Jhakas | Sanjay Jha
MS Dhoni will not forget 2008 in a hurry. He should not. As dark clouds and an early winter evening enveloped Mohali, India went on to register another series win and an impressive second Test ranking in the ICC tables. Until a few afternoons ago, till V Sehwag plundered James Andersen and Co. remorselessly at Chennai, that was not really a perceived outcome. But one hurricane knock and several gigantic efforts that followed , makes for a potent combination.
The Chennai victory was an epic capping of a year that saw India overcome what it has been perennially accused of -- inconsistency. And 2008 also had another revelation -- team work. The latter was not just perfunctory tokenism, because one found Indians play hard while batting, and tirelessly penetrative while bowling. The much-maligned fielding had also been less phlegmatic and more kinetic, giving the Indians a huge competitive edge. Continue reading below
Thus, MS Dhoni made the right decision to disallow Mohali some speculative entertainment by forcing a run-chase. He can go home to Ranchi for a shooting practise as year ends, his held high on his shoulders. Take a bow, skipper!
Elsewhere Australia were once again vanquished by their other arch adversaries South Africa in their Perth backyard. I guess the Proteas have become the Kangaroo's bugbear when chasing commanding totals above 400. If that historic ODI victory was not enough, the first Test match was like rubbing purified salt on scathing wounds, still simmering from the subcontinental hurt inflicted by India.
Graeme Smith is one determined captain, who has a constant fire in his belly, best reflected in his constant gum-chewing and verbal marshalling. He has made the South Africans love the arduous challenge of taking the Australians head-on, and the run-chase reflected the cavalier confidence of a team that believes it is just a small step away from the pinnacle of kingdom home.
MS Dhoni will be watching the Boxing Day Test with rapt attention, I assume.
I heard Imran Khan's lengthy diatribe of sorts on the cancellation of the India tour of Pakistan with a pinch of salt and pounds of pepper. When the Pakistan President openly admits that "non state-actors" may have committed the heinous atrocities on Mumbai on November 26, it implicitly states that the governing authorities in Pakistan have no real control over dangerous insurgents in their own soils.
It is not just a banana republic, it is a banana- split zoo out there, unfortunately. And with his government stubbornly insinuating that the terrorists were not Pakistanis despite tangible evidence, I am surprised how Mr Zardari has not questioned PM Manmohan Singh's credentials of being an Indian citizen as well?
Sorry Imran (although Mr Khan himself is a modern, modest and usually a reasonable man), but in these troubled circumstances, we do not want to risk a happy bunch of our best exports to a potential attack by non-state actors carelessly moving around with AK 47s. Sure, sports is a great emissary in diplomatic breakthroughs and does help dissipate political turmoil, but before Sachin Tendulkar plays ball, Mr Zardari must play cricket as well.
Returning to cricket, Ricky Ponting was once the Brand Ambassador of Cricketnext. Over some awesome Asian meal at Busaba in Mumbai,I asked him what made the Aussies so invincible? This was about four years ago. Ponting's answer was more than just an eye-opener.
"I tell myself that we are the number two team in the world in every game we play, Tests or ODIs, against any team, everytime. And that the match we are engaged in will decide who will be the world champions," Ponting had said.
Later, as I did a rewind and replayed Ponting's words in my mind, the mystery behind those seemingly incredible comeback victories, those ruthless decimations , the unflagging tenacity of the OZ team, that celebrated grit began to make sense.
Strange, but in two days from now, Ponting will take on South Africa fully aware that being number two may not now soon be just an assumption.
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