5 Greatest Events in Indian Cricket : My Take !

"Winning the World Cup in 1983, against heavy odds, was a huge achievement; perhaps the greatest in the history of Indian Cricket"

 Sachin Tendulkar - 17 February 2011.

5:27 Moment in this video changed everything for Indian Cricket and forever so. Still one month short of attaining teenage; I woke up on 26 June 1983 with sweets being distributed and a festive mood all over.

I faintly remember how it all went then. It was good, the sweets too were. All the talk and back slapping of the elders was fun. But today I am quite sure of what it must have been. Nothing before and nothing since-forth can lay claim to the title 'Greatest Moment in Indian Cricket'. Never !

Cricket was just a game in this country till then. When we look back, Cricket as a religion was born on 25 June 1983. It found 'The God' about six years later on 16 November 1989. No other individual has ever fired the imagination of a nation and I don't know if anyone ever can do it again. Not likely in my life time.

As we wait for the the tenth ODI Cricket World Cup to begin tomorrow, here is a look at some of the momentous moments in Indian Cricket. This strictly is my view and is open for dissection. First and second moments, I already have mentioned. So let me start from No. 3.

3] The Benson and Hedges World Championship in 1985: For want of Youtube videos of the Final, I have provided this link of the all important Semi-final, famous for the Kapil Dev - Vengsarkar partnership that lifted India from the grave. This win was special for the way it was achieved.

India were clinically efficient and maintained a clean slate as they bowled out every opponent on the way to final. This was also special because the then Gen-next of Indian Cricket; Shastri, Srikkanth, Azhar, Siva and S. Vishwa gelled well with Gavaskar, Mohindar, Kapil, Madan, Binny and Vengsarkar. It was special also for the way Sunny managed to lift a divided and demoralized team to glory.

4] T-20 World Cup in 2007: Dhoni and his boys were never expected to win. Like Kapil's Devils, they too were underdogs. But the spirit shown by this virtually second string team lead them to a memorable win. It perhaps began 'Here'.

There are so many wins; Some Memorable, Some Special and Some Sensational. But for me, something that happened away from the playing field qualifies for a slot over here. We all know the Internet has taken over the Planet Earth. So many Cricket blogs have spawned the Internet including this one.

We do have some extremely good individual or team blogs. Greyblazer, Shridhar, Som, Vidooshak and Golandaaz Opinionators, Strawberry Fields and many more. I enjoy all these wonderful blogs. But Cricket is a Team Game and when a Team has a collection of the best of the talent, that naturally becomes the finest !

5] For the quality of the stuff exhibited, the clarity of some of those elegant strokes, and for all those illustrations; there is but 'ONE' Cricket Blog that has enthused me the most.

Just look at the Team...

Like IPL, they might play for other teams too, but they are 'Here' and that counts !

1] Straight Points.
2] Naked Cricket.
3] AweSome Doosra.
4] Homer.
5] The Achettup.
6] A Bisht.
7] Cricket minded Poorna.
8] Mahek.
9] Ankit and Ankit !
10] The Half and Half, Mister and Missus Cricket Couch.
11] John
And the OTHER team members !

They have given us 'Che' and KhufiaBaaz.
We also got the first native born Comic Strip Hero, the Jatman !
With all this, you simply can't be bored on the Bored ! 

BCC! is 'One of the finest things' to have happened to Indian Cricket since 25-6-1983 !
I rest my case.

PS:
Hope Team India manage to make it a 'Sixer' the day next to All Fools Day this year !




S-Pun Doctor

Before the Cup; My Gifts to Team India !

The Cricket World Cup is around. The excitement is building up. I can never support any other team but Team India till they are knocked out. Right now I am optimistic in spite of all the negative talk and Piyush Chawla.

If they win, Team India will face a deluge of awards. If they lose, some of them might have to apply for Police protection to their person and properties. Cricket Crazy Indians, we all are !

But even if they don't win, I adore Team India including Piyush Chawla. Hope they win and win a lot of awards, prizes and contracts.

I am a middle class blogger and can't afford to reward them big. But I would like to give one gift each to every member of Team India. Howsoever trivial they might appear, I love to give them even before they play their first match at Mirpur against their 2007 nemesis.

So here are my gifts to Team India... 

1] Sachin Tendulkar: Kapil Dev said Sachin will not retire without a World Cup. If this one eludes him, it is unlikely that he can win in 2015. So I very humbly would like to gift him a miniature World Cup trophy. If India win, great. If they don't, let him keep it as a consolation prize. 

2] Virendar Sehwag: A sustained release icepack fitted into the helmet. He will need it to keep his cool. Viru is vital for India's fortunes. If Sehwagging continues throughout the tourney, the Cup cometh home. 

3] Gautam Gambhir: A tongue depressor; used in the Doctor's clinic to keep the tongue down. Gauty's bat starts to falter when his tongue takes over. He has already put an enormous burden on the team by saying this is our best chance. I remember 1987. 

4] Yuveraj Singh: No, not Revital. He is already on that. A DVD of his altercation with Andrew Flintoff and the aftermath is what he needs. The difference between the Cup and the Slip for India will be, the form of Yuvi; literally and figuratively ! 

5] Virat Kohli: Tee-shirt with "Attitude, wear it on your gloves". He might be benched initially, but should not be disappointed. The Dude with attitude needs to keep his head during the Cup. 

6] Mahendra Singh Dhoni: A miniature Helicopter. He needs to be reminded of the 'shot'. Not only in Pepsi ads, he needs to play them on the field. 

7] Yusuf Pathan: A complete Gillette Mach-3 shaving system with accessories. He needs to be told it isn't the beard that is responsible for his runs. Clean shaven guys and even his former Rajastan Royals buddy Shane Watson are scoring runs; without a beard. If the beard were to bring luck, all the Mullahs would have won the Cup for Afghanistan. 

8] Suresh Raina: The CSK jersey. He somehow becomes a transformed man in that outfit. Send him in Indian colors with CSK jersey underneath. He will have added protection against the 'short ball'. 

9] Harbhajan Singh: A wrist band with 'No. 1' inscribed. Forget 'Doosra'. Bhajji needs to get is 'Pehla' going on Indian pitches. How else can we stem the runs in the middle overs. He will have to bowl on those 'national highways'.

10] Zaheer Khan: A "Taweez' to keep him free of injuries during the whole tourney. Though I don't believe in them, I've heard Cricketers are a superstitious lot. It might just keep him happy. If any bowler can win it for India, Khan can.

11] Ashish Nehra: An old fashioned foot-role. He needs to keep them straight and not on the leg-stump.

12] Munaf Patel: A Roller-skates set. He needs to run on the field, not walk in the park. 

13] Ravichandran Ashwin: A Bench. He will have to warm it all through the Cup, unless Bhajji gets injured or badly mauled in initial stages. 

14] Praveen Kumar: A mechanical Swing. He needs to do just that with the new ball and with the old ball. Lest him go the Ajit Agarkar way. 

15] Piyush Chawla: He already has got one in the form of a berth in the squad. Anymore pampering will be injustice to Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha.

And finally... 

Gary Kirsten: Not me, only Team India can give him a parting gift. The Prize will be the only befitting gift to his Priceless contribution to Team India. Hope they do it for the First and the Last man in my list; they deserve it !






S-Pun Doctor