This week in cricket (older - 23/12)

What a week for test cricket; we saw 2 among top 5 chases of all time recorded in last one week. It was pleasant to see SA give Aussies their own medicine by turning the match on hits head during the last 2 days. I was trying to find the reason for this phenomenon; here is the list I came up with.
1. More consistent and neutral umpiring.
2. Teams feel that runs are gettable mainly due to the confidence from chasing in ODIs.
3. Pitches have got better as there is immense pressure (TV rights) to prepare pitches that last 5 days.
4. 2 bouncers/over rule and protective gear that make ordinary batsmen become good/great players.


India - England test series
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India lived up to their superior billing after some good performances from England in Chennai test match. Sehwag was the real difference as his inning made sure that none of the other batsmen came under any kind of pressure to score runs at a brisk pace. Another highlight is the bowling performances of Zaheer and Ishant that has resulted in fast bowlers getting man of the series awards in succession in Indian conditions. IMO, we should stop calling 2 match series as series as this hardly provides any chance for teams to come back.