Going into the seventh and final One-Day International of the Hero Honda Cup bilateral series between India and Australia at Mumbai's D Y Patil stadium on Wednesday, even the hardcore Indian cricket fan knows very well that his team cannot win the series; it's a lost cause already.
Defeat at Guwahati ensured that the visitors took an unassailable 4-2 lead, leaving the hosts to simply play for pride -- and try to reduce the margin -- in the final match.
Still, we are going to use at least 500 words next to discuss the final one-dayer. Simply because many of us are still going to read it, discuss it, even predict the outcome of it and, most definitely, watch it. The series is lost, the interest isn't!
Fact is we Indians have become addicted to cricket despite the team's many failings. Because we care a damn about statistics -- that India doesn't figure well in most of them is conveniently ignored.
Because we are Indians only care to hear positives about our cricket team. And anything that's not convenient for us is definitely sidelined.
India was expected to steamroll a depleted Australian side in this series and usurp the No 1 ranking. The opposite happened.
Had a result of a particular match, or a series for that matter, had an impact on fans, Indian cricket -- with so many defeats (many crucial ones), and so few wins in comparison -- would have already headed to the same grave where hockey did some years back.
It is imperative to mention here that what the hockey team achieved in its heyday, the cricket team will take many more years to achieve.
But cricket has survived.
Because despite the many defeats we still gave the sport many opportunities to survive. Because each and every one of the team's victories is celebrated by us as a major triumph. Because despite all the negative side-effects we still haven't given up on our addiction. Because we still have hope!
And hope floats, ensuring we expect a win every time India plays a match, and not hesitating to give the team yet another chance after every defeat it suffers.
The first ever One-Day International at the D Y Patil Stadium in Nerul is yet another opportunity for Team India to make amends. While victory will ensure that in celebrating it we will forget that we have lost the series, there will be much interest in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, starting Monday.
The stage is set. The wicket looks competitive with something there for batsmen and bowlers. Abey Kuruvilla, in charge of the Sports Academy at D Y Patil, said on Monday that the organizers have taken enough measures to ensure the wicket is a sporting one, and not only favourable for the batsmen, a la Hyderabad.
The visitors will definitely have two changes in their squad following the return of Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson to Australia.
India's squad, as usual, will be announced just ahead of the match, but there's the possibility of a few changes.
However, one thing that could play spoilsport to the match in general, and Indian aspirations in particular, is the unexpected showers that hit Mumbai on the eve of the game.
The intermittent rain robbed Team India of practice ahead of the match and cast serious doubts on the possibility of the match being played altogether.
In case rain does eventually affect the outcome of the match, the final score line of the series (4-2) would be similar to what it was when the men from Down Under had toured the subcontinent last in 2007 -- when rain had affected the Bangalore game.
But in case the match does happen, India will have an opportunity to either redeem themselves to an extent or aggravate the humiliation already suffered.
