Showing posts with label Rahul Dravid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rahul Dravid. Show all posts

Friday, August 24, 2012

Che, Virat and the Essence of Life !

An old quotable quote goes like, "Those worried about what would happen to next generation should stop worrying. The next generation will grow up and start worrying about next generation". Quite right !

In 1987, when Sunil Gavaskar retired, everyone was asking, "After Sunny, who ?" This was the worry on the minds of every Indian Cricket fan. We had Mohammed Azaruddin followed by Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Virendar Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. An entire golden generation of batting stalwarts.

Today, Dada Ganguly is long gone. The Wall retired before the season began and VVS has hung his wrists at the beginning of the ongoing series. A lot of people would love to see Sachin Tendulkar bat till he is 100. But he has to go sooner than later. For all the doubters, there have always been people like me, who believed everyone including Tendulkar will some day be replaced.

The recent humongous exploits of Virat Kohli in ODI Cricket and the wonderful century of Cheteshwar Pujara at Hyderabad has once again proved this as a fact of life.
Are they talking about next generation ?
India's batting is in safe hands. It always will be. Retiring now won't be selfish Mr. Tendulkar but fairly appropriate. If you retire before a tough tour of Australia or South Africa, then THAT would be considered selfish.

10 - 12 years from today, Cricket lovers in India will be worried, "Who after Che, Virat and Co ?"

Sahir Ludhiyanvi's Classic Poetry immortalized by Khayyam's music and Mukesh's voice quite sums up the essence of life. Time and tide truly wait for none and all of us will become history someday. Yes, even Usain Bolt, Rajnikanth and Sachin Tendulkar !

मुझसे पहेले कितने शायर आये और आकर चले गए
कुछ आहें भर कर लौटगए कुछ नाघ्मे गाकर चले गए
वह भी एक पल का किस्सा थे, मै भी एक पल का किस्सा हूँ
कल तुमसे जुदा हो जाऊंगा वह आज तुम्हारा हिस्सा हूँ !

कल और आयेंगे नाघ्मों की खिलती कलियाँ चुननेवाले
मुझसे बहेतर कहेनेवाले तुमसे बहेतर सुननेवाले
कल कोई मुझको याद करे, क्यूँ कोई मुझको याद करे
मसरूफ ज़माना मेरे लिए क्यूँ वक़्त अपना बर्बाद करे ?



SPun Doctor Also blogs @ http://diehardcricketfans.org/category/contributed/govind-raj-shenoy/

Friday, June 24, 2011

Crick-Veda: Oldest Chronicle on Gentleman's Game !

Disclaimer: I don't belong to RSS / VHP / Bajrang Dal. I am not right-wing Hindu extremist. I am not Francois Gautier. I am not Gurumoorthy. I am not Manoj Kumar. Neither am I Akshay Kumar. I am not a devotee of any Baba including Sai Baba, Rahul Baba, Baba Ramdev and Baba Black sheep. I am not related to any Thakre; living on nonliving. My surname isn't Togadia. I have no religion except Cricket. I don't believe in God, but I believe in Rahul Dravid and I have seen Sachin Tendulkar. The nearest I have felt to divinity was when I saw VVS Laxman on drive Shane Warne through mid-wicket at Eden in 2001. And I believe Virendar Sehwag can save us from Satan by just Upar Cutting him. This post is a work of fiction but that should not be a reason to disbelieve it.

Breaking News... Breaking News... Breaking News...

Cricket is Indian by Origin !

This sensational discovery has rocked the world today and will be remembered as a Red-Letter day. This will change forever, all hitherto held beliefs about Cricket in general and the mankind in particular. During a routine excavation in some undisclosed place in Uttar Pradesh, the ASI has found a huge treasure. That alone wouldn't be so special or sensational. But they have found out a new dimension in the form of a book named Crick-Veda [Krikveda for the Swadeshi brigade], believed to be the long lost and forgotten fifth Veda.

Carbon dating and all kind of authentication tests are being held on this voluminous epic. It is believed to be at least 8000 - 9000 years old. Experts are busy deciphering the text. You are reading this here first because of our close contacts with ASI. Dr. Balls is an insider in ASI and has contacts from bottom to top. Here are some of the salient aspects about the book, brought only to those who follow Doctoring the Balls !!!

What we are going to disclose here is established beyond doubt in this priceless piece of Cricket Testament, ODIment and T-20ment, all compiled together. Cricket was a game, a religion and a way of life in India. It was called Kri karet, which means 'Doing the work'.

It was work as well as worship for the people of India that was Bharat. This emphatically proves Cricket was not a British game as has been claimed so far. Almost every Indian will vouch for this. The British picked up this beautiful game from India just like they picked up spices. We now know why Cricket is so spicy.

Cricket, was played in North Indian heartlands and South Indian paddy fields. The boys and men running in the fields tilled the land [Kri Khet in Hindustani and Kriya Kshetra in Sanskrit] and thus prepared it for watering and subsequent cultivation of crops. This must the earliest known example of business with pleasure. They worked while they played and they played while they worked. What a revolutionary ancestors did we inherit from ! And many people believe Cricket is a lazy game, rubbish !

The extremely talented men of those days used to hit the ball very hard and long and then people used to go in search of the ball. That is how the coinage "Leather hunt" evolved.

Hanumaan was the first ever Cricket-fever stricken boy known from history. He thought the red and shining Sun was a Cricket ball and went to catch it and this evolved into a legend. People misinterpreted it and said he went to pluck a fruit. Absolutely baseless and ball-less. Just look at this illustration, the Sun looks exactly like a Cricket ball shining in the Sun ! And Hanumaan is clearly trying to pick a one handed catch out of thin air. He isn't plucking any fruit out there.
Catch it !
Why did Krishna slay Kaliya the snake ? Because Kaliya refused to return the ball. Krishna and his friends were playing Cricket [Kri Karet in those days] by the Yamuna river bank. A DLF maximum from Krishna went into the river and Kaliya refused to return the ball. Thus their game of Cricket was halted by the mean snake. Hence Krishna had no other option but to slay the stubborn and spoilsport Kaliya to retrieve the ball to continue the game before the Umpires declared bad light. Even today we don't like to be disturbed while we enjoy our Cricket. Be it the snake or the wife.

In one of the most touching chapters, Sage Krikshwamitra explains the relation and differences between Test Cricket, One Day Cricket and T-20 Cricket. He says, T-20 Cricket is like your little daughter. You love her because she is your daughter. She may do childish things and appear juvenile. But you love her because she is your own product. But you have very little chances of recovering lost ground if your daughter gets spoiled, just like T-20 Cricket match. T-20, like your little girl is damn popular with people of all ages because you can carry it around with ease and you won't feel bad if she pees on your laps.

One Day Cricket is like the wife. You can play during day or at night. She is mature, beautiful, enticing and enchanting. You can control a lot of things with her. But you can't keep her switched on forever. Like every wife, she can be demanding. You need to do a lot of running around and be prepared to lose her if your fail with the bat or the ball. Most importantly she is more entertaining at night after you are done with all the work. She comes with a lot of color and cheer.

Test Cricket is without doubt, the Mother. You respect her, revere her, love her and listen to her. You can even fall asleep in her lap and still not miss much. She can go on and on and on for days sounding like a bore. But in the end, you are wiser, stronger and winner if you do the listening and playing properly. Like Mother, Test Cricket gives you more than one chances. Nor one bad over, neither a single bad shot can lose it all for you. And you better show discipline with your Mom, else you will be routed by the forces that guard the earth.

Further evidence from present day analogies: From aesthetics of the variants of the game, Crick Veda moves to the weapons used. The ball was the weapon of the aggressor. The bat belonged to the more responsible defenders. It symbolizes how one can use a weapon for both defensive and offensive purposes. So typically Indian. We just have to look at how Rahul Dravid and Virendar Sehwag use the same weapon to different effects.

India has a tradition of stretching beyond the limits and breaking records. Ram broke the Shiv Dhanush. Sachin has been breaking records ever since he was born. Arjun hit the fish's eye to win over a girl. Yuveraj hits the bill-boards. Karna was the first to show how one can use own body parts as defense tools. Mohindar Amarnath followed suit when he took on all the bouncers on his body without flinching. Krishna said it was fair to be unfair to deal with an unfair enemy. Saurav Ganguly was just equally mean to Australians. There are innumerable revisits.

Let us look at different aspects of the game. Batting was a Royal occupation. They never liked to run. Indian batsmen still don't like to run. Ask Sehwag, Pathan and Yuvi. Bowlers were the Soldiers. They attacked and won over enemies by felling the opponents. Do soldiers get any better than Bhajji, Kumble, Zaheer and Kapil Dev ? Fielding was for kids and the labor workers. Even today, the young and the fringe players field. The rest just rest.

Kri Karet expert from history and the earliest known Sexologist Batsayana has elaborated on the attraction between the Kri Karet Players and the girls and women from the entertainment fields. The singers, actors and dancers of the yore had a very special and enduring liking for the talented and good looking players.

There were so many affairs, courtships and marriages between Kri Karetars and artisans. Urvashi fell for Arjun's looks as well as skills. Seeta, the Princess was bowled over by the record breaking abilities of Ram. Bheem's ability to wield the mace [the first ever Mongoose] won over Hidimba. Nothing has changed in India 8000 years since.

There are millions of illustrations, coaching manuals and extensive records mentioned in Krikveda. We just have provided a sample here. But we promise to come back with entire translation sooner than later. Till then keep pondering over the points mentioned here.

Can all this old world wisdom in Cricket be anything but Indian ?

QED: Cricket is Indian by Origin !




SPun Doctor
Also blogs @ http://diehardcricketfans.org/category/contributed/govind-raj-shenoy/

Monday, November 8, 2010

Oh Kiwis, They Know Not What They've done !

The Bhajji, The Kiwis and The Peace of Mind of a Country !

New Zealand have always tormented India. Much worse than the South Africans, Steve Bucknor, Maoists and Pakistan sponsored Terrorists. India's records against Australia, Pakistan, England and West Indies have shown significant improvement over the past decade. But the Kiwis somehow have maintained a kind of enviable hold over the Indian psyche. Something like the Post-Miyandad Pakistan did for a long time.

This is true in spite of the fact that India managed to beat the Kiwis in Kiwi-land the last time they visited. But that win was a labored one. This can be explained by the fact that India always play at the level of opponents. Never crushing wins; almost always hard fought wins !

Chris Martin gave a glimmer of hope of an unbelievable win for the Kiwis last evening. But that perhaps was a ploy by the Indian top order to fool the visitors and then unleash Laxman once again on a day five pitch.

Laxman did what he is best at. He batted on and on and on till the frustrated Umpire Davies got him out. How can he remain not out for the third time in three tests on a day five wicket ? There should be some kind of respect for that dreaded entity !

But what the Kiwis have managed to do or rather not managed to do is what is going to hurt us Indians more and more in future.

No, it isn't Chris Martin's spell on day-4. We have seen and survived worse !

No, it isn't Kane Kane Williamson's maiden hundred on debut. We have seen that too !

No, it isn't Jesse Ryder either. Ryder somehow likes Indian bowling like Srisanth loves to make faces.

No, it isn't about denying Sachin Tendulkar his 50th test century. He will get that and we aren't worried.

No, it also isn't about Rahul Dravid managing to survive and thus keeping Pujara out for some more time.

It is about Harbhajan Singh's Century. For a long time now, he has threatened us with his 'All-round' abilities. The Aussies managed to keep him at bay. He has played some cameo knocks before and has saved some matches or helped in some wins.

But a Test Century had eluded him. It was this distinction that allowed us to sleep in peace. The peace assured by the fact that we can always ridicule Bhajji for his 'tall claims'. Alas, the peace of mind is decimated now.

Bhajji had declared himself as 'All-rounder' before the recent Australia series. And we all had a good laugh when he failed with the bat. Imagine a Century on a last day track for Bhajji. How will we survive the Centurion Harbhajan now ?

Oh They Know Not What They Have Done !





S-Pun Doctor