The Master's back !!

Was I lucky or what ? I got to see the Master's return to International cricket live. And what a nice way to come back. From ball one, he played with an assurance that was clearly missing for about 3 years now. It felt like he was spending the last 6 months listening to people calling out his cricketing demise.The picture perfect on-drive more than validated all our little efforts to stay awake on a week day. Watching him bat yesterday,made me feel that he is out to prove to all his critics, that he can still demolish any attack if he wishes to. Expecting to see a lot more from him this series !

Irfan pathan gave him admirable company and showed that he had a very good head on his young shoulders. The refreshing thing was that every boundary of his was almost always followed by a tame and intelligent single. In spite of his terrific innings,
Dravid called him a "bowler who could bat". Although Irfan has a long way to go before he can be called an allrounder, that statement from Rahul surprised me a little. Agarkar was called an all rounder for a long time before he was downgraded to a "bowler who can bat" ( a "bowler who can hardly bat" would have suited him better).Kumble and Harbhajan singh were hugely hyped when they got 30's and 40's for the first time, as India's budding all rounders. Considering all the hype in the past, it does surprise me that Pathan who has a batting average in excess of 25 and has 3 50's already is still considered a bowler who can bat. I don't disagree with the evaluation, but this "take it slow" attitude has never been India's attitude in the past.