All-Round Speak
India, Pakistan on even keel
Irrespective of what happens in the finals, Twenty20 cricket would be a watershed moment in Indian cricket. All those critics who feel there is not enough talent in the country; Indians wimp on foreign pitches; juniors are not yet ready and that cricket is losing its sheen would better do a rethink. I am told it’s a mass hysteria in India and things are no different in Durban, which has the biggest Indian population living outside the homeland.
My worry, till the game against England, was that seniors were not pulling their weight. Ajit Agarkar was awry; Yuvraj had failed in the first two games, Virender Sehwag had not done enough and all Mahender Singh Dhoni was left with was to repair the innings.
Juniors still were not known as match-winners. Nobody knew who would ignite the spark. Then everything in the jigsaw puzzle fell in place. Openers set a platform against England and Yuvraj blazed away; it was Rohit Sharma who seized the moment against South Africa.
If anything, Yuvraj’s innings against Australia was still better. The best clean effortless hitting I have seen in a long, long time. He had a platform to work upon against South Africa but here the innings was withering away at 50/1 in the 10th over.
Nobody discounts Australia till the last ball and so when Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden began shifting gears, heads began to drop in the stands. But not with Sreesanth who glared and glowered; and cleaned up both in two spells.
The final act was left to Joginder Sharma, quite likely a choice by default in the final over as Dhoni had run out of options.
India and Pakistan start the final on an even keel. It’s amazing how teams that were knocked out so early in the World Cup will actually lift the trophy on Monday night — at least one of them. They have earned their stripes by beating South Africa and Australia. An India-Pakistan final, for the prime time audience in the subcontinent — who’s writing the script for Twenty20 anyway?
Asian Age