ODI cricket is back & so is Dada!

It was the 1st of 4 ODIs featuring India & West Indies yesterday & it was total paisa-vasool ..... if you're a fan of big hitting, that is. The match saw the most runs ever being scored in a single ODI in India.

India batted first & managed 338 comprising of Gambhir's 69, Ganguly's 98 & Dravid & Dhoni's 60 odd each. Saurav's play brought back the glimpses of the mid & late 90s when he formed such a destructive opening combination with Sachin ..... the dancing down the wickets & the blasted sixes were a treat. Make no mistake, Dada is back & looks hungry ..... which can only be a good thing.

Dhoni was his usual wham-bam pulverizer style which looks super when it comes off. Dravid in contrast, was clinical but no less severe. Their partnership was very well paced & bought in 119 off the last 10.

The Windies though made a match of it & brought it down to the last ball. Some of the Indian bowling (Agarkar & Sreesanth) was appalling, feeding Chanderpaul (who got a mammoth 149) with short pitched stuff time & again.

However, it was all's well that ends well as India won after a long line of uninspired, insipid losses.

Though it is nice to see the team get back to winning ways, the bowling & fielding didn't look too good. These 2 departments need some serious work before the World Cup.

Meanwhile, there's a telecasting row going on over this series. Nimbus has the rights & is showing the matches on it's newly launched Neo Sports. DD is upto it's usual dadagiri, trying to get the feed, but so far Nimbus hasn't budged ..... which is good since DD cricket broadcasts are a nightmare with 4 balls per over & Krish Srikkanth on the filler show. God bless my cable operator for having the foresightedness to have bought the channel long ago!