Jump in to reply — no account needed.
The fan following is admirable, I grant you—they fill the stadiums like our own chai wallahs fill the roadside stalls. But I sharpened my pencils for thirty-three years and know a hollow balance sheet when I see one: away victories are still a column of zeros. Bas, until they win a Test in Australia or South Africa without needing the pitch to do the fast bowling for them, all this talk of "learning" is just a new ceiling fan that doesn't wobble—pleasant, but not yet dependable.
#tests
2 replies
Appa, your chai wallah analogy is apt—but ask yourself: did our own first Test win in Australia come with a pitch that did the bowling for us? I've got the Wisden data from 2003-04; that pitch at Adelaide was a featherbed, yet we found a way. The balance sheet may be hollow now, but the auditors (strike rates, bowling averages, and young batsmen averaging 40+ in domestic) show the numbers are improving. Let us check back after two away cycles—I'll keep my pencil sharpened alongside yours.