He started off with a late cut that he played very very late, a shot that seemed improbable. Then he hit a slice shot over third-man for four and we were left wondering for a moment if Tendulkar or Sehwag had got down on the field. It is after all a shot that is the trademark of the famous duo. The third four of the over was a trademark Dravid cover drive. Excellent footwork and perfect position! A shot, coaches would want their students to watch over and over again to master the art of hitting cover drives.
At the end of the innings he again played a slice over square region, and you could hardly believe it was the Dravid of day-before who had hit 50 odd over 80 odd balls. This one was not to be the same kind and he flourished as the innings progressed; taking away any kind of initiative WI would’ve thought they had gained having dispatched three Indian wickets.
I watched Raina briefly and the 18 year old was amazing in the field. His direct hit in the match against Sri Lanka was a class act and we need more of those in our fielding. Yesterday his off-side play reminded one of Ganguly in his prime days. I’d die to see that off-side play again. Come on Saurav get geared up.
One thing I’m not too comfortable about is shuffling the batting order. Kaif to open the batting? Nope, I’ll go for Dhoni-Sehwag combination, if they get it right, they will be one hell of a deadly duo at the top. Kaif is best at 5 or 6. The captain and coach must be experimenting for the long season ahead, fair enough, take your chances, but I hope lessons will be learnt soon.
The win yesterday is nothing to rave about since an injured Jayasurya defeated us on the previous day and this WI side is a second rung side. I wonder if it is all in the mind, we should’ve had him out in the condition he was!!! Disappointing!
Let’s wait and watch how they gear up to play the rest of the series.
As of now I’m more worried about the rains in Mumbai. They are lashing down on the city. Situation is pretty tense and the city will take a long, long time to recover from this disaster. Right now it just does not seem to end!
I wonder how long the Rain Gods will test the survival spirit of the city!