first the heat, then the legitimately raised expectations, and finally watching our very own captain duckworth handing it to the opposition one single at a time... physically, emotionally and intellectually (what's left of it!) exhausting.
kudos to tamim and shakzie for keeping the faith... ash, aftab and rafique for doing whatever they could with the little time they had. making mongia look good ain't that tough when time is not on your side. the seamers, despite being belted around the park for a few, fought back well against the hostilities, and did alright given the limitations beyond their control at this particular stage in their development as international cricketers. the spinners, especially razz and shakzie, were stellar despite the bland wicket. the customary, complacent captaincy, other flubs and fumbles here and there, and the day's luck opened a door for our guests. kartik helped m.s. dhoni rise to the occasion and hobble right through that door and here we are: 1 zip india.
we missed mash, both with the ball and the bat, i'd say at least 10-20 more runs, hard to say with golla finally hogging the wicket with success. to his personal credit, golla played out of his skin and deserves not to be bitched at too much, but we do need to take a good look at the kind of nihilism that puts unfit, strokeless wonders like him, also incapable of rotating the strike, in a position that costs the team at least 20 to 30 valuable runs EVERYTIME... we don't have to look too far.
let's just hope that they learn from their mistakes ...
this time around