The Great English Kamikaze

What a difference half an hour can make to a game of cricket? It is said that cricket is a game of glorious uncertainities & first one day between India & England had just proved that. This Indian juggernaut has a self-belief rarely seen in the past teams. But then, they should thank their English counterparts for doing such a perfect Kamikaze.Let me narrate my experience of the day from the Ferozshah Kotla.

On the night before D-Day, I was not able to sleep peacefully(which, in itself a wonder), as thought of watching an ODI after a gap of 10years was too overwhelming. Finally, i left the comfort of my bed at 4'O clock and after getting ready left my house at 6'O clock. We reached stadium at about 7'O clock and were greeted by long queue of masses, trying to force their entry into the amphitheatre. Neverthless, we were inside the stadium within 15 mins, courtsey D.P. Although i've watched the test match played between India & Sri Lanka in december, I was surprised to see the stadium. Now, with renovation almost complete and lush green grass in the outfield , it looks more picturesque than last december.Also, with capacity increased to 40,000, the whole atmosphere was charged up even before the toss. I can safely guarantee that after having the floodlights Kotla would be amongst the top five grounds of the country. For nearly an hour we watched the players perform usual fielding drills on the ground and with our seats right next to dressing room, we got more than glimpse of our stars. Soon, ground was overflowing (thanks to freeloaders like us) and when one man told us that he was waiting since 3:00 AM in the morning to get the entry, we secretly thanked D.P. Anyways, at quarter past eight Dravid & Flintoff went in for toss.

The pitch was very unlike Kotla, with a shade of green grass on it and with cool breeze blowing in the morning, no one was in any doubt the winning captain would make the first use of the pitch & Freddie did just that. Apart from the conditions, India's current hot-streak while chasing, must have influenced his decision.

At 9'O clock sharp, two local boys(Viru & Gautam) came to the crease amid the huge cheers.Prior to the match speculation was that it is a 325 pitch and crowds were guaranteed a run-feast. But, after couple of overs it was clear that pitch has dual bounce with some balls keeping very low, specially from the ITC end. Sehwag eased the early nerves with a first ball four and crowd went berserk after Gambhir followed the suit in next over. But just when it appeared that might be the Viru's day, he did it once again. On a Andreson's short ball, which could have been easily left alone, he first tried to ducked under it and at the last moment pulled it from hopeless position, result was a simple catch to square leg. There was a pin-drop silence in the stadium. Dravid, after being dropped for nought, played some fine shots and with Gambhir also looking in good touch, things were looking bright for India. But then Gambhir was caught fishing outside the off stump after hitting a four and a six in the same over. Yuvraj, after his amazing performance in Pakistan, failed to read the bounce of the pitch and played on, punching a good length ball. After the unfortunate run-out of Kaif, Dravid was done in by a beauty off Plankett. Soon from the comfortable 56/1, Indians found themselves staring at grim 80/5. Then, Raina and Pathan tried to repair the damage, but with their departure in quick succession, Indians were in precarious situation. But, then Bhajji & Dhoni batted sensibly and
made sure that score crossed the psychological barrier of 200. All of us thought that runs came too late & too few. Who would have thought that this brief cameo from bhajji is going to bale Indians out of trouble. But, during the break atmosphere was of general anguish. Slogans of "bring ganguly back" were being chanted from some stands. We all knew that this was a lost cause & gave a serious thought about returning home! But then, "patience " is the most under-rated virtue in this world.

Indian began their defence on an auspicious note, with Pathan claiming two wickets in his very first over. But Indians had tall task up their hands and K.P. soon took back attack onto our fast bowlers. Let me admit, that I haven't seen much of him in the ODIs and was truly amazed by his approach. For negating Pathan's swing, he charged down the wicket also moving towards off stump from leg stump, so when he makes impact with the ball he is well 2-3 meters outside the crease thus ruling out the possibilty of LBW. The most astounding part of his batting is the way he dictate terms to bowlers. Yes, he's an aggressive player but he's not your typical Viru or Afridi. He sets up the bowler to bowl in his zone. He charged down the track and then flicked Pathan over the square-leg for four, on the next ball he waited as the bowler over-compensated for the length, and whacked the short ball into mid-wicket fence. He did similar thing to R.P. Singh also, I can tell you he's a man to look out for in future. Things were looking quiet grim when Dravid tossed up ball to Bhajji in 12th over & he struck in his very first over. Matt Prior sweeped Bhajji straight into the hands of Gambhir and with that Freddie came to the crease. Both K.P. and Freddie were destroying Indian bowling and ground was absolutely quiet. Then, Dravid used final arrow in his quiver and gave bowl to Yuvraj Singh. All Yuvraj managed was a simple
full toss to K.P. and he swept him into the hands of mid-wicket! Most critics had since called this a "mad rush of blood", but i beg to differ. He's an instinctive player and no matter what the situation, if he feels bowl is there to hit, he'll go after it. He was second player to fall
off sweep & very soon the shot described by Duncan Fletcher after Ashes triumph as "most effective shot against spinner", is going to become their nemesis. Bhajji trapped Freddie in very next over in front of wicket trying to, yes you've guessed right, sweep! Suddenly from a hopeless situation, a window of opportunity has opened up. The crowd sensed this and got behind India in a big way. Jones spent 10 miserable minutes at the crease before he decided to sweep bhajji & succeeded in only yorking himself. After that it was formality and finally Pathan wrapped up the match in 39th over. Bhajji, took 5 wicket haul apart from scoring 37(highest score of the innings). Earlier on the pakistani tour as well as in tests against England, bhajji has performed miserably and critics(me included) were calling for his head. But "Cometh the hour, Cometh the man" & Bhajji has just proved that. Bhajji received a bike for his efforts and Dhoni took him for a ride in the outfield.

I would rate this victory among the top 10 victories of Indian team ever. It was the perfect advertisement for charcter and self-belief of this team. Even when players, walked in to defend this miser total, their shoulders never drooped. Now, Indians have gained an upper edge right at the start of the series, lets hope they keep up the good work.

Without Wax,
Lord

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Without Wax,
Lord