Dinesh Karthik - Great going!!

India has just won their first ever 20-20 match. Dinesh Karthik has been adjudged the man of the match for scoring a 28-ball 31, with the other contenders for the award being Zaheer Khan who equaled the record for the best economy rate for a 4-over spell in 20-20 Cricket, Virender Sehwag with a 29-ball knock of 34 and Dinesh Mongia with a 38-ball knock of 45 runs.

Dinesh Karthik deserves the award. Being thrusted into a batting lineup as a specialist batsman over other more accomplished batsmen, with bouncy pitches and the South African quicks for company, is not really the kind of introduction a wicketkeeper would hope for. Add to that, the weight of expectations to deliver runs. Add to that, the pressure to succeed in a team of fringe players all competing to impress a whimsical coach hellbent on needless experimentation. All vying to book a place in a dismembered side.

Karthik has stood up to the challenge admirably. He has no qualms of throwing himself around on the outfield and firing throws back to the centre from the outfield. He has walked out to bat when India were 17/3 and 38/3 in the two ODIs he has been involved in on the current tour so far. On both occasions he has fought. Fought hard. And come up with knocks of 14 from 23 balls and 17 from 38 balls. They haven't been match winning knocks, but they are a testimony to the fight in his belly. Playing at a time when Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the numero uno wicketkeeper, can be demoralising for an aspiring wicketkeeper batsman, because displacing Dhoni from the top pedestal is no easy task.

Karthik has shown resolve and application seen only among an elite few on the current tour. Lets hope others pick up the cues. Lets also hope he bats at No 5 and gets some good knocks. Knocks that will hit those who show lack of application at the crease pretty hard. Knocks that will motivate the others to pull up their socks and get down to business.

Lets also hope the rain gods dont intervene. Hope Greg Chappell wont intervene much either with some experimental move yet again. Makhaya Ntini, you too, please dont intervene, and tell the others in your team too.


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The guys at CricInfo are giving us the inside news of why Sehwag was dropped from the vice captain's post. They also are the experts on the Ganguly recall. I have a strong feeling they have been watching some saas-bahu serials or taking tips from Ekta Kapoor on how to sustain interest in dead and lost causes.

Take a chill pill! As a fan, I care a diddlysquat for who has the vice captaincy and who is in the playing eleven as long as India wins. Its only when the team is going through a bad patch that imaginative theories about dressing room conspiracies are ideated.

These theories will go to the garbage pin once India starts winning.

As John Wright quotes a South African administrator in Indian Summers, 'In India when you do well in cricket, they name a street after you. And when you dont do well, they will chase you down the same street." Ask Mohammad Kaif!

The message is clear - WIN AND ALL THE GARBLE WILL CEASE!