Mohammed Yusuf is an extraordinary case to be studied in depth. No, not for budding Cricketers but for the students of Psychiatry. He is such a complex character; we have not seen one like him before and perhaps will never get to see one again!
Just look at this man. He was born in a Christian family in an Islamic Country. He was Christened Yusuf Yohana. The first name amply exposes the insecurities suffered by the minority Christians in Pakistan. But due to his talent and hard work and also due to lack of batting talent in a country that 'Manufactures' fast bowlers, he came up all the way to play for the Pakistan national team. Let us be fair, if the batting cupboard was not empty in Pakistan, Yohana would never have played for Pakistan. He must be the first ever Christian to play for Pakistan.
At one point of time, he went on to score the highest runs in a Calendar year, surpassing the legendary Vivian Richards in the process. He was scoring runs in tons all over the place. Pakistan fans were over the moon because they had a batsman who they believed was better than Rahul Dravid! Well, if you can't better Sachin, at least better Dravid! That was unfortunately not enough for the PCB. He had nurtured Captaincy ambitions all along and very often had worn his ambitions on his sleeve like the Nike logo!
So if religion was a hindrance to achieve his ambition, he was ready to dump the religion. Being irreligious myself, I found nothing wrong with this. If a girl or a boy can convert from one religion to another to get married, what is the problem in Yusuf Yohana converting to attain his goal? But a lot of people questioned his commitment.I don't want to dwell in those arguments, let us move on!
You have be more loyal than the King and Yusuf had to be more Islam than the Muslim. Hence he changed his appearance to look like Sayeed Anwar. More Muslim he became, more suspicious the Pakistan Cricket Bosses turned. They were ready to bestow Captaincy upon any Younis, Shoib and Khan, but not Mohammad Yusuf. Then came the unkindest cut of all, he was not selected for the shorter versions of Cricket! Branded 'Test Batsman' he had to hit back, but he knew not whom and where!
So he jumped into the ICL bandwagon along with many of his ilk like Abdul Razzack. Only two people had anything significant to lose by joining ICL; Yusuf and Razzack. Others were either retired Generals like Inzy Bhai or mere foot soldiers! So wisdom dawned upon him only after signing the contract with Subhash Chandra's breakaway league. But since the Pak Cricket needed him, he was bailed out by his establishment.
On his comeback, he expected to be trusted. But Younis Khan was not ready to trust him and neither the PCB. Here is one Captain who is ready to quit Captaincy, literally at the drop of a hat! But Pakistan Cricket Board was ready to crawl before Younis than order Yusuf. And finally the momentous moment came in Mohammad Yusuf 's like. He was declared Captain of the Pakistan National Team for the twin tours of New Zealand and Australia. But this was done only after Younis Khan made himself unfit for these tours.
A miserable tour down under meant Yusuf was down in the dumps. The squabbles in the team and bizarre tactics when faced with a realistic chance of beating Aussies in Australia undermined Yusuf' s credibility. Any match Pakistan lose, the allegation of match-fixing is raised even before the post-match presentations are over and an inquiry commission will be appointed before the players reach the team hotel.
And now all the players have been 'Tried' for their dubious role in the debacle down under. Both the squabbling siblings, Yusuf and Younis have been banned for life. And in one of the most poignantly funny statement; Yusuf has declared, "I have Retired,,, for the time being,,," So this 'Retirement' actually means not a 'Full-stop' to his playing career, but just a 'Comma'. Retired with a Comma! Interesting indeed!
So what next? Come back with an 'Inverted Comma'? Let us wait with a Semi Colon!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Swan and the Ugly Duckling; A Tale of Two Pathans !
The Parents of Yusuf Pathan and Irfan Pathan; what a fortunate lot they ought to be, to give birth to two such sensational talents! Vinod Kambli had once famously quoted about his late arrival on the international scene, "Sachin took the elevator and I took the staircase!". He was perhaps over the moon after an epoch making second successive double hundred and had his reasons to feel so!
We now are dealing with a different situation. The younger brother here was a handsome little fellow with super talent. His batting, bowling and fielding were such supreme pleasure, that the Selectors practically airlifted him from the Junior Cricket series in Pakistan and straight into the cauldron of Cricket at the 'Highest' level 'Down Under'!
And how did he do? He was nothing short of a Sensation. I still remember the earth shaking reverse swinging yorker that felled Adam Gilchrist and the excited shout of Ravi Shastri! He was winning matches and playing like a dream. He batted at No. 3 and even opened and did well in whatever he did. That was a period when Srinath had retired, Nehra and Zaheer were injured and we had only Ajit Agarkar for a front-line bowler.
Nobody even knew Irfan Pathan had an elder brother. His name was mentioned along with the parents when Irfan was setting the ovals ablaze. And after those occasional glimpses of the elder sibling; people used to say, "What an ugly looking brother for such a handsome and talented boy!"
Then came the Australian Missionary with the mission to demolish Indian Cricket. Greg Chappell almost destroyed the careers of Saurav Ganguly, Virendar Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh. All these guys came back strongly after Greg left. But one guy whom Chappell evidently promoted had actually started to falter, albeit slowly and definitely!
Irfan Pathan in the process of becoming a modern day Kapil Dev, lost his swing and zing first. He was going up in the batting order and going down in the bowling order. He must be the first player to be sent back mid-way through the tour of South Africa after scoring a century in a side match! And what was the reason? He was not even able to pitch the ball in line with the stumps.
Thus he lost the pace and his place in the team. It was such an unfortunate fall from grace! Today even his best efforts are being overlooked in favor of some extremely ordinary performers like Vinay Kumar and Ashish Nehra.
All along, there was this elder brother, the 'Ugly Duckling' who was inspired by the success of the little brother 'Swan' and wanted to do well for himself. He was playing in the local 'Gully Cricket' and was smashing the window-panes all over the mohalla. Some of his friends asked him to take up Cricket more seriously and lo and behold; here was a 'Pinch Hitter'!
People were skeptical about his methods. Whenever he did well, it had to be 'fluke'. And when he failed, it was time for 'I told you so'! But this giant of a man went on undeterred in his mission. Today, he is the Vice-Captain of the Rajastan Royals team; an understudy to the Wise Captain Shane Warne!
He is in the news for the right reasons and for the wrong reasons. While the sledge-hammer Symonds declared, "This is Cricket for Men, not for school boys"; Captain Shane has Warned people, "Sledging is part of Cricket for Symonds. But he picked the Wrong man".
While the out of favor Irfan must be feeling really jilted by 'Lady Fortune'; Yusuf has reached a commanding position. The fortunes of his team and those of the opponents depend upon which side of his anatomy are they getting to see. If those in the pavilion keep looking at his back, it is doom time for the opponents. If the opponents get to see his posterior early on, RR sure will be in trouble.
I have discussed why Indian selectors should take care of Yusuf in an Earlier post!
I sincerely hope the 'Swan' will soon find the ability to swim against the tide and join the Duckling to bring more laurels to Team India. The talent of both these Pathans is unquestionable. It is just a matter of the Board, the Selectors and the Captain showing some confidence in these guys and giving the backing they really deserve!
We have two world-beaters with us, but will we ever use them well enough? If the two Pathans get even a fourth of the support accorded to the two Sharmas [Ishant and Nohit Rohit], India will be a huge force in the shorter formats of Cricket!
We now are dealing with a different situation. The younger brother here was a handsome little fellow with super talent. His batting, bowling and fielding were such supreme pleasure, that the Selectors practically airlifted him from the Junior Cricket series in Pakistan and straight into the cauldron of Cricket at the 'Highest' level 'Down Under'!
And how did he do? He was nothing short of a Sensation. I still remember the earth shaking reverse swinging yorker that felled Adam Gilchrist and the excited shout of Ravi Shastri! He was winning matches and playing like a dream. He batted at No. 3 and even opened and did well in whatever he did. That was a period when Srinath had retired, Nehra and Zaheer were injured and we had only Ajit Agarkar for a front-line bowler.
Nobody even knew Irfan Pathan had an elder brother. His name was mentioned along with the parents when Irfan was setting the ovals ablaze. And after those occasional glimpses of the elder sibling; people used to say, "What an ugly looking brother for such a handsome and talented boy!"
Then came the Australian Missionary with the mission to demolish Indian Cricket. Greg Chappell almost destroyed the careers of Saurav Ganguly, Virendar Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh. All these guys came back strongly after Greg left. But one guy whom Chappell evidently promoted had actually started to falter, albeit slowly and definitely!
Irfan Pathan in the process of becoming a modern day Kapil Dev, lost his swing and zing first. He was going up in the batting order and going down in the bowling order. He must be the first player to be sent back mid-way through the tour of South Africa after scoring a century in a side match! And what was the reason? He was not even able to pitch the ball in line with the stumps.
Thus he lost the pace and his place in the team. It was such an unfortunate fall from grace! Today even his best efforts are being overlooked in favor of some extremely ordinary performers like Vinay Kumar and Ashish Nehra.
All along, there was this elder brother, the 'Ugly Duckling' who was inspired by the success of the little brother 'Swan' and wanted to do well for himself. He was playing in the local 'Gully Cricket' and was smashing the window-panes all over the mohalla. Some of his friends asked him to take up Cricket more seriously and lo and behold; here was a 'Pinch Hitter'!
People were skeptical about his methods. Whenever he did well, it had to be 'fluke'. And when he failed, it was time for 'I told you so'! But this giant of a man went on undeterred in his mission. Today, he is the Vice-Captain of the Rajastan Royals team; an understudy to the Wise Captain Shane Warne!
He is in the news for the right reasons and for the wrong reasons. While the sledge-hammer Symonds declared, "This is Cricket for Men, not for school boys"; Captain Shane has Warned people, "Sledging is part of Cricket for Symonds. But he picked the Wrong man".
While the out of favor Irfan must be feeling really jilted by 'Lady Fortune'; Yusuf has reached a commanding position. The fortunes of his team and those of the opponents depend upon which side of his anatomy are they getting to see. If those in the pavilion keep looking at his back, it is doom time for the opponents. If the opponents get to see his posterior early on, RR sure will be in trouble.
I have discussed why Indian selectors should take care of Yusuf in an Earlier post!
I sincerely hope the 'Swan' will soon find the ability to swim against the tide and join the Duckling to bring more laurels to Team India. The talent of both these Pathans is unquestionable. It is just a matter of the Board, the Selectors and the Captain showing some confidence in these guys and giving the backing they really deserve!
We have two world-beaters with us, but will we ever use them well enough? If the two Pathans get even a fourth of the support accorded to the two Sharmas [Ishant and Nohit Rohit], India will be a huge force in the shorter formats of Cricket!
Friday, March 26, 2010
BEBs are Back!
Rohit Sharma now holds the distinction of getting selected for Team India without ever having to perform at any level at any time. After his creditable show in the 2007 T-20 WC, Rohit has mostly been 'No-hit' but for occasional sparks without any real ignition!
His form in the IPL has been patchy; bowling just occasional and batting still rarer! I would like to check the color of his eyes. He sure is the current BEB [Blue Eyed Boy] of Indian Cricket. He was selected to replace an injured Laxman during the Bangladesh tour. On what merits is something known only to the 'wise men'!
Virat Kohli has done pretty well in the last couple of ODI series with two hundreds to his credit. He has fielded well too and is a very dependable anchor to have. His show in the ongoing IPL show has been pretty satisfactory. But he gets the boot and in comes Rohit, for reasons that could be explained only by Srikkanth and Co.
Not many will grudge the selection of Dinesh Karthik and Vinay Kumar. Both have done what it merits to be on the radar. But Rohit Sharma... Beats me! Piyush Chawla has been recalled; perhaps because he is looking cute and so many young girls may actually start following Cricket just for his sake. This may further the popularity of Cricket among PYTs. Noble intentions, perhaps! Otherwise, what was Amit Mishra's fault? Some questions have no answers!
And then another of Dhoni's and Selectors' favorites; Ashish Nehra is back! He will be selected with no trial whatsoever! All are equal, but some people are more equal! Only omission from the 'Blue Eyed Boys' list is Ishant Sharma! Probably thanks to 'Hat trick Hero' PK and Sharp brained Vinay! Else, he should have been selected because he has done as well as Rohit and Piyush if not worse!
His form in the IPL has been patchy; bowling just occasional and batting still rarer! I would like to check the color of his eyes. He sure is the current BEB [Blue Eyed Boy] of Indian Cricket. He was selected to replace an injured Laxman during the Bangladesh tour. On what merits is something known only to the 'wise men'!
Virat Kohli has done pretty well in the last couple of ODI series with two hundreds to his credit. He has fielded well too and is a very dependable anchor to have. His show in the ongoing IPL show has been pretty satisfactory. But he gets the boot and in comes Rohit, for reasons that could be explained only by Srikkanth and Co.
Not many will grudge the selection of Dinesh Karthik and Vinay Kumar. Both have done what it merits to be on the radar. But Rohit Sharma... Beats me! Piyush Chawla has been recalled; perhaps because he is looking cute and so many young girls may actually start following Cricket just for his sake. This may further the popularity of Cricket among PYTs. Noble intentions, perhaps! Otherwise, what was Amit Mishra's fault? Some questions have no answers!
And then another of Dhoni's and Selectors' favorites; Ashish Nehra is back! He will be selected with no trial whatsoever! All are equal, but some people are more equal! Only omission from the 'Blue Eyed Boys' list is Ishant Sharma! Probably thanks to 'Hat trick Hero' PK and Sharp brained Vinay! Else, he should have been selected because he has done as well as Rohit and Piyush if not worse!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Return of the Flip and the Flop Man !
Flip: Hi Blogger, I was anxious about you. You have let me down. That Charlie was right. He warned me and you were overhearing all that right? I am going to change my number and will never talk to you!
GR: But why...? I have not disclosed anything about you! I will never ever!
Flip: I know that, you bloody need me to keep your story going... I am half inclined to 'ftrangulate you' like Charlie would say!
GR: Well, you better be careful when you talk. You in the company of too many aggressive guys! Yuveraj, Sreesanth, Charlie and so on... And I am not a chicken for you to strangulate me! You too need me to express and that is why you called me in the first place. If you are not interested, I'll let you go. But just look at your original; Fake IPL Player has published a novel... Just remember that... It could be you during next IPL season!
Flip: OK, OK... after reading your blog, http://theonlyreligionthatunitesindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/charlie-meets-flip.html I got a bit angry and worried! OK truce!
GR: All is well... How is the weather there?
Flip: Too hot to handle! Boy Sanger didn't slash Young-king's throat last night only because he wants to go back to his Island after IPL. He will resign from Captaincy after this season. He might even consider moving to Kochi for next season!
GR: That was an atrocious shot he played last night, especially after being dropped of the previous ball. What was the reaction of others?
Flip: Everyone was aghast. They knew he was upset, but not even his worst enemy could have imagined he will make it so obvious. Young-king along with Peace-brat have now become assets for opponents. The only match we won so far was because Peace-brat didn't play against Rain-man's team!
GR: Even neutral Commentators were telling Yuveraj was playing irresponsibly!
Flip: He is playing responsibly elsewhere... In fact he is being held 'Responsible' for so many things; including breaching the security cordon more than once. Just see how responsible and attentive he looks here! He is all 'Eyes' for some other girl and 'Ears' for this Anchal!
GR: I remember an old Hindi song here... "Chod do Anchal Zamaana kya kahega...". There is a change in the script; the man must be singing those lines here!
Flip: The song looks good and timing also is OK, but do you think Young-king will ever ask any girl to let him go? And who is afraid of Zamaana here?
GR: Well, your Photon Junior seems to continue his tryst with bad luck. He plays well, his team loses. He drops catches and they become costly!
Flip: Actually Photon Junior has been advised to consult the Eye Specialist! He has not caught anything in this IPL; not even a cold. Our Coach told him to keep his eyes on the ball... And see how he is following the advice! And it is just a coincidence that the girl is called Dandekar!
GR: Wow, that is some real imagination!
Flip: No, that is the truth, he mistook her for the 'Eye Specialist' and got confused with the balls; which one to watch was his dilemma!
GR: OK... That is some really inventive thinking. Let us quit for now... Hope to catch you soon... And like Charlie told, Take Care of yourself... I need you! Alive !
Flip: Thanks and hope to do the same. And one thing... I am sick of not playing... Can you please get me an entry in Kochi Team next season? But keep it a secret for now!
GR: Sure, sure... I don't want you to be another Jadeja! All the best... Let me try our luck with Twitharoor !
GR: But why...? I have not disclosed anything about you! I will never ever!
Flip: I know that, you bloody need me to keep your story going... I am half inclined to 'ftrangulate you' like Charlie would say!
GR: Well, you better be careful when you talk. You in the company of too many aggressive guys! Yuveraj, Sreesanth, Charlie and so on... And I am not a chicken for you to strangulate me! You too need me to express and that is why you called me in the first place. If you are not interested, I'll let you go. But just look at your original; Fake IPL Player has published a novel... Just remember that... It could be you during next IPL season!
Flip: OK, OK... after reading your blog, http://theonlyreligionthatunitesindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/charlie-meets-flip.html I got a bit angry and worried! OK truce!
GR: All is well... How is the weather there?
Flip: Too hot to handle! Boy Sanger didn't slash Young-king's throat last night only because he wants to go back to his Island after IPL. He will resign from Captaincy after this season. He might even consider moving to Kochi for next season!
GR: That was an atrocious shot he played last night, especially after being dropped of the previous ball. What was the reaction of others?
Flip: Everyone was aghast. They knew he was upset, but not even his worst enemy could have imagined he will make it so obvious. Young-king along with Peace-brat have now become assets for opponents. The only match we won so far was because Peace-brat didn't play against Rain-man's team!
GR: Even neutral Commentators were telling Yuveraj was playing irresponsibly!
Flip: He is playing responsibly elsewhere... In fact he is being held 'Responsible' for so many things; including breaching the security cordon more than once. Just see how responsible and attentive he looks here! He is all 'Eyes' for some other girl and 'Ears' for this Anchal!
Flip: The song looks good and timing also is OK, but do you think Young-king will ever ask any girl to let him go? And who is afraid of Zamaana here?
GR: Well, your Photon Junior seems to continue his tryst with bad luck. He plays well, his team loses. He drops catches and they become costly!
Flip: Actually Photon Junior has been advised to consult the Eye Specialist! He has not caught anything in this IPL; not even a cold. Our Coach told him to keep his eyes on the ball... And see how he is following the advice! And it is just a coincidence that the girl is called Dandekar!
Flip: No, that is the truth, he mistook her for the 'Eye Specialist' and got confused with the balls; which one to watch was his dilemma!
GR: OK... That is some really inventive thinking. Let us quit for now... Hope to catch you soon... And like Charlie told, Take Care of yourself... I need you! Alive !
Flip: Thanks and hope to do the same. And one thing... I am sick of not playing... Can you please get me an entry in Kochi Team next season? But keep it a secret for now!
GR: Sure, sure... I don't want you to be another Jadeja! All the best... Let me try our luck with Twitharoor !
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Robin Uthappa: Time to go straight !
We witnessed some savage hitting of the Cricket ball by Robin Uthappa last night. Morkel, Balaji and Ashwin were brutalized by some really fabulous batting. It was exhilarating towards the end. But it was exasperating at the beginning. If you don't trust me, just look at the replays of the match on the Youtube uploads!
Here is a batsman capable of hitting the ball as hard and as well as any one in the business. He made his debut with the highest score for an Indian in ODIs. But after the T-20 World Cup, he gradually faded away from the scene. If we don't remember, it all started with his penchant for the 'Reverse Sweep'. Well, it was more of an obsession rather than penchant.
Playing for Mumbai Indians during the first edition of IPL in 2008, Uthappa started off pretty decently. But then his fancy for the reverse shot got the better of him. At one stage in a match, he tried to play the reverse shot of practically every ball! It was so frustrating to watch it. He was scoring runs at will, playing normal shots. Then he was trying that dreadful shot and was failing time and again. But he still persisted playing the same shot and in the process actually handed over the advantage to the opposition bowlers.
I have nothing against the 'Reverse Sweep' as such. Even Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid have played this shot. But you need some kind of finesse in it. Sehwag plays it fairly well. Sachin, Dhoni and even Amit Mishra plays this shot. Many international players have employed this shot with varying degrees of success. But somehow, Uthappa has never looked like mastering the shot.
Last night he played this atrocious shot of Murali for a four at the beginning. Then he tried it again and was dropped by Ashwin. And he tried the same shot again of the very next ball and actually played straight to the point fielder. At this point, the camera showed the 'Wide Angle' of Anil Kumble clenching his jaws and barely managing to hide his exasperation. If Uthappa were to get out at that stage, Chennai would have walked away with the match.
It is high time Uthappa realizes and understand what are his strengths and his weaknesses. He can run like a sprinter between the wickets. Some of those ones and twos he shared with Virat Kohli were as breathtaking as his sixes of Balaji. He can clear the longest of the ropes with utmost ease when he plays straight. His drives on the offside look as smooth as the Mercedes on the highways! And then his 'Reverse sweep' looks as elegant as the broomstick used to sweep the toilets!
When the straight way in forward gear gives you success, why do you want to use the 'reverse' gear? You are more likely to bang somewhere and hurt yourself if you keep trying the reverse route. Hope Uthappa realizes this because he is a much better bet in Indian colors than the IPL's One Trick Pony Rohit Sharma.
Here is a batsman capable of hitting the ball as hard and as well as any one in the business. He made his debut with the highest score for an Indian in ODIs. But after the T-20 World Cup, he gradually faded away from the scene. If we don't remember, it all started with his penchant for the 'Reverse Sweep'. Well, it was more of an obsession rather than penchant.
Playing for Mumbai Indians during the first edition of IPL in 2008, Uthappa started off pretty decently. But then his fancy for the reverse shot got the better of him. At one stage in a match, he tried to play the reverse shot of practically every ball! It was so frustrating to watch it. He was scoring runs at will, playing normal shots. Then he was trying that dreadful shot and was failing time and again. But he still persisted playing the same shot and in the process actually handed over the advantage to the opposition bowlers.
I have nothing against the 'Reverse Sweep' as such. Even Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid have played this shot. But you need some kind of finesse in it. Sehwag plays it fairly well. Sachin, Dhoni and even Amit Mishra plays this shot. Many international players have employed this shot with varying degrees of success. But somehow, Uthappa has never looked like mastering the shot.
Last night he played this atrocious shot of Murali for a four at the beginning. Then he tried it again and was dropped by Ashwin. And he tried the same shot again of the very next ball and actually played straight to the point fielder. At this point, the camera showed the 'Wide Angle' of Anil Kumble clenching his jaws and barely managing to hide his exasperation. If Uthappa were to get out at that stage, Chennai would have walked away with the match.
It is high time Uthappa realizes and understand what are his strengths and his weaknesses. He can run like a sprinter between the wickets. Some of those ones and twos he shared with Virat Kohli were as breathtaking as his sixes of Balaji. He can clear the longest of the ropes with utmost ease when he plays straight. His drives on the offside look as smooth as the Mercedes on the highways! And then his 'Reverse sweep' looks as elegant as the broomstick used to sweep the toilets!
When the straight way in forward gear gives you success, why do you want to use the 'reverse' gear? You are more likely to bang somewhere and hurt yourself if you keep trying the reverse route. Hope Uthappa realizes this because he is a much better bet in Indian colors than the IPL's One Trick Pony Rohit Sharma.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Hail the Lord... Ricky Ponting!
If Cricket is a 'Religion', there has to be a God! Right? Most of us silly Indians believed Sachin Tendulkar is the God and many even worshiped him. The Atheist in me has always preferred not to believe in God or Gods. But even I was blinded by my love for the religion called Cricket and my admiration for Sachin. So I was ready to accept Sachin more than any God hitherto recognized!
But what happened away from 'Down under' has changed me; changed me forever! Now I am a completely enlightened man! Actually, the incident that has changed me happened in New Zealand. I am now writing with a 'New Zeal' about the 'New God' of Cricket!
The 'Signs' were always there for us to see. But the ignorant 'We' had failed to see them. He was born with a silver blade in hand and a double edged sword for a tongue! He was caught for drunken misbehavior during junior Cricket days. He was a short man with a shorter fuse. He demonstrated time and again he had enormous flexibility. He could hit Zaheer Khan over his head with the same ease as he would command the Umpires!
Well, he showed he could be exemplary in behavior when he declared Dravid not out when the test was going nowhere. With equal authority, he declared Ganguly out on the last day of the Sydney Test in 2008. He declared Harbhajan guilty of racism even before the jury could hold a hearing. He ticked off an Indian scribe who questioned his integrity saying, "You have no business being here!". After pushing the BCCI President off the podium during his team's victory celebrations, Ponting rightly pointed out that Pawar had no business being there!
He appealed for a catch of Dhoni and it was seen all over the Cricketing world. His very wise Vice-Captain 'Pup' waited for the Umpire to declare him not out when he was caught in the second slip. He would have waited even if the catch was taken on the third-man boundary.India got only about 11 wrong decisions in that famous Sydney test. But Ponting thought the LBW decision given to him when he had inner edged the ball was the most defining 'Wrong Decision' of the match, though that came long after Benson had decided Ponting can't be given out caught down the leg side!
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=a8WOkgLiT-8&feature=related
Ponting is the 'Epitome' of virtue! And if anyone doubts this, that person has no business being around. Ponting's long time friend Adam Gil-Christ rightly questioned the integrity of Sachin Tendulkar after Sachin deposed before the Harbhajan racism row investigating committee. Integrity and honesty are expected of humans, not Gods!
And now finally Ponting has laid to rest the doubting Thomas and all his siblings and cousins. He had shown he was above the law and the Umpires when he 'Declared' Ganguly out and Benson just nodded in absolute awe. Today Ponting has gone to the next level. He challenged on-field Umpire's decision in favor of McCullum. When the Third Umpire upheld the on-field Umpire's decision due to inconclusive video evidence, he brought the play to a halt and wanted the Umpires to see light. Ordinary mortals that they are, Asad Rauf and Alim Dar couldn't see what only the Lord had seen; that McCullum was out LBW!
Just imagine this...An Australian batsman has been caught in the fifth slip. The Umpire righteously declares him 'Not Out'. Now Saurav Ganguly is asking for a just consideration from the Umpires! What would have happened? Ganguly gets banned for 3 tests and fined 2 million USD!
But when it comes to Ponting, it necessitated Javagal Srinath the Match Referee to intervene and propitiate the Lord and get the game to move on. This must be the first ever incident of the Captain of a fielding side bringing the play to a halt demanding for a decision to made in favor of his team! And he goes home Scott-free! So now all of us mere mortals should get the message!
All of you raise and hail the Lord Ricky Ponting! The New Religion will be Christianed Rickianity and all the followers will be known as Rickians!
For more details, log on to our website...
www.lordrickypontingtheonlygod.com !
From: A 'Born Again' Rickian!
But what happened away from 'Down under' has changed me; changed me forever! Now I am a completely enlightened man! Actually, the incident that has changed me happened in New Zealand. I am now writing with a 'New Zeal' about the 'New God' of Cricket!
The 'Signs' were always there for us to see. But the ignorant 'We' had failed to see them. He was born with a silver blade in hand and a double edged sword for a tongue! He was caught for drunken misbehavior during junior Cricket days. He was a short man with a shorter fuse. He demonstrated time and again he had enormous flexibility. He could hit Zaheer Khan over his head with the same ease as he would command the Umpires!
Well, he showed he could be exemplary in behavior when he declared Dravid not out when the test was going nowhere. With equal authority, he declared Ganguly out on the last day of the Sydney Test in 2008. He declared Harbhajan guilty of racism even before the jury could hold a hearing. He ticked off an Indian scribe who questioned his integrity saying, "You have no business being here!". After pushing the BCCI President off the podium during his team's victory celebrations, Ponting rightly pointed out that Pawar had no business being there!
He appealed for a catch of Dhoni and it was seen all over the Cricketing world. His very wise Vice-Captain 'Pup' waited for the Umpire to declare him not out when he was caught in the second slip. He would have waited even if the catch was taken on the third-man boundary.India got only about 11 wrong decisions in that famous Sydney test. But Ponting thought the LBW decision given to him when he had inner edged the ball was the most defining 'Wrong Decision' of the match, though that came long after Benson had decided Ponting can't be given out caught down the leg side!
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=a8WOkgLiT-8&feature=related
Ponting is the 'Epitome' of virtue! And if anyone doubts this, that person has no business being around. Ponting's long time friend Adam Gil-Christ rightly questioned the integrity of Sachin Tendulkar after Sachin deposed before the Harbhajan racism row investigating committee. Integrity and honesty are expected of humans, not Gods!
And now finally Ponting has laid to rest the doubting Thomas and all his siblings and cousins. He had shown he was above the law and the Umpires when he 'Declared' Ganguly out and Benson just nodded in absolute awe. Today Ponting has gone to the next level. He challenged on-field Umpire's decision in favor of McCullum. When the Third Umpire upheld the on-field Umpire's decision due to inconclusive video evidence, he brought the play to a halt and wanted the Umpires to see light. Ordinary mortals that they are, Asad Rauf and Alim Dar couldn't see what only the Lord had seen; that McCullum was out LBW!
Just imagine this...An Australian batsman has been caught in the fifth slip. The Umpire righteously declares him 'Not Out'. Now Saurav Ganguly is asking for a just consideration from the Umpires! What would have happened? Ganguly gets banned for 3 tests and fined 2 million USD!
But when it comes to Ponting, it necessitated Javagal Srinath the Match Referee to intervene and propitiate the Lord and get the game to move on. This must be the first ever incident of the Captain of a fielding side bringing the play to a halt demanding for a decision to made in favor of his team! And he goes home Scott-free! So now all of us mere mortals should get the message!
All of you raise and hail the Lord Ricky Ponting! The New Religion will be Christianed Rickianity and all the followers will be known as Rickians!
For more details, log on to our website...
www.lordrickypontingtheonlygod.com !
From: A 'Born Again' Rickian!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Charlie meets Flip !
So here we go, rather here ‘They’ go!
Charlie: Hey long time, how if Fintaji? I feel fad for her. Fe fud fcrew thofe baftardf. Her team if playing like bullfit… I feel like flafing their throats…
Flip: Oh, NO NO NO… Charlie, please some decent language. You are a Gentleman now, remember… She is desolate and depressed…
Charlie: OK, OK, I felt too fad for Fintaji and thofe wordf came juft like that. I will be careful. Yeff, I underftand… I alfo felt depreffed when Guddu left me.
Flip: Young-king is doing everything except scoring runs.
Charlie: Fangakkara if out of form alfo. They juft don’t look interefted. Arfholef!
Flip: Control, control… Win-warden is not doing well too. Only Photon junior is playing because he wants to be selected for T-20 World Cup.
Charlie: Thefe Felectorf, what will they do? Will Fachin play? I want him thif time. Thif Rohit Farma if ufeleff when he if playing for India
Flip: I too hope Sachin plays this time. Raina is looking good!
Charlie: What if the ufe? He haf to fcore runf at any plafe. Furef Raina haf to play higher and not at fix or feven!
Flip: So what is your choice?
Charlie: Mmmm… OK, here if my team: Fachin Tendulkar, Virendar Fehwag, Furef Raina, Virat Kohli, Gambhir, M. Eff. Dhoni, Yufuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Rabindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar and Balaji.
Flip: What? No Young-king, Terimaki, Khan, Peace-brat and Beanpole?
Charlie: I don’t like your language. Ifant Farma, Faheer Bhai and Harbhajan Fing are not really good for fort-cut Cricket. And thif if chota fa fort cut Cricket. Fakeer Bhai fud preferve for Teft Cricket. Yuveraj Fing if fo badly out of form and he if not fit alfo. Ifant will be ‘ghaaf’ for batfmen in T-20. Thif if my firft eleven. I will take Dinef Kartik, RP Fing, Amit Mifra and Manif Pandey in my fifteen member team.
Flip: But Young-king is a big match player, we have seen him explode in International matches…
Charlie: We have to fee. If he gets fome kind of form before team felection, he can come in plafe of Pandey.
Flip: So what do you think about IPL?
Charlie: I feel very fad to fee Filpa Fetty, Fintaji and Fah Rukh Bhai lofing. They fud act like Mallya and carry a cane for thefe overfed rafcalf. If they were my horfef, I would have flaughtered them!
Flip: Well, well, you have a soft corner for film-wallahs…
Charlie: What foft corner? I have foft fenter! I am from Filmf you fee!
Flip: Great, at least you have some loyalties!
Charlie: What do you mean at leaft I have? I am alwayf loyal. Who will fupport an arfhole like Guddu? Only me…
Flip: OK, I will see you again. Keep in touch. We have a meeting. This time we want to promote Peace-brat up the order!
Charlie: You better drop that Freefant. He if one fuper arfhole! Givef over ten runf per over in every match. Take my advife, I love India and I love Fouth India
Flip: Bye, take care…
Charlie: I can take care of me and many more. You better be careful. Don’t get yourfelf in foup. Don’t talk fit to any people who write blog. I heard one Fouth Indian guy haf already written about you, Fafeleff IPL Player. You will be in duftbin if fomeone catchef you. I can keep any fecret, but not thefe over-fmart nonfenfe bloggerf. Fo you better ftop loof talk with ftrangerf… Bye and fee you fome time!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Flip - Flop and Wild Angels !
Lucky me, I got a chance to talk to an insider from King's Eleven Punjab. For the sake of his physical and fiscal health, he has chosen to remain anonymous. He prefers to be known as "Face-Less IPL Player" or FLIP henceforth. Here is my first telephonic conversations with Flip! Hope to catch him more often!
Flip: Oh, there is no mood, it is rather doom. You call me Flip and my team and its Icon both are Flops. Don't ask me! I feel like crying...
GR: Hey, relax… I know you're not in the scheme of things now; but trust me things will change for better...
Flip: Not a chance in this world. The team is as divided as the Commies are over appointing Bachchan as Brand Ambassador of Kerala!
GR: But things look quite fine over the TV. All of them look friendly...
Flip: Haven't you seen "Jab We Met"? Kareena and Shaheed have even kissed each other in the movie. But you know what was happening in reality, don't you? People do totally different things in front of the camera!
GR: Oh ho! So what is the issue?
Flip: Are you a Moron? Can't you see the Young-King sulking and all the Indians in the team actually uncomfortable with that?
GR: Well, he is coming back from injury and has yet to get back to groove...
Flip: Groove my foot, you know nothing. He is always groovy these days. Haven't you seen his paunch? He is ridiculed 'Paunchab da Sher' these days.
GR: Well, fitness is a problem with Young-King off late!
Flip: You are from Kerala, so you should know! Peace-brat told me they call 'Punch Drunk' people 'FIT' over there. So you have a point there, Young-King has "Fitness' problems!
GR: Oh, don't tell me that. Most of the boys do like to enjoy good life...
Flip: That my Dear is not the problem, the problem is he is 'FIT' off the field and 'Unfit' on it. Sometimes he even looks 'Misfit'. What a waste!
GR: OK, but what is Lovable Ms. Zinta doing about this?
Flip: Have you seen her get down there? She too is sulking. King Khan has turned things around a little bit. Otherwise all these film-wallahs are struggling. Sculpted beauty is totally depressed. Ever since she entered, the Royals have gone from ‘Warne to Worse’.
Flip: Well, coming to Photon, did you here Photon Junior on the stump microphone during Punjab’s first match? He was telling, “Saala kuch bhi samajhta nahin, dubaayega iss baar bhi” [Translated as: "Brother-in-law doesn't understand anything. He will sink it this time too".] This was about Boy Sanger. So sad, the Captain commands no respect in the team.
Flip: What difference will it make? I am like Fake IPL player, will never get to play a ball. But I have all my sympathies with Boy Sanger. Win-warden, the other Islander in the team is the only man he can turn to, for help!
Flip: To the night club, where else?
Flip: Well, that was a joke if you didn't know. I overheard him talk to Peace-brat about writing a book like Jumbo Bhai. He wants to share and bare all…
Flip: No, he wants to talk about his life. I think he will have more to tell about the Women he mated than the Man of the match awards.
Flip: That is exactly it. He WAS a match winner. Now he looks like a mate whiner. Look at the list; Shuttle Pad Girl, Dim Sharma, Mandy Baby… the list is endless! Once he was called ‘Successor to the God’. Today he is nothing but ‘Sexessor’. He has taken the playboy image so seriously, plays like a boy on the field. No responsibility!
GR: Alright, alright… What about the book?
Flip: I really couldn’t catch all of his talk with Peace-brat. But he has more substance to write about his off-field action. Jumbo Bhai has called his book ‘Wide Angles’. Young-King can actually call his, “Wild Angels”! All of them in one book, that will be a ‘Hit’ like one of his pull shots of Baby Broad!
GR: Wow! that is quite a lot. Thanks Yaar! Do keep in touch…
Flip: Yup, sure… Now I have to rush in. We have a team meeting this afternoon. They have gone out in search of Young-King who went out last evening! As soon as they find him, the meeting will end! See you soon and for God’s sake please don’t divulge my name and number!
GR: That was really GR8! I shall keep you 'Faceless', but please do come out more often!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
A tale of four South Africans !
Boucher is always competitive and his keeping remains as sharp as ever. Boucher's ability with the bat can tilt the balance in close games and this will give BRC the edge. I believe that nerdy looking Goswami fits into the BRC scheme of things exactly like the size 6 shoes of Parthiv Patel do on Mathew Hayden's feet. If Boucher is there, he has to be 'There'. Anil, you keep Boucher out at your own peril!
Van der Merve is a very useful player down the order. He is capable of low intensity explosions with the bat and is a fabulous left arm spinner for this version of Cricket. And he is a fantastic fielder too; especially of his own bowling. But when the star studded team has to keep someone out, this will be the guy; or so it seems. Is it really so?
Then we move on to the one performer who has proved he indeed qualifies to be recognized as an 'All Time Great'. Kallis is simply unbelievable. He plays with the calm of a sage and then can do savage hitting like a lion in rage. The 'Orange Cap' might remain on his head throughout the season!
But what is so wonderful about Kallis is his dedication to the game, the team and the job on hand. In the first match, he saw wickets falling at the other end and stayed glued till the end to impart some respectability to the team total. In the second, it was his assured presence that made the 'Jumbo' chase possible. Hats Off!
Then we have the currently number one ranked bowler in the world, Dale Steyn. Somehow, Steyn looks less than involved in the game when he is not playing for his country. All through the IPL, he has looked as if he is here only 'For a few Dollars more'. His fielding today was as horrible as that of Ashish Nehra at his worst. Let me be pardoned if Steyn indeed is here to give his best. But till now, he has not done even 5% justice to his talent or the top billing.
If I am involved in selecting the BRC team, I would keep Dale Steyn out and play with a local pacer. Van der Merve for me looks a better bet on Indian pitches!
Monday, March 15, 2010
IPL Carnival and some serious fun in the Neighborhood!
The England team playing Bangladesh must be rated the funniest by miles. They are playing 'Serious Test Cricket with Bangladesh' while there is a Cricket Carnival going on in neighboring India. One can bet, half of the Englishmen are envying Bopara, Morgan, Mascarenhas and Owais Shah. Not getting selected in the England lineup has been a blessing in this-guise for these guys. The other half doesn't have a chance of playing in IPL at all.
Why do I find this English line up funny? In the absence of Strauss, it begins with a Cook. And what is the special dish? Not a goose, it is a Swann garnished with Carberry! The Afrikaans spelled Pietersen is alerted by 'Colling - Bell'! It actually gets dizzier from here. You have a Finn on the Trott, Prior to Broad! Finally Bresnan completes the order! What a pity Onions isn't fit to peal! I have yet to come across a team more interesting than this!
And to make matters worse, Bangladesh batting order works in the reverse order. There is neither law nor any order at the top of their order. And then the tail keeps wagging furiously, more furiously than the IPL dogs from the Chennai stadium. So the depleted England side have to wait and watch and suffer the mortification of watching a night-watchman walk in for a number - 7 batsman!
How utterly interesting!
Why do I find this English line up funny? In the absence of Strauss, it begins with a Cook. And what is the special dish? Not a goose, it is a Swann garnished with Carberry! The Afrikaans spelled Pietersen is alerted by 'Colling - Bell'! It actually gets dizzier from here. You have a Finn on the Trott, Prior to Broad! Finally Bresnan completes the order! What a pity Onions isn't fit to peal! I have yet to come across a team more interesting than this!
And to make matters worse, Bangladesh batting order works in the reverse order. There is neither law nor any order at the top of their order. And then the tail keeps wagging furiously, more furiously than the IPL dogs from the Chennai stadium. So the depleted England side have to wait and watch and suffer the mortification of watching a night-watchman walk in for a number - 7 batsman!
How utterly interesting!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Pathans and the Capthans !
Yusuf Pathan's amazing innings of 100 from 37 balls and the way he played today prove my belief that here is India's answer to the prayers for an 'All-rounder' in the shorter format of the game. Every time Shane Warne has patted him on the back, Yusuf has flourished.
I only hope, Dhoni and Indian Cricket Bosses are watching. Dhoni has time and again under-utilized Yusuf. He looks a different player when he plays under Warne. Why? Shane trusts and backs him to the hilt. Dhoni has never shown this kind of trust in some players. The reasons are best known to him, but I believe the team should comprise of what is best for the team and not what the Captain thinks is best.
India have lost out on a lot of potential All-rounders. A player with 288 wickets from 191 games at just over 27 runs per wicket, fastest ODI fifty by an Indian and perhaps the best deep fielding credentials from his generation has been consigned to the dust-bin since 2007.
So much so, after a Heroic performance with both bat and ball in the last Ranji Trophy season; Ajit Agarkar finds himself warming the benches during the IPL match and people like Laxmi Rattan Shukla are playing! What will happen to a player when his Captain is prejudiced? More Agarkars and Pathans are wasted and more Shuklas and Sharmas will continue to rule the roost.
Irfan Pathan has always done well in the shorter versions of the game. Somehow our Selectors can give a million chances to Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma, but are not ready to trust Irfan. I don't question the talent of Ishant in test match Cricket. But with his lesser batting abilities and much lesser fielding credentials; he is not much of an asset in the shorter versions.
Agarkar is almost 32 and perhaps past prime. But looking at nearly as old Ashish Nehra and Zaheer play, my heart bleeds for Ajit. Every time he bowls one bad over, he gets the sack. Every time he does well; somehow very strangely, the media prefers to look elsewhere!
When he pulled off a brilliant win against Karnataka in Ranji trophy final, entire media was concerned about his behavior rather than his performance. And this was about a player who has seldom been charged of bad behavior in any form of Cricket before.
Anyway, with his age and Dhoni's preference for his trusted gang, Ajit has practically no chance of playing for India again. But he certainly deserves better deal from Ganguly. That Ganguly who won his most famous victory at Adelaide thanks to Ajit. Someone should remind Saurav about this.
But I am more concerned about Pathan brothers now. Yusuf is 28 and Irfan is 26. Both have their prime ahead. Some kind of sense should prevail and we should go for the horses for the courses policy. Both Pathan brothers will turn out to be huge assets in T-20 and ODIs if backed properly and used well. If we don't use them now, the loss will be ours!
I only hope, Dhoni and Indian Cricket Bosses are watching. Dhoni has time and again under-utilized Yusuf. He looks a different player when he plays under Warne. Why? Shane trusts and backs him to the hilt. Dhoni has never shown this kind of trust in some players. The reasons are best known to him, but I believe the team should comprise of what is best for the team and not what the Captain thinks is best.
India have lost out on a lot of potential All-rounders. A player with 288 wickets from 191 games at just over 27 runs per wicket, fastest ODI fifty by an Indian and perhaps the best deep fielding credentials from his generation has been consigned to the dust-bin since 2007.
So much so, after a Heroic performance with both bat and ball in the last Ranji Trophy season; Ajit Agarkar finds himself warming the benches during the IPL match and people like Laxmi Rattan Shukla are playing! What will happen to a player when his Captain is prejudiced? More Agarkars and Pathans are wasted and more Shuklas and Sharmas will continue to rule the roost.
Irfan Pathan has always done well in the shorter versions of the game. Somehow our Selectors can give a million chances to Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma, but are not ready to trust Irfan. I don't question the talent of Ishant in test match Cricket. But with his lesser batting abilities and much lesser fielding credentials; he is not much of an asset in the shorter versions.
Agarkar is almost 32 and perhaps past prime. But looking at nearly as old Ashish Nehra and Zaheer play, my heart bleeds for Ajit. Every time he bowls one bad over, he gets the sack. Every time he does well; somehow very strangely, the media prefers to look elsewhere!
When he pulled off a brilliant win against Karnataka in Ranji trophy final, entire media was concerned about his behavior rather than his performance. And this was about a player who has seldom been charged of bad behavior in any form of Cricket before.
Anyway, with his age and Dhoni's preference for his trusted gang, Ajit has practically no chance of playing for India again. But he certainly deserves better deal from Ganguly. That Ganguly who won his most famous victory at Adelaide thanks to Ajit. Someone should remind Saurav about this.
But I am more concerned about Pathan brothers now. Yusuf is 28 and Irfan is 26. Both have their prime ahead. Some kind of sense should prevail and we should go for the horses for the courses policy. Both Pathan brothers will turn out to be huge assets in T-20 and ODIs if backed properly and used well. If we don't use them now, the loss will be ours!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Ponting can't Break Tendlya!
Will Ponting break some of the records set by Sachin Tendulkar? Exactly one year ago, it looked quite likely. There were only about 1500 runs and 4 centuries separating them. But today, the difference is 1800 runs and 8 centuries.
Sachin will be playing much lesser test Cricket thanks to BCCI's myopic policies. So Ponting might do some catching up. But I believe Ponting should not become the highest Scorer in Test Cricket and neither should he get the maximum number of centuries, Never! But Why?
Here are the reasons!
The Rational!
Ponting simply is not in the same league as Sachin. Most of his runs have come playing for the bloodiest best batting line up in the world by miles. He came and pulverized poor bowlers already demoralized by the likes of Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor, Mathew Hayden and Justin Langer! Sachin didn't have this kind of liberty until the arrival of the Delhi Daredevils opening pair. Ponting never had to face the Australians to score his runs.
The National!
Being and Indian, I would never have an Australian break the records set by an Indian. We had Sunny Gavaskar break Don Bradman's records only to see Allan Border cross his tally of runs. Now that Sachin is sitting at the summit, I hate to see another Aussie surpass him. Least of all Ponting! He has got enormous benefits of dubious Umpiring compared to those dozens of horrendous decisions meted out to Sachin time and again.
The Sensational!
For the simple reason that Sachin Tendulkar has enthralled the largest mass of humanity over a period beyond two decades with over 30000 International runs and still counting. All of Ricky Ponting's fans put together can't fill 'The Eden Gardens' Stadium even if we offer free tickets to watch Ponting score a double hundred in a T-20 game against Bangladesh! How can a mere mortal break the records of 'The Demi-God' of Cricket? Not in this life!
The Irrational!
For all the service Ponting has done to this game of Cricket, he should be called 'Prickly Ranting'. How can anyone erase the memories of Sydney Test of the 2008 series? The scene of Ponting playing the Fourth Umpire and his 'You have no business being here' statements are there for all to watch on the You-tube!
Never seen more shameful Captain all my life. But Cricketing Gods have been too kind to Ponting and Australia for quite too long. So there should be some line drawn! Here I draw the line ||| This far and no further! No more Pointing fingers to declare opposition batsmen out and no more records for one of the worst Sportspersons of our times!
And the Emotional:
Ponting has been already over-blessed with so many World Cups and other wins. But the Greatest Cricketer of all times has been too unlucky on too many counts. So he deserves to keep all his records until he concedes some Indian can break one or two of his records. Till someone of that caliber arrives, Wait! No anointing Ponting!
Sachin will be playing much lesser test Cricket thanks to BCCI's myopic policies. So Ponting might do some catching up. But I believe Ponting should not become the highest Scorer in Test Cricket and neither should he get the maximum number of centuries, Never! But Why?
Here are the reasons!
The Rational!
Ponting simply is not in the same league as Sachin. Most of his runs have come playing for the bloodiest best batting line up in the world by miles. He came and pulverized poor bowlers already demoralized by the likes of Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor, Mathew Hayden and Justin Langer! Sachin didn't have this kind of liberty until the arrival of the Delhi Daredevils opening pair. Ponting never had to face the Australians to score his runs.
The National!
Being and Indian, I would never have an Australian break the records set by an Indian. We had Sunny Gavaskar break Don Bradman's records only to see Allan Border cross his tally of runs. Now that Sachin is sitting at the summit, I hate to see another Aussie surpass him. Least of all Ponting! He has got enormous benefits of dubious Umpiring compared to those dozens of horrendous decisions meted out to Sachin time and again.
The Sensational!
For the simple reason that Sachin Tendulkar has enthralled the largest mass of humanity over a period beyond two decades with over 30000 International runs and still counting. All of Ricky Ponting's fans put together can't fill 'The Eden Gardens' Stadium even if we offer free tickets to watch Ponting score a double hundred in a T-20 game against Bangladesh! How can a mere mortal break the records of 'The Demi-God' of Cricket? Not in this life!
The Irrational!
For all the service Ponting has done to this game of Cricket, he should be called 'Prickly Ranting'. How can anyone erase the memories of Sydney Test of the 2008 series? The scene of Ponting playing the Fourth Umpire and his 'You have no business being here' statements are there for all to watch on the You-tube!
Never seen more shameful Captain all my life. But Cricketing Gods have been too kind to Ponting and Australia for quite too long. So there should be some line drawn! Here I draw the line ||| This far and no further! No more Pointing fingers to declare opposition batsmen out and no more records for one of the worst Sportspersons of our times!
And the Emotional:
Ponting has been already over-blessed with so many World Cups and other wins. But the Greatest Cricketer of all times has been too unlucky on too many counts. So he deserves to keep all his records until he concedes some Indian can break one or two of his records. Till someone of that caliber arrives, Wait! No anointing Ponting!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Learning is Living !
This is my post on my main blog; Live, Love and Laugh. I think it has some relevance here because it has something to do with Cricket too! So I am posting it here!
"Getting better is a process that never stops. It's the reason why I get up every morning and head out there for training," Said Tendulkar after his historical 200 in ODI! That is definitely a topic to think, mull over and ruminate and then "Learn from it"!
Think of it, a man with most number of runs, centuries, records and awards in the history of Cricket talks about getting better! And he has proved he means every word of it! He has got better and better and then BETTER! The reason for his name, game and fame is this... Getting Better!
Learning is a process as vital as life itself. I just love the word 'Learning'. While at school, I always wondered why the word 'Studying' was used at all. That to me sounded like a punishment. "I am studying in sixth standard". Most of the kids look so solemn and so lost; there never was any fun in it.
I realized 'Learning' was a better word and 'Studying' was a poor replacement. You study something when circumstances force you to; but you learn something because you want to! This is what I feel about these two words. My English and vocabulary aren't as good as those of Shashi Tharoor and neither am I as smart as him. So let me be pardoned if my version is not acceptable to someone!
Learning starts with life, that is from the womb; and it continues till death and ends in the tomb! A newborn baby has to learn every bit about life from the moment it is born. It starts with the 'Cry'. The cry is vital to life, because that is when the hitherto unacclimatized lungs learn to breath. The cry then helps the baby to communicate with the mother; hunger, thirst, discomfort and everything.
Then comes the sucking of breast-milk. The sleep, the smile and all the milestones. The milestones of a baby's growth that make the parents happy and proud are but a continued process of learning. Why do we all enjoy this? Because we are 'Learning' and NOT Studying!
Even as the baby is learning to grow up, the parents too are learning. Learning about parenting and about the responsibilities of parenthood. At any socioeconomic level, in any society, country or religion; growing up of a baby is a special feeling and nothing can better it.
Every baby is born special and smart. Perhaps our education that demands studying rather than learning makes us dumb. I have discussed in an earlier post "Mathematics: Cutting the Diamond simplified" how vision in teaching can turn the dull and drab studying into an enjoyable learning process!
As we progress, a lot of people think we have learned everything. Well, to be precise, 'Studied everything'. This feeling is the beginning of the end of progress. I remember a very talented pace-bowler from Karnataka who shot to fame during the boom-time of Karnataka Cricket in the 90s.
His name was David Johnson. He was quick and he swung the ball both ways and bowled a good bouncer. The BCCI sent him to the Dennis Lillee Pace Academy in Chennai to train better. He left the Academy within a short span claiming, "I have learned EVERYTHING". This attitude irked T. A. Shekar the Coach and he was disappointed. Just look at David Johnson's career stats. Well, no need actually. He hardly had any career at all! The importance of Sachin Tendulkar's words become evident here!
Lack of opportunities is a common refrain used by lazy people. I love the quotable quote, "You are unlucky if you are born poor, but you are a fool if you die one". The urge to improve oneself forms the foundation of a successful life. Nothing new learned is ever a loss; we never know when it comes handy.
I developed a fascination for Computers when I was finding it difficult to get a break in my Post-Graduate Entrance Examinations. I never got a PG seat. But what I got instead was a flair for the Technology. That meant I was quicker in picking up the nuances of newer testing methods and the use of Computer aided technology in Medical Field. This has created a place of my own for me in my institution.
But is this enough? No, I have to keep learning something; some new thing and sometimes even old things! At the risk of sounding Philosophical in the '3 Idiots' mood, I don't believe life is a race. It is rather like 'running on a treadmill'. We have to keep on running. The speed might increase and the inclination might go upwards, but we have to cope up and keep up. If we don't, we fall down! We can decide the speed and the inclination to suit us, but never give up on learning and never stop running! Running keeps one 'Fit and Fine'!
The process of learning continues with age. Learning to adjust to new school, new friends, new jobs and everything new. Teen-age brings teen-aches. Youth brings responsibilities. Adulthood brings added weight. Middle-age brings insecurities. Older we get; pains, illnesses and sufferings increase. Every born individual has to go through these if one lives long enough. Looking at some extraordinary and eminent people going through extremely difficult days in old-age has convinced me about the futility of 'Carrying Ego'!
Death is the final and definite frontier and not a single human has crossed and 'Outlived' it! But does the process of learning end here? Yes and No! 'Yes' only to the one who has died and 'No' to all the others! Life goes on and the process of learning goes on! The kith and kin have to learn to live with the pain and sorrows and without their loved ones! Even this is learning, howsoever painful it is. And this pain and final and binding truth also comes with a lot of wisdom!
If we keep our mind, eyes, ears and all the senses open and alert; we keep learning something every moment of life! And that to me is the essence of life itself; Learning is Living!
"Getting better is a process that never stops. It's the reason why I get up every morning and head out there for training," Said Tendulkar after his historical 200 in ODI! That is definitely a topic to think, mull over and ruminate and then "Learn from it"!
Think of it, a man with most number of runs, centuries, records and awards in the history of Cricket talks about getting better! And he has proved he means every word of it! He has got better and better and then BETTER! The reason for his name, game and fame is this... Getting Better!
Learning is a process as vital as life itself. I just love the word 'Learning'. While at school, I always wondered why the word 'Studying' was used at all. That to me sounded like a punishment. "I am studying in sixth standard". Most of the kids look so solemn and so lost; there never was any fun in it.
I realized 'Learning' was a better word and 'Studying' was a poor replacement. You study something when circumstances force you to; but you learn something because you want to! This is what I feel about these two words. My English and vocabulary aren't as good as those of Shashi Tharoor and neither am I as smart as him. So let me be pardoned if my version is not acceptable to someone!
Learning starts with life, that is from the womb; and it continues till death and ends in the tomb! A newborn baby has to learn every bit about life from the moment it is born. It starts with the 'Cry'. The cry is vital to life, because that is when the hitherto unacclimatized lungs learn to breath. The cry then helps the baby to communicate with the mother; hunger, thirst, discomfort and everything.
Then comes the sucking of breast-milk. The sleep, the smile and all the milestones. The milestones of a baby's growth that make the parents happy and proud are but a continued process of learning. Why do we all enjoy this? Because we are 'Learning' and NOT Studying!
Even as the baby is learning to grow up, the parents too are learning. Learning about parenting and about the responsibilities of parenthood. At any socioeconomic level, in any society, country or religion; growing up of a baby is a special feeling and nothing can better it.
Every baby is born special and smart. Perhaps our education that demands studying rather than learning makes us dumb. I have discussed in an earlier post "Mathematics: Cutting the Diamond simplified" how vision in teaching can turn the dull and drab studying into an enjoyable learning process!
As we progress, a lot of people think we have learned everything. Well, to be precise, 'Studied everything'. This feeling is the beginning of the end of progress. I remember a very talented pace-bowler from Karnataka who shot to fame during the boom-time of Karnataka Cricket in the 90s.
His name was David Johnson. He was quick and he swung the ball both ways and bowled a good bouncer. The BCCI sent him to the Dennis Lillee Pace Academy in Chennai to train better. He left the Academy within a short span claiming, "I have learned EVERYTHING". This attitude irked T. A. Shekar the Coach and he was disappointed. Just look at David Johnson's career stats. Well, no need actually. He hardly had any career at all! The importance of Sachin Tendulkar's words become evident here!
Lack of opportunities is a common refrain used by lazy people. I love the quotable quote, "You are unlucky if you are born poor, but you are a fool if you die one". The urge to improve oneself forms the foundation of a successful life. Nothing new learned is ever a loss; we never know when it comes handy.
I developed a fascination for Computers when I was finding it difficult to get a break in my Post-Graduate Entrance Examinations. I never got a PG seat. But what I got instead was a flair for the Technology. That meant I was quicker in picking up the nuances of newer testing methods and the use of Computer aided technology in Medical Field. This has created a place of my own for me in my institution.
But is this enough? No, I have to keep learning something; some new thing and sometimes even old things! At the risk of sounding Philosophical in the '3 Idiots' mood, I don't believe life is a race. It is rather like 'running on a treadmill'. We have to keep on running. The speed might increase and the inclination might go upwards, but we have to cope up and keep up. If we don't, we fall down! We can decide the speed and the inclination to suit us, but never give up on learning and never stop running! Running keeps one 'Fit and Fine'!
The process of learning continues with age. Learning to adjust to new school, new friends, new jobs and everything new. Teen-age brings teen-aches. Youth brings responsibilities. Adulthood brings added weight. Middle-age brings insecurities. Older we get; pains, illnesses and sufferings increase. Every born individual has to go through these if one lives long enough. Looking at some extraordinary and eminent people going through extremely difficult days in old-age has convinced me about the futility of 'Carrying Ego'!
Death is the final and definite frontier and not a single human has crossed and 'Outlived' it! But does the process of learning end here? Yes and No! 'Yes' only to the one who has died and 'No' to all the others! Life goes on and the process of learning goes on! The kith and kin have to learn to live with the pain and sorrows and without their loved ones! Even this is learning, howsoever painful it is. And this pain and final and binding truth also comes with a lot of wisdom!
If we keep our mind, eyes, ears and all the senses open and alert; we keep learning something every moment of life! And that to me is the essence of life itself; Learning is Living!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Save the Tigers; And Save the Bowlers too !
Cricket has evolved over the years; especially the shot making! Ranjith Singhji an Indian playing for England, was credited with the invention of leg-glance. Then came the sweep and further improvised paddle-sweep and later the reverse-sweep.
Ian Botham was credited with the early and successful implementation of reverse-sweep. Mike Gatting employed this shot to extreme use against India in 1985 and got the better of them. But this same shot gutted his team in the 1987 Reliance Cup Final. This actually was the beginning of the Revival of Australian Cricket. The Aussies have never looked back from there.
More and more innovations have evolved since the 90s. First it was Zimbabwean Marillier's scoop-shot that floored India once. He had earlier employed the same shot against Glen McGrath with some kind of success. Today, Dinesh Karthik and even Ashish Nehra are relishing the scoop like little kids do with a scoop of ice-cream!
Now we have some more exciting shots like M. S. Dhoni's 'Helicopter Shot', Kevin Peitersen's 'Switch Hit' and Brendon McCullum's 'Ramp Shot'! And then we have Aussie youngster David Warner's 'Innovated Switch Hit'.
So Cricket is getting more and more aggressive. But isn't it getting a little too loaded in favor of batsmen? All the new rules like 'free-hit', wide ruling for negative bowling etc are in favor of batsmen. Even the pitches world-over are becoming more and more batting friendly.
So it should be fair enough if bowlers all over expect the 'LBW' rule to be amended. When a batsman switches sides and hits against the line, the 'Pitched outside the leg stump' rule becomes blurred. Hence if he misses the line and is wrapped on the pads in front of the stumps, the batsman should be given out LBW.
It is desirable to see even the wide rule changed to allow the bowler the liberty to fire outside the leg-stump. If a batsman plays a premeditated 'switch-hit' and misses, the leg-side wide rule should be a bit lenient for the bowler. Otherwise, bowlers will have extremely difficult times in shorter formats of the game and all the flat-track-bullies will rule the world of Cricket.
And in spite of all these innovations, we saw fans requesting Virendar Sehwag to desist from playing the reverse shot at the Eden! If someone can score with 100% strike rate in a Test match playing normal shots; why does he need to play abnormal shots? This post is not against any innovations; but we should not make it completely batsman oriented! Give the bowlers some respite!
ICC should look at this scenario. In the 80s and even till mid-90s, every team had at least two World-Class pacers who played quality Cricket over long periods. Lillee, Thomson, Alderman and Hogg served well for Australia. Marshall, Garner, Holding, Roberts, Benjamin, Patterson, Ambrose and Walsh did it for West Indies. Hadlee, Chatfield and later Morrison played with distinction for New Zealand. England had Botham, Willis, Allot etc. Pakistan had Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz and later the famed duo of Wasim and Waqar. Even India had Kapil Dev and to a lesser extent Manoj Prabhakar and later Srinath who did well.
Now look at the picture today! Except McGrath, Chaminda Vas, Brett lee and Zaheer Khan; most of the 'Fast Bowlers' have flattered to deceive. We certainly can't forget Allan Donald and Pollock of South Africa. But even from this list, only Glen McGrath and Donald had a relatively steady career. Not a single team boasts of a consistently menacing duo or trio of Pacers today.
South Africa have Dale Steyn and that's it. Aussies are struggling with their pace combination. India will have to suffer when Zaheer is not around. England have a list of wannabes but not one leader of the pack. Same situation with West-Indies and Pakistan. Another genuine Pacer, Shane Bond of New Zealand has played lesser tests than any player who has played International Cricket for so long.
Why is it so? Simple, the game has become so loaded in favor of batsmen; the bowlers have to work so much harder just to survive. With the extraordinary amount of Cricket played; injuries, burn outs and simply lack of bench strength has caused steep decline in bowling standards.
Cricket is not just about hitting sixes and fours. It is also about beating batsmen and getting wickets! The ICC has to stop this downward journey of bowling. The bowlers need some encouragement too. We definitely don't want to see totals of 500 for 2 from 50 overs being chased down easily by team batting second.
In a recent advertisement, M. S. Dhoni is urging us to save the Tigers because there are only about 1400 of them left today. Wake up ICC and all other people concerned with running Cricket! Save the Bowlers; We don't have even 14 of them today!!!
Ian Botham was credited with the early and successful implementation of reverse-sweep. Mike Gatting employed this shot to extreme use against India in 1985 and got the better of them. But this same shot gutted his team in the 1987 Reliance Cup Final. This actually was the beginning of the Revival of Australian Cricket. The Aussies have never looked back from there.
More and more innovations have evolved since the 90s. First it was Zimbabwean Marillier's scoop-shot that floored India once. He had earlier employed the same shot against Glen McGrath with some kind of success. Today, Dinesh Karthik and even Ashish Nehra are relishing the scoop like little kids do with a scoop of ice-cream!
Now we have some more exciting shots like M. S. Dhoni's 'Helicopter Shot', Kevin Peitersen's 'Switch Hit' and Brendon McCullum's 'Ramp Shot'! And then we have Aussie youngster David Warner's 'Innovated Switch Hit'.
So Cricket is getting more and more aggressive. But isn't it getting a little too loaded in favor of batsmen? All the new rules like 'free-hit', wide ruling for negative bowling etc are in favor of batsmen. Even the pitches world-over are becoming more and more batting friendly.
So it should be fair enough if bowlers all over expect the 'LBW' rule to be amended. When a batsman switches sides and hits against the line, the 'Pitched outside the leg stump' rule becomes blurred. Hence if he misses the line and is wrapped on the pads in front of the stumps, the batsman should be given out LBW.
It is desirable to see even the wide rule changed to allow the bowler the liberty to fire outside the leg-stump. If a batsman plays a premeditated 'switch-hit' and misses, the leg-side wide rule should be a bit lenient for the bowler. Otherwise, bowlers will have extremely difficult times in shorter formats of the game and all the flat-track-bullies will rule the world of Cricket.
And in spite of all these innovations, we saw fans requesting Virendar Sehwag to desist from playing the reverse shot at the Eden! If someone can score with 100% strike rate in a Test match playing normal shots; why does he need to play abnormal shots? This post is not against any innovations; but we should not make it completely batsman oriented! Give the bowlers some respite!
ICC should look at this scenario. In the 80s and even till mid-90s, every team had at least two World-Class pacers who played quality Cricket over long periods. Lillee, Thomson, Alderman and Hogg served well for Australia. Marshall, Garner, Holding, Roberts, Benjamin, Patterson, Ambrose and Walsh did it for West Indies. Hadlee, Chatfield and later Morrison played with distinction for New Zealand. England had Botham, Willis, Allot etc. Pakistan had Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz and later the famed duo of Wasim and Waqar. Even India had Kapil Dev and to a lesser extent Manoj Prabhakar and later Srinath who did well.
Now look at the picture today! Except McGrath, Chaminda Vas, Brett lee and Zaheer Khan; most of the 'Fast Bowlers' have flattered to deceive. We certainly can't forget Allan Donald and Pollock of South Africa. But even from this list, only Glen McGrath and Donald had a relatively steady career. Not a single team boasts of a consistently menacing duo or trio of Pacers today.
South Africa have Dale Steyn and that's it. Aussies are struggling with their pace combination. India will have to suffer when Zaheer is not around. England have a list of wannabes but not one leader of the pack. Same situation with West-Indies and Pakistan. Another genuine Pacer, Shane Bond of New Zealand has played lesser tests than any player who has played International Cricket for so long.
Why is it so? Simple, the game has become so loaded in favor of batsmen; the bowlers have to work so much harder just to survive. With the extraordinary amount of Cricket played; injuries, burn outs and simply lack of bench strength has caused steep decline in bowling standards.
Cricket is not just about hitting sixes and fours. It is also about beating batsmen and getting wickets! The ICC has to stop this downward journey of bowling. The bowlers need some encouragement too. We definitely don't want to see totals of 500 for 2 from 50 overs being chased down easily by team batting second.
In a recent advertisement, M. S. Dhoni is urging us to save the Tigers because there are only about 1400 of them left today. Wake up ICC and all other people concerned with running Cricket! Save the Bowlers; We don't have even 14 of them today!!!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Eoin Morgan and Quick Gun Murugan !
Is Eoin Morgan fast turning out to be the next 'Big Thing' in International Cricket? He won an almost single-handed victory for England after they were down in the dumps thanks to smart bowling by the Bangladesh Captain.
Morgan did everything a finisher is expected to do in a tight game. He defended, ran real quick and shielded his partners before finishing off in style. Such was his involvement in his pursuit of the target; he didn't even realize he had completed his century. What a 'Team-man' to have!
England sure are a team on the roll in both forms of the game. This is in spite of the fact that they have lost the most number of 'Established Stars' over the past couple of years. Waughan, Simon Jones, Harmison, Giles and of course Flintoff; that is a tough line up to replace. Next to Australia, England is the team that has undergone the widest metamorphosis since the 2007 World Cup.
And here is a lesson for all the other teams; especially India. Build up your bench strength, support the tough nuts. Segregate the chaff and promote Yusuf Pathan up the order! And please give him some rope; not to hang him, but to do the rope-tricks! This man can be the most destructive player of our times if only our selectors, press and public give him the requisite support.
Our 'Press' has been generally too harsh in its criticism of Yusuf. He makes 18 runs of 13 balls and falls in his attempt to force the pace. Press says, "Yusuf Pathan once again failed the team". Ravindra Jadeja scored 22 of 20 balls and the same article lauds his batting! How crude and rude can they get!
In any form of Cricket, not many ordinary men have scored a hundred and a double hundred in the same match. Yusuf did exactly that in the Duleep Trophy Final and in the process, won a match that was almost lost till he took on the opposition single-handed.
Shane Warne handled him beautifully and he worked wonders for Rajastan Royals. With the right kind of backing, he can go a long way in International Cricket. I hope our Selectors and Dhoni will see the potential in this giant of a man and nurture him to greater heights. If not, the loss will be entirely ours.
Yusuf Pathan can be the Indian Cricket's answer to Afridi and Morgan. And he can be as difficult a bowler as Afridi. Nurture him, he is capable of changing the course of a match even before you can say... 'Quick Gun Murugan'
Morgan did everything a finisher is expected to do in a tight game. He defended, ran real quick and shielded his partners before finishing off in style. Such was his involvement in his pursuit of the target; he didn't even realize he had completed his century. What a 'Team-man' to have!
England sure are a team on the roll in both forms of the game. This is in spite of the fact that they have lost the most number of 'Established Stars' over the past couple of years. Waughan, Simon Jones, Harmison, Giles and of course Flintoff; that is a tough line up to replace. Next to Australia, England is the team that has undergone the widest metamorphosis since the 2007 World Cup.
And here is a lesson for all the other teams; especially India. Build up your bench strength, support the tough nuts. Segregate the chaff and promote Yusuf Pathan up the order! And please give him some rope; not to hang him, but to do the rope-tricks! This man can be the most destructive player of our times if only our selectors, press and public give him the requisite support.
Our 'Press' has been generally too harsh in its criticism of Yusuf. He makes 18 runs of 13 balls and falls in his attempt to force the pace. Press says, "Yusuf Pathan once again failed the team". Ravindra Jadeja scored 22 of 20 balls and the same article lauds his batting! How crude and rude can they get!
In any form of Cricket, not many ordinary men have scored a hundred and a double hundred in the same match. Yusuf did exactly that in the Duleep Trophy Final and in the process, won a match that was almost lost till he took on the opposition single-handed.
Shane Warne handled him beautifully and he worked wonders for Rajastan Royals. With the right kind of backing, he can go a long way in International Cricket. I hope our Selectors and Dhoni will see the potential in this giant of a man and nurture him to greater heights. If not, the loss will be entirely ours.
Yusuf Pathan can be the Indian Cricket's answer to Afridi and Morgan. And he can be as difficult a bowler as Afridi. Nurture him, he is capable of changing the course of a match even before you can say... 'Quick Gun Murugan'
Cricket, The only Religion that Unites India !
Cricket: The only Religion that Unites India!
We have so many things that divide people; in this world and in India. Race, Religions, Regions, Languages, Tastes, Food habits, Prejudices, Color of the skin and of course Politics!
But there is only one entity that 'Unites' India; and that is Cricket. Yes, this game of skill between a bat and a ball has fired the imagination of a Country ever since we learned to play it. It became an 'Unofficial Religion' after the famous victory in the Prudential World Cup Final in 1983. 27 years since, Cricket has remained a great unifier; in spite of all the above mentioned entities trying to divide Cricket and divide the Country!
Yes, we keep hearing frequent complaints of Selectors playing Politics and of nepotism by 'The High and the Mighty'. We have seen effigies being burnt in Kolkotta when Saurav Ganguly was dropped and we have seen Mumbai being the hate object of people of many a States. But when it comes to the 'Game'; almost all the devotees will gather together and pray for 'India'!
There are so many famous quotes about Cricket and India. Here are but three that came to my mind instantly, while there are more than a couple of dozen more such 'immortal' quotable quotes.
Cricket is my Religion and Sachin is God!
I will see God when I die, but I am in no hurry and will see Sachin Tendulkar bat!
On the Off Side, after God; there is Saurav Ganguly!
In spite of regionalism, favoritism and even religions coming out in the open at the time of selection of team before each series; India remains united on match days! I know so many of those right wing saffrons who root for Zaheer Khan and Yusuf Pathan. I also know so many Muslim youth who see no idol beyond Sachin. Chennai perhaps has the staunchest fan-base of Sachin and Laxman is adored in Kolkotta for obvious reasons.
So I have no doubts about Cricket being the 'Best Unifier' in this country; especially when the team is winning and doing well! And my own passion for the game is nothing short of being labeled 'Craze'!
All through my younger days, I have tried to bat like Gavaskar, bowl like Sivaramakrishnan and field like Roger Binny. Unfortunately the fact was that I was at best a mediocre Cricketer. But this doesn't disqualify me from being a Lap-top Cricketer; the modern-day version of the Arm-chair Cricketer.
Some of the failed actors like Rakesh Roshan, Subhash Ghai and Vinod Chopra went on to become very successful Directors in Hindi movies. I believe India has no dearth of talent in Cricket as well as in 'Lap-top Cricket'. Yours truly has an opinion on almost all 'That is Cricket' and most of 'That is not Cricket'!
This blog will be dedicated to expressions on Sports in general and Cricket in particular. I am shifting my old posts on sports from 'Live, Love and Laugh' under this blog.
This is for my own benefit so that I will be able to manage with more comfort; both 'That is Cricket' and 'That is not Cricket'!
We have so many things that divide people; in this world and in India. Race, Religions, Regions, Languages, Tastes, Food habits, Prejudices, Color of the skin and of course Politics!
But there is only one entity that 'Unites' India; and that is Cricket. Yes, this game of skill between a bat and a ball has fired the imagination of a Country ever since we learned to play it. It became an 'Unofficial Religion' after the famous victory in the Prudential World Cup Final in 1983. 27 years since, Cricket has remained a great unifier; in spite of all the above mentioned entities trying to divide Cricket and divide the Country!
Yes, we keep hearing frequent complaints of Selectors playing Politics and of nepotism by 'The High and the Mighty'. We have seen effigies being burnt in Kolkotta when Saurav Ganguly was dropped and we have seen Mumbai being the hate object of people of many a States. But when it comes to the 'Game'; almost all the devotees will gather together and pray for 'India'!
There are so many famous quotes about Cricket and India. Here are but three that came to my mind instantly, while there are more than a couple of dozen more such 'immortal' quotable quotes.
Cricket is my Religion and Sachin is God!
I will see God when I die, but I am in no hurry and will see Sachin Tendulkar bat!
On the Off Side, after God; there is Saurav Ganguly!
In spite of regionalism, favoritism and even religions coming out in the open at the time of selection of team before each series; India remains united on match days! I know so many of those right wing saffrons who root for Zaheer Khan and Yusuf Pathan. I also know so many Muslim youth who see no idol beyond Sachin. Chennai perhaps has the staunchest fan-base of Sachin and Laxman is adored in Kolkotta for obvious reasons.
So I have no doubts about Cricket being the 'Best Unifier' in this country; especially when the team is winning and doing well! And my own passion for the game is nothing short of being labeled 'Craze'!
All through my younger days, I have tried to bat like Gavaskar, bowl like Sivaramakrishnan and field like Roger Binny. Unfortunately the fact was that I was at best a mediocre Cricketer. But this doesn't disqualify me from being a Lap-top Cricketer; the modern-day version of the Arm-chair Cricketer.
Some of the failed actors like Rakesh Roshan, Subhash Ghai and Vinod Chopra went on to become very successful Directors in Hindi movies. I believe India has no dearth of talent in Cricket as well as in 'Lap-top Cricket'. Yours truly has an opinion on almost all 'That is Cricket' and most of 'That is not Cricket'!
This blog will be dedicated to expressions on Sports in general and Cricket in particular. I am shifting my old posts on sports from 'Live, Love and Laugh' under this blog.
This is for my own benefit so that I will be able to manage with more comfort; both 'That is Cricket' and 'That is not Cricket'!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Why it had to be Tendulkar?
Thursday, 25 February 2010
India is rightly celebrating Sachin Tendulkar's accent to the hitherto unscaled height of a Double Century in a 50 overs a side International Match, popularly called ODI. Mamta Banerjee has given us some reasons to smile. But I doubt if anyone was following her Rail-budget at all. Almost an entire nation was glued to the Neo Cricket or DD channel to follow the progress of the most famous son towards the summit.
Here's a confession. For the first time in a career of 15 years; yours truly kept patients waiting for a good 17 minutes last evening. I simply couldn't have missed the event 'Live' because I had predicted it in the afternoon looking at the way 'The Old Chap' was batting from the first over. I apologize to my profession and to the nice souls who waited for me, when I was waiting for the 'History in making'!
This event, this conquest and this phenomenon will take a long time to sink in. It looked all too simple when he scampered for that single to point of the fourth ball of that last over. But was it as simple?
True, the pitch was a belter; but why others couldn't do it? There have been bigger team scores in ODIs, but not a double-ton before. Many players have faced more balls than the 147 he faced, but the nearest anyone came was 194.
I thought over this last evening and through this morning, and I realized there are "more than many reasons". There have been many contenders to scale the summit and some pretenders too. But ultimately it had to be Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. And here are the reasons...
Glen Turner: He had played in an era when a score of 170 was enormous in itself. Let us salute him for that. But he never ever went past 150.
Kapil Dev: It was a day of 'Destiny' for Indian Captain and Devastation for the Zimbabwe. The 175 not out was a special knock that prevented India getting knocked out of 1983 World Cup. The rest is 'His-story'. But 'Miracles' happen once in a life-time.
Vivian Richards: The only player of that era who was capable of reaching the summit. But he played for the almighty West Indies. He never really got to bat long enough to score 200 in an ODI. And let me repeat, the summit was just about being imagined at that time.
Gary Kirsten, M. S. Dhoni, Mathew Hayden and Saurav Ganguly have gone as far as the 180+. Sachin himself was there before in 1999. But none of these managed to scale the heights. In fact, they didn't deserve too! Hindsight is a great thing indeed! Tendulkar had made a gallant 175 against Australia in 2009, only to see his team fall apart after his fall.
Sanath Jayasuriya made a superb 189 against India. But he took 161 balls for this knock. That is more than 50% of the total balls. Sanath was definitely special, but was not 'The Chosen One'!
As much as I would like to admire C. K. Coventry, the quality of Cricket between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe is of such low quality that it would have been travesty of justice if he were to get there first.
Saeed Anwar played an epoch making innings against India on that hot Chennai summer day in 1997. He sunk India in the process. He took only 146 balls to reach 194. But it was an innings played thanks largely to the 'Nice Guys' that India were at that time. Anwar was carrying an injury from the previous match. He hid it and played his 'Big' knock with the help of a 'Runner' almost throughout. Cricketing Gods were not willing to confer the tag of immortality on him; and rightly so!
And then the Pretenders...
Brian Lara was a man of big centuries. But somehow, he remained an under-achiever in ODIs and rightly didn't ever come close to the peak.
Ricky Ponting is a small built man with a big talent and a bigger mouth. He has threatened many a times to score big. But fortunately the summit has rightly eluded him, though the Cricketing Gods have been most benevolent to Australia.
Christopher Gayle can create 'Gail Storms' when he gets going. But the situation always has been quite silly. Either his team will get all-out leaving him not out on 199. Or when the team mates clicked, Gayle force failed!
Virendar Sehwag is a paradox beyond commonsense. Here is a man who has 2 triple hundreds and four double hundreds in Tests. Most of his big innings have come in quick time and against quality opposition. He gets to open the batting for India and can bat all 50 overs. He wagged his tongue ferociously when he wanted to score the first double hundred in ODIs. He has never even scored 150 after that! His expertise in manufacturing shots in ODIs and finding newer ways of getting out have limited his accent. But there perhaps is 'Poetic Justice' in it!
Shaheed Afridi is such a gifted player; he can do anything including destroying opposition. He holds the record for the fastest ODI century. He has scored 2 of the 3 fastest ODI hundreds. He might require just about 75 - 80 balls to score 200 runs on his day. But his problem has been 'Shaheed Afridi'. He destroys himself rather than the opposition and has perhaps 'never' played 75 balls in any match.
Poetic Justice
Here is a man who has played over 400 ODIs in 20 years. He has scored centuries 45 times before. He has more scores of 150+ than anyone else. He has won more matches for his country and more Man-of-the-Match awards than anyone could imagine. He is sitting on a mountain of runs. Over 30000 and still going strong. As I have mentioned before, we have lost count of the records he has broken or created.
And this one, an ODI Double Hundred was an un-chartered territory! Anyone else reaching there was just unfair! So the destiny had chosen a very special afternoon for 'Her most Favorite' kid to scale the summit. And the 'Poetic Justice' comes in the fact that it was not against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe or Namibia; but against South Africa! That South Africa which boasts of the best bowler in the world!
Everyone please stand up and applaud the 'Greatest Cricketer Ever' to walk this Planet. We are a blessed lot who lived in the times of people like Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer!
India is rightly celebrating Sachin Tendulkar's accent to the hitherto unscaled height of a Double Century in a 50 overs a side International Match, popularly called ODI. Mamta Banerjee has given us some reasons to smile. But I doubt if anyone was following her Rail-budget at all. Almost an entire nation was glued to the Neo Cricket or DD channel to follow the progress of the most famous son towards the summit.
Here's a confession. For the first time in a career of 15 years; yours truly kept patients waiting for a good 17 minutes last evening. I simply couldn't have missed the event 'Live' because I had predicted it in the afternoon looking at the way 'The Old Chap' was batting from the first over. I apologize to my profession and to the nice souls who waited for me, when I was waiting for the 'History in making'!
This event, this conquest and this phenomenon will take a long time to sink in. It looked all too simple when he scampered for that single to point of the fourth ball of that last over. But was it as simple?
True, the pitch was a belter; but why others couldn't do it? There have been bigger team scores in ODIs, but not a double-ton before. Many players have faced more balls than the 147 he faced, but the nearest anyone came was 194.
I thought over this last evening and through this morning, and I realized there are "more than many reasons". There have been many contenders to scale the summit and some pretenders too. But ultimately it had to be Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. And here are the reasons...
Glen Turner: He had played in an era when a score of 170 was enormous in itself. Let us salute him for that. But he never ever went past 150.
Kapil Dev: It was a day of 'Destiny' for Indian Captain and Devastation for the Zimbabwe. The 175 not out was a special knock that prevented India getting knocked out of 1983 World Cup. The rest is 'His-story'. But 'Miracles' happen once in a life-time.
Vivian Richards: The only player of that era who was capable of reaching the summit. But he played for the almighty West Indies. He never really got to bat long enough to score 200 in an ODI. And let me repeat, the summit was just about being imagined at that time.
Gary Kirsten, M. S. Dhoni, Mathew Hayden and Saurav Ganguly have gone as far as the 180+. Sachin himself was there before in 1999. But none of these managed to scale the heights. In fact, they didn't deserve too! Hindsight is a great thing indeed! Tendulkar had made a gallant 175 against Australia in 2009, only to see his team fall apart after his fall.
Sanath Jayasuriya made a superb 189 against India. But he took 161 balls for this knock. That is more than 50% of the total balls. Sanath was definitely special, but was not 'The Chosen One'!
As much as I would like to admire C. K. Coventry, the quality of Cricket between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe is of such low quality that it would have been travesty of justice if he were to get there first.
Saeed Anwar played an epoch making innings against India on that hot Chennai summer day in 1997. He sunk India in the process. He took only 146 balls to reach 194. But it was an innings played thanks largely to the 'Nice Guys' that India were at that time. Anwar was carrying an injury from the previous match. He hid it and played his 'Big' knock with the help of a 'Runner' almost throughout. Cricketing Gods were not willing to confer the tag of immortality on him; and rightly so!
And then the Pretenders...
Brian Lara was a man of big centuries. But somehow, he remained an under-achiever in ODIs and rightly didn't ever come close to the peak.
Ricky Ponting is a small built man with a big talent and a bigger mouth. He has threatened many a times to score big. But fortunately the summit has rightly eluded him, though the Cricketing Gods have been most benevolent to Australia.
Christopher Gayle can create 'Gail Storms' when he gets going. But the situation always has been quite silly. Either his team will get all-out leaving him not out on 199. Or when the team mates clicked, Gayle force failed!
Virendar Sehwag is a paradox beyond commonsense. Here is a man who has 2 triple hundreds and four double hundreds in Tests. Most of his big innings have come in quick time and against quality opposition. He gets to open the batting for India and can bat all 50 overs. He wagged his tongue ferociously when he wanted to score the first double hundred in ODIs. He has never even scored 150 after that! His expertise in manufacturing shots in ODIs and finding newer ways of getting out have limited his accent. But there perhaps is 'Poetic Justice' in it!
Shaheed Afridi is such a gifted player; he can do anything including destroying opposition. He holds the record for the fastest ODI century. He has scored 2 of the 3 fastest ODI hundreds. He might require just about 75 - 80 balls to score 200 runs on his day. But his problem has been 'Shaheed Afridi'. He destroys himself rather than the opposition and has perhaps 'never' played 75 balls in any match.
Poetic Justice
Here is a man who has played over 400 ODIs in 20 years. He has scored centuries 45 times before. He has more scores of 150+ than anyone else. He has won more matches for his country and more Man-of-the-Match awards than anyone could imagine. He is sitting on a mountain of runs. Over 30000 and still going strong. As I have mentioned before, we have lost count of the records he has broken or created.
And this one, an ODI Double Hundred was an un-chartered territory! Anyone else reaching there was just unfair! So the destiny had chosen a very special afternoon for 'Her most Favorite' kid to scale the summit. And the 'Poetic Justice' comes in the fact that it was not against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe or Namibia; but against South Africa! That South Africa which boasts of the best bowler in the world!
Everyone please stand up and applaud the 'Greatest Cricketer Ever' to walk this Planet. We are a blessed lot who lived in the times of people like Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer!
The Writing on the 'Wall'
Monday, 22 February 2010
While missing Rahul Dravid during Nagpur Test, I had coined an ‘Inspired’ slogan cum prayer for Team India for the Eden Test, “Wall is well”. This got the approval of my friends’ circle. A lot of people found it funny as well as relevant. This made me think about Rahul Dravid; one of the modern day Cricketers I admire for both his Cricket and his character!
So here I am, with some light-hearted but pretty valid thought about Rahul Dravid, ‘The Wall’! RD henceforth.
Our mighty neighbors to the north, China have always looked down upon India as inferior to them. They even claimed recently that India’s Nuclear program was at least a decade behind that of their own. Well, how do we counter China then? In the field of Sports, we can hardly match them, except in Cricket! Tennis was one sport where we were ahead until recently, but not now. China has leapfrogged ahead of India in most of the fields.
They have the strongest ‘Political Will’ to curb any kind of ‘Terrorism’ on their soil. Unfortunately as of now, our rulers have proved time and again, ‘We don’t have it’. They have so much going for them and then they have the ‘Great Wall of China’. So what do we have? And then I realized; we have RD, ‘The Great Wall of India’!
RD is a Commerce graduate. Ever thought of what RD would have been if he were to be into business? He would have ended up on the ‘Board’ of ‘The Wall Street Journal’.
It was admirable of Team India that they came up triumphs at the Eden without RD. But most of the times, when RD is injured and sidelined in Test matches; ‘The Writing is on the Wall’ for Team India.
When the ICC finally decides to honor RD for his contribution to the game of Cricket; they will have to induct him into the ‘Wall of Fame’! And when a shining portrait of him adorns the ‘Hall of Fame’; we can call it ‘The Wall on the Wall’!
The grapevine has confirmed the news of the international chain of Supermarkets going to re-launch their chain in India with RD as their ‘Icon’. And the shops will be named, ‘The Wall Mart’.
It also is rumored that the manufacturers of the famous ‘Mentholated Cough Lozenges’ are in contact with RD for promotion of their ‘Cool’ Mint. They are going to call it ‘Walls’ and the punch line will be, ‘The Wall without a Hole’!
Taking cue, the Ambuja Cement too have roped in RD as ‘Brand Ambassador’ with a new ad, ‘Yeh Deewaar Kabhi nahin tootegi’ means ‘This Wall will never break’! It sure is an awe-inspiring thought!
Yash Raj Films [YRF] have confirmed the launch of a Hindi movie based on Cricket and it will be titled, “Deewaar”. In a scene reminding us of the old YRF Classic; the rival Captain will ask Indian Captain, “Mere pass Gul hai, Shahid hai, Shoib hai, Sami hai aur Rana bhee hai, bol tere paas kya hai?” And Indian skipper will reply with the customary cool, “Mere paas Deewaar hai”!
It is now out; the secret at last is out! The dethroning of RD from the Captaincy of Bangalore Royal Challengers has nothing to do with Cricket. RCB owner Vijay Mallya actually wanted RD to be part of his Kingfisher swimsuit calendar tentatively titled ‘The Balls and The Wall’.
Since RD the ever so Gentleman didn’t like the idea, Mallya had no option but to sack RD from Captaincy. He hoped Peitersen will be more accommodating. But even before Kevin settled down on the job, he had to leave. Last heard that Mr. Mallya hopes to use the honorable Anil Kumble with the theme ‘The Bimbos and the Jumbo’. We are waiting for the response from Kumble, just like Mallya!
And why did RD suddenly resign from Captaincy of Indian team soon after the twin Test Series wins in the Caribbean and England? Simple, he heard too many things which were not meant to be heard. People like Ashok Malhotra who were blabbering a lot; forgot an old adage in Hindi, "Deewaar ke bhi kaan hote hain"... "Even Walls do have ears!"
Finally… what will I call this piece of information shared with my friends? Well, some day I would like to write a book on ‘The Rahul Dravid’. I have a nice name for the book ready, but I am not ready to divulge it yet. So I will call this blog-post, ‘The Wall Journal’!
For more details, please log on to: www.thegreatwallofindia.com
While missing Rahul Dravid during Nagpur Test, I had coined an ‘Inspired’ slogan cum prayer for Team India for the Eden Test, “Wall is well”. This got the approval of my friends’ circle. A lot of people found it funny as well as relevant. This made me think about Rahul Dravid; one of the modern day Cricketers I admire for both his Cricket and his character!
So here I am, with some light-hearted but pretty valid thought about Rahul Dravid, ‘The Wall’! RD henceforth.
Our mighty neighbors to the north, China have always looked down upon India as inferior to them. They even claimed recently that India’s Nuclear program was at least a decade behind that of their own. Well, how do we counter China then? In the field of Sports, we can hardly match them, except in Cricket! Tennis was one sport where we were ahead until recently, but not now. China has leapfrogged ahead of India in most of the fields.
They have the strongest ‘Political Will’ to curb any kind of ‘Terrorism’ on their soil. Unfortunately as of now, our rulers have proved time and again, ‘We don’t have it’. They have so much going for them and then they have the ‘Great Wall of China’. So what do we have? And then I realized; we have RD, ‘The Great Wall of India’!
RD is a Commerce graduate. Ever thought of what RD would have been if he were to be into business? He would have ended up on the ‘Board’ of ‘The Wall Street Journal’.
It was admirable of Team India that they came up triumphs at the Eden without RD. But most of the times, when RD is injured and sidelined in Test matches; ‘The Writing is on the Wall’ for Team India.
When the ICC finally decides to honor RD for his contribution to the game of Cricket; they will have to induct him into the ‘Wall of Fame’! And when a shining portrait of him adorns the ‘Hall of Fame’; we can call it ‘The Wall on the Wall’!
The grapevine has confirmed the news of the international chain of Supermarkets going to re-launch their chain in India with RD as their ‘Icon’. And the shops will be named, ‘The Wall Mart’.
It also is rumored that the manufacturers of the famous ‘Mentholated Cough Lozenges’ are in contact with RD for promotion of their ‘Cool’ Mint. They are going to call it ‘Walls’ and the punch line will be, ‘The Wall without a Hole’!
Taking cue, the Ambuja Cement too have roped in RD as ‘Brand Ambassador’ with a new ad, ‘Yeh Deewaar Kabhi nahin tootegi’ means ‘This Wall will never break’! It sure is an awe-inspiring thought!
Yash Raj Films [YRF] have confirmed the launch of a Hindi movie based on Cricket and it will be titled, “Deewaar”. In a scene reminding us of the old YRF Classic; the rival Captain will ask Indian Captain, “Mere pass Gul hai, Shahid hai, Shoib hai, Sami hai aur Rana bhee hai, bol tere paas kya hai?” And Indian skipper will reply with the customary cool, “Mere paas Deewaar hai”!
It is now out; the secret at last is out! The dethroning of RD from the Captaincy of Bangalore Royal Challengers has nothing to do with Cricket. RCB owner Vijay Mallya actually wanted RD to be part of his Kingfisher swimsuit calendar tentatively titled ‘The Balls and The Wall’.
Since RD the ever so Gentleman didn’t like the idea, Mallya had no option but to sack RD from Captaincy. He hoped Peitersen will be more accommodating. But even before Kevin settled down on the job, he had to leave. Last heard that Mr. Mallya hopes to use the honorable Anil Kumble with the theme ‘The Bimbos and the Jumbo’. We are waiting for the response from Kumble, just like Mallya!
And why did RD suddenly resign from Captaincy of Indian team soon after the twin Test Series wins in the Caribbean and England? Simple, he heard too many things which were not meant to be heard. People like Ashok Malhotra who were blabbering a lot; forgot an old adage in Hindi, "Deewaar ke bhi kaan hote hain"... "Even Walls do have ears!"
Finally… what will I call this piece of information shared with my friends? Well, some day I would like to write a book on ‘The Rahul Dravid’. I have a nice name for the book ready, but I am not ready to divulge it yet. So I will call this blog-post, ‘The Wall Journal’!
For more details, please log on to: www.thegreatwallofindia.com
Odds Even after the Eden; but Team India Better!
Friday, 19 February 2010
India and South Africa; Number 1 and 2! Just by a whisker! What a series this was! Must be rated as the best short series played in India since the India - Australia series in 2001. It had everything a splendid whodunit movie could offer! Magnificent is the word.
7 Centuries with 2 in the same match for one of them. One 5 wicket haul. Some dropped catches and two extremely stupid run-outs. Some huge partnerships and one real collapse. Some pains; Bhajji played with a lot of pain and Khan goes missing on the 'Judgment Day'. Some gains; Amla, Mishra, Petersen and Ishant will carry a lot of confidence from here. Then some intervention by the nature and some Rains. And then finally a humdinger of a finale! What an exciting advertisement for Test Cricket!
I should not be branded partial if this analysis says India were overall better team in the series in spite of the 'Nagpur Horror'. I had definitely been quite critical of India in my earlier post 'Nagpur Disaster and Kolkotta Prayer'. At least quite so of a few 'Key' players. I am happy to see those guys stand up and be counted! It always feels good to see those whom you love; prove you wrong to surprise you pleasantly!
Why India were Better - even though marginally?
Let us look at the South Africans first.
The Rock:
South Africa had just three and a half performers and one of them played throughout entire series bar those few minutes Smith spent at the batting crease! Hashim Amla reminded me of Sunny Gavaskar of the 70s and 80s. Nothing seemed to disturb him; not even Harbhajan's antics and the butter stuck in the hands of Laxman, Vijay, Badri and Raina. He was 'The Rock' of Gibraltar! Even Rahul Dravid would have been proud of this achievement!
And the Shock:
Dale Steyn was lethal during that one session at Nagpur and was good through rest of that test. But in Kolkotta, he was Sehwagged again!
The Greatest All-rounder Ever:
Kallis for me, is the Greatest All-rounder of all times; till someone with a better record comes. He is nearly as good a batsman as Dravid and is much better a bowler than many of those 'fast bowlers' who have played for India. He did play a perfect resurrecting role at Nagpur when South Africa were 9/2 and actually it was Kallis who guided and empowered Hashim Amla. Let's not forget this.
The New Petersen:
Alvero looked like he had watched Sehwagging all night when he started his test career with a style of batting that will make him a 'popular' figure with the IPL Bosses very soon.
And the Rest:
Smith was bowled over by 'My name is Khan'! It will take some time to get over the hangover.
JP Duminy will be remembered for dropping Sehwag and then not scoring as many runs as the catches he dropped. His bowling was better than his batting in the series!
Devilliers will look at the previous series with fondness and would love to forget this one before the ODIs. His keeping was a big bonus, for India. But this man is the future of SA Cricket and he will be back!
As well as anyone would like to see him; this Prince was never meant to be a King! I shudder to think the day when he becomes full time Captain of South Africa. He reminds me of a certain Rizwan Uz Zaman of Pakistan. Stroke-less wonder!
Harris will be remembered for his world record too! To be fair to him, he did bowl well in patches. He got Sachin out cheaply, twice after his centuries! When he had the cushion of a big score and a scorcher of a wicket, he turned the ball big. At Kolkotta, he turned towards the skies for divine intervention and then turned towards Ian Gould to see all those wides declared.
Morkel proved that Murali Vijay is still not good enough for test Cricket. He almost had Sehwag after that run-out hullabaloo. Apart from these, he did little else at Kolkotta. His batting was better than bowling.
Boucher was good at Nagpur and was missed sorely at Kolkotta. His batting and wicket-keeping; both would have made a difference.
Parnell looks like one of those baddies in the Hollywood pot-boilers. He did manage to frustrate Indians as a batsman rather than as a bowler! He was Sehwagged really badly.
So that is the South African Score Card. Now let us look at India!
Sehwagging with no mercy:
Viru Sehwag wags his tongue quite effectively without any self-consciousness. But he does much more than just wagging when he has a bat in hand. He does 'Sehwagging'! Every South African bowler has suffered this. I for one can never have enough of this!
Very Very Special:
There is no doubt about this! Laxman is by far the finest player to bat at No. 5 / 6 for India. When he is around, it is not that obvious. When he is not there; we know what happened at Nagpur! But for heaven's sake, take him out of the slips. He slips more than he catches there!
The God of 'Small' Centuries:
Even though he scored 2 centuries; Sachin will definitely be given 'a few private words' by Sunny Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri when they meet him next time. 100 and 106 and on both occasions falling to 'stupid' shots at the worst moment possible to Harris; That is not done! But to his credit, he has reached where no man ever has imagined thus far and he is still progressing. My only wish is, he doesn't get satisfied with small hundreds!
The Milk Shakti Strongest Man on Earth:
Mahendar Singh Dhoni can be faulted for his exaggerated support to a few players. But none can fault him for his strength of Character. Every time there was a crisis, he has stood up to be counted and stood by those whom he trusts. He fell to vicious deliveries in both innings at Nagpur. And at the Eden, nothing disturbed him. His brain should be studied in detail to know how he manages to remain cool in the worst of the moments!
My Name is Khan and I am a Terrorist!
He has Terrorized Smith and many more batsmen! India missed him sorely on the day-5 at the Eden. But he had proved throughout the series, that he is a major force in World Cricket today.
Bhajji on the Pitch:
Well, the Eden does funny things to this chap. He came back strongly with 8 wickets; the most important one of Morkel at the right moment! I am happy to see him bounce back after I had bashed him on my earlier post. But even here, he acknowledged the 'Jumbo Support' from the venerable Anil Kumble!
My Name is Sharma:
When nothing goes right, you still find yourself with the 'Strongest Man on Earth' to support; and then you 'Stand Tall' and deliver! Deliver he did, when it mattered. Ishant Sharma did do justice to the 'Huge Faith' Dhoni has reposed in him. He did pepper Amla with some really good short stuff on day-1 and softened him for Khan to fell him soon after. And in spite of not being at his best, he got crucial wickets in the second innings.
Mixed Bag of Limited Twists:
Amit means 'Unlimited' and Mishra means 'Mixed'! So literally translated he is 'Unlimited Mixture'. He definitely had a 'Mixed' series. He was caned at Nagpur and came back strongly at the Eden. Except Amla, not one South African managed to read his 'Mixed' up Googlys! Definitely a praiseworthy come back!
Then the relative failures:
Gautam Gambhir had 'The Law of averages' catch up with him badly after 11 tests of continued success. And even the luck and his famed chemistry with Viru failed him at Kolkotta when the world was at their feet.
Badrinath is not at all a 'Bad' player and he proved it at Nagpur with a fighting 50 before he became one of the victims of the Steyn Tsunami. He was unlucky to be denied a 'Night Watchman' on day-2 at the Eden. But his fielding is pathetic and he needs to do something about it.
Murali Vijay had a pretty good beginning to his career against Australia. But Steyn and Morkel have exposed him badly and he needs to tighten his technique. And perhaps he lost his confidence too; and dropped catches he would have taken in sleep.
So overall score-sheet proves my point that India as a Team played better Cricket! I hail all the 'Come from behind' men who were in the 'Pits' at Nagpur but have 'Lapped' South Africa at 'The Eden'! And they have done it without the 'Great Wall of India' throughout and 'My name is Khan' missing at the crucial moments. More Creditable indeed!
And finally a sincere request:
The BCCI and Bengal Cricket Association should give it a thought to name 'The Eden Gardens' as VVS Garden. If not, at least name a Stand at the Eden after the 'VVS'. How many batsmen can boast of such a record at the "Holiest Shrine of Indian Cricket?" And we don't get to see 'Men' like him very often!
India and South Africa; Number 1 and 2! Just by a whisker! What a series this was! Must be rated as the best short series played in India since the India - Australia series in 2001. It had everything a splendid whodunit movie could offer! Magnificent is the word.
7 Centuries with 2 in the same match for one of them. One 5 wicket haul. Some dropped catches and two extremely stupid run-outs. Some huge partnerships and one real collapse. Some pains; Bhajji played with a lot of pain and Khan goes missing on the 'Judgment Day'. Some gains; Amla, Mishra, Petersen and Ishant will carry a lot of confidence from here. Then some intervention by the nature and some Rains. And then finally a humdinger of a finale! What an exciting advertisement for Test Cricket!
I should not be branded partial if this analysis says India were overall better team in the series in spite of the 'Nagpur Horror'. I had definitely been quite critical of India in my earlier post 'Nagpur Disaster and Kolkotta Prayer'. At least quite so of a few 'Key' players. I am happy to see those guys stand up and be counted! It always feels good to see those whom you love; prove you wrong to surprise you pleasantly!
Why India were Better - even though marginally?
Let us look at the South Africans first.
The Rock:
South Africa had just three and a half performers and one of them played throughout entire series bar those few minutes Smith spent at the batting crease! Hashim Amla reminded me of Sunny Gavaskar of the 70s and 80s. Nothing seemed to disturb him; not even Harbhajan's antics and the butter stuck in the hands of Laxman, Vijay, Badri and Raina. He was 'The Rock' of Gibraltar! Even Rahul Dravid would have been proud of this achievement!
And the Shock:
Dale Steyn was lethal during that one session at Nagpur and was good through rest of that test. But in Kolkotta, he was Sehwagged again!
The Greatest All-rounder Ever:
Kallis for me, is the Greatest All-rounder of all times; till someone with a better record comes. He is nearly as good a batsman as Dravid and is much better a bowler than many of those 'fast bowlers' who have played for India. He did play a perfect resurrecting role at Nagpur when South Africa were 9/2 and actually it was Kallis who guided and empowered Hashim Amla. Let's not forget this.
The New Petersen:
Alvero looked like he had watched Sehwagging all night when he started his test career with a style of batting that will make him a 'popular' figure with the IPL Bosses very soon.
And the Rest:
Smith was bowled over by 'My name is Khan'! It will take some time to get over the hangover.
JP Duminy will be remembered for dropping Sehwag and then not scoring as many runs as the catches he dropped. His bowling was better than his batting in the series!
Devilliers will look at the previous series with fondness and would love to forget this one before the ODIs. His keeping was a big bonus, for India. But this man is the future of SA Cricket and he will be back!
As well as anyone would like to see him; this Prince was never meant to be a King! I shudder to think the day when he becomes full time Captain of South Africa. He reminds me of a certain Rizwan Uz Zaman of Pakistan. Stroke-less wonder!
Harris will be remembered for his world record too! To be fair to him, he did bowl well in patches. He got Sachin out cheaply, twice after his centuries! When he had the cushion of a big score and a scorcher of a wicket, he turned the ball big. At Kolkotta, he turned towards the skies for divine intervention and then turned towards Ian Gould to see all those wides declared.
Morkel proved that Murali Vijay is still not good enough for test Cricket. He almost had Sehwag after that run-out hullabaloo. Apart from these, he did little else at Kolkotta. His batting was better than bowling.
Boucher was good at Nagpur and was missed sorely at Kolkotta. His batting and wicket-keeping; both would have made a difference.
Parnell looks like one of those baddies in the Hollywood pot-boilers. He did manage to frustrate Indians as a batsman rather than as a bowler! He was Sehwagged really badly.
So that is the South African Score Card. Now let us look at India!
Sehwagging with no mercy:
Viru Sehwag wags his tongue quite effectively without any self-consciousness. But he does much more than just wagging when he has a bat in hand. He does 'Sehwagging'! Every South African bowler has suffered this. I for one can never have enough of this!
Very Very Special:
There is no doubt about this! Laxman is by far the finest player to bat at No. 5 / 6 for India. When he is around, it is not that obvious. When he is not there; we know what happened at Nagpur! But for heaven's sake, take him out of the slips. He slips more than he catches there!
The God of 'Small' Centuries:
Even though he scored 2 centuries; Sachin will definitely be given 'a few private words' by Sunny Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri when they meet him next time. 100 and 106 and on both occasions falling to 'stupid' shots at the worst moment possible to Harris; That is not done! But to his credit, he has reached where no man ever has imagined thus far and he is still progressing. My only wish is, he doesn't get satisfied with small hundreds!
The Milk Shakti Strongest Man on Earth:
Mahendar Singh Dhoni can be faulted for his exaggerated support to a few players. But none can fault him for his strength of Character. Every time there was a crisis, he has stood up to be counted and stood by those whom he trusts. He fell to vicious deliveries in both innings at Nagpur. And at the Eden, nothing disturbed him. His brain should be studied in detail to know how he manages to remain cool in the worst of the moments!
My Name is Khan and I am a Terrorist!
He has Terrorized Smith and many more batsmen! India missed him sorely on the day-5 at the Eden. But he had proved throughout the series, that he is a major force in World Cricket today.
Bhajji on the Pitch:
Well, the Eden does funny things to this chap. He came back strongly with 8 wickets; the most important one of Morkel at the right moment! I am happy to see him bounce back after I had bashed him on my earlier post. But even here, he acknowledged the 'Jumbo Support' from the venerable Anil Kumble!
My Name is Sharma:
When nothing goes right, you still find yourself with the 'Strongest Man on Earth' to support; and then you 'Stand Tall' and deliver! Deliver he did, when it mattered. Ishant Sharma did do justice to the 'Huge Faith' Dhoni has reposed in him. He did pepper Amla with some really good short stuff on day-1 and softened him for Khan to fell him soon after. And in spite of not being at his best, he got crucial wickets in the second innings.
Mixed Bag of Limited Twists:
Amit means 'Unlimited' and Mishra means 'Mixed'! So literally translated he is 'Unlimited Mixture'. He definitely had a 'Mixed' series. He was caned at Nagpur and came back strongly at the Eden. Except Amla, not one South African managed to read his 'Mixed' up Googlys! Definitely a praiseworthy come back!
Then the relative failures:
Gautam Gambhir had 'The Law of averages' catch up with him badly after 11 tests of continued success. And even the luck and his famed chemistry with Viru failed him at Kolkotta when the world was at their feet.
Badrinath is not at all a 'Bad' player and he proved it at Nagpur with a fighting 50 before he became one of the victims of the Steyn Tsunami. He was unlucky to be denied a 'Night Watchman' on day-2 at the Eden. But his fielding is pathetic and he needs to do something about it.
Murali Vijay had a pretty good beginning to his career against Australia. But Steyn and Morkel have exposed him badly and he needs to tighten his technique. And perhaps he lost his confidence too; and dropped catches he would have taken in sleep.
So overall score-sheet proves my point that India as a Team played better Cricket! I hail all the 'Come from behind' men who were in the 'Pits' at Nagpur but have 'Lapped' South Africa at 'The Eden'! And they have done it without the 'Great Wall of India' throughout and 'My name is Khan' missing at the crucial moments. More Creditable indeed!
And finally a sincere request:
The BCCI and Bengal Cricket Association should give it a thought to name 'The Eden Gardens' as VVS Garden. If not, at least name a Stand at the Eden after the 'VVS'. How many batsmen can boast of such a record at the "Holiest Shrine of Indian Cricket?" And we don't get to see 'Men' like him very often!
The Sri-Can't Factor and some Corrections!
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Krishnamachari Srikkanth was known and admired for his fearless stroke-play and his successful opening partnership with 'Sunny' Gavaskar. Papa Gavaskar had an immensely lesser talented 'Son'. Poor 'Cheeka' too is facing a similar problem. His 'Baby' Anirudha Srikanth just can't fit in to Papa's big boots.
Sunny's Sonny at least managed to play a few ODIs for India as an 'All-rounder' during the days of recession. So only way Papa Srikkanth can fulfill his dream of watching his boy play for India is by pushing him hard; as hard as possible. So this chap gets to play for Zonal team in spite of South Zone team having at least a dozen better equipped players. This is what I meant by the Sri-Can't Factor! Till now, it has been Sri-Can! Hope Papa will not succeed in pushing his Boy all the way into Indian Team. India might then lose to Bangladesh, Bermuda and even Antarctica!
There was a major blunder in my earlier post, 'The Nagpur Disaster and the Kolkotta Prayer". It was a misconception that Wridhiman Saha was selected for the Nagpur squad as a 'Reservation Candidate' to placate the East-Lobby. This was not true. He was accommodated just to facilitate Dinesh Karthik's inclusion in the South Zone team in the Duleep Trophy Final versus West Zone.
Cheeka wanted a Captain pliable to his whims and one who will play Anirudha in the team, even if it meant dropping some really good player. Karthik has got his reward and he is back in the team for the Kolkotta Test. Ironically, it is Kolkotta's own Saha who gets the boot! And that too after a pretty good show in the India second innings at Nagpur.
With Abhimanyu Mithun, Murali Vijay and Badrinath missing out, the Selectors, lead by Srikkanth thought it would be wise to have Karthik in SZ team. Anyway they expected VVS to recover in time. If he didn't recover, they had another favorite Rohit 'My Name is Sharma' in the squad. With Skipper Dhoni donning the keepr's gloves as well, there was no place for Karthik in the playing 11. So poor Saha was brought in. This shocked not only the Cricket crazy people of India but even Saha himself was stunned!
Now, the disaster is over. Finally Dhoni has lost his first test as Captain. Bhajji is rightly getting brickbats. Srisanth is back and Ishant Sharma retains his place. He will play till eternity in spite of non-performance. Poor Saha has got the 'Axe Effect'.
But what is sad is the sacking of Abhimanyu Mithun. What was the criterion for dropping him? What makes the Selectors to repose so much faith in Ishant? Only time will answer these questions. If, he was allowed to play the Duleep Trophy final like Karthik; South would have lifted the Trophy, perhaps!
So now, all that had to go wrong has done so. India have lost a test after a long time. The situation is so bad; it can't get any worse! I have a strong feeling... Team India will bounce back in style at Kolkotta!
Hope I will be proved right for the sake of Cricket and for the sake of India! For as an Indian, I believe in only one religion; Cricket! And India is the Temple of Cricket!!! So now let's all hope 'Our Gods' will deliver when it matters!
And then... It should be... All izz Well !
Krishnamachari Srikkanth was known and admired for his fearless stroke-play and his successful opening partnership with 'Sunny' Gavaskar. Papa Gavaskar had an immensely lesser talented 'Son'. Poor 'Cheeka' too is facing a similar problem. His 'Baby' Anirudha Srikanth just can't fit in to Papa's big boots.
Sunny's Sonny at least managed to play a few ODIs for India as an 'All-rounder' during the days of recession. So only way Papa Srikkanth can fulfill his dream of watching his boy play for India is by pushing him hard; as hard as possible. So this chap gets to play for Zonal team in spite of South Zone team having at least a dozen better equipped players. This is what I meant by the Sri-Can't Factor! Till now, it has been Sri-Can! Hope Papa will not succeed in pushing his Boy all the way into Indian Team. India might then lose to Bangladesh, Bermuda and even Antarctica!
There was a major blunder in my earlier post, 'The Nagpur Disaster and the Kolkotta Prayer". It was a misconception that Wridhiman Saha was selected for the Nagpur squad as a 'Reservation Candidate' to placate the East-Lobby. This was not true. He was accommodated just to facilitate Dinesh Karthik's inclusion in the South Zone team in the Duleep Trophy Final versus West Zone.
Cheeka wanted a Captain pliable to his whims and one who will play Anirudha in the team, even if it meant dropping some really good player. Karthik has got his reward and he is back in the team for the Kolkotta Test. Ironically, it is Kolkotta's own Saha who gets the boot! And that too after a pretty good show in the India second innings at Nagpur.
With Abhimanyu Mithun, Murali Vijay and Badrinath missing out, the Selectors, lead by Srikkanth thought it would be wise to have Karthik in SZ team. Anyway they expected VVS to recover in time. If he didn't recover, they had another favorite Rohit 'My Name is Sharma' in the squad. With Skipper Dhoni donning the keepr's gloves as well, there was no place for Karthik in the playing 11. So poor Saha was brought in. This shocked not only the Cricket crazy people of India but even Saha himself was stunned!
Now, the disaster is over. Finally Dhoni has lost his first test as Captain. Bhajji is rightly getting brickbats. Srisanth is back and Ishant Sharma retains his place. He will play till eternity in spite of non-performance. Poor Saha has got the 'Axe Effect'.
But what is sad is the sacking of Abhimanyu Mithun. What was the criterion for dropping him? What makes the Selectors to repose so much faith in Ishant? Only time will answer these questions. If, he was allowed to play the Duleep Trophy final like Karthik; South would have lifted the Trophy, perhaps!
So now, all that had to go wrong has done so. India have lost a test after a long time. The situation is so bad; it can't get any worse! I have a strong feeling... Team India will bounce back in style at Kolkotta!
Hope I will be proved right for the sake of Cricket and for the sake of India! For as an Indian, I believe in only one religion; Cricket! And India is the Temple of Cricket!!! So now let's all hope 'Our Gods' will deliver when it matters!
And then... It should be... All izz Well !
The Nagpur Disaster and the Kolkotta Prayer !
Monday, 8 February 2010
The Lady Fortune has decided enough is enough with the people blaming her for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's amazing story of success and his unbeaten run in Test Cricket. She has even stated so in her Facebook status. So finally MS is "Staring at 'Jaws' of Defeat" for the first time in two years. Why, it will be his first ever test defeat as a Captain! The "Writing was on the Wall"
Dhoni's detractors are already pouncing on him for a potential defeat. They even want him to be replaced with Sehwag as Captain. Ridiculous! I for one would not blame Dhoni or Team India as a whole. After all they haven't lost a Test in 2 years. During this period, they have played Australia at home, New Zealand away, England and Sri Lanka at home and even beaten Bangladesh Tigers in their own den! So what happened at Nagpur? What went wrong? Let us see...
1] Law of Averages: Gautham Gambhir has been playing so well and so consistently for almost 2 years now. He had to fail sometime. And the Lady Fortune has willed it this way! As I am wring this, he has got out for the second time in a single day!
2] Wall-less Fortress: Shahadat and his 'Wall Breaking' effort couldn't save Bangladesh from a 2-0 defeat. But it sure gave South Africa a much vulnerable Indian middle order to bowl at. Why is Dravid so special? Answer: Go back to the Sri Lanka - India first test and we have the answer!
3] 'Very Very Sad' Injury: VVS Laxman's injury he picked up trying to catch a ball he was destined to drop. He dropped everything on that unfortunate day and all he managed to catch were 9 stitches. The No. 5 or 6 batting order when he isn't around look like 8 or 9.
4] Bajji on the Beach: Harbhajan deserves to be on the 'Beach' rather than on a 'Pitch' these days. He needs a break and needs to get his basics right. And to make matters worse, one 'Jumbo' of a performer called Anil Kumble isn't around to create the pressure which got Bhajji many of his wickets!
5] Spin Doctors can't spin: The Limited Choice between two Limited Overs Bowlers in Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra! These guys can get you wickets and score runs against Bangladesh. But against tougher opponents, you need tougher players. Unfortunately our 'Spin Doctors' can't spin and are not the remedy for the underlying malady of an empty cupboard!
6] The Curious case of Ishant Sharma: This applies more or less to most of the 'Fast Bowlers' in India! Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Ashish Nehra, S. Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma and a host of our 'Fast Bowlers' made their entry with a bang. And then they fail to sustain the momentum. The reasons could be many; injuries, early exposure to name, fame and Stardom and most importantly a serious lack of vision at the top of our Cricket Establishment! More on that some time in future.
7] The One Man Bowling Army: Zaheer Khan has been India's ONLY bowler of International Caliber in Test Cricket since Kumble called it a day. Occasional glimpses of brilliance don't make a Champion Bowler and so we are again a 'One Man Bowling Army'.
8] My Name is Sharma: And pray what is a proven International Failure called Rohit Sharma doing as a replacement to VVS Laxman? Is it the Surname? Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma seem to be absolute 'Blue Eyed Boys' of our Cricket establishment these days! Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Cheteshwar Pujara and a million players with much better technique and records are left behind to accommodate Rohit... He can't HIT and got injured paving way for... Disaster No: 9!
9] The Sri-can't Factor: When we see a certain S. Anirudha getting selected to South Zone team in spite of there being almost a dozen better performers, we know something is rotting there. Papa Srikkanth can't be a 'Good Selector'. His preference to a 'Reservation Candidate' Wridhiman Saha to please the East lobby meant we have a Dinesh Karthik hitting two tons in a match against West Zone and the clueless Saha making an undeserving Test Debut as a 'Sitting Duck'!
10] With all these factors working in favor, South Africa didn't need any more luck. But then 'The God' decides to fail in Nagpur for a change and keep intact his vastly poor record against Proteas intact!
So what next...?
11] Wall Izz Well: Keep your right hand on the heart and pray like Aamir Khan and Co in '3 Idiots'... Wall is Well, Wall is Well :-) Let us all pray for this! By the time we move to Kolkotta, the Wall has to be better and back! Else, it could be the first ever 2-0 Defeat for India on home soil in a long long time!
The Lady Fortune has decided enough is enough with the people blaming her for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's amazing story of success and his unbeaten run in Test Cricket. She has even stated so in her Facebook status. So finally MS is "Staring at 'Jaws' of Defeat" for the first time in two years. Why, it will be his first ever test defeat as a Captain! The "Writing was on the Wall"
Dhoni's detractors are already pouncing on him for a potential defeat. They even want him to be replaced with Sehwag as Captain. Ridiculous! I for one would not blame Dhoni or Team India as a whole. After all they haven't lost a Test in 2 years. During this period, they have played Australia at home, New Zealand away, England and Sri Lanka at home and even beaten Bangladesh Tigers in their own den! So what happened at Nagpur? What went wrong? Let us see...
1] Law of Averages: Gautham Gambhir has been playing so well and so consistently for almost 2 years now. He had to fail sometime. And the Lady Fortune has willed it this way! As I am wring this, he has got out for the second time in a single day!
2] Wall-less Fortress: Shahadat and his 'Wall Breaking' effort couldn't save Bangladesh from a 2-0 defeat. But it sure gave South Africa a much vulnerable Indian middle order to bowl at. Why is Dravid so special? Answer: Go back to the Sri Lanka - India first test and we have the answer!
3] 'Very Very Sad' Injury: VVS Laxman's injury he picked up trying to catch a ball he was destined to drop. He dropped everything on that unfortunate day and all he managed to catch were 9 stitches. The No. 5 or 6 batting order when he isn't around look like 8 or 9.
4] Bajji on the Beach: Harbhajan deserves to be on the 'Beach' rather than on a 'Pitch' these days. He needs a break and needs to get his basics right. And to make matters worse, one 'Jumbo' of a performer called Anil Kumble isn't around to create the pressure which got Bhajji many of his wickets!
5] Spin Doctors can't spin: The Limited Choice between two Limited Overs Bowlers in Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra! These guys can get you wickets and score runs against Bangladesh. But against tougher opponents, you need tougher players. Unfortunately our 'Spin Doctors' can't spin and are not the remedy for the underlying malady of an empty cupboard!
6] The Curious case of Ishant Sharma: This applies more or less to most of the 'Fast Bowlers' in India! Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Ashish Nehra, S. Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma and a host of our 'Fast Bowlers' made their entry with a bang. And then they fail to sustain the momentum. The reasons could be many; injuries, early exposure to name, fame and Stardom and most importantly a serious lack of vision at the top of our Cricket Establishment! More on that some time in future.
7] The One Man Bowling Army: Zaheer Khan has been India's ONLY bowler of International Caliber in Test Cricket since Kumble called it a day. Occasional glimpses of brilliance don't make a Champion Bowler and so we are again a 'One Man Bowling Army'.
8] My Name is Sharma: And pray what is a proven International Failure called Rohit Sharma doing as a replacement to VVS Laxman? Is it the Surname? Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma seem to be absolute 'Blue Eyed Boys' of our Cricket establishment these days! Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Cheteshwar Pujara and a million players with much better technique and records are left behind to accommodate Rohit... He can't HIT and got injured paving way for... Disaster No: 9!
9] The Sri-can't Factor: When we see a certain S. Anirudha getting selected to South Zone team in spite of there being almost a dozen better performers, we know something is rotting there. Papa Srikkanth can't be a 'Good Selector'. His preference to a 'Reservation Candidate' Wridhiman Saha to please the East lobby meant we have a Dinesh Karthik hitting two tons in a match against West Zone and the clueless Saha making an undeserving Test Debut as a 'Sitting Duck'!
10] With all these factors working in favor, South Africa didn't need any more luck. But then 'The God' decides to fail in Nagpur for a change and keep intact his vastly poor record against Proteas intact!
So what next...?
11] Wall Izz Well: Keep your right hand on the heart and pray like Aamir Khan and Co in '3 Idiots'... Wall is Well, Wall is Well :-) Let us all pray for this! By the time we move to Kolkotta, the Wall has to be better and back! Else, it could be the first ever 2-0 Defeat for India on home soil in a long long time!
The Phenomenon called Sehwagging !
Monday, 18 January 2010
An enormous amount of stuff has been written about Virendar Sehwag. When Rahul Dravid and later Kumble backed him for a place in the team in spite of poor form, a majority of people wanted him to be thrown out. But RD and AK knew what they were doing.
After all, we see Sehwag only on TV or only when he gets out to those stupid looking shots when the opposition is at his mercy. But the team-mates and especially the Captains know what they will be missing when Viru isn't playing.
Rahul Dravid once famously told him, "What do you plan to do in the dressing room after getting out? You are seeing the ball well, hitting it rather well and are trying to get out on a pitch like this? You will not be feeling nice when you sit there and others will come and make merry". They went on to add 400+ for the Opening wicket!
Sehwag is a rather simple guy. He once claimed, "I want to score the first 200 in ODIs". Since then he was struggling in ODIs, in spite of very decent form in tests. Wasim Akram then had quipped, "Why does he talk like this? He is putting unnecessary pressure on himself. He should stop talking and start concentrating on his batting"
Even today, Sehwag has a problem in ODIs. At the rate he scores his runs in tests, he becomes a big advantage to the team every time he bats for at least a session. But in T-20 and ODIs, we have seen him get out trying to manufacture shots. Why? A man capable of scoring nearly 300 runs in a day's play in test Cricket, can't duplicate the same kind of success in the shorter version.
In any form of Cricket, I don't remember seeing Sehwag struggling for runs and get out say for 3 runs of 28 balls or 7 runs of 49 balls. It has always been 16 of 14 or 27 of 18. That means just one thing, Sehwag more often than not, gets himself out. But why?
The answer is simple. He never bothers about the score or the score board or even the situation. Else he won't be reaching his 300 with a six. It was only when Greg Chappelle started to put a lot of pressure on him that he started floundering. Once Chappelle was out, Veeru was back to his own ways.
Dhoni too had a few problems with Veeru and actually preferred Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina over Sehwag during the T-20 World Cup in 2007. Things worked out rather well for Dhoni at that juncture. But Viru has come back strongly and stamped his authority and is a 'Must' player in all 3 forms of the game today.
It is preposterous of anyone to suggest to Sehwag how he should bat. If we accept his methods when he scores almost 300 in a day's play, we should learn to accept his 16 runs of 14 balls too. Nobody should try to change the way he thinks, the way he talks or the way he bats. Simply because, he is a 'Natural' that way. Let him be!
I remember one story from the Adelaide Test in 2003. Chasing 230 odd to win the test, Veeru and Akash Chopra came to bat on the final day. Adam Gilchrist wanted to intimidate the Indian batsmen. So he went and started staring at a rough patch on the pitch just outside the off-stump of the right-handers. And he started to look at Chopra and Veeru and again started to mumble something to himself. Chopra chose to ignore it. But when Gilly was at it again after the first over, Veeru walked towards Gilly and asked him, "Are you planning to dig a well here?". Gilly was thrashed through the point!
The second incident happened when he made his first triple century in Pakistan. After being driven through the off side throughout the day, Shoib Aqthar started bowling short to him repeatedly. And he started taunting Viru to 'Hook' him. When it reached beyond tolerable limits, Viru shot back, 'Tum bowling kar rahe ho, ya bheek maang rahe ho?' [Are you bowling or begging?]. Just like his straight drive over the bowler's head!
Another comment of Viru was during that 400+ partnership with Rahul Dravid. When asked about how did he feel about being on the verge of breaking Vinu Mankad and Pankaj Roy's partnership, Viru told, "I don't know anything about them or the record". Typical Sehwag slice over the third-man!
That is Virendar Sehwag phenomenon for all of us; Natural, Spontaneous and Absolutely Straight Forward over the 'Point'! And what will we call this Phenomenon? Sehwagging is the word !
An enormous amount of stuff has been written about Virendar Sehwag. When Rahul Dravid and later Kumble backed him for a place in the team in spite of poor form, a majority of people wanted him to be thrown out. But RD and AK knew what they were doing.
After all, we see Sehwag only on TV or only when he gets out to those stupid looking shots when the opposition is at his mercy. But the team-mates and especially the Captains know what they will be missing when Viru isn't playing.
Rahul Dravid once famously told him, "What do you plan to do in the dressing room after getting out? You are seeing the ball well, hitting it rather well and are trying to get out on a pitch like this? You will not be feeling nice when you sit there and others will come and make merry". They went on to add 400+ for the Opening wicket!
Sehwag is a rather simple guy. He once claimed, "I want to score the first 200 in ODIs". Since then he was struggling in ODIs, in spite of very decent form in tests. Wasim Akram then had quipped, "Why does he talk like this? He is putting unnecessary pressure on himself. He should stop talking and start concentrating on his batting"
Even today, Sehwag has a problem in ODIs. At the rate he scores his runs in tests, he becomes a big advantage to the team every time he bats for at least a session. But in T-20 and ODIs, we have seen him get out trying to manufacture shots. Why? A man capable of scoring nearly 300 runs in a day's play in test Cricket, can't duplicate the same kind of success in the shorter version.
In any form of Cricket, I don't remember seeing Sehwag struggling for runs and get out say for 3 runs of 28 balls or 7 runs of 49 balls. It has always been 16 of 14 or 27 of 18. That means just one thing, Sehwag more often than not, gets himself out. But why?
The answer is simple. He never bothers about the score or the score board or even the situation. Else he won't be reaching his 300 with a six. It was only when Greg Chappelle started to put a lot of pressure on him that he started floundering. Once Chappelle was out, Veeru was back to his own ways.
Dhoni too had a few problems with Veeru and actually preferred Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina over Sehwag during the T-20 World Cup in 2007. Things worked out rather well for Dhoni at that juncture. But Viru has come back strongly and stamped his authority and is a 'Must' player in all 3 forms of the game today.
It is preposterous of anyone to suggest to Sehwag how he should bat. If we accept his methods when he scores almost 300 in a day's play, we should learn to accept his 16 runs of 14 balls too. Nobody should try to change the way he thinks, the way he talks or the way he bats. Simply because, he is a 'Natural' that way. Let him be!
I remember one story from the Adelaide Test in 2003. Chasing 230 odd to win the test, Veeru and Akash Chopra came to bat on the final day. Adam Gilchrist wanted to intimidate the Indian batsmen. So he went and started staring at a rough patch on the pitch just outside the off-stump of the right-handers. And he started to look at Chopra and Veeru and again started to mumble something to himself. Chopra chose to ignore it. But when Gilly was at it again after the first over, Veeru walked towards Gilly and asked him, "Are you planning to dig a well here?". Gilly was thrashed through the point!
The second incident happened when he made his first triple century in Pakistan. After being driven through the off side throughout the day, Shoib Aqthar started bowling short to him repeatedly. And he started taunting Viru to 'Hook' him. When it reached beyond tolerable limits, Viru shot back, 'Tum bowling kar rahe ho, ya bheek maang rahe ho?' [Are you bowling or begging?]. Just like his straight drive over the bowler's head!
Another comment of Viru was during that 400+ partnership with Rahul Dravid. When asked about how did he feel about being on the verge of breaking Vinu Mankad and Pankaj Roy's partnership, Viru told, "I don't know anything about them or the record". Typical Sehwag slice over the third-man!
That is Virendar Sehwag phenomenon for all of us; Natural, Spontaneous and Absolutely Straight Forward over the 'Point'! And what will we call this Phenomenon? Sehwagging is the word !
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