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

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

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

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