When it rains, it pours !!
This oft used phrase couldnt be any more truer than in Chennai, yesterday.
Being a Chennaite, and one of the many victims of her steamy, sweaty weather, not to mention the water shortage, every Chennaite (even off shore ones like myself), hope that it would rain.
But, the saying 'Watch what you wish for, it might come true', turned out to be true in this case too. (Pardon my philosophical drift tonight, I'm quite frustrated !)
What was going to be an absolute classic of a match, ended in a draw, thanks to the rain gods working overtime(and in this case overnight as well) in Chennai.
It was an absolute classic of a match, with a thrilling finish, which wasnt meant to be. India - needing only 210 runs, with one full day left, and 10 wickets in hand, with a required run rate of less than 3 an over. Australia - trying to bowl India out, on a wearing 5th day wicket, with Warney, bowling his best ever in India, and a few Indian batsmen, out of form, not to mention, the lack of a certain Mr. Tendulkar.
The match could have gone either way, and this match truly deserved a result. But alas, we go to Nagpur, having wagged our tail, but not quite getting the bone.
And we go to Nagpur, without one of our stars - Irfan Pathan, who is out thanks to a side strain. And in his place, will be Ashish Nehra, who leave alone bat, cant field for nuts. Hopefully, his main craft of taking wickets, wont necessitate him batting.
And Captain Ganguly surprises me again. Backing woeful-keeper-wonderful-bat Parthiv Patel, for another match. This is one of the things I absolutely love in this man. He backs his men when they arent really performing. And I dont mean the solitary match where they didnt perform, but a string of bad matches. Cricket afficionadoes would remember the mysterious persistence of a certain Dinesh Mongia during the World Cup campaign. Even though I hated Ganguly during those days for persisting with Mongia, I couldnt but help admire him for refusing to give up on him. When one is not performing, it helps a great deal for a player, to have the confidence of their captain. They need not worry about their place in the team, but just go out, play and get in form.
Which is what Capt.Ganguly's view was of Patel boy. We shouldnt judge him by just one match. But one wonders if he had collected atleast half the chances that came his way during this Chennai test...if only....Heck, it doesnt matter. The game's washed out anyway.
Being a Chennaite, and one of the many victims of her steamy, sweaty weather, not to mention the water shortage, every Chennaite (even off shore ones like myself), hope that it would rain.
But, the saying 'Watch what you wish for, it might come true', turned out to be true in this case too. (Pardon my philosophical drift tonight, I'm quite frustrated !)
What was going to be an absolute classic of a match, ended in a draw, thanks to the rain gods working overtime(and in this case overnight as well) in Chennai.
It was an absolute classic of a match, with a thrilling finish, which wasnt meant to be. India - needing only 210 runs, with one full day left, and 10 wickets in hand, with a required run rate of less than 3 an over. Australia - trying to bowl India out, on a wearing 5th day wicket, with Warney, bowling his best ever in India, and a few Indian batsmen, out of form, not to mention, the lack of a certain Mr. Tendulkar.
The match could have gone either way, and this match truly deserved a result. But alas, we go to Nagpur, having wagged our tail, but not quite getting the bone.
And we go to Nagpur, without one of our stars - Irfan Pathan, who is out thanks to a side strain. And in his place, will be Ashish Nehra, who leave alone bat, cant field for nuts. Hopefully, his main craft of taking wickets, wont necessitate him batting.
And Captain Ganguly surprises me again. Backing woeful-keeper-wonderful-bat Parthiv Patel, for another match. This is one of the things I absolutely love in this man. He backs his men when they arent really performing. And I dont mean the solitary match where they didnt perform, but a string of bad matches. Cricket afficionadoes would remember the mysterious persistence of a certain Dinesh Mongia during the World Cup campaign. Even though I hated Ganguly during those days for persisting with Mongia, I couldnt but help admire him for refusing to give up on him. When one is not performing, it helps a great deal for a player, to have the confidence of their captain. They need not worry about their place in the team, but just go out, play and get in form.
Which is what Capt.Ganguly's view was of Patel boy. We shouldnt judge him by just one match. But one wonders if he had collected atleast half the chances that came his way during this Chennai test...if only....Heck, it doesnt matter. The game's washed out anyway.
posted by Hifzur at
1:16 AM
2 Comments:
Hi,
having watched the action from across the fence i can say that it was indeed one of the most disappointing climaxes to what was an absolute thriller of a test match! though the aussies would've liked to believe-with shane warne expecting a lot of purchase from the pitch on the final day-to be in with a realistic chance of winning, it was quite likely that we would have run away with the match given the pattern in which the pitch behaved for the first four days and sehwag looking in dangerously good touch..
nonetheless, it was extremely frustrating...more so when i was told that 18th oct 2004 was the first time in the last three years when it rained all over chennai! Timing always has been such an integral part of cricket:)
neways, now with the God back (i was totally glued to the news channels showing him practise in the nets and boy oh boy! was it a pleasant sight! :) ) lets hope we can do a 2001 encore
ps: thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment:)
By
oxy_moron, at 2:20 AM
Frankly oxy_moron, I believe the Aussies did have a realistic chance. Remember the first innings at Bangalore, where the pitch didnt hold any demons, yet, the famous Indian batting top order collapsed to the Aussie pace battery. I wouldnt have been surprised if McGrath and Gillespie had made early inroads on a wearing 5th day wicket. They are world class players.
But then again, with less than 3 runs an over, with 10 wickets in hand, we had a realistic chance as well. Hence my frustration as a cricket lover, at not being able to see a winner here.
You are welcome. That was a great post. :)
By
Hifzur, at 1:27 PM
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