True dat

Once in a while, you think of writing a little piece, and then you find out that someone has scooped you. And not just scooped you, they've done it the right way, which is to say, they've added some empirical heft to their piece. So, here is Siddarth Monga, describing the fearsome trio of Munaf Patel, Ranadeb Bose and Ishant Sharma who took the field for Rest of India in the Irani Trophy Final against Mumbai. The title of the piece, "Tall and Inspid" perhaps gives the game away a tad bit. But, honestly, my first reaction on seeing that this was the bowling-line up for the Rest of India side in the Irani Trophy was that, "The Mumbai lads are going to be chuckling at the thought of the runs they are going to make". I've said enough on Patel; Bose struck me as a bit of a trundler on the only occasion I saw him (I forget where, it was that memorable); and Ishant Sharma joins the small list of Delhi cricketers who I don't think will ever impress me (much as it pains me to say so). If this is the best that the Rest of India can come up with then India needs to work much, much harder at finding fast bowling talent (and at nurturing those that do rise to the top, which in this case, means taking good care of Khan, Sreesanth, Singh and Pathan for the time being).