Numero Uno

The indian cricket team was recently declared the no.1 ranked team in test cricket based on the ranking point system of the international and council. Firstly congrats to them on this feat and cheers to all my fellow team India supporters.

Over the last 3 years the Indian team has worked its ass off in the longer format of the game. Important series’ have been won , both overseas and on home soil. The factors leading to our success have been plenty. Firstly the sacking of a certain greg chappel who quite frankly isn’t capable of coaching his grandson’s elementary school team. Next, as hurtful as it is, Rahul Dravid’s resignation from captaincy was extremely vital. As brilliant as the man is, his methods were one-dimensional to say the least. Another major contributor is the fact that the fusion of young blood and experience in the team has happened with minimum fuss. The most important factor is that transfer of leadership from Anil Kumble to M.S.Dhoni has been flawless. Major credit goes to Mr. Lalchand Rajput as well as Gary Kirsten.

The most disappointing development recently however was the sacking of Robin Singh and Venky Prasad. Venkatesh Prasad was not only responsible of infusing the team with young talent in the form of Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha , but also contributed immensely for the comeback of Ashish Nehra. Robin Singh taught this team how to field. Being appointed after the series in England, just before the T20 world cup in 2007, he brought about a whirlwind change in the teams fielding. Especially after the team dropped around 50 catches in 5 matches in that England series.

Bcci also needs to be thanked for the removal of the most racist and daft selector of all time, Dilip vengsarkar, who despite knowing about the country’s pool of talent, persisted with cricketing illiterates like Ramesh Powar and Ajit Agarkar just because they play for Mumbai.

The ride over the last 2 years has been brilliant. Kumble’s brilliant spells at perth. Sehwag’s awesomeness in sri lanka and in Chennai against south Africa. Ishant sharma’s arrival against Pakistan. Tendulkar’s records against Australia in India. Gambhir’s resilience in napier. The records speak for themselves. I sincerely hope and pray that the run continues and this team gives us a million more such memories.