Ponting ready to go? - India on the slide

Don't worry, I don't mean the Indian economy or anything like that. Just their cricket team. Indulge me. Or just skip this. I promise you that this posting is pure cricket, and that it will shed no light whatever on Real Life.

Australia are already one up in their four match series, at home against India, and game two just began in Sydney, late last night London time. India lost two earlier wickets, and then nearly lost another when former Australian captain and batting legend Ricky Ponting dropped a sitter, which had he held it would have seen the back of Virendar Sehwag, an Indian batsman of almost equal renown.

At which juncture, someone called Christian was quoted on Cricinfo, saying this:

I have a feeling Ponting just made his decision to retire - seriously. Adam Gilchrist made his decision in similar circumstances (dropping a sitter) and most athletes make their decision when they have that feeling that they just aren't up to it anymore.

For non-cricketophiles, dropping a sitter means you made a bad mistake. But no worries. At lunch, India were 72-4, Ponting's error having soon been corrected by Aussie wicketkeeper Haddin, who didn't drop his sitter.

Cricinfo again:

To state the bleeding obvious, this was Australia's session all the way.

Australian quick bowler James Pattinson, only twenty one, and only playing in his fourth test match, already has three wickets. A bowling legend of the future? In general, the new crop of Aussie quick bowlers are looking good, and they have other good ones not playing in this game. For India's aging batting stars, on the other hand, there seem to be few obvious replacements. Now, one of those potential replacements, Virat Kohli, has also been got out. Tendulkar, though, is still batting. For months now Tendulkar has been trying to get that elusive hundredth international hundred. Now would be a good time.

Not everything in the world is improving just now. But, along with such things as escalators, my ability to track interesting international cricket games between two interesting sides neither of which is England just gets better by the year.

Tendulkar is now out. Pattinson gets the big one. India 125-6. Says Cricinfo:

It's like the Australia of the late 90s and 2000s. Unstoppable.

Certainly unstoppable by India, in their present away form.