Of players beyond punchlines, and dimensions lost to success.

There was a point in the middle of the day, when I wondered.. what if he was at the wicket today. And I was reminded of him often throughout this series.

There are certain players who are more than just a passing whiff of greatness. There are some who threaten to kill their own legend. Some who are unaware, and some.. weary. Some exist today, but most lived yesterday. I think its easy to dub a player great, a very generous adjective handed out in cricket, once he ceases to play the game, for it gives one a dimension named perspective to brood on.

Quite a lotta obituaries are being written on the demise of Aussie supremacy - premature and inaccurate, in my opinion. I feel they could all be turned on their heads once the pace bowler returns to form and the wandering all-rounder is hushed into the wings. Among other things, this tour would at least put things into perspective, for Australian cricket.

But I think we forget the fact that their board chose to not play a playmaker on disciplinary grounds. They chose to blood a spinner into their Test team, at an age unheard of, for our debutants. I think we forget that they have a media as bad ours, breathing down their neck. I think we forget they were not the ones in Sri Lanka a few months back. I think we forget, they made the tough decisions, we would n't.

Its easy to forget things, when you are winning. As easy, as it is to remember great players when they are not around.

But let's not forget, it is a great cricket nation, theirs. They play well. They play hard. They are still here, and they will survive (on top).

And we will hate them. Again.

Addendum: It has been brought to the notice of the author that ow(u)r Flintoff babu has endorsed the Indian cricket team as the best in the world. And, there is no one, no one in this world who can contest ow(u)r Freddie. This article is hereby dubbed void. Sorry for the inconvenience.