes.

If the performances of the previous two games are anything to go by, it seems to me that in the middle of the tournament, the search for the right combination is still on. But to be honest, this is a quality side in its own right. Remember, it’s the same set of players that had comprehensively beaten the likes of England and Australia in the two warm-up games that preceded the Super 12’s. The collective failure of the batting unit has pushed us back in the game considering we were batting first on both the occasions, versus Pakistan and NZ. While a place in the semis now seems a bit far-fetched, it is not over as yet.

Not the start India wanted, but the one it needed…

The most awaited T20 tournament in the world, arguably after IPL, is upon us and we have had quite a few moments already that would definitely go on to make the highlights package of the tournament. The debutants, Scotland and Namibia, stake a majority claim on those moments. Looking forward to seeing more of them during the course of the tournament and afterwards.

India played Pakistan in their opening match last night. After having cruised to victory in both their warm-up games, India started as favorites going into the match. Their arch-rivals, mercurial neighbors, Pakistan, have always been the underdogs, well, atleast since the turn of the century, but even more so in a World Cup match. Having said that, they have always had the knack of causing an upset, but it is never known which Pakistan would turn up on the day. And that makes watching them in action all the more worthwhile. Sadly, India found itself at the receiving end right from the word go, and always seemed to be playing the catch-up game thereafter.

Having won the toss, Babar put India in to bat first. Pakistan were brilliant with the new ball. Shaheen pitched it right up, hit the right areas and allowed the ball to swing, something which the Indian counterparts did not. Three quick wickets early in the game pushed India onto the backfoot, as a result of which they struggled to get any sort of momentum into their innings. Pant, being his maverick self, did bring out his one-handed swipes for sixes and accompanied Kohli to restore some stability. Despite the continuous loss of wickets from one end and an elongated tail, one would feel India did well to post 151 on the board. Pakistan were equally good in the field. Apart from ‘that-one-overthrow’, they were pretty disciplined otherwise.

Indian bowlers werent as effective with the new ball, largely owing to the line and length they bowled. The positive intent showed by the Pakistani openers didnt help their cause either. Rizwan and Babar dispatched the lose ones to the boundary and were able to rotate strike regularly, making sure the scoreboard always kept ticking. It was as clinical a run-chase as any could get, wherein they did not give a single chance to the opposition. The fact that they won by a 10 wicket margin is a testament to India being completely outplayed.

India have a week’s time to get past this and I am sure, they will put up a better performance when they turn up next on the field. They were beaten comprehensively by a team that played better cricket. On a lighter note, I feel we should be relieved that the ‘one-bad-game’ has been done away with early in the tournament rather than having it in the knockouts. And hence, the title of this piece. I know nothing is as good as ending up on the winning side, but as they say, ‘Failure will teach you more than success ever will.’

My World Cup Squad!

For the past couple of years now, every limited overs series which Team India has participated in, it has enabled itself to find the best combination possible going into the Cricket World Cup 2019. We are already a couple of months into 2019 and I am sure that barring a couple of spots, Team India has got all the bases covered. Touted as one of the favorites, if not the favorites, this time, to lift the trophy, I present to you my squad for Team India for the World Cup.

1) Rohit Sharma

The Hitman has been India’s mainstay at the top of the order since past few years and has been a match winner in the true sense in white-ball cricket. He grafts his innings wonderfully well and his ability to mix caution with aggression makes him a dangerous customer.

2) Shikhar Dhawan

Gabbar completes the other half of the most prolific opening pair of our times. They complement each other exceptionally well and for some inexplicable reason, Dhawan almost always performs in multi-nation big-ticket events which should settle a few nerves because even if he has not looked his best leading up to the tournament, we can rest assured that he will catch up.

3) Virat Kohli

Unarguably the best batsman in the world right now (across formats), Kohli is the fulcrum of the Indian batting line up. He has matured as a player and even more so as a person ever since taking over as the captain of the national team.

4) MS Dhoni

This could well turn out to be Thala’s last outing representing the nation. For me, its best suited for him as well as the team that he bats at number four and hence, in the team that I propose, he slots in right after Kohli. He may not be the finisher that he once was and might take a little longer to get going as well, but simply his presence in the team would do a world of good to Kohli and the bowlers, especially the slower ones.

5) Kedar Jadhav

He has proven himself to be an excellent utility player over a period of time and has made the most of opportunities on offer. He is a smart cricketer and his peculiar bowling action has been surprisingly effective which I believe goes a long way in furthering his case as far as his selection in the playing eleven is concerned.

6) Rishabh Pant

Yes, next up, ‘We’ve got Pant, Riiishaabhh Pant!’ He can make this side purely as a batsman and could well be a game changer at number 6. He can hit the ball long and far, apart from serving as a backup wicketkeeper. He is an exciting prospect and I am looking forward to seeing more of him in the upcoming games.

7) Hardik Pandya

Off late, he has been talked about a lot, largely for non-cricketing reasons but that is for another blog and would require a completely different vantage point. I do see him featuring in the World Cup squad hopefully having learned that talent and ability are not the ONLY boxes which need to be ticked. Having him the squad makes Kohli’s life much easier as it allows him to play the spin twins together. He is a ‘work-in-progress-fast-bowling-allrounder’. He is already showing signs of improvement and he is a much better player than what the numbers might suggest.

8) Bhuvneshwar Kumar

His strength has been his immaculate control over the new ball and old. He looks fitter than ever now and here’s hoping that injury concerns stay away from him at least till after the World Cup ends.

9) Kuldeep Yadav

The left-arm chinaman has carved a niche for himself in his short career already. He is Kohli’s go-to bowler every time he needs a breakthrough and he delivers! Batsmen just don’t seem to pick his deliveries at all. One of the best attributes of his bowling, I feel, is that he gets rid of the tail quickly. Sometimes when the tail sticks around for a bit, it can be agonizingly painful, but not when Kuldeep is around!

10) Yuzvendra Chahal

Wrist spinners, we know, are the hottest commodities going around these days. Having two of them means double the trouble for the opposition batsmen. Chahal can go for some runs but is he will always give you wickets. The two spin-twins bowl well together and control the middle overs very well with constant inputs coming from behind the stumps.

11) Jasprit Bumrah

Currently, he is worth his weight in gold. Like Kohli, he too has been exceptional across formats. He is an automatic selection into the playing eleven like a few others above.

12) Ambati Rayudu

He has done just enough to claim a spot for himself in the squad. I personally would see him as a backup to Kedar, replacing him if and when he does get injured. There are certain sections who do see him as a potential number four, but sadly he misses out being the first choice in my team.

13) Ravindra Jadeja

I have all the time in the world for Jaddu. He is the best fielder we have and can almost manufacture a wicket with his fielding alone. You can actually play three spinners as well if we get a surface that is dry and one that does grip a bit. He makes for excellent value addition in the team and would be interesting to see how Kohli uses him if he is in the squad that is.

14) Mohammed Shami

Lala can, in fact, make the first eleven as well going by his performances in the recently concluded limited overs series Down Under. He is fast, he is accurate and he is right on the money from the word go. Shami and Bumrah would make a lethal comb with the new ball and in the death overs as well.

15) Prithvi Shaw

He is my reserve opener for the tournament. From the little that we did see of him in whites, he seems ready enough to debut in colored clothing for the senior team, provided that he has recovered from the injury completely, which I am hoping he does in time to be available for selection.

Right then, this is my squad for the Cricket World Cup 2019.

This is the privilege we, as fans, enjoy. We can pick and choose our favorites, not necessarily the most deserving ones while building our squads.

Here’s wishing that everyone who boards the flight to England does his best and makes the nation proud.

Rewriting History, Down Under!

Well, the past couple of days have been the most gratifying for Indian fans and players alike. To put things into perspective, this Indian Team has achieved what no other team from the subcontinent before could manage. India came tantalizingly close to winning the series once, in 2003/04, but Steve Waugh’s stern resistance in his last test match at the SCG meant India would have to come back again and try their luck in another series. In all, 71 years and several disappointing tours later, Team India registers its first-ever series win against Australia in Australia.

For the first time in so many years, India went into a Test series in Australia as favorites and understandably so. This was touted as our best chance to win against Australia Down Under. If the previous two away tours were anything to go by, India looked well poised to at least put up a good fight and challenge the Aussies in their backyard. As it turned out, we outplayed them completely in all the three departments in three out of four test matches. That Australia was without two of their best batsmen and it made things easier for us is an argument Aussies would love to put out, but the fact that they could not find suitable replacements all throughout the year reflects poorly on their bench strength.

Everyone had their eyes set on Prithvi Shaw and Virat Kohli for this series. Prithvi, sadly, had to bow out before the first test, having twisted his ankle during the only warm-up game. Throughout the series, on almost all instances (barring the third one), the openers made way for Pujara pretty early into the innings. The Indian No. 3, then, steadied the ship and more often than naught made sure the team was out of danger, rather, in a position of strength. The discipline and determination with which he has batted could be a lesson for a lot of youngsters in the art of batsmanship in the longest format of the game. He scored over 500 runs and was rightly adjudged the Man of the series for his stupendous performance with the bat. Others, including Kohli and Rahane, batted around him and helped India post decent totals on the board. Mayank made his debut in whites in the second half of the series and to be honest, he looked like he belonged there. He had to wait to get his chance in the sun, but when he did get one, he made sure that he made it count. Pant got starts throughout the series and he ended the tour on a high as he scored a quick-fire century in the first innings of the last test match.

The bowlers have been simply magnificent, to say the least, on this tour. We have consistently managed to get 20 wickets and that has been one of the major reasons for our improved performance in Tests since past 12-15 months. Bumrah, Shami, and Ishant have been lethal with both, the new ball and old. Jaddu, Ash, and Kuldeep have had a part to play as well but the early breakthroughs with the new ball and the sustained pressure from the quicks have been instrumental in India gaining the upper hand. The bowlers made sure that we were always there or thereabouts and never let the game drift away from us. They have had a great impact, especially in low scoring games, like the first one in Adelaide.

Test cricket, dear readers, is well alive and kicking. Contests like these reinforce its importance as the mother of all formats. Sure, the skillsets required to succeed in Tests may not be the most sought after or fashionable in the modern day and age, but it in the process of attaining those, we discover our true self and therein lies the beauty of this game.

This series win is a memorable one and the whole country is proud of our boys. There have been several great players from the previous touring teams who couldn’t realize this dream, but Kohli & Co. have managed to do something incredible here and they deserve every bit of success which they have achieved.

Here’s to more success and dominance overseas.

Women in Blue: A force to be reckoned with!

The Women in Blue were at it yet again. They made the whole country proud with their performance in the first-ever standalone Women’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies. They have been absolutely brilliant especially in multi-nation ICC events since past couple of years. For the first time ever I feel, people were looking forward to watching our women’s team play the World Cup and the exponential increment in viewership on the digital platform as well as the attendance in the stadiums are testimonials to the rising popularity of women’s cricket world over.

Before the start of the tournament, India did look good enough to be amongst the top four at least. It was always going to be difficult nonetheless. They started the tournament on a positive note with the captain Harmanpreet Kaur leading the way with a spectacular century in double-quick time against the White Ferns. The sixes were massive and most of them were deposited into the stands. This win set the tone for the rest of the tournament and Indian women looked unstoppable from thereon. In the next couple of games, India registered comprehensive victories against Pakistan and Ireland. The slow bowlers had a big part to play in these victories in the first and second innings respectively while Mithali and Co. batted the opposition out of the game.

Mandhana, who had had a quiet tournament up until the last of the group stage games, came to her own and completely demolished her Aussie counterparts. Her knock of 80 odd runs and the partnership with Harmanpreet in the middle of the innings helped the team post a competitive total on board. Indian spinners were just too good for the Aussie women in the second innings and they fell short by 48 runs eventually. Indian women were sitting pretty at the top of the points table at the end of the group stage and had booked a place for themselves in the semi-finals. Had Indian women stuck to their plans and executed them perfectly, they would have had their shot at the World Cup trophy in the finals! But as the game progressed, the elusive trophy seemed to be getting further away.

It was a disappointing end to a tournament in which the Indian women were on top of their games for most parts of it. They seem to be getting close to the trophy but somehow manage to blow up their chances, come the knockouts. The experiment to open with Taniya Bhatia failed miserably. She had a good outing behind the stumps though. Jemimah Rodrigues, barring the first game, got starts but failed to convert those into something substantial. Veda was brilliant in the field. She got decent opportunities with the bat but couldn’t make the most of it. Fast bowlers struggled as well. Poonam, Deepti, and Radha were the most effective and together dismantled several batting lineups in the tournament.

The Indian women will return with a mixed bag of emotions from the Caribbean Islands. They played wonderful cricket right through but had one day off and found themselves knocked out of the tournament. But that’s the very nature of this sport and T20 in particular. One cannot let the game drift away even for a moment. One must stay ahead of the game all the time. You let the opposition come in a little and the next thing you know is that you are knocked out.

The Women’s T20 World Cup was a massive hit and things look rather bright for women’s cricket in general. ‘Supporters’ have now graduated to become ‘fans’ of women’s cricket. We are incredibly proud of the fight shown by our girls in the World Cup. We’ll take every loss in our stride and grow along the way.

To me, they are champions already. Here’s to not giving up and getting back up again!

The toughest goodbye…

This day that year (2013) is when The Master last walked onto the field to represent India and to bring curtains down on a career spanning 24 long years. India hosted the (then) West Indies at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, for the last of the two-test ‘farewell’ series organized by the BCCI. Emotions were at an all-time high throughout the series. People had been speculating Sachin’s retirement for quite some time but when he finally announced his decision, it took a while for the fans and ‘devotees’ alike, to let that sink in.

To be honest, we did see it coming and it was doubly hard to come to terms with the fact that this series was going to be his last. For people like me, who literally grew up watching him, his retirement meant it was time for us as well turn a page in our lives, to move on, and that as we all know, is the hardest thing the human soul has ever known. For Sachin though, it must have been even tougher. To quit something which you have been doing regularly, day in and day out, almost as a ritual for most parts of your life must take a huge amount of courage and I am sure deep thought must have gone into arriving at that decision. And if not for anything else, just for its enormity, it must be respected.

It was because of players like him that our game became richer and more prosperous. And it’s not the monetary riches that’s been referred to here. It’s the unparalleled popularity and the acceptance in our country this great game has seen which makes it even more special. Sachin was not the regular sports personality who was famous for his on-field prowess. He was more of a household name and soon, would go on to become nation’s favorite son. In him, young children who wanted to take up this sport as a profession, found the perfect role model to look up to. The voice of Indian cricket, Harsha remarks that it is the extraordinary work ethic that makes the Sachin Tendulkar story extra special!

Since his retirement, Indian cricket has moved forward and built on the legacy left behind by The Master. He played the game with utmost integrity and more than anything else took great pride in representing the nation. On making the last walk back to the pavilion, he fought back tears and so did a billion others. He walked back up to the square a few moments later and bowed down to touch the pitch. Tears welled up out of the eyes of the fans as they saw their hero walk out for one last time. The chants of Sachin…Sachin… grew louder by the minute. Indian cricket and the fans will forever be grateful to you.

Thank you, Sachin!

India end English tour with a bagful of ‘If Only’s’

Right, so another overseas assignment has been done away with. And, much to our disappointment, the series scorecard is a pale reflection of everything that transpired during this English summer. Not that the Indian team played bad cricket and lost, it was competitive all the way; it was just that we could not capitalize on occasions which, in hindsight now, were match-defining moments.

In a way, this is a rather tricky piece for me to put together because unlike other away tours, we actually did pretty well. In most of the games, in the test series especially, barring the one at the Lords, India always looked to be in it with a chance. The beauty of Test match cricket was for all to see. There were runs for the batsmen and wickets for the bowlers. The Duke ball did what it does best, trouble the batsmen, ask questions of him, his technique, and reward the bowler for his consistency and immaculate line and length.

India, however, would return with an unsettled top order. The top order has struggled right throughout the series and except for a couple of occasions, they allowed the English bowlers to draw first blood pretty early into the innings. Vijay and Dhawan, I believe, have slim chances of playing in whites again. Rahul showed glimpses of what he is capable of as a player, and in the last match, played an innings that reaffirmed the faith shown in him by the team management. But consistency is the key when you bat at the top of the order and there is ample scope of improvement there. Pujara looked short on confidence, to begin with, but showed great maturity and character as the series progressed. Kohli, yet again, was the standout performer for India. He has made a habit out of it and here’s hoping he continues to do so. He amassed close to 600 runs as he shunned away all the ghosts of the ‘Christmas Past’.

The biggest takeaway from the 4-1 series loss is the heart with which India’s fast bowlers bowled. They ran in hard and bowled fast. Ishant, Bumrah, and Shami either kept us in the game or changed the course of the game, in our favor. The Indian quicks clocked better (read: higher) speeds than their English counterparts; a rare occurrence. Ishant looked dangerous after long and his stint there in county cricket has surely helped. English conditions rendered Ashwin ineffective for most parts of the tour. He could not contribute much with both, bat as well as the ball, and this could well open up a slot for another spinner in the side. With all due respect, Ash just wasn’t able to make the most of the conditions on offer. Moeen Ali has more wickets in the series, and he has played half the number of matches that Ashwin has. This should set the alarms off for him (Ashwin)!

This test series, like the one versus South Africa earlier this year, was high on promise, low on returns.

Statisticians would say, numbers don’t lie, but the final scoreline of 4-1, does (very) little justice to the level of competitiveness which this series was played in. Although there is a lot to ponder upon for Team India, this does not, at all, call for sweeping changes in the side. There is undeniable quality in our squad. If only they can match it with a right frame of mind and temperament required to succeed at the highest level. Here’s to better times ahead.

Welcome aboard, Afghanistan!

Wait. What? Who? It is India vs? Whoa! Afghanistan!!! That is right friends! India will be hosting Afghanistan for its first ever Test match. They have (consistently) done well enough to earn itself this status. What a moment it is for all the cricket fans around the world, especially the ones back home in Afghanistan, to see their players, representing their country in the greatest, if not the grandest format of, what I believe is the greatest sport in this world.

Afghanistan will be playing its first ever test match in Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy stadium. I am sure everyone in that squad will be pumped to go out and do their best. They are coming on the back of an incredible series whitewash against Bangladesh, in their adopted home, Dehradun. They have quite a few match winners in their lineup. They boast of some exciting talent and it will be a big opportunity for them to get a taste of test match cricket at the highest level against the number one ranked team in the format, at their home!

There is no doubt that India will start this one-off battle as the favorites and that they should win it comprehensively. However, having said that, one must not take any opposition lightly.

Afghanistan’s bowling is good enough to trouble Indian batsmen. I won’t be surprised if the track at the Chinnaswamy does not support the spinners. Because, if it does, then, well, let’s just say we will have a good game at our hands. I am not discrediting the Indian batsmen, but Rashid, Mujeeb, and Nabi are a force to reckon with. Rashid and Mujeeb in particular, simply because of the fact that they have so many variations up their sleeve. Also, they have become street-smart cricketers with the IPL experience which they have had over the last couple of years. They have developed an ability to read the game pretty well.

As for India, they will be missing the services of Virat for this game. Ajinkya will lead them in this test match. Dinesh Karthik will be seen in the whites after quite a while. His would be a comeback of sorts. Other than that, I don’t see any change with the playing eleven. Lokesh Rahul too is someone I am hoping would be amongst those who take the field.

It would be an enthralling and an action-packed day of cricket. I would love to see this game last the full five days. It is called Test match cricket for a reason and it would be great to see how the Afghans fare in this format. They have been the best amongst the associate teams in the recent years and this elevation is richly deserved.

Ultimately, it is this game that has benefited the most. It is up to those higher up the ranks to promote and market this great game of ours. This would bring in the audience from the ‘deprived’ sections of the world, who for far long have been cut off from experiencing the richness of this sport. It would help cultivate heroes for the young kids to look up to. People would turn to this sport to derive some inspiration out of it. Lastly, it can be a source of great joy and happiness for the fans, who so strongly root for their team, to come together, and celebrate this wonderful game.

Here’s wishing you all the very best in your first game, Afghanistan!

BLEED BLUE

Author: Sid Maisuria