Last day, last show, big 3 flop

There’s a huge billboard featuring Rahul Dravid on the outer walls of Tavern Stand here. “I am so honoured to have made my debut at Lord’s.

There’s a huge billboard featuring Rahul Dravid on the outer walls of Tavern Stand here. “I am so honoured to have made my debut at Lord’s. It was an enormous occasion. You are immersed in history as soon as you walk through the Grace Road Gates,” it says.

But today, when Dravid walked back through the Gates for what is definitely the last time in his career, he was shaking his head in disappointment. A 95 in his first outing at Lord’s (he made his Test debut here along with Sourav Ganguly, who scored a brilliant century) and a duck in his last venture here on a controversial decision — there can be few bigger ironies in cricket.

His dismissal looked questionable as the Flintoff delivery did not touch his bat, but umpire Aleem Dar thought otherwise.

Story continues below this ad

In the Mecca of Cricket, the current Lord, Sachin Tendulkar, was unusually quiet today. He tried a few shots to break the shackles imposed by a well-planned England attack. But the stigma of failing on a big occasion stuck to him today too. He was also done in by umpire Dar. The noise was of his bat brushing the pad, but it was enough to convince Dar that he was out. But the sound came well before the pitched-up delivery from Andrew Flintoff went past agonisingly close to his bat. ‘Close’, of course, is the operative word here.

It has happened a number of times on this tour, and it happened again to Tendulkar. It seems that in this tour, the best of the umpires have given the worst decisions against Team India. India had so far only had a word with ICC match referee Roshan Mahanama on the umpiring debacles — it was iterated again last evening. And after this morning’s Flintoff spell, the team has decided to lodge an official complaint.

“Yes, we will complain to the ICC match referee, that’s the best we can do, and we will,” Indian team manager Rajeev Shukla told The Sunday Express.

And then there was Ganguly—a far cry from his majestic Test debut here. He missed, he edged, he took a blow on the head, hit a few mysteriously amusing shots, and then gave a tame offer to Flintoff at slip off James Anderson. The Royal Bengal Tiger, whose immortal roar at the Lord’s balcony is etched into the memory of every cricket fan, went back quietly today.

Story continues below this ad

Sadly, the big trio of Indian cricket, each with an enviable career record, went out with a whimper. That, perhaps, is the biggest irony.

Trump hikes H-1B visa fees to $100,000 a year in massive immigration overhaul

India22 min ago

President Trump has signed a proclamation increasing the H-1B visa fee to USD 100,000 per year in an effort to prevent abuse of the visa system. This will affect skilled Indian professionals, who make up the majority of H-1B visa recipients. The goal is to protect American workers while still allowing companies to hire qualified individuals.

View all shorts

Live Blog