Big hitting from the lower order spices up the first ODI, but what’s up with the crowd booing the Australians?
Masud Vorajee26-Oct-2009Can we replay that over, please? This time without the wicket•AFPFavourite player from the two sides
My favourite player is Ricky Ponting for his ability to turn it on in big events. He is such a class act. He doesn’t get disturbed easily and can dismantle any bowling attack.Key performer
Ponting gave the Australians a solid start and then he kept his cool and didn’t try too many things when Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar were taking the game away from them.Biggest absence
India missed Yuvraj Singh the most. His big hitting might have made a difference in the middle overs of the Indian innings.One thing you’d have changed about the match
I would have loved to have a replay of the last over which was bowled by Peter Siddle to Harbhajan, in which he cleaned him up.Face-off I relished
Gautam Gambhir v Nathan Hauritz. Gambhir was well set and wanted to play the square cut against Hauritz, who bowled beautifully against him. Unfortunately Gambhir couldn’t manage to pull it off, despite trying a few times.Bright young thing
Brad Haddin’s injury has been seriously unlucky for him because this new kid, Tim Paine, who took over in his place, will make life really hard for Haddin at least in short formats of the game. He scored beautifully, carving 50, and then saved some certain fours in the last few overs, which could have sealed the game for the Indians.Wow moment
Oh man, that six by Harbhajan off Siddle in the 48th over was one of the best flicks I’ve ever seen. Just an amazing shot.Player watch
Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Brett Lee and Shane Watson all fielded at the boundary near us, and though people totally love SRT, this time Lee stole the show. He is such a sport. The fans just loved him and he responded accordingly.Shot of the day
Ponting, Paine, Harbhajan and Gambhir played some really wonderful cricketing strokes but the shot of the day came from Michael Hussey’s blade, going straight down and out of the ground. It was such an effortless shot – sheer timing and classy footwork.Crowd meter
The stands were packed but the crowd was quite a turnoff. We tried to start Mexican waves several times, but they didn’t get going properly. People also booed the Aussie players when they lost their wickets, which was weird. Some guys in our stands didn’t like the way MS Dhoni played and chants of “Dhoni ” erupted and stayed till the game ended. There were also chants of “Sachin Sachin”, which is pretty normal. I wished I could replace the crowd with one from the Wankhede.Entertainment
The presence of the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, was welcomed by the people at the ground, but there was no music at all – no songs at the fall of wickets or during the lunch break.Hardship factor
We were in the Red Gate section and it took about seven-odd minutes before we were in our seats. It’s a pretty small ground, so it was very easy to get out to get something to drink or to munch. The toilets were very dirty, though.ODI v Twenty20?
I prefer the longer version. Cricket is just not about hitting sixes and fours, it’s about ability, skills, mindset, dedication, and how you apply them.Overall
It’s always great to see the two best ODI teams battling it out. I’ve been to several games between these two and they always manage to keep you interested till the last ball is bowled. Which is what happened in this game as well.From a personal point of view, I did not like the way Dhoni batted. He is Captain Cool, but he is clearly unable to middle the ball. Looks like he needs to spend more time in the nets.Marks out of 10
8. Largely because of the efforts of Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar, who added some life to the game at the end. I enjoyed the match as a fan of this beautiful game, but I’d have enjoyed it more if India was the winner.
