Cricket is a Craze as well as a Passion in India. In fact it is a Religion in itself for us! Nothing enthuses and unites people like this game! This is my attempt to organize my thoughts about the game I have come to love ever since I remember. The view point of a Doctor who loves to Live, Love and Laugh!
Pitch playing a ripper and Sreesanth bowling almost underground.
4 down for 2 in the second over and later 35 for 3 in the seventh.
7 team-mates scored 61 runs of 75 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.
Take out 33 from 20 by Pathan and Britt during slog and it becomes 28 from 55 balls.
The ball managed to cross the ropes only twice from the other end when he batted.
All other batsmen together managed 9 fours and 5 sixes of 188 balls scoring 173 runs.
He got out at his team score of 132 but not before making 80 runs of 47 balls.
5 scintillating sixes and 8 fabulous fours at a strike rate of 170 [10 RPO].
People might say a lot of things. They might talk about Valthaty and Gayle.
Kohli holds the orange cap. Sachin the most consistent. Many have fired.
Rohit has played well too and David Hussey hit the longest six so far.
He was honest and accepted his team was suffering because he had failed to fire.
And in spite of a bad shoulder and a worse pitch, he needed to fire !
Delhi languishing at the bottom of the table needed the Captain for resurrection.
Harsha Bhogle tweeted Yuveraj and Sehwag are better India players than IPL players.
He was right. Well, mostly. Somehow Sehwag prefers the bigger stage to ignite.
The partisan crowd at Kochi didn't realize how fortunate they were today.
They have witnessed one of the rarest of the rare Gems today on a tough pitch.
In conditions like this where their own team has lost 20 wickets for a total of 187 runs...
Resurrection Man !
And the de facto Fact - QED:
Virendar Sehwag's 80 today is easily 'The Best' IPL knock I have seen so far !
I rest my case !
SPun Doctor
Also blogs @ http://diehardcricketfans.org/category/contributed/govind-raj-shenoy/
IPL has thrown up some surprises. Some players whom I have disliked all along have done well. Some whom I have hyped up haven't. And some whom I have waited for have done well too. And thankfully, the new teams aren't door mats. Let us take a look at Indian players @ IPL 2011 chapter.
Of the lesser known faces, Abu Nechim looked good when he got a chance. Ambati Rayudu has been fantastic. Paul Valthaty is Revelation and Revolution put together. He is the 'Item Number' of IPL-4. Harmeet Singh Bansal got slower but also got Sehwag. Vinay Kumar has never looked better.
Bharat Chipli is another surprise package. Venugopal Rao is a blooming, but perhaps a tad too late for a total recall. Dinesh Karthik is not the same Boss DK he was a year ago. Abhishek Nayar too has slipped down the ladder.
Murali Vijay and Badrinath have played well, but nothing exceptional. Shikar Dhawan has been a total disaster. Naman Ojha is missing Warne. Che Pujara hasn't got the chances to bat higher. Saurabh Tiwari has been too tame. Anirudha Srikkanth has shown more maturity than his father.
Dravid and Laxman have batted well, but ! Mohammed Kaif hasn't got a look in. Akash Chopra is a very good blogger today. Wridhiman Saha is in a team whose Captain's name is M. S. Dhoni. Ajit Agarkar will retire after this season.
Dinda has bowled no-balls and bad balls and wants to believe he is India's answer to Malinga. That he is NOT. Irfan Pathan has done precious little. Jakati is not the same bowler he was in IPL-2010. Gony is more of agony and Sreesanth is Freesanth.
Murali Karthik is toiling gamely, but selectors are not looking back. Sidharth Trivedi has blown hot and blown cold. Abhimanyu Mithun has been blown away. Umesh yadav wants to play tests. But where is he ? Why aren't Rajastan trying Deepak Chahar ? And where is Kamran Khan ?
Sarabjit Ladda looks good and then looks bad. What is Asad Pathan ? A Bowler who can bat or a Batsman who can bowl ? Too many Pathans, too little Pathaning !
Rohit Sharma is maintaining the Legend of Rohit Sharma. I watched live, Raveendra Jadeja slam two huge sixes against CSK. Robin Uthappa has played his customary big shots. Balaji looks fabulous with slower ones but perhaps Vinay Kumar is a better package.
Yusuf Pathan has bowled better and flattered to deceive with the bat. Thankfully Piyush Chawla will not be in contention; Jadeja demolished him. Pragyan Ojha looks pale and Amit Mishra just about hale.
Manoj Tiwari has missed out on scaling the next level twice this time. Good, yet not as good as say, Rayudu, Valthaty or Uthappa. Everyone is busy talking about Poonam Pandey. Does anyone remember the first Indian to score an IPL century ?
Manish Pandey
Sehwag should have had shoulder surgery NOW. He is MESSING up the IPL and will be MISSING the West Indies and England tours. Too bad. Sachin is Sachin, Thank You Sachin.
Yuvi the Captain isn't as great as Yuvi the match winner. Bhajji is looking as ordinary as he has been for past 3 years. Zaheer needs rest. Gambhir can make an ordinary team with Kallis, Lee, Morgan, Shakib, Yusuf and Gambhir.
It is believed Dhoni, Sachin, Sehwag, Bhajji and Zaheer would like to be rested. Nehra is yet to recover from injury. Will he be ready for the West Indies ?
Though Dhoni has maintained that IPL should not be the criteria for India selection, we can't altogether ignore the greatest Glicket show on earth.
So here is my ODI Team for the West Indies Tour ! This is open for updating as the IPL progresses.
1] Gautam Gambhir [Captain - He should OPEN or should not play]
2] Paul Valthaty [Why not ? It is time to see if he is good at the next level]
3] Virat Kohli [Obvious choice. There isn't a better No. 3 right now]
4] Yuveraj Singh [Rested enough and rusted enough. He needs to be playing]
5] Suresh Raina [He too has to be there too]
6] Robin Uthappa [He deserves a chance. Second Wicket Keeper]
7] Yusuf Pathan [Poor IPL batting form. But he deserves at least 1 full series]
8] Parthiv Patel [The Wicket Keeper. Has batted usefully]
9] Ishant Sharma [He has been good so far. He is Future !]
10] Munaf Patel [In spite of my dislike, he is in because he is IN]
11] Ravindra Jadeja [Well, he has come back in a BIG way]
12] R. Ashwin [He is our strongest Spinner in shorter formats]
13] R. P. Singh [Scratchy. But a little support and he can be R. P. Swing !]
14] Vinay Kumar [Absolute guts and hard work. Deserves to be there]
15] Ashish Nehra / Praveen Kumar [One of them needed for the experience]
Unless someone from this list plays really badly or someone else plays really exceptionally, this could be the team. Rayudu, Rohit, Balaji and Vijay can consider themselves unlucky to miss the flight. But then we have a pretty good Bench Strength. We can afford to waste a few talents. Even Greg Chappell believes so !
SPun Doctor
Also blogs @ http://diehardcricketfans.org/category/contributed/govind-raj-shenoy/
Attention Please: I am not responsible for the length of this post; the 28 years wait is. That is exactly 70% of the time I have spent on this planet. So those who wish to embark upon this journey are advised to exercise enormous patience. I sincerely believe it is a journey worth and would love it if some of you think so too. Kindly express your reaction. Like it or not, let me know it. Thanks for taking the plunge !
Most of us Indians, especially those who have seen and lived 25 June 1983 have been living to see, savor and attain salvation with an encore ! I can't talk about those who have only heard of this day. Because 2 April 2011 must be a 'This is it' for them like 25 June 1983 was for us.
And then it happened !
DLF-IPL has come too soon for the 'Real Thing' to sink in. But it has finally sunk in. Having been negative throughout Team India's campaign, I am the happiest earthling today. So happy, I have even decided to spend my hard-earned money to watch Sreesanth play for Kochi Tuskers. Why, I have decided to tolerate Sidhu and forgive Dean Jones. Winners have Responsibility !
Looking back at the victory celebrations and the players reactions, I caught hold of a small piece of statement by Viru Sehwag. He said, "We have been planning about how to play the final ever since we played a final in Sri Lanka about a year ago".
Perhaps the journey started a lot earlier in 2008. Perhaps it was the Sydney Test that gave us the momentum and then this moment. But like Viru said, the actual preparation began in Sri Lanka.
Let me deconstruct the journey in a lazy manner. Chronology is not one of my strengths. So if it looks haphazard, it should be forgiven. Because this is one journey and one destination we will savor all our breathing moments.
The Road to Victory; How was it Constructed !
Summer of 2010: Yuveraj Singh loses Punjab Captaincy to Sangakkara and goes into sulking. His runs recede but the waist-line doesn't.
July 2010: Suresh Raina makes a fabulous Test Debut and nudges Yuveraj Singh out of the Test Team.
November 2010: Yuveraj's place in ODI Team too is jeopardized. Yuveraj Singh written off !
All through 2010: Virat Kohli almost seals the No. 3 / 4 position with very mature performances and centuries during one chase after another.
Throughout 2010: Gautam Gambhir struggles with niggles and then wriggles out at the fag end with a Captain's show against Kiwis.
Most Important: Selectors finally decide to 'rest' His Highness Ravindra Jadeja and bring in Yusuf Pathan. We will know why the story would not have been so big without the big man !
Second half of 2010: Sachin Tendulkar, Virendar Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra take turns to get injured and be rested.
November 2010: Dhoni has taken enough battering in his hands and decides to rest and lets Gambhir make a come-back.
December 2010: Yusuf Pathan wins a match that was almost lost before the rains intervened. His hitting was so sensational, the seventh batsman theory was refurbished and buttressed.
January 2011: Suresh Raina progressively develops feet of clay and an acute shortness against short balls. He loses his Test spot to Che and ODI spot to Virat / Yusuf.
January 2011: Yuveraj struggles but does better than Raina and Gambhir's Test form saves him for the big show.
January 2011: Munaf Patel snatches 4 wickets and a Man of the Match award from nowhere and elbows Sreesanth from contention.
January 2011: Rohit Sharma and Murali Vijay disqualify themselves from World Cup berths even as Yusuf comes into the BIG picture.
17 January 2011: Indian Team declared. Sreesanth out and Piyush Chawla in. I was vociferous in criticizing this. Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Zaheer, Bhajji, Praveen Kumar, Yuveraj and Nehra selected but still in different wards in different hospitals.
23 January 2011: Yusuf Pathan blasts a match winning 60 and then an incredible Century against South Africa even though India fail to win the ODI series. He then goes on to declare, "I can win matches from any position".
February 2011: Noise worth 2389 Billion GB created over the World Wide Web debating the Raina vs Yusuf vs Gambhir vs Virat. My contribution: 3.4 GB.
February 2011: Everyone is fit for the Cup except 'Pehelwan'. Praveen Kumar calls Dhoni the 'Obama of Cricket' [How Prophetic !] and then picks up what turned out to be the costliest injury in the history of Cricket. Hence Sreesanth makes a back door entry. Dhoni declares Sreesanth has to irritate opponents and not his own team-mates.
13 February 2011: Piyush Chawla replaces Jadeja as the 'Latest Blue Eyed Boy' of Indian Cricket. Dhoni roots for 'The Leg Spinner' who brings in the variety. He has quite a lot of variety. The full toss, the long hop, the short one, the sitting duck and the dead duck balls. Chawla ambushes Australia in a low scoring match on a lower bouncing pitch at Bengaluru during warm up game.
16 February 2011: India warm up further and thrash New Zealand at Chennai as Dhoni cuts loose.
17 February 2011: Sehwag declares 'War' and wants to draw first blood against Bangladesh. He also wants to bat all 50 overs.
19 February 2011: Tiger Tamed: Sehwagging continues till the 48th over as India manage to extract revenge. Sreesanth slaughtered for pace and Munaf cons with his lack of that.
27 February 2011: Poms Tied: After loitering around for over a week, India cross the Poms. Each team plays worse than the other and they are tied ! Chawla goes for plenty and Dhoni defends him. Sachin fires and Munaf misfires. Zaheer Khan unveils the knuckle ball.
6 March 2011: Irish Delight: India play like MINNOWS against minnows and beat Ireland without hurting them. Chawla again goes for runs in his last spell. Yuveraj Singh gaining in confidence.
9 March 2011: Go Dutch with Dignity: Netherlands too treated with extreme respect as India first create mayhem and then a mini panic and then allow Yuveraj Singh to regain form, fitness and faith. Pathan promoted by Dhoni and demoted by himself.
12 March 2011: Spring of the Springboks: India blast Saffers for the 40 overs then Smith uses Steyn remover to wipe the rest of the batting. Sachin fires again and this time, Nehra misfires. Saffers canter home by 3 wickets.
20 March 2011: Yuvi Revival in Caribbean Carnival: Ravi Rampaul gets Sachin early but the rejuvenation of Yuveraj Singh is complete. Zaheer knuckles another left-hander and the West Indies tail outdoes Indian tail in the business of collapsing. India through to knock outs and the mighty Bangladesh knocked out.
Throughout March 2011: From Dean Jones to sundries to Spun Doctor have written Team India off. Everyone has their reasons and Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra and Piyush Chawla were in everyone's lest.
Knock Outs and the 3 M Connection !
One of my superstitious friends had told me 'B' for Bengaluru wasn't all that lucky for India. 'N' for Nagpur too was not. But 'M' was going to be the lucky letter. Starting the journey at Mirpur, he predicted Matera, Mohali and Mumbai would win India the Cup. I scoffed at this. This was one more addition to many of those coincidence based predictions of fellow Blogger Shridhar Jaju.
24 March 2011: Matera Matters: Yuvi again showed he means business with the ball. In front of an appreciative Narendra Modi, Sachin began the chase well. Gambhir cemented and then ran out of ideas. Yuvi and Raina proved their mettle in a tense chase and Raina exorcised the 'Short Ball Ghost' with a massive one of Lee. Lee injured himself and Yuvi celebrated the most pent up celebration witnessed in our lifetime. And Ponting still being Ponting, walked into World Cup Sunset with a Century !
30 March 2011: Diwali in Mohali: Viru began with fireworks on Gul and won the first round of nerves. Sachin has never been dropped as many times in a 5 Test Series. He showed how the 'Ghost of Saqlain Mushtaq' still haunts him with his vulnerability against 'Doosra'. India started as if they'd score 400. Then looked as if they'd not even reach 250 and then Raina plays another cameo to take them to 260.
Hafeez thought they could overhaul it. Umar Akmal wanted to finish it before 40 overs. But Bhajji accounted for him and Afridi's last wicket in this Cup was that of Afridi himself. Munaf Patel bowled his best ball of the Cup to Razack and Ashish Nehra salvaged himself with his last spell of 2-0-3-2. India cantered home in spite of late assault by Misbah which turned out to be too late !
1 April 2011: 6 World Cup winning Captains together; What an Idea Sirji: Lloyd believed Dhoni the Captain was too good. Kapil Dev said the team that played well would win, so did Ranatunga; Politically correct chaps. Border believed India will be easy meat for Lankan Lions. Waugh too felt Lanka would win. Imran Khan thought with the win against Australia and Pakistan, India would be the team to beat. All fools day, who would be a fool and who would be cool the next evening ? Suspense !
2 April 2011: MumbaiMeri Jaan: Sreesanth playing ahead of Ashwin left every Indian dumb. Sanga won a cunning toss and was smarter only till the first ball bowled by Zaheer Khan. The first spell by Zaheer was one of the finest and was ably supported by Munaf. Indian fielding was at its best as even Sreesanth hurled himself in the deep to save 2 runs. Sri Lanka scored big in the slog and left India with the highest total to be chased in a World Cup Final.
Slinga was point blank with Viru and Sachin was snared in no time and a lot of TV sets in India were switched off and there was a late rush for movie tickets. Gambhir and Virat played some of the most sensible Cricket seen in this cup. Virat fell for a Dilshan blinder. Stage set for Yuveraj, the man of the season for India to come and save India. As India waited with bated breath in walked the hitherto out of form Captain.
What happened from here is part of modern day Folklore and Legend. We don't have to repeat it here. It will be visited, revisited, collected, recollected, lived and relived millions of times in our life time !
This ends the Story: The Road to Victory; How was it Constructed ! Everyone knows this. It ain't big deal telling what happened only 2 weeks ago. That wasn't my endeavor. The story had to be told because our job is to deconstruct the story. And that is what we are going to unfurl from here.
Everything was planned; Road to Victory Deconstructed !
When Viru said the planning began one year ago in Sri Lanka, they had expected the Lankans to be there in the finals. And thus the planning began there.
Even as every Arm-chair Critic, self-proclaimed expert and International Stars went on denouncing Team India and their chances, Dhoni and his men went about their business as if they had heard nothing. There was something almost obstinate about them. It only unfolds now: Everything was planned, EVERYTHING !
They played so much Cricket with the Lions, almost everyone got sick of it, including the Lankans. This exactly is what they wanted.
India gave wickets to Suraj Randiv and shared the ODI series Finals with the Lions. India wanted him in Mumbai / Mohali / Matera ahead of Mendes.
Yuvi dropped and humiliated. India knew well, after what he did to England after Flintoff in 2007 T-20 World Cup; no opposition would dare to arouse the sleep-walking Giant. To get him fired and pumped up, we had to do the due !
Raina short-listed and then short-charged. It was all a ploy again. A ploy to confuse opposition bowlers. They fell hook, line and length to bowl short at him when it mattered. In the interim, he had 'pulled' new trick out of the hat.
Sehwag threatened to bat all 50 overs and almost did against Bangladesh. Every opponent concentrated on Viru and actually allowed Virat, Gautam and Yuvi to relax.
Sachin could not be planned unless you have a genuine 'Doosra'. He played along merrily.
India gave so much respect to the minnows, everyone believed this team can be beaten easily. Fool them all !
India shared honors with England just to keep the Poms happy. And also to introduce the 'knuckle ball'. Zaheer created the fear in the minds of left hand batters.
Indian middle order collapsed and collapsed and the tail never wagged. Get Viru and Sachin and they will collapse is what the opponents thought. Again misleading. Virat batted as if he never existed. Gambhir batted without anyone noticing till he ran himself out. Yuvi made chasing under pressure his forte.
Pathan wasn't winning matches from any positions. He bowled more during slog overs than bat. He was then dropped to bring in Raina during knock outs. It worked like dream for India.
Bhajji looked so tame all through first round and Munaf Patel never once threatened to take an important wicket. Against Pakistan, as they concentrated on Zaheer, Bhajji knocked Uakmal with a beauty and Munaf unleashed a beast to snare Razack.
Sreesanth and Chawla made Indian bowling look so ordinary that even Boycott's mother wanted to play for England. At the rate their players were getting injured, she had some realistic chances.
Somehow history shows us that India have to lose once to an Opponent to win a Final against them. If you win a group match, you get knocked out in knock outs. Else you have to tie to win. So they tied against Poms and lost to Saffers, their realistic Semi Final or Final opponents from their own group. Very smart. But we only know it now.
Ashish Nehra created enormous over-confidence in the minds of Pakistan batsmen with his last over against South Africa. This too was planned. 2 birds with one over. Saffers sorted out and Pakistan lulled into complacency. We now know how he did them in at Mohali.
Ashwin is the only player who has 100% win record in this team. He was kept for West Indies and Australia. India didn't waste him against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Both teams had their own "Doosras". So India preferred to play the 'Pehla' and he did it with his 'Teesra' !
India then fooled Sri Lanka with their orchestrated ineptness against Saeed Ajmal and Hafeez. They played well against Afridi denying him any wicket in the Semi-final. This turned out to be a master stroke as the Lankans kept Mendes out and played with 2 Off spinners.
One move after another had left opponents dumb. But still they fell for more. All though the cup, India fielded ordinary. Dhoni kept telling there is very little we can do about our fielding. Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka believed this and we know how they suffered when it mattered.
All the while Dhoni kept himself out of form. He preferred to face flak for everything he did and didn't than face bowlers at the crease. All the opponents were gleefully anticipating to bowl at him, a Captain under duress and a batsman out of form.
With India 2 down for 31 in the Final, he fooled Lankans again. Expecting Yuvi to come in and crowd him with spin, Lankans lost the plot when Dhoni walked in and kept walking singles without any fuss. Before they realized it, he had shifted gears in spite of the mandatory harakiri committed by Gambhir. But even this was planned. India wanted 2 of the most important players of this generation to be around to win it.
Sachin and Viru did the early guiding. Virat chipped in frequently. Raina rained when it got too hot. Yuvi marshaled through troubled waters and Dhoni finished with flourish !
Another important thing had happened during all this. They had even coached players to come out with quotable quotes. So Virat said, "He has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years. The least we could do was to carry him".
We have said, everything was planned. Yusuf Pathan was selected, designated, trained and ordained to carry 'the burden of the man who carried the burden of the nation' through the Victory Lap ! Who else but the strongest man in India ? Fittingly, the young tyros Raina and Virat were assigned to assist the mighty Pathan !
The Atlas !
And the Assistants !
I thank profusely, all those who have completed this journey. I also thank those who left halfway like many of those Indian fans who left early through Indian chase in the Final. Because this is 'Our Victory'. The Victory of a nation starved of ODI World Cup Glory for too long. So let me be magnanimous too.
If you liked the post, well and good. Even if you didn't like this, I am sure you are rejoicing the Indian win like me. And if anyone other than Indians is reading this by chance, "Come, join us. We deserved to win this. Sachin deserved to win. Dhoni deserved to win. Yuveraj deserved to win and all of India deserved to win. So come join us !"
SPun Doctor
Also blogs @ http://diehardcricketfans.org/category/contributed/govind-raj-shenoy/
My wife has a love - hate relationship with Cricket. She loves it when she goes shopping. Because the shops and malls are relatively empty. She hates it when she is free, because I am not !
She looked menacing tonight, "Seriously, what is this going on ? You said it will all be over on 2 April and that you'll be a relieved man. As you were hoping, Sachin's team won. Then what is this thing going on now ? What is he playing for ? Don't they have any other thing to do ? Cricket, Cricket and Cricket !"
I had to tell her something. She was standing right between me and the TV. So I goaded her out of the away, "This isn't Cricket Honey, It's just IPL !"
There are so many things that come with IPL. It's like "It's all happening here" to borrow from Ravi Shastri.
The cheer girls and the beer girls. Why do people hate girls ? Yes, GIRLS ! Beats me. Just can't imagine. If you want serious stuff, go watch Satyajit Ray's movies on DVD without subtitles.
From whatever happened so far, one thing is quite clear. Delhi are going to be the bottom team this time. Mark my words. Sorry Sehwag, this is not your Cup of anything !
Shane Warne looks like his own wax statue from Madam Tussaud's. Even Thiazide isn't going to help him. He will need some kind of 'Detox' from 'Botox'. Seriously though, he still is the best leg-spinner on the planet by a few light years !
Rahul Dravid looks to be in good touch and so did Laxman before Parnell. Old wines in old bottles, still delicious even in 'limited editions' format.
The other single Master Piece of limited edition continues to flourish and enjoy the jamboree.
Venugoapl Rao seems to be finally coming of age. Will he be the next Robin Singh of Indian Cricket ?
Paul Chandrashekar Valthaty was unknown even in his own street till yesterday. Today, he is the hottest 'Item Number' on news channels. Where is Manish Pandey ? Every Valthaty has his day !
I am also waiting to see following guys: Deepak Chahar [to see how he swings them up], Shane Watson [fresh from his earth shattering innings against the mighty Bangladesh], Abu Nechim [to seehow a Kashmiri Pacer looks like] and Mohammed Kaif [just to see if he still has the fire in the belly].
Malinga wants to retire from longer versions of Cricket. Do we know the reason now ? Mumbai and Malinga seem to be unbeatable at this point of time.
Poor Mayank Agarwal. He was over the top when he whacked Murali out of the ground facing him for the first time. Malinga knocked him down with the first ball.
Vettori is a great captain. He wanted to boost Abhimanyu Mithun's morale. So he forgot Dirk Nannes who ended up with bowling figures of 1-1-0-1 to Mithun's 3-0-31-0 !
There are two Shauns playing for Rajastan Royals. One is Shaun Tight. He bowled a first spell of 2-0-11-2. Then came Shaun Loose. He let loose a 154 kmph monster ball and then gave away 2-0-29-0.
Saurabh Tiwari looks like he might any time cut loose and play a DLF maximum shot and then pats one to short covers for a single.
In spite of their win against lowly placed Chargers, KKR don't look like serious contenders. And it all boils down to SRK and his preference for Hockey. Cricket Gods haven't forgiven him for making a movie on Hockey and ignoring Cricket.
If anyone has doubts, just look at the other Khan. Aamir made 'Lagaan' and then witnessed India Captain Dhoni do a Bhuvanin the World Cup finals !
Yes, coming to Captaincy, Sehwag wants to lead from the front. But he just doesn't have a back. Gambhir has a front as well as a back, but he prefers to lead from the middle.
Sanga and Gilly haven't had great opportunities to lead so far. But it is too early as we are still in the first week of what is going to be a 7 week long affair.
Dhoni on the other hand has lead from behind the stumps. And then in front too. The Yusuf Pathan run out was classic Dhoni; just enough to change the course of the match.
Mahela is entrusted to lead a group of Tuskers. Can he do the 'Mahout' act ? Can he get Sreesanth to fire ? Or will it backfire in the Kochi backwaters ? Let us wait and watch !
Yuveraj has whole of India for Sahara today. In 2010, he had no team, no form and no home too as he was dumped by his IPL Masters. What a turn around in 2011. He has won a World Cup and now avenged his humiliation of last year by whacking the Punjab team.
And one man is silently leading from the front and winning matches with ease for his team.
I will come back !
SPun Doctor
Also blogs @ http://diehardcricketfans.org/category/contributed/govind-raj-shenoy/
IPL-4 is here, opening on a Friday; on a day most of the movies are released in India and elsewhere.
IPL has a lot in common with movies in India. Cricket and Cinema go together like Viv Richards and Nina Gupta. Howsoever far apart they might be, they do make strangely great bed-fellows. And IPL, is the Masaba of this relation ! A cross breed, yet beautiful and highly successful at a very young age.
Masaba...aah !
A lot of people, Purists, Poms and pushy Aussies have denounced IPL as 'Not Cricket'.
Michel Holding, one of my childhood favorites declared, "T-20 is not Cricket and Keiron Pollard is not a Cricketer".
Those who have not got a bite in, blame IPL for 'Crass Commercialization' of the 'Once Beautiful' game.
Pakistani Cricketers declare they don't care about IPL and then secretly curse Ijaz Butt.
BCCI declares IPL as clean because they have rid IPL of the corrupting influence of evil Lalit Modi.
But let people heap abuses and denigrate IPL. Let them damn it. Let them condemn it. Let them do anything except 'ban' it. That is something nobody will do. Thankfully, because IPL is a 'Goose that lays Platinum Eggs'. Gold is passe !
It is simple. I love IPL. I always like to give 5 reasons for anything and everything. But when it comes to IPL, I have so many reasons to love IPL, I might run out of space on the web. So I will stick to 11; one each for every team and one for Lalit Modi.
I Love IPL because...
1] I can sleep tight on the previous night of IPL Final. I couldn't on 1 April 2011 night.
2] Whoever wins the IPL Final, I can celebrate. An Indian team will be winning. If it is Delhi, happy for Viru. If KKR wins, great because Pathan is there. If Mumbai Indians win, Thank You Sachin.
3] My wife and daughter cope up with shorter matches. They thought I was on another planet during the entire World Cup campaign.
4] My temper remains fine even in the worst of situations during IPL. Ashish Nehra can't ruffle me and I adore Munaf Patel. Piyush Chawla is such a wonderful prodigy after all. And Rahul Dravid can't draw a match.
5] I don't have to worry about Sachin's 100th International Century and then his 50th ODI Century and then his 102 Century and then his 19000 runs in ODIs and 15000 runs in Test Cricket and so on...
6] 92 runs needed of 60 balls doesn't send my heart rate soaring to 184 in 60 seconds. It remains down, almost like Munaf Patel's speed. Nothing can change it.
7] Nobody will dare to drop Yusuf Pathan to accommodate Nohit Sharma / Ravindra Jadeja in the team.
8] Ravindra Jadeja can't lose a match for India, howsoever hard he might try.
9] Suresh Raina will not be bothered by short pitched bowling.
10] Shane Warne can continue to play; perhaps till we celebrate the Silver Jubilee of IPL.
11] And most importantly, Billy Bowden can't beat India !
And one for the Glamor !
How can we ignore the Glamor quotient ? How can we ignore Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty and her sister, SRK, Deepkia and her latest boyfriend and Kingfisher ? And of course the parties and Page-3 crowd and Fake IPL Player ? IPL is GLICKET [Glamor + Cricket]
Hail IPL; the greatest show on Earth !
SPun Doctor
Also blogs @ http://diehardcricketfans.org/category/contributed/govind-raj-shenoy/
Feels like it was a dream and then feels like it has come true. No need to pinch oneself. That six was as Dhoni as Dhoni ever was.
Mahi Way !
Ever since Praveen 'Pehelwan' Kumar got injured and India went in with Piyush, Sreesanth, Munaf and Nehra, I have been vocal in my criticism of selection and the way Team India played. I never gave them a chance of winning actually till the last 2 overs.
Spare a thought for me and many like me. Why did I do what I did ? Very simple. I have said it before. My love, admiration and adulation for Team India is boundless. It is just that it hurts badly when they lose. Even though they have won more often than not in recent years, it still hurts when they lose. Especially so if that happens in the Finals. And India had lost 7 out of the 9 Finals they have played against Sri Lanka before this one.
So if you keep criticizing and finding faults, you have better chances of absorbing the shock of a defeat. And a Win will be that much sweeter. So for all those negatives I spewed about Dhoni and his Blue Blooded Brethren, I am not going to eat crow because I am a vegetarian.
I loved them after they lost 2003 World Cup Finals. I defended them after those two T-20 World Cup disasters. I almost assassinated Greg Chappell after the 2007 World Cup first round exit. And today, I am ecstatic and over the Moon like all fellow Indians.
Turning back, let us take a look at some interesting subplots through the journey that was.
The Journey that was
For India, the journey began with 'Taming the Bengal Tiger' at Mirpur. On the way they scratched past the minnows, tied the Poms and stumbled but once against Springboks. Then they regrouped to knock the Kangaroos out. There came the Mother of all matches and the arch enemy was vanquished at Mohali. The road show came to a grand finale in Mumbai where they signed off "Slaying the Lions" !
Current Affairs
Dean Jones said, "Dhoni is dreaming if he thinks India can win". Border thought Sri Lanka will be too strong for India and Steve Waugh rated Sri Lanka as favorites. Mark Taylor declared after India's win against Pakistan that Pakistan had better chances of beating Sri Lanka but India would be easy meat for the Lankan Lions. Only Ricky Ponting declared after his team's quarterfinal debacle that India will not only beat Pakistan in Semifinals but will also go onto win the World Cup. It was 4 former Australian Stars vs 1 Current Captain.
Moral of the Story: Current Opinion matters because you've seen the balls on ground, not on LCD TV !
And the Spirit of Cricket literally went for a 'Toss' once again in an India - Sri Lanka match after la affaire Randiv !
Sehwagging: 175 - 0 in Six weeks
Viru 'Revenge' Sehwag started the proceedings with such a flourish against Bangladesh that all our middle order batsmen became complacent. His 175 curtain raiser spoiled them and there were too many collapses. So Viru decided enough is enough and went downhill. He creamed Gul in the semi-final before Riaz fixed him and Indian batting crippled after that. So Viru opened with a 'duck' in the Finals and Gautam and Mahi came to party !
Awful Taufel
This man must be rated the best Umpire of all times. In an era when the job is coming under increasing scrutiny, this man stands 'tall and handsome'. He had 11 Challenges against his on field calls. 10 were correct and the eleventh was inconclusive. The benefit of doubt always goes to batsmen. Not very fair ! Aleem Dar too was fabulous.
India did win. We all know that and Rajnikant has confirmed that what we saw on Saturday actually was a full length highlight of the match he watched on Friday the First of April. So where is Poonam Pandey ? We are waiting for the date and the day !
Best Team need not Win
South Africa by far were the best team this time around. They had the fabulous top-4 and Duminy at 5 and a cool Du Plessis. Their fielding has always been class act. Nothing special about it. Most importantly they had the finest variety of bowling attack. Two world class quickies. One classic leg spinner. One nice left arm spinner and then Botha. How on earth can one team be so unlucky in knock out stages ?
The Series of the Man
Thousands of short messages and emails did the rounds questioning his fitness, flair and form. Runs were hard to come. In spite of making fun of his fitness, I had predicted before the Cup that India's fortunes will rest on the fitness and form of 'One Man'. 4 Man of the matches. Runs in crunch moments. 2 successful chases under lights and tremendous stress. Wickets whenever his Captain asked him to bowl. What more can a man do ? This world cup was about 2 Individuals. Shahid Khan Afridi went out due to his batting follies. Yuveraj Singh made this World Cup his own with a magnificent All Round show ! Take a Bow Yuvi, you deserve all the accolades !
About Pakistan and Shahid Afridi Pakistan played very good Cricket. They came across a well knit bunch who played for their Talisman like Captain Shahid Khan Afridi. I would have loved to see them in final. Alas ! They had just 2 bad days. Given some kind of support, they will go a long way. And please throw Senator Rehaman Malik into dungeons along with Ijaz Butt.
About Minnows
All about Ryan ten Doeschate, Ireland, 2 successful 300+ chases, Kevin O'Brien, fastest World Cup Century, George Dockrell, Paul Stirling and too many useless matches. Give Ireland more exposure and perhaps a Test Status by 2015 should be theirs.
About some Great Men Some really great men have played their last world cup matches. Ricky Ponting left a heart broken man with his winning streak broken. Murali left without much of an impact when it mattered. Sachin had his moments and charmed lives. He fell at the doorstep of history. But his team didn't let him down for once. He will walk away a contented man.
At another level, Sehwag, Brett Lee, Kallis, Peitersen, Strauss, Collingwood, Dilshan, Mahela, Sanga, Zaheer Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan and Hussey too might have played their last world cup matches. Malinga has declared he might not play another world cup.
Cricket will find new Stars and Brand Ambassadors for the Future. Virat Kohli, Umar Akmal, Tharanga, ABDV and many more will come. But we will miss the 'Greats' mentioned above. Especially 2015 World Cup might open as the first World Cup in 23 years not to feature a certain Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar !
And a Solemn Wish
Let us all make a solemn wish that Pakistan will find a genuine Wicket Keeper before the 2015 World Cup !
SPun Doctor Also blogs @ http://diehardcricketfans.org/category/contributed/govind-raj-shenoy/
Woke up late, feeling like a World Champion with six pack abs and a bulging biceps. Then a look into the mirror brought me down to earth. I am what I was yesterday, a day older. Life goes on, but feels much better !
The feeling is still sinking in as Gambhir said. There was Cricket, a lot of Cricket and more Cricket. There also was a moment when theSpirit of Cricket that went for a toss.
There were Comments, Commentators and Commentweeters. And then there was Sidhu !
I thought of making a list of my favorite quotable quotes of this World Cup 2011. And then I saw this !
"Sachin carried the burden of nation for 21 years, the least we could do was carry him"
So said Virat Kohli !
Nothing more needs to be said.
No Cricketer ever has said anything better.
Sachin stands 'Viratified' !
The End !
All is Well !
Thank You Sachin !
SPun Doctor
Also blogs @ http://diehardcricketfans.org/category/contributed/govind-raj-shenoy/
