Chandigarh: It was a perfect finish to a perfect home season. After humbling Australia 2-0 in a four-test series and blanking England 5-0 in the one-dayers, lifting the RBS cup was the icing on the cake for Team India.
Now, it is this winning momentum which needs to be kept intact, even though Indian skipper M S Dhoni says, "We don't really need to focus on rankings, we just need to focus on cricket."
The raw material for a charge up the rankings is in place and the names in the Indian batting lineup are enough to send shivers down the spine of bowling attacks around the world. The latest jewel in the Indian battling lineup crown is Gautam Gambhir, who reeled off over 800 runs in the season to announce his pedigree.
Gambhir says, "I think it is just the hunger for runs because I haven't got this easily. It is important to make it count when you are in good nick."
And Dhoni can even call upon the bowling talent, which will hold the key in future matches. While Harbhajan and Amit Mishra were below par against England, in Ishant Sharma and the Man of the Series against England, Zaheer Khan, a formidable new ball pair is in place.
Zaheer Khan says, "He provides that extra pace which is required at this level. It is good to bowl in tandem with him because I can maintain my line and length and I can do the restricting job and he can be the attacking bowler."
So who will it be that snatches away Australia's crown? India or South Africa? To this, cricket journalist, Angus Fraser says, "South Africa are a very good side, but I just think India's spin bowling gives them the slight edge."
There is no cricket slated for Team India over the next couple of months, but there is little doubt that we now have a team worthy of etching their names in history.
(With inputs from Amit Bose in New Delhi)
Comments
0 comment