627, 76...

Less than a week back, the Indian cricket team scored a chanceless 627 in one test innings. Leading the charge was one Mr Virendra Sehwag, who scored 319. Such was his dominance that the lowest he had scored in any one session was 88 runs.
Today, the entire Indian team scored 76 in their completed innings.
(The Hindi media erupted in a series of poetic headlines. Hindustan came up with two - one in rhyme and the other in alliteration. "Twenty20 ke sher / Twenty overs mein dher" and "Chhe sau run banane wale chhihattar mein chhitraaye".)

Ardent Cricinfo fans should try to find out if there are any instances of a team having a difference of 550 runs in successive innings. My guess is that there aren't any.
And that is exactly why filmstars fall over each other to buy cricket teams, entire cities wear Dhoni masks and buffoons like Navjyot S Sidhu are the highest paid stars on television.

And I - like countless other fans - remain hooked on to this game because we have no fucking clue that who will be the highest scorer in the next innings... Sehwag? Or Pathan?

As the wise guy asked, "Last moment tak pata nahin chalega ki batsman kaun hain aur bowler kaun?"