Does it really matter ?

The Storm, Verbal Wars...

A lot has happened since the last post...Melbourne won the NRL for the second time. India went to war against the Aussies (verbally!!) among others!!

Firstly though it was a great year for my dear Rabbitohs, they made it to the finals after a long time. The euphoria did not last long though, losing in tier first & only game of the finals. But I am still very happy & proud of them. Bravo Bunnies!!

Coming to the rest of the finalists this year....they were all deserving, all of them having a point to prove from the Eels to the Bulldogs. But the fact that the Bunnies were also in the finals overshadowed everything else for me. Storm had an amazing winning almost 90% of their games this season, which I am sure is a league record. Manly Sea Eagles also had a great run until they met Storm in the Grand Final.

Some great rugby was played throughout the season. I personally did not get to see a lot, being in India. I did watch a few games on Australia Network. I saw my beloved Bunnies play a couple of times. That was very nice to say the least. To be able to watch them play while I am in a country so far away from OZ was exceptional. Here's to satellite technology and television!!!

While India did very well to win the Twenty20 WC...I am sure a lot of people will agree with me when I say that they went completely overboard in celebrating that win...true it was WC but did it warrant an open top double decker...coz at the end of the day its only a game. Let’s not go ballistic with our euphoria. The media is mostly responsible for this too. There is a need for some level headed pondering here; we do not have to go all out in either glorifying or in lambasting them for their performance. We need to find a middle path; else we can expect more instances of mobs attacking the houses of cricketers like in Dhoni's case after the ODI WC debacle.

As for the T20 WC win. It was great, especially so since it was a team of tyros (almost). The way Dhoni handled the team, the players and most importantly the situations was very admirable. He sure has a long way to go before being called a good captain; nonetheless he showed signs of getting there sooner than later. This being the shortest format of the game, it makes it easier for the minnows to beat the giants, like Zimbabwe beating the Aussies. But they still had to get things right, no discredit to them at all. The Aussies have not yet learnt the art of T20, they are in unfamiliar grounds.

I like the way Dhoni is backing his boys, something that an 'Indian Captain' has not done so well with eh exception of Kapil and more so Ganguly. He is giving the boys a lot of leeway for doing their thing, like with Sreesanth & Bhajji. This is a good sign only if they can back it up with some solid performances. Both Sree & Bhajji need to take a leaf out of each others performances, Sree need to cut down on the runs conceded, while Bhajji has to get a few more wickets. Though I am not completely convinced about Bhajji, I am prepared to give him another chance with the Pak series, he has to start getting more wickets before he gets back to test cricket. Kumble is still the spearhead of this young Indian bowling. We do have a decent motley, but none of them are something new to neither Pak, who will play us soon, not to Australia, where we play tests later.

The recent Aus-Ind ODI series is being labeled a very acrimonious one for reasons best known to Ponting & Symonds. They have always been at the fore front of 'mental disintegration'. They are a bit upset at losing the T20 WC and also that the Indians had the audacity to talk back to them. Symonds even went to the extent of alleging racist comments from the spectators. I have been to grounds in Australia to watch cricket and the kind of earful that a player on the line gets from the stands is not for the fainthearted. It take a lot of restrain from a man NOT to jump into the stands and whack the guy who's having a go at you, all because you are playing against his team.

Mark Waugh has already said in his column that Symonds is being silly with these allegations. But we can be sure of having a very hard time once or team lands Down Under. But we can be assured of one very entertaining series. I sure hope our boys go there in good form. We need our 'Big Three' to be in god form to do well there.

The less we talk about the Dravid resignation the better; he did a decent job while at the helm. Winning test series overseas in England & WI. Winning a test for the first time in SA. But he is better off now, this is good for him as well as for Indian cricket. He can do what he does best score runs. He is the Rock of our batting and he needs to be there for us to do well in Australia as well against Pakistan. His batting form will get better, being a class act that he is. So we have to only hope the selectors don't do anything stupid. Kudos to Rahul for making a brave decision !!

Here's to a better & stronger Indian team !!

posted by Sreedhar @ Tuesday, October 23, 2007