And here goes SCG ! ! !

Now that the whole of India has already started writing obituaries about him, it is not so important to again start the debate afresh. Also, me coming from the same region, this will always be viewed through the stained glass. However, me being me, it would be imprudent to think that silence could be the answer in such cases.

Time and again, there have been innumerable examples of things which could have been done differently in another country. However, India being India, and political or emotional prejudices taking precedence over rational thinking, it is pretty much of no use to inculcate such practices into those so called “wise men” of Indian cricket.

Since, they talk about statistics, then use them to see a few things in perspective –

Player Matches Total runs Aggregate C/w
Sachin 10 727 45.43 5/0
Rahul 13 754 34.27 23/0
Laxman 13 917 50.94 12/1
Sourav 13 1076 44.83 7/4

So, it is not because of his primary responsibility that he could be asked to look for other avenues of entertainment.

The next and the most potent weapon used against him are his attitude and ability to add something extra to the team. Recent newspaper reports (if they are to be believed), state that both captain and the national coach were of the view about him being sort of liability who could be dispensed with keeping others untouched. From the time he took the center, he was known to be less of an athlete who could hold onto his place because of his other abilities. So, this allegation is not new. What is news to me was that others were still adding value even tough all were failing with their primary responsibility. Or in short, auxiliary activities saved the other famous people rather than their main one. Let’s take one by one, including captain who has past his hay days long back.

Sachin – Most agile of the famous five, even at this ripe age he could throw and field with satisfactory results. So what if most of the times, a dive results in injuries, so what if bowling in test cricket has never been his forte, so what if he remains more time outside the team rather than in it because of non cricketing reasons. I have never seen a single time when a doctor has declared him unfit, even if he visibly is. Now in our case, sachin should never be judged with the same yardstick applicable to others. Also, he alone could be irreplaceable because of his past records, others, if they speak such things could invite “logical responses from youth brigade”.

Rahul – “Mr. Dependable” as he is favorably known, is finding it hard to protect his stumps and really struggling to match up to his own standard. His average has been on the lower side among the fab four and his fielding in slips has started to waver. He has missed quite a few of the catches, some of them simple enough to gobble up. He was never a good fielder in the outfield, and hence, his agility was more dependent on his reflexes. Now that thing is found wanting, the only reason of his choice is…

Laxman – Most elegant, youngest of the lot and possibly the most unfortunate not to be a permanent man in the team. The most consistent performer over the last couple of years especially under most troubled condition, he is surely the best bet against the mighty Aussies, and given his record against kangaroos, he is surely indispensable. However, his fielding and running between the wickets has always been under scanner and hence, only his batting could save him. He is the most unfortunate cricketer to have played for India and given the circumstances, he might be in line after Sourav.

Kumble – One of the coolest people on field, however, his efficacy as a bowler was always under question, especially away from home. However, over the past few series, he has been consciously trying to amend that record. If not as a bowler, then he could be also questioned in the same lines like Sourav, and who knows what is there in future, especially when it concerns Indian cricket.

Given all the above, I am still unable to see the neutral rational behind dropping him even though he was the only one who forcefully came back in the most unusual circumstances and since then performed to silence all critics. It was probably his outspoken behavior, his neutrality to all camps and his past which stood against him in the long run. If a chance is given, then what happens if he performs? We could be assured of the failures of the others, but not of this man. No circumstances or no adversity could bring him down and at this juncture it would be logically foolish to provide him with a due place. Hence, the decision to drop him from squad.

It was never to be that he was to get his due and respect once he stood against establishment. It was never in doubt that after he didn’t stand for any lobby, somebody would stand for him in troubled times. At times, you could feel his sadness of proving others wrong every time there is a finger pointed at him.
But, as is the saying, not everybody is lucky to get his/her due in one life. Probably is legacy lies in being SCG, the one and only person who belongs to his own class of royalty.

Chak diya INDIA ??

“Sorry mate, tough luck. Hope you take this pasting more sportingly than your team usually does. But at least your captain got it right – 3^rd final wasn’t needed!” – This was one of the SMSes that I got as soon as India snatched up the historic win at Brisbane to wrap up the CB Tri series by winning 2 consecutive finals against Australia. There were so many firsts – winning a tri series down under, beating Australia in 2 consecutive matches, winning a major final after almost 5 years, doing it without most of the big guns etc. And according to all Indian experts, in all probability the “dooms day” for the invincible Aussies has just arrived. I, like most Indians would love to believe so.

Let’s put things in perspective first – I am not a patriotic by any stretch of imagination (at least not by any conventional ideas). I neither go overboard with Indian wins nor hide underground when we lose. And since we lose more often than we win, it doesn’t give me any extra satisfaction with such accidents.

The whole of India is against the Aussies (for whatsoever reasons) and I am not too sure about the reception that they would get in IPL sooner rather than late. Without even supporting what some of the opponent players did (or tried to do) I could easily say that by the same yardstick we are no Yudhistir. I don’t subscribe to what few of the Indian players viewpoint is and for BCCI to think of pulling out even before ICC came out with its verdict is nothing short of a shameless act as unpardonable as CA’s attitude throughout. After the Sydney test, the whole of India reacted in a way as if Australia had only won because the on field umpires allowed them to do so. Just to give a reminder to my countrymen – not so long before Indian umpires were always questioned about their decisions and partisan behavior, and presently none of the elite umpires come from India. Also, the fact that we couldn’t manage to hold on to 72 overs of play with such a great line up, speaks volumes about our own credibility. So, let’s not debate over our opponent’s supremacy by just pulling out one single test match.

Now, the CB series win. Without doubt, Dhoni and his boys have done a job which no one thought of even a month ago. I was quite amused to listen to Dhoni’s post match speech – the sort of stuff loaded with controversy. I was just thinking how 2 different people could view the performance of Sachin in 2 different ways – Dhoni justifying his team selection; older players pinching the point that it’s still the old horse who laughs last. Without doubt this brings the curtain on some of the most illustrious careers in Indian cricket and I only hope all the best for Dhoni and his boys in the future.

But frankly speaking, what have India done? Records would suggest this win as an aberration, statistics would say wait a bit longer to find out the truth, yet 1 billion people would shout from rooftop to announce that we are here to dethrone the king! I couldn’t help but feel sorry for such followers. India has a winning % of around 45, almost half that of Australia, we have won only 1 WC so far compared to 4 for them; Ponting, Hayden, Clarke and Hussey would any day have a higher probability to tear India apart than a Rohit Sharma or a Gautam Gambhir. Yet we feel so proud to compare apples with oranges.

Consistency is the key. To match Australia we have to be consistent, we have to be ruthless, we have to have animal instincts like them (might not show them on field) and most importantly we have to make winning a boring habit. I remember the accolades that flew thick and fast when we chased down 325 in Natwest final and what happened after that. I just hope that Dhoni doesn’t follow the same route. Given the kind of adulation these players get here, it’s not impossible to lose out the sharpness and play everything except cricket. Dhoni could only save his respect from me by winning and winning consistently. Unless that happens, I don’t see how this win is going to help us in becoming the world champions.

Last but not the least – one of the finest player ever to have graced the arena retired with a not so fairy tale ending. But at least he knew when to stop with head held high. Some of our icons don’t understand such logic before they get a kick on their a@#. Unless back door politics prevail, I doubt we could even get a proper farewell for the most precious jewel. But, I enjoyed his game, I enjoyed every moment of his entertainment and even though I reserve my judgment on his analysis, he would undoubtedly remain one of the finest ever thing to happen to world cricket.

A Poetic Justice ???

July 22nd, 2007 would probably remain as a historic day in a few minds. When the clock ticked to 20 minutes past 4 in the afternoon the whole of Lords stood in unison. It was a moment when one of all time sound test player was leaving the arena while the other one was just entering. For the one final attempt.
India was reeling at 55/2 chasing an improbable target of 380 at Lords and in came the little master, or should I say, arguably the world’s best batsman of our era? The stage was set for him, to make a final attempt and evolve into a genius, to score that elusive century at Lords and save India.
But, as it has been in most of the cases, the expectations got better than his capabilities. After a tantalizing stay of 35 balls in the middle, the murderer of Shane Warne could not judge a simple arm ball from an upstart left arm spinner and the dreaded finger of Steve Bucknor sent him back on the long journey.
The scoreboard showed for the statisticians –
SR Tendulkar lbw b Panesar 16 (42m 35b 3x4 0x6) SR: 45.71

Again, true to its legendary status, Lords applauded the superhero, albeit for a different reason. They acknowledged the contribution this man has made all over the world in the game, the entertainment he has provided to every spectator even though they happened to be those unlucky few who always remained thirsty.

So, in a career spanning over almost 1.6 decades (and still counting), Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has not been able to get a century at the Mecca of world cricket. Not a very big thing to loose your sleep over, ehh??

So what?? Would thunder the billion followers. There are so many players who have not scored a century at Lords. And how on earth could I still breathe without remembering those magnificent innings at MCG, WACA, Old Trafford, Barbados or Johannesburg. How should I justify my love for the game without remembering his service to this poor India (not in economy, in sports, any sport you could think of)? The burden on him is heavier than Hercules’s, age is catching up with him and my connection of Lords with Mecca of cricket – it smells about old colonial hangover man.
And I am not supposed to react. Because you couldn’t fight against a billion with rational statistics.

So what if he doesn’t have a match saving effort in second innings (isn’t it also the responsibility of 10 others in the team?), so what if he is kind enough to rookie spinners but not to Warne, so what if he doesn’t have a triple century to his name and so what if he is only doing a shadow fight in the middle?

In a sense, I find it perfectly justified that most of the present famous Indian cricketer don’t posses moments which every cricketer would love to. A world cup victory, a series win in Australia (against a full strength side) or South Africa, a brilliant match winning triple century at Perth, MCG or Barbados. There are so many of them.

In my book they simply don’t deserve them. Not because they are not talented, not because they are not sincere and also not because they don’t love to win. It is just that we prefer flair against effective, percentage cricket. And it’s not only their fault. It’s a collective failure of the countrymen, of the billion fans and of the system. We could produce a few Sachins or Azhars but not a single Steve or Gilchrist. Because they are not entertaining, they are only winners.
And in sports, like in any sphere of life, to succeed you need people who could fight. They might not produce the magic wrists or godly off drives, but their ugly fight would bring laurels. We keep appreciating the entertaining brand of cricket and then hope that rain would save the day for us.

It’s a natural justice that the famous quartet of this generation (Sachin, Rahul, Sourav and Laxman) retires without winning a series in England or Australia. It’s only but natural that they produce billion fans, but very very few moments which they could cherish long after. I am happily justified in describing those accolades showered on them only because of volumes and market economics rather than pure cricketing jurisprudence.

No century at Lords for Sachin and Rahul? Somewhere somebody really knows the definition of silent justice.

Or should I call it “The Poetic Justice”?

Hero worshipping....

Heroes are the ones who change the history, who rewrite contemporary spaces and inspire a nation to do what they want to do. The most important thing they do, in my mind, is that they create a sense of purpose and romance between the subject and the object. They paint the horizon for the nation to see it glowing and thus start chasing it. It is this powerful engine which then starts driving the society even after the hero has stopped living. This is why they remain great and a nostalgia to cherish.In most modern times, entertainment and sport are the two biggest fields which capture biggest mind share and hence produce most of the celebrities or heroes. Even as we continue debating about their contribution to the building or inspiring of nation, we couldn't ignore them, even in the most hated dreams. Hence, their effectiveness in charging and leading the younger generation in these days are never questioned. Art and entertainment, of which cinema is only a subset has captured the emotions and feelings of so many contemporary societies. We have Beatles, we have "mohiner ghoraguli", we have ravishankar and zakir hussain reverberating the whole nation and Mozart remaining immortal even after so many years.
Similar is the case with sports. They inspire the youth, motivate the laziest of them all and challenge them to dream beyond their horizon. That's why they create fan followings beyond national boundaries and that's why they produce icons after icons for every generations. They transfer their dreams and genes through generations.
Before I was 12 yrs old I never watched tennis. I never had an iota of imagination about that sport, no knowledge about the playing rules and no following for the greats in that arena. But one game changed my whole world. After that it was only tennis, tennis and her matches. I fell in complete love with her playing, her movements in the court and each and every shot that she played. With every winning she made me proud without being citizen of same nations. I prayed for her wins more than I prayed for India, I watched her more than movies, studied about her in all possible articles and magazines more than my studies and cried when she failed to win on rare occasions. But, on all those occasions she never failed to inspire me, even in her defeats she showed tremendous fight and in her winnings showed ample ruthless attitude for the opposition. She coaxed me into watching more of tennis and I ended up watching all macthes for the love of the play. I felt as if I was winning on the court and the day she dropped her racket I stopped watching tennis. I still follow the game but the romance has been missing. That is why she is still my best hero (or heroine?).

My other love and I think for most of the Indians that would be the first love, remains cricket. All its players and icons, every highs and lows associated with it and every win and loss give me that kick which only a glass of old wine could produce. My romance with the bat and the ball, my dreams in those white dresses and my endless prayers and devotions for the heroes had probably started the moment a TV set came to our house. With every passing day I fell more in love with that game, I idolized the heroes and the players more than our own gods. Those were the days when I used to skip everything for the game because I romanced it. I used to woke up early in the morning when India toured down under, stayed awake late night when they faced the charging batteries of Caribbean bowling machines. I respected Sunny and idolized Dev for their fight, fight until death, fight in the defeat and for fight against all odds. I never bothered to check statistics as they never mattered to me, I never watched them because they scored tons after tons or took wickets after taking injections. I watched them because I romanced them, I felt that every boundary hit by Sunny was hit by me, I gasped for more blood every time dev broke opponent's defence.

Those were the best days of my sporting life.

Then came the genius. He took my breath away in Pakistan and almost killed me in Perth. He tore into opponents with utter disdain and for the first time I saw opponent captain saluting a young Indian after his century. I was mesmerized to say the least. I thought god could only play the second fiddle. Times went by and he continued to produce more and more jewels in and out of the field. His shot selection combined with his impeccable behavior outside field, his back foot punch, his on drives and even his ruthless square cuts seemed to me the most artistic strokes one could ever imagine. I was convinced that I was watching god in his own creation.

Then came the fights. Even in my worst dreams I never quoted statistics for my heroes because I never imagined them to fail. I expected him to win me finals but he stopped after the league matches, I prayed for heroics to save a test but he ditched at the last moment, I watched him playing wasting my precious time but he was never the last man standing !! But I kept on fighting. I cheered him overtime he came to bat, I kept him above all suspicions even in those darkest days of betting scandals, I shouted for him being above politics and always believed "form is temporary but class is permanent". Little did I know how I was dying inside and little did I realize how my divorce was imminent. But, one fine morning I found myself to be alone in the room without my cricket yet to my horror I never realized the pain. I wanted to cry for my hero but couldn't bring a drop of tear out of my eyes. I thought I must have been dead.Suddenly I saw my master fighting for the statistic, I noticed a boundary was a tool to reach 10,000 runs rather than slapping the opposition, the fight gave way to team planning and change of guard and romance being thrown out of the window to place reality.

For once in my life, I decided to kill my hero on that day itself.

For me, a hero is a hero till the time he remains a hero. I would rather prefer a gallant death than a prolonged monument of records. I have always worshipped my heroes and hate to see them failing. I only wish he could have realized my pain - the pain that I have been forced to carry with his failures, the pain to justify him under the pretext of statistics, the pain to see him fail and then run for surgery after surgery, the embarrasement of justifying his kingly stature in the face of competition, the agony of seeing opponents dominating him and the shame of bowlers castling him through the gate. I felt all those pains not only when he got injured physically but also when he got out in the most unkingly manner, loosing battle within battles.

Steffi stopped at the peak of her career when she could have easily played for 2-3 more years, easily reaching semi finals and finals of grand slams but retired when she realized she had to compromise on the coveted trophy, got out because she hated defeats. How I wish sachin could have done the same. The least he could have done is continue playing the way he did till the time his physique permitted and then retire. He would have scored less but for me he would have won my heart. I still fight for him being the greatest batsman in the world, but my voice never gets the support of my heart as the romance has long been dead.

I would never forgive sachin for killing my hero under the burden of statistics and ending my romance with cricket prematurely. That's why till date my most cherished belonging had been the poster of Steffi I won in a quiz contest.

I hope my god forgives me for not being a true nationalist.

Highs and lows of my cricketing romance

There have been two completely contratsing feelings during the last few days and I must admit that probably the romance with cricket is taking a back seat for me. There is a lurking danger that in the long run when cricket starts loosing some of its glorious and flamboyant characters or hard fighters, I might not call it a gentleman's game anymore.

At a time when whole of India is busking in the glory of one of the most comprehensive victrories overseas,let me also go berserk. This has been especially a special one and for obvious reasons pumped a deep sense of relief within. On a day when everybody is talking about how great this victory has been, how the team has shown character and fighting spirit after being down in the dumps there would be probably few like me (seriously speaking, sometimes I guess I become too much cynic to handle, but there is this old wine which seems to gush the wrong feelings) who would like to beleive this victory as a different story all together.

There were times when cricket seemed to be the worst game on the planet, Indian team was nothing more than a group of 11 foreign players whom I didn't recognize and kept up the charge only with the false belief that this team doesn't represent a foolish like me. But probably with this victory I would mix in the majority again, slowly but surely. Probably that's why this game is called a great leveller.

The next essay of Indian saga would start on the Boxing day at the Kingsmead stadium, Durban - where India will again start from 0/0. Who knows, they may put up a repeat of the shameful overseas capitulation, they might go down without a semblance of fight which is so natural to this mercurical group or may be to all of our surprise they could pull out one more unbelievable win again.

But whatever happens, I would congratulate a small player in this galaxy of stars to be able to carry successfully my hopes and come out winner against all odds to instill a sense of pride within a community.

This must be one of those days in the history of this great game that after few more days one would like it not to appear at all. But, even as we continue to mourn the loss of arguably one of the most charismatic characters on the cricket field, the truth remains that till date we have been fortunate enough to be mesmerised by the sheer magical power of this wizard.

Lets pay a homage to Shane Keith Warne, the greatest leg spinner ever to grace the cricketing arena. As we prepare to bid farewell to this flamboyant magician, who has been charming to say the least (both on and off the field) - our mind would be reliving those magical moments that he had delivered throughout his illustrious career. The ball of the century, the duel with tendulkar, the famous talk with ganguly (after which he became tempted and got stumpted and India lost the game), the honest confession about the nightmares, the spellbound final over of the 1999 WC semifinal, the innumerable webbing spells of spin magic which enabled australia to be the victorious side - each and every instance would be a part of the folklore which would continue to encourage and inspire children in the future to be a leg spinner.

He is the reason for the popularity and craze behind the leg spin, he is the epitome of all fighting spirit and like phoenix has come alive after every thrasing - be it personal or professional. One of the rare talent who probably has not ever been dropped because of poor form, one of the rare character who sometimes pushed the line too much yet the player who has provided the purest and wildest entertainment to viwers around the world. The scene of him spinnig the red cherry in his magical fingers, the vicious spin which would put any groundsman to utter shame and disbelief and the fear amongst the batsmen across the world about facing him at any time are testimony to his greatness.

He has enviable record against all big cricket teams and unlike some other players has not increased his tally by merely taking wickets against minnows. Also, he has been generous enough to give credit to batsmen when it was due. All these make him a character to remember for ever.

No doubt that cricket would be less attractive from a day in near future and except batsmen, nobody inside or outside the field would enjoy the game unlike it has been till date.

Popcorn and Indian cricket..

Today was one of those days when u hv nothing to do and so surfing and getting bored somehow keeps u back in the office till the time the clock ticks the 6 pm mark. While doing this, I came across two articles. One by one of my favourite colmnist Mr. Harsha bhogle and the other in TOI.
The first one is no doubt a gem of an article which describes the undecided, unprofessional and unhealthy manner in which BCCI is being run while the spat between ICC and BCCI continues to pinch all cricket lovers. Cricket, as it is getting more and more commercialized has taken a backstage and somehow the romance is getting lost. It is now a revenue earner for the organizers and the players, a timepass for a mad nation and an anarchic battleground to settle personal scores and vendetta. In all these hulla-bullahs the genuine cricket lovers are missing and shying away from the field, are giving the telecast a miss. That's not probably going to cost neither BCCI nor players, as this money earning saga will continue till economy is booming and India continues to win one or two matches occassionally. Then there is media to put the final icing. The same panel of self proclaimed experts give confusing and reversing judgements on different channels to make a mockery of the sport and showing their prudence only in choosing which side of the fence they want to be.
I couldn't help but read repeatedly the last paragraph of the wonderful article by Harsha, which probably would offend some modern cricket lovers and new found cricket enthusiast. Like Harsha I also hope that this great game survives this turbulent phase in India.

The second article indicated that probably the old adage of "completion of the cycle" is coming near for some "dynamic duo". If I remember correctly, I have come accross some articles a few days back when everyone was going ga-ga over the master strategist in the indian dressing room and how his "no-nonsense, you-are-not-bigger-than-game" kind a attitude is helping India win matches after matches consistently. Suddenly all hunky dories are over and the Indian team is finding themselves in a slightly patchy pitch before all important South Africa tour or World cup. All is not over yet as one win will change everything as it happens in this part of the world, but but something is pinching somebody. In a spate of few matches the blue eyed boys are finding their cricket bats less wider to cover the swing of the ball or the bowling a little bit more to their unliking. The future all rounder is looking a fish out of water at no.3 position and a section is getting worried over the future of "_____way".With due respect to "resurgent Indian team" I fear that a few more defeats would not be very pleasent for them, as already a poor fellow sitting outside the ring is asking supporters to cheer "Huu-haa india" kind a slogan. The game has stooped so low that even exploiting emotions of a few doesn't matter as long as it generates profit for the treasurer. These days the stadiums are not getting choc-a-block, the passion is missing in the team (vide newspaper reports) and fielding is not a satisfied department to talk about.
How I wish these things had not happened. How I tell that these things are not new in Indian cricket and how dearly I know that athleticism or no athleticism, the cricket played in India is different from the one down under.
I had stopped myself till this date to write anything related to cricket but couldn't beat the proverb of "an idle brain is an evil's workshop". I wish India all the best for the World cup (don't bother about being gobbled up in SA tour, that's a routine story guys) and pray for a pleasent end to one of my most cherished and loved cricketer.