Leading by example. India versus England. 4th. ODI Cochin.
India clinched the series against England by beating them by 4 wickets today ( 4 - 0). It was a routine win, the ease of which feels anti-climactic. The team is enjoying it's best ever run in ODIs, having won the last 8 games on the trot.
England were all out for 237 in 48.4 overs with Pietersen getting 77. India knocked off the runs in 47.2 overs with 4 wickets intact. Rahul top scored with 65 off 73 balls to lay the foundation for the win, yet again. He has steadied the innings in almost every match this series since we've lost an early wicket almost every time. The later batsmen have then knocked off the runs with consummate ease, but Rahul has batted out the most difficult overs when another couple of wickets may have made the difference between victory and defeat.
His scores this series are - 34, 5, 46, 65. The runs, however, do not even begin to show his contribution to each win. His captaincy has been clever and innovative. Today, he delayed the third powerplay till the 34th. over to prevent Pietersen and, later, Flintoff from freeing their arms early to run away with the game.
Sehwag got 26 but still looks out of touch. Kaif's horrid run continues and he got just 5 today. He looked very tense and edgy and I think continuing to play in this form will only make it worse. Sehwag, in comparison, will benefit from spending time in the middle.
Dravid will be rested for the rest of this series, which is a good decision. This means that Robin Uthappa will play. I look forward to watching him. Kaif should be rested for his own good and Venugopal given a chance. We will not get a better chance to test young players in match situations.
As for England, they have been really poor, even allowing for the absence of some players.
I just hope the Indians continue to improve and are not peaking too early. I doubt that, since they haven't had to come anywhere near 'peak' to beat this English side! In fact, they have been hardly tested this series - and that truly indicates the gulf in class between the two sides.
-- Third Umpire
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Politics apart, I am no great fan of Daada and do not advocate a recall for any sentimental reasons. But the truth remains - Daada in form has won India several matches single handedly. It's just the feeling one gets that if Saurav is able to overcome his recent slump in form and regain the lost magic, he would be there right at the top amongst the very best and more importantly - TEAM INDIA would probably be unbeatable.
We should not be selective in giving an extra-ordinarily long extension of chance to someone like Kaif (who has been failing repeatedly) only because he is younger than someone like Saurav. What better time than this - to help Saurav make a strong comeback.
Just wait and see how we rehabilitate Sachin into Team India once he recupperates. Oh God, i can almost already hear the outrage - how dare you compare Sachin with Saurav. No. I am not comparing two greats - each one in his own right. What I am saying is, let us not have different criteria for selection or rather ommission from Team India for different players. The criteria should be one and the same for all.
I would never like to believe that Greg Chappel is playing politics although it does seem he is hell-bent on relegating Saurav to the confines of the History of Indian Cricket.
Just wonder if things would have been any different if we had a National Coach instead of a foreigner.
We all assume with a marked surity that a National Coach is bound to have a bias and tend to become partial because of parochial loyalties or whatever reason we can think of.
But the question is - what is the surety that a Foreign Coach will not ?
Sachin is still a class apart and I wish you would get off his back.
Greg is the National coach, even though he is not an Indian national. Tactically and in trainig methods, he is light years ahead of the Indian ex-coaches we have seen. To suggest that Greg is playing politics is disingenous at best.
He has the interests of the team at heart - he has been proven right with every player he has chosen. He knows the players far better than we do and we should just let him do his job.
He is more true to the interests of Indian cricket than many our our own Board members and some ex-players, including Saurav Ganguly. Do not forget how Dada actually undermined the team he had built, merely to keep his place in the side in the later stages of his career.