India wins first series against Pakistan in PAK 3-2

India won its first series in PAK today, its been a long time since India had won a One-day series. It feels good to see the Indian team bounce back from 1-2 down in the series and also shedding the tag of chokers in the process. It was a very very close game, the margin of victory (40 runs) doesnt tell the story of how close the game was.....ask those who were watching!!!!!!!!!!!! everyone was very tensed and was hoping that Pak gets all out as we had the doubt that if they batted the stipulated 50 overs they may attain the target, though it seemed improbable...but thats how the series had been!!!!!!! when a team was counted out of th game it bounced back tremendously to make the match close if not win it.

India-Pak series has always been a much-waited series as the tension in each of the games is unbelievable....u need to expereince it to know how it feels!!!!!!!! the joy when the indian team wins and the disappointment when we lose....but its a part of the game....this series was termed "Friendship series"....it was a friendship series off the field not on the field!!!!!! u could see the intensity in the players during all the games.....that didnt look like a friendship series!!!!!!!!! I think the politicians coined that term for the series as I feel cricket is a game and the players had gone there to win matches but not to solve the Kashmir problem or to reduce the tension between the two countries so the term "Friendship series" is very veyr inappropriate.

Back to the matches.....each game had a common factor....Ganguly losing the toss..hehehehe but I guess that was lucky too as we ended up on the winning side. I find it really strange when people I watch cricket with start commenting on everyone else expect Sachin.....I find that very very irritating and the criticism the other players have to face (not in person) is unbelievable....Ganguly...such a great player...yes, he is a great player....a player cannot make over 9000 runs by fluke!!!!!!!!!! he is having a bad patch that doesnt mean that he doesnt deserve a spot on the team as a player....he has been criticised a lot but never supported....everyone fails...sachin had a bad patch in AUS, then everyone said that it was a bad patch and it will go....he was very very inconsistent and failed in the first three tests before he fought back with that double century....people were patient then but the same people are not ready to give Ganguly the time to get back into touch....I still feel he should open the innings...he was the best there and he belongs there....like how sachin didnt click when he came down the order and was back in form once sent back to the opening slot I think Ganguly will fire too if he gets the opening slot. As a captain what he did is unparalleled....people often forget that he made the difference in the attitude of the players by backing them up when they were down and encouraging them when they did well.....he gets under the skin of the opposition with his verbal volleys which none of the past Indian captains were successful with....u can see the results of the Indian team since he took over as the skipper....the records speak for themselves....

Laxman.....he did a splendid job today....people were cursing him for not firing so far this series but he laid all the questions abt his form to rest with his century today....I found it absolutely disgusting when people started cursing him for slowing down in his 90's when he actually was scoring run-a-ball or more (same thing with dravid in the first match)...people were like...this guy should get out then only india will score more....he is wasting balls....he is costing us the match.....rubbish talk all this....whats wrong if he slows down for an over or 2 to get to his century and then accelerate he worked hard for the century and he deserved it so let him get to it......the so called "genius" and "little master" also does the same thing....once he gets to his 85's or 90's he slows down too...that too considerably....then these same people will say whats wrong with that....thats bias...I agree there is nothing wrong with that but that should apply to other people too.....someone said that sachin would have gotten his century by the 35th or 40th over had he been there so its ok if he slows down then.....so is it laxman's or dravid's fault that they come down the order and get to the 90's in the slog overs????? thats very unfair to ask them to try to accelerate and in the process miss the hundred for the team sake....people say "they shoudl think abt the team....and not abt the records" thats rubbish....whats wrong in scoring a century and also scoring runs for the team......century is not a everyday thing...so when u get close to it u tend to get a bit cautious....there is nobody who is an exception to this.......the only person I have seen who never stays in his 80's or 90's for long is Azhar....I have atleast seen him hit out 4-5 times when he was in his 90's and get to his hundred. in one instance....he was on 82 the next 4 balls were....6,4,6,4.....now thats something one cannot do everyday.

dravid.....scored 243 runs this series.....highest aggregate for India and 2nd only to Inzy in the series.....but people still criticise him....what else should a player do ??? people criticise his keeping....but i guess he is such a true team person that he is taking it in his stride....he is not a keeper but took up the role for team's sake....the team management has forced him to continue keeping when he has expressed his dissatisfaction.....and when he misses something people will be extra critical....he is doing his best for the team so give him credit for that and try to be a bit more open minded and less critical of this outstanding player.

as a matter of fact....let ask the sachin fans a stat.....how many times in the past 3-4 years has Sachin come good in a clutch match....I am sure there are some but not that many....he is a great player...no doubt abt that... but dont look down upon the others and criticise the other players....people will say sachin scored a century in the Chennai test against AUS.....but the clucth was Calcutta when laxman and Dravid came good......chennai test against PAK....sachin on 100 something....great knock...didnt take us home....considering that he was the last of the recognised batsman barring mongia....same scene Adelaide test.....dravid saw us thru to the end when it looked that India might get all-out....stood there till the end.....

I know that the sachin fans out there are ready to jump at the chance to criticise the above blog....but i had to put forward my thoughts:):)