As the curtains came down in Beijing,India's bronze medallists ushered a new era in Indian Sports,an era which offers more than a glimmer of hope for sportsmen who come from a-not- so affluent background.During the past couple of weeks,the spotlight has shifted from the cricketers to Vijender Kumar and Sushil Kumar.These men have been making headlines overshadowing even the Nuclear deal ;their photos are being splashed all over leading National dailies.I kid u not,before the Beijing Olympics 2008 almost the whole nation remained benighted about these boys. *bemusement*.Definitely,its not been a bed of roses for these small town boys.Their sporting careers was fought tooth and nail to finish.Go over thier careers with a fine-tooth comb; startling revelations in their life would surprise anyone.
When I looked up at my calendar,rubbing my eyes,little did I realize that 11th August,2008 was going to be an unforgettable day in the history of Indian Sports as 25 yr old Abhinav Bindra shot his way to eternal glory in the 2008,Beijing Olympics.Dont pinch yourself,this is no dream,the ace Indian shooter came from behind to win Independent India’s first ever individual gold medal.
After the halcyon days of the IPL,the gruelling one day series in the sub continent its back to the gentlemen in white!!!!The three match test series promises a lot of drama and adventure and the stakes are high for both the teams in different scenarios altogether.
If the tour game is anything to go by though the players have been scratchy but I guess except for V.V.S.Laxman almost all the Indian batsmen did spend some time in the middle.It is imperative that they get into their groove before the first test at SSC,Colombo on the 23 rd of July
The Indian side is actually well balanced.With the exclusion of Jaffer,in all probability Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag would open together.The duo have had a number of fruitful partnerships of late and India would be hoping that their good run continues in this form of cricket as well.The middle order doesn’t need any introduction, with the stalwarts Rahul,Sachin,Sourav,Laxman bolstering the batting.
Coming lower down the order,Dinesh Kartick would be occupying the wicket keeper slot in the absence of Dhoni.Dhoni’s withdhrawal resurfaces the debate on player burnout.Its been a bold and and honest decision by him after a continuous 18 month cricket ‘ season’.
India’s bowling attack led by the skipper himself would look to exploit the conditions in the Emerald Isle and the it has been boosted by the return of pace spearhead Zaheer Khan.All in all,a well knit Indian unit hungry for a series win in the island.
An in-form Indian outfit will start as favourites in the Asia Cup to be hosted by Pakistan. The six nation tournament is set to commence from 24th June 2008 and shall consist of three of the top cricket playing nations in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and will be flanked by Bangladesh, Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates. Led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India lost by a very thin margin to an unpredictable Shoaib Malik led Pakistan in the recently concluded tri-series in Bangladesh. However, India armed with the most balanced team in the tournament, is expected to easily cruise past minnows such as Hong Kong apart from stronger teams in Pakistan and Sri Lanka to clinch the coveted trophy.
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