The Politics of Cricket or the Cricket of Politics?

He is a batting genius, the greatest we have ever seen, my generation has spent one-third of its life watching, thinking and talking about him, still he remains humble, modest, calm and a man of integrity.

He is an economic genius, the greatest the country has ever produced, at least with the greatest impact, my generation has seen so many changes around us due to him, over the last few years he has carried a big burden, still he remains humble, modest, calm and a man of integrity?

It was 1991, he was touring Australia and facing an all out pace attack at Perth. He scored one of the best innings anyone had ever seen. And India’s favorite kid with his Power bat entered everyone’s heart and into the head of Australian pace attack led by a tall guy with a huge moustache.

He was led by a wristy, skillful and stylish Hyderabadi who himself had debuted in mid 80s and was now leading the Indian side. Under him for years to come India remained strong at home, almost invincible, and entered a modern era, the age of ODIs. ODI cricket fuelled a new generation with Colas, Color televisions and new consumerist life. All along this the Hyderabadi gave the maestro a free hand, and let him bloom into what we know of him today.

It was 1991, the economy was in shambles and he delivered a historic budget, which changed India, forever. India was opening up to the world and an entire generation of people was exposed to Colas, Color televisions and a consumerist life. He was drafted into the ministry by someone from Andhra, he had his own style, had mastery of multiple languages and had been in the Cabinet in the mid 80s. And similar to the man leading India on the Cricket field, he gave maestro a free hand, a shielding from the all the politics around him, and allowed him to bloom.

Eventually the Hyderabadi had his downfall, caught in the web of corruption, only to resurrect himself later as, guess what, a politician!

Eventually the man from Andhra had his downfall, caught in the web of corruption, but he couldn’t resurrect himself, maybe there wasn’t a dirtier profession left for him.

As India welcomed the new century, marred by corruption and allegations of match fixing, the most ardent fans had stopped watching cricket, they had lost faith in an institution revered by many, as the simplest expression of honesty. And we got a leader who believed in leading a fresh generation of player, who didn’t think about just thinking, they were there to do it. The skillful, and almost poetic batting of the prince of Kolkata was a precursor to his aggressive displays on the field, we had finally found a leader, who spoke his mind, and made us proud on the Cricket field.

As India welcomed the new century, marred by failed governments, weird games of parliament and the influence of regional parties, the most ardent believers in India’s democratic system had lost faith in the country’s functioning. And we got a leader, who came with his fresh set of ideas, and a team which promised to guide us in the next century. The poet from small place called Balrampur (U.P.) had seen it all, and his calm aggression, both on matters of national importance or economic importance made us proud Indians.

In 2003, India reached the world cup finals, it was lead by the leader whom we thought had it all, but at the finals it seems, his team was too charged up, maybe a bit over confident.

In 2004, India faced another election, it was lead by the same old veteran we talked about, but at the elections it seems, his team was too charged up, maybe a bit overconfident.

…

…

2011:

Our batting maestro still goes on, with his same passion for cricket, all these years might have taken away those curly locks, a bit of speed while running between the wickets, or while fielding. But it hasn’t taken away his dedication and integrity.

But what happened to our economic maestro, well we had immense faith in him. He was a calming influence to the erratic ruling coalition loosely held under the blessing of India’s royal family. We had faith in him, and we gave him his chances. Be it the reservations or the terror attacks everyone stood by him. The entire country showed confidence in the nuclear deal because we knew it was he who was backing it.

But then he stopped talking.

And let things happen, as he silently watched, like a boring Wimbledon crowd, clapping at each ace, be it 2G, CWG, or Adarsh or any such thing which comes up daily.

At one end I see the batting maestro, putting in everything so that he could win it for us.

At the other I see a person, who just keeps on losing everyday at work.

The Death of Longer format

Watching the current India-NZ series made me think a bit. Gone are the awesome days of test cricket when there was a patient build up to the innings, each ball was played on its merit and there was a healthy competition between bat and ball. God, Dravid and Laxman are probably the last generation in World Cricket who can play the classical game the way it was played. So what has changed apart from the ho-hullah of T20 cricket, the flatness of the pitch, short grounds and lesser number of test matches due to jam packed T20 seasons.

I feel test cricket's biggest change has been the role of opening batsman. Where a Gavaskar or a Boycott labored for the entire morning session without a helmet to take the shine off the new ball, the likes of Sehwag, Smith, Gayle hit it all across the park to take the shine off the new ball. Opening batsman of the past were patient enough to see the new ball off, and pass on the responsibility to the middle order to accumulate the runs. Not that they were not scoring runs, but they usually used to stick around, anchoring the innings. A modern day Test opener wants to unsettle the opposition by thrashing him all around the park, then let the captain spread the field and then accumulate singles. They are fearless (given all the modern day equipment, and the lack of awesome fast bowlers). They want quick runs, so that there isn't much pressure on the middle order.

If we look at it both had similar intentions, but the way of achieving it was different.

Now think about how life has changed around you. Well the pitch has changed, there are lot of opportunities, life is faster now. You want to a good opening in life. Everyone wants quick success. Ask any MBA who has recently passed out and they will say, well I will work till I am 40, and then become a consultant, or work with NGO or do something on my own. Till then I want to earn. Everyone wants quick bucks, quick success. Everyone is secure financially, still they want more of it, and maybe few years from now give their children an awesome playschool so that he /she can enter a good school. Be it career, relationships, friendships, everyone wants to keep things short and uncomplicated.

Think of the previous generation, they used to labor it for years for getting things in place and give their next generation a better life. They would face the balls coming their way with courage despite much cover, lesser security, play off the new ball and then pass on the innings to their children to take it forward. It was all so courageous but brilliantly simple and happy.

And I think in between these two generations separating the Test Cricket generation and the T20 generation, we are stuck, the One Day generation- confused and unsure about our existence!

Well Left

Gone are the awesome days of test cricket, when Dravid just used to leave it on its way, even God did it but Dravid was much more elegant in leaving the cricket ball. Commentators always used to say he had an exact idea where his off stump is, a supreme bowler like Glenn McGrath would be hovering around that line but Dravid was extremely sure when to leave it and when to play (followed by an extremely elegant nod of the head, which became a trademark of sorts and something very well imitated by couple of school friends). No doubt he was extremely successful when it came to playing abroad when there were just fast bowlers all over us.But leaving the ball is an art, when it comes to you, you just want to hit it, it requires a lot of patience to leave it and just let it be on its own. Sometimes I felt its the batsman who love ball more than a bowler does, they want it see clearly, slowly they start feeling it and it appears bigger and better to them and aaah, that sexy sound and feel which comes when they hit it.

And then there is the stupid thing called, what they have always called it, life! A lot of things come your way, you just don't want to leave them, because leaving them requires a lot of courage, you are not sure how you are placed, you just don't know where your footing is, and where your off stump lies. Plus we are not patient as Dravid is, we tend to hurry up and nick it on the way at times. And a brush with the ball is mostly a wicket, rarely we would be dropped. You just want to hit at things which doesn't usually happen, and then you finally hit one and aaah, that sexy sound and feel comes from life's willow. Happiness follows, and you are rewarded for leaving things which were not meant for you.

So just try leaving a few things on on the way, don't worry a lot about things you leave behind, there is always a wicketkeeper to take care of them.

Sorry to say but they surely are...

During Hero Cup I liked them but Sachin ended them in that historic over;1996 I was fascinated by them: by Jonty, by Cronje, by Donald, but Lara did them; 1999 they were surely the best, and I cried with millions others when Klusner was run out, Steve Waugh did them; 2003 they were the home side lead by the brilliant pollock, but Duckworth Lewis did them; 2007 they did themselves limping out in semis; T20-1 they played awesome but didnt qualify after loosing to Indians and for the first time I stopped supporting them, I started believing what they were labeled as was true, 2009 and 2010 the pakistanis helped us to prove that the South African Cricket team is well and truly:

"CHOKERS"

Me and many like me have stopped loving South African Cricket

A Part of me Died

Dada, Dada will never ever play again. After the post lunch victory, reality has just started sinking in. It has been eight hours after that historic victory but I have no other thoughts other than Dada in mind right now.

I almost ran into tears as I went through this article Losing my Religion. Its one the best articles on Cricket I have ever read. As Siddhartha Vaidyanathan narrates his story me and all my friends across India felt that he is telling our story. I thank him for writing such a great article. As I looked at this phrase in the post, a part of me died, I felt the same. All these cricketers have been as indispensable to me as my body parts and as they go slowly I feel a great sense of loss and sadness. Its almost the formal end of my childhood which lasted so long due to these great players and the day Tendulkar goes life would never be the same again. Just today I said to someone that almost 4 years of my 24 year life has gone in thinking, watching, playing and talking about Cricket, and these guys made it possible.

I don't know what to write, Dada has been a Dada for me, as a Big Brother he has given me and so many other Indians great moments which we would cherish throughout our life. 1996 when he and Dravid came into the team, I missed his first test hundred. I heard that there is this new guy who is king of off side, bowls some nice swingers too and is very similar to David Gower. His elegant off side drives gives me fond memories of my childhood, after Dada every kid in my township started playing strokes on the offside (generally it was considered that leg side is more scoring with a tennis bowl). Almost invariably when he used to open with Sachin and take first strike he would hit a sweet boundary through the off side. I vaguely recall him hitting Pollock many a times through the off side, the bowl slowly travelling to the fence, and Boycott all praises for the Prince of Kolkata.

As I came from class 6th in 1996 to the 2000's 10th board, Dada had become a prolific run getter in one dayers, I had remained the same students, in the years had passed an unsuccessful world cup, The God becoming the captain unsuccessfully, azhar going in and out of the team, a World Cup where Dada scored a brilliant 183 at Taunton, a World Cup in which I didn't sleep at night and and went into tears momentarily when South Africa lost in the semis, lot of Coca Cola cups at Sharjah where Tendulkar and Dada were killing all bowling attacks, a Sahara Cup where Dada set himself as an all rounder, a period of change in Cricket when Wills ended its sponsorship with the Indian team, Jagmohan Dalmiya headed the ICC, and above all a disgraceful India South Africa series. And then it was Captain DADA.

Although I was a Dada fan but it was after he took up captaincy my respect for him increased, as he and his side with few new players started winning it was a different feeling altogether. Dada positioned the Indian Team as an aggressive unit, for the first time in history I felt that Indian Team was doing something like this, change which Dada brought about was zillion times more than Obama used the word in his campaign. Change we need was brought and it was just amazing. The Great Eden victory still comes in my dream, and the Natwest one, or India almost ruining Steven Waugh's farewell in Australia, and the 2003 World Cup and so many others.

Lot of memories, but sadness is blurring most of them today. Some not so good ones of Dada's spat with Greg Chappell and him being dropped after the Zimbabwae tour, some of prayers which we did for his return to Cricket, some extremely funny like me saying Jai Dada aloud in front of a Dada poster with 20 people standing around before my XAT exam last year in Bangalore, some drunken memories of me and my friend dimpy, patrick and sussu drinking and praying for Dada to score during our tragic loss to Bangladesh in last year's World Cup, more drunkard ones of me and the quark and the enginerd and Ati-Say supporting Dada, and Sandy and Mathuru and Mandu supporting Dravid and Barve as always confused :), some meoments where I cursed Greg Chappel like had none other in my life, two historic moments when I watched Dada Live on stadium, him hitting a Six to Vettori during a Test match in Ahmedbad, him winning in the IPL opener at Bangalore this year, never saw him in one days, some more cursing for Bucknor when half the times gave pathetic decisions to Dada and many a times helped the cause of getting Dada a ban, some moments which I was ashamed of as Dada's Pepsi ad, and another million memories.

I hope Dada finds happiness in whatever he does next, he enjoys life and cricket and some time with his family.

I am happy that I can tell my kids 20 years from now that Dada was there, because I don't think they would ever see a player like him again, they will ever feel the emotions of the game we all love in the same way as we did, but as Siddartha pointed out in his article we belong to this generation and for all of us its a very sad day. Hope is what I have and I hope there will be many more greats who will play for the Indian Cricket Team. In the current lot I don’t have that feel for anyone other than Sehwag or Dhoni. Lets Hope.

So finally this is it, as the Quark would have told me in his favourite singer Jim Morrison's words, this is the end, beautiful friend, or debu would murmured his Darkness filling up the room dialouge, one thing I know, I have lost something which is irreplaceable.

God give me the strength, I would badly need it on the Day when Tendulkar retires.

Technorati Tags: Sourav Ganguly, Dada, Cricket, India

Bye-Bye Jumbo

18 years, for 18 years they waited that he will turn the bowl, and he didn't.

Anil Kumble was never the conventional spinner, one who turns the bowl much, infact at one time we as kids used to discuss how Venkatesh Prasad's cutters turn more than Kumble's leg breaks. But what he had was consistency, over after over he used to place batsman on a grill. If Warnie and Murali had all the fast food instant items, Kumble was of the Tandoori variety, slow and effective.


As a kid my friend Anirvaan or Rikki a big fan of Kumble use to imitate him and his action exactly. So much so that after every bowl he used to adjust his specs (something which the Kumble of those days with a specs and moustache used to do). Tall and broad he resembled Kumble and used to bowl day in and day out like him. His imitation was on similar lines as that of Shameek's Prasad action or my Arshad Khan action :).

Kumble's earliest memories take me back to Hero Cup, where he took 6/12 (if I am not mistaken) against a pretty strong West Indies side. India won that series and that was the first time Day and Night Cricket happened in India. Most from my generation remember that as the first time we saw cricket. (Although I remember the 1992 world cup too, good memory you see :)).

Kumble cleaning up the stumps of Richie Richardson is something I vaguely remember.

From those days Kumble had a great ability to bowl straight, consistently probing the batsmen. Flipper and Googly, both his main weapons surprised the batsmen. He used to slowly setup the batsmen and then use them as weapons which more often than not resulted in success.

Azhar had a major contribution in shaping up the career of Anil Kumble along with India's manager in those days, Ajit Wadekar. Throughout the days of Azhar India remained unbeaten at home and Anil Kumble was one of the major reasons for that. During that period Kumble cemented his position as the undisputed domestic champion.

With Dada came a change, India started winning abroad and Anil Kumble contributed to its success in australia, W Indies, England and South Africa. He had a mkor role to play in all its victories abroad.

There are three moments which stand out for any Kumble fan- the ten wicket haul against Pakistan at Kotla, I still remember praying to god for the final wicket of Akram which he took; his jaw breaking effort at Antigua test where he claimed the wicket of Lara and bowled even with a broken Jaw; the Sydney test (Steve Waugh's farewell series) which he bowled superbly and we came very close to a series victory (thanks to Parthiv Patel and Mr. Bucknor we didnt win it). Although I would like to add another, the Perth test in which he led us to victory last season after the Sydney MonkeyGate scandal. That was another moment which stands out for me.

When he left the stadium at Kotla that day, I suddenly had a feeling of immense respect for this cricketer whose importance many of us realise now. His match winning contribution to Indian Crikcet is unparalleled and a spinner like Kumble will rarely appear on World Stage again.

Hail Kumble and may he have great success in whatever he does next.

Extra Bites:

Harsha Bhogle has paid a great tribute to this great cricketer, read it.

My post on gilly's retirement earlier in the year

Coming up is the super sad moment of Dada retiring :((

Technorati Tags: Anil Kumble, Indian Cricket

Bye-Bye Gilly

India Won just 10 mins back, something which overshadowed completely the last match of Gilchrist, one of my favorite cricketer. It has been a great career, too much has been said about it, I found this awesome presentation on Gilchrist somewhere, do have a look with headphones on.
I will always remember Gilly as someone who stood out from the rest of the Australian bunch, due to his honesty, his sportsman spirit and the way he played his game, and I always say, truly a Mahaan cricketer. He along with Brett Lee are the only current Aussie cricketers whom I like and respect and the respect Gilchrist has is truly deserved. An awesome Batsman who played wonderful knocks such as the Last Year World Cup Final, which Australia won or the then Fastest double century against a South African attack few years back.

Gilchrist on crease has always been an exciting prospect, even today I was praying that he gets a farewell 100, but somehow Australia loose at the same time :-). I was really disappointed when Praveen Kumar rolled him over, lucky guy, the last one to take Gilly's wicket in international cricket. These were his words today post-match, just goes to show his modesty,

"Thank You very much for this acknowledgement. Its probably going on too long(the farewell). Well done india..they outplayed us. Thanks to my family, and friends, and fans all over the world. And finally, to Ricky and the team and the support staff, it's been a magic ride, its not been a fairytale ending but it's been a fairytale career. Thank you so much."

Definitely a fairytale.

The pic I have put up here shows Gilchrist hitting the mid-wicket pull, something which has been his signature shot, as slog-sweep for Steve Waugh or shuffled leg-flick for Tendulkar, and its a very exciting shot.

Enough of words, despite India's victory(an awesome one), I am very sad that it's Game Over for Gilchrist in Aussie colours. Although IPL will give me another chance still everyone will surely miss Adam Gilchrist.

Technorati Tags: Adam Gilchrist, Australia

Jai DADA …Cuck Fhappell...Shappell Cucks...

Dada showed all of us what great player he is, along with Yuvi he broke records and showed people like Dravid and Chappell how great he is. I think now its time both of them realize that they can't destroy any cricketer's career at will and they must learn to respect people like Dada (it will be difficult as there would be no one like Dada again).



What my friend Nitesh another Dada fan said yesterday,

Darvidian Zameen par Dada ka Double Ton...

BTW This post comes from my friend who along with me and Nitesh is the biggest dada fan ever. Shameek didn't even cut his hair for a long time waiting for a dada century to happen. Shameek runs us through the Dada stroy still reminiscent in the mind of each and every cricket fan. So fresh from a hair cut and an amazing Dada knock here is what Shameek has to say,(all what I wanted to say too)

5 log jinko DADA ne us din double hundred maar kar karara jawaab diya hai :

• Greg Chappell : said that DADA was not mentally as well as physically fit to be in the national side.
• Kiran More : said that DADA does not fit into the scheme of things.
• Sharad Pawar : used him as a political pawn as and when he needed against Dalmiya group.
• Rahul Dravid : who did not support him when he needed it the most, may b the biggest mistake by Dravid.
• Bishan Singh Bedi : duniya ka sabse kamina ex-cricketer jo apne aap ko chhodkar baaki poori duniya ko ******* samajhta hai.

Cut back to early 90s...when this young maharaja made debut, not a great one in ODIs and when rejected to carry drinks...People said his attitude is not good and cannot fit into team....He went on to become the BEST captain of INDIA....

Come to 1996....when he was selected for England tour after 5 years...people said, he was selected because of his political backing...and went on to said "He will not continue in team"...then entered the GOD of OFF SIDE making back to back 100s on debut..."Prince is born"

he never turned back and kept scoring "sexy" square cuts...lovely off drvies and those deadly sixes....and there was a time...when he was on par with another GOD of cricket....

When Azhar was out and Sachin couldn’t handle it....he took the onus...people again said.."how can he be captain of Indian team?"...awell...we all know how Indian cricket team transformed from tigers on paper to Tigers on field....

Natwest trophy, beat AUS in India and also in their back yard..beat Pakistan,Won a mini world cup,runners in WC2003 and reached to finals in almost every tournament Indian team played...

People said he can’t play in Australia....his 144 in Brisbane set the tone for Indian fight back in Australia...

Then started decline in his personal form and people started to write off him..

"This is the end of road for Sourav"

"End of an Era"

"End of Dada Giri"

"he doesnt fit into scheme of things"

were few comments...but there were many silly and humiliating jokes cooked upon him..

He was "thrown" out of them team with out any respect...

Even few of his team members who flourished and retained in team under his captaincy didn’t even go and gave a tap on his back...

the prince was left alone. deserted....lost captaincy. lost place in team...but not the hope. not the hunger...not the fire....

December 2006...when India toured SA...team needed some experience and called him back...though people said "he will face the chin music on SA pitches"

"We dont want Sourav" were the press conference words said by the then coach and captain...

But those ignorant people forgot something..."Only challenges bring best out of warriors"...

That is what exactly he proved...played an crucial role in India's Win against SA..and was highest scorer for the series..

People kept saying he is the weak link in the side...and he kept coming up with his own replies...

Now came the thunderous punch to those people...a hundred at his own home followed by trade mark sexy stylish superb 239 which not only made a world of good to him but also bailed team out of trouble along with Yuvi and pathan.

you are looking for a clue to what has helped Sourav Ganguly sustain his spectacular run in Test cricket since his return at the fag end of last year, don't bother looking at his footwork or the flow of the bat. Take, instead, a close look at his eyes while he is batting. They speak of a calmness almost bordering on serenity, and a combination of composure and resolve. You could see it in his comeback innings in Johannesburg that fetched him an unbeaten 51 and you could see it through his epic innings in Bangalore that marked a new high in his career.

People will still say..."he doesn’t have technique..." "he cant play short balls" "he is unfit" "he is weak link"....

And I am sure they will again get their replies from this great warrior....SOURAV GANGULY.... from his bat!!!!


Technorati Tags: Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid

मैं राहुल द्रविड़, भूले तो नहीं ??

मैं राहुल द्रविड़, भूले तो नहीं ??
जो हुआ जैसे हुआ, बहुत बुरा लगता था ...
पर अब मैं तें में वापस आने के लीये बहुत मेहनत कर रहा हूँ.
कया पता फीर से “Pitch पर दीवार जैसे खड़े होने का मौका मील जाए”.
टीम के अंदर या बाहर, मैं हमेशा टीम INDIA के लीये CHEER करूँगा.
अब से जब भी हमारे लड़के खेलें तो मैं ज़रूर कहूँगा , ”HOO HAA INDIA, आया INDIA”
और आप ?? अपने “Jammy” की बात सुनेंगे ना !!!

Dada consulting Dravid now for a comeback. Although I couldn't get a classic one for Dravid like this one for Dada,

कया पता फीर से “हवा में Shirt लहराने का मौका मील जाए"

Just goes to show that he has done nothing except playing Cricket, a great cricketer who just came across as a lame and dumb captain on the field, showing no control over anyone. Although I don't care whether Dravid Dropped or he in, still I feel he is good as a batsman.

Life has just come a full circle, what he did to Dada has happened to him. Dada made him a keeper to keep him in team and he just didn't help him through his bad times.

Looking forward to Dada taking up the test captaincy, for Dravid he will be back sooner or later but right now he is as low as the Marina Trench.

-
Just Another Dada Fan
(Conceptualized by my friend Shameek, inspired from the famous Pepsi ad)

Technorati Tags: Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly

Bhains Ki Taang, We Won!!!

It was the Great Indian Wet Dream, having an India-Pakistan WorldCup final, and surely proved to be one. Starting with the resolution this tournament has been quite up on its sex quotient. This was twenty twenty is all about, its what Sex and Violence do to frigid cinema, its all about adding that extra much needed masala to a great game going through its worst phase after a uber-boring World Cup and suppa-disappointing Champion's Trophy last year.

It hits back badly on purists, most notably the well known Greg Chappell, last employed on the post of decimator of Indian Cricket Team, the one who thought Tendulkar lacked attitude and skill, Pathan is always low on confidence and I won't mention what he did to my favourite cricketer Dada. According to that guy this is just hitting, I just pity him now that this team which doesn't include his favourite player Suresh Raina (wtf) won the world Cup without the coach.

Match Day

Superstitions, a Mallu Star, a Mazdur and a back in Form Pathan

Venue- Quark's Den
Edibles- Veg Puffs, thums Up, Some Desi Namkeen, Some Haldiram stuff and those cheesy chips by Lays (which give me a nauseating hit)

Match started on a poor note, our Match routine which involved,

• a can of Kingfisher for the quark.
• a bottle of Knock Out again for quark.
• a bottle of Fosters/Budweiser for Daisy. ( no Fosters in Australian Match)
• Mast Mirchi Bhajji worth Rs.15.00

was missing. As if this was not enough our sitting arrangements were much more varied then the previous ones and I think that lead ton India's debacle.

Although the Pakistani Bowling was superb. Main mast moments were the opening sequence(run out appeal against Yusuf Pathan), six hit again by him and Rohit Sharma's mast knock. I like this guy because his favourite dish is Kanda Poha which his family was telling the recipe on AajTak. I love Poha(also called Pouva someweher). Just one of many reasons why I simply adore Shara-Pova ;-)...

The second one was the real thing, RP was up right from the word go, it just took an innovative profanity(read Mayawati ka Bhai) to generate that spark and make him pick up the first wicket.

Sreesanth according to me was the real match winner for us, offlate we have compared him to a dangai (rowdy or something, the one involved actively in riots) who can't even throw stones properly. They are all over the place. The Mallu Star is as unpredictable as one could get. Ok he is a match winner if can bowl well, but that rarely happens as it happened against Australia. But I don't really see him out of the team too. surely we have next Ajit Agarkar ready.

Anyway in case these kinds of bowlers are more popularly known as Rhythm bowlers, who bowl when they are Rhythm, utter crap, even I can bowl 6 yorkers an over if I am in Rhythm. Also I think Agression is OK as long as you have stuff within, a samosa without aloo can't even become a papdi.

So such a bowler didn't even hear to all the profanities flying all around the room like charms were in Howgarts (refer final few chapters The Deathly Hallows). In came a new idea to call on Sankatmochan and a round of Hanauman Chalisa brought calm and produced a maiden and another good over.

Similar chants were fixed for each and every bowler,

• Irfan- Jai Dada, with dashes of Jai Dona-Dada
• Sreesanth- Hanuman Chalisa
• Bhajji- Nothing really worked, we tried everything from Jai Siddhu to Jai Monty Panessar to Jai Bhajji himself.
• Joginder- Main Mazdur mujhe devo ki basti se kya- "Ramdhari Singh Dinkar". Refer Bal Bharti NCERT, Class VII. It seems people identified him as a Mazdur from that poem.
  

We were damn superstitious with sitting arrangements fixed, a particular person locked inside a room and me diving at every lofted bowl to the foot of TV stand.

Anyway all this crap somehow worked till the deadly bhajji over and then it were the Indians who won the game. Although I should Pakistanis were an awesome side. Misab is surely the new age Miandad (he almost did a name change from Joginder to Chetan...)

The end would have been surely a disastrous one, all the mantras failed in final four overs, so our brave Sreesanth didn't find his Rhythm and jerked of few forgettable ones. He took a wicket later with a sensible one. RP's next over was again a mast one.

Then came the final one, I have backed Joginder throughout this tournament, according to me belongs to the league of Gavin Larsen/Chris Harris kinda bowlers who can suck of the runs in the middle overs for opposition by their slow line length bowling. Although when his first wide happened, I thought its over, and then a six and it WAS over.

The End couldn't have been this bigger, bigger than the Jim Morrison the end or a Hindi Cinema The End. Or much ironical as Sreesanth held on to an awesome catch (whatever it be it was still awesome for me). In the words of one of my friends company mate,

Misbah thought he was sending the ball to a place where there was no one. He did not know that there is a Malayali in every corner of the world!!!

Anyhow no qualms against Sreesanth as of now, he is the part of the best cricketing moment we ever witnessed. Pathan's comeback has been the most delightful thing which happened, amazing comeback to prove his strength as a bowler and fowl all attempts made by Chappel to destroy his career. Also RP has been awesome throughout the tournament. all in all our bowling looked nice and quite non-scrappy.

What we witnessed was the Best Blue Film ever with 11 Men in Blue completely You-Know-What the pakistanis...

Post Match

It was surreal, completely unbelievable, we were dancing, hugging each other, the neighbours and their kids came out to the balconies, everyone was dancing running around, firecrakcers all around, millions of SMS's being sent around. And when Dhoni lifted the Cup, it was just so GREAT.

Shoaib Malik's post match comments etc...hmm, they were extremely disappointingly. I won't reiterate the same but with so much ire back home it must have been something to avoid it. Pakistan has always been my favourite team when it comes to any tournament (obviously after India) and the only thing I sometimes not so like about them is the importance religion takes in the proceedings. Cricket is the last thing we want to be hampered by such differences. Also I think that it would be better if players are allowed to speak in language of their own choice, it avoids confusion and players can speak out what they feel properly. With Ravi Shastri up their a normal conversation could have been struck and maybe what Shoaib actually wanted to say would have been much more clearer. Even French, Russians, Chinese etc. do it in every game, I think Cricket should get past its colonial hangover of English usage.

Aur Main Ban Gaya Dhoni!!!

Dhoni is here to stay, after Dada he looks the only guy who suits the job. Dravid's captaincy should be forgotten as a pathetic phase in Indian Cricket(though I don't have anything against Dravid the batsman). Dhoni is calm on field, he TALKS, shows less of emotional jhol jhaal, has loads of ads under his tummy (he too has one) and quite unlike most of the Captain brigade he is much more fit.

He has lead India to its greatest victory after 83 world Cup, the first big Indian victory in my life span and many others. Add to that the batting by Yuvraj and comeback of Pathan and you egt the best three things to India this World Cup.

What Next???

Nothing let us roll our Aussies in India, about Ganguly, Dravid and Tendulkar I won't comment much, but for people already starting to shout in favour me not so much in agreement with them.

All in all a great victory and a moment to cherish throughout our lifetime. But all this makes the next year for me and few of my friends so much difficult following celibacy as fallout of the victory.

Never mind anything for the country...:)

* Originally Posted on Pen The Game

Pics from WorldTwentyTwenty

Technorati Tags: Cricket, TwentyTwentyWorldCup, Final, India, Pakistan, Dhoni, Sreesanth

the resolution

Our resolution is so strong that India will win for sure!!!

Gandhi tried it, so did Ronaldo, now its our turn to do it for our Team...May India win.

Jai Dada, Jai Bharat!!!

the two month itch...

Almost two months without a blog post...horrible.

I haven't been busy at all, because being busy means - watching movies every week, going for food outings in Bangalore, playing volleyball in office, meeting new people, writing a few stupid blogposts now and then, talking nonsense most of the times, going home and getting stuck in 4-5 books at a time.

Nothing like that happening, the only good things that have happened for sometime now,

• Billi form reached safely, hope 1st October goes fine too(when the form is rejected/accepted)...

• I tasted almost the Best Wine of my life, some Italian stuff, we had that along with some Port wine from Pondicherry. Awesome stuff which went well with Pizza and Maggi, now I know why people love wine so much. By the way vows have been already broken once. Also maggi is always good, although same can't be said about Pizza. We watched Golmaal with it and again got into a debate regarding dahi-vade it might be post modern dilemma of love, food and women & gender... :)
  
  
• Some good test series scores, some not so good ones.
  
  
• Our project team getting like 2-3 awards within a week.
  
  
• Me scoring a goal, yes a GOAL in my company's annual football tournament. Believe it or not it was a last minute goal hit from half-line. It was fun. Followed it up with a penalty too.
  
  
• I have somehow rekindled my interest in Mathematics, its a lot more fun nowadays, like the good old days of school.
  
  
• Saw Chak De...awesome movie, Shahrukh is Baap of Bollywood.
  

Although most of the changes can be attributed to following factors,

• Billi, padhai has taken me over quite a lot, I have started studying quite a lot, though the scores are not hitting a good tone, but still atleast I am giving it a shot. Have joined a test series plus a coaching and its eating up most of it, i.e. time.
  
  
• Work at office, that speaks for itself.
  
  
• Me shifting from up to down at home (because of Nihar and Sandy moving out), although that has made no difference at all.
  
  
• No Sandy at workplace is a lot boring...:(
  
  
• I have had my Sardi Khasi month of the year ( a period where I can be spotted in sweater, with a hanky, smelling of Vicks Vaporub, gargling with hot water before sleeping, popping Sinarest, Crocin at a threatening pace, choking in dreams etc etc...)
  

And some of the things I have chucked due to work, Billi etc.

• A trip to Cochin and nearby villages, to attend one of my team-mate's wedding. All my bags were packed, my tickets were booked, but Billi came in...:(((
  
  
• A trip to Ooty and a nearby Forest Reserve, staying at a resort, going for midnight forest tours with rangers and ofcourse Ooty tour. Btw all free of cost as a part of Happa's Party (he going to Stanford...:))) again billi came in the way of me watching the Big Billi...:(((
  
  
• A burrp meet which I said would go but didn't show due to office...:((, imagine me missing loads of bak-bak and good food...:((
  
  
• Partner, Transformers, Cricket Matches(although I hate Cricket nowadays), Hey Baby, RGV ki Aag etc etc
  
  
• Blogging, no more of it.
  
  
• Haven't started the seventh Harry Potter book yet, somehow crazily wrapped up all the other six in one month, and then didn't read the last one.
  
  
• Started and chucked, Henry Kissinger's -Ending the Vietnam war, Harper Lee's To kill a mocking bird, Moby Dick and some Peter Drucker book.
  
  

Things that will never change,

• Me not having a Girlfriend.
  
  
• Kapil not having a Girlfriend.
  
  
• Stupid lunch time discussions dealing with Nihilism, work life balance, sex life of IT professionals, extreme programming, signal processing, mother boards, bluetooth, Who will die when you cry, cheap bollywood stuff, how great Satyen Kappu was, How pathetic was the food today, why cheese goes well with wine, there are three kinds of things in this world argument, why postpone GRE dates, why some people don't work, Why grass is green, Why Public Policy is hot, I want to work for UN, I don't want to work at all....huh
  
  Although Nihilism is quite interesting, enjoyed reading a bit about it. Thanks to the quark for triggering half of the above mentioned discussions. And also Kapil and Akshat for chipping in...
  
  
• Sleep and alaasya live on...
  

Moral of the story, get a girlfriend, get a good college for higher education, get a job with high paying salary and you will start watching movies and India will start playing cricket.

p.s.- Don't think I have gone insane, just that I am not getting time to do my stuff, I am used to talking nonsense, so that would keep happening.

Fir Jeet Gayi Australia

3 and still no one to stop (img soure: ndtv.com)

It’s finally over, after a two month old, not so fascinating exercise, the cup ended in hands of deserving winners. Aussies have now 3 consecutive World Cup victories along with a 29 match winning streak, which for sure wouldn't be surpassed by any team, atleast in this century. That day I thought Jayasuriya and Sangakara almost started on a road that was quite impossible, in the end it turned out that way only.

Awesome Cricket from the Sri-Lankans too, as I certainly wouldn’t have hoped any better from any team against the Australians. Aussies are too much to reckon with. The day belonged to three people- Gilchrist, McGrath and Jayasuriya. Gillu with his awesome effort with the Bat, Glenn McGrath for an awesome career which had the best possible ending with a victory in World cup and a Man of the Series award and Jayasuriya for a knock which still highlights his fighting spirit, probably his last in an World Cup. Ponting equaled Lloyd but personally I quite dislike him for reasons quite not so in my recognition.

In a way I am happy that the Cup ended. It was growing into a boring entity which noone cared whether it even existed or not. It was a lethargic event which succumbed tyo an even more confusing and stupid ending. That Drakness Drama which unfolded was stupid and adds no pleasure in viewing, certainly. But the Final atleast looked like a Final with crowds in the stadium and an awesome atmosphere, add to that some god fighting Cricket. Certainly the closest Final after 1996 World Cup.

I am happy that it's over, sad that Gilchrist might be considering a retirement from One-Dayers after this :(

Technorati Tags: Cricket, World Cup 2007, Adam Gilchrist, Australia, SriLanka, McGrath, Jayasuriya, World Cup Final

Gillu Bhai Jio!!!

Gilchrist is awesome. His 149 proved that he is one of the bestest player of our generation and he is one of my personal favourites too. Among the Bestest of Best, I was expecting him to make a double, but sadly it didn't happen.

So 281 is what Sri Lanka need in 38 overs. I think its mostly over with the exception of a miracle from Jayasuriya.

Bestest crowd in the Cup so far, and lots of entertainment, it feels like I am seeing atleast a World Cup game.

Once again, Hats off to Gilchrist.

Technorati Tags: Cricket, World Cup 2007, Adam Gilchrist, World Cup Final

Cricket Without India: naahhhhhh

Black Friday changes its meaning with every passing day. Last Friday could be a subject of a another movie though of yet another tragedy.

Movie is a distant thing though, right now the hours of Cricket meant to be unleashed on TV have become irrelevant. I mean being Cricket Lovers doesn't mean that we as Indians can overcome such a big tragedy so soon.

The night match finished everyone was quite heavy with emotions. Some stupidity on Television followed. Mandira Bedi was so emotional as it she was about to breakdown any moment. It's ok to be Indian and feel for the game, but as a presenter I feel you should be professional enough to run through the show. Somehow Charu Sharma carried the show well.

We should do something to the news channels though, at night a nice looking reporter from Aaj Tak caught on with a bunch of Engineers after the defeat who were shouting and swearing at everything. even a drunk person could have made out that the bunch of people were heavily drunk. Similarly on Star News were Atul Wassan appeared as the "expert" was answering questions of viewers on the telephone half of which came from quite Drunk people. I mean we know you ought to show us everything but thoda decency mangta hai.

The next day I shutdown the TV for the whole day because I know even the television set can't witness all the reactions shown by the news channels throughout the day. I know we all angry but the way these channels put these up makes us, our team and everyone involved look as villains.

So no more of Cricket for most of us, some entertainment will come (as it happened in the South Africa-Australia encounter) but still we will miss India.

Post originally blogged at DesiDabba

Technorati Tags: Cricket, Television, India, World Cup

Its Prayer Time...!!!

No pre-match discussions, no predictions, no prophecies, its time to pray
Let us pray so that we don't become Sri Lankan Lion's prey;

A prayer from heart is what they say, will help the Men in Blue save,
but don't let the prayer be too strong,
as the Blue may become darker and the colour a lil wrong;

The last one for Dada, Dravid and Tendulkar,
the first one for Dhoni and Pathan,
Let all the firsts lasts and middles go on,
Not tumble upon and fly back home so torn;

Somehow I feel the prayer will succeed, as will our team,
but we are habituated to hiccups and our team to indigestion,
even if they win it will be surreal and even if they loose it will be quite away from real;

But still let come together and Pray,
as I, we and everyone from India doesn't want this to end up as a messed up fray.

Techonarati Tags: Cricket, World Cup, India, Sports, Poem

Unusual Cricket Happenings

Aaj Kya ho Gaya Yaar...!!!


India Lost...!!!
Ok thts normal, tht happens, tht has been happening, me damn happy with Dada's performance though. New Dada Rocks. Sehwag thoguh somrthing has happened and the finshing was damn stupid today. Leave it.

Australia Lost...!!!
Now thats crap. England Beat Austraila

did u hear tht...

ENGLAND BEAT AUSTRALIA


Hey Bhagwaan. Last week I started a discussion who will be the three teams in SemiFinals at World Cup and who will be second. Australia is similar to nothing. Ok its similar to nothing.

It was a big Shock.


A SHOCK...

Anyway so sad to see McGrath going to to end his career, played his last match at Australia. Lets hope its a good world cup for him.

Going crazy about Ganguly's comeback

Dada is back to international stage too with a 50, with all others batsmen failing its Dada , the only one to show some good batting(leave Tendulkar the god out) ...
It seems all my predictions coming true, with Dada back in team Dada's boy zaheer in great touch too and South Africa 37/5 it seems too surreal.
Anyway lately finding less time too blog and this seemed to have turned into a ilovedada blog...

Oh...it's 38/6 as I write...

Stupid people who created this stupid website, they should change it's name to what I suggested, ok I am talking about this

ilovedada.com

May they get something good to think about Dada now.

Yesterday it was like each ball bowled to Dada me n my pals were messaging each other. It is crazy but good.

Let's hope India can win this test match, thats what every Dada supporter and every not so supporter of his wants.

Technorati tags: Sourav Ganguly, Cricket, Sports

And he is back...

And no one was much happier than me. Dada's 83 against Rest of South Africa marks the comeback of the great player. Pathan also scored a hundred, maybe it's Dada who lifted his confidence. Whatever, nothing again to be said about the rest of the party.

Hope the Test Series continues in a similar fashion and Ganguly scores nicely. I hope we at least draw one test to be highly optimistic.

Technorati tags: Sourav Ganguly, Cricket, Sports

Back to DADAGiri!!!

Sourav Ganguly is back. But how can a person who was dropped on charges of underperforming, come back to Indian team. His recall is strange but still an expected event. Presence of Vengsarkar in the selection panel means there are now more power centers in the Indian cricket team other than the captain and coach.

It must be a strange feeling for Mr. Chappell as of now, with Ganguly back in the side and the so called experiments going to back to where it all started. The return of Laxman, Zaheer and Kumble was a precursor to the main event.

Although I am still skeptical about how things will work out between Chappell and Ganguly, only assuring factor being the presence of Dravid. He as a captain faces one of his biggest task now, a rollback of everything he tried to do in one year and prepare the team for World cup next year. As of now he should better concentrate though on playing full 50 overs in a game.

But all this can’t take away anything from the Man of the Moment Sourav Ganguly. If he makes it possible it would be promoted as the biggest comeback in Indian sporting history. The Kyon Hua Kaise Hua ad campaign generated a lot of sympathy for Dada in the days the other Cricketers were also not clicking.

Sourav has a big challenge on his hand, if he fails people can pardon him as person who fought for a year to get back into the team and made it, but the bigger challenge lies ahead for the Dravid and the Indian team. What if they fail again? It is sure that if Indians don’t play well in Test Series everyone won’t play well, and Ganguly will be the one giving all his effort (atleast it is presumed that way). Even if there is 10 times more pressure on him than the others to perform, I think finally Ganguly emerges as a winner of this unwanted battle.

A battle never fought on Cricket ground, but went across all the way from streets of Kolkata to the Indian Parliament, to a Cola commercial. And what more is on cards, a one day berth for Ganguly or even more a return to Captaincy (I may be dreaming…). But Indian cricket seems to learning from its neighbours Pakistan in making things complicated.

As of now everyone is praying whatever happens India atleast draw one match in the test match series. Winning what’s that!!!

Related Posts: Hu Ha India...Gaya India

Technorati tags: Sourav Ganguly, Cricket, Sports, Rahul Dravid, Greg Chappell