Tendu...Ten don't!

The headline inspired from an Amul ad from the 90's is the perfect line that beautifully summarizes everyone's feelings.

It took me a while to sit and write down a post since I could not get out of the whole depression. As Yogesh pointed out in his log how I had lost my cool and was on the look out for Jadeja and would probably kill him, I think I would 've been juatified!
My only question was - how many matches will India have to lose for our youngsters to understand how to keep their nerve under pressure. And more importantly what guarantees that after playing a few such matches they will learn and not make the same mistake again. I mean didn't Jadeja commit the same mistake in the previous match? Hasn't Virat failed to grasp his chances given time and and again to him? How many times will thee tail enders need to be told and shown how to hold a bat and infact how difficult it is to just try and rotate the strike. It is more important to try, success attained or not is secondary.

I will definitely not feel as bad when a Munaf or a Nehra try to steer the ball down third man and miss it or edge it as when they try to hit the ball out of the ground when all you need is a run a ball. And as records show Nehra has played more than a 100 matches, he still did what a usual Indian tail ender would do, they want to become heroes!!!

Then again, who doesn't! But you can become a hero doing what you can do best, right? Wrong, you can become a hero trying to do what you did best in your gully and not in the international arena!

So flabbergasted was I when I saw Jadeja, Nehra and the likes play those shots that I almost abused them in front of my dad!! Then i thought of the plight of the master. Just imagine what he must be going through, we just saw the innings and were so disappointed and heart broken, what about Sachin?

Trust me, if I was Jadeja, I would not have the courage to even go back in the same bus as him nor stay in the hotel, I would rent a car and just roam around the city and see the disappointed faces to get motivation for the next match and definitely stay away from the media or Sachin. Maybe the next day go to him and actually apologize and promise a much better more defined performance. I sincerely hope Jadeja does make amends for this and all the other 9 guys go out there and win the series for his one Herculean effort of Sachin.

Forget the 20 years of cricket he has played for the country and the numerous times he has been disappointed, this one series victory will bring him some solace.

This one loss really hurt and infact made me think and wonder - what would I rather see - in the case where an Indian loss is inevitable - would I rather see a one sided match and see the Indians go down without a fight or see them come so close and see the most breathtaking innings of 2009 ( if not anything else) and the player end up on the losing side as what happened with Sachin - really there is not much choise there - but then I say - I'd rather see them lose without a fight - coz you know why - coz this hurt....very very badly and an injury such as this leaves a permanent scar, one that will not go away even after surgery...

To leave on a positive note, I would like to say that hope the Indian team does a turnaround from here on and go on to win the series, here's wishing them loads of luck and a few lines that may be Sachin could identify with -

Mujhe baarish achi lagti hai, haan mujhe baarish achi lagti hai, kyunki ek wo hi hai jo mere aansuon ko apni boondon mein chupa sakti hai!!! - Yours truly!