Monday 2 August 2010

India’s Titanic in Trouble

India’s Titanic in Trouble
as Srilanka leads with 1-0

While India’s cricket stars prematurely celebrated call off the second day play in the First Test due to heavy rain Muttiah Muralitharan stole the show with a last laugh.

Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Raina decided to have fun by posing in Titanic style romantic scene to make it looks like they are going for smooth sail. The difference between the original Titanic and this scene was: the former had a sea before its railings with full of romance and an unforseen tragedy the latter had only a tragedy.  It was not too long before Bhajji-Raina romnatic story end up in Srilanka’s heroic victory with 1:0. It was an embarrassing defeat and  looked like India’s Titanic was sinking before it could even float [Video story: http://dai.ly/a10y12]. A shameless defeat of World’s No 1 put its Lordship in circket in question. However, Schin's 203 in II Test gave India a glims of hope. 
Srilnakan were not only delighted with their handsome victory against India but their joy was doubled as their spinner Marali emerged as the Aavante Garde champion after a fairytale Test in Galle where he took eight wickets to set up Sri Lanka's win and become the first man to reach 800 wickets.  Perhaps no cricketer since Douglas Jardine has polarized opinion quite like Muttiah Muralitharan putting all of his critics to silence for good. His unique controversial style of spinning the ball ultimately resulted in the change of cricket rules. Despite controversies surrounding him never, Murali seldom lost his wide-eyed smile, or the ability to run through batting sides. He has undeniable ability to turn the ball sharply on just about any surface, and bowl the sort of marathon spells that would have seen a lesser man retire after five seasons rather than 18. Whether Sri Lanka played at home, on pitches where he was often unplayable, or overseas, Murali was the go-to man for half a dozen captains. He seldom disappointed.
Murali, first came to prominence during a tour against Australia in 1992-93, when no less a batsman than Allan Border failed to pick him. From the very outset, his action was an object of wonder or ridicule, depending on which side of the fence you stood as a commentator puts it.  Murali had exceptionally supple wrists and a shoulder that rotated as rapidly as a fast bowler's at the time of delivery. A combination of all these factors combined to enable him to turn the ball far more than most orthodox finger-spinners, but it was only with his mastering the doosra, the one that went the other way or held its line, that he became Shane Warne's rival in the wicket-taking and greatness stakes.
Murali, 38, retired last week, bu good news for the young enthusiastic players is that Anil Kumble and Muttiah Muralitharan could be soon working together in training young spinners. There are plans in place to set up a spin-bowling academy, possibly in Bangalore, and the two bowlers, who share 1419 Test wickets between them, have set their minds on the project.

Samantha Deman
GCSE Student, First Job @ Age 16

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