Indian team was ruthless….

Warning: This one is for cricket lovers. If u aren’t one among them, u may feel bored reading this post :-).

“Indian team was ruthless against England. “ – Peter Roebuck, after India taking a 4-0 lead in the ongoing series.
"I don't know how we will combat India. They are playing fantastic, fearless cricket, and we will have to produce something special to beat them." –KP, after England lost to India in the 5th match.

As a diehard Cricket fan, especially of Indian Cricket, I was really happy to hear this. Since I started watching cricket I rarely got a chance to correlate Indian team with words like confident, consistent, comprehensive, fearless, aggressive and so on. Probably, I can do that now. Hmmm… may be too early to say but still, beating the world champions 2-0 in test series and England 5-0 in ODIs is not an ordinary task. Remember, England were on a high after beating SA both in tests and ODIs.

In 90s, Indian cricket was nothing but Sachin. India won because of Sachin and lost because of Sachin. His' play brought such a crazy impact on spectators (and the guys in the dressing room) that there are times when people used to think like..everything goes India's way if Sachin stays at the crease, no matter if he scores runs or not.Though there was enough talent in players like Azhar, Jadeja, Kambli etc., they all played around Sachin. And most importantly the team lacked consistency.

Dada taking over the captaincy brought a lil change. He was ready to challenge the opposition on and off the field. Itz under his captaincy that the young cricketers like Yuvraj, Kaif , RP Singh were groomed. He really backed them well under crucial situations. But the team was lacking an important quality to pluck the top position from the Aussies…. Yes…. Killer Instinct.

The aussies never give up on any match. If they win a match by 150 runs, in the next match they’ll try to win by 151 runs. If in a series of 5 ODIs they lead by 3-0, they’ll try to extend that lead to 5-0. They demoralize the opposition with their play(with their talk as well ;) ) in such a way that the opposition would even forget the basics of cricket. That special quality helped the aussies to retain the top position, both in Tests and ODIs, for almost 12 years. I can sense such a killer instinct now in our Indian Team, led by Dhoni.

The best thing I like about Dhoni is his temperament. He rarely shows his emotions on his face. Within a short period as a captain he has impressed almost everyone.. not just with his tactics but with his attitude as well. Have you ever seen a captain allowing a retiring senior pro to lead the team for couple of overs.? Thatz just an awesome gesture. Just to let u know how Dhoni sees the lighter side of a tense situation….. In the 4th ODI against Eng, Gambhir was fumbling every ball coming his way. Finally he got hold of a catch(of course in the 2nd attempt :-)) and Dhoni came across to him and gave his gloves and indicated to keep it with himself. He knows how to handle the team in every situation.

With the little knowledge I have in cricket, I can sense that Indian team is in able hands. Youngsters like RohitSharma, GautamGambhir, SureshRaina, IshanthSharma are still on a learning curve. Selectors need to persist with them even if they fail in couple of matches. I should definitely mention about RohitSharma. Hez a serious talent. If at all therz someone who can fill in Sachin’s shoes, Rohit will be the front runner. Hez going through a rough patch now. But I’m sure he’ll be back with a bang. After all, as Boycott says “Form is temporary, Class is permanent”.