India – Sri
Lanka finals ……………. Looks so familiar …… and the hype is that this is Mahela’s
last match ! - among the clichés evoked by Jayawardene's T20 success has been
the thought that he makes quick runs "playing proper cricket shots" -
that he proves batting fundamentals can endure un-eroded in the age of
"not losing one's shape" and "swinging through the arc" –
yes he has succeeded in a format which we thought Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul
Dravid and VVS Laxman; and somebody like
Mahela Jayawardenes, Michael Clarke would not succeed !!
At this stage, only
Brendon McCullum has made 2044 runs; the 2nd is Jayawardene with 1469; followed
by Dilshan, Warner, Duminy and there is no Indian up there in that 1000+ club
in T20 Internationals. Since the beginning of 2008, India and Sri Lanka have
played 63 international matches of which only 9 are Tests; 5 are T20s and rest
ODIs………….. clearly Indian fans know Lankan players so well, in the One dayers,
we have a 29-17 advantage, and a 3-2 edge in the five Twenty20 internationals.
Yet, it is not statistics, but form that wins matches and going by that
yardstick too, Indians are on a roll, having won all the matches so far in the
tournament… A win will add more glory to the otherwise trouble Dhoni ! and will
make us forget all the losses in Overseas tours recently……………
The T20 WC
glory is not new to Dhoni – they won the inaugural one at SA in 2007…………. The
finals was against the other traditional rival – Pak ……..the first twist of the match came even before a
ball was bowled. Virender Sehwag's name
was missing – down with a groin strain in the earlier match; his replacement
was the debujtant Yusuf Pathan, and he opened !
The shock tactics almost backfired. Like their earlier encounter, Misbah kept us on tenterhooks - a
huge six in the last over, which started with Pakistan needing 13, seemed to
swing the match decisively in their favour. Then, with only one wicket in hand
and fine leg in the circle, Misbah went for that scoop which, not for the first
time, ended in tears for the batsman. The ball unerringly found Sreesanth – but
the surprise element was that – that last over was bowled by another new –
Joginder Sharma, when Dhoni had more options….
Before we see some more of
that WC, today’s google doodle shows cheering fans, a bowler in full flow and a
batsman cracking the ball for six. It also depicts a fielder in action and a
close up of a ball leaving a bowler's hand. It is Google’s way of adding spice
to the T20 WC finals at Bangladesh today.
Can you imagine this …. In
that inaugural WC, we had a funny way of finding out winners. The T20 no. 29 on 14th Sept 2007, was played
at Kingsmead, Durban ~ the match ended in a tie … scores were even and the
result was determined in a soccer like finish !!!!! known as bowl-out.
Surprising still is that Shoaib Malik’s admission that Pakistan had been
unaware that their match against India would be decided on the basis of a
bowl-out in case of a tie. When
Misbah-ul-Haq was run out off the last ball with the scores level, some confusion
prevailed among the players with regard to the result of the match. The bowl-out followed…
The rules were pretty
simple ……….. Each team will nominate five players who will bowl at a set of
stumps over 22 yards. Each team will have alternate attempts at hitting the
stumps and the team with the most hits wins. it's like a penalty shoot-out in
foot ball. In case there's a tie after the first round, the same five bowlers
will have to have another go. Shoaib Malik won the toss and asked India to have the first go. How easily can a bowler hit the three stumps
– without a batsman in front but wicketkeeper in the back ? – how difficult it
is the simple Q – akin to a penalty in Soccer and Hockey but the major
difference there is, you have somebody defending ….. though a lone
defender.
The wily
Dhoni nominated not the regulars but -
Sehwag, Uthappa, Sreesanth, Pathan and Harbhajan. For Pak it was to be
- Gul, Tanvir, Arafat, Afridi and Asif. First Sehwag ran in bowled and hit the stump
accurately………… for Pak Yasir Arafat bowled a full toss and missed the Off stump
by a big margin. Harbhajan ran fast –
disturbed the stumps and celebrated as if, he had befooled a great batsman …
Umar Gul came off a shortened run up and missed the stumps…………. 3rd was Robin Uthappa,
have you seen him bowl earlier ? ….. he was clean, took his cap off and
celebrated…. Afridi fired down one on the leg side, missing the stumps by a
huge margin …………… and it was India …
phot credit : cricinfo.com
Now you no longer have the
‘bowl-outs’ – but the Super Over, which decides the clincher. !!
India is on a roll, Virat
Kohli is scoring at will and Indian bowlers especially Ashwin and Mishra are
bowling nicely in tandem. Cric Info
writes of a superstition that the country's president's attendance brings bad
luck. This thought had been cemented in the 2012 World T20 final, when the
president's arrival at the Premadasa coincided roughly with the moment the
match turned, swiftly and dramatically, for the opposition. It is an odd thing
to contend with, because the team's meltdowns have come at varied time and any
way the Indian or Lankan counterpart are not going to be there at the
stadium. I back India to win ………… and …
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
6th Apr 2014.
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