The meek disintegretion of haughty Australian cricketers at Hyderabad made a very pathetic sight.Their urgent reverting to practice on a turning pitch on the residual time of fourth day and part of the fifth day,was metaphorically, like locking the stable after the horse had bolted.Anyway two Test matches are still to be played and the Aussies would certainly be very keen to restore some pride.
Indian cricketers are rollicking at the moment of glory and deservedly,so. But given the erratic record of oscillations between resounding victory and ignominious defeats,there has to be a word of caution always. These victories are convincing and glimpses of an emerging new resurgent team India is noticeable,which augurs well for the future.But the victory should not make the cricketers too relaxed and complacent to forget that every other day in the field against a strong opponent is another fresh day of trial and tribulations and there is nothing like resting in peace ever after a win in international sports as it is fiercely competitive.
There has to be necessarily a review of the physical fitness of every member of the team, to imbibe the standard like that of the fighting fit Tendulkar, even in the twilight years of his remarkable career.Fielding and running between the wickets have scope for improvement.Saving runs by alert and dedicated applications and stealing runs under the nose of opponent fielders is an art,provided the fitness level is superb.In a highly competitive sport every trick in the trade and improvisations are important to flummox the opposition.It was not a pleasant sight to find fielders in the silly point and short leg position,stretching themselves or looking the other way even before the ball came, instead of diving instinctively to grab sharp half chance of a catch.Since our attack is spin based,this extraordinary art is essential for effective grip on matches.The ilks of Solkar and Johnty Rhodes are rare to find but a level of high competency in, at least one to two fielders in these specialist areas can not be over emphasized.It is a hazardous task but every professional sport has nothing less.
Dhoni,s brawny way of handling the opposition attack has given the Aussies a taste of their own medicine of the physical side.He has also tricked them to believe that field gaps were left unwisely, for batsman's exploitation and manoeuvering,which was indeed a ploy to the lurking nemesis against the tweaks of the turning ball.Bravo,so far, but farther to go a long way to stamp authority. Dhoni must not allow reservations against any player to under utilise them to the detriment of team and national interest.International cricket pitch is not the best place to settle personal scores.
