RETURN OF THE MAHARAJA

Let me make it clear first. I am neither a Ganguly fan nor a member of Ganguly hate club. But what he has done to Indian cricket was tremendous and what he is doing now is marvelous. His return to international cricket was least expected but he made that occasion special by being the top run scorer in the Test series against South Africa and hitting a match winning 98 against the West Indies.

What happened previously between Greg Chappell and Ganguly was not merely the clash of two personalities but the clash of two ideologies. As Chappell said, the successful return of Ganguly should be portrayed as a success story I Chappell’s CV. At that time Ganguly was completely out of sorts and more perplexingly he was reluctant to work in nets to rectify that. And someone was needed to tell him to go back to domestic circuit and get it rectified. Chappell to his credit did that admirably even though the media made a huge cry about the incident. After the dust settled Ganguly did go back to domestic circuit and worked hard for his runs and on his technique. To rectify a problem, first you have to realize and admit that you have a problem and Ganguly did just that. He understood that there is something wrong with his technique and mindset and started working on it and he was determined to make him ready for the new benchmarks set in Indian cricket. And as it is always hard work pays off and he came back with a bang,

Ultimately Ganguly and chapel settled on what was good to Indian cricket. Chappell has already expressed his desire to stay even after world cup and Ganguly has already shown enough hunger to stay for a long time. And that will be hugely beneficial for India.

RAHUL DRAVID - A TRUE CHAMPION

What separates Test cricket from other games is neither its timeframe nor the endurance level but its amazing similarity to life. There is no other game which posses all the qualities that make you a successful person; just as well it makes you a fine sports person. You go through the annals of Test cricket and you will surely come across triumphs, which are characterized by courage, character, concentration, dedication, discipline and audacity.

There is no other team game, which is played across five full days. At the outset this seems a small proposition but controlling your physical and mental attributes over 5 days and having relentless concentration is by no means a small task. Cricket at international level is a hard business. It is not only about fame and money but also days and weeks and years of backbreaking practice and work.

It is a game, which keeps great faith and pride in ethos and traditions of the game. The preamble of cricket says “cricket is a game which owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played only within its laws but also within the spirits of the game. Any action which is seen to abuse this spirit causes injury to the game itself.” In other words it teaches us the need to have respect towards the elders and certain values in life. It is no coincidence that the most disciplined batsman of modern times, Rahul Dravid , is also one of the most disciplined personalities that you come across on the cricket field. Dravid’s high elbow when playing the back foot punch is a celebration of the MCC cricket manual as much as his discipline and dedication towards his work and job. His monumental kolkata 180, inspiring Rawalpindi 271 and awesome Adelaide 233 are all examples for that. There is no other modern cricketer who embodies all the facets of cricket both in his game and life. Last year on a difficult pitch at Sabina park he constructed two exceptional half centuries and thereby clinching the match and series for India. And no other batsman scored half centuries. India won a test series I the carribean after 35 long years and it was appropriate that Dravid was the mainstay during that , for he is the best Indian batsman India has produced along with Sachin Tendulkar in the last 20 years. Let us hail this true warrior of Indian Cricket Rahul Dravid

IT IS 5 - 0

Congratulations Australia... The pain of the last ASHES is now history and that series seemed a lifetime ago. Thank you Australia for giving their fans gr8 joy. the cricket that played throught the series or for that matter through out the last year was excellent. No other team was able to catch up with them and England was no Exception. Cheers Aussies. Itz surely party time

THER IS ONLY ONE WAY TO GO FROM HERE!

Barring a huge huge miracle, surely England is heading towards a 5 - 0 defeat. On the ither side it shows how much the astralians were hurt by last year's ASHES defeat. It seems they were preparing for this series from then onwards. Therz no point in saying that England's performance was below par, it was excellent performance by Australia, which England were not able to catch up. may be that explains why so many of their stars are retiring at the end of this series because this is the ultimate prize they wanted after they lost the last ASHES. May be after the series win they are finding it difficult to motivate themselves.

SPINELESS ENGLAND

As if it is their wont, england again squandered their advantage and handed back the momentum to australia in the 5th and last test. It was a glorious opportunity for england to win atleast one Test in this disasterous tour. they were bowled out for 291 and a lead of even 50 will put huge pressure on England. By the close of second day's play there were 2 perfect batsmen for the situation for australia at the crease. And considering the way Warne has batted in this series , the lead for australia may spill over 100, if not bigger than that. If no miracle happens England is surely heading for a 5-0 whitewash. And ricky Ponting will be more than happy to emulate Warwick Armstrong's magnificient outfit of 1920 -21 , after the debacle of the last ASHES.

JAFFA BY JAFFER

With the series and his career on line Wasim Jaffer produced an absolute jaffa to put India in a strong position in the crucual 3rd Test.He showed tremendous judgement outside offstump. His temperament was exceptional and shot selection spot on. Now virendar sehwag can take a leaf out of Jaffer's innings and make use of the chance that he got down the order. Now it is up to the rest of te batsman to make use of the excellent start the openers gave. If they bat out today the series will be in India's pocket because the pitch is already showing some wear and tear and once certain Anil Kumle will be more than handfull on that. Well done India.