The game isn't over!!

As an Indian supporter you might be in low spirits to see India faring too poorly in the first two days of the test match. During my college break yesterday, I was speaking to my friends about the score and India's position in the match. They were really disappointed with the way our batting giants collapsed. Pace bowlers' utter failure multiplied their sorrow. They were in opinion that its better to follow ashes now as India is sure to loose this match. Frankly speaking, looking at the position of the game at the end of day 2, SA has more than 90% chances to win.

India for sure has no probability to win this match. Expecting India to win this match is too much of optimism, but pragmatically speaking there is no chance of it. What I am trying to say is that India has still 10% probability to draw this match. The game isn't over. There are still three days of play. Look at the brighter side folks, Cricket is a game where there is every chance to turn the tables until the last moment of the game. All that is needed is a bit of fighting spirit and a tough mind.

What happened yesterday is not quite important (even if its important when you cant change it, why bother about it?). Today is a fresh day and Indian skipper knows it. Dhoni is one of the coolest captains India ever had and he knows how to hold the nerve in pressure and how to boost morale of the team. Indian dressing room has enough number of optimists and hence India will look forward to make a fresh start. Destabilizing settled batsmen like Kallis and Amla is not an easy job, but early in the day any batsmen will take some time to settle back and strike the cord. That's where the Indian quickies should capitalize.

Sree and Sharma should gather boost their morale and use their every skill to get rid of them. The pitch is getting better and better for batsmen and safaris are fortunate for it. So the quickies need to show some variations. Indians should use their prime weapon, swing, effectively as they are not getting enough bounce from the pitch. This is where we miss our Zaheer who can strike very effectively during the early overs. Rookie Unadkat is a disaster, he couldn't create any impact. There is nothing great to expect from this youngster, he doesn't even have the pace; he could barely cross 130 kph. Harbhajan needs to raise up to the cause, he needs to improvise more and should try to get some extra bounce; this did the trick for him, he got two wickets because of extra bounce. But this is not the pitch where we can expect ultimate from a spinner but bajji knows that he himself is the frontline bowler as Zaheer is absent.

If Indian bowlers can dislodge the safaris' innings before they could add 100 more runs on the board, the Indian batters need to protect the team from the lead around 300-350. Protecting the team from that lead is not impossible for the world's strongest batting order. Two batsmen showed up very positive signs during the first innings; Sachin and Dravid. They both started up very positively. They hit boundaries initially and didn't let themselves to get bogged up. They showed good aggression and excellent attitude, they sent a clear message to safaris that they are in no mood to provide the edge to their bowlers. But things quite didn't happen and they got out for good balls. Laxman's dismissal happened for a good delivery, but Sehwag, Raina and Ghambhir should do some introspection. They got out cheaply. India cant afford that again. Dhoni did his job to quite some extent but he needs to improvise being a skipper.


When time is tough, only the tough get going. Let us hope that India will sail to the shore safely. Catch you tomorrow with third day analysis. Till then good bye...


Comments are welcome.....