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Fun in India? That's Interesting

India's win against the Aussies in the first match of the Border Gavaskar Test series (2013) didn't impress me: Dhoni batted well, Ashwin bowled well, Sachin and Virat Kohli were good. The Sachin-Virat partnership stemmed the mess that Murali Vijay and Virender Sehwag had made of the opening partnership. Murali failed in his own backyard-Chennai-where Ashwin succeeded. I don't think Murali has the temperament required to be a good opener. Someone else should be tried in his place. That'll will give our team a chance to find a batsman who can stand up to James Pattinson, the most aggressive and effective bowler in the Australian squad. Until then Murali'll have his chances.

Even though Pujara failed in this match, he's proven that he has the necessary temperament as a Test player. But I fear India's inconsistent batsmen will lull him into not realising his potential. He's got ability. But the focus and hunger to be consistent is missing. I want to be reluctant in my praise for Mahi's batting score of 224 simply because I don't want that to cover his lacunae as a captain. Giving bowlers short spells in a Test match to keep the bowler fresh vs bowling Bhuvi for almost 10 overs in a one day match doesn't seem consistent. Bowlers take wickets when they are in a rhythm.

A wicketless 6-7 overs from Harbhajan Singh and his shoulders droop like some helpless cricketer. What message is he giving his teammates and cricket fans? And then he calls himself a 'fighter', 'a warrior' and what not. Self-adulatory survival technique? I want to see Pragyan Ojha back. He's got a much better attitude. Jadeja kept things tight at his end, which was useful. But I don't like the fact, he always trying to be showman with his antics.

One player, who got me really interested was... Michael Clarke, the Australian captain, in his post-match interview of the 1st Test between India and Australia at Chennai (22 to 26 Feb 2013) described Moises Henriques. "He's been a very talented player back in Australia for a long time but it's nice to see that potential come to the forefront in his first Test match."

Then, there was a Moises' interview, where he said, "I think it is terrific that as cricketers we get to go around different nations and experience different conditions. Otherwise it gets a bit monotonous and... it's so different to what we get in Australia. It's almost getting out there, very enjoyable, even if you get hit in the glove and you survive, it's just good fun and even though it is different. It is very frustrating when you get out,... it is.. you have to enjoy because it is different. I think it is terrific that cricket being such a world game that it has so many different tops and conditions."

The key takeaways from the Moises interview were 'terrific as cricketers we get to go around different countries' 'enjoyable', 'get hit in the glove and you survive, it's just good fun'. That's the kind of man I want to see in the Indian cricket team, not Harbhajan, Rohit Sharma or Robin Utthappa. Why? Take a guess. I'll give you a clue. I don't know how good a player Moises will turn out to be. But juxtapose Michael Clarke's comment with the key takeaways I mentioned and you have a fantastic competitor in world sport. His smile says it all, "I'm enjoying myself." It's so refreshing to see. I think he'll turn out to be a great Australian prospect.

How the series eventually played out:
India clean swept the Test series 4-0. I was wrong about Moises Henriques and Murali Vijay. That was the only match Moises played well. He got taken off in the 4th Test after a series of poor scores - 5, 0, 0 and 2. Murali Vijay went on to have a great series with scores of 167, 153, 26, 57 and 11. Dhoni didn't play any innings of note after the first match. Shikhar Dhawan made his Test debut in the third Test with a bang. He scored 187 in 174 balls. But then he injured himself and couldn't play the final match of the series. Pujara had scores of 44, 8 n.o., 204, 1, 28, 52 and 82 but he was no Hashim Amla. Harbhajan Singh took 5 wicket in 4 innings and got replaced by Pragyan Ojha, who took 7 wicket in 4 innings. It was Ashwin and Jadeja's series. They had a haul of 29 and 24 wickets each. They hopelessly sunk the Aussies.

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