Team or Self

Hello everybody.Wish you all a very Happy & Prosperous New Year,2007.Its been a long time since I blogged,so I sincerely apologise for being so lazy.One of my new year resolutions is to blog regularly,so do watch out for this space from time to time.This time I am back with the favorite topic of argument among Indians.Yes,you guessed it right,CRICKET.

I was watching the Test Matches between Australia & England as well as the matches between India & South Africa.One thing which struck me immediately was the scoring rate.Australia for most part of their innings was scoring consistently around 3.5 - 4.0 runs per over.Whereas the average runs per over for the Indians was almost never more than 2.5-3 per over.Granted that the conditions prevaling in Australia & South Africa were different.But, the most glaring thing was that India was not trying to force the pace of the innings at all.Despite the fact that a test match is played over a period of 5 days, does it mean that you need'nt take the sharp singles or 2's or 3's to keep the scoreboard moving.We hear a lot that most of the Indian players are natural stroke players.Then why does the scoring rate almost never go above 3 per over and we take 150 balls to score 50 runs?And,then,when the need of the hour is to save the match by staying in the wicket for as long as possible,as was the case in the Durban Test,we try to play audacious strokes and get out.

The sight of Laxman taking a single of the first ball of the over to get to his 50 when the number 11 batsman is at the other end,made me think, is this really what cricket is meant for?Individual records?Is'nt it the right thing to do to take most of the strike when the guy at the other end is a number 11 batsman?And expectedly, VRV Singh who was the number 11 batsman bit the dust the very same over. Similarly, when Ganguly made a good 50 in the first test at Wanderers and was batting with the tail and again singles were being taken in the very first ball of the over.Is'nt it prudent for the better-known batsman to take upon himself to take maximum strike and try to score as many runs as possible before the tail-ender is taken out?If you analyse the ashes series, Australia could win the Adelaide match only because of the stupendous scoring rates that they maintained throughout the match which gave their bowlers enough time to take 20 wickets.Is the individual record which matters or the team record?Some time back,Australia's opening batsman Matthew Hayden had made a comment in a newspaper that Indian batsmen are "Selfish" which was rebuffed by the Indians.But,somehow I feel Hayden was not entirely wrong in his comments.