What a match at Nagpur – another Indian victory – another
time a score of 350 chased successfully……… feeling elated after the great
innings of Dhawan and Kohli.. there were real fire works at Nagpur ~ it ended
up to a delightful day for the spectators with 701 runs scored for the loss of
just 10 wickets…. 4 hundreds – Kohli, Dhawan, Watson and Bailey topping with
156…..
But is the game becoming
predictable and more batsman oriented ? – Mitchell Johnson kept hitting the
deck bowling close to 150 kmph and took 2 wickets in quick succession troubling
Suresh Raina and Yuvraj…….. but Kohli was a class apart scoring another ton –
another faster one – another one in chase … deserves lots of accolades………………
but from successfully defending 220+, now teams struggle to defend 350 + ………….
What sort of transformation this..the
poor bowlers are just a side dish.
Whatever a 2 – 2 – 2 Series [Ind – Aussie – Rain] and Bangalore is most exciting.. Virat Kohli now
has 11 hundreds in 69 chases; Push the boundaries, shift the goalposts, change
vocabularies. The enormity of Three
hundred and fifty no longer inspires awe ~ and for such a tall chase, teams do
not panic and no slogging at all…. Dhoni walks in is beaten, shoulders arm to one………… yet victory is
achieved with 3 balls to spare.
At Lahli the Little Master ended
his domestic career with a win….. a Ranji win is nothing new for the Champion
team which has bagful of Ranji titles – still, if Mumbai had lost, critics
would have written headlines on how Sachin would leave when close to the
landmark belittling all that he has done for Indian cricket. His fighting, controlled, unbeaten 79
guiding Mumbai to a four-wicket win over hosts Haryana in Lahli near Rohtak.
Supporting him was Dhawal Kulkarni, who was born on the day Tendulkar made his
Ranji Trophy and first-class debut - December 10, 1988 ~ and that shows his
longevity……………… great achievement by every conceivable yardstick and we are
going to miss the little Master shortly from now…………
His fans sure expect another Lahli
at Wankhede and Sachin would not disappoint us…
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
Society Magazine
