New Dawn ?

I had expressed hope in my earlier post about a new dawn in Indian cricket and looks like the Gods were listening. Of course it is just 1 game and we have been flattered to deceive by this team many times before but well-begun is half-done. Honestly ever since the Pakistan series of 2004, never has an ODI win by India given me so much hope and cheer.

The toss played a big part at the outset. It may sound churlish but it is not too unlikely to imagine that the boot might well have been on the other foot had the spin of the coin gone the other way. That is the tragedy of wickets in India - win the toss, bat first, bat well and it is very difficult to lose. Or win the toss - bat first, bat poorly and get a hiding. On some rare occasion, even a good score might see you losing.

This has been the story in the last 7 ODI games played in India except perhaps Kanpur which had a little for the bowlers. Anyway, once that lucky break went our way, the advantage was seized emphatically. Sachin Tendulkar sent the World media into lyrical raptures as he turned the clock back some 7-8 years to play a wonderful innings on a comeback trail. Shots that stand out are a flicked six off Fernando, the signature straight drive off the same bowler, paddle sweep of Vaas, stepping down the track to Maharoof among others.

Irfan Pathan was brilliant. There is no doubt he is a wonderful batsman but like Srinath said we need to make sure his bowling does not suffer as we look to utilize his batting prowess.

And Rahul Dravid gave a fitting riposte to people who even after all these years doubted his ability as an ODI player. A beautifully paced innings, Dravid even showed that he can shed his usual elegant style to strike some muscular blows at the end. This was the best possible start to his tenure a captain and will give him great confidence to do well in the series as a leader who can lead by example.

Dravid was once again expectedly intelligent in handling his bowling resources. Admittedly, a score of 350 meant the pressure was off him but Sangakarra and Jayasuriya had got stuck in at the start. Dravid did not take the powerplay - brought on Harbhajan - who picked Jayasuriya in his first over - then brought on Sehwag who picked Sangakarra in his first - mission accomplished, he put in the powerplay removed Sehwag even after figures of 1-1-0-1 because there were 2 right-handers in and immediately brought on the supersub Karthik. The spinners wreaked havoc thereafter and Harbhajan should be thankful to Chappell for giving him an altogether new dimension by managing to convince him about the virtues of bowling round the wicket. Today Bhajji came round from the word go, and at 1 stage had figures of 3-6 finally looking the attacking bowler we all know he can be. Unfortunately he had been doing donkey's work for a great portion of the last two years under Ganguly.

Finally a word for the debutant - Sreesanth - he has a good action, good rythm and moves the ball both ways. He also bowls a good yorker and has a surprising bouncer. I feel he has great potential and should be treated with care and understanding. He may have been expensive at the start of his spell today but that is extremely understandable. Full marks to Dravid for getting him back at the end to pick up 2 tail-end wickets. As Dileep Premachandran said "it transformed a traumatic debut into an encouraging one." It may seem an insignificant gesture at this stage - but if Sreesanth one day goes on to pick 300 wickets in either form of the game it will have made a career, a far-reaching impact on the future of Indian cricket.