WI-India 1st test - Dravid helps India take lead

The Indians gained early lead in the test series in the Caribbean thanks to the heroics of Rahul Dravid and the bowlers.

The test started with a relatively inexperienced line-up on both sides. Two players on both sides had played in excess of 80 matches while there was a lot of inexperienced players also - 3 debutants from the Indian team. The table below shows the difference between both teams.

The bowler with the maximum number of wickets had the least impact in the test match while showing his latest prowess with the bat. It was the debutant, Praveen Kumar, who shone for India by swinging the ball both ways. Similarly, Bishoo from the Windies was effective with his leg-spin, capturing wickets of leading batsmen from the Indian team.

The batsmen with the highest number of runs on both sides, however, showed everyone how to bat on such a surface. He had done a similar act on the same ground the last time India visited the Windies. Probably the KSCA need to create a wall in Sabina Park the same way they have done in Bangalore. This will not only be a honor for the legend but also a way to remind their future batsmen of the four innings that Dravid played on this ground. The patience with which Rahul handled the vagaries of the pitch as well as the Windies bowling was worth every dollar spent by the crowd. The youngsters in the Indian team should feel blessed that they received such a master-class during their stint with the Indian team on how to bat in difficult conditions. There is nothing much that can be said about the WALL himself. He has time and again, proved his worth to the Indian team despite all the claims by the media that the younger stars were ready to take the mantle.

VVS Laxman had rare failures in both the innings - another class act who will be raring to be back at his best in the next test match. The Tamil Nadu openers could not capitalize the opportunity that was provided to them because of Gambhir/Sehwag's injuries - hope they learn from their mistakes and rise to the occasion in the future. Virat Kohli is regarded as 'future of Indian cricket' by Duncan Fletcher and one expected him to continue the good form from the ODI's. Alas, this was not to be in this test match - he will get more chances in this series to justify the praise from the coach. Suresh Raina used this opportunity to help the team recover from a difficult situation in the first innings even though he looked ugly while playing the short ball.

Regarding the bowlers, the Windies batsmen have now got used to Amit Mishra's variety - that could be the only reason for his less-than-usual haul of wickets. Is it time to bring Pragyan Ojha to the team? Ishant Sharma was good in patches but he is still not the bowler who troubled Ricky Ponting in Perth. If the Indian team plays as per their potential, they will have no reason for not winning the series 3-0.

SRT and MSD

Sachin Tendulkar. Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Two legends who are adored by different generations, playing for the same team, but still manage to keep their head on their shoulders. Role models for the next generation cricketers in the Indian sub-continent. What more can one say? Only that the youngsters in the Indian cricket team are lucky to be sharing the dressing room with players who are extra-ordinary gentlemen as well as skilled professionals in the art they pursue.

If Sachin was the epitome of individual skills, Dhoni has shown that he is one who can shine in a team situation. For long, Tendulkar was failing to get the one team medal that was not present in his closet - the World Cup winners medal. He tried in five different World Cups but destiny was not on his side. It was meant to be in a team that was captained by the best captain that India had (in terms of accomplishments he is beyond the statistically-backed Sourav Ganguly). He scored two centuries in this World Cup but coincidentally they were the two matches that India did not win (tie against England, loss against South Africa).

Sachin tried his best to inspire a generation of young cricketers to share his dream but in trying to do that, his expectations soared. This was probably the burden that upcoming youngsters could not face and coming from the legend, they could not say it out openly. Dhoni, on the other hand, is very approachable to his players. He supports them when their form is down, like Piyush Chawla and Ashwin in the World Cup or Yuvraj Singh before. The support makes the players believe in themselves and come out much stronger.

Before you start thinking that this article is in favor of Dhoni, I would like to set the record straight that as a batsman he is far behind SRT. Though his ODI record is quite good and he has proved his worth time and again, he is not facing the issues that ailed the Indian team during Sachin's younger days. In test matches, Sachin is streets ahead of the rest of the world, forget Dhoni.

Together with Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, the Indian team is lucky to have four gentlemen in the playing eleven. There might not be many matches that this quartet will play together in the future but as long as they do, we should enjoy the occasion. Such genuinely good successful human beings in one team is a rarity. Do you agree?

IPL4 - Best of the rest

The IPL4 is over and CSK defended their crown successfully. RCB were not good enough in the final but which team would have been? Let me come up with a team of eleven consisting of players from the other teams who

• have done well in the latest tournament
• have 4 overseas players (just like the tournament guidelines)
• have players who are not veterans or injured or rested

What did the team look like? See below

1. Chris Gayle - any doubts on this gentleman, even though his national selectors are not interested in him.
2. Paul Valthaty - stand-out performance in the IPL that helped Punjab defeat CSK
3. Jacques Kallis - the best all-rounder in today's age
4. Virat Kohli - I would make him the captain of this team as well
5. Shaun Marsh - The best opening batsman that Australia never chooses
6. Ambati Rayudu - Wicket-keeper for the team as well as last-over specialist (a la Javed Miandad)
7. Shikhar Dhawan - 400 runs in the tournament without anyone noticing it!
8. Iqbal Abdulla - Best performance by a youngster
9. Lasith Malinga - again, no more arguments
10. Rahul Sharma - A definite future Indian spinner maybe not in test matches to start but definitely in the shorter version.
11. Sreenath Aravind - Left-arm opening bowler in contrast to Malinga's pace.

What do you think of this team? Any thoughts? Will they beat CSK?