The road to acme

Not the ODI World Cup 83' or the Twenty 20 World Cup 07' or the many ODI and Test series wins. This is the apotheosis of all the things that are revered as Cricket in India – Number One status in Tests.

Believe me, this is what is called tryst for a nation which joined the cricketing fraternity at Lord’s in 1932, and then assimilated the game as seamlessly as a leaf blends the falling dew. It has been a long walk, 77 years to be precise. But the road has witnessed each and every aspect of Indian life reflected in the simulacrum of Indian Cricket. We started under the captaincy of Lala Amarnath, rolled out the two fastest bowlers till date – Amar Singh and Mohd Nissar, cultured the batsman ship of CK Nayudu, brewed the Vijays – Merchant, Hazare and Manjrekar, moved to Pataudi and the quartet of spinners, sprung the geniuses of Gavaskar and Kapil, catapulted the might of Tendulkar, metamorphosed into the gall of Ganguly, serenaded the batting Fantastic Four, and then finally were crowned the diadem of Dhoni and company. It has indeed been a bloody long walk.

Not long ago, about a decade back, I was driven to tears on each falling performance of the team. How I yearned for them, how I watched them with belief in my eyes, how I hoped for them even then they were collared by each and every team of the world. Away wins were nil, the batsmen only home-pitches fowlers, the bowlers non-mentionables, the whole system in fact full of fancy but bereft of result. How I hankered then, could we be the Number One ever?

I again have grown misty-eyed. This time choked by the emotion of that cricket-crazy kid and teenager. Nothing can describe the moment for me. For many reasons, the Number One ranking may slip sooner than later, and may not even arrive again. The ranking itself may be farcical, but nothing can take away this moment of success. It is the moment of salvation of all those pleas and prayers for the better times to come. Sure they have come. And the times will only get even better. Believe you me!

The cricketing week's thoughts ....

If everyone joins the praising chorus, you too need to see who the muse is - The exact reason why I had to watch the kid, Umar Akmal. It was a double delight that the Test match at Dunedin turned out to be a real gem too. Sambit Bal couldn’t have put it better in his article at Cricinfo.

To be frank, Umar Akmal doesn’t look a cut apart, from his stance or shuffle. But the appearance has never been a reflector of genius. What I liked about him was his audacity – the single most feature needed to succeed in the current cricketing world. His movement in the crease is ungainly, but his unfettered bat arc-movements are equally mesmerizing. His one pick shot off Vettori was a treat to the eyes. Certainly a player to look for in future, but let’s wait before anointing him another Miandad or Tendulkar. Imran Nazir too had evoked similar feelings when he had stroked his way into limelight.

I couldn’t watch another debutant, Adrian Barath’s century. I had watched him in the Champions League though. He too looked a marvelous player, another one of ‘the League of Stroke Makers’. No wonders, he succeeded in the first chance itself at the highest Test Level too.

So, what is this ‘Attacking Instinct’ that brings the riches? A puritanical heresy, but the need of time – I must say. I can’t imagine a player who plays defensively to succeed now-a-days. Not only now, but also in the recent history, Dravid, Kallis and Chanderpaul haven’t been given the same kudos and accolades as Tendulkar, Lara and Ponting. This only-Test-Match batsman ship –undoubtedly great though- is going to be less bankable commodity now for the players. No batsman can afford to be good only in Test Matches, and dispensable in Twenty20 or One-Dayers. It was really ridiculous to hear Simon Doull say once that Daniel Flynn should be given extra incentive, read money, to keep honing his skills only for Test Matches. Bullshit but ever more harmful for Flynn.

If you analyse the current decade for the best batsmen to come out trumps in all forms of the game, you would undoubtedly zero in on Sehwag and Pieterson. They have exceptional records, but more than that, a no-fear psychosis to grind the opposition. Harsha Bhogle recently observed Gambhir, along with Duminy and de Villiers, as the best crop of batsmen currently on form. But a few good years more are needed for them to be put into higher bracket.

So, while we celebrate some new batsmen coming along the way, let’s also pause, ponder and pray for similar kind of bowlers too to emerge. Ajantha Mendis was such a delight, and I hope he is not finished yet. But look at the rest. A litany of average performers. The drab pitches are culpable, but also is the inability of the bowlers to adapt, or more importantly, to attack as the batsmen have done to override them. What delight if we can again see the hurling bouncers of Garner, Ambrose and Thomson, or the spitting spinners of Warne, Qadir, and Kumble!

Why we love Sachin Tendulkar so much?

Few people would understand why we love Sachin Tendulkar so much, sometimes to the point of incredulity and insensitivity. Many Aussies, Pakistanis, English, or any other person who follows cricket, consider him just a good batsman, and not a demigod which we revere every now and then. Peruse the Indian dailies and Cricinfo, and you will see series of digital space rolled out on him after his completion of 20 years in international cricket. There are all sorts of praise and perspectives given by some great luminaries of the media and the game. And not that this frenzy is happening for the first time.

Quite ironically, that frenzy remains the biggest aspect which pulls me too to him. India as a nation is quite enigmatic which for, even natives like me is difficult to fathom. He arrived in that India which was unsure of and diffident about its place in the world. He fought alone against that psyche. When India was just satisfied with drawn Tests and a few memorable one-day wins, he actually showed the urge to be dominant. Not that he succeeded fully, as you can see the team’s records in 90’s. But he showed us how to fight, and he fought for all of us. I could never understand why I grew wide-eyed with mist in my eyes whenever I saw him bat in those days. India lost many matches in spite of him, because of the rest 10 men, but there was a utopian ‘me and India’ playing out there. We just wanted him to excel, more for us than anybody else.

Things have changed dramatically since then. India as a nation has moved on considerably. That dream is getting changed into reality, even though there are lots of setbacks too encountered in between. The recent one-day series loss against Australia was one of those throwbacks to the old dark days. But believe me, there is a lot of hope about everything. It would be tough to comprehend for people who have been born in developed countries or those who have only seen their countries go down, what this hope means. Tendulkar remains one of those who gave us this frenzy of hope, the feeling that we too can succeed. That remains probably the single most reason why we love him more than the actual Gods which we have only read about.

Best Quotes on Sachin:-

• "On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations. The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing century, batting on 98. The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century. This Genius can stop time in India!!" - Peter Roebuck
  
  
• I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two...hi compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel! - Sir Donald Bradman
  
  
• Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives. - BBC Sports
  
  
• When Tendulkar goes out to bat, it is beyond chaos- it is a frantic appeal by a nation to one man - Matthew Hayden
  
  
• When Tendulkar bats well, India sleeps well - Harsh Bhogle
  
  
• Everyone wants Tendulkar's story to be a fairytale story, but if ever there can be a fairytale story, it would be of Tendulkar's only - Me :)
  

What the heck!

How could they lose? I was cent percent certain that India are going to whack the Aussies in the one-day series. I was about to blog floridly on that, before the series had started. And I had my reasons and beliefs. Good that I didn’t write, for it doesn’t feel good to eat your words.

But I must vent out my anger, rather say, my frustration. Have no doubts, this Indian team is amongst the best, probably the best, on talent terms, in the current international circuit. Have a look at the top 7 batters, and it should send a shiver down the bowlers. Bowling and fielding are not of the commensurate standard, but they look so because they are not executed properly on field. Somehow this team doesn’t want to excel. They take one step forward, and then two backwards.

How could we lose the Mohali and Hyderabad one-dayers? I can’t fathom it yet. Ponting would have been smirking. These guys are the same chokers of the late 90’s. Sachin out – the rest of the team follows. Oh! I shouldn’t have mentioned that. Why it happens with Sachin? I was in my school, when Chennai 1999 had happened. I haven’t been able to get over that yet. How will I get over Hyderabad?

But as I say and write each time India underperforms, life goes on. But somebody please tell those buggers, they are only good if they improve; life circles and teaches in funny ways, even to the lordly Cricketers.

A painful death !

What an excruciating moment! You have left any hope, but after a while you come and see Australia seven down for 176. Then Johnson too goes. Pakistan are favourites to seal the contest. India too in the meanwhile has rolled Windies out for 129. Is a miracle going to happen?

Alas! it doesn't happen with India. I knew this, and was petrified. But hope is another name for us followers of Indian Cricket team, however far-fetched it might seem. Second by second I was hitting the refresh button of cricinfo or cricbuzz to pray for the 9th wicket. It never came. But more than the defeat, I am angered by the sudden glimmer of hope that had taken over me. It was a painful death. Pakistan tried hard, but if they ever wanted to excoriate India, they couldn't have done any better.

Anyway, we shouldn't be looking that far. Fault lies with the Indian cricket team. They never looked like winning, and deserved to go. As I write, they are struggling even against West Indies. Phew! But as someone has said, "Life goes on. " So will mine.

A Tale of Two Captains

Not for nothing do the courageous win. They win to reemphasize that courage always courts success. And courage is more often than not exhibited through the daily demeanours.

Watch any exhibit of Younis Khan or MS Dhoni. You will nod; they are men with difference, full of confidence and abreast with reality. Not brash but demanding, not comatose but cool, and not flaunting but florid. You can actually view the ideal man possessed in them.

No wonders they are successful captains too. MS started with the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007, when nobody had given his team a chance. But his real metamorphosis happened in the Australian tour of 2008, when he led the team to lift the one-day trophy there. His record has been nothing sort of sensational, compared to Indian records hitherto. Test victories against Australia, England, New Zealand are some indeed great feats within a short span of time. Add to that the phenomenal one-day victories streak, so much so that he will lead the world’s number one team tomorrow.

Younis too started his captaincy with the Twenty20 World Cup win in 2009. But I think he should have donned the role much earlier. Actually just after the One-Day World Cup in 2007, in the place of Shoaib Malik. Pakistan’s cricket went nowhere during Malik’s captaincy. Judge my confidence and success barometer with the droopy face and stunted utters of Malik. Younis is much more on-the-chin personality, never dithering to state the obvious, even if trifling. His ‘Twenty 20 is a fun’ remark drew a lot of flak, but he won the World Cup, to rub in the face of all those detractors. His subsequent retirement from Twenty20 only exhibited his ken of priorities in life and cricket.

Tomorrow these two duel it out in Centurion. Believe me, more than the match between the sides, this will also be a test between them. Come what may the result, I am sure they both will battle each sinew to win it for their county. A cricket connoisseur can’t ask for more. I hope and wish that MS wins, and don’t be surprised if he had to really slog it out to earn it, because of a similar character on the other side in the captain’s jersey.

Congrats England !!!

Though I couldn't follow the last two days at the Oval, the result was good enough to make me happy. Now the world order is settled; a new war for world domination is on. Nothing could be more gratifying.
So, England rejoice for the moment, and please take the one-dayers seriously. New Zealand, start making some runs. India, concentrate on your bowling; you won't be able to make the semi-finals of Champions Trophy if the pacers don't perform well.