Practice Match

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, India peacefully and non-violently bowed out of the World Cup, done in by dumb NRR rules, dumber Australian batting and dumbest South Africa treating the match as a joke rather than a choke.

It was around 12 o’clock at night. More than hundred cricket fans have gathered in front of Taj Hotel, Colombo. Most of the fans are of Pakistan. Everybody was surprised to find that many Pak flags and fans wearing Pak jerseys in the crowd.  Pakistan team is not staying in this hotel. They are staying in hotel ‘Cenemon Grand’ half a kilometer away. But why these Pak fans have come here leaving the Pak team which has just entered the semifinal?  They have gathered there to sprinkle some salt on India’s wound. As if they wanted to say, hey Mr Dhoni thanks a lot. Thanks for your sacrifice!!

After 0-8 devastation in test cricket now it is 0-3 in T20. India, IPL’s motherland  has failed 3 times continuously to reach even semifinal in T20 world cup. After the honeymoon phase of Pakistan win, within 48 hours team India is in the scrape yard of this world cup. After the defeat, Pak payers were fighting bitterly in the dressing room. Today they are the ‘Riches from the Rags’. And team India has reached to the Rags from the Riches. What an irony!!

In fact India has got many undue advantages compared to other teams which could have been utilized in a wise way.

• In Golf, ‘Handicap’ system was introduced to give some mileage to a less competent payer to start the game on the same platform against his opponent. Team India was also given the ‘Handicap’ mileage where it was equally competent.
• The original team India is actually ICC box office. Without them tournament is colorless, sorry business less. That’s why team India got the beautiful chance of playing all the matches on same surface. They were not moved outside Colombo.
• In ‘Gandhi Jayanti’ India got the favor of ICC’s ‘Gandhigiri’ also.  They had the knowledge about the magic figure (121) beforehand as their match was scheduled later.

India’s women world cup team took farewell from their tournament. Performance of woman team is deteriorating after removing Jhulan Goswamy from captaincy. But the problem of men’s team is other way around. Same player in captaincy is resulting the continuous failure.

The funny pictorial of Indian strategy will be well remembered by the Indian fans for a long time. This can be the best disastrous symbol in Dhoni’s captaincy career. Has he become tired leading the team in all the three formats simultaneously? Or the whole cricket management board  has gone for a toss? The spinning pitch of Premadasa stadium has left several spinning questions for team India.

If a team is well arranged, if all the machinery’s of the team is working fine and if the team has a non biased selection committee this match was far from any trouble. Net run rate is a very harsh word. But for this also India had antidote if they were not choked like Australia. Where Australia choked in this spinning wicket which has changed the equation of semifinals completely, Dhoni played with three pacers. South Africa is scared of spinners. Though Pathan or Zahir’s bowling is not really ‘Paneer Butter Masala pace’ for SA, they got the comfort platform.

There is a gambling essence in Dhoni’s captaincy. He takes very bold decisions. In the past they have worked also. But why to take bold step when the pitch is with you? Correctly selected bowlers and proven batting order could do the magic. In one hand team is playing with seven batsmen. In other hand, suddenly Dhoni’s favorite Rohit Sharma was sent in 3^rd down. Keeping three big hitters like Yuvraj, Raina and Dhoni himself in the dressing room why did he send Rohit Sharma? Rohit was good in practice matches. He was good even in the England match. This match he earned twenty five in twenty seven deliveries. For which Saurav Ganguly would have been criticized as an extremely selfish cricketer.  Any say Mr. Dhoni? or have you forgotten to convince Rohit Sharma that this was a PRACTICE MATCH not real one!!