They raise you the higher that the heavier you may fall

Ancient Rome had a saying that went something like this: “They raise you the higher that the heavier you may fall”. Our cricket team would do well to remember this. I am not for a moment saying that what they have achieved by becoming World Champions of twenty twenty cricket is not worthy of praise. Their achievement is wonderful and must be celebrated (as indeed it was by tens of thousands of proud and jubilant fans braving inclement weather to line Mumbai’s roads and greet the team).

But Ponting’s Australian cricket team is already here and while they may not overtly accept that they seek “revenge”, we would be naive to believe that they will not go all out to crush India. Australia’s repiutation of being “all conquering” has been badly dented by Zimbabwe, Pakistan and India in the last 2 weeks and make no mistake, they are smarting badly.

What I am saying is something that is well-known in the world of investment banking- “you are only as good as your last deal”. And so it is for our cricket team. All said and done, the twenty twenty win is now a part of history. For Dhoni and his team, the current reality is the 7 match ODI series against the Australians. Both teams must adapt to the change in format quickly and go back to “classical” 50 over strategies and tactics- and that may not be as easy as flicking a switch. But the basics remain the same, no matter what form of cricket it is: bat well, bowl well and field well.

Good luck India and Australia. And as always, may the better team win!

PS: Yesterday morning, as I was headed to the airport, my cab driver asked me something I had been pondering myself: do Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly really have a place in our ODI side? He felt not. Post your views and we can have an interesting discussion on whether or not India’s batting triumvirate is history.