Pak for India: Fizzle, Sizzle, Fizz!!!
India for India: Dravid and Media Frenzy
What else? A Tie!!!
This was the second big billing match (with Sri Lanka and New Zealand postponing their encounter for a safer Saturday). Yet again, it seemed the overhype had killed it. England, the so called experienced men of Twenty20, took little time in showing they had changed little since their Ashes debacle not that many months ago. Someone should have told them, this was not Zimbabwe they were playing and even then, it was surprising they sleepwalked their way through the match. Australia though sported a different look: rugged, determined and merciless. A far cry from the jovial, innocuous faces from their drubbing at the hands of Zimbabwe. It seems too bad then that the one team that showed spunk in both matches consistently is packing bags. But Zimbabwe have done more than their fair bit to make this inaugural Twenty20 memorable, beyond the expectations of the organizers.
But it was the final match of the first Friday of the event that was made to appear larger-than-life. Mahendra Singh Dhoni exuded genial calm at the toss, suggesting the team was sufficiently relaxed. But all it takes in one emphatic blow from the opposition to take the smiles off India. Mohammad Asif bowled with an accuracy that even the feted Australian bowlers would envy. Four overs were all he was allowed and that was all he needed to break India’s bones. A wicket for every over, more ghosts exorcised between one World Cup and the next!
It cannot also be coincidence that three outstanding bowling performances have emanated from Durban. First it was Mark Gillespie’s four for seven against Kenya that sealed it for New Zealand. Shahid Africa came back with the ball with four for nineteen against lowly Scotland who tested Pakistan’s batting but collapsed when it was their turn. Now Asif has created sensation in a big game with four overs of four for eighteen! Perhaps a pointer to teams scheduled to play there in the next round!
Interestingly also, Danny Morrison was counting on an average of thirty-eight dot balls to win a bet with his fellow commentator colleagues but was shocked to inform the previous day’s match conceded eighty-eight! Will have to wait for the end of this match to count them, given India’s struggle. After Asif’s advice to play Twenty20 at Durban like a Test match, it would be worthwhile to count at the end of the match!
Robin Utthapa’s half-century was matched by Misbah ul Haq. But Pakistan had made a mess of the chase themselves with India bowling a good counterattack to build the pressure. It took Misbah’s ferocity to put Pakistan within touching distance. To have lived up the billing, it had to be close. So, Pakistan needed one off the final delivery, which they didn’t and the result was jubilation for India who escaped with a tie by the skin of their teeth.
What once seemed to have slipped away from India suddenly evened things out in the middle. The rarity of the shootout meant players and umpires had a merry time sorting out the nitty-gritty rules. It seemed more like a picnic as all the Indian players lined up for a practice hit at the stumps. The final Indian line up created much cause for concern, but it was still a matter of delivering for a more stable Pakistan line up. Some how the tenseness of the game seemed released already for the Indians who appeared to have taken the shootout more of an exercise than an integral part of the game that would decide the victor of the match.
But once it came down to it, even the smiling Sehwag delivered the first salvo. Yasir Arafat made a complete mess of his bowling and to make matters worse, Harbhajan came with glee and went back the same way! Pakistan missed a beat by not following the simple trick of bowling off their routine run up and paid a heavy price for their lack of rhythm. It seemed a mockery as Uthapa took a bow! India 3-0 up. Afridi failed miserably and India held their nerve, followed their routine and won the game.
While admittedly the nature of the shootout is unique in cricket, somehow the fact that it was played out for the first time at this level made it more of a comedy rather taken with the seriousness it should have. India got the job done and that is all that matters. For Pakistan, ironically their bowlers got the team into a winning position and the biggest let down came from their no show! India: out of jail tonight!
More on the Indian scene: Why is there such a stink being raised from within the BCCI shackles? Rahul Dravid’s decision to step down from the captaincy and the decision become news on the day when India actually begin their campaign in a virgin version of the game is despicable to say the least.
The endless tirade on the television channels travelling the length and breadth of the country asking people’s opinions (plausibly because no one official was telling them anything more) was annoying and exhausting. Not even for a brief moment was the focus brought back to the crucial game.
It’s time the media did not give in to every self-seeking publicity the BCCI chooses to procure. These decisions happen, especially in India, this should be expected. Controversy dogs the sub continent undermining their own stature and that too what all the world’s eyes are trained on them. Dravid has resigned. It’s happened. Move on with it. When more material filters, give the game its due and air the views. Why subject the nation to a day long barrage of former cricketers who are lapping up the sound bytes while also filling their pockets for more than a measly meal? Especially when they have nothing significant to know light on, or provide insight on the situation!
Worse still, are news stories of “BCCI tell sources…” Have we not been to this circus before? Admittedly last time it was about the coaches, but look where it got us? We are now a coach-less ( or is too many cooks? Either way…) team now without a captain! The BCCI kept feeding bluff about the appointment of the coach before bluff caught up with them. No, we will wait for the first twenty-hours after the BCCI states they have appointed a new skipper to check the veracity of their statement. (That’s how long it took for the Graham Ford announcement to go bust).
( And just to add on: If “BCCI tells sources…” do turn true, it would be nothing short of tragic. Sachin Tendulkar has just returned from a decently successful tour of England. We have seen his gruesome side as skipper not once but thrice. Let him play his own game! Why spoil a good thing? )
Pakistan’s new coach Geoff Lawson said his team was aware of the fact that they had never beaten India in a big match encounter, especially the World Cup. Could they break the jinx here in South Africa?
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