6th ODI, India vs England. India needing 25 of 13 deliveries, I saw Dhoni got bowled. My instant statement for my flaties was to stop watching cricket - Team India needs character, probably a coach like SRK (sorry for being too kiddish/filmish), in no time I had to eat my words.
I saw a spectacular display of character from Uthappa. A young lad from silicon city of India, and for sure this guy has an attitude to die for. Some of his earlier opening stands have been demolishing to say the least, today it was "cometh the day, cometh the man!" He came as a man with a mission, he wanted his place in India back and he could'nt have asked for a bigger stage.
Again like a typical Indian, I just have praise for him, afterall he made us win an all important match. As they say, "the best one-day matches are decided in tight finishes and, when the life of a series hangs in that balance, it makes the tension that much more real." To me, like Mr. Gavaskar and others he is the Man of the Match.
Having praised, we must realize that they are all humans and they will have ups and downs in life. Dhoni for instance was a find a couple of seasons back, got household name, posters everywhere, signed tonns of commercials, can hit the ball which will never come back, can hit a ball to Mars, what not, give me a break dude!! Here he was unable to play a straight shot and believe me or not, he is the best and only bet to replace our current kaptan. Is Dhoni by any standards close to our big 3? Answer is a NO. But we don't have a bigger cricketer than him in the current league, then who is at fault?
Dhoni? Probably, popularity gone over his head and he has already minted a lot, whats the need of playing more, better he insures money with GE money and roams around India with Narain using SPEED (or whatever crap of gasoline they sell). I believe its us, we make cricketers enter our bedroom thru television, we make them heros overnight, its not all about winning a couple of matches, its about wining consistently, performing in indian pitches and international pitches, its about playing for INDIA, playing for India to WIN.
Think it lacks in all the current breed of cricketers as they get instant publicity. Hope Uthappa has a good head on his shoulder and he keeps playing to make us proud rather than failing like our other Natwest hero - Kaif. Btw is he still in India? or is he playing for a county? or better for Indian cricket, has he joined ICL?
2 comments:
I don't give a rats ass about Dhoni!.....to me what matters is the performance of the player when it matters the most.....Just like Uthappa showed today..To me Dhoni has been a disappointment in this series so far....You just pray to god when he's out there that he doesn't throw away his wicket at a crucial juncture.....just plays too many aerial shots!!
For me Robin Uthappa is the real Man of the Match. Period.
Mathew Prior.. man .. India needs to give that guy something.. I am sure if any other wicket keeper should have stopped some 20-30 runs and could have taken 1-2 catches than this fellow.
Hey nice to see Venkatesh Prasad celebrate in the balcony and the way Yuvraj came down to hug uthappa.. any guesses ... one is a bowler who gave five consecutive sixes and the other is his coach...
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