While the rains lashed down at Bengaluru and the southern part of the country, one took time off from one’s personal schedule to play some cricket. It was a great experience to play after quite some time, that too in America! I was amazed by the quality of the two venues where I was present personally. For me, this is a series that is here to stay. Cricketers will come and go as it is hard for the champions to maintain form and fitness after they finish playing international cricket, but then for 2-3 years after retirement they will provide good cricket to the fans in America and viewers all over the world.
The drop-in pitch prepared by the curators from Auckland was terrific and it was great to see the likes of Sachin and Ponting bat so well. Warne, Vettori and Swann are still very competitive with Vettori being the best, and that is what is special about this event. It gave me a lot of happiness to pick up the bat again and I am already looking forward to next season. Sachin and Shane have organised a meet of international standards and many players will love being a part of it.
Coming back to the washed-out Test I strongly feel South Africa got out of jail at Bengaluru, keeping their hopes alive in the Test series. The Proteas’ batting has just not been able to stand up against the spin attack of India. Except for a few, it is an inexperienced batting line-up in spinning conditions. What has hit South Africa most is the lack of form of their top players, Amla and Faf.
The entire burden is thus on AB but the superman has found a way to score runs in these tough conditions. I heard someone say, during the first Test, that AB looked like a ‘cat on a hot tin roof’ but as I watched his batting on a vicious turner I realised that it was the only way to survive on the pitches at Mohali and Bengaluru. We saw him bat differently at Mumbai in the last ODI and take a different approach on turning pitches in the two Tests. It is this adaptability that makes him so great in all conditions.
For India, the biggest positive is runs from Shikhar Dhawan. I thought critics were a bit harsh on him after his failure at Mohali as he had got a 100 in his previous Test at Galle. He is good player in these conditions; most importantly, he scores runs at a good pace, which is important to win matches.
Rain has given South Africa a good chance to bounce back and, with some additional days’ rest, Dale Steyn will get more time to recover fully. South Africa, at present, however, is way behind India and will need to lift their game enormously if they hope to keep intact their record of not losing a series away from home in recent years.
— Gameplan
