Congratulations to Rahul Dravid and the Indian cricket team for winning the last ODI against South Africa. This is a pivotal victory and I could see that the team was out to prove a point. Our fielding continues to scale new peaks and every player today showed a steely determination, which is essential for any team to win consistently. Dravid’s captaincy was the most aggressive I have seen from an Indian captain in decades. He has shown us all that screaming and histrionic posturing is not the only way to be aggressive. He saw us through to the end. Yuvraj, I thought, was phenomenal in the field and looks the most reliable batsman in the side at the moment. It will be an absolute shame if Dada replaces him in the test team.

All in all, 2-2 is a fair result for both sides.

In a few hours from now we will hopefully have a new BCCI chief. I am no fan of Sharad Pawar but it is clear that we need a change at the helm. Few things can be worse than the mess that is the current BCCI. Jaggu Dalmiya and associates have made such a spectacular mess that they deserve to be sent packing irrespective of who replaces them. Reports from Kolkata suggest that Jaggu and his lackeys are struggling to get the required votes. It is hazardous to discount as wily an operator as Dalmiya but I sense that his time may finally be up. I think Ranbir Mahendra and his cohorts are going to get booted.

Expect to see plenty of horse-trading, drama, claims and counter claims. Also expect the losing party to immediately go to court unless if the margin of defeat is huge. In short, be prepared to see a pathetic ‘nautanki’ played out in public.

Will be interesting to see if Dada makes it to the test eleven if Dalmiya loses. To me the team should be Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Sachin, Laxman, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Pathan, Bhajji, Kumble ( if fully fit ) and Zaheer Khan. As you are well aware, Dada made it to the 15 instead of Zaheer. Zaheer’s spot will probably go to Agarkar instead of Santh / RP Singh.

I hope the morrow brings welcome news.