Congratulations India: Indian wins the first test against England

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   countrywomenposted 15 years ago

   India chased down a mammoth 387 to mark a famous win and take the series lead over England in Chennai after Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh batted most of day five for their match-winning 163 runs unbroken stand. Virender Sehwag won the man of match for his blistering knock of 83 runs in 68 balls to fire up the rest of the batting to achieve this challenging total.
   
   Also Rs. 3 Cr was donated by BCCI for those affected by the recent mumbai tragedy. Both the teams have already donated half their match fees for the victims of Mumbai tragedy which is really a noble gesture. I also admire the England team to come and participate in the aftermath of the mumbai tragedy.

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      Sufidreamerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Good call, Countrywomen.
      
      Considering the tragic circumstances, what a test match! Whilst I always like England to win, the tenacity, skill and passion shown by the Indian batsmen was unbelievable. England were not just playing against the Indian Cricket team, but the whole of India.
      
      Hopefully this is a sign that, in a small way, sport can be a great healer and uniter. Really looking forward to a great series, especially if I can find a more reliable commentary. Respect to both teams for being true gentlemen.

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         countrywomenposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Sufi- Thanks for those prayers. Where are you from basically? As your profile shows as Greece and I wasn't aware of cricket being popular their.
         Yes esp sachin's century can provide some cheer to the millions of mubaites who were under the trauma from the recent tragedy.

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            Sufidreamerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            Hi Countrywomen,
            
            I now live in Greece, but moved from England. I played cricket at school and university, and for a little while after, until age caught up! Not to a very high standard, but I love the sport.

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               countrywomenposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               Even my brother used to play in the college team. In India during the cricket season the world comes to standstill. I have a very high regard for Kevin Pietersen and really wanted to see him play well. He is like Sehwag when he explodes a true delight to watch for spectators. I hope pietersen plays a big innings in the second test match (the moment sehwag or yuvraj get out I usually stop watching). I usually like attacking batsman.

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   bhogeposted 15 years ago

   Now a days everybody wants to watch attacking players after 20-20.

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      countrywomenposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      What to do no time to watch the batting practice (defense)

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      Sufidreamerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I like explosive cricket, but I love the mental battle - watching two geniuses like Tendulkar and Warne try to outhink each other. 20/20 is fun, but I hope that it does not kill test matches - I am an old dinosaur!

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         countrywomenposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Now the two spinners from Sri lanka are really good too (Murali & Mendis). I used to love Sourav Ganguly going down the track to spinners and hitting them for a six. Test matches are fun when their is an incentive from both sides to push for a result. I admire Australian approach to test matches which is to always go for a result. Dhoni seems to be an aggressive positive captain too.

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            Sufidreamerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            Murali is top quality - he played for my county, Lancashire, for a while. Sadly, I lived away from home, so never saw him in the flesh. I was lucky enough to watch Wasim Akram a couple of times - he was an exciting cricketer! Sadly, although coming close, Lancashire never won the County Championship in recent times, and the wait continues
            
            England have always been too negative, and play not to lose rather than to win. They have good players, but the mentality is all wrong! The Australians are our rivals and enemies (all good natured), but are worthy of respect, the greatest team since the great West Indies of the 70's.
            
            Looking forward to some great cricket over the next few weeks!

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               countrywomenposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               Have you seen Mendis (Indians who are great against quality spin bowling struggled against him)? Murali of course is a legend like warne. Wasim and even Waqar were great fast bowlers. I agree Australian approach is great but never liked their verbal taunts on the field. But never the less they are great competitors. Today after Warne and Mcgrath their bowling looks jaded and in test matches a team needs to take 20 wickets to win. Gilchrist used to give the momentum at the top like sehwag. I feel very soon S.Africans or Indians will catch up with them.
               
               Your statement "England have always been too negative, and play not to lose rather than to win" is it meant across the board or for this particular match. In the pre match conference sehwag was asked if India would go for chasing then he said we will focus on winning since a draw is almost as bad as losing. I guess Sehwag generates lots of positive intent in a team.

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   bhogeposted 15 years ago

   Yes you are right 5 days match ohhh i think its pain, but now every test match is having results otherwise before it will be draw. At least we can enjoy the game if it get result at the end

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      countrywomenposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Bhoge- Yup!! I totally agree with you. I love to see results instead of draws (of course I prefer the result to have India winning). I guess Dhoni goes for the win instead of playing it safe for a draw. Some people say Dhoni is lucky some say he is smart. I would say the smarter you are the luckier you get.

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   jadichandposted 15 years ago

   I think this match is very interesting because since day one there ups and downs for both the teams, until 5th day nobody knows whats the result that keeps people interesting to watch. Every form of game have their value test matches are to be here.

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      countrywomenposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Jadichand- I totally agree with you. In this match their have been many ups and downs. I especially felt on 4th day English players were playing too slow (less than 3 run rate). When a team is ahead by 300 runs they need to score as quickly as possible so that they give the bowlers more overs to bowl out the opposition. One has to go for the kill when the opportunity presents and England seem to have lost the plot. Of course it required the genius of Sehwag to fire up rest of the innings. It was really a treat to watch Sehwag in full flow

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