And it happens again.......
Everytime Tendulkar gets a rough decision, I don't go seething with anger, but I take pride in his post-dismissal reaction. I haven't seen many cricketers walk out these days when u know for certain that u have nicked the ball.. well nobody asks u to until the umpire does... but almost all the players(barring a priveleged few) do that..... tendulkar didn't speak about that and never showed dissent of any kind, except for a look of mild shock which I'm sure would haunt Bucknore for the rest of his life... Steve Bucknore is a wonderful umpire, lively cheerful and takes his time deciding the fate of the batsman ... infintely more accurate than S.K Bansal but so far he's had a poor match.. I cud recall vividly the 99-00 tour where the Indians lost the first test due to shocker from Harper who isn't far away from Bansal in that regard. The manner Tendulkar has taken the good with the ugly has often surprised me and the one man I idolise beyond belief... not that I wud play for India any day... but the way I wud conduct myself any given time.... and here's some others who felt the same way ....in Australia!!!!!
The west
The Australian
The daily telegraph
The Sydney morning hearld
The Age
The team down under...
Just like thousands of desi students yearning to see a cricket match.. I ruefully miss the opportunity of seeing one of the best tours of the indian team... the last time they were there they got smacked and the time before that... so what makes watching matches played in Australia a real treat for the cricketing eye?.... Australia takes it sport seriously, they play matches where they are supposed to be played, the Gabba, SCG, MCG... these are not just any other grounds, these are well maintained, picturesque cricketing heavens.... i hate to say seeing cricket in some grounds in india is a real hard experience, particularly the not so convnetional grounds (like the one in Hyderabad), which doubles up for almost every other sport.. atleast they play to win and that brings results in otherwise dull tests... they get beaten up a session, which rarely happens they bounce back the next.... i wish india cud learn some professionalism from this tour... they need it all the way if they're gonna challenge them in the near future.... our team is full of too many stars... compared to an australian side where the team comes first... no big stars ... and all are expected to perform.... it goes almost without saying that the openers for this tour are required just to stonewall all thru the first couple of hours of play...isn't that pathetic... no one expects akash chopra to score a ton.. nobody wants it... all they want is to shield the middle order from the new ball.... take a look at the aussie openers... mathew hayden and langer are expected to make double centuries if not more in any one of the test... really pathetic... calling a psychiatrist and all the hoopla may please some die-hard stupid (i was one not so long ago) fans who''ll cherish a draw in any one of the test matches... not anymore..... i wish they "Compete".. make a fight out of it... if they wanna win.. let them work for it.... and they if they get it u'll atleast have the pleasure of living up to ur expectations.... as the series goes underway.. no one will be mighty pleased to see the team than me (thats an exaggeration).... but it make me swell in pride for just a moment... and I wud love that coming.....
