London is burning and there are reports that a landmark stores in
Croydon called ‘the House of Reeves’ went up on flames by rioters who looted
and burned. Yet Englishmen would
underplay everything – for they are habituated to denounce everything that is
not English while sing paeans even where there is none due ! The recent
comments of Geoff Boycott that ‘My mom plays the rising ball better than Raina’
is unlikely to cause any furore as Boycott often quotes his Mom, In Law, Grand
Ma and who not in drawing odious comparisons.
In his syndicated column,
Boycott satirically wrote “ Its difficult to see how India are going to recover
from here, really, as everyone has been saying,Zaheer Khan was their best hope
given the playing conditions but with his exit from the series, I dont see how
this bowling attack,now including the untested RP Singh,will bowl England out
twice.
Of course,some Indian supporters will be hoping that the London riots
that have now spread to Birmingham will render the Edgbaston Test a
non-starter.However,I see no chance of that happening,sorry,so its a do-or-die
situation all right,on a delightfully green track,too. Speaking of which,how
many of you find it significant that Indias best bets on bouncy tracks are
still Sachin Tendulkar,Rahul Dravid,and VVS Laxman How is it that none of the
youngsters are any good at all against the rising ball That Suresh Raina whew! My mum could do more with a rising ball
than he does.And everyone knows it,now.The English bowlers most certainly do
and theyll be looking out for him.
Yes, Indian pitches are slow and low,and the ball only rises to the
waist or thereabouts,but Sachin and Rahul and VVS have grown up playing on
those,too,just as today's youngsters have. The answer,of course,is that those
three, and their contemporaries,were growing up at a time when One-Day cricket
was not as big a deal as it is now,when Test cricket was the coolest thing to
play.
Boycott conveniently forgets that his own Englishmen ran away from India
when 26/11 occurred – the terrorism then was isolated to a single city and that
too parts of Mumbai – yet the British panicked and ran away, conveniently away
from the impending white wash. They had
done that earlier in WC 1996 refusing to play in England. Indians can
and will certainly deliver the answer on the cricket field – even when
many parts of England, especially Birmingham where the Test is to be played is
burning. Without getting into political
arena, where Boycott is totally out of place to think of English supremacy when
none exists, cricket game is far different that what Boycott tends to portray –
it is not be spoken or written in a single breath with the back ground of only
a couple of matches…. What was England’s
performance in World Cup 2011 or for that matter in all World Cup – don’t you
remember that England has never won any of the 10 editions of the Cup……
Boycott may himself well remember that one dreaded over at the land of
Caribbean in 1981 when Whispering Death mowed him down. All
along Boycott had prided himself to be the occupier of the crease and an
impediment – in a single over which should have struck his ego and shaken him
no ends – Michael Holding demolished him – the first 5 balls, Boycott had no
clue at all and purists doubted whether
he was wielding a bat or a mere stick.
The sixth sent his off stump cart-wheeling a good 20 yards behind the
crease and Boycott trudged back without troubling the scorers. Would
by that yardstick it would be fair to say that Boycott was weak against
genuine fast bowling.. !- in his career
spanning for 24 years from 1962, he was one of the most successful opening batsmen for England,
noted for his ability to occupy the crease.
He was also known for friction with his team mates and once it was
commented that ‘Boycott – walks alone’ ; he was also known for his poor running
in between the wickets.
Suresh Kumar Raina is only 24 and has a long way to go. His recent innings in England have no doubt
shown him in poor light but he is a modern generation youngster known for his
flamboyance and agility on field. He is
an excellent fielder and can hit big shots with flourish. In 13 tests he has made 696 runs at an
average of 34.80 with a century and 6
fifties. In ODI, where he is better off,
he has made 2795 runs in 120 matches with 3 centuries with a healthy strike rate
of 89.52. He has a century to his credit
in T20 as well.
We wait for the day when Raina and the Indian Team responds with their
performance on the field !!!!!
Regards – S. Sampathkumar.
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