Cricket: A great victory

It was an honorable win for India at Perth. After the unfair treatment by the umpires and the Australians at Sydney, India had two options – call off the tour or take the bull by the horns. Team India chose the second alternative and proved its mettle.

It was a combined effort, no doubt. But some individual performances do deserve mention. Dravid’s fighting return to form was heartening, and his catching superb. Sehwag seems to be getting back on the track. Tendulkar and Laxman were indomitable.

Coming to the bowlers – I was impressed by Ishant Sharma. How old is he? 19? He keeps the seam of the ball straight till it reaches the destination. Apart from him, only Sreesanth seems to have this quality among India’s current fast bowlers. With the pacers in the team performing so well, Sreesanth may find it difficult to get back into the Indian side.

It was good to see Pathan bowling beautifully. He seems to have learned his lesson. When he hit a bad patch, well-wishers including Imran Khan had suggested some corrective measures. Pathan spurned them saying that there was nothing wrong with his bowling action. Now he knows better and that is good for him and India.

Where was Kumble all this while? Of course he was always there as a great bowler, fielder, and occasional batsman. But what I meant is, as Captain. He is a leader all right. Bringing in Sehwag to bowl in the Australian 2^nd innings was an inspired move.

Good show, Kumble, Team India.

Ends.

Also see:

Cricket: Rahul Dravid’s ‘colonel’ bogey

Bangalore Memories: Cricket, hockey and the tragedy of Len Dial