Humour and Hoorahs

India has 10 runs to win. Sachin Tendulkar is 2 runs from his 41st century. Yuvraj is on strike. Yuvraj hits the ball and gets 2 runs. The crowd boos. Yuvraj proceeds to defend and block the next three balls and the crowd cheers with all it's might. (They clearly want Sachin to score)

L Shivaramakrishnan: Have you EVER heard a dot ball being cheered more?
David Lloyd: Amazing. The crowd's right into this game. Next ball coming up... Another block, this one.
(Yuvraj promptly blocks it)
David Lloyd: Thought so.

:D

And there's our victory, with Sachin's hundred. Ahh the feeling is unbeatable. It's like the time we won the Perth test, I remember standing in the stands and screaming my lungs out, waving the flag and every poster I could grab, shouting, jumping, ecstatic. I love this team.

And Dhoni, seriously, he's got the Midas touch. Not a single lost test match. Not even a draw! I mean, what can you say to that!

Yuvraj played a wonderfully mature hand and Sachin was a master. Sehwag played the most amazingly blistering knock last night. I know I'm saying redundant and obvious things but I'm quite speechless.

In any case, this victory is for Mumbai. And fittingly, it was Sachin who finished it off. And I must say, as a cricket lover, that I'm really thankful to England for coming back and playing. It would have been so disappointing if they hadn't resumed the series.

So that's that. Next match looks like it will be quite a contest!

Rays of Hope

You know, the most satisfying feeling is not so much when India comprehensively trashes the opposition. Everyone has their good days when confidence is abound and opposition is crushed underfoot. The most satisfying feeling is when India fights back from a position of weakness to win. Because that shows that they have the right spirit, they have the fight, they have the confidence to stay positive no matter what and face up to challenges. And those qualities are what eventually make or break a team, in my opinion. Any team can be bonded through good times. But the teams which are bonded through the bad times are the teams which really achieve. Look at Australia!

And while it is too soon to conclude that we have this first test wrapped up, I can confidently say that India were up against the wall, and they are now fighting back admirably. And while they might yet collapse, you must admit that 83 to win with 6 wickets in hand is a pretty strong position. It is at times like this that I feel so proud to be backing this team and its captain. If Dhoni wins this test, he would have won all the tests he's captained so far, and that is quite remarkable.

Tea break. Time will tell!

India-England 1st test

So after all the hullabaloo about the Mumbai attacks, England have decided to come back and play in India after all. I think this is for the best, honestly. How long can they stay away? And anyway as Dad says, the safest time to be in India is right after an attack, because the security will be at its highest and nobody will dare try anything else. Not so soon after anyway. If you come after a few months or a couple of years, security will have started laxing again and there's a higher chance of an attack. The best way we can deal with these stupid, mindless acts of violence is to remember them, honour the heroes, mourn the dead and then move on with our lives. We were made to be resilient.

Anyhow, Matt Prior is on 47? Since when did he become so useful?

England is 307 for 9! That's really not bad (from India's POV considering they were 160+ for 1 or something).

We're barely halfway through the second day... can India finish off the England innings quickly and go on to win this?

EDIT at 16:44

LOL India 37/3 in 14 overs. DOOMED