Two 'Shants' and few stray thoughts..........

I did not see the match yesterday. I do not follow one-day cricket—probably because I want a contest between bat and ball and one-day cricket is hopelessly loaded in favor of batsman. Anyways I switched on the TV set and followed the proceedings for an hour. I had to go for my Art of Living workshop—so I was out of touch! I saw the highlights in the evening and liked what I saw.

Few stray thoughts in Busybee’s style!
That it was the quickest bowling partnership, I had seen in my life. For the first time, I saw two Indian fast bowlers running in quick and bowling with fire! That was a watershed moment! Ram Guha felt that the opening over Kapil bowled to Sadiq Mohammed in 78-79 was a watershed moment. For the first time, an opening bowler forced the batsman on to the back foot so much so that Sadiq Mohammed was forced to give up his white Panama hat and put on a helmet! Non-violent Indian Attack, RIP! Yesterday, we went a notch higher. The two ‘Shants’ had me in delirium—they were bowling beautifully. Yes, quick bowling can be a treat to watch! Hope these people carry on!

That Rohit Sharma looks set to dominate the Indian batting lineup! You can sense a batsman’s class from his stride to the wicket, his stance, his poise, etc. In Rohit’s case, he has all that plus an unflappable temperament along with a hunger to do well against the best. What he must and he will is that he goes back to domestic cricket and converts all those starts into big hundreds—what the Fab Four did to break into the Indian team. He is speaking to the Little Master and I am sure it will rub off on him. It was evident yesterday when he collected his runs calmly, a sign of maturity. Yes, that was another watershed moment. We have found one replacement and we need three more!

That I saw Yuvraj fielding at mid-off, so what? He is our best fielder, so he must field at point. Says who? Then I watched closely! Hayden is batting and he loves to drive straight—he would be wary of Yuvraj at mid-off. He has to do something different—which he does—he goes for an expansive cover-drive and edges to Dhoni. Whoever thought of this field placement? That was so out-of-the-box! I looked at the whole dismissal closely—there was a plan! It told me that Dhoni and his men were becoming tactically shrewd. Maybe, this could be a watershed moment!

That Dhoni has emerged as a keeper of some merit on this tour! He showed that during the Test series and yesterday he reminded people of his glovework when he effected that stumping off Bhajji! What a dismissal? I am not completely sure about Dhoni the Captain! (Pathan as a pinch hitter was a shocker!) But yes, Dhoni, the keeper and Dhoni the reliable lower order batsman is something Indian cricket should be happy about. One thing the Indian cricket fans must accept is that Dhoni is not Viv Richards, when it comes to batting, he is at best Ravi Shastri, ugly, inelegant, at times dour, but effective! Like Shastri, there are only two gears in his batting, neutral and top! Therefore, people, lower your expectations and allow the man to be himself. His calming presence on the field as well as while batting is refreshing—another watershed moment?

What is a watershed moment? I seem to like the word. I quickly went to a dictionary Web site and looked at the meaning.

From Dictionary.com:
wa•ter•shed P Pronunciation Key (wôtr-shd, wtr-)
n.
A ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems. Also called water parting.
The region draining into a river, river system, or other body of water.
A critical point that marks a division or a change of course; a turning point: "a watershed in modern American history, a time that... forever changed American social attitudes" (Robert Reinhold).

Why am I making all this a big deal? Am I getting over excited? Am I seeing ‘course-changing-critical points’ where there are none. You cannot find four such moments in a 100-over game. May be? May be not? I found four, probably because I was looking for them. Yes, Mr. Ponting, you may disagree with me, Indian cricket is moving forward and the results are heartwarming! Also, Pawar kaka and Lalitbhai, all this is pure serendipity!