Cricket and I
Before joining Cricinfo, my interest in the game was a casual one. Sure, I’d sit glued to the TV (back at my parents’ home where I had a TV) whenever India would play an ODI, but Tests were something that only greying (or balding or both) uncles watched. It must be that I am fast transitioning to the aforementioned stage of life because I cannot wait for the South Africa v India Test series to commence!
The hot-off-our-CMS match preview by Sidharth Monga nails it:
Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir play for the same club, same state, same IPL side. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel play for the same franchise in South Africa. Sehwag and Gambhir are close friends, Morkel calls himself and Steyn best friends in the team. Sehwag and Gambhir run on intuition, their batting styles compliment each other. Morkel goes for raw pace and bounce, Steyn goes for swing, presenting a varied attack. Sehwag and Gambhir are the best openers in the world, Morkel and Steyn the hottest new-ball pairing going around.
Can we fix the toss for the first Test to ensure we start the series with its biggest selling point? Gambhir and Sehwag v Morkel and Steyn. Morkel knows how to build it too. “It’s going to be a very good challenge,” he says. “Gambhir and Sehwag have played very well for India. Myself and Dale are pretty new with the new ball, and it will be a big test, especially in Indian conditions. Luckily, the challenge is going to be for them too at the end of this year in South Africa. It’s not going to end here.” Imagine the first morning of the series, three slips and a gully, a fresh pitch, and Zaheer Khan bowling to Ashwell Prince. What a dampener it will be.
Update 2023-05-14: Changed the http:// cricinfo.com link to https:// espncricinfo.com one.