It was a draw, but it was not a tame draw. Prem has said some fine words in his wrap up report. A fan in him spoke out.

I have been unfortunately following the game thru Circinfo’s radio commentary. Have tried the video feed earlier but it is ,more exasperating than not. At least the radio commentary si relayed with the interminal delays of buffering.

It was a draw and it was not a tame draw.

And we got to see a lot of firsts in the test too. I got to hear of them. Was it the first ever in International cricket history that a Sardar bowled to Sardar? And was it the first that unraveling of a turban cost one the catch?

 My friends find fault with Dravid, say he left the charge for too late. Yeah right! Any sooner and it might have gone sour. There was really no chance of of victory march there on the day five. That India managed to dampen all the English hopes of a victoy wasin itself noteworthy. And like any leader in the interest of his team should, Dravid first made sure they would not lose, having done that a late charge was in fact quite a statement.

Many have bought into the premise that Sachin should in fact play the elder statesman, not give himself to the rush of adrenalin and play a long patient game. But the fact is whenever he has tried that he often fallen on his face. When he takes the battle to the opposition he rises and succeeds more often than not.

Yesterday’s cameo was, well, an attempt to do open heart surgery on Flintoff’s heart. That the match was called off must have been a relief to the English captain. Even a full quota of the overs might not have taken India to victory but would have taken them perilously close.