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.

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

Hu Ha India...gaya India!!!

I don't know why we always pin hopes on our boys. Maybe its blind optimism. Maybe it's the hope that show us( or the ads). Anyway South Africa tours have been generally this way only. 157 run loss is just the first in series. I don't see the tide turning anyway further in the competition.
So what has been wrong, a recent interview with Wasim Akram on some news channel said it all. According to him we chop-n-change too much, add to that our inexperienced bowling attack. But someone told me Kumble has went for the tour, for what playing kho-kho with the team.
It will be better if Indian team does some batting practice, rather than playing kho-kho and kabbadi which may have left Yuvraj out for the World cup.
With due respects Dravid is a great batsman, but when it comes to captaincy, everyone agrees he could be a bit vocal. Rather than showing his presence on the field he remains a bit laid-back. agree that's his style but even with bowlers bowling all places on field he doesn't seem to wither a bit. He should start doing that otherwise its tough days ahead for him. Ganguly and even Azhar in the past have shown their dominance by having a great field presence which maybe important for a captain to have.
The only special thing yesterday was the knock by Sachin. He is GOD!!! Nothing more I can say about the GOD.
Also another good thing was the television presentation on ESPN, bringing back the great memories of days when commentary used to be on cricket not on spaghetti straps. Also the great atmosphere on the ground and the good pitch added to the presentation, quite a refreshing change from the recently concluded boring Champions trophy.
It seems like Kaif and Raina have to do something, Raina especially isn't a hitter and no great innings to his name. Kaif should stop basking in the glory of past achievements which are long lost in the past.
Dinesh Mongia seems to be a good thing for team. His bowling is quite good but its still puzzling why he was under bowled.
As far as Greg Chappel is considered I completely agree with Durga Puja pendal guys in Kolkata who created a deity of Durga with Mahishasura where the ASURA was Greg Chappel. With him in picture first time it seems Indian cricket operates not from field but from outside it.
Please say bye-bye to experiments, Cricket is a lazy man's game, let it be that way.
Anyway check out this amazing post on the same issue,
Kaho Na Massacre Hai

Disclaimer: I am a hardcore DADA (Sourav Ganguly) fan, so this article may not be considered neutral by few, still this is my personal opinion.
Also the title is not against India, it's against the Indian Cricket team. Still if the title offends any I apologise and will change it.

*This one was originally blogged at Sportolysis

Technorati tags: Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar,India,South Africa,Sourav Ganguly

Another Sachin and Kambli !!!

Just came across this article from Mohandas Menon,

Sachin-Kambli record eclipsed

When about 19 years back two Acherakar boys from Mumbai's Shardashram had a 664 run partnership noone would have thought that one of them would be then would go on to become Sachin Tendulkar. The thing is that one of them was Sachin Tendulkar was such an historic event that it overshadows most of the events of that decade and maybe even that century. Noone can deny the god like status Sachin has achieved today but even God shows their best as kids. About Kambli people remember more for his stupid hairstyles (or no-hairstyles) and his crying after the SriLanka semi-final loss at Eden Garden's 1996 rather than his double double centuries against England. He was a good enough batsman always there but never so much there.

Now its the turn of two kids from Hyderabad, India's new sporting hot-pot( Sania and Saina emerging from there) to give us Mohammad Shahbaz Tumbi and B Manoj Kumar. These two non-teenagers have broken one of the longest standing records in Under-18 cricket( Infact highest partnership in CLASS of Cricket) in India scoring 721 runs in a partnership for their school and hope they continue the good efforts till they grow up and play for India one day.

Hoping that both of them goes the Sachin way, not his friends way.

*This one was originally blogged at Sportolysis

Technorati tags: Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, Kambli, Sports