The true meaning of Test Cricket: Lessons for the Indian Team

Going for Broke & Finishing: Taking Charge of Proceedings and Ending the Game

Play smart cricket to go past the finishing line

This is the stage that the Indians must live up to, what with all their talk about playing aggressive, fearless cricket. While tenacity, guts and patience will go a long way in laying a solid foundation, picking up the pace by playing some powerful shots is not an altogether bad option either. Be it any format of the game, an all-out attack is quite effective especially when the base is sound. That’s what Dinesh Chandimal did at Galle.

You have to ensure you don’t overdo the rampaging bit. For example, if you hit a bowler for consecutive boundaries, it’s quite unnecessary to repeat the same shots immediately afterwards. The rival camp isn’t stupid or inexperienced, so underestimating them while you’re in attack mode is a fatal error. There is plenty of time for you to get settled and then send the opposite side on a leather hunt.

Finishing games is extremely vital in ODI & T20 cricket, but doing so in the Test arena is actually ten times more satisfying. It’s a true testament to you as a team, as cricket professionals, and as sportsmen. A draw in a keenly contested game is an honourable result, a narrow victory even more so (as Andrew Flintoff & Brett Lee experienced in the 2005 Ashes, and India realized in 2010 against South Africa).

In summary, the Indian team needs to just fine-tune its basics and rework their mental makeup in order to come back in the ongoing series. These young firebrands hate to lose, and perhaps the Galle defeat might be a sign that they’re ready to turn it around. Playing smart cricket (again, it is a much more subtle version of aggressive) is the need of the hour.