Eat my own words

I’ve cursed them sometimes. Many a times, I used to be happy that they are around. A few days back, they did well indeed, but still I cursed them that they are blocking opportunities of youngsters. They were also getting old and I felt that we’ve finally found out enough talent to replace them at higher level. But now, in Australia, only the old war heads were fighting. Dravid made a gritty 53, Laxman made a very very special surgical 109, Ganguly made a sublime 67 and our own Tendulkar carved unbeaten 154 runs. Heros of the victories in last two series against Australia. When the series started, I felt that Yuvraj would play better than what we can expect from Laxman.(Laxman in his prime was a treat to watch.) But yesterday, the way he played, I was clueless. Such an attacking simplicity. Why doesn’t he play such an innings throughout the previous year? Or, as Aussies say, does he deserves his best for Australia? It was painful to see the way Yuvraj and Dhoni are struggling. If one of them played sensibly today, we’d have got a huge lead and we might have won the match. When I was going through some of the sports column in Aussie newspapers, I was shocked to see how Laxman was treated there. People love to watch him and they expect special innings everytime from him. So many people have dissected his 109. They do remember his epic 281. No other countryman has retained a place in their hearts like Laxman. I feel bad that I lost faith in him. I understand why Kumble and others kept faith in laxman and retained him. In 1999 series, Sachin used to score and there were none to score around him except the 167 by laxman in losing cause in the last test. In the 2001 series, Laxman, Dravid, Sachin, Ganguly and Kumble were the pillars of victory. Now again, these 5 men are fighting a brave battle but no support from other 3 batsmen.