The Fourth One-Dayer And Our Young Brigade
The result of fourth one-day match which was played at the mecca of Indian cricket, Eden Gardens, Kolkata, would remembered by the connoisseurs of cricket for more than reason. First it was for the first time Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the regular captain of the Indian team was not captaining his side on a disciplinary grounds. He has been serving a two-match ban for slow over rates in the earlier matches. It was a crucial blow to the prospects of the team and a matter of great disappointment for many cricket-lover of this region as the Eden Gardens was hosting this event for a long time and many fans of the Indian captain were bitterly disappointed to miss him.
On the back of it there was another development in the form of Yuvraj Singh's absence in this vital match. Yuvraj Singh has in and out of the team too many times in his career on the ground of injury and his proneness to injuries should be a matter of concern for his umpteen admirers. The wisdom of selectors to field him in earlier matches, when he was nursing an injury which ultimately got aggravated to a point that he was not only forced into ruling himself out for this match but his services would not available in the forthcoming series against Bangladesh, would come under scrutiny.
Now coming to the proceedings of the fourth one-dayer which India won in a thrilling manner and clinched the series, the performance of our young brigade warmed the cockles of the hearts of thousands of cricket-crazy fans who were present at the Eden Gardens. Srilanka's three-hundred plus score which was mainly due to an outstanding performance by the opener Taranga raised the prospect of a stiff chase by India. When the stand-in skipper Virendra Shewag and the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar departed rather cheaply many spectators made their way out of the stadium fearing an ignominious defeat. But here lies the charm of the game of cricket and its glorious uncertainties. Virat Kohli, the captain of the Under-19 World Cup winning team, whom many consider to be an exciting talent in the company of the senior pro Gautam Gambhir who has been having a dream run for the past one year, turned the match on its head and India came off with flying colours beating Srilanka by seven wickets.
Looking at the performances of our youngsters like Ravinder Jadeja, Pragan Ohja and Virat Kohli one can say the young brigade has truly arrived!
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