Unbelievable!

Well once again, you readers might go misled by the title which might make you think that the post is written regarding India's comeback in yesterday's match against South Africa after at one stage of the game reeling at 119 runs on the board losing 8 wickets leaving the tail enders a rather impossible job to accomplish. But, my post is regarding the man of the match award going in favor of Hashim Amla and the man of the series award favoring Morne Morkel, both of which were not justified. Of course, it was Amla who did a fab job for his team which emerged victorious.

My man of the match would have been none other than Yousuf Pathan who not only took the match from nowhere towards the target but was also speed in doing so. People might have come across batsmen who would have seen their team victorious after seeming to be impossible at one stage, losing quick wickets in important stages of the match and with limited overs to play. But, the pace at which they would have scored the winning runs would be nowhere close to what Yousuf Pathan was seen doing yesterday. Of course, Zaheer Khan gave him a good support from the other end.

I can recall the semi finals of the world cup in between Australia and West Indies in 1996 and against South Africa in 1999, both matches which Michael Beaven set right for his team. But, the rate at which Beaven scored his runs was very careful unlike a 68 ball hundred by Yousuf Pathan yesterday. Another match that I would like to cite here is the one between India and Australia at Hyderabad played in October 2009 where Sachin Tendulkar scored 175 runs while chasing a target of 350 and eventually falling short by 3 runs. In that match though India lost, Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the man of the match.

And coming to the man of the series award, Morne Morkel stood no chance with the likes of Hashim Amla, Yousuf Pathan being right there. Morkel was not even the highest wicket taker in the series but rather comes in the 2^nd place with 12 scalps after Tsotsobe who had 13 of them against his name. Likewise, Hashim Amla topped the charts for the highest run getter in the series amassing 250 runs from the five games he played. Also, Duminy was a contender with 244 runs from 5 matches. But, Morkel stood nowhere for the award with Yousuf Pathan also well in the race.

The Famous Indian Cricket Tradition Continues AT Motera

I guess everyone would have been upset over team India's hopeless performance against South Africa at Sardar Patel Stadium-Motera.Well the result was worth the disappointment.Well thats always the case with the Indian cricket team.It would be good to spot some stupidity in Indian cricket,when there was a pat on the back for Irfan Pathan for being the top scorer in the first innings where India were bundled out for 76 runs,rather than screwing the batsmen for not having done well.And also some consolation for not getting into the record books for the wrong reasons by settling for a score of less than 75 (India's previous best total,when seen from the bottom).All these were highlighted by the commentary team out there.Its a real frustration that the team is congratulated even on such debacles.

There's a saying "Some things never Change,what-so-ever".And one such thing is the team India in cricket.One good performance shadows the entire series,owing which,the rest of the series is rather forfeited without any good tough fight.The team which saw a batsmen scoring the fastest triple hundred was also found to witness one of the fastest batting collapse-losing all 10 wickets for a score of 76 and in just 20 overs.The scores of the Indian batsmen resembled telephone numbers,except for Irfan Pathan & M S Dhoni.

If all of you fans were delighted over watching the batting display in the first test at Chepauk,I wish one even take a look at the South African innings which was also full of delight from the blades of Hashim Amla,A B DeViliars and so.That was the only kind of pitches where someone like Wassim Jaffer likes to bat on.

And one more point is that,when everything was blamed regarding the pitch for India's batting debacle,it is a pity that the Indians had no bowlers in them to exploit the same like the South Africans.And when it comes to praising Sehwag for his wonderful batting display in the first test,no pitch was considered.Does the pitch change every three hours?And especially if it is India who is at the receiving end?

Finally,weather India wins or loses is a different issue altogether.But,it would be a positive sign if the team(coach & captain in particular) stop blaming each and everything that comes their way rather than putting a better performance in the next.