Fare thee well....
So India won and quite convincingly too...when was the last time someone beat the Aussies 2-0 in a test series?. The cricket itself was scrappy, with each team waiting on the other to blink - it wasnt the free spirited all out attack game that one saw in 2001 (in India) and 2003 (Aus) - those, along with the 2005 Ashes rank as some of the best test matches ever played.....
Much has been written about the Indian Fab five - Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly and Kumble - alas, it is now the lonesome threesome - with Ganguly and Kumble hanging up their boots....what defining careers... - Saurav as a captain that made India the second best cricket team in the world - before that India's only claim to cricketing fame was a fluke in 1983 and that BCCI was the richest board in the world -after all the Indians were called Tigers at home and sheep abroad. He also brought in a keen sense of adjustment and warmth. Kumble on the other hand, was the gentle giant - one that would almost creep up on you.....untill you realzed it was too late. One that was relentlessly persuasive - in a logical, gentlemanly adamant manner that is seemingly innocous, yet deadly in hindsight. Bagfuls of wickets, a test match century and calm captaincy (especially when monkey gate was being played out..).
Much has been written about the Indian Fab five - Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly and Kumble - alas, it is now the lonesome threesome - with Ganguly and Kumble hanging up their boots....what defining careers... - Saurav as a captain that made India the second best cricket team in the world - before that India's only claim to cricketing fame was a fluke in 1983 and that BCCI was the richest board in the world -after all the Indians were called Tigers at home and sheep abroad. He also brought in a keen sense of adjustment and warmth. Kumble on the other hand, was the gentle giant - one that would almost creep up on you.....untill you realzed it was too late. One that was relentlessly persuasive - in a logical, gentlemanly adamant manner that is seemingly innocous, yet deadly in hindsight. Bagfuls of wickets, a test match century and calm captaincy (especially when monkey gate was being played out..).
Australia too is faced with a similar challenge - of replacing giants. So whos doing a better job - on the face of it - it seems like India. In Dhoni - they have the most level headed captain in world cricket today. In Ishant, Zaheer, Munaf, R.P and Sreesanth they have a pace attack as good as any in the world. In Harbhajan they have a spinner slowly re-discovering his wicket taking ways - Amit Mishra is still too raw and I would like him to prove himself abroad......in batting - finally they have a settled opening pair in Sehwag and Gambhir (when Gambhir can keep his temper under fold), an elegant, solid batsman VIjay in the wings, in Rohit, Yuraj and Badri - three mercurial talents waiting in the wings for when Sachin, Rahul and Laxman will say sayonara.....
Yet it already seems like something is missing - a bit of class, a touch of magic, a hint of arrogance - maybe its nostalgia, maybe I'm growing old - but I cannot imagine an Indian team without these luminaries. I cant place my hand on the button but theres something in the background - like your first love lost or the day you leave your first job......see the article below by Sidhartha Vaidyanathan in the cricinfo - he expresses it so well:
Fare thee well, my heroes. We had fun while it lasted.......
Comments
Its clear from the post you are. Not acting like a young kid where a new player means fresh meat and truckloads of fun to look forward to..