He comes thundering in to bowl from the Southern End and has a menacing run-up and delivery action. His aim is to destroy the wicket, humiliate the batsman and keep a part of the pitch for himself. He has confidence in his own abilities and the talent of his team mates to overcome any obstacles that stands between the team and victory. He is particularly dangerous in the jungle where the ball doesn’t come on to the bat (Symonds Tuskers of course), and whizzes around the batsman’s ears. Many have preferred the shelter of the dressing room to the chaos of the wicket.

The batsmen are in a bodyline-like situation. The ball comes from nowhere to beat the bat or thud into the batsman’s flimsy padding. Most of the time it is short and aimed at the heart or head of the poor guy at the crease. More attacking shots are needed but the batsman always seems to be on the backfoot and in a defensive frame of mind. The team needs happy hookers like Srikanth and Mohinder Amarnath. Guys who can fight fire with fire and send the ball where they think it belongs...far away from the fielders and beyond the boundary line.

Okay, maybe it’s time to take a drinks break and wonder what the score really is. Because if it’s not the sizzling sambhar stuff from the Southern End, it’s the wily googly guerilla gend-baazi from the Northern End. Legbreakers that leave you stranded and stumped on high altitude wickets, where the blasted keeper and his team have been plotting and planning to get us out. Flippers that threaten to turn our world upside down and go right through our defense. The only alternative is to play on the front foot and hit through the Line. The picture in my mind is that of Navjot Singh Sidhu dancing down the wicket and hoisting the hapless bowler into the stands. Whose flight was hijacked by who?

This is India vs. extremism in the new millennium. Both bowlers are running in from opposite sides of the wicket (North and South India) and bowling deliveries that are dangerous and confounding for the batsmen. The scary part is that they have many other teams of bowlers who are fit and ready to keep coming at us. The juggernaut will roll on whether we like it or not. We just have to continue to attack and for God’s sake keep rotating the strike. If not, then we’ll continue to lose important wickets like the pilgrims of Amarnath and Dr.Rajkumar and keep our heads in the air. Moreover, if we lose any more of Kashmir we’ll soon be batting without helmets and the all important abdomen guards.

Just like Bob Woolmer and his laptop, it is vital for us to do our homework and study the opposition. Flexibility will make us better batsman and we’ll do better when we can anticipate what the opposition is going to do in advance. I’d love to watch our team play in the nets as they prepare for the tough battles that lie ahead. And it’s about time that the 'neutral umpires' warn the bowlers about too many short pitched deliveries and running onto the pitch. Unfortunately they can’t do much about the fact that the ball often disappears from the view of the batsman and does crazy things in the air and off the wicket. Where do they get the technology for such prodigious reverse swing? They must have very powerful wrists for the googly to turn so much. Must be doing a lot of training in places with great facilities. Soon they’ll be running in faster and bowling deliveries that move and spin even greater distances. In return the batsman will have to have a wider variety of strokes, better eyesight and more nimble footwork, and that missing 'killer instinct'. This game just keeps getting more and more interesting doesn’t it? Bowlers- stick to your Line, batsman-don’t throw your wicket away. No wonder cricket rules the subcontinent.

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