How often
have seen that and what keeps the die-hard Indian fan, still watch another
match – is it his forbearance to grim similarity that befells on so many
occasions or his undying eternal optimism ?
photo credit : www.bcci.tv
Way back on
28th Feb 1983 in Test no. 949 at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica – playing
against mighty West Indies – the match was meandering to a draw – a good result
to start the Series with. When tea was
taken on the final day, after the first heavy rain in Kingston for two years
had washed out the fourth day, a draw appeared inevitable. Indians were 168 for six which meant a lead
of 165 – and perhaps after a few overs the match would have been given up.
Andy Roberts dramatically changed the
course of the match by dismissing Kirmani, Sandhu and Venkataraghavan in his
first over on resumption and completing the rout with the last man, Maninder,
in his fourth over.
West Indies had to score
172 still in possible 26 overs – a run rate of 6.6 which was unimaginable those
days. Of the combination available,
Captain Kapil Dev hid Maninder Sharma and Ravi Shastri and bowled his heart-out
in one end bowling 13 overs – on the other end, it was Sandhu (3), S.
Venkatraghavan (7) and Mohinder Amarnath (2.2) – and the match was over; a WI
victory, riding on the start given by Haynes (34 off 21) ; Viv Richard’s
massacre (61 off 35)- Dujon and Gus Logie hit sixers to romp home. Kapil had figures of 13-0-73-4. Way back in Test no. 353 in 1952 at Old Trafford, England
scored 347 and bowled out Indians twice for 58 & 82. Recently, at the same venue in Aug 2014,
Indians folded inside 3 days making 151 and 167.
The loss today at Gabba
hurts. The scorecard reads : Australia 505 (Smith 133, Johnson 88) and 6 for
130 (Rogers 55) beat India 408 (Vijay 144, Rahane 81) and 224 (Dhawan 81,
Johnson 4-61) by four wickets. Statistics
would further sadden us – two whitewashes in England; 0-4 loss in the last tour
and now losing both the Test in the present Series though there have been
moments of glories. This is 6th consecutive Test loss to Australia – as
Aussies extend their unbeaten streak in Brisbane to 26 Tests - 19 wins and
seven draws.
Indians resumed at 71/1 –
just 26 short on day 4 morning. Virat
Kohli it was who came with Pujara. Soon it was 76/2 to 87/5 and 117/6 – till a
late 9th wicket stand from 143 to 203 gave some respectability. Know the reason
for this batting collapse ?
Mitchelle Johnson, had
Kohli, bounced out Ajinkya Rahane and
coaxed an edge behind from Rohit Sharma. Then Hazlewood chimed in to pin Dhoni
lbw, and bowled a shooter to Cheteshwar
Pujara. Indian batsmen clearly bad no
plan. Later India captain MS Dhoni
said the decision to send Virat Kohli in place of Shikhar Dhawan on the
fourth morning was a late one, which resulted in "unrest" in the
dressing room. Dhawan took a blow
to the hand while batting in the nets before play and Kohli pitched in. India
expressed displeasure over the quality of practice pitches at the Gabba, which
they believe led to the key injury. "There was miscommunication in our
dressing room about whether Shikhar will go in to bat or Virat will go in to
bat," Dhoni was to say after India
lost the game by four wickets. "I don't think we really handled the
situation very well. I think the only way out of that was for the batsmen to
spend a little time. But we were not able to do that.
Apart from Dhawan, who
injured his right wrist, Kohli too had taken a hit on the practice pitches, on
his left forearm. Dhawan, not out on 26 overnight, had to retire hurt before
play began, and his replacement Kohli was dismissed for 1 off 11 balls, triggering
the collapse. Dhawan came in later - at the fall of the sixth wicket - and went
on to make 81.
So another
loss ……… and what will happen at Melbourne on boxing day –
the batting line would still remain the same, perhaps Ashwin who had 2/128 in
the first and was not given the ball in the 2nd would go; Karn Sharma may not
get another chance though ….the simple maxim – ‘if
you continue to do things the same way, the results also would (most likely)
continue to be the same !’ ~ and the eternal optimist Indian
fan would again watch the match with anxiety and hopes !!!!
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
20th Dec 2014.
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