Cricket Fever - Article

[Editor]

My latest focus for about a month has been cricket. And not only me the entire nation is gripped in cricket frenzy.

Be it my husband's grandmother or a teenager, everyone is glued to the television. Once again the Indian cricket team has reinforced the belief that they are the best. Not only they have defeated Pakistan on their own soil, but also have excelled in all the fields of cricket be it batting, bowling, or for that matter fielding. No longer is the team dependant on one person for psychological support, previously it so happened that if Sachin got out no one could stand up to the opposition, but now all of them try their best to put up a good fight even under tremendous pressure. Even the tail enders in our batting side like Balaji and Powar show their mettle in the time of need. As Siddu rightly points out that the tail is no longer a Doberman tail but has graduated to a swinging German Shepard one.

Another thing that pinches me is that all the Pakistani side has been blaming the flat pitches for the poor performance of their bowlers. Their experts are pointing out that Pakistani players have really not got any benefit on their home ground. But somebody please tell me that how come the Indian bowlers are performing so well on the same pitches. The test match win has again highlighted the strengths of the Indian bowlers like Kumble and Irfan Pathan. At least they are not throwing away extras like their Pakistani counterparts. Sehwag's triple ton in first test match was another feather in the Indian cap. So my gutfeel is that the Pakistanis should accept the fact that this time the Indian game has been far superior to theirs and stop blaming the external factors. What is your gutfeel?

Editor