Sun rises in the east.Sets in the west.Sounds very common and often heard?Here is one more routine that joins the list.Indian cricket team loses the final of a tournament.Sad,but true.The same statement if told to me few years back,i would have been the first person to jump in anger.I forgot how many finals India have been losing continuously.I think it is roughly around 11. The so called 'finals' ghost has haunted the Indian team yet again without fail.
Here i do not want to bash the indian cricket team just because it lost.Because one day matches are becoming highly unpredictable these days.That is one way a good sign for all.But right from the beginning of the tournament,indians never played like a team that wants to win the Asia cup.They seemed they would be contended with a berth in the final.As the pundits say,indians were not in the groove after a long break.But,is that not the same duration Pakistan also had?I felt they did better than Indians in this tournament.Nobody expected India to win in this final.As i was talking to my friend about the outcome of the match,he said "my heart says India but brain says Srilanka".
Our indian team has this unique distinction.They treat every team the same.In the sense,they fight hard to win even with non test playing teams also.It struggles equally with Australia as well as Saudi Arabia.
This one is probably the most discussed stuff in the media.'Sachin's game is not the same anymore.He plays by the percentage'.For all of them,let me ask something.Is it a eleven member team or one man team?We have a striker in Sehwag,who very rarely crosses 50.With such a highly inconsistent player as an opening partner,how can one expect Sachin also to swing the bat?If Sachin hits and india wins,then we call it 'Team effort' .At the same time,if india wins and sachin fails,people say Sachin ditched us as usual in the final and luckily so and so saved the team.The following one is real strange.Sachin hits 80 odd runs and the rest of the team together scores 100,and of course india loses.Now Sachin is blamed for not being the match winner.What is it with you people?Is this the price for being so consistent?What exactly the media want him to do?Hit the whole target for himself?who knows,that time too he will be blamed for playing for individual records.
When Sourav talks to the media,he always makes it a point to say that the team does not depend on Sachin alone.Yes.it is true.The team does not depend on Sachin while getting the payment.But when it comes to the outcome of the match,it is still in Sachin's hand as always.How many times does Sourav play the role of a match winner?
First of all,India should concentrate on the fitness level of the players,especially Zaheer khan,Nehra,Laxman Etc.I was wondering why Kaif is there in the team at all.Is it for that once in-blue-moon-75 he hits?
Another one is,when we want to become a champion,we should think like a champion.There is one famous saying that says,'the best form of offense is defense'.I beg to differ this one in the case of one day matches.I have never seen the Indian team attacking right from the start.
As an ardent fan of cricket,espcially Indian cricket,i would really love to see indian team get out of the rust and be back in their form which they had, not so long ago.I still believe India has in it to become a champion.I hope the indian team also believe the same.
All the best India!!