India Shining, Schumi Shining
What a day! Simply superb. It was a super duper Sunday. The great way to mark the start of the Hindu New Year. Two games and two superb performances. Ferrari and India, Schumi and Dravid, both showed determination and produced extraordinary results. Malaysia, supposedly the toughest circuit for Ferrari but still Schumi took Ferrari to the podium. Lahore, fourth match of the series and India down with 2 -1, a do or die situation but then the Great Wall of India, “Dravid”, played the anchor rule and brought back India into series.
The way Dravid played his shots keeping his calm without taking any risk reminds me of Schumi’s driving. If you see Schmui driving his red Ferrari it will never appear that he is driving at 350 km/hr. His steering maneuvering is so smooth as if he is driving a car at a speed of 100 km/hr on a highway.
Both the games were pretty tight. Montoya was always pushing Schumi and one wrong move or extra time in pit could have deprived Schumi of this empathetic win. On the other hand, the Pakistani bowlers were trying to bowl pretty hard and one wrong shot by Dravid or Kaif could have put India into deep trouble. Both the games demanded consistency and patience. The team that showed these qualities came out with flying colors.
Not to forget that besides Schumi, it was Barichello who helped to control Montoya. After the third pit stop of Schumi and Montoya, it was Barichello who came in between the two and deprived Montoya from putting extra pressure on Schumi. Thus it was a team effort. Similarly, it was Yuvraj and Kaif who shared the responsibility with Dravid at different points in the game and played tremendously. As pointed by Sidhu India’s performance was like phoenix rising from the ashes. They turned each obstacle into a stepping-stone.
Besides all this it was also a day of bad luck for some people. Webber who started with second position on the grid could not really take the benefit of the spot as his car did not start. He endured a nightmare race and spun out. Once again it was a bad day for Kimi because of machine problems especially at a time when he was looking strong. Not to forget Ralf, who also had to suffer because of engine failure. But in the midst of all this it was Button who was left in ecstasy after finishing in third. BAR driver finally stood on the podium after an impressive drive to finish just ahead of Barichello.
There is a lot of similarity between two games when it comes to the importance of time. A fraction of second, a small mistake and it can turn the tables. You take your car to the pit lane and a waste of few seconds during refueling or tires change could result in pushing you behind someone else in the race. Just because of 2 seconds Barichello could not make it to the podium. Similarly in cricket if you don’t read the ball in time, you won’t be able to play your shot and this could result in your walking towards the pavilion.
After watching so many Formula one races, I feel that in cricket too the national anthem should be played during the presentation ceremony.
That’s it for the day. Catch the next action live from Bahrain and Lahore soon.
