Satisfying performances.

Prior to the start of the series,I wrote that,I would be satisfied if India wins 1-0 or even levels 1-1;I shall still stick by what I had said then,India's performance overall in this India-South Africa Test series was satisfying over-all, by leveling the series in Overseas soil,against a team,which has currently the Best Bowling attack.As of now,India has silenced the cynics,who wondered whether India deserves the Number one ranking in ICC Test Ratings.
While the most empathic Overseas win achieved by the post-2001 Indian team will certainly be the 2-1 win in Pakistan,this 1-1 performance will certainly rank better than the 1-1 Draw,India achieved in Australia(2003-04);as India had achieved it against a full-strength bowling Attack of Proteas,the match they won was on a Green-top(Durban) and they even overcome Steyn's deadly spells to gain a 2-run lead in their First Innings in Newlands;whereas the Australian attack then were deprived of their 2 best Bowlers(McGrath and Warne),and the match was won on a Flat wicket(Adelaide).
The only reason,why I felt a bit disappointed was India actually had the chance of winning the series,during the Third Test,when South Africa was down 130-6 before Lunch on 4th Day.I thought they'll get bowled out to less than 200 and India will easily win it with several overs to spare.Instead,the pace bowlers disappointed after such a good platform was provided by Harbhajan Singh.Zaheer Khan,whose presence brought back the spark and confidence into the bowlers during the Durban test,too disappointed by suddenly reducing his best to less than 120 kph.He couldn't get even the tail-enders out,despite taking the new ball after Boucher's dismissal.
The harmless medium pace was good enough for the tail to get some easy runs,and there was Kallis,who batted like a Colossus,despite a broken rib.At-last they were bundled out for 340,when we expected them to get out for 270.:( With just a day's game of play left,India preferred to bat for a Draw,than trying for win.
 The defensive attitude showed later on was understandable and partly justified,because India has lost Series while touring South Africa,so what if they lose this Test while trying to batting aggressively and then get out cheaply? It would only make this Series' performance look similar to their previous Tours.So,a Draw and a Drawn series will look certainly better,and after all;it's against the Second best ranked Team,in their own Den.So,it only gives an indication of how evenly matched the 2 sides are.After all,only 2 teams have defeated South Africa-England(Lastly in 2004) and Australia(Thy do it regularly since 1998).
   The most disappointed person would certainly be Graeme Smith,as he has failed to win a Home series,for the 3rd time in a row.While,they had a chance to defeat England 3-1 in the previous Home Series(Which ended 1-1);here their best chance to win was only in 1st Test ;the remaining 2 Tests went completely in India's way;the 5th Day performance showed more a reflection of South Africa's inability to pick 10 wickets on a day.(They just got 3,1 per Session.:D) That,this was despite having the world's best bowler Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel bowl at their best,has only shown,how determined the Indian batsmen were.(Especially Gowtham Gambhir,Sachin Tendulkar and Laxman.) Their home series loss to Australia,right after beating them in Away series,made me wonder whether the Australians have a psychological hold over the Proteas.
I felt the South Africans were a slightly better team than Australia during 1998(Donald-Pollock was certainly a better combination than McGrath-Gillespie.) and 2009 series(Australia came with 2 debutantes too.);yet they lost on both occasions.While the 2002 series and 2006(A Whitewash at home!) series were a no-contest-Australia had a better player at almost every Batting/Bowling position.
   In a way,I guess a Drawn series may also turn out to be a Blessing in future for Indian team-maybe the BCCI will realise the importance of having Practice matches,before the start of the Tour(India had none this time. ) and also the need for Fast Bowlers,who bowl at 140-145 Kph.While Zaheer has been bowling well since 2008-09,despite operating at a nominal 132-136 kph range;the same cannot be said of Sreesanth or Ishant,every fourth delivery from them may touch the 138-140 mark,but the rest will be completely harmless;
Ishant's wayward bowling was completely disappointing.Sreesanth may bowl 4-5 unplayable deliveries in a spell;but what a 'number one' team needs is a Bowler who's hungry for Wickets,not some 'Rhythm type';who bowls superb,when in form and then fizzles away.
   In my opinion,one Great bowler is as good as 2 Great batsmen.In fact,when Zaheer was at his peak,India won the series in England 1-0,despite not a Single specialist Indian batsman scoring a 100;and not to forget India looked like winning the South Africa series in 2006-07,despite every batsman being out-of-form then;because Sreesanth was at his best then.So,who knows,just like we waited for more than a Decade to get the perfect Opening combo for Batting and finally got one in Sehwag-Gambhir(Who are the best right now,in the world.);we may get one Great bowler soon and India may win a Series then in South Africa,even f they miss Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S.Laxman then(For close to 3 years,India has got used to playing well, despite Dravid being out-of-form;so it's more likely to miss the services of the 2 batsmen I'd mentioned,when they retire soon,than when Dravid retires.);hoping that either Raina or Pujara(Or both) improve themselves by then.
   What I liked about this series was that many of my predictions came true,and that satisfies me even more!:D
1.Harbhajan Singh:No one might've expected this.But,I did!I thought he may play a key role and he did it almost;he is India's leading wicket-taker in this series with 15 wickets.(He's been the leading Wicket-taker in every match for India.).Well done Harby,hope you do better in forthcoming Overseas series too.
2.Sachin Tendulkar:His modest 39.76 average in South Africa,prior to this series,didn't match up to his over-all high standards.But,I expected him to do better,as I thought-Despite not completely recovering from injuries and in his worst form,if he could score two 50s in S.A. in 06-07;he would certainly score 2 100s this time against them.He indeed scored 2 centuries this time,the 2nd one being one of his best.It coud've been talked in the same breath as Steve Waugh's 200 against W.Indies(Which ended the W.Indies dominance and marked the beginning of Australia's supremacy.),if the Indian bowlers picked the remaining 4 wickets soon enough on 4th day.Still,it was good enough to ensure that India didn't lose the 3rd match and ensure that Laxman's match-winning 96 in previous Test will not go in waste/.The 2 100s he scored in this series,will rank high for me along with the 116 in Melbourne and the 136 in Chennai;as his best efforts against a Quality attack.He certainly has 2 more years of cricket left in him,I'm sure he'll be the top-scorer in the England tour.  His failure in Durban is the only thing I cannot forgive,as he twice got out to deliveries,which could have been left alone.(One bad shot in a match is pardonable,but not 2.)
3.V.V.S.Laxman:The miracle man does it again.His 96 in Durban was identical to G.R.Viswanath's celebrated 97*.Yet,again in a low-scoring match,on a difficult wicket-he compiles a masterpiece,which won us the match.Can't forgive his failure in 3rd Innings of Centurion Test,but was in really good form in the rest. He was unlucky to be run-out in the Newlands test,when he started well,but in 2nd Innings,he didn't mind going for some easy runs(While pushing for a draw.);while Sachin preferred to just block the deliveries.:D
Now,all eyes will be on the ODI series between India and South Africa,which maybe seen as Dress-rehearsal for the World Cup.By the way,Sachin Tendulkar will beat Javed Miandad's record for having the longest ODI career,if he plays today's match.