Ohh, Indeed a great thread!! Thanks Xover.
Congratulations to Sachin for his 100th ton and Good wishes to all cricket fans as the coming days we can see him bat as we want to free-flowing drives, the backfoot punches, inside out drives over cover/extra cover, handsome pulls and breathtaking straight drives.
I felt he was striking well between 12th March 2011 & 16 March 2012, however he was unable to cross the line with the pressure that was built around not only by the media but cricketing fraternity as well. All the players talking his 100 during media conferences, be it own team mates or the opposing team players. However brave one person is, going the road never traveled always plays on his mind. And this being achieved for the first time it was ought to exert pressure on my Dear Sachin. Make no mistake though, he did contribute to the team all the time and much better than other mates who were not under any such pressure!!
Anyways, the match against Pakistan was good example of how much cricket is still left in him. He was all the time having better strike rate and energy in the shots he played than Virat. It is only when he left it to Virat at the start of bowling power play, could Virat manage to overtake him. I had strong feeling of this happening and sachin getting out. Exactly that happened towards the end of powerplay. Had Sach did not decide to leave it to Virat to score in powerplay by giving singles; he would have hit the Ajmal delivery over extra cover for four if not more!
We are again travelling in the boat driven by team Srilanka. We wanted them to loose against Australia so we can play the finals but they won, Now we want them to win so that we play the finals, will they? God knows best.
If we play the finals against Pakistan (touchwood, we do) one more thrilling encounter is on the cards. More importantly, I can consume some earned leaves which anyways lapse at the end of the year!!