So have we entered the New Year with the Rank of No. 1 on our chest making the dream come true for the team who has battled it out last 18-20 months to earn this spot. This is what we all aimed for as a cricketing nation and fans loved every bit of it. The problem on getting on top is solved but major one remains to be there for a while and make other teams sweat it out to achieve from the current champions. India have not set foot on the summit by stepping off a helicopter; they have got there after establishing several base camps and making steady, sometimes hazardous, progress. Any attempt to think otherwise would be unfair. This lot of players has put the ribbon on the box, but the cake was baked by many; they have scored a goal but you usually cannot do so unless someone has passed the ball to you.
In particular, India have been served by three very fine captains. Under Sourav Ganguly, India realized that winning overseas was an option. Rahul Dravid was the perfect captain to follow, with his strong commitment to the team and to the cause. It is easily forgotten that under him India won in the West Indies for the first time in 35 years and in England for the first time in 21 and Anil Kumble was the leader at a decisive moment in Indian cricket: in Australia in 2008, where the Test win in Perth must rank on par with the win at Kolkata in 2001 for significance. Don't forget, too, that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's current record reads: played 10, won seven, lost zero. Included in that is a series win against Australia, an away win in New Zealand, and now one against Sri Lanka. There are no freebies there. Something is right in Indian cricket.
But something is surely not right with Pakistan Cricket as it requires some talent to lose it when you have the lead over 200 runs in first innings and have to chase 175 odd in the next. They are not sure who would be captain; who shall be main coach; who shall be the balling (oops as they say I meant bowling coach) coach; and more importantly they wouldn’t mind a coach for their openers and every position till No.11 on the field with pads on. So many People and so much confusion; someone needs to tell them cricket is played with some common sense and with things like bat and ball. On top of it every one is upset that; no one from team got a look from franchise in IPL.
I don’t want to dedicate this blog to Pakistan bashing and let’s not forget Aussie played well and let’s not take away their credit while they played brilliantly and exhibited some wonderful mental & cricketing skills as Tuga (Steve Waugh) says it’s all in your head. India and South Africa may have moved ahead on a slightly dodgy ranking system, but there is still much fight in the dog, as Pakistan have discovered. Short of match-winners and with a captain currently not matching the high standards he has set, Australia must seem vulnerable. But they have gone back to doing what they do best: scrapping for every run and putting a price on their wicket.
These are also qualities that define Australian sport. When you have a solid system, when work ethic is largely non-negotiable, when athletes follow a fairly robust process, decline is unlikely to be as dramatic as the one West Indies suffered. Pakistan, on the other hand, must be kicking themselves for letting a great opportunity go by. You beat good teams when you compete over the entire duration of the match; Pakistan discovered that you can be ahead on points but still lose on a knockout.
From a cricketing perspective; Pakistan forms a very important cricketing nation for the rest of the world & South Asia in particular. It sometimes is fearing that the Pakistan Cricket Board is a bit like the Indian Hockey Federation - happier with the perks of the job than an intense desire for the greater good of the game.
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