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Test cricket has never had it so good in terms of sustaining interest, prolonging excitement and ensuring a decision at the end of it all.
We have already seen three hair-rising chases and another Test, the second between Australia and South Africa, is due for another heart-stopping final day as I write this.
It's also time for a change of guard as the Australian reign is fast coming to an end. India triggered it almost 10 months ago inflicting a heavy defeat on Australia in its own backyard and now South Africa seems to be completing it. The only question that remains to be answered is who will take over from Australia - the heart suggests India while the mind says South Africa.
India and South Africa have certainly made the most gains in 2008, and in all three formats of the game, while Australia are the biggest losers - in all three formats of the game and equally on and off the field. The third day's play in the second Test in Melbourne provided all the evidence needed to draw this conclusion. It was not just a bad day in office for Australia, but also a brutal one that may cut short many careers in the team.
For most part of the day, the Aussies looked ordinary and even inefficient as they went wicketless for over two sessions as the find of the year Jean-Paul Duminy held the South African innings together with remarkable grit and rare ingenuity. The Aussies also dropped several catches, conceded easy runs and were so defensive in thinking and tactics that even the most ardent of their fans were stunned into silence.
The outlook was so bleak that the grumpy Ricky Ponting could have been mistaken for George W Bush - the resemblance was never so striking. Australia's lead of 196 at the start of the day looked almost insurmountable as South Africa had just three wickets in hand and Duminy the last recognised batsman at the crease. Normally, the Aussies would have attacked, but, as one report put it, they did not go for the kill and instead waited for the patient to die.
Lack of urgency and ambition was clearly missing while the same qualities were the cornerstones of South Africa's brave fightback with Duminy leading the way. The 24-year-old Cape coloured left-hander's innings was a revelation and a gem coming as it did in only his second Test following a match-winning 50 in the first which South Africa won chasing the second highest last innings score of 414.
Duminy has all the talent to become the world's best No. 6, if he is not pushed up the batting order that is. Right now, he is unmatched for temperament, technique and tactics. He bats more positively and freely than any of his contemporaries at No. 6 and yet can hold the lower order together as he did so well adding 180 runs for the ninth wicket with Dale Steyn, who is fast emerging as a match-winning all-rounder.
Duminy and Steyn are certainly the key players in the present South African side. They lend solidity, flexibility and a lot of flair to a team already boasting of the right balance in both batting and bowling. The lack of the very same qualities with the decreasing prowess of Brett Lee and the absence of a genuine allrounder are the undoing of Australia.
Presently if there is any team to match South Africa for depth and variety, it undoubtedly has to be India. India, too, may lack a genuine allrounder, but in Yuvraj Singh at No. 6 it has an ace up its sleeve. He can either be a secret weapon or an open arsenal and can link the top and lower order playing naturally and aggressively or with dogged determination depending on the state of the game.
Add to it the opening partnership of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir and the middle-order of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. At the other end is the pace pair of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharam and the spin duo of Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra. Leading the bunch is Mahendra Singh Dhoni who is already being recognised as an all-time great.
South Africa and India are also in peak form and in the middle of a remarkably victory streak. A tussle between the two can take Tests to a new level.
