Not the best time for a bunch of boys!

Well, everyone seems to be all geared up and ready to go and have a blast this new year.

However not so for a bunch of boys (or rather aged men) who sit around Sydney clutching their heads thinking on how to get it right. After the disastrous start that they had to the India-Aussie series, the Indian cricketers just are clueless as the rest of the cricket fans about what their strategy is to be.

The problem is that the team still has not managed to get a consistent and dependable opening partnership. And how long has this been? Can the team make a resolution to this effect immediatley, please!
On the other hand, all our batsmen are so legendary overseas that we cannot drop any of them. The team simply must have Dravid, Laxman, Sachin and Saurav. All four are here in Australia for the last time and so experienced that we cannot afford to keep anyone on the bench.
Then we have the talent of Yuvraj. One of the best timers of the ball in Indian cricket and a notorious name now in the ODI and Twenty20 circuit. However test is a different ball game which many claim that the young Yuvraj is ready for. Yet that is not what his first two trips to the crease at Australian soil proved.

So what do we do for the next test?
Keep Yuvraj out for the next, and try the Sehwag-Jaffar combo to get Dravid back to his famed No 3 slot.

Or discard Dravid to keep the faith in young Yuvraj alive.

Or Steve Waugh comes with yet another strategy. Let Jaffar be the one taking the axe and let Dravid and Sehwag open the batting giving seed for the style of obvious opposites to bloom. However this is totally risky as neither Sehwag or Dravid are exactly the kind of people into whose hands we can trust the task of opening the innings against super champs Australia.

The sydney test is sure going to mean a lot to the Indian players. Most of them shall never play the Aussies again on Aussie soil. It is one last chance to redeem themselves. Most of them were not even part of the winning Test 20 team, and shall have to settle in for the memories of the lousy first round crash of the 2007 World Cup.

So will the boys...ahem Men in Blue walk away with their heads high? Will their strategies ensure that we get something fitting and worthy of their true talents?

Happy New Year 2008

The wind has blown, and the leaves are left to dance
for comes along another hope, another year, another chance

For memories of the past you shall take along
they say that is what eventually makes you strong

And oppurtunities of the future you look to seize
of aspring dreams and hopes of conquering seas

However a moment be spared to thank the Superior we love
The one with an eye on all us mere mortals below

for letting us be here, standing, looking at the year ahead
rewarding us for believing in His words that he said

For his love and grace saw us through
in times deserving and otherwise too

So holding His hands let us make the next pace
step by step, we walk under his watch and grace

For with him, oppurtunites of the future you look to seize
of aspring dreams and hopes of conquering seas!