Full moon rising

I know, I know, I promised that I would not write about cricket for a while, but I could not resist this one.

Today marks the 7th anniversary of that seminal day on which the Indian Test team began morphing into the force it currently has become in the longest version of the game.

If you were looking for an indication about the shifting strengths of the two protagonists, look at the lineups in that match - 6 of the Indians are still playing for the team (In Zaheer's case - when healthy) with a 7th, Anil Kumble, who would have played that game had he been uninjured, currently leading the side. Also, an 8th member, Venkatesh Prasad, is very actively involved with the current team as the bowling coach of an assembly line of accomplished pacers. In contrast, only 2 Aussies are still active, and neither of them are bowlers.

Of all the reports I read about that match, the ones that still resonate with me were written by Prem Panicker. Prem often tends to belabour a point, using a 100 words where 10 would do, but this was one of those periods when his verbosity was an advantage. Check out his reports for days three (Laxman puts his hand up), four (Silent assasin strikes Aussies), and five (Aussies stumble at the Final Frontier). I could read them again and again and still feel goosebumps.

I cannot wait for the Aussies to come back again for the 4 Test series they are slated to play in India.