Keep winning

The first day of the week is an important one for all of us. And when you gear up for the grind ahead, getting to hear good news from the sporting arena is a huge boost.

I woke up on Monday hearing the good news that my good friend Mahesh Bhupathi had won his 40th doubles title with a new partner at the Super 9 in Canada, and Sania Mirza had climbed up one place in the WTA rankings. But what fans really were waiting for was the Indian cricket team to win the Test series in England.

All day long, TV channels were dissecting the Indian team, and the ‘gurus’ of yesteryears had their own opinions: Dravid should have enforced the follow-on, RP Singh had been underbowled and Sachin has got to tweak his arm more. And, of course, how Harbhajan would have been useful.

I am convinced about one thing, former cricketers who give opinions don’t usually have the best ones. I think the average Indian cricket fan, whoever he or she may be, understands the sport so intricately, opinions from Jadeja and company hardly matter.

We all know, a 2-0 win would have been better, but if that didn’t happen, do we go hammer and tongs at Rahul Dravid and his boys? I wouldn’t think so, since in what had been a miserable start to the year, getting bounced out of the World Cup early was so damaging. And when we had some needless drama over Guru Greg exiting and Graham Ford supposed to come, cricket was actually taking a backseat.

Luckily for Indian fans, who actually are a forgiving lot, the wins in Bangladesh went down well and Ireland, too, was a happy hunting ground. And what of the Tests in England? Well, we almost lost the first one, won the second and the third was ours, or so it seemed till the weakness in bowling again surfaced.

Yet, the fact remains our bowling -- four seamers and just one spinner -- is not always going to be good enough to take 20 wickets. Zaheer Khan’s burst in the second Test was inspirational, but on Monday, our bowling looked ragged.

Experts talk of Dravid the skipper having a defensive mindset, but heck, what does he do if his bowlers can’t take wickets on the last day? By night, when the third Test was confined to a draw, expert opinions were more pronounced. But I think, realising the next day was a working day, the real fan went to bed happy to know India had won the series, a feat achieved in England after 21 years.

And what of Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania. Well, they have made sure, Indian tennis is now spoken of in cities as far as Canada and the US. Just as we have the one-dayers promising more action, I am sure the US Open, starting in New York on August 27 will also be equally exciting.

Not bad in times when we have the Prime Minister boring us with the N stuff in Parliament!