Cricket fans - Don't loose heart, MSD is a slow starter

I have been observing MSD's captaincy for quite a while now, and feel that he gets charged as the series progresses. Yes, let us look back at the following series thus far - be it the tour of SA, or Sri Lanka or against Australia or for that matter the IPLs and the World Cup - Yes, MSD will read the pluses and minuses of each opposition batsmen and bowlers before charging during the later part of the series. So, Cricket fans, don't ever think about India being relegated from the No.1 ranking during this series. MSD always has other ideas. To me, he is the leopard of Indian Cricket.

Yes, I understand with the reshuffling of the order of Sachin and Gautam at the top of the order, would have added chaos at the dressing room. But, the most baffling reason to me, is the way Indian's were getting out - poking the ball well outside the off stump. Dravid, Mukund, Gautham, Dhoni - were all dismissed in similar fashion. It makes me feel that Indians are caught up playing T-20 a lot. Sachin's innings in the second innings was abysmal - He had scored only 1 run during the final 40 ball faced before being LBW for the second time, and this time was given out by the same umpire. Overall, it was clearly evident that Indians were not trying to be patient at the crease, though they had faced about 100 overs. Had they continued with the effort of having played out during the fourth days play, I am sure we must have drawn blank from the Lords Test. All Indians could have done is play positive cricket and treat the balls as it were - the way Raina played was truly brilliant - He showed character in how he avoided bouncers and reached a half-century that will only do him good for the reminder of the series. 

England, on the other hand, must be elated that they have won against World No.1, though, injured Indians. But for Prior's and Peterson's batting, there was nothing to crow about in the batting line up. It is their bowling that stood out for the best part of this test match and the combination of Tremlett, Anderson and Broad will work wonders atleast at home.

It is high time that Indian media stop talking about statistics of individuals before the game and paste negative thoughts after an Indian loss. A constructive criticism about the overall nature of the game being played keeping in mind the longevity of the series should be taken into consideration. Come on, Indians cannot win all the matches, but we need to assess the approach of the game.

India will rue the series deficit coupled with the injured bodies run-against-time for the 2nd Test starting on Thursday. Go India Go......