India chases 350 again in style ~ this time at Nagpur

What a match at Nagpur – another Indian victory – another time a score of 350 chased successfully……… feeling elated after the great innings of Dhawan and Kohli..  there were real fire works at Nagpur  ~ it ended up to a delightful day for the spectators with 701 runs scored for the loss of just 10 wickets…. 4 hundreds – Kohli, Dhawan, Watson and Bailey topping with 156…..

But is the game becoming predictable and more batsman oriented ? – Mitchell Johnson kept hitting the deck bowling close to 150 kmph and took 2 wickets in quick succession troubling Suresh Raina and Yuvraj…….. but Kohli was a class apart scoring another ton – another faster one – another one in chase … deserves lots of accolades……………… but from successfully defending 220+, now teams struggle to defend 350 + …………. What sort of transformation this..the  poor bowlers are just a side dish.

Whatever a 2 – 2 – 2 Series [Ind – Aussie – Rain] and Bangalore is most exciting.. Virat Kohli now has 11 hundreds in 69 chases; Push the boundaries, shift the goalposts, change vocabularies.  The enormity of Three hundred and fifty no longer inspires awe ~ and for such a tall chase, teams do not panic and no slogging at all…. Dhoni walks in is beaten,  shoulders arm to one………… yet victory is achieved with 3 balls to spare. 

At Lahli the Little Master ended his domestic career with a win….. a Ranji win is nothing new for the Champion team which has bagful of Ranji titles – still, if Mumbai had lost, critics would have written headlines on how Sachin would leave when close to the landmark belittling all that he has done for Indian cricket.   His fighting, controlled, unbeaten 79 guiding Mumbai to a four-wicket win over hosts Haryana in Lahli near Rohtak. Supporting him was Dhawal Kulkarni, who was born on the day Tendulkar made his Ranji Trophy and first-class debut - December 10, 1988 ~ and that shows his longevity……………… great achievement by every conceivable yardstick and we are going to miss the little Master shortly from now…………

His fans sure expect another Lahli at Wankhede and Sachin would not disappoint us…

With regards – S. Sampathkumar