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We’re really warming to the batting powerplay. Brought in to try and give the idiots more fours and sixes, you’ve got to love the way cricket has micturated all over those well laid plans.
If England bat out five maidens in their batting powerplay losing one wicket in the process, they consider that a success. On Saturday, India took theirs with the score reading 253-1 after 38 overs. Shortly afterwards, they were 296 all out. Quiver at the power of that batting. Classic powerplay cricket.
We’ll avoid the M word, but India’s efforts were the exact opposite of New Zealand’s against Pakistan. The two teams made virtually the same score, but where New Zealand’s finish was worth an extra 100 for how it crushed their opponents’ spirit, India’s finish was worth 100 to the opposition.
This was where India lost the match really, even if Ashish Nehra was the one who got to bask in the actual moment of defeat. Sourav Ganguly had some complimentary words for Nehra earlier in the match. He said:
“The best thing about Ashish Nehra is the amount of pain he goes through.”
We’ve all got our strengths. Ours is a constant sense of guilt.
Ashish Nehra simply looks like an object of pity and not like a winner.
I know he destroyed England in the 2003 WC, but that was England in the World Cup, for pity’s sake.
And even then India did not go on to be winners. And even in his moment of temporary glory, Ashish Nehra upchucked.
But I digress…
I like Ashish Nehra for his teeth. And his wild gesticulations. And his holding of fielders to a higher standard than himself. And his hands-on-the-hips helplessness on being hit out of the ground.
Most of all I love him because he is the exact antithesis of Steve Waugh, in both attitude and achievement.
It is rather unwise to read too much into India’s implosion the other day IMHO – they have been so successful in batting of late that I tend to dismiss it as an off-day. But the fact remains that India has not beaten a major team so far in this WC – they faltered against both England and SA.
Wake me up when it is the quarters.
I will always remember Ashish Nehra running through England’s batting order in 2003 and celebrating by running around like an aeroplane with broken wings.
I’ll admit, i didn’t know what ‘micturated’ meant. Great word, KC, once i found out its definition, i pissed myself.
So is micturate the new “M” word, then?
As in “let’s take 9 wickets for 30-odd runs at the end of their innings – then we’ll take micturation into our innings…”
i dont know why a great batting line up like india crashes every time in powerplay may be the mind set or pressure handling capacity is the thing where we are lacking
live matches of world cup and ipl-4