Re: 2nd Test: India v Pakistan at Kolkata - Nov 30-Dec 4, 2007
Greetings from Mumbai, India.
BOTTOMLINE : If India somehow conjures up another win with the same manhoos bowling attack, I will say that the Pak team deserve to drown in chullu bhar paani.
If you guys have a manhoos bowling attack, we have one of the weirdest and most bizarre batting line up and hence we complement each other again. Just imagine the worth of a team who cannot even face ganguly with the new ball! No matter whom you guys choose to play, as long as he or she can swing a little bit, Pakistani batting will simply succumb to him or “her”.
Pakistani batting line up is literally a shame and I really don’t care if we end up scoring 500 in next two test matches. That won’t solve the long term problems. The fact remains that for last four years, we simply don’t have enough depth in our batting and inzi’s departure has literally handicapped us strategically. A miraculous batting performance by yoyo/younis for last two years (I think yoyo’s average is close to 80 and younis’s is close to 70 in last two years) did not reveal the sorry conditions of our batting line up but not any more. And I am glad that the truth is exposing.
I have always said this and the current series has again confirmed that Pakistan and India play the most pathetic cricket when they play against each other. The last test match was an excellent example. We tend to get so emotional in an India-Pakistan match that we forget to pay attention to the technical nuisances of the game. Kotla wicket was not a bad wicket by any means. It just required a little bit of application and discipline. Bring Aus or SA on this pitch and they will score over 500. The wicket was actually playing straight and did not break till the very last day.
What really disappointed me that even tough the match was evenly poised for most part, it was not due to brilliance of both teams, rather it was due to pathetic display of cricket by both teams. When India lost their last 4 wickets on third morning for less than 20 runs, it was because Indian batsmen were trying to play shots left and right. Kaneria did not bowl any special except his ball to Kumble. Pakistanis returned the favor on the fourth day by losing 5 wickets for 30 runs, again due to poor shot selection. Even Ganguly was getting wickets!
In essence, in an India Pak contest, the best team never wins, the worst team always loses. And I don’t buy the pressure theory anymore. Both teams are playing against each other quite often, so the pressure has decreased.
And by the way Some1 (I relly mean it), if India (read tendulkar 141 tests, ganguly 97 tests, dravid 120 tests, kumble 120 tests, laxaman 75 tests+Zaheer 50 plus) cannot beat this Pakistani team (yoyo 75 test, younis 51, forget rest of them) on their own soil, then they should literally drown in challo bhar panni.
