Miles To Go...

India managed to win the match in Mumbai through a rare rearguard action and a superb spell by Murali Kartik in his comeback match.

However, the way Indian batsmen batted was demoralizing to say the least - I am glad I was not in Mumbai to watch the game live in the stadium. Luckily, Murali came good in both batting and bowling and drove India home.

It was a close match just as the other victory that Indians managed in this tour. This is where they say that the statistics don't tell the entire story. A 4-2 doesn't look very bad but really both Indian victories came through narrow margins and were matches they could have easily lost and fairly so. However each one of Australian victories was a convincing one. It could very well have been 7-0 and still fair. It could also very well have been 4-3 but then it would have been really unfair.

The Aussies really rule the game in this era. Indians manage one big achievement in a decade to follow it up with consistent mediocre performances for the rest of the decade with little gems here and there to keep the interest (and money) going.

There is one T20 match - the solitary one on this tour - and knowing the Aussies, they will give everything in their power to win this one - to show to the rest of the world that they are still the best in any form of the game. Indians, on the other hand, will have to play out of their skins (rhino skins) to once again salvage their T20 WC victory.

But really, whom are we fooling here?

Ganguly seems to be on the wane, Dravid is woefully out of form, Tendulkar is still riding strong but not at his best, Dhoni is weighed down completely by his captaincy and has forgotten how to bat aggressively and bat strong-n-long, Bhajji is still in the team, we have no wonderful spinner to replace Kumble, and the fast bowlers are as in-consistent as the successful batsmen like Yuvraj and Uthappa!

One just hopes that Dhoni is singing Frost:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.