Well, Team Jaipur more or less walked to the top of the IPL table with the eight-wicket win over Team Hyderabad on Friday, but we know we have to keep up the good work. Tomorrow will be a tough game for us, because the Delhi Daredevils play a hard, aggressive game, and have a great balance between batting and bowling, with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir taking bowlers to pieces at the top of the order and Glenn McGrath and Mohammed Asif to take care of the bowling.
On Friday, once the batsmen collapsed after Adam Gilchrist’s dismissal (a crucial wicket for us), the Hyderabad fielders, perhaps because of the dust storm that was blowing across the stadium, did not really apply any pressure on us. Things had looked different at the start because Gilly had said his batsmen wanted to put up a total that his bowlers could defend. He certainly led the way, starting off with that cover drive off the first ball of Sohail’s over and then playing a cut to backward point. And when he that was thanks largely to our bowlers. In fact, unlike most of the other teams, our bowling is our asset rather than our batting, though I don’t mean we are a bad batting line-up. It’s just that except for one occasion when we had to chase down a total in excess of 200, we’ve never really been under pressure to overhaul a large target. Our bowlers, with Shane Warne at the helm, have largely stuck to the basics, not attempted anything fancy, and been consistently successful. And Team Jaipur have certainly been the success story of this tournament.
Some might say that we’re peaking too early, but that’s not how I see it. Winning is a habit, flicked Shane Watson to square leg for six and glanced Munaf Patel to fine leg for four, things were looking ominous.
But we recovered really well after his dismissal, and as many successful people have pointed out, and I think the more we win, the more we will want to win. I have really enjoyed being part of this winning combination, and content to take a relative backseat because big hitters like Yusuf Pathan surround me. I realise I will have to come out all guns blazing soon enough, but the situation has not arisen yet.
After Sunday’s game, we’ve been promised a trip to Goa, which is a state and city that I have never visited on my several trips to India. I have been told it’s very beautiful, and it would be an excellent idea to recharge our batteries before we take on the challenge of the remaining matches.
Source: The Times of India, Mumbai, 11th May 2008
Back