The Two Days OF VINTAGE Test Cricket.101253

There are only two results in test Cricket, Victory (for either side) and a draw. Today let me introduce the concept of a “Comprehensive Draw”.

Ever since New Zealand posted 619 on board, the Indians had their work cut-out. But that day in Napier, it was not just a team playing to save a test match; it was a team playing to achieve what they believe in, Perseverance. And I dare say the whole team came together to keep alive that belief.

What we saw in Napier was test cricket at it’s very best, something not seen in the modern day game too often. When the Black Caps saw the back of ‘Sehwack’ that early in the second innings and with two whole days to go, Daniel Vittori and his boys smelled more than just blood. At such a time the Indian team needed to prove a point, a point that they belong where they are, a point that they are No. 2 in world for a reason and reason is purely on the way they play their game. And I dare say they stood by the word they swore too.

The best part about the Indian Second innings is the consistency, the manner in which one after the other the batsmen took responsibility and made the consistent contributions to the result. However Gambhir and Laxman might go away with the records speaking for them, the likes of Dravid, Sachin and Yuvraj should not be left out in the dark.

“The Second Wall” as amusingly called by the stand-in captain, Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, beyond doubt has been the find of the year for Indian Cricket. He has been a revelation in all forms of the game, this year he has not only shown consistency but has also shown immense character. The knock in McLean’s Park was the best that you would see in sometime. The man showed how coherently important is the thought that goes behind making the innings a success. Gambhir was a man on a mission and he made the whole team stick to their tasks. Let me just very briefly mention, it’s not easy batting for almost ten hours and that is exactly why not everybody can do it. In an innings that long there are so many things that can go wrong, the lapses in concentration, those periods where the bowlers dominate, that catch that could have carried to the man at silly point, the continuous chatter from behind the stumps or the OOs and AAs of the bowlers and under these conditions the batsman has got to be a steel under the helmet, just play on each ball on its merit and if talk about almost 500 balls that’s a very large number of deliveries you are looking at. So well done to Gambhir, how aptly has Mahe calls him the Run Machine of the team.

Now there is an adage in cricket “Form is temporary, class is permanent” , and if one man lives the saying it is undoubtedly Rahul Dravid. That day in Napier the Kiwis ran into “The WALL” that was I hope taking a break from International Cricket, and I hope that it carries on the ominous signs that it has shown so far. The part that was really heartening was the show of immaculate from Dravid. However the scores of 83 and 62 will go under the 50s column but the significance of the two knocks is immense.

After the discipline of Dravid came the childish charm of Sachin Tendulkar, playing with what looked liked a special bat (for I have never seen Sachin play with a taped bat before), he showed to the world that the body might be tiring out but his mind is very much routed to the core of the game and his thought process is as good as it has ever been. The back foot drives, the forward defenses and the trade mark cover and straight drives came from the meat of the bat. The only fault that Sachin did was caught by an ever impressing Brendon McCullum behind the stumps.

After VERY VERY SPECIAL Laxman told exactly why he is called that. The characteristic century from the artist was a treat to the eye. From the onset, Laxman showed that attacking can also be the response, but it wasn’t aggression all the way, it was a very well constructed knock manufactured especially for the test match and dare I say had “property of VVS” written allover it. In the end it was good to see Yuvraj, spending sometime in the center and amongst the runs.

As a cricket fan and more importantly an Indian Cricket fan is amazing to see the approach with which the Indians played. The batsmen were ready to fight it out on the field with the sun beating down and against I dare say a very good bowling attack. It almost looked like that each man in the team told himself “ I have to see this through, leave nothing for the next man in”. The last two days of the second test match was a classic example of a team coming together and showing the adeptness it has within it’s ranks. The grit and the gust coupled with technique and disciple and topped with hunger of performance presents a very good (metaphorical) picture of Indian cricket today.