Whew, India finally managed to win a test in this series! It is a great achievement but given the talent in this team, its a win too late. Of course, one could come up with a lot of thoughts on why India were denied a win till now in this series but .... the hurt is still the same.
I know that the atmosphere back home would be joyous given that this win came in Perth which has in the past proven to be a death-knell for most touring teams. Yet, I expected the series to be alive till now. Thanks to Bucknor, Ponting and our tail, this is not quite the case. However, this is not the time to cry over spilt milk; now is the time to sit back and savour not just the win but a particular passage of play that put India on course for today's win.
That bewitching hour was beyond national loyalties; it was beyond winning and losing; it was just exceptional interplay between bat and ball. One of the greatest batsmen of all time was wielding the willow - Ricky Ponting - and he was up against a 19-year old tyro by the name of Ishant Sharma. If I hadn't seen his 9-over spell today, I would never have believed that an Indian seamer had Ponting in trouble with pace and bounce and nip over an hour. I have never seen an Indian fast bowler bowl such a sustained and long spell of quality bowling to a player of Ponting's class. The best facet of the spell was it did not seem like Sharma was pulling out something special for Ponting (Such bursts are usually short-lived); he wasn't bowling just one good over; he was just bowling his best in his short career. The hard work in training to achieve the super spell was evident. It was sustained excellence. At the end of it, you were almost imploring Kumble from your living room to give the rookie one more over. Well, it seems Sehwag had the same idea too!
Let me put things straight here. Over the last decade, I have had this silly perception that wickets taken by the Indian pacers are bonus wickets. Yes, there have been special deliveries, there have been bowlers coming good in a match only to let you down in the next. It has been my firm belief that India will struggle to take 20 wickets in a test after Kumble retires. Yet, from time to time, India throws up raw talents to question my belief. Munaf Patel burst on the scene, so did Balaji and Sreesanth. RP Singh and Zaheer have been steady performers and there have been a few disappointments like VRV Singh. There is a pattern here: it seems the newbies put in everything in their first six months of international cricket to cement their place in the side. They start their international career at 140kph only to slow down to the early 130's six months later. Be it injuries or complacency, it reeks of incompetency and lack of challenge at the domestic level.
In spite of all my reservations about India's ability to produce genuine fast bowlers, today was a golden day. It remains to be seen if Ishant is a one night stand or one worthy of a longer commitment to Indian cricket. He has had his debut at the right age. He has time to grow in international cricket. The challenges will be consistently tougher than toiling at the domestic level and the rewards will be worth the effort. He just has to keep improving without compromising on pace and lift. He must not come up in six months and do a 'Munaf' who said "I am concentrating on line and length" and ended up bowling dobblers at 130kph. Ishant claims Glenn McGrath to be his idol. However I hope he adds Brett Lee too. He would do well to remember Lee's words two years ago: "I don't see any reason why I can't bowl faster"!! Today Lee has improved his control without compromising on pace and is now a worthy successor to McGrath in leading the Australian attack.
All said and done, today was a special day for Indian fast bowling. It was one of my special days as a spectator. Ponting's struggle reminded me of Sachin struggling against quality fast bowling. I said to myself "Tonight Sachin will definitely thank Ishant for giving back a fraction of the quality he has handled in his 18 years of international cricket". It is one of the marvels of cricket to see a batting great being challenged. That's precisely entertainment for the cricket connoisseur.
I know that the atmosphere back home would be joyous given that this win came in Perth which has in the past proven to be a death-knell for most touring teams. Yet, I expected the series to be alive till now. Thanks to Bucknor, Ponting and our tail, this is not quite the case. However, this is not the time to cry over spilt milk; now is the time to sit back and savour not just the win but a particular passage of play that put India on course for today's win.
That bewitching hour was beyond national loyalties; it was beyond winning and losing; it was just exceptional interplay between bat and ball. One of the greatest batsmen of all time was wielding the willow - Ricky Ponting - and he was up against a 19-year old tyro by the name of Ishant Sharma. If I hadn't seen his 9-over spell today, I would never have believed that an Indian seamer had Ponting in trouble with pace and bounce and nip over an hour. I have never seen an Indian fast bowler bowl such a sustained and long spell of quality bowling to a player of Ponting's class. The best facet of the spell was it did not seem like Sharma was pulling out something special for Ponting (Such bursts are usually short-lived); he wasn't bowling just one good over; he was just bowling his best in his short career. The hard work in training to achieve the super spell was evident. It was sustained excellence. At the end of it, you were almost imploring Kumble from your living room to give the rookie one more over. Well, it seems Sehwag had the same idea too!
Let me put things straight here. Over the last decade, I have had this silly perception that wickets taken by the Indian pacers are bonus wickets. Yes, there have been special deliveries, there have been bowlers coming good in a match only to let you down in the next. It has been my firm belief that India will struggle to take 20 wickets in a test after Kumble retires. Yet, from time to time, India throws up raw talents to question my belief. Munaf Patel burst on the scene, so did Balaji and Sreesanth. RP Singh and Zaheer have been steady performers and there have been a few disappointments like VRV Singh. There is a pattern here: it seems the newbies put in everything in their first six months of international cricket to cement their place in the side. They start their international career at 140kph only to slow down to the early 130's six months later. Be it injuries or complacency, it reeks of incompetency and lack of challenge at the domestic level.
In spite of all my reservations about India's ability to produce genuine fast bowlers, today was a golden day. It remains to be seen if Ishant is a one night stand or one worthy of a longer commitment to Indian cricket. He has had his debut at the right age. He has time to grow in international cricket. The challenges will be consistently tougher than toiling at the domestic level and the rewards will be worth the effort. He just has to keep improving without compromising on pace and lift. He must not come up in six months and do a 'Munaf' who said "I am concentrating on line and length" and ended up bowling dobblers at 130kph. Ishant claims Glenn McGrath to be his idol. However I hope he adds Brett Lee too. He would do well to remember Lee's words two years ago: "I don't see any reason why I can't bowl faster"!! Today Lee has improved his control without compromising on pace and is now a worthy successor to McGrath in leading the Australian attack.
All said and done, today was a special day for Indian fast bowling. It was one of my special days as a spectator. Ponting's struggle reminded me of Sachin struggling against quality fast bowling. I said to myself "Tonight Sachin will definitely thank Ishant for giving back a fraction of the quality he has handled in his 18 years of international cricket". It is one of the marvels of cricket to see a batting great being challenged. That's precisely entertainment for the cricket connoisseur.
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