Tags:
Journalism of Courage
What makes for a great Test series? Unquestionable greats at their best Tendulkar,Kallis. A fire-breathing fast bowler running through a line-up Dale Steyn. Two teams at the peak of their powers,the best in the world,one with a reputation to defend,the other with a bastion to storm. And,to demonstrate what sets Test cricket apart a well-fought last day in which great batsmen showed that under-glorified aspect of their brilliance,an unwearied,unhurried patience.
Any other contest could well have been overshadowed by the pomp and glory of the Ashes an ocean away. But not this one. This had every marker that one could want. Sachins 51,of course. But even Rahul Dravid,going through a patch of middling form and worse luck,sailed with customary quietude through two enormous milestones: the first man in Test history to 200 catches,and the third batsman to 12,000 runs. Fittingly,his South African counterpart in determination and defence,Jacques Kallis,ended the series at 11,947,and with the chorus declaring him the finest all-rounder in memory growing ever louder. And it revealed to an Indian audience the truth behind the murmurs about Dale Steyn,the truth that his stunning bowling average hovering around 23,unmatched by any other quick in world cricket today,with Zaheer next at 30 could only imperfectly convey.
Perhaps no other batting line-up in world cricket could have withstood Steyn and Morkel steaming in on their home pitches. And Dhonis feared,courageous chasers surely saved this series because theyve won so many Tests chasing big targets. When crickets best teams play thus,it shows why Test cricket is in such rude health. If only,if only,there were two more to play.
