With the dust slowing settling down on one of the recent extravaganzas in sporting history,it's time to review some of the performances.The winners have shown that with some astute captaincy, even underdogs can change in into an formidable unit. ..Australia has definitely missed warnie ---- the captain. And the other man who has really been improving with time to time has been M.S.DHONI .His batting skills have never in doubt but as a captain he has improved leaps and bounds over the years .He has really matured as a player playing some smart and sensible cricket ,showing some amazing consistency over the last year and managing players from different geographies and handling them really well and going up the order ,taking the lead and setting good example for other players.It has really showcased the bench strength of the country.It has really helped bring out some of the best potentials in the country. Somebody who has impressed me again and again was the man who has be puzzling batsmen over years --- Glenn Mcgrath.He might not have ended up on the winning side or have taken the maximum wickets of the tournament,but has shown he can be effective even in this form of cricket,where power hitting is the norm.What his bowling has emphasised is there is no substitute of classical bowling .The problem for batsmen is that he is never in double mind and he is keeping it so simple ,hitting the "corridor of uncertainty" consistently. The above holds good for sachin tendulkar with delicate classical cuts and masterly cover drives, and shaun pollock who impressed me with his all round performances and clever pace changes. The older players never seem to wilt with age and look like old wine getting better and better as age progresses.
What really frustrated me many of the younger players do not seem to have learnt from these great players and seem to repeat their mistakes toooo many times .As far as bowlers are concerned with no time to settle down and you need to get into a rhythm right from the word go,variety was the key and Pragyan ojha showed great amount of temperament getting wickets after being hit for runs and doing the old time tested technique ---flighting the ball and has been rewarded with a test match berth .On the batting front too there seem to be many positives with parthiv patel ,shaun marsh and rohit sharma seem to me the best of the tournament.The good thing about them were they were not slogging ,all clean cricketing strokes.And it also showcased the level of professionalism in australian cricket displayed by ,shane watson, james hopes -everything all round performances
Only thing that needs attention is case of sporting wickets. If the wickets are more sporting ,the bowlers can have more say in the course of the match.
I feel the Only darker side of T20 is that it might take the beauty away from test cricket and to an extent ODI's .The true test of a cricketer is test cricket. T20 might be a money spinner and great entertainment for the crowds but a cricketer's career I feel is 99% test cricket and remaining 1 % ODI's ,T20's , T10,s ,T 5's bla,bla,bla ....... Test cricket is what makes or break a cricketer. It thoroughly exposes the talents as a cricketer . It exposes everything u need as a sportsman fitness,agility,temperament,passion for the game,your technical superiority,ur approach to the game,equanimity .......... almost everything related to the game as a batsmen ,bowler ,fielder .This is what has happened in the case of ppl. like yuvraj singh who was found wanting in technique and thoroughly exposed in the test series against australia and likely to expose others in the near future.
