Politics and Cricket: Bullying a Bully

As India immerses itself deep in challenging cricket and landslide electoral mandates in politics, it could be the right time to think about politics in cricket.
There is one more thing that Indians love, apart from cricket and politics: movies. Indian movies somehow tend to show that the rich guy is the villain, even the 'high budget' movies. For the common man, the relation of movies to cricket is quite simple. The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) is rich. And hence, BCCI is the villain. And anyone who can tame the bull(y) by its horns is a hero, even an otherwise hated person. It probably is the human nature. Not many ever support the Tiger when it chases its prey. This brings us to the question, why the hatred? Even if there is no hatred, there definitely is no love. BCCI is not loved like FIFA by the fans. Is it all because the BCCI, within a span of very few years grew from an underdog and a sidekick to being the boss in cricket? Well, that should make the average cricket fan in India be fond of BCCI. It just is not loved just as same as cricket in India. Maybe the movies do have an impact on the people.

On a serious note however, it is quite sad that many a man has conveniently forgotten the tremendous changes that BCCI brought into the game in India. The board had over years transformed the face of cricket in India and made heroes out of people who know nothing more than hit a 22 pound sphere with a three foot stick. And when a jobless, retired supreme court judge decides that the BCCI is bad and requires a changeover, he is welcomed as a hero. The bull has been brought down onto its knees by its horns. Many would argue that the BCCI had made a lot of money and hence it is bullying other countries and boards. Well, it would be great to know how the world of cricket got ruined by that. BCCI per se does what the United States of America does to the entire world. And we all love America and carry no love towards BCCI. The board was registered as a society in Tamil Nadu way back in 1928 and why did we have to wait for over 80 years to realise that it is wrong for the board to be a society and not pay taxes? Just because it is the only board running in heavy profits? How come we then don't bat an eye that Education Testing Services (ETS) in the name of SAT, GRE, TOEFL and GMAT is robbing millions of dollars from Indian students who wish to go abroad for higher education and yet, ETS is a non profit organisation. But when BCCI which is lifting hundreds or maybe thousands of players and those related to cricket, there occurs a problem for it to continue as a society.

The seasoned quitter!

It is probably because of lobbying, in which India is earning quite a name in the last few years. In Indian cricket, the Mumbai lobby is the strongest. And when met with opposition from people like N. Srinivasan from the south, we all know what happened to him. A major portion of his downfall is his own doing. However, when things did not quite work out at the BCCI, the lobby sent its representative to the ICC. It seemed like he waited for the right moment to attack the BCCI and the moment came in the form of the recommendations of the Lodha committee. The outcome of these recommendations might definitely help city boards like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. We have to understand that we will all see more of Kohlis, Rahanes and Nairs and cricket in India will be the same. But what about the Mahendra Singh Dhonis, the Kedar Jadavs and the Ravindra Jadejas? How come Maharashtra and Manipur have the same say in cricketing decisions. A single vote for Maharashtra would mean complete Mumbai dominance and it is not good. No wonder Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri are quite happy. Even electoral colleges keep in mind the population and popularity in mind while deciding the vote share. Not even a competitive lawyer like Kapil Sibal could make the court understand this simple logic.

The advisory committee! How on Earth did a sensible person like Ramachandra Guha agree to be a part of it? If being a cricket historian takes one to the advisory committee, then should P.N. Oak had been made the Endowment minister or Arundhati Roy the principal secretary? Going by this logic, the appointment of Gajendra Chouhan as the chairman of FTII can also be justified. Guha should have followed example of Dravid in politely rejecting honours. Instead he chose his idol, Sachin Tendulkar in readily accepting jobs which he is not capable of fulfilling. By the way, Harsha Bhogle was ousted by the BCCI. Does that not make him the topmost contender to the advisory committee?? He would have truly been a wise choice! Whoever the advisor is, he/she should remember that nothing or nobody is above the game. Protecting the interests of Indian cricket should be the priority of the board, which it of course has been doing quite nicely for years, until the Lodha committee entered.

In their entire life, the Lodha committee members would have spent more time in the cafeteria in the district court that on a cricket ground, or knowing about cricket. While I do acknowledge that a judge does not necessarily need to be highly knowledgeable about the things that he reports on, I feel that they have gone too far into 'changing' BCCI for the better. They should have been content when the majority of their recommendations were implemented. All the problems stemmed from the IPL spot fixing for which the BCCI had done enough amendments. The thing is...The newly appointed CoA do not know how to play! And if they want to do well, the BCCI has to function the way it always functioned. Yet, the committee finds faults entirely in BCCI and not at all in the law and order maintenance! Just like what they did their entire life, they simply punished the easy target. And when the BCCI is at its weakest, Shashank Manohar at the ICC is attacking from the outside. The result: The bully BCCI has been bullied into doing things!

M.S.Dhoni: No Story Told

In Ramoji film city, people click photos with their head jutting out of the face of one of Ravan's ten faces. Some people photoshop themselves shaking hands with Amitabh and Sachin or hugging Deepika Padukone. This is how one feels when he sees Sushant Singh Rajput's face morphed into Dhoni's when he is surrounded by other Indian cricketers. We do not know who to feel sorry for. Dhoni or Sushant. Apart from such morphological changes, the movie, MS Dhoni: the untold story has other routine, illogical stuff like a failed love story and a hasty marriage both which are in the movie for an obvious reason: songs. The movie is more about Sushant's imitation of Dhoni than the story of Dhoni himself. It is very good as a movie, a three hour magic well weaved by Neeraj Pandey but it somehow does not look like a great biography. That makes one think whether Dhoni's life achievements so far have content enough to fit in a bollywood movie.

Seriously, the way we in India are making biopics is not satisfactory. Are we so short of legends that we have to make biographies of young cricketers or are the players scared of the eventual thing that is being forgotten by people? Today, not even a cricket aspirant would recognise G.R.Viswanath if he even enters the Chinnaswamy stadium. While it is Attenboroughs and Browns who make movies on legends like Gandhi and Ramanujan, we in India make movies on olympic bronze winning and cricket world cup winning athletes. Every person has his/her own story and every athlete has immense hard work and perseverance behind success. It would not be a surprise if tomorrow a movie is made on the life of Hardik Pandya or Sania Mirza. It is quite shameful that no Indian film director could make a movie on our first prime minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. None of the people care because we are all too engrossed in trying to find evidence for something the army had done to protect us. Of course, when the public has such volatile memory, why do movie producers want to dig old stories when they can make money on existing 35 year old 'legends' who successfully captained winning teams. It would be an easy way out for Dhoni as well because, thirty years down the lane, it is highly unlikely that a film director would consider making a movie about him.

The known story

Having said about the unnecessity of a movie on M.S.Dhoni, the making of a fine movie needs a mention. MS Dhoni: the untold story is any other movie with an added feature that it is about Dhoni. While the first half of the movie talked about Dhoni's passion towards playing cricket for India, post interval was all about what people already know about. While time was devoted to show his achievements as a captain like the 2007 world cup final and 2011 final, the movie fails to show many other memorable victories that Dhoni had brought us through his batting talent. He was a wicket keeper-batsmen before he became a captain. The movie also showed his feuds with senior players but neglected his friendly character and his extraordinary show of respect to elders in his first test match as captain. Music did the magic for the movie. The background score brings in more passion on the part of the audience towards Dhoni. There should have been more time devoted to the way Saurav Ganguly selected Dhoni to the playing XI for the India-Pakistan match at Visakhapatnam. There is no mention about his wicketkeeping talent nor his father selling his scooter to buy Mahi his first cricket kit.
Yes, there was no story told about MS Dhoni. It is just a recollection of some of Dhoni's old and famous matches with a good background music and excellent imitation by Sushant Singh Rajput. Dhoni will be a happy man. So will be his fans.

With attention comes motivation

22 April 1998,
In the heat of Sharjah, there was a storm, popularly called the ‘Desert Storm.’ The epi-center of this storm was a twenty five year old cricketer, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Amidst the chanting of ‘Indiaaaa Indiaa’  and ’Sachiinn Sachinn,’ as he stormed upon the bowlers, charged and lofted spinners for sixes, pulled fast bowlers for fours, he took the world of cricket by storm. People were not only stunned but mesmerised by his unique straight drives, cover drives and late cuts. VVS Laxman, on the other end would have felt wonderful for having partnered Sachin in the show. The Aussie bowlers would have thought why on Earth it had to be them on the receiving end. The spectators would have felt more than satisfied for what they had paid for. Cricket freaks would have been like, ‘Maybe it is time we call him God.’ And fifteen hundred miles East of Sharjah, young cricket aspirants would have padded up, inspired to go on to the field and prove themselves. MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli are two among those hundreds of cricket bhakts.
If one asks Sachin what inspired him to take cricket seriously, he definitely mentions the 1983 world cup victory by the Indian team led by Kapil Dev. Surely, that is a milestone in the history of sports in India. No sport is followed as passionately as team sports. Because it is a team. In an individual sport, one can only like a single person but to support a team is more exciting because one gets to support an individual as well as the nation/team one loves. Maybe if India had won the FIFA world cup before winning the cricket world cup, those hundreds of youngsters would have gotten inspired to take up football and who knows, we would have won the 2010 football world cup! It is that spectacle of winning a huge sport event for the first time that led Indians to get motivated towards something. That created a hope that we could dominate and rise on the world platform in some form to prove ourselves. That moment of pride led to India loving cricket like it does now. This however though, eclipsed another moment of pride for India: an Indian-born had won the Nobel prize that year!

Sachin took the Aussies by a storm and Indian cricket to a higher level

25 March 2016,
In the heat of Mohali, amidst the chanting of ’Indiaaaa Indiaa’ and ’Viraatttt Viraatt,’ a twenty seven year old Kohli stormed upon, once again, the Aussie bowlers. The way he paced his innings, running singles when his partner Yuvraj was injured, converting the singles into doubles once Dhoni came in, then going after the bowlers once he got the momentum was what a well matured cricketer would do. People were not only mesmerised but stunned by the way he constructed his innings. Rohit Sharma who got out cheaply must have felt why he is unable to play such well-tempered innings despite having immense talent. The Aussie bowlers might have thought, ‘Why we??’ The audience, reiterated why they love cricket and cricketers. Cricket freaks are like, ‘Maybe it is time we call him God.’ Young cricketers are padding up, inspired to go to the field and prove themselves.
Once in an interview, Rahul Dravid, a true mascot for cricket mentioned that the difference between a cricketer and a nurse is that the cricketer appears on the television. Well, that does make a huge difference, does it not? The media is interested in cricket because people are playing well and cricketers are playing well because the world is looking through the media. With greater attention, comes greater motivation. Why else would players, be it Sachin, Saurav, Dravid, Dhoni or Virat always thank audience for their support. In fact, Virat Kohli mentioned that the audience kept him going. Definitely media attention is what creates stronger teams for the country. And it is not that attention inspires people to play more. It is the vice versa, inspired people receive a lot of attention. With great motivation comes great attention!!

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What an innings! Virat stunned the cricket world

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What an innings! Virat stunned the cricket world

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What an innings! Virat stunned the cricket world

It is good to know see women’s cricket being given importance by the media. It might be the first time that post match shake-hand of women’s cricket in India was shown on TV. That is a good sign even though the prize money for women’s cricket is peanuts. Will the attention lead to a rise in the pay-check?

Hopefully in the future,
In the heat of Gwalior, the fort city of Jhansi Laxmi Bai, amidst chantings ’Indiaaaa Indiaa’ and ’Mithaliiii Mithalii,’ the cool headed Mithali Raj would be playing her signature cut shot and the straight drives, disrupting a strong lined Aussie bowling like it is nothing. The crowd and the nation will go berserk. Somewhere in those millions, few hundred girls will be inspired to pad up, inspired to go to the field and prove themselves!

Zak of all trades!

Nothing is more annoying right now in Indian cricket than the shoulder of Zaheer Khan. Well, except for the Indian team itself, nothing is more annoying. Clearly, the performance of team India in the recent past shows how much we need Zaheer. Now that he announced his retirement, we know we are doomed. We should start our SESI (Search for Eternal Seamer in India).

The generation I belong to would have started watching cricket feverishly from the 2003 one day cricket world cup. Of course, that is the tournament which set stage for the introduction of this mighty bowler. That match versus New Zealand at the Supersport park in Centurion, when the might of Astle, McMillan and McCullum fell like dried leaves, clueless to Zaheer's seam. His unending injuries did not stop him from being the prime bowler for India whenever he played. As Akash Chopra writes, the period between 2007-2012 has been his best, when he picked all his 'man of match' and 'man of the tournament' awards in test cricket.
Even though Yuvraj played his part and picked a lot of man of the match awards and eventually the player of the tournament award in the 2011 one day world cup, there is little doubt in who played the crucial part with the ball. The match India played against England in Bengaluru in the tournament is the best example. He came back in his second spell only to turn around the entire match. Even though the match ended as a tie, the fact that India managed to not lose is because of him. Of course, his great role in the world cup final, probably the most important match for any player is inordinate.

That ZAHEER'S celebration!!

The reason behind the title of the article is definitely his batting. The Indian tail is never strong. For eons, the average Indian fan switched off the television once the sixth wicket fell. It was in that match, against New Zealand in early 2003 that Zaheer proved that even when eight wickets are down, tail enders can win matches, that too with neat, big hits. Zak as been there, supporting Sachin, as the batting legend made his highest test score. Zaheer's monumental 75 helped Sachin achieve this feat. The present Indian bowlers should probably go to Zak for tips in batting too maybe.

There is no doubt about the huge influence Zaheer has, on Indian cricket. Sadly, it has been hazy, thanks to his body, his injuries. He definitely deserves a better farewell, but everyone knows that had he been healthy, he will always be the prime bowler for India, ever. His farewell suggestion to young bowlers to bowl as fast as they can when they are young needs to be pondered upon. Indian cricket can use this 'engineer's' services to cricket somehow or the other in future too.

Its time for Viru now
!

Match of the Tournament

Even as Virat Kohli is practicing to perfect those square drives, Rohit Sharma sleeping for probably the last ten hours at least and Mitchell Johnson practicing all the swear words he could just in case, to be handy on the ground tomorrow, I still haven't got out of the brilliance of the first semi final between South Africa and New Zealand.

 http://www.starsports.com/cricket/videos/vod/video=icc-cricket-world-cup-2015-new-zealand-south-africa-winning-run-heartbreak-for-joy-for/index.html

What a match! Easily the best match of the tournament so far. Made its mark in history books. Wow that was close. That was really close. It was not that one team was the better one. The cooler team won. That is it. There is definitely the effect of rain on the South African batting. But then it is in such circumstances that a captain like Ganguly is needed. There always was a fear of rain, so South Africa should have realised that they had to maintain a competitive run rate from the beginning. New Zealand was better prepared in that aspect and they got their calculations right, huge runs in the beginning. Result, even though their run rate dipped to around six in the middle overs, they kept their cool and the required run rate was kept in check!

One most important factor why New Zealand won the match is definitely "the grand old man of New Zealand," Daniel Luca Vettori being at the crease in the last over. Years of experience will certainly inspire one himself and the partner too. Even in the final over, Vettori was rotating strike! New Zealand would want to give one of the most favourite all rounders of all time a grand farewell! Well done Elliot, you deserve the man of the match.
No body choked. New Zealand too dropped a lot of catches. Just because the word chokers is long used for South Africans, it is improper to say that they have choked at the right time. The match would have belonged to either side. What if the blind swing of Grant Elliot's missed the ball? Would South Africa have worn off their chokers name? Most of the stops on field by the South Africans were just brilliant, including Hashim Amla's!!

I once said that I have been looking forward for a New Zealand-South Africa final though deep in my heart I always support India. This was a feast, a final in itself. Such was the match. Just gripping. We were all in the laboratory, doing our experiments or rather all watching the match on phones. The five minute delay was too much for me and I ran to the research scholars room and follow live commentary on ESPN cricinfo and Yahoo cricket! None of the New Zealand supporters (all the Indian supporters would definitely have supported!!) jumped after the gripping match. We could not!! Not after we saw ABD, Faf, Morne and Steyn cry. Cry loud for the world cup. You will do it one day!! #Proteafire

All those who want to #GoGold today also will #BleedBlue because, #wewontgiveitback

 

#WeWon'tGiveItBack

Well, I wanted to write this after the Guy from Karachi lost his chance to blast the firecrackers yet again last Sunday. But I waited for a week just in case to see how we perform against the strongest team at present in the world. Well, as I guessed it. "Strategy!!" I am telling you, Dhoni would skin the players alive (I am very sure he does for Ashwin and Raina) if they do not perform. But for the last few months, the average performance of Indian team has gone down. I will tell why.

Keep going!

Remember the Champions Trophy 2013? It started off as the final edition of Champions Trophy and that there would be no such tournament in the future as it might be replaced by world test championship like earlier. India never won the Champions Trophy singly and especially, Dhoni did not have that feather in his cap. So, naturally, India, which struggled until then, won the tournament, that too in England!! And the hero, Shikar Dhawan!! Shikar was on my hate list until recently because I was shocked that such an under performer was selected for a the mega event. Now, I am happy that he performed. Not against teams like U.A.E but against strong contenders. That is fanatism my boy. Keep performing well, Dhawan. I think you like to perform well in big tournaments don't you?

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/world-cup/dravid-got-it-right-on-dhawan/article6926453.ece?widget-art=four-all
 
The strategy, Indian team has failed until now. There would have been a lot of expectation on India to defend the title if not for the recent bad play. Now, we are not at all in the race and we can play without any pressure. Strategy!! This is for the sake of the ICC chairman's son-in-law. The stakes are raised high and that is it. A gift for Mama!

A repeat will be nice!!

Speaking about the India-Pakistan match, it is a disappointment! When there are greats like Roger Federer too watching, the match should not be so one sided. It was worse than the 2011 world cup semi final match at Mohali, though Harbhajan's actions are worth mentioning. India-Pak match should never be that simple. It should be as interesting and trend-setting as the 2003 world cup group match. I am just lucky that I saw that Sachin's innings. It was just then that I started watching cricket. That is one of my best memories ever.

It is good that India almost topped the pool-B. That would mean we might have bright chances of making it to the semi finals. Once we are in the semis, Rohit Sharma will take charge. In the finals, we have Dhoni anyway. So, cool!
But one thing which I did not like in the team is the jersey! There is no tricolour on the jersey, except maybe the collar! That made me angry quite a bit! The Indian cricket team and especially, Dhoni, the one who gave national duty a priority over personal endeavours knows that the fans are very volatile. I am sure they will keep the fans cool.

Ten days to go!

Just play three matches well and you could be the world champion. Probably this is what the Indian cricket team is thinking while the other teams are really busy honing their talents. The world cup format is in that way. The quarter finalists are predictable. From there on, it is just a matter of three games. If Dhawan is dropped from the team for these three matches, that is it. We sail smoothly. The 1999 and 2003 world cup formats of super six is really interesting and nice to follow, unlike the 2007 one. But the 2011 and the present formats are little annoying. It is easy, that is bad!

http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/content/story/826009.html

While the home team sentiment makes me support India for laying hands on the world cup, apart from India, I have the two finalists on my mind. Hosts New Zealand and South Africa. It is not only because they have talented players. It is because these two seem like a "team." Very sportive, encouraging captains and talent, talent everywhere is what defines them. More than this, they are entering the stage with a killer instinct unlike many other countries including India.

The other possibilites, West Indies, forget it right away, they did not select two of their best all rounders for the world cup and their best bowler opted out. The once reigning champion, I don't understand why West Indies cricket should be in shambles though they are better off than many other cricketing nations. That past glory is missing and West Indian cricket is now suitable only for twenty twenty cricket.
Sri Lanka. With no Malinga, they can only hope to not play at places like Hobart, where Kohli murdered a nice bowler like Lasith himself. The only motivation for them would be to get the trophy for two of the all time greats who ever played cricket who are playing in their last world cup.
England. Does Eon Morgan have enough strategies and targets against teams in particular? Does Moen Ali play against any other team than India?? Poor leadership.
Pakistan. Seriously? Who will win the world cup for Pakistan? Sarfraz? Shehzad? Forget the hopes of semifinals even.
Finally, India. Sure, India would have won had they had a little change in the squad. No, I am not saying that Yuvraj or Gambhir or Zaheer should be included, they are not playing well. All I am saying is, only if Shikar Dhawan was not selected for the team, I would have placed some of my bets on India.

 

To the team...Proteas!!

That aside, the South African and New Zealand teams are like "teams." With a goal and zeal to win. Talent, yes. Be it ABD, Faf, Amla, McCullum, Williamson or Quinton, they are all in big form. But, thing is the South African team reminds me of the 2003 world cup team. They were even better players than this team but lost it out. No wonder, "the chokers." They always have great players and I would not be surprised to see Keiron Adams play for South Africa ten years down the line. It is again the same with New Zealand also. They some how always makes it to the semi finals but lose it from there on. I love the 1999 and 2003 world cup formats, the best so far and this world cup, I do not like the format. It does not bring out talent. Anyway, though deep in my heart I would appreciate it if India won, I would really love to see a South Africa- New Zealand final.

P.S: I have not written anything about Australia because they are definitely going to make it to the semi final and have many advantages like good players and home crowd support. Let's see!

An RTI to be filed!

Thank you Aruna Roy. The Right To Information (RTI) is really such a powerful tool. I am looking forward to using it, especially looking at the way the Indian cricket team has been selected. I know. I am aware that there are hundred other important things where the RTI could be and should be filed. But among those hundred, I chose this because like crores other Indians, I am a crazy cricket fan!

It is very sad that Yuvraj Singh has not been selected to the world cup playing team. This marks the end of his world cup appearances, obviously. The hero of the 2011 world cup victory, he along with Zaheer Khan and Gautam Gambhir, two other heroes of the last world cup, could have been considered at least. Anyway, the final team was decided much before. There would have been no harm in announcing their names in probables atleast.

Now the playing fifteen. Stuart Binny? Seriously? Who endorsed him? He is not a dynamic young player. He is as old as Yuvraj, fatter than him, not a great fielder and I doubt if he, a medium pacer, can bowl faster than Yuvraj! RTI for that. Who endorsed Ravindra Jadeja? He has not played that well this year for the country except that fifty when he swung his bat like a sword. RTI 2. A young team might be on the minds of the selectors, but at least a thought for the old heroes would have been decent.

No matter what I feel or many others feel about the team being sent to Australia and New Zealand to play the world cup, we are going to support team India. We might bring back the defending trophy, but the void of Yuvraj, Gambhir, Harbhajan, Zaheer and Sehwag would remain! Let us hope they would return with a decent result unlike the 2007 world cup.
Play well, team India! Remember, you playing on the tax payers money. Do some justice to that!

Let the Sportive Spirit be High!!

Another tragedy hit the sporting community. It is indeed very sad and painful that a young cricketer has lost his life for the love of the game, during the game. Most shocking for the bowler because of this unfortunate event. Philip Hughes has been a very promising cricketer. The injury is a complicated one and I hope, like Farhan Akthar who tweeted the same, for mental peace of Sean Abbott who bowled the bouncer which proved to be deadly for Phil, the Australian south-paw. The video is extremely disturbing and it is in one sense nice to know that medical attention was provided immediately to him.

This is a blow to humanity. Sports have kept many countries in a friendly rivalry, have in most cases avoided wars, though sometimes they did start wars. But sports is a main tool to being friendly. That is the use of sports. Sports should never be considered a religion because they are better than religions. If religion defies science, sports in every sense follow science. As a student of physics, I am pretty awed by the physics of sports, be it cricket, football or FormulaOne. I am a Rafael Nadal fan. His play is what makes me friends with hundreds others in the world who are his fans. Makes me discuss and debate with thousands others who are Roger Federer's fans. But the common thing we have is, we love tennis, we love sports. This spirit should remain in our hearts. In our blood.

For the love of cricket!

Last year, a cricketer died. This year another. More so in F1. Jules Bianchi is still in a critical condition after his accident in Japan in early October. Such unfortunate incidents should only bring us closer to sports, and to each other than to keep us away from playing. Yes, the question about safety occurs. Why do we play with a hard cricket ball? Why do we not have a regulation on the speed of the car while racing. etc.. But no, it is not about playing cricket in a space suit. People have to be careful, yes. There should be protection. Maximum possible protection. But all these should not scare us from playing. Here, the stress is on playing. Terrible incidents happen, but we must find out ways to come out of them and keep on playing.

Outside my window in my hostel is a Eucalyptus tree which was felled to construct a bund. The tree fell in an inclination on to a rock and it was left there itself. The leaves, due to lack of nutrients and water dried up and became yellow and then brown. All this time, I have been observing the tree. I thought that is it, land of Ayurveda lost a wonderful medicinal tree. But then, a new plant started growing beside the felled one. Dying ones fade away and new ones spring. But then, two months later, I was shocked in a nice way, to see tiny green leaves on the tree. I thought they belonged to some other tree. They did not. They belonged to the same Eucalyptus which was felled. It took its time, waited patiently, dug its roots deep into the ground again and pulled water and nutrition. Yes, this is a true story.

Felled...but not fallen!!

Hughes might die and Raman Lamba might perish, Ayrton Senna might die and Jules Bianchi might be still unconscious! Micheal Schumacher might have forgotten who Schumi is!! But we must remember. They all loved the game, lived the game and still living in the form of the "sportive SPIRIT"
Let the sportive spirit live long and high, just like the Eucalyptus!! 

Cricket!! It belongs to India

Cricket was born in 1300 and India entered the cricketing scene in 1930s. Ever since, we forgot there are other sports. Of course, we rule cricket and created a God for ourself. Speaking of God, now, shall we start the third world war if the Archbishop of the diocese of Spain said he did not know who Hanuman is!! C'mon, Maria Sharapova is just a famous model and a publiciser of her own sweets and some times plays tennis, very good tennis by the way. What is wrong if she doesn't know who Sachin Tendulkar is! Of course, it would be only good if athletes knew atleast about the greats in other sports. After all, sports is their field.

 

Cricket belongs to India. Well, I really should say India belongs to cricket. How many of us Indians knew that Somdev Devvarman lost in the first round at Wimbledon this year. Oh yeah! Devvarman is a tennis player from India! What if Sharapova said that she did not know who Leander Paes(by the way, a tennis player from India!!) was. What would the twitter account holders from India do? Why only cricket?

Now, talking about cricket, there are what? A ten countries playing proper cricket? And the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) apparently mistook I for International. Seriously, N.Srinivasan, the chariman of International Cricket Council?? Is ICC a shelter home for those who were kicked out of BCCI?? Maybe now Chennai Super Kings players can play for England or Australia if they don't make it to the Indian cricket team. And Rajasthan players can forget their dream of even playing cricket.

India, with over three crore Gods spanning over various fields, failed to create Gods in various sports. Or atleast more gods in cricket atleast. Agreed, Sharapova was too blunt in saying she didn't know who Sachin is. But this is not how she should remember who Sachin is. "That guy who has angry fans" or "That legend who holds most of cricketing record"??
Certainly and unfortunately, the first one might hold here!! Sad for Sachin! 

5 Things to Watch out for this IPL!!

The election fever is already in its peaks with AK-47s guarding polling booths and AK-49s contesting!! A thousand miles west of this, in the desert region of Dubai and Abu Dhabi , the Indian Premier League (IPL) has kicked off! 47 days of cricket fever has begun. There are few things to watch out for this season. Six of them are below.

1. IPL under Sunil Gavaskar
With the IPL under strong scrutiny after the unfortunate spot fixing and betting disasters last year and with the Supreme court ordering Sunil Gavaskar to head IPL, it is quite interesting to see what this cricketing legend has in store this time to keep things in order. That too, the IPL is this time going on in the United Arab Emirates, the hub of fixers. With the fixing event of 2000 not washed off memories, players and officials have to be careful.

2. Sehwag and Yuvraj
These two excellent players were part of the 2003 ICC ODI world cup team which reached the finals, winning team of 2007 T20 and 2011 ODI world cups. Now, they are running a bad phase especially with Viru not able to perform well in the local events and Yuvi spoiling India's winning chances in the T20 world cup recently! All hopes that these two do well! After all 14 crore Indian rupees is a lot!!

3. Player's Hairstyle
From Dale Steyn to Ajinkhya Rahane, from James Faulkner to Stuart Binny, most of the players have sported a stupid hairstyle, the one M S Dhoni started in the last year's Champions League. While it might look good for few cricketers, if every one follows this style, it looks like an army going for march past

4. Archana Vijaya and Shibani Dandekar
Last year we missed the superb anchors of IPL-5, Archana Vijaya and Shibani Dandekar. Some other two did the anchoring. Karishma Kotak I guess! May be they were fashionable enough, I do not know, but definitely they were not good anchors. Also, the song has changed from the hilarious jumping japaang. However, the new song, C'mon Bulawa Aaya Hai is not bad either. Collars up guys!

5. Cheer Leaders
IPL is in the Arab countries!! What about cheer leaders?? They are dancing with clothes fully on! Bell bottom pants, full hand shirts, they look like yesteryear Telugu hero N.T.Rama Rao trying to dance, in old telugu movies. Thank God they were not asked to dance with Bhurkas! If my guess is not wrong, the cheer leaders will be waiting for that day more than audience when IPL returns to India so they can dance with lighter weight on them!!

I am expecting a cloud burst this May 16 when many things happen in India! As far as IPL is concerned, it is still cricket we have to be interested in and players should be careful to keep that cricketing spirit alive!

Sometimes, it happens!...but this ain't sometime!!

~"Kohli is on song. Looks like no one can stop him!!"..."Apparently, his team mate can!"
~"Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Yuvi ko OLX pe bhej de!!"
These are few of the responses received after the wonderful show Yuvraj Singh has put up in today's match. He successfully put a halt to the well paced Indian innings. Lasith Malinga during the presentation ceremony would have silently thanked Yuvraj for his priceless contribution to Sri Lanka. Be ready to not see Yuvraj for sometime from now. Or maybe, not much at all in those blues. Maybe, fans can be satisfied with IPL appearances. It is very hard for the team or for fans to hold responsible one person for the loss but it is inevitable. And watch out for the stone rain!!

Roar silenced!!

Agreed, cricket is a team event and the entire blame or praise goes to everyone. But, you have to consider the work of your team mates. The pain it would be for the bowlers to defend a mere 131. The debate is not about whether Yuvraj should retire now or if Dhoni should have sent Yuvraj at that position when there was Raina who is in very good form. The question is, could some one who won for the country three cricket world cups, can not score a single of every ball he faced atleast in the death overs!!?? Now, every finger points towards Yuvraj Singh blaming him for the world cup loss. The brain which tells that finger to point at this person does not care to remember that this was the guy who played the most crucial role in India's second ODI world cup win exactly three years back.

Loss of form happens sometimes. It is unfortunate. We just have to move on. It happens sometimes. But this is not under that category, "sometimes." This is "onetime." This is a once in two years chance and this is the finals of the ICC cricket world cup for God's sake!! I have seen Indians celebrating the wicket of Murali Vijay on 12 November 2013, the day when the Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar came out to bat for the last time at the Wankhede. They went berserk when an Indian was out. Cricket fans in India went even more berserk when Yuvraj got out after he could not even dispatch a full toss to six!!

Honestly, this is not how you reward your country which is full hopes. Forget the country, this is not at all the way one treats his team mate who has been playing every match, winning them for the county and one who was so keen on having Yuvraj on his side during IPL. Sad part is Virat Kohli is left in tears both after the 2012 and 2014 world cups!! 

Balls Will Never Bounce Back!!

"Ask him to walk on water for the team, he will do it gladly!!"- Harsha Bhogle about Rahul Dravid. The last time India has won a test match overseas was back in 2012 in West Indies. Ever since, a 0-4 whitewash with England, swept clean 0-4 in Australia, 0-1 defeat in South Africa. No hopes in New Zealand too!! Please do not go to Sri Lanka now, team India!! Apparently, the man of the match in the test match last won by India abroad happened to be Rahul Sharad Dravid!

His performance was so good against England in 2012 that even though India lost 0-4, he was awarded the man of the series along with Stuart Broad. 'Looking at his performance,' that too abroad, he was picked for the ODI and T20 series against England. He said that was his last game. He was not even given a proper farewell!! He was the lone battler and the batter in that series and carried the entire team on his shoulders. But no sir! You are not famous. You were not awarded the Bharatratna! You will not be carried on shoulders around the ground. Maybe you did not carry the country on your shoulders.

Yeah you did not. You did not help India win an epic match in Adelaide against Australia in 2003 resulting in India retaining the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Oh! retaining?? You were not involved in that historic partnership with VVS Laxman in that Kolkata test. Were you? No, you did not build that record partnership with Javagal Srinath in New Zealand! The only thing you did in your entire career was, you lost against Bangladesh in a world cup!!

Batsman? Arguably one of the best batter in the world. Opener? Involved in a record partnership with Virender Sehwag. Fielder? Highest number of catches. Wicket Keeper? Not at all bad! Captain? Had a winning streak of 15 ODI matches I guess! Most importantly, PARTNERSHIPS? Do not ask! There is a huge list coming up. Highest number of partnerships. Highest number of century partnerships. Probably has more than 30 run partnership with every number batsman.

I stopped watching test cricket from March 9, 2012. Just heard that he is going to play in an exhibition match for the Rest of the World team. I am very happy that I have been his fan right from his 46 against Zimbabwe in 2003 world cup and ever since and ever after!! I am only sad that people realised his importance after he retired while they called him a defending slob all along! Anyway, there is no replacing you Jammy!! There is no concrete wall to cement your place!! That is why the team is now in a ketchup!! 

Kallis...thanks man!!

38 years of age..capable of playing for two more years. 13174 runs..not far away from 15921. Maybe, in two years time, that mark is reachable. Especially, with 44 centuries in his bag, crossing the 51 mark is not so impossible in around three years time. Especially, I dreaded the mark of 210 catches by a fielder would be broken as he is on 199 now!! Yes, I am being selfish against one of the greatest all rounder cricket has ever seen. Jacques Henry Kallis. My father still asks me during an India South Africa test match if Jack Kallis is yet to come. He used to say, "vaadu bat pattukunte century, ball pattukunte wicket.[1]"  Now I am slightly relieved that the majority of test cricket records stay with an Indian only.
With an average more than 55 in batting and just about 32 while bowling is not an ordinary achievement. I haven't seen one year in which Kallis has not scored century less than twice. Truly, a superb cricketing talent.

By the way, I thank Kallis again for being the Santa and giving us this christmas gift. For calling it a day!! But deep in my heart, I know one era of cricket has come down with the greats of Dravid, Kallis, Ponting, Laxman and Sachin retiring from test cricket.

FootNote: That meant that as Kallis came out to bat, a century is assured and as he came out to bowl, a wicket is ensured for his team.

Cricket- Stress and Strain

In a certain Telugu movie which was portrayed in the future at around 2051, the news reader on television announces that India lost to Australia in a One day cricket match by a margin of 1500 runs! It looks like the International Cricket Council (ICC) has seen the movie and is keen to make it come true. And it seems that the cricketers are in a hurry and want to achieve that feat much before 2051. With the game becoming more of an entertainment than a sport (it is not an olympic sport really), it is just natural that players are stressed out.

stressed "Out"

Two series now running are the South Africa-India one day series and the much hyped Ashes test series between Australia and England. In the eight of the last ten one day matches, India has scored close to 2500 runs which would be 300 runs in every match played even when chasing. Congratulations to the batsmen but what to the bowlers? Condolences? Or congratulations for successfully murdering bowling? I have a strong feeling the Indian batsmen are bribing their own bowlers to improve their batting records!! In any case, this is only leading to the bowlers being stressed out and who knows, in future there might be no one interested in taking up bowling as a career. Already in our country everyone says he/she is a fan of Dhoni or Kohli who are just whackers of the ball but no one says, "I am a fan of Pragyan Ojha or Bhuvaneshwar Kumar."

Quite opposite to this pathetic situation in India, the batsmen of the Ashes series are getting stressed out. Maybe it is because it is a test match?! Just after one test match, English ace batsman Jonathon Trott departed due to stress related issues. This has happened in Ashes before too. All this is due to the over hype and high expectations being rubbed on players who as the 'Gentleman's Game' demands, have to play freely and sportively.  

The ICC president, Dave Richardson in a recent meeting backed the two ball method in one days (a stupid method favouring batsmen by not allowing bowlers to use reverse swing easily) at the same time saying he expected scores of about 250. If a country has the likes of Dale Steyn, Philander and Morne Morkel, it is possible that too only on a seam friendly pitch. But what about countries like India which can produce a fast bowler for maybe just one month after which he loses out? This simple ball butchering is at present drawing crowds and is bringing fame and money for cricketers and boards but it is just for now. I promise that audience will get bored by this not long after!!

At this rate with both the bowlers and batsmen getting stressed out too much, can we dream of watching extraordinary innings like G.Vishwanath's 175 vs West Indies, Laxman's 281 or Rahul Dravid's 233 vs Australia or Sachin's centuries against Australia?? It does not matter even if the game is slow but let it be competitive and watchable!