Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

He entered with style, made a comeback in style and left in style, leaving people asking for more. There are a bagful of achievements to his credit but what Sourav Chandidas Ganguly will be remembered most for is the revolutionary change in mindset he brought to Indian cricket and Indian cricketers.

Previously when Indian teams walked on to the turf outside the sub-continent, everyone thought that a draw would be a more than satisfactory result. It was Sourav who inspired his men into playing fearless cricket and it is his legacy that Mahendra Singh Dhoni carries forward.

Tears barely escaped surfacing as an emotional “Maharaja” crossed the rope one last time in the India jersey at Nagpur. It was a befitting gesture from Dhoni to let Sourav lead the side for the last few overs. As a fan of cricket in general and Indian team in particular it was nice to see the younger lot acknowledge the contribution and achievements of the seniors.

Some news channel reported that the team will be throwing a big party for Dada at the team hotel and that Dhoni had also exchanged his Captain’s suite at the team hotel with Ganguly’s. It is a small but sweet gesture but one that would seldom cross minds of most people in the world.

He deserves every bit of it. After all he is the man who has the biggest hand in the state of happy affairs that Indian cricket finds itself today in. We have always had the talent but players have lacked the tenacity and the aggressive attitude required to tumble tough opponents. Ganguly instilled this tenacity and the self belief that, “Yes we can”.

While his famous T-shirt furling act at the Lords’ balcony demonstrated the tit for tat aggression he stood for, his persistence to include Harbhajan in the 2001 test series against Australia accounted for the belief he had in himself and his men. He provided impetus with attacking shots at the head as India were about to rewrite history with their successful chase of England’s 325 at Lords in the Natwest final.

People may remember him as the “Leader par excellence” and the “God of the off side” but equal charisma lay in his effortless clearing of the fence especially the demolition with disdain of left arm bowlers.

He may have retired and might not be a part of the Indian dressing room but for us Dada is not a cricketer but a phenomenon which will run with the Indian team till they are ready to play aggressive and ready to take the bull by the horns and whenever they say, “Yes we can”.

Mohit Goyal
http://goyalmohit.blogspot.com

Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting could be in for some bashing from all cricketing corners including the media because of his baffling strategy to up the over-rate when everybody thought that Australia would look to bundle out the Indians and get one hand on the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

India were cruising along in the first session on the fourth day of the Nagpur test but lost momentum after wickets fell in a heap after lunch. Tendulkar was run out at the stroke of tea, leaving India tottering at 166 for the loss of six wickets. India were just 252 runs ahead and everyone awaited intriguing two hours of cricket post-tea. The experts predicted a quick brushing of the Indian tail by the Aussie pacers, especially with the ball reversing.

Interestingly the proceedings started with all spin from Cameron White and Jason Krejza. When Lee expressed his desire to bowl, Michael Clarke told him that they were nine overs behind the rate. Krejza kept bowling from one end while White was replaced after two overs by Michael Hussey, who was later replaced by a not 100 percent Michael Clarke.

The Australians bowled 17 overs in one hour but were still seven overs behind the rate. It was only after 100 minutes into the third session that Watson was brought into the attack. Indian skipper MS Dhoni combined with Harbhajan to put a century stand as both the batsmen raised their fifties. Indians were finally bowled out for 295 leaving Australia a target of 382 at more than four runs an over.

Had the Aussies gone in for a kill after tea and restricted India to even 40 runs less they would have had a smaller target and much more time and overs to get there. International captains need to give a serious look at their teams’ bowling rates but this tactic of Ponting is beyond brains. He has not been up to the task of getting overs in time for months now and its been too many times now but he responded today in the way he did only because a one test match suspension hung over him.

Is Ponting’s not playing a test match, bigger than a test win for Australia, a test series for Australia, the Border-Gavaskar trophy for Australia. Eversince I have watched cricket, I have been a big fan of the Aussies putting team before individuals and at times been critical of Indians not doing so. But I doubt if Mr. Ponting has any explanation to what he did.

On the other hand, I just watched and admired Mahendra Singh Dhoni who ran his heart out between the wickets even with a cramped hamstring. India are already ahead in the series and with seven one dayers against England knocking at the door, Dhoni could have chosen to cut out the tight twos and threes. But he chose otherwise and showed us signs of some brilliant things to expect from him and his team in the future.

Even after the tactics that they employed, Australia fell well behind the desired over-rate. The spotlight is on Ponting right now and it remains to be seen what answers he has on offer or are we counting down his days?

Dr. Mohit Goyal