I remember an India-Pak match telecast, which I saw in the big screen at Raleigh a while ago and every time Pathan came to bowl or bat, the crowd used to shout ‘ Asali Pathan – Irfan Pathan’. Today, Irfan played like the other famous Pathan – Imran Khan. Dravid surprised one and all with another inspired move. I was suggesting Dhoni but Rahul went one step further and sent the technically correct Pathan and what a move it proved to be. Pathan did not allow Murali to settle in and set the table by hitting that six in the opening over. Irafan not only stroke the ball all around fluently but played most of them in copy book fashion.
It was an ideal opportunity for Gambhir to come good since there was no real pressure to score; Pathan was going great guns at the other end and all he had to do was to build an innings. But, his 3rd successive single digit score is going to put some pressure although I must say that at Motera dust bowl, he will be valuable at short leg. Atappattu did India a favor by under bowling Bandara and the rest was easy. Murali did not pick up a wicket and I hope that it is not due to sudden change of pitch behavior. If that is the case, India should aim for nothing less than a 425 target.
In the morning, Lankan tail was polished off in a reasonable amount of time. In my own books, at least 10-15 more runs were allowed. This is where Australia scores easily. The Aussies give no easy runs to the tail and pretty much score at 4 an over, while they bat. So, there is plenty of time for the results to take care of themselves.
A safe score is in excess of 400 to chase and Kumble will be itching to repeat his act, in his favortite hunting ground.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home