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Journalism of Courage
When Alastair Cook was 16 short of a triple hundred,the umpires stopped play due to bad light,not for the first time. Despite the presence of floodlights,the illumination apparently wasnt enough to light up the cricket ground. The overcast conditions coupled with the fast-arriving dusk in chilly Birmingham had added to the murkiness,but try explaining the reason for the delays to the Barmy Army.
As the players headed towards their respective dressing rooms,the fans at jam-packed Edgbaston who had shown a strong will to hang around despite suffering the mediocrity of the Indian bowling attack booed,taunted and yawned loudly. After all,it isnt often that you get to witness that rare cricketing moment.
By the fag end of Friday,Virender Sehwag reminded them that D-Day could arrive as early as Saturday. The Indian opener achieved a king pair (joining the illustrious company of BS Chandrashekhar and Ajit Agarkar in Indian cricket) as he tried to smash the first ball he faced through the covers. Instead he was caught at first slip. This was Edgbastons I-will-not-be-here-very-long moment.
Suddenly,there was a renewed interest in the stands as England were now just nine wickets away from becoming the World No.1 Test side. Trailing by 486 runs after England declared their first innings at 710/7,India finished the day at 35/1.
India have batted lengthy hours to save a Test in the recent past,but the chances of another Napier 2009 occuring seem minute. While the battle between bat and ball was not lost in New Zealand when Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman salvaged India a draw after following-on,the contest here in England seems to be all but over.
Besides,re-emphasising Englands overwhelming domination on the series,Day Three showed just how drab the game can get if it stops being a contest. Regardless of the fact that the home batsmen were piling runs and going past milestones,the buzz in the stands was missing. For most part of the day,fans hung around beer bars without the fear missing out on those key moments that could define the game. It was also a day when the Indian fielders showed only a shade more involvement than the spectators.
There was also no probing spell,nor a battle of wits between two individuals. The English batsmen,especially Cook,were justified in grinding down the Indians. They batted like a team that had a big lead and lots of time on hand. The batting order would rarely be presented with such a chance to enhance their Test averages.
Long period of lull
And since Cook isnt quite a David Gower,the day was all about runs on the board and not elegant strokes around the field. Adding to the boredom was Cooks long period of lull. He consumed 137 balls between his first and second boundaries of the day. To be fair to Cook,though,Dhonis extremely defensive 7-2 field to the seamers ensured that runs were at a premium,while the rough outside his off-stump made even the spinners hard to score off. Hence,the first was hit at 11 am,the second at 3.15 pm.
Such was the disillusionment surrounding Indias pathetic show that the visitors were not only being written off,but openly ridiculed. A certain former player,and now commentator,suggested on-air that India should be stripped of its Test status. But it was Shane Warnes tweet that summed up the day perfectly. Officially the worst day of Test cricket now lights on,crowd bored all day. Everyone been waiting for Cook 300,now off for bad light rubbish!
While the former greats do have a point,even if a little extreme,there is no room for emotions in statistics. As they say,statistics cannot lie. For all you number crunchers,here is something that really puts Cooks momentous knock and Indias forgettable England tour in perspective. His individual score of 294 is bigger than Indias highest team total in this series so far.
