A Measured Post

Now that I've given myself enough time to recover from the India-Pakistan encounter, I think I can manage a decent-enough post building up to tomorrow's final. Or manage some level of coherency at any rate. In case you do want my reaction, which involved much CAPSLOCK and fangirling, you can check it out here.

Now. Tomorrow, India v Sri Lanka for the ultimate glory in the cricketing world: the world cup. I think it kinda fits, you know? Over the last three years, if there's been one constant, it's been: there's an India v Sri Lanka match 'round the corner. Right from the Asia Cup in 2008 - or is it even before? Our history goes way back, but I'll start with 2007.

In early '07, we played a four match bilateral with SL in India before the World Cup, which we won 3-1. We kicked their asses, I remember. However, it was SL that broke a billion hearts when we lost to them and crashed unceremoniously out of the '07 WC. Then the Asia Cup in '08, where we were on a high, rebuilding and recovering, just having beat the World Champions in their own freakin' backyard and destroying the Lankans on the way. We had a completely in-form, frighteningly awesome line-up. And yet in the final? We crumbled to Mendis' carrom-ball. Score to SL.

The Mendis nightmare continued as we toured them later that year. He bamboozled the likes of Dravid and Laxman and Ganguly as SL cruised to a Test series win. However, we came back and won the ODI series 3-2. I don't think it's possible ever to underestimate how important this win was. Almost as big as the CB series win. For me, this is where the Indian team began to show that it had the guts for a right royal scrap. This was as much a defining moment in recent Indian cricketing history as any other.

Then. Another ODI bilateral in early '09, 4-1 to India. SL touring India later that year, Tests and ODIs, both going to India. Then we tour them in '10, drawing the Tests and winning the ODIs.

In between. Five tournament finals: Asia Cup '08 (SL), Compaq Cup 'o9 (Ind), tri-series final in Bangladesh '10 (SL), Asia Cup '10 (Ind), the Micromax tri-series with New Zealand '10 (SL).

That's a lot of cricket in less than three years. I remember a lot of exasperation everytime yet another series was announced, and I even wrote a parody-piece about it. And to think that the biggest tournament in cricket also culminates in an India-Sri Lanka final? Is it the same old yet another, yet another? Can we expect things to be different this time? Especially when these teams know each other inside-out?

Let's have a look at SL's performances leading up to the finals. Well. I don't remember much of SL's matches this tournament, because they've been so efficient. I honestly can't remember a goddamn thing from their group matches, except their middle order had a funny propensity to make life tough for them. Huge wins against Kenya, Canada... a loss to Pakistan, I remember, their only aberration... a washed-out match against the Aussies... then? A win against New Zealand, I think? And Zimbabwe? I honestly can't remember without looking it up, because their campaign has been so unremarkable. Most of their plans have worked, and worked well.

Clinical wins against England and New Zealand in the quarters and semis, and you have to say Sri Lanka have peaked, yeah?

That's the funny thing. I can point out a particular stage in the tournament where each team has peaked, and say, "yep. That's about as good as they can get." Sri Lanka are in that stage right now. Dilshan on song, Sangakkara and Jayawardene in form, Malinga, Murali (if fit), Herath/Randiv/Mendis... everybody chipping in. Rosy picture? I think so.

But what's funny about it, you ask? Well, the only team that hasn't reached this 'peak' stage is India. In every match you get the feeling India is performing sub-optimally, doing just enough to get the job done. Our first match against Bangladesh is probably the closest we've gotten to playing to our potential. Is that scarily awesome, or scarily worrying? I don't know. But that we've gotten all the way to the final despite not being at our best adds some credence to India's apparent strategy of saving their best for the last. Maybe they don't want to get burnt-out before the Big One. God knows we've done that before.

A fairly comfortable win against Bangladesh, a hair-rending tie with England, wins against Ireland and Netherland, both games in which we made our chases a little complicated because of overconfidence at the top, then that last over loss to South Africa, and finishing off our group with another good win against the West Indies. A well-fought quarterfinal encounter with Australia... and then the win over Pakistan in the semi.

About the game...

I will not lie to you, I looked forward to that game like it was my next breath. I mean, I don't know how much of it is the media hype; I don't watch news channels anymore, particularly during a major cricket tournament. But even so: that morning I woke up and the first thing I thought was oh my GOD today's India v Pakistan! And then: oh my god today's my mom's birthday better go run and wish her. But, yeah. I was super-excited.

The match lived up to my expectations. A team is only as strong as its weakest link, so while everybody went on and on about how it was Pakistan bowling v Indian batting, the real battle was between the Indian bowlers and the Pakistani batsmen. And guess what? The bowlers won. It is very special, considering how handicapped the attack was without a second specialist spinner, and that neither Nehra nor Patel had exactly covered themselves with glory in the previous matches. But they came good, and that's just this Indian team all over again: they falter and they fight, but by god, they won't just lie down and take whatever crap's dished to them.

(A note of appreciation here: I raged and raged when I learned that Ashwin had been dropped for the game. The Nehra choice worked very well - he bowled superbly - and Dhoni could've just grinned and soaked up the "oh he's such an intuitive captain" praise. But he didn't. He had the balls to admit that he made a mistake in reading the pitch, and that he ought to have gone in with two spinners, while still appreciating Nehra and Munaf's efforts.)

A lot of talk's going around that it was more a case of Pakistan losing than India winning the game. They dropped Sachin Tendulkar four times, they say. That's criminal! Perhaps. If Sachin'd gone, what's to say Yuvraj wouldn't have performed? What about Kohli? What if Raina had gotten a longer stint? What if Dhoni'd settled in earlier? Maybe if Sachin'd gotten out early, would we be looking at a 280+ score? 220? Can anybody say for sure?

Ultimately, India took its chances better than Pakistan did. Isn't that all about what cricket is? Isn't a pitting of skill against skill? Particularly considering it's a no-contact sport and you're freakin banned if you so much as touch shoulders with an opponent player. India batted better, India bowled better, India caught better! End of story! Why undermine the performance?

I have to say, though, that the Pakistanis did have a great tournament (apart from a few mad overs against NZ) and Afridi was fantastic and super-gracious in defeat. That, though, brings me to one last grouse:

It is best exemplified by this article by Aakash Chopra.

Look, I've never been a fan of the guy. I can't judge his cricket-related articles - not my area of expertise - and I've heard they're pretty good, which, hey. Great for him. But this one? So much more broad-based - too broad-based, in fact, and I think have sufficient authority to comment on it.

"Is this really patriotism?" he asks in the title. No, Aakash, it's jingoism. Welcome to the party. You're, uh, about 60 years late.

The support for the Indian team bordered on crass, he says. Again: where have you been all these years? Then:

In fact, now that we have beaten Pakistan it's considered okay if we lose to Sri Lanka in the final, for we have been avenged. Don't you find it strange? What does it tell you about our evolution as a responsible nation?

Oh god no - pop!sociology or whatever the hell he's attempting. No, Aakash, don't do it!

Then:

Post independence and the division of the country, we just carried forward the same sentiment i.e. sport being the vehicle to assert supremacy. The relations between India and Pakistan remained sour for the longest time. We've fought wars and still continue to have other equally important issues plaguing us. Yet, there's enough reason to believe that we as people, have matured and come a long way in trimming down that animosity, especially via Bollywood and numerous other cultural exchanges, perhaps reiterating time and again that the rivalry is only political. Or at least I'd like to believe that India has definitely evolved and has become a responsible nation. Unfortunately though, all it took was a cricket match to topple that process of evolution. Are we not, in a sense, pushing ourselves back a 100 years?

Just look at that. Look at the histrionics there. I thought I was a drama-llama. "topple that process of evolution"... "pushing ourselves back 100 years"... it's a cricket match, man! Stop attaching more importance to it! You're kind of defeating your own case, y'know.

If there are issues between India and Pakistan now, it's got to do with a little something called "terrorism". I'm sure you've heard? It's got nothing to do with a bunch of guys in coloured pyjamas knocking a ball around.

Also: dude. Sport has always been a source of crass jingoism! Sport is not like real life, where there are a million shades of grey and there are no absolutes. In sport, there are a definite set of rules, a clear playing field, and a definite winner and loser at the end of it all. If we let ourselves go as far as sport is concerned, should it be considered a devolution of intelligence on our part? Bollywood and cultural exchanges are fine, but on the playing field, it's always going to be an Us v Them, and it's always going to bring out our basest instincts. This is the case with every high-profile rivalry out there. Or have you not been evolving with the times? It's a global village! Keep an eye out for crowd reactions every where.

Then he vies for our sympathy, by describing the pressure felt by a player during these kinds of matches. He talks of the reactions of fans and how the players fear them, citing the vandalising of Kaif's house in '03 and the super-hype that the Pakistan tour of '04 got as examples. "We are humans too," he says. "Will we be the nation's pariah just because we couldn't win a game of cricket?" No, just win the next one and you'll be their darling again.

Okay, I don't have much against this part. The pathos is heartfelt and completely understandable. I can't imagine how it must be to have millions of hopes hinging on every move you make on the field.

Then he ends it so:

It's about time that we, as a nation, answer these questions. Are we going to behave like this every time we play Pakistan? If we detest them so much, it may not be a bad idea to severe all cricketing ties with them, for a cricket match can't be used as a benchmark to prove our superiority as a nation. Every time we behave like the way we did this time, it pulls us down as a responsible nation. The choice is ours.

Oh, is it, Mr. Chopra. What exactly did we do? We detest them? Really? We're looking at cricket matches as our only parameter of success against them? India and Pakistan have a lot of history between them, and the antagonism comes from wounds far, far deeper than any random cricket match. Like everything else, every place else, emotion is allowed free rein on the field. We scream and shout and hate and love, and at the end of the day we go home and sleep and go to work the next day. So don't boil everything down to a cricket match, Aakash. You're kinda shooting yourself in the foot.

Also, one of the most memorable India-Pakistan incidents is the standing ovation the Pakistani team got from the Chennai crowd in '99. Or more recently, when we gave the second-biggest cheer of the night to the Pakistani contingent (after our own athletes) in the Commonwealth games opening ceremony. Maybe you could take those incidents and spin a spiel about how close India and Pakistan actually are, huh?

Oh, god. I went completely off-track, huh.

Anyway, tomorrow? Has every chance of being India's day. I remember watching this ad and thinking how appropriate it was. Notice the man wearing the Dhoni jersey and walking the tightrope. He falls off at one point, and the crowd gets worried and anxious. Collective gasp. But he hangs on to the wire, hauls himself back on, and continues walking, much to the relief of the crowd.

I thought: that's India. That's the Indian team in a nutshell.

So. Much. Joy.

The buzz, the adrenaline, the expletives, the jumping, the screaming, the restless pacing, the constant assessment of match situations, the rapidfire math going on in the head... people, I just realised how much I missed all of it today. Online commentary and surreptiously checking out mobile phone updates in the middle of class... can't compare. Only thing better is going to the stadium. Of course, it helped that we won today.





And how!





So Dhoni won the toss (yet again - this is getting funny, poor Mahela looked so helplessly frustrated and MS so adorably bemused), elected to bat and I had to laugh at Dhoni's line about checking for superglue on the bails, considering they hardly seemed to move in the previous match. That's right, MS. Keep smiling like a kid in a candy store, you beautiful boy.





The first half hour was Weirdness. Kulasekara bowled a tight opening over and then Dilhara Fernando, (coming off an injury layoff I think, replacing Thilan Thushara) sent down his obligatory no-balls. I might've whooped and laughed at that point, but I think I was too distracted by his ear-stud (mm). Free hit was hit out of the ground by Tendulkar - most unexpected, I nearly fell out of my chair. Didn't score much after that, though - last ball of the over Fernando extracted revenge, and Sachin was out lbw... or was he? Ball was full, hit him low on the pads as he tried and failed to work it to the onside, but surely it looked like it was going down leg? Too much doubt to give? Hawkeye later showed that it was indeed missing leg stump, and by some way too, so this is the third time in as many matches that Tendulkar has been wrongly adjudged lbw early on. Unlucky much? Not really. Incompetence from the umpires? Perhaps.





Gambhir came over and began to bat in this pseudo-aggresive way, trying too much too soon. As it was, he was dropped on 0, and was lbw off a no-ball, and my friend watching the match elsewhere in the city was texting "has something crawled into Gambhir's head and crapped there?" and I was inclined to agree. Finally, just as he looked to be settling down, Gauti was run-out in the most unfortunate manner - a delivery hit straight back by Sehwag brushed Fernando's fingers and crashed into the stumps at the non-striker's end before Gambhir, who was backing up too far, could get back in time. 24/2, and I was huffing. Yuvraj walked in, scratched round a bit - some thick edges falling short of slip - but soon settled in.



Cue for chaos.



The cricketing excellence of the whirlwind 221 run partnership likely has been and will be well-documented by souls better at the stuff than me, so I'm going to talk about the pure joy that partnership caused me. I haven't jumped on a sofa since I was eight, and ten years later, I found myself doing the same, cackling in joyous disbelief as Sehwag and Yuvraj picked up boundaries at will. Maybe it's because I haven't watched live cricket in a long time. Maybe this much awesomeness in one go after such a long lay-off was too much to take. I don't know. But it was a brilliant feeling.



The bowling powerplay (overs 12-16) fetched 40+ runs, and Dhoni surprised me by taking the batting powerplay immediately. The five overs fetched more than 50 runs, though, and it was that period where India really damaged Sri Lanka. It was a good move in retrospect, and served the basic principle behind a batting powerplay - make the most out of two settled batsmen having the time of their lives in the middle, rather than take it late with too much pressure and the fall of wickets. Yuvi and Viru were helped tremendously by bouts of wayward and Wholly Crappy Bowling from the Sri Lankans, of course. Farveez Maharoof started his spell well enough, but later on seemed determined to keep bowling a horrible leg-stump line, which the two batsmen - especially Yuvi - made the most of. Strike rates and bowling economies bloated to unseemly figures, and when all the powerplays were done with at the end of 21 overs, the scoreboard read 167/2, and I proceeded to pick up my dislocated jaw from the floor. None of the SL bowlers seemed determined in bowling to a field, and stuff predictably went downhill for them.



Yuvraj, amazingly, reached his century before Viru - not that Sehwag was too far behind. After the powerplays, the run-rate lessened and the two batsmen went into consolidation mode - that is, if scoring at 7.5 an over instead of 10 an over can be called that. When Yuvraj finally cut Murali to point - fetching him his world-record-equalling 502nd wicket in the process - the partnership had 221 runs in 160-odd balls. Sri Lankan fielding sucked, too - Sehwag was dropped thrice (late into his innings, mind) - by Maharoof, Fernando and Jayasuriya. Gambhir was dropped. Run-out chances were muffed. Just chaos.



Also Mendis later picked up a wicket - that of Raina - but went for more than 7 an over. Has the "Mendis code been cracked" finally? Hard to say without seeing him being played in a Test scenario, but was he walloped today! He bowled a lot of rubbish deliveries as well - come on, buck up, Mendis! But it was beautiful to see how disdainfully Yuvi handled his biggest nemesis - gone from bunny to freakin' Godzilla!



After Sehwag was run-out and Raina was stumped, Yusuf Pathan joined Dhoni in the middle. Dhoni seemed extra-sedate - even played out a freakin' maiden in the 40th - and that disappointed me a bit. Don't get me wrong - I've always been a strong supporter of the 'new' Dhoni, the Dhoni that stabilises the innings, guides the team through middle overs and so on and so forth, but sometimes I yearn to see the Dhoni of old, at least in situations like this. Just to remind everybody that the Dhoni who could tear apart bowling attacks with his trademark helicopter shots, the Dhoni who could hit near-perfect yorkers for six is not buried so deep that he can't show every now and again and thrill like he used to. Luckily, however, we've now got in Yusuf Pathan a man who can come in at seven and biff a few and do the job that used to be pre-captaincy Dhoni's, like he did yesterday, dominating a quickfire 85 run partnership with his captain, scoring a 33-ball 50 in the process. India finished at 363/5, way, way ahead of the previous best totals at the Premadasa.



Obviously if Sri Lanka were to make a fist of things, they had the perfect two men opening - Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillekeratne Dilshan, both of them in good form. Happily for the Indians, however, Jayasuriya was bowled for a golden duck by Praveen Kumar in the second over by a ball that swung in a bit. Forget happy, they were ecstatic. Understandably so. Sangakkara joined Dilshan, and the latter decided to take a leaf out of the Indians' books and began to counterattack. He played some super-shots before becoming too ambitious and was clean-bowled by an accurate Zaheer Khan, leaving SL 51/2. The till-now out-of-form Jayawardene joined Kumara Sangakkara, and started the only session of play that even hinted at threatening the Indians. The bowling powerplay (overs 11-15) fetched close to 40 runs with both Mahela and Kumara playing some scintillating shots. However the runs that came in that Powerplay had more 'good shots' involved rather than 'bad balls'. After 15, SL was 95/2, a very similar position to India at the same stage. So the difference had to be then. India had to bowl better than the Lankans did at the same stage. Mahela decided to ape Dhoni by taking the batting Powerplay (go trendsetter Dhoni! \o/) immediately, but those 5 overs fetched only 26 runs as Praveen and Zaks did an excellent job. Plus, Jayawardene's wicket was taken then, and with him gone, all chances of Lanka running India close were too. Kandamby looked good only to fall to Sehwag. Pragyan Ohja, despite an expensive start, did not lose heart or confidence and finally ended up with 4-38 at the end of his spell - excellent. Sangakkara tried valiantly with an 83, but there wasn't a single moment where it looked like the bright smile was going to disappear from Dhoni's face. Eventually SL was bowled out for 216, and India won by a whopping 147 runs, sealing the series win in the process.

I'm not one for pseudo-psychoanalyses made based on what we see of the players on TV, but even I couldn't deny that there was something infectious about the camaraderie that the players shared on the field. The perennial grin on Sehwag's face, in particular, was contagious and had me grinning like a maniac, with an inexplicably overwhelming love for humanity and everything concerned with it. I love the togetherness of this team, how it is so obvious that they like and support each other, without having to say it in cliche-ridden press conferences.

Uh... sorry for the uber-long ramble, but I enjoyed this game so much, I really did. I probably won't be able to watch another live match after this series gets over for another couple of months at least, so I'm extra glad that the boys made it extra-special so it stays an evergreen memory (because, obviously, the world revolves around me :p ).

Plus, Balaji can bowl in the next couple of one-dayers!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *dances*

Scramble for the light

So after a month, I'm finally back home - mostly because of all the unrest that's going on here related to the war and unrest in Sri Lanka. I feel a strange kind of disconnect and even guilt, though, as the only Sri Lanka-related news I'm interested in catching up on is the progress of the national cricket team playing (yet another, yet another) ODI series there, and not on the lives lost, the mistrust and the unholy mess that is the decades-old conflict that is supposed to (so they say, with fiery, graphic forwards and demonstrations) involve me by proxy, as a Tamilian. I'm not even sure why I feel this, since neither the ODI series nor the war is anything I can do something about, so what I choose to follow is entirely my own, no baggage involved.

... Anyway.

The first ODI played - Dambulla, day match and I fretted briefly remembering the last two matches that were played there between the two sides, but finally I had nothing to worry about. It wasn't all that easy to bat on, but the Evergreen and Always Rocking Jayasuriya blasted a century anyway - and India won anyway. Rather comfortably, actually - aided by good, steady batting from everybody, intelligent bowling and captaincy, and lapses of concentration and incompetence from the Lankans. Plus, the last two times the two faced off in Dambulla? Ajantha Mendis still held his magical sway over the Indian batsmen that had them trooping off to the dressing room one after the other as if in a spell, while Zaheer Khan was experiencing an amazingly rich vein of form - probably the best he'll ever have in his career. Result? Not once did either team cross 150 in the four innings. This time around, however, not only did the pitch behave different, Mendis and Zaks were both out of their Magical Zones and it was back to the usual stuff needed to win ODIs. And this Indian team goes about that business with the precision and efficiency that reminds one of a machine. Strange that watching a machine could make you so excited - but I am, I love what this Indian team promises, I am so looking forward to seeing their ambition blossom into fruition.

Also I was impressed by how quickly the Indian team got themselves back on track, seemingly picking up from where they left against England, despite the long lay-off from international cricket. Traces of rustiness was present, but nothing glaringly obvious or match-costing.

But really, the best thing about that ODI? Ajantha Mendis's bowling figures: 10-0-47-0.

That's right, people. No wickets. Oh, have I been waiting for the day. Sure, the kid's allowed a temporary slump, as new as he is to international cricket, and the Indians have come a long, long way since the Asia Cup Final 6 for 13 nightmare days - had to have, just had to - but I would often point out, almost bitterly, that come hell or high weather, win or loss, jaffas or crappy bowling, Mendis always gets a wicket. Always. Now, though? The Mendis is not Elusive. He is still Spendid (due courtesy to Damith of flyslip for the term), with potential to become Splendider, but he has to work harder for his wickets now. No more a flick of the middle finger and the batsman scurries off to the pavilion. This be Good, but for there was nothing more that annoyed me than the willing way the Indian batsmen capitulated to his so-called 'mystery bowling' last time they faced him, especially in the Test series. Guts, innovation, confidence, positivity - and suddenly Mendis is blinking.

Then the focus shifted to the second ODI in Premadasa, and it's a day-nighter. Again, fret-inducing memories of playing daynighters in Sri Lanka from last time around, and how the ball seems to do strange things under lights, but again, the effect this time wasn't as drastic as the last time around. India won the toss, batted first (predictably enough) and after a superb start, suffered a few brain-fades in between, coupled with some excellent Powerplay bowling by Maharoof, and ended up 256/9, which while on its own was an excellent total to defend in the Premadasa, was at least 30-35 runs short of where the Indians should've been considering their start, all the batsmen who got out after settling, and the sheer superiority of their batting lineup, with no offence to the Sri Lankan lineup. We started our defence well enough, too, ripping quickly through the SL top-order, but then lost focus in some of the Powerplay overs, allowed Kandamby of The Few International Matches and Jayawardene Of the Bad Form to climb on top of our nerves (in their own paint-drying-on-a-wall way) and set up things for a last-ditch attempt to overhaul the Indian total, which ultimately failed, as Ishant bowled magnificently at the death, choked the Lankans, run-outs abounded, and the Indians emerged victorious by 15 runs, while Ishi deservedly captured the MoM award for his four-fer.

"India clinch thriller" the headlines announced. "Survive Kandamby scare." And then: "Dhoni admits to losing his cool" as if that was an incredible thing. Dude's human, people.

What interested me was Dhoni's response to his team's performance in the ODI. Any other captain would've primarily just been pleased, especially considering that Kandamby was threatening to take the game away from the Indians at one point, but Dhoni instead chose to focus on the areas that had put them in the spot of bother in the first place. He's not just satisfied with winning - he wants to win well. With 100% commitment from each and every player. He admitted that there was no clear planning about bowling in the Powerplays, and the confusion caused Dhoni to lose his cool briefly, and Expose his Wrath. This attitude seems to have rubbed off on his teammates as well, with Ishant Sharma admitting that it was not one of his better performances even while collecting the Man of the Match award. Personally? I think it's a great attitude to have, and Dhoni's constant warnings against complacency have great arguments backing them. Sure, the Indians hadn't played an ODI before this for 2 months, it's easy to dismiss the lapses, even Dhoni's expressiveness as traces of rustiness, but they aren't hiding behind excuses. Not anymore. It's about identifying problems, and rectifying them immediately. It's about striving toward perfection, a scramble for a light they probably will never reach, but will kick up a lot of glorious dust doing so (and damn if I'm not hot on the metaphors today).

This is one of the many reasons I adore MSD.

I make no bones of the fact that I fangirl Dhoni more than anybody else in the world, but my adoration of the man goes beyond his good-looks, cricket, style, money and all that good stuff. He's a polar opposite to me, and therefore everything I strive to be: focussed, uncomplicated, accepting responsibilities as they come, hard-working, humble and open. Proving that if you are focussed enough on what you do, you will be successful. He had never clamoured for captaincy, never expressed a desire to do so, and had never captained a team in his life before. And yet, when the ultimate responsibility is thrust on him out of the blue - the job they call second-most difficult to that of the Prime Minister's - he took to it without complaint or gloat, all dedication and focus. A neat segregation of duties. On-field: cricket. Off-field: No cricket, all the good stuff, ads, movies, bonding. No mixing of the two, no distraction. It's just about everything I want to be, put into a neat nutshell: I was so unsure whether I was fit to take the profession I'm studying for, so unsure of the responsibilities and of my responses to various situations, but hey, if Dhoni's focus and self-belief can take him through, why can't mine? Focus, one game after the other. Focus, one study topic after the other. I can make it through.

So MSD's more than awesome fangirl-material. He is Inspiration. More than Tendukar, or the Middle Order. More than Amitabh Bachchan, or Abhinav Bindra, or Shah Rukh Khan, or any of the other usual suspects.

... Um. Yeah. But I'm feeling melancholy and emotional, and this had to be told.

So. MSD and co.? Keep perfecting yourselves. Keep up the scrambling. Keep making us proud(er).

Whatever happens next ODI (which I have a sneaking feeling SL will win. >.>).

Addendum: I'm not going to say A WORD about South Africa whupping the Aussies 4-1 in the ODI series. Nope. Except: Hee! *glee* \o/

And New Zealand? Geez, how difficult can you make a chase after your bowlers did all the good work?

Shoaib Malik, you poor thing. I used to like you once. And I don't like Younis Khan becoming captain. He was offered the job after Inzi's retirement, but acted so precious and refused the job. Right now, if I had the power? I'd say "Eff you all" and appointed Misbah as the captain, Salman Butt his deputy. And not just because they happen to be the only two good-looking men in the Pakistani team (honestly, I swear!). Aside from the occasional brain-fades after working his team into a winning position, Misbah looks like a sensible, well-liked person, not prone to dramatic gestures or parroting the same-old same-old flabby cliches (yes, Shoaib Malik, I'm looking at YOU).

... Oof.