Rave reviews for the page-turning Chase thriller

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On a dream Saturday in London, a pair of young Indian rebels turned the mood into bullish and set the team into yet another transitory phase. If yesterday’s win was anything to go by, the Indian team would have moved up a grade: Welcome to the ‘A’ class. But the ‘A-plus’ grade still seems a fair distance away.

Twenty-four hours after the coup de grace, accolades are only getting flattering. But if India are to have a serious go at the next year’s World Cup, the gulf between them and the A-plus teams like Australia, South Africa and Pakistan has to be bridged. India can beat any one of them on a given day but doing it consistently over a period of one month will be a big ask. That’s why, this is the most opportune time to look at ways to break the final barrier.

First the positives. Here is an Indian team with right scripts for bright kids and seasoned seniors. The youth bats without a fear in the world while seniors have taken upon themselves the roles they hadn’t thought of before — to balance the might of the side.

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Accolades Unlimited

Yuvraj Singh is a cross between Gary Sobers and Graeme Pollock with a dash of Frank Woolley thrown in. He treated a deafeningly buoyant and exhilarated crowd to an extraordinary exhibition of stroke-play. He cut and drove with withering power and orthodox certainty; he swivelled and pulled as if he was a ballet dancer who was playing with the audience and the fielders. — Henry Blofeld in The Independent

The innings of Yuvraj and Kaif must rank as the most defiant Indian gestures since Gandhi’s march for salt in 1930. — Michael Atherton in Sunday Times

In the past many (of the Indians) have enchanted us with the wristy magic of their batsmen. This Indian side contains plenty of those, but there is also a steel and an athleticism that was often absent from their predecessors. This was exemplified by Yuvraj and Kaif, who fashioned the crucial partnership when their side appeared to be out of the contest.
—The Observer

Winning this final especially after being at the losing end for most of the game, will give steel and confidence to the side which can be expected to surface in the Test series
—The Sunday Telegraph

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They played very well. They really deserved to win. Its the young brigade which proved its worth
— Former captain Bishen Singh Bedi

It is the first step towards the World Cup with a little bit of confidence we should win it
— Former Test cricketer Yashpal Sharma

By agreeing to keep wickets, Rahul Dravid gives the team a wonderful option to pack it with the added batting punch, even though his wicket-keeping limitations were cruelly exposed yesterday. No doubt, he will be given more time to redeem himself. Similarly, Sachin Tendulkar’s decision to sacrifice the more-lucrative opening slot and come down the order has helped India seal more games.

Now fancy this. In Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh India have two of the hard-hitting batsmen. Mohammad Kaif can owe his place in the side to Dravid’s double role but he is the right-handed prodigy of Micheal Bevan.

Yuvraj, in particular, has turned his life around. He was very nearly tossed into the dust bin not long ago. But since his comeback early this year, the left-hander has played decisive roles in six of the 12 ODIs during the period. It’s more than a co-incidence that India haven’t lost a game yet in which Yuvraj has managed a 50-plus.

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But very soon India will find — like England did last night — that even a 325-run cushion cannot be sufficient if the bowling lacked bite. Much of India’s future cricket will be on foreign pitches and fitting both spinners in the XI will be a luxury they can’t afford. India have to play three seamers under any given condition and for that a checklist is required. We cannot place our seamers in the same basket as those from Australia, South Africa and Pakistan.

The Dravid issue can also backfire soon. He was decent with the gloves as long as the seamers were bowling. But once the spinners came on, he failed to pass the test.

This will be the most crucial factor for Saurav Ganguly and selectors to ponder over in India’s lead-up to the World Cup. And there will be a prayer ready every time Dravid keeps the job.

BCCI declares Rs 1 cr bonus

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) last night announced a cash award of Rs 1 crore to the Indian team for the Natwest Trophy final. “We have decided to give the winning bonus to the team as proposed in the contract and graded system which is yet to come into force,” BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said.

ONGC too chips in

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Mohammad Kaif will receive a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh from his employers Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), according to Officer in Charge (Sports) Sunil Khanna, here today. After Kaif’s superb performance yesterday, the ONGC CMD Subir Raha and Director Jauhri Lal today announced the cash prize, and accordingly informed his father in Lucknow. The ONGC will also host the Indian team a dinner in New Delhi for its impressive victory. Earlier, Virender Sehwag, who scored a hundred on his Test debut against South Africa, had been awarded a cash prize of Rs one lakh by the ONGC.

Rs 1000 for a run

Mumbai Young Association (MYA) on Sunday announced a cash award for the Lord’s heroes Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh for their heroics at Lord’s. Kaif for his unbeaten 87 received Rs. 87,000 while Yuvraj collected 69,000 for his inning of 69. Besides that a cash award of Rs. 1,01,000 was also announced for the team.

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Madhya Pradesh: As kids died after taking cough syrup, officials probed in the dark

India2 hr ago

Officials in Madhya Pradesh's Parasia were alarmed by a series of unexplained deaths in young children. After a thorough investigation, it was discovered that a contaminated cough syrup was the cause. This led to a health survey and a ban on the syrup's distribution. Similar incidents in Rajasthan also resulted in a ban on certain cough syrups and medicines.

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