The Spectator

A pompous celebration of a legendary career followed by an emotional send-off consumed the attention of Indian cricket's discourse over the last couple of months. It was eventful, it was memorable, but what will follow this is an exciting phase featuring unpredictable possibilities! Despite the upcoming series being reduced to a fast food snack rather than a full meal, the billing is high enough to invoke context and curiosity. The anticipation is palpable, the adverts are popping up gradually, and recent form is balancing a skewed contest between an inexperienced young unit and a steady, settled outfit with strong credentials in home conditions. What will be a greater miss for the Indian team (especially the test series) this occasion - a Dravid as the SOS opener and a willful pressure absorbent? or a Tendulkar to lead the batting and be the focus of the blame when the tour results are torrid? or a Laxman to whirl that magic wand to script improbable batting efforts in u...

What?! Really? Pin drop silence. Feeling lost. Retrospection & memories. By the time pragmatism restored, the magnitude of the news had barely begun to sink in. The following couple of days were spent reading & watching all available content which every medium sold as exclusive! Yes this is what happened to most of us on and after the announcement on the afternoon of 10th October. Every Tendulkar moment over the last '24 years' has followed this routine of a spontaneous reaction, microscopic scrutiny, subsequent debate and the reverberating effect of joy/disappointment following the event. Alas, the current case signals the termination of this habit; a habit which many fear would be hard to live without! And those claiming so are justified - why would you do away with something which has given you more joy than probably anything else?! 

Has the run-fest at Bangalore yesterday sunk in yet? Perhaps not. As it turned out, the final of a tightly contested series between #1 and #2 lived up to its billing. In the timeline of ODI cricket’s progress, this series will probably linger in the mind a bit longer than most other bilateral series. Not just the stats which were breached in the course, but the manner in which the proceedings unfolded have left this reverberating effect. Some say it is natural progression, others believe it is killing the essence of cricket but the kind of records which have experienced modifications over the last few weeks renders you to ponder on these arguments a little deeper. 3 out of the 6 matches (all-time) with 700+ runs, 2 nd & 3 rd highest successful run-chases, fastest hundred by an Indian, fastest ton by an Australian, 3 rd ODI double ton, most sixes in a 50-over match are excerpts of  the phenomenal 'batting' achievements   recorded over the last month.