The real game begins tomorrow

..after the hype and hoopla of ashes, tomorrow the real games begin :-)

Ok, seriously, atleast tomorrow is the start of a few test season for India. And despite much of the Indian cricket lovers being disheartened by the recent results, its good to remember that we are starting a 'Test Series' here. And we have been winning an awful lot of those recently! The last time we lost a test series was to Australia at home...and before that....umm..let me remember...was it Nz series in Nz, before the World Cup !

And its not as if we have been playing bad test cricket in near past. Except for a tactical blunder leading to the loss against Pak in bangalore, we haven't lost too many of those which we shouldn't have.

And, the relevance of the series itself? Well many think India is in a loose-loose situation, because not much can be gained against Zimbabwe. I think its a good way to start a test season, with a relatively easy game. Some of the runs made, and wickets taken, would help the players go into the tougher challenges more confidently. And most of our players are mature enough to keep the achievements against this Zim side in right perspective.

Especially for the batsmen, there is more to look forward to than the bowlers. Facing Streak and Blignaut in Zim conditions is probable more challenging (and hence helpful in gaining confidence) than some of the bowling attack that they are going to face on the subcontinental featherbeds (for most of our coming season is in home conditions). So runs made here, although not real top order, should not be taken as lightly as some would suggest.

For the bowlers, well Kumble and Pathan, who are both destructors of poor techniques, are likely to have good games. Not much help in their skill development, yet some confidence is what they can seek. And Balaji and Khan can look forward to getting back their rhythm and confidence, as Indian team would need them very much, when meeting tougher challenges at home.

All in all, good enough reasons to keep an eye on the action, probably not as much as Ashes(which drained so much of our energy), but just keep that score window open on the office desktop :-)