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.

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.’

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!

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!

Let the good times roll!!

In just a few hours from now, we will witness the opening ceremony of, what can unarguably be called as the longest running festival in the Indian subcontinent. Yes, I call it a festival. Here, we celebrate cricket and the coming together of the world’s finest. The Indian Premier league has cashed in on the growing popularity of the shortest format of the game ever since the summer of 2008. The first installment of IPL has been a huge success and if it is anything to go by, the upcoming season promises to be all the more exciting.

I wouldn’t say it has revolutionized the game of cricket, but it surely been the catalyst that has brought a tremendous change in the way the players approach their game. Batsmen now have the license to go after the bowlers right from the word go, and see every ball as a run-scoring opportunity. Gone are the days when batsmen used to get their eye in, assess the conditions, the nature of the pitch etc. Bowlers too have become smarter and are using the variations to good effect.

The IPL has inspired a whole lot of young cricketers who dreamt of playing at the big stage. For those, who couldn’t make it to the national squad, it was a good platform to rub shoulders with the best in the game. It was also a great way for the legends to give something back to this sport. Shane Warne did exactly that. He inspired confidence in that young Rajasthan Royals team, who went on to win the inaugural edition. Gilly did the same with Deccan Chargers the following year. The big takeaway was that these two teams were underdogs at best but they were able to overcome all odds and get their hands on the trophy. It is this aspect of the IPL that has been the most endearing.

What IPL has done so successfully over the years, and by the way, this was the prime objective of having such a league in the first place, is that it has helped talent meet (the right) opportunity. With only four international players allowed in the playing eleven, it was imperative for the franchisees to make sure that they roped in the best of the domestic talent in their squad.

For the fans, it meant that they could relate to Pollard almost the same way as they could to Rohit or a Harbhajan for that matter. The franchisees were successful in cultivating a popular fan base and people could actually identify themselves as being part of the team, so much so, that they may even support an international player against an Indian player when the international player played for the franchise they were supporting! Deafening chants of MALINGA and ABD are a common sight.

IPL has also changed the whole dynamics of T20 cricket. Players now get found out pretty soon into their careers and with a lot of information being exchanged as a part of franchise cricket, players have to work hard on being up to the mark (always). While on national duty, players from different teams could almost second guess each other’s moves simply because of the fact they had spent so much of time training together in the IPL.

The team owners must also be thanked for actively participating and investing heavily in BCCI’s youngest child. Of course, cricket comes first, but the Indian in Indian Premier League is somewhat incomplete without the glamor and class of Bollywood and Corporates respectively. The way they have taken care of the players is commendable. Even with a lot riding on the team, they always make sure that it is the game that comes first and their commercial interest takes a back seat.

Cricket in India is more than just a sport, it’s an emotion, it’s a way of life, it’s a religion! The current crop of players is as good as any that there has been and the future too looks to be in safe hands. Here’s hoping the eleventh edition of the IPL lives up to its expectations and we get to witness magic on the cricket field for the next month and a half.

To do, or not to do, that is the question!

The week that went by has seen the world turning upside down for two of the modern-day greats. The ‘leadership group’, of which they were a part of in the Aussie camp took a questionable (read: silly) decision, that of tampering with the ball. If given a chance, Steven Smith and David Warner would definitely want to go back in time and undo their wrongdoings.

It was during the lunch break on Day 3 in the Cape Town Test, third of the series when the ‘leadership group’ colluded to roughen up one side of the ball with a foreign substance (which apparently is not allowed on the cricket field). Bancroft was roped in to execute the plan and he made a complete mess out of it. On the field, one is always under scrutiny and it is difficult (almost impossible) to escape from the cameraman’s lens’. Soon enough, there emerged visuals of Bancroft using a yellow piece of paper to scrape the surface of the ball with. The broadcasters played it on the giant screen and the cat was out of the bag.

At the press conference, later in the day, Smith and Bancroft finally spilled the beans on what they had planned on doing. And the news spread like wildfire. The cricketing world was hit with a controversy of this magnitude for the first time since the match-fixing saga which happened at the turn of the century. It’s not that ball tampering was unheard of previously and many players had been convicted of the same. However, this was different.

The Australians have always played their game hard which more often than naught has border lined on a rather bullish brand of cricket. So, when an Australian captain makes plans of cheating with the second-in-charge and asks a young lad, who is just a few tests old, to tamper with the ball, it definitely would cause a huge uproar. Not only did international media took it upon themselves to convict and sentence these players, it saw it as an opportunity to grill the Aussies so as to avenge their boorish conduct in the past.

These are fine players, very fine indeed. But as Mike Hussey aptly puts it in his article, ’character first, skill second.’ Of course, it is a sport and everyone plays to win. But at what cost? You must draw a line for yourself and try to not go beyond it. Desperate times call for desperate measures. A paradigm shift in their approach to the game and the culture within the dressing room is the need of the hour. It is okay sometimes to lose to a better opposition. There is no guarantee that you will win every game. But it is totally not acceptable to use unfair means and bypass the law to gain the upper hand.

Having said that, I believe it was a huge error in judgment and it was definitely not well thought of. The consequences outweigh what would have been gained. To see them break down while addressing the press was very sad. They have been good servants of the game and are role models to young kids growing up. It was evident from their interaction with the media that they are deeply rooted family men. Smith broke down talking about how it affects him seeing his mom and dad go through this and Warner too, was teary-eyed when he spoke about letting his wife and daughters down.

What’s done is done. It is something they will have to live with for the rest of their lives. I am afraid that even after all that they have achieved on the cricket field and will achieve after serving the suspension ban, they will still have this blot on their respective careers and wouldn’t find their names taken alongside the all-time greats to have played the game.

It is not just about the numbers and statistics, it is the spirit with which you played your game that accounts for far more than the hundreds you have scored. I hope every young and budding cricketer finds a lesson in this and plays this great game of cricket in the right spirit. As for Smith, Warner, and Bancroft, I hope they find the strength to go through this and I am sure they will come back all the wiser, with an answer to the question posed in the title.

A Final to remember!!

He came. He smashed. He won us the game. That was Dinesh Karthik for you today, ladies and gentleman. Fizz had just bowled the over of the tournament, tormenting young Vijay Shankar who failed to put the bat on the ball and had the wicket of Manish Pandey, who was just about loosening up, on the very last ball of his spell. Many would have believed that Mustafizur had done India in and 34 off the last 12 seemed a rather improbable target to achieve given the batting to follow. Karthik, however, had different plans for tonight and rest, as they say, is history.

The Nidahas Trophy final was played between India and Bangladesh after the latter pulled off an amazing chase against the hosts in a do or die battle. The match was well poised at one stage and kept further going away from Bangladesh if it were not for Mahmudullah’s heroics, who played a couple of sensational shots in the final over to seal a spot in the finals. It was however marred by controversies and ugly scenes in the middle. I will stick just to the finals and will leave it for another post. There is something about India vs Bangladesh encounters going into the final over. India seems to have the upper hand at the moment and they have successfully stretched their unbeaten record against Bangladesh up to 8 games now.

Having won the toss, India invited Bangladesh to bat first and the bowlers got us off to a good start, sending back both the openers inside the powerplay. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals as the result of which, the run rate was always under control, except for the last four where the Bangladeshis were having a swing at everything. A brilliant innings from Sabbir propelled their score to 166, something the bowlers could defend. India started off strongly with Rohit taking Mehidy Hasan to cleaners in his very first over. The Indians showed positive intent throughout their innings until the middle overs arrived and soon boundaries dried up. The Hitman was holed out at long on trying to up the ante and Pandey was finding it difficult to get his timing right.

Vijay Shankar did not have a good night with the ball. He would have hoped to make up for it with the bat in hand though. He couldn’t manage to get going right from the word go and that over from Mustafizur made matters worse. The Fizz was difficult to put away and score off and he gave away just the one run and picked up Pandey’s wicket.

Out walked DK and it seemed as if he had been knocking a few from inside the dressing room. He smashed Rubel all around the park and in no time brought the target within reachable distance. The crowd had something to cheer about and they were rooting for India all the way. With 5 remaining to get off the final ball, the part-timer, Soumya, bowled it wide of off at length and Dinesh sent the ball sailing over the covers region for a maximum!!

That was a shot of a man in form, of a man high on confidence. He held the nerves when it mattered the most and provided the innings the final impetus that was required to get us over the line. He is in a very healthy frame of mind and would like to carry this into the IPL as well where he has been named the captain of the Knight Riders franchise for the upcoming season. Thank you, DK for giving us one hell of a final to remember.

‘Chase your dreams, they do come true!’

There is no one who has given the billion plus people of this nation as much joy and happiness as this man has. We as a nation were so fond of him that it became nothing short of an addiction of sorts, almost to a point where India slept well when he played well!! Yes, I am referring to none other than Sachin Tendulkar. The child prodigy, as he was once called, went on to become the God of Cricket in this part of the world.

Born in April of 1973, he was only 10 years old when he saw India lift the World Cup at Lords. Little did Kapil and his team knew then that they had inspired a whole new generation of kids back in India and among them was this young curly-haired boy who was probably too young to understand the magnitude of the win, but old enough to dream big. It was then that he took up this sport and pursued it relentlessly. He used to bat for long hours at the nets and almost had no energy left while having his meal at the dining table. Soon people started taking notice of some special talent in this young kid and it wasn’t late until national selectors got him on board. He was fast-tracked into the national side and there he was, making his debut for India in Tests against Pakistan at a tender age of 16!

In a couple of years time, he was a regular in the side and by the mid 90’s he was an established international player and was the go-to man when India was in trouble. It was a time when India was liberalizing its market and with Sachin too coming to his own, it was a marriage made in heaven for the Indian spectators. Sachin was promoted up the order to open the innings and was smashing bowlers all around the park. He impacted the game in more ways than one as he could do damage with the ball in hand as well. Be it leg-spin, off-spin, seam-up, he could bowl it all.

One of the earliest memories that I have of Sachin is during the 2003 World Cup. He owned that tournament. He almost single-handedly took India to the finals and was very close to realizing his childhood dream before it was shattered by a formidable Aussie side who made their Indian counterparts look pretty ordinary in the finals. The highlight of the tournament, however, was the onslaught against top Pakistani quicks. Wasim, Waqar, and Akhtar all were taken to the cleaners by Sachin and his then doppelganger, Sehwag.

India was dominating abroad and had just started winning overseas when the tennis elbow kicked in and he had to sit out the whole season. It was so worse he could not even lift the bat. Was it curtains then, on a prolific career? No. He battled his way out and struck a scintillating century on his return against the Windies. He remodeled his technique. He had to listen to his body and could no longer be the attacking batsman that he once was. He worked hard on his defense and started a new chapter in his career. India had a forgettable outing during the 2007 World Cup. Having being knocked out in the league stage itself, India had many questions to answer and some sweeping changes were in order.

The preparations for the 2011 World cup started way back in 2009 and rightly so. The management had identified certain players that were going to be an integral part of the team going into the 2011 CWC. It was important then for them to have enough matches under the belt so that when it came to performing in tough situations, they didn’t have nowhere to go to.

2011 World Cup was going to be Sachin’s last. He came agonizingly close to lifting the trophy twice (’96 and ’03), but as for many other things in life, some things are only supposed to happen when they are meant to happen. India began their campaign on a winning note and looked set to bring home the cup this time around. There were emotions attached to this tournament and players too were determined to do it for Sachin. India’s road to the finals was not a smooth one either. The QF vs Aus, SF vs arch rivals Pak were as competitive as any could get, both for different reasons though. The final was to be played in Mumbai and it seemed as if puri kaaynaat ne saazish ki hai aur har zarre ne Sachin ko World Cup se milane ki koshish ki hai!! Dhoni hit the winning shot and with that, he brought all Indians out on the streets. Entire Indian dressing room rushed out and there we saw players hugging each other and crying tears of joy.

Finally, their dream had come true. Sachin’s dream had come true. After long, the people of the nation had something to cheer about. Sachin, again, was in the center of it all.

The Team to beat!!

To term this ODI series win as an emphatic one would be an understatement. India has demolished South Africa 5-1. It took its own sweet time coming (25 years) but finally, India did manage to seal a bilateral ODI series victory against the Proteas in their own backyard. It is not just this opening of an account of sorts that is fulfilling, but it is the way in which we have done it that makes it even more special. After suffering humiliating losses in the first couple of Tests, it has been a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Team India. They have gone from strength to strength from thereon. They justified the numero-uno tag and put up a performance worthy of it.

Our bowlers have had a great run and they have massively contributed to the series win. The young spin twins seemed to enjoy themselves while making a mockery of the South African batting line up. Together, they accounted for 33 wickets in the series. Like in batting, partnership in bowling is equally effective in denting the opposition’s spirits. Both, Kuldeep and Chahal have announced their arrival onto the scene and the team management too sees them as a potent force going into the 2019 World Cup. The captain has got their back and that was evident in the way they bowled. They were fearless, tossing it up to them, inviting the batsman, who failed to read them, to go big and were always attacking. Bumrah was impressive and he provided crucial breakthrough’s with the new ball, making up for Bhuvi’s okayish performance in the colored clothing. Hardik failed with the bat but played the role of the 5^th bowler quite well, chipping in with some wickets here and there, and of course, he almost manufactures a wicket with his athleticism on the field, be it taking blinders or effecting run-outs.

The batting unit looks solid and the top order is having a dream run. Dhawan was fluent, Rohit looked good in patches before coming to his own in the penultimate ODI and Kohli has been his usual self. He did what he does best in the limited overs format. He comes, scores hundreds for fun, breaks records, chases targets and sets higher standards in batting. In years to come, he could well go on to own every batting record there is. Speaking of records, Dhoni is set to reach 10,000 runs in ODI’s. Quite a milestone for someone who has batted lower down for a major part of his career. He has been simply outstanding with the bat and behind the stumps, no one comes close to matching his skills, however unorthodox they might be. The hand-eye coordination while stumping is peculiar to him. He has this amazing sense of timing while whipping the bails off.

In shorter formats, ours is the team to beat. This team is destined for greatness. We have a pool of 25-30 odd players who can play at the highest level and the quality of benched players is what sets us apart. The bowlers have been brilliant in this series and that is why I talk of them before the batters. To have potential is one thing, to cash in on that is another. The current team is not only rated high on potential but is paying equally rich dividends (with performances on the field) as well. And it is the skipper who is leading the way. Be it fitness, commitment towards the game, and passion, he is inspiring everyone, young and old alike. The support staff also deserves a special mention. They do all the work behind the curtains and it is easy to skip them while rolling out credits for the win. Here’s wishing the team more success in the forthcoming tournaments.