Silly M(a)id-on

The Wall Resurrected....
A Dream Comeback....
Rebuilding The Wall ....

No...I haven't not written a post on the greatest news of the month yet b'coz I was busy thinking up titles...

For those interested, I have been waging a lonely battle against crashing servers, helpdesks that have been sneaked off offshore without anyone having a clue and other such things for the last 3 weeks. And then recuperating. (And well, I haven’t really been MIA either. You can find some great works ala Megha here and here.)

IMHO RD should not have been dropped from the ODI team in the first place, but that is perhaps a discussion for another day. I can see a role for Dravid in the team. He can provide the stability that is required when the team loses early wickets. Or he can hold one end while the others have a license to hit away as and when needed. Dhoni can then revert back to his earlier batting days, come in at 6/7 and hit away with abandon. And it’s not as if Dravid cannot hit a few boundaries himself :). Plus you get a good slip fielder, a part time wicketkeeper and all the wealth of his experience on the field. Not a bad bargain, is it?

Those worried about how Rohit Sharma's and possibly Suresh Raina’s career would be ruined by this decision, and how this move is not keeping in mind the WC....well, the WC is barely 2 years away. I believe that both Sachin and Rahul can play in the WC. I assume they will hang up their boots after that. SR and RS are in their early 20s right now. So age is definitely on their side. Abhi nahi to 2 saal ke baad team me aa jayenge yaar...tab tak T20 khelo na...kisne mana kiya :)

When Sehwag comes back, the batting order could look like this -

Sehwag

Tendulkar

Gambhir

Dravid

Yuvi

Dhoni

Yusuf/Irfan (yeah..i still live in hope!!)

4 bowlers

See? It’s not that bad, is it?

And for those of you suggesting that the selectors have given Dravid an opportunity to retire with grace, and he will do so after the Champions Trophy, well...don't say that! That's not gonna happen..

No...that's not gonna happen...right?

Did India win because they had 339 runs on the board or did they almost lose because they thought they had 339 runs on board?

I feel sorry for WI, they got 2 bad decisions that just might have cost them the game. Chasing 25 runs from 18 balls seems a whole lot easier if you have 4 wickets in hand as opposed to 2. More so if there is a certain Mr Bravo at the other end.

Anyway, I noticed Dhoni's emotionless face as the last WI wicket fell. What could that possibly mean?

Was he really pissed at his team?
Was he just plain relieved that India won?
Was he just too tired to care about cricket anymore?
Was he trying to show the media that he is still Captain Cool?
Was he...

Wait a sec...Am I turning into an Indian media journalist?
Yeah...I think I need to stop now...

Yessir...India is playing WI in a 4-match series...just 4...seems a bit pointless to me. Perhaps a couple of Tests would have provided this tour a little legitimacy. Too much to ask? OK..maybe just one more ODI? At least make it a best of 5 series? No luck there either.

Hmmm.

The purpose of this tour is perhaps same as that of a student going to attend extra classes in school just to get his attendance level upto the required mark.

Which is why I call it The Fake ODI Series.

Another thing to note is that the series has started on the 26th of June. Which means that if India had managed to reach the finals of the T20 WC, they would have had just 4 days to reach Jamaica, shake off the jet lag (ok, it's a bit easier to that when you are travelling westwards, but still!) and get used to the conditions before playing the first match. Well planned guys! Or did an astrologer tell you in advance that India will crash out before the finals?

So anyway, Dhoni says that this series is a chance to erase memories of 2007.

Umm...no?! The only way to erase that memory *shudder* is to win the WC in 2011! So don't gimme this little trophy as a consolation prize, okay?

Win this series, and I will tell all and sundry what a great team you are and how I just knew you would bounce back. Lose it, and I'll go "Meh! Don't really care about it anyways...."

Just play these 4 games and go back home and take a break guys!

Oh, this is depressing!

India have themselves to blame for this. Aweful batting effort. Just aweful! Dhoni's gem(!) of an innings has already been called. But for some late gutsy hitting by YP, Yuvi and, well, Bhajji, the scorecard would have been a bigger eyesore.

One did get the feeling that 150 would be a competitive score. And when Simmons' wicket fell, I still thought we had a great chance of winning. But Bravo and Chanderpaul took it away in style! Credit where it is due, I would have enjoyed their batting if they weren't playing against India. The main problem areas for India remain bowling at death and fielding. If a couple of easy run out chances would not have been missed, WI could have been pushed a little bit more.

Anyhoo, it's Mission England next. Perhaps they will just fall apart and save us some trouble? They have played their part in this competition by qualifying for the Super8's. Don't they need some extra practice for the Ashes or something?

P.S. Was Chanderpaul's stance, when on strike, a little wierd or have I just not seen him bat for a while?

..for right now, I am just going to enjoy the fact that we finished our most successful tour of NZ.

After all, what is not to celebrate? We won a Test series in NZ after 41 years. We won the ODI series comprehensively. Gambhir had a terrific tour Test-wise and Sehwag took the honours in ODIs. Indian bowlers outshone their counterparts by some distance. Most of our batsmen were amongst runs. Dravid had a good series(words cannot describe how pleased I am at this). He now also holds the record for most catches. Even when the team was in a tough spot, there was always someone who put his hand up and pulled the team out of trouble. Most importantly, Dhoni passed the "overseas series" test.

Sure, people will raise legitimate concern about poor fielding/catching. Some will say that the pitches were hardly how they usually are in NZ, NZ is one of the weaker sides right now, Dhoni should have declared earlier, blah blah blah. Well you know what. I don't care. I really don't. So, for now, why don't you pass me the brickbats....and I'll forward bouquets to the team instead :)