Practise that winning feeling

8216;8216;Mukul, how can you defend India8217;s performance? Five games, five runouts, after all those hyped fielding drills.8217;8217; Sensing I was on a strong wicket for a change, I whipped out some stats while Mukul sulked.

India have never won a Test series outside the subcontinent since 1986. Only exception was in Zimbabwe. In West Indies, India last won a Test series 35 years ago, when Ajit Wadekar8217;s men stormed the Queen8217;s Park Oval in Trinidad.

On a high now, even Lara rubbished the Indian team8212;Our World Number 8 is better than World Number 3. 8216;8216;It doesn8217;t get worse than this,8217;8217; I told Mukul.

8216;8216;Remember Bangladesh,8217;8217; Mukul said, reacting swiftly.

How could I forget that day-night match in Dhaka? Sehwag gone for a duck, two down for five, humiliating stuff. We made heroes out of little-known Bangladesh; couldn8217;t even reach 229 in 50 overs. Even then, Mukul had defended the Indian performance, while Dhaka celebrated with fireworks and fried Hilsa.

Talking of Hilsa, that rhymes quite well with what Lara said after creaming the Indians8212;8216;8216;We8217;ve got bigger fish to fry.8217;8217;

All this was getting too much for Mukul. 8216;8216;That match in Bangladesh started it all, you know. The BCCI8217;s wise men said so what if India lost, this is cricket8217;s gain. One more country will rise to World Cup status,8217;8217; explained Mukul.

8216;8216;Are you saying we lost matches because it was part of a design?8217;8217; I asked.

8216;8216;Can8217;t you see,8217;8217; chirped Mukul, 8216;8216;we want the out-of-form West Indies and demoralised Lara to get back into the reckoning. This is a great service for cricket, but there8217;s no one to applaud it.8217;8217;

8216;8216;You mean Chappell is part of this move?8217;8217;

8216;8216;Well, when the BCCI was given targets, the confidential memo said at least three teams should get into cricket8217;s international chartbusters. West Indies, England and Canada. I know most Canadians think that cricket is an insect but the target is certainly Canada. One lost match against Canada and they get international status and confidence.8217;8217;

8216;8216;But what does all this have to do with Chappell?8217;8217;

8216;8216;For the BCCI8217;s power club, the brief was to find a man discarded by the Aussie Board, who can make sure that Ganguly is dumped. Nasty temperament was an added turn-on.8217;8217;

8216;8216;I guess Chappell has delivered,8217;8217; I said. 8216;8216;He flexed his sore middle finger on a bus and got rid of India8217;s most successful captain.8217;8217;

8216;8216;But he8217;s got bigger experiments to handle now,8217;8217; Mukul piped in. 8216;8216;Five bowlers or four, two spinners or one. And Chappell is getting back to the basics. Making Pathan bowl for hours at a single stump, with the team shrink in attendance.8217;8217;

8216;8216;You8217;re giving these guys too much credit. Dravid and Chappell saying they8217;ve to hold on to those close-in catches is not exactly a cricketing gem,8217;8217; I said, quite fed up.

8216;8216;But they8217;re winning all their practice matches. Chappell8217;s trying to make the batsmen perform with the ball, bowlers with the bat. Like Total Football, you know,8217;8217; said Mukul, helpfully.

I guess we8217;ll surely get past Canada in the World Cup practice matches. That8217;s for sure.