Billed as the Agneepath ("Road of Fire") series, the current ongoing test series between India v Australia has been anything but fiery. India has surrendered meekly in the 3 tests out of the 4 going on to notch Innings defeat in each of them.
The so called Best Batting Line Up in the World folded like a pack of cards in front of rookie Australian bowlers. The top order of the Indian batting which has scored more than 45K+ runs between them before this series have not even managed to score single century. In fact no batsmen from the Indian line up has scored more than 87 and none have been able to score more than 70 in the first innings.
It was the same story in England too where the ball does not come on the bat and the batsmen have to rely on technique and skill as compared to the sub continental tracks, where you can stay on the front foot and blast every ball towards the ropes.
In a series where many assumed the bowlers will be one letting the team down, the bowlers have stood up to the task and delivered, albeit in patches, but that is still far, far better than the batsmen who are struggling to collectively cross 200 in the first innings. The Aussie batsmen on the other hand have no such problems scoring on the wickets. Now it would be fair to say that they are used to these conditions, but taking a look at the track record before the series, none of the Aussie batsmen were scoring runs and the Indians came into the series on red hot form which was doused by the Aussie bowlers in the very first test.
A lot of the problems that our team is currently facing and be laid fairly & squarely on the feet of the doyens of our cricket administration. With too much cricket being played these days, the Indian team has been playing on the trot all the 3 formats (T20, ODI, Test) almost continuously for the last 2 years. After a certain amount of time fatigue sets in and no matter what the body starts taking it's toll. Therefore it is a wonder to me and all the cricket fans across India as to why are the administrators trying to cook the goose that lays the golden eggs.
What the BCCI needs to understand is that just because the team is popular and in demand does not mean that they will continue to perform in every series. While the coffers of Indian Cricket is definitely getting filled through this series, the sentiments on Indian fans are not and ultimately it will take it's toll. Fans have started questioning the logic of such a heavily packed and over dosed schedule, stadiums in India have started remaining empty during ODI a trend unforeseen in the long cricket history of our country.
A fan would like to see his team win, more importantly play with pride and show some fight, all of which has been lacking in the current series. It is not easy to win against Aus in Aus, but as the young and inexperienced England side showed, it is not impossible either, but sadly for the Indian fan the wait for the overseas victory has just stretched longer....
Until the czars of Indian Cricket listen and start showing some sense, I for 1 believe that an overseas victory is just going to remain as an elusive dream....
- A saddened Indian Cricket Fan
The so called Best Batting Line Up in the World folded like a pack of cards in front of rookie Australian bowlers. The top order of the Indian batting which has scored more than 45K+ runs between them before this series have not even managed to score single century. In fact no batsmen from the Indian line up has scored more than 87 and none have been able to score more than 70 in the first innings.
It was the same story in England too where the ball does not come on the bat and the batsmen have to rely on technique and skill as compared to the sub continental tracks, where you can stay on the front foot and blast every ball towards the ropes.
In a series where many assumed the bowlers will be one letting the team down, the bowlers have stood up to the task and delivered, albeit in patches, but that is still far, far better than the batsmen who are struggling to collectively cross 200 in the first innings. The Aussie batsmen on the other hand have no such problems scoring on the wickets. Now it would be fair to say that they are used to these conditions, but taking a look at the track record before the series, none of the Aussie batsmen were scoring runs and the Indians came into the series on red hot form which was doused by the Aussie bowlers in the very first test.
A lot of the problems that our team is currently facing and be laid fairly & squarely on the feet of the doyens of our cricket administration. With too much cricket being played these days, the Indian team has been playing on the trot all the 3 formats (T20, ODI, Test) almost continuously for the last 2 years. After a certain amount of time fatigue sets in and no matter what the body starts taking it's toll. Therefore it is a wonder to me and all the cricket fans across India as to why are the administrators trying to cook the goose that lays the golden eggs.
What the BCCI needs to understand is that just because the team is popular and in demand does not mean that they will continue to perform in every series. While the coffers of Indian Cricket is definitely getting filled through this series, the sentiments on Indian fans are not and ultimately it will take it's toll. Fans have started questioning the logic of such a heavily packed and over dosed schedule, stadiums in India have started remaining empty during ODI a trend unforeseen in the long cricket history of our country.
A fan would like to see his team win, more importantly play with pride and show some fight, all of which has been lacking in the current series. It is not easy to win against Aus in Aus, but as the young and inexperienced England side showed, it is not impossible either, but sadly for the Indian fan the wait for the overseas victory has just stretched longer....
Until the czars of Indian Cricket listen and start showing some sense, I for 1 believe that an overseas victory is just going to remain as an elusive dream....
- A saddened Indian Cricket Fan
Agneepath, both the film and the series couldnt match the success of Original film!
ReplyDeleteSeries was a total disaster... 4-0 whitewash is something to be ashamed of... The movie has some saving grace in the form of Sanjay & Rishi, while not as good as the Original i still liked it.
ReplyDelete