I was waiting eagerly to see Sehwag score more runs today morning. But Sehwag disappointed me as well as the huge crowd which had gathered at Chepauk to be a witness to probably the greatest moment of Cricket. Anyway we cant ask Sehwag for more. Sehwag was out caught in the slip for a handsome, dominating 319 runs, making him the highest Indian score in a test match.
The highlight of the day was Rahul Dravid crossing 10000 runs. It is a wonderful achievement from a very talented cricketer who has helped India salvage pride on number of occasions. Hats off to Rahul Dravid.
Moving on, after Sehwag's dismissal I would have expected the Indian Captain to adopt an aggressive attitude by sending in Dhoni or Harbhajan to accelerate the run rate. But he opted for Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman in the same age-old batting order. It was boring to see the same set of old players playing poorly against an ordinary bowling line-up. Sachin failed without disturbing the scorer, Sourav was not in his elements.
The worst part was VVS Laxman. I cant understand why Laxman has been playing like this when he plays with the tail-enders. I noticed this during the Australian tour as well and today he was not even trying to keep the strike but left it for the tail-enders to manage Dale Steyn, who was in full flow. He was happily watching the tail-enders tottering. Laxman, I didnt expect this from you!
Overall, the India batting lacked aggressiveness which was hugely evident during yesterday's play. I don't think India played for a win. I went to sleep after the Indian batting wound up in the afternoon knowing Indian bowling is not going to be any different. I was proved right when I saw the final score for the day, South Africa at 131/1 in 33 overs.
India should have pressed the advantage in the morning by scoring runs fast. They failed miserably and the test is meandering to a draw. When will the Indian cricket change? We need a refreshing change in attitude.
No comments:
Post a Comment