I watched most part of the fourth and final day of the fourth and final test between India and Australia. Man...What a game. I noticed few interesting things in this match. One of them is the way Sachin Tendulkar played. He was very aggressive, on the offense and was full of confidence. This is the real Sachin that made him so famous. This is the guy that we all know. I personally believe this is the way he should play; his natural game. I cannot buy his excuses like he is matured, old, he cannot play like that, he has to stay and maintain his wicket...blah...blah.
One more thing I noticed is the reason he got out. I don't know how many noticed, but I would say VVS Laxman was the reason for Sachin to get out. I've been watching cricket for more than 2 decades. I have observed one very clear thing. When a batsman is on the roll, hitting well and the other batsman, doesn't rotate the strike to give more chances to the aggressive guy, he gets really frustrated. And after a while when he gets the strike back, he tends to play shots which usually he won't play, even in aggressive form. And usually he gets out. The same phenomenon happened today. Sachin was hitting Nathan Hauritz for 6's and 4's. But VVS Laxman, after that over, did not rotate the strike he occupied the batting crease for a while denying Sachin more strikes. Then after some time Sachin came and played a sweep shot and got a top edge and was caught. I hate players who don't rotate strike.
Coming back to the issue of VVS Laxman, I still stand by what I said earlier. Even though he scored some runs, he MUST be dropped from the team. He is not consistent. He should not be in the team. I'm glad Murali Kartik received Man of the Match. I think he deserved it. One more thing I would like to appreciate is the fact that both Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting was invited to receive the Border-Gavaskar Series trophy. Gilly did a fantastic job.
I couldn't believe Ricky Ponting was talking like a cry-baby. He was blaming the pitch for their defeat. I think every country have their own strengths and weakness. Let's face the truth. Indian's don't bat well in fast, bouncy pitches, and the Aussies can't play well in pitches which turn a lot. I think Ricky Ponting should have gracefully embraced the defeat, and accepted the fact that India outplayed them. But instead, he went on to blame the pitch. That was pathetic. So after all Aussies are not invincible. They can't play in a wicket like this whereas India can.