Desert Storm Chapter

Sports come up with a lot of intangibles that we often find ourselves emotionally attached to. Moments and memories illuminated by persons and places. We all have our own collection of such precious pieces of memorabilia. Without us even noticing it they grow on us and they make a huge impression on our consciousness. They sometimes form a chapter in our life which goes well beyond the number of pages it should in a completely rational world.

Then one day we happen to read or hear somebody else saying something about that same thing, our very own personal treasure. We often feel that something is not right about this. “Will justice be done to that jewel in the realm of  our memory ?”, we fear.  “Nobody would or could appreciate and revere this as much as we do!”, we prejudice. So now I run that risk of writing about something that adorns the forefront of our cricketing memories. It started only as one of those many tri nations series in Sharjah in the year 1998, but in the end it became a folktale in our lives.

Yes, I am after the Desert Storm, those April nights in Sharjah. If we go by exact dates the desert storm happened on 22 April 1998.  But without what followed on the 24th of April , would it have become an iconic moment of this magnitude ?  So I would like to call this chapter ‘Desert Storm April 22 – 24, 1998′.

We often hear quotes like “Where were you when the Desert Storm happened ?”. But what if  the answer is  that you were in your bed at home, thinking about the game, cursing the cable connection for not having the channel telecasting the match. You wanted to go to a distant relative’s place where it was available, but then as a 9 year child you also wanted to hide the fact from people around you that you are somehow addicted to this game of cricket. Internet, live score updates and live streaming, you never saw it coming then. You picked up the newspaper the following day and had that mixed feeling reading the match reports. You couldn’t have written a better script, you felt rejoiced and you wouldn’t get to see something like this live in the future, you got despaired.

But within a few days you managed to get to see the full replay of the matches, yes replays, not highlights, definitely not the half an hour shows that we are presented with these days on T.V.  That was to be the beginning only. You would go on to watch it time and time again for a million times since then. But still missing out on them live hurt you for a while. You started asking people whether they had managed to see it live, and if they had, you would think how lucky they were then.

Coming back to the highlights shows, on the field, Sachin had already been your king but they introduced you to a voice that was to become a household name in the coming years. Tony Greig all of a sudden would become your favourite commentator.  ‘Whaddaplayer’ gave you goosebumps every time. And every time he said ‘Sachin tendulkar wants to win this match’, after he had managed to get India qualify for the finals, you would hold your breath and watch it even more closely as if expecting him to do it this time. But that was never to be the case, every time he would get out to Damien Fleming, “Tendulkar is walking”, Greig would say, everytime.

But the best part about them is that the highlights of these matches are often shown back to back, one after another. In the finals, you knew that Shane Warne would come around the wicket at once, and Sachin would greet him stepping down and hitting over long on and you cherished everytime the look on Warney’s face. Was he really swatting flies or was that a gesture of the disbelief on the treatment he received.  You preferred to believe the latter.

On days when there would be no friends to play in the evening, you would recreate the match situations in your mind and replay the shots all on your own. You would run down the ground and play a front foot pull. You would then have a look at an imaginary Michael Kasprowicz in front of you and have a nod at him suggesting that you had his measure. You would scamper between the wickets, and after reaching the century, you would be pretty particular about not removing your helmet, there wasn’t one in any case.  You would acknowledge the applause with that bat with an MRF sign holding it horizontally, not lifting it above your shoulder.

But the most you had done in stretching your imagination is when, you would assume a sandstorm blowing around you, all opposition players and umpires lying on the floor covering their face, you having that determined look on your face ready to counter the next ball, not even closing your eyes. Yes, you realized then that the Desert Storm chapter had really grown big on you.

Happy Birthday, Desert Storm (April 22-24, 1998), Happy Birthday Sachin Tendulkar.

Why We Should Bet On Pujara

“Hi I can predict the result now. 3-1. Sorry but that’s what going to happen. Watch out!”   11;32 AM, 24 Mar

“Don’t think so Pujara to win it for India chasing 200″. 11:34 AM, 24 Mar

These are two messages interchanged between myself and my brother in law who is settled in Sydney, Australia. It happened during the first session of the third day’s play between India and Australia at Delhi in the fourth and last match of the test series. He was predicting an Aussie win. Please don’t get me wrong, it was not because he wanted Australia to win that he suggested this but it was because he always believed in their fighting spirit and he expected them to come up with one last effort to save themselves from the humiliation of a 4-0 whitewash. Don’t know why I said that Pujara would win it for India. Pujara is relatively new to International cricket, but somehow I felt that he is not one to fail in these circumstances. Thanks to some impressive rearguard action by Peter Siddle, Australia managed to take their lead past 150. But the 200 mark that I predicted was a long way off as India needed only 155 to win and make history by clean sweeping a series of 4 or more tests for the first time in the history of Indian cricket.

Then Chetheshwar Pujara came out to open with Murali Vijay and India started scoring easily and even though 4 wickets were lost, an Indian win always looked like a formality to be completed . Pujara stroked all around the ground and against all bowlers too. He was so much at ease on a difficult wicket to bat on that even his teammates too appeared to be batting on a different track to him. He finished unbeaten on 82 from 92 balls.  So that was it . The series was over. 4-0 to India.

Later that evening I had a discussion with one of my cousins who is also as much a cricket buff as I am. As usual we discussed at lengths about all that happened in this match. Even though most of what we said were Tendulkar centric, like how he now finds it difficult to come on to the front foot and smother the spin while defending and how he would fare in South Africa and all, there were other things too like how Rahane had squandered an opportunity and how Jadeja had turned into a true match winner. Then there was Chetheshwar Pujara. There was no pleasant surprise about his performance. It was pleasing but not surprising we felt.

One of the things we both concurred about Pujara was that he always seems to be in control of the game, not just his own game,  but from the team’s perspective too. He just has that innate ability to score at just about the right pace that the situation demands of him. Often he has been compared with Rahul Dravid, but from the evidences of what he has done so far in his career, his game has more resemblances to other number three batsmen like Ricky Ponting and Hashim Amla. By no means, he is already in that league but we felt that he provides that right mix of caution and aggression that the team needs.

A sight that may become so familiar

Let us have a look at his career so far and the major innings he has played in test match cricket.  India were chasing 207 to win the match in the fourth innings in his debut match and as part of a team strategy to distribute experience across the batting line up uniformly he was promoted to number 3. He played positively and scored 72 off 89 balls.  It was a very modest target and it was Pujara’s approach that helped to make light work of it.  After his long lay off from International cricket because of injuries, Pujara came back to the team to play against New Zeland in 2012 and marked his comeback with 158 in the first Innings at Hyderabad.  India were batting first and their score of  438 was more than enough to make the New Zelanders bat twice and secure victory.

Then his next big score came in the first test against England. There again in the first innings, he scored 206, his first double hundred and that laid the foundations for an easy victory by the fifth day morning.  Then in the second test match at Mumbai, he played an innings which required more skill and temperament than his double hundred at Ahmadabad because the pitch at Mumbai had some demons in it. He scored a patient 135 spending more than 7 hours and helped India post a respectable 327 in the first innings. But Kevin Pietersen’s all conquering return to England team meant that Pujara’s innings was all in vain and was overshadowed. Sadly he was not able to carry on with that good form through the rest of the series and India lost the series 2-1.

In the series against Australia, in the second test match at Hyderabad, he scored his second double hundred. With a partnership of 370 runs with Murali Vijay for the second wicket, he shut the door completely on the Aussies.  He was the aggressive partner in their stint at the crease and scored 204 runs with 31 boundaries. If Australia had any hopes of a comeback in the series, that was sealed there with that dominant performance from Pujara and Vijay. The last match in the series was played on a rank turner at Delhi. Pujara had already scored an impressive 52 in the first innings before his second innings heroics of 82 not out.

One of the striking aspects of all these scores are that it shows that once he gets in, he rarely gives it away. Out of the 7 times he has gone past 50, he converted 4 of them into hundreds and 2 of those into double hundreds.  Now, that is a very impressive conversion rate. More than the numbers, it is the influence that his scores have had on the outcome of the matches, that is to be taken into account. There are obviously some weaknesses one can identify with Pujara like his not so agile running between wickets and that tendency to sometimes play down the wrong line against spinners. But the results he has produced so far gives us hope for another great period of Indian batsmanship. Along with Virat Kohli, Pujara could become the mainstay of India’s batting for the next decade and if the signs hold true, we may get to witness more brilliantly orchestrated knocks and more great victories in the future.

Late that night I again got a message from my brother-in-law.

“Wrong Prediction from here. Perfect prediction from there. Well done, talk to you soon “. 5:05 PM, 24  Mar

“I just got that feeling like Ravi Shasthri does so often ” 8:25 PM, 24 Mar”

I replied !!!

Sehwag, Legend? Could Have Been? Could Still Be?

Legend. That’s one word that is thankfully not being overused in these times of superlatives in sports, especially cricket. We use ‘brilliant’, ‘magnificent’, ‘super’ and even ‘great’ so liberally that they have lost the weight that they ought to carry with them. But somehow, we tend to be a bit reluctant to use the word ‘legend’ to describe cricketers and it is not to be heard thrown around in search of a filler word for the sake of non stop commentary. In fact, the very first time I even associated cricket and the word legend was while watching the T.V series ‘Legends of Cricket’ on ESPN. It really helped me in getting to know some of the stalwarts of the game from yesteryears and those rankings made a lasting impression on me.  But as is the case with everything, with time those rankings are bound to change. New players would come into the game, new records would be created, new historic moments would be played out, and of course  new legends would be created.  One such player who entered the scene around the turn of the new millennium was Virender Sehwag. He showcased a brand of cricket that was never heard of before, one that only he could try, he created new records too, those that are never even dreamt of before, and he made us fiddle with idea of  of that legend tag to qualify him for a while.  But now, after his international career has found new depths, has he really made into that league?  Whatever that be the case, let us now think about how we should remember Sehwag and how he fills that jigsaw puzzle of cricket memories in our mind.

We should remember him for his non sensational debut for India in 1999 against Pakistan at Mohali.  For playing an uninhibited innings and picking up three wickets to set up a win for India against Australia on his comeback trail at Bangalore in 2001.  For playing that hurricane knock at Colombo against New Zeland. For surprising all us with his debut hundred in Bloemfontein against South Africa, a country where traditionally most Indian batsmen had struggled in the past.  For forming a partnership along with Tendulkar that was reminiscent of that 1996 Cape Town classic written in the folklore of Indian cricket by Tendulkar and Azhruddin. For batting without any pressures or hesitancy of a debutant.  For making us feel a bit guilty for not appreciating his efforts enough at the time as we were too caught up in the Tendulkar classic that was unfolding at the other end. I would like to recall something the former England captain Michael Vaughan once said, that he quite liked the fact that he had to come to bat in his debut match while everyone else around him were failing, against South Africa. He said that it did take a lot of pressure off him and allowed him to play without any fear of failure. Likewise Sehwag too might have enjoyed the fact that he had to come in after a batting collapse in his first match.

Then what are the other things in his early career we should remember Sehwag for?  For becoming a fearsome opening batsman in ODIs within the next year or so. For making potentially difficult run chases look like cakewalks for India with his onslaught at the top of the order. For giving us the impression of a Tendulkar clone in his stance and sometimes getting us confused as to who’s who while they were batting together.  For parting with his preferred position in the middle order in test matches to fill the opener’s slot and for backing his ‘see the ball- hit the ball phiolsophy’. For ‘seeing the ball like a Football’ on most occasions and for making even the best of bowlers think if they could trade bowling for something less taxing.  For letting captains around the world know that the standard three-four slip and gully would not work against him and for forcing them to come up with some innovative field placings. For making a mockery of  tactics by some of the great captains of the times Steve Waugh, Nasser Hussain, Graeme Smith, Inzamam-ul- Haq, Kumar Sangakkara, Stephen Fleming, Ricky Ponting and many more. For teaching us that big scores in test matches could be made consistently and there are ways other than the Marvan Atapattu school of batting to make them regularly.

Then what are the numbers that we should fondly remember Sehwag for ? 195, 309, 155 , 164, 173, 201, 254, 180,  151, 319 , 201 *. These are the scores he made in the innings in which he had crossed 100 during the period from December 2003 to July 2008.  Not a single score of under 150 in that list. For coming up with some strange theory on why he manages to score those big hundreds so often.  If I ‘m right, he once said something along these lines that after scoring a hundred he would try to score even more quicker because the more time you spend on the wicket you are more closer to that moment of being dismissed and so he would like to score as many runs as he could before getting out and that naturally would lead to those double hundreds and triple hundreds. It was something that defied common cricket logic but we should remember him as not one for conventional cricket wisdom. One that is not much into history of the game either. One that didn’t find it shameful to ask “Who’s Vinoo Mankad ? “after his opening partnership of 410 with Rahul Dravid against Pakistan at Lahore in 2006 that fell just 3 runs short of the world record opening partnership of 413 runs made by Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy in 1956.

What are the moments that we should remember Sehwag for in the later half of his career? For that second wind from early 2008 to 2011. For that successful opening partnership with Gautam Gambhir that was a major catalyst to India’s rise as the No.1 test team in the world. For being a key component in India’s World Cup victory in 2011. In almost every game he managed to give India that initial impetus though he hadn’t always kicked on and made bigger scores in that tournament. For showing his clarity of thoughts in the biggest of stages. Two of enduring images from the World Cup were when Sehwag had asked for reviews of his LBW decisions in the semi finals and finals. He felt the need to save his wickets,  so he straightaway asked for the reviews without consulting his partner. For  breaking the record of highest Individual score in ODI cricket with his 219 against West Indies in late 2011, that one record that seemed destined for him all the way.

Then there are some not so nice things that we should remember him for. For the well publicized, less than cordial relationship with Greg Chappel. For the alleged captaincy ambitions and the dressing room split up with MS Dhoni.  For the extended run of lack of form for the last couple of years culminating in his booting from the team. Sehwag coming out to bat with a spectacle to aid his vision was one of the most symbolic events of recent Indian cricket history.  The man who was once renowned for his great hand eye coordination now reduced to some one who need help to enhance one of his most natural gifts. At the end of it all, the question remains:  ”Has he made himself a legend of the game? or the more important question now is “Will he get a chance to redeem his path to become one?, a chance to belong where he should ideally be and to make himself a household name for the coming generations through another of those ‘Legends of Cricket’ series.

Let The Cheers Never Stop

If I am honest, I must say that I now take some pride in adding some ‘I was there’ moments to my live cricket viewing experience. And so there I was at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi for the second one day International between India and England. For a start, the name of the venue doesn’t evoke the same feeling as an Eden Gardens or a Wankhede does, there must be a dozen or even more Jawaharlal Nehru Stadiums across the country, as in the case of Mahatma Gandhi Roads in India. And secondly, It wasn’t a match where somebody made a record or some incredible batting or bowling performance was seen. Usually we associate ‘I was there’ with matches like these. So what was so special about the day ?  I would like to call it this way. ‘I was there’ when the Indian cricket fans made it clear that they are not detached from the game as some point out and that they don’t need the cosmetic tweaks that some T20 league offers to a viewer’s experience to bring them to the ground. ‘I was there’ when the Indian fans made their voices heard and that too in a big way. ‘I was there’ when the noise levels for a match inside a stadium reached its maximum. If only they had a device to measure the decibel levels like the speed guns.

Frankly, when I decided to go for the match, I never thought that it would become a sell out like this. It was a weekday and Sachin Tendulkar had retired from ODIs. So I thought only nuts like myself would bunk their work and be there at the stadium. How wrong I was. I went with my cousins for the match and we got into the stadium a good two hours before the game and the crowd was filling up quickly even by then. We took our seats. One of the most enjoyable parts of reaching early is that you get to see the players doing their warm ups and the cheers they get when they first come out indicate how popular each of them are. People were ready with ‘Miss You Sachin’ placards and those with out that were too missing him, just like us. We were left to ponder how it would have felt if Sachin too was there playing.

So India won the toss, and they were batting. The English bowlers started with some short stuff and  the openers were forced to the back foot and then two fuller deliveries accounted for them, clean bowled, both of them. Yuvraj Singh looked in supreme touch square driving, half pulling, cutting and scoring nearly a run a ball. At the other end was Kohli. He came into this match with some poor form and struggled through most of his innings. The spinner Tredwell got Yuvraj LBW and it was a poor decision from the umpire. As he was coming back we could see how disappointed he was at that decision. He was fuming with a mouth full of foul language. But Kohli was not to be left behind in that respect. After a delivery where England had only 4 fielders inside the circle, Kohli asked  the umpire to call that ‘no ball’ and the umpire was having none of it. Kohli looked really angry and the next ball he faced from Samit Patel, he hit a six over extra cover inside out and I thought, yeah, finally he is back in track, but that was not to be. Chris Woakes got Kohli caught at deep point after an unnecessary attempt to charge the bowler.

We were left with the Captain and his trusted partner. Dhoni must have spend more time with Raina than with his wife Sakshi, oh no, why am I trying to sneak in these unwanted jokes here. Anyway Raina was playing cleanly if I have to use a word for his batting. Hitting boundaries from time to time and running well between the wickets, he made sure that the run rate was not dropped down drastically. As expected, the batting powerplay did India no good and they lost the wicket of Raina while it was on. Jadeja joined Dhoni and India was still not getting a move on. Their run rate never took that big leap during those overs and it was always around the 4.5 mark. After 42 overs India were 192 for 5.

Dhoni Going for a Six

Then came the moments that made this match memorable. It was not that surprising that India got 94 tuns in the last 8 overs considering MS Dhoni’s pedigree as a finisher. There is a template to a Dhoni innings in one dayers now. He just waits and waits and unleashes in the last few overs. He may play a lot of dot balls but he hardly hits a skier too early in his innings and get out leaving his side with no one to finish off the innings. Even though the crowd were cursing him while he was struggling to hit the boundaries at the beginning, at the end it was only ‘Dhoni Dhoni’  ringing around the place. At the other end, Jadeja in the initial parts struggled to get the ball off the square for even singles and then some loose deliveries by the English bowlers let him off the hook and that was it. He finished the Indian innings with 4, 4, 6 and India reached 286, which was a lot more than we expected half way through the innings.

The English innings virtually got over in the first 15 overs. After threatening to take the game away from India, Cook and Pietrersen got out. Cook was a bit unlucky with LBW decision though. England were 4 down after 15 overs and with no batsman of the class needed to pull of this chase, all of us were assured of an Indian victory by then. We were feeling a bit disappointed because the edge was taken away from the game. Even though we wanted Pietersen to get out it would have been far better if that had happened after him hitting a few sixes to where we were seated. In the end it was a bit of an anti climax as England folded up in 36 overs and that was that. Our day at this theater was coming to an end, a premature one we felt. To be fair to the English, the pitch started turning in the latter half of the match and batting looked tougher as the match progressed.

As I pointed out at the beginning, what made this match special was the crowd. They or rather ‘We’ were having a party out there.We must have done countless Mexican Waves and it was a sight to behold every time. Kevin Pietersen tweeted the next day “ For the record – last night was the best atmosphere I have ever played in front of.. Deafening! Thanks Kochi.. Love KP x “. I often fantasize about getting to watch a test match at Lord’s or at MCG. These traditional venues carry such an aura and romance that makes them a cricket tragic’s destination in dreams. But last Tuesday, even a free trip to these places would not have taken me away. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was my place, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Kochi, Kerala, my own state was my place. 2012 was a frustrating year for Indian cricket supporters. With this win at Kochi, let us hope that 2013 will see a turn around in fortunes for our team.

The tea had been sweeter for a while

They say that the North Stand at the Wankhede offers the best view for watching Cricket. Not that it mattered much to me, I decided to make sure that I get one of the best seats in the North Stand to enjoy a day of Test match cricket. November 25, 2012, the third day of the India England test match is the setting. Ever since the fixtures came out for the series, It was pretty apparent to me that I would be there or rather I must be there for any one day of this match. I had already booked the tickets for the match online, but I had to collect my ticket from the counter outside the venue. So I missed the first 20 to 30 minutes of the day’s play. England had got off to a decent start to the day by then, but I was not at all thinking about the match situation. I was too busy getting myself seated properly and getting a feel of the atmosphere.

13 cricketers all in whites were doing their stuff in the middle. All kinds of them were there. Heroes and flops, Those who delighted us and those who disappointed us, Those on whose abilities we believed and those whom we doubted. But my mind was wandering. It took me some good 10 or 15 minutes to really come to terms with the fact that I was having a taste of International cricket.

Pietersen and co. during a drinks break

Coming to the match itself, now it is already well documented that what Kevin Pietersen did that day was something outrageous. He stood tall, defended calmly, played with the spin to the offside, slog swept, and lifted the ball straight back past helpless spinners. When a batsman goes like this it is always intimidating, but when Pietersen does it it looks a bit more, just because of the frame of the man.

When Cook and Pietersen were going great guns I was like this: “Yeah, I am here to see cricket, why bother about not being able to see India’s batting ? “. But India had a dream session after lunch, England lost 6 wickets during the post lunch session, and there I was, or rather us, the whole crowd, after all, our sunday was not to be spent for those Poms batting. We desperately wanted our Rockstars to wield their willows in front of us. There was an overwhelming sense of relief on the face of everyone.

Sourv Ganguly coming out to do some pitch side analysis during lunch break

So there were to be had 33 overs of the famous wristy, elegant Indian batting. The noise level at the Wankhede just went some notches up. But if the previous session was dreamy for India, this was nightmarish. Sehwag was the first to go. Chetheshwer Pujara was greeted with “Pujara, Pujara” chants, but poor man, his dismissal was accompanied with the loudest cheer for the entire match. He must have felt like he was given a false reception earlier, but it has been happening to every second Indian wicket for years. I was ready with my camera then for the occasion. Sure, no other sporting arena in the world would ever witness what took place at the Wankhede for the next one or two minutes. The video can be seen here

A shot from the Indian Innings

Tendulkar was beaten by Panesar a couple of times. The stumping claim which went upwards produced the most nervous moments of the day, The big screen read ‘Third Umpire Decision Pending’ for about a minute, but finally he was given Not Out. He scored two boundaries of Panesar too. He was stretching himself forward and smothering the spin well, it looked from the stands. But then the quicker straighter delivery did the trick, the finger went up instantly and that was it. Sachin was walking back. I was not opportunistic enough to be able to pick myself up to capture that moment of silence, which would have complimented nicely, the earlier video of the reception given to him.

Some started leaving then. With a tinge of disappointment, I stayed back to see the day coming to a close. India lost 7 wickets in that single session and the match was almost lost. It is not everyday that you get to see live cricket from the ground. So regardless of the match situation I was feeling great as I came out. I was seated near the press box where there were some familiar English faces like Michael Atherton and Lawrence Booth. I often looked at them, were they chuckling ? no, it was just my fickle mind. One thing about the hospitality at the Wankhede must be said. I have not been to many venues, but this renovated Wankhede has to be one of the most spectator friendly venues atleast in India. The security arrangements never came in the way of the viewer experience.

The Media Box

In 2002, as Sachin Tendukar was about to play his 100th test match, Tom Alter, the actor wrote a piece for Rediff. In which, he summed up a cricket fan’s emotion beautifully :
“Let us celebrate all the mornings he also has gifted us — the mornings when we wake and know he will bat today; the mornings when tea is especially good and hot, and the air clearer and crisper — only because we feel blessed inside, waiting to see him play”. Since the day I had decided to go for the match, I too was feeling blessed inside waiting to see not just Sachin, but this grand old stage of a Test match and its nuances and the twists and turns. Well, my tea had also been especially good and hot and sweeter.

IPL and the soul of cricket

Writing about a topic that gets discussed often is a challenge as you are always bringing up points already said. Well, it’s the IPL that I want to talk about. That makes the task even more demanding. IPL, the great Indian Premier League, Within 5 years of its arrival on the scene, It has been discussed and written about more than even the English Premier League at least in the media. We can say that it polarizes opinion like anything. I recently had a discussion with a friend who lives in Bangalore about the IPL. On a casual note, I just asked him whether he had been to any of the IPL matches in the city. The fourth-right friend of mine responded strongly saying that he hates the whole system of the IPL and its structure or the lack of it.He spoke about how the people of this country are cheated by some greedy corporates who are willing to milk the game to the maximum for their own benefits. He is a guy who always has a straight forward opinion on things and when it is about nationalistic issues he leaves nothing untold. So it was not surprising for me to hear that from him. In his opinion, the IPL is a money making machine which runs for up to 2 months in the hot Indian summer and just makes a fool of ordinary Indians. Then I had to mention about the kind of support this year’s IPL had received all over India. That’s the most important factor in this business of IPL, the support from the public, the masses.

The way the Indian public received this year’s tournament was heart warming to see or heart breaking depending on which side you are. Crowds packed the grounds and they cheered for their stars wearing the coloured clothing of the franchises. The commentators and the broadcasters too were on a no holds barred mission to make the IPL the flavour of the season. They roared to the maximum decibel levels and the DLF maximums and the Karbon kamaals were made sure to be heard at regular intervals. Yet, I believe that IPL on TV is not appreciated the way it is at the grounds by the public. But at the end of the day, all is well with the IPL, yes indeed all is well with the IPL, the business, the money making entity, the extra innings’ played by Bollywood stars on cricket fields, everything falls in place and it is here to stay.

I had my reservations about the long term success of the IPL from the beginning. But this year even after two of the most disastrous tours of Indian national team, people are ready to spend their evening watching this unscripted drama that takes place in their city centers. They took their children to the grounds and cheered for Chris Gayle and co. If their team won, they were happy, if not they were not dispirited and just took pleasure in uploading the pictures taken from ground zero on Facebook and lived the next day as any other. What people wanted was some entertainment and the IPL did indeed provide it. We Indians do love to party and when a Cricket match near your home town provides it, why give it a miss. Going back to my dear friend, this is where the cheating happens according to him. To him the whole business is a murky deal. Another way of making black money white and we are the falling preys of this extravaganza. Now, this is not the first time these sort of allegations or doubts of credibility are expressed by people and you must be wondering where I am going with this. I nodded to all of the things said by my friend but the thing that hurts me about the IPL or cricket in general has a far different context to it than its internal corruption and politics. My biggest worry is best described by these 3 contrasting images.

Eden Gardens for the 1998 test match between India and Australia

Eden Gardens for the 2011 test match between India and West Indies

Eden Gardens for the celebration of the IPL 2012 victory by the Knight Riders

Now, these images do tell a lot about how the Indian cricket fans have evolved over the last decade or so. Eden Gardens once used to be this theater where around 90,000 thousand people turn up for a test match in a day. For someone who familiarized with the game in the 1990′s watching a match played at Eden Gardens even on television used to give goosebumps. I again have to go back to the lines by Rahul Dravid during the scarcely attended test match in 2011. “I remember coming here in the 90s…. it was 100,000 people, 80,000 people watching a game of cricket. In some ways, it is little sad. There was a magic about this ground when the atmosphere was electrifying with 80-100,000 people cheering”.

When I read this there were a lot of mixed emotions bubbling inside. It was so nostalgic that it brought a smile within me. But suddenly I realized that there was a kind of admission in his words that this place will never be anything like it was in the 90s. Now that was the order of the times that we live but it is painful for all who have that emotional attachment to the game. If anyone happens to read this piece and starts to wonder what this emotional attachment is, then I’m sorry for ruining your valuable time.

The large turn up at Eden Gardens for the welcome party of the victorious Knight Riders team proved one point. Indian fans are not detached from the game of cricket. They will go to watch a game, but they would rather have it as short as possible. I only hope that nobody comes up with a Hong-Kong 6′s style tournament in India with all the international stars. The IPL provides a chance to see the best of the International stars giving their very best and it all happens inside 3 hours. So why should you waste your time and money on Test matches. There is no definitive answer to this question that I can give. This is no place for a Test vs T20 dissection. This is just a portrayal of how times have changed in our country with regards to the fascination to the game of cricket. I do watch the IPL because it still cricket but does it have the soul of cricket, I doubt so. I would rather not have the IPL if that leads to a change in attitude to Test cricket from the people and the administrators and larger attendances for test matches. Hoping to go to watch India’s next test match and without offering any real solutions to the problems that the game faces in our country that ends another post on cricket.

The Fairy Tale Man – Rahul Dravid

So on Friday, March 9, 2012, Rahul Dravid will call it a day to end an illustrious career at the very top level. I can safely say that I haven’t watched the first ball or the last ball (If he is not going to play a farewell series) of this journey, but many in between and that’s a given thing considering he is the batsman who has faced most balls in the history of Test cricket. I know I am nobody to analyze his career or even pay tributes to him but i think the time is right for me to just go down in memory lane as somebody who had cricket in all my life as as a constant companion.

When Dravid started out, Indian cricket was still coming to terms with that dark day at the Eden Gardens. So that  Lord’s debut by the Prince and his deputy (I think you know who’s who here) must have been a refreshing sight for the cricket fans. 95 on debut and If my memory serves me right a series of well crafted half centuries followed. I don’t know whether they used that word ‘nervous 90′s’ back then but I was made to believe that Rahul Dravid had some serious mental blocks getting to that magical 3 figure mark. Thank god, there was no one to cheekily suggest to him to hit a six when on 94.

Then came the hundred and it was against a very decent bowling unit (mind you, a lot existed back then) at the Johannesburg. I was not into the finer nuances of the game then (only 9 years old!) but one striking feature was his pulling and I can infer now that he had a better than most horizontal bat shots in his array. In the One day series that followed, Rahul showed us that he can take on the best in the business and talk the talk if necessary during that match up with Allan Donald.

By the second season of his international career, He was given a label. No, “The Wall” came much later in the script. Informally he was given the tag of the ultimate defensive batsman who is there to help you save matches and occasionally help you get enough sleep without any pills. Some of his one day international knocks in fact did cry out some “Need for Speed” but he did play some good knocks even then like this one in that Saeed Anwar match.

If ever there was a ‘turning the corner’ moment in his carer, for me it has to be the 1999 World Cup in England. The love affair with the English pastures just got better.Two back to back centuries in the league stages, although both were to be second fiddles were an eye opener for all those who criticized his limited over skills. In that Innings at Taunton, Dravid was the aggressor initially by all accounts and I still remember those back to back boundaries of Pramodya Wickramasinghe. There are not many batsmen who managed to hit Murali Inside out against the turn over cover for six. He did that day. 445 runs and the top scorer of the event. Not bad for a player who couldn’t get the ball off the square.

What followed was an era in Indian cricket that I doubt will ever be matched in terms of the quality of batsmanship  Apart from that horror trip down under 1999-00, the new millennium gave Indian batting a new dimension. The 2001 home series against the Aussies proved to be the catalyst. The mighty Aussies were made to fight for every inch and in the end they were humbled. I don’t have to say anything more about the Kolkata chapter, all were already said. Recently when he made a hundred at the Eden against the West Indies, he spoke fondly about the atmosphere of the place back in the 90′s and he lamented the lack spectators these days. This is Rahul Dravid, the man who has his heart in the right place and cricket in the right place inside that heart.

He was virtually getting a hundred or more every series and his numbers in both the formats were shooting up. Then India went to England ready for a fight. As the tour went on the Indian middle order was getting stronger and that showed in the results. Who can forget that massive gamble by Sourav on a green top at Leeds and the hundreds by our big 3. When India won the math, I was expecting Sachin to collect the Man of the Match as he was the top scorer, but it was given to Rahul considering the way he handled the hostile conditions on day 1.  At that time many Indians including me would have cringed but it did teach me that this Test cricket is more than what you see from the outside.

Then came Adelaide, then Rawalpindi and others. Truly he had become “The Wall”. At that stage of his career there was a fluidity to his batting as he could play risk free cricket and still score quickly enough to set up wins for India. In fact he brought up his hundred at Adelaide thorough a six of Gillespie. He was no more the man who plays the support cast he was the main man, the one wicket the opposition always craved for. Tennis elbow and all sorts of other ailments to the master supported that belief. Naturally, he was given the Captaincy when Sourav broke up with Greg Chappel. Some very impressive results were achieved at home. India won for the first time in 35 years in West Indies. But the enduring image of Dravid’s captaincy period was unfortunately another one from the Caribbean in that WC debacle of 2007,after India were knocked out by the Srilankans.

2007 was the year of changes in Indian cricket. MS Dhoni took charge and from then on Dravid was being looked upon as a test match specialist. To be fair, his performances were not of the high standard that he had set during the hey days. Although the 2011 English summer indicated of a return to vintage times, Some nasty Aussie quicks were smart enough to find even the smallest of cracks in the wall and repeatedly expose them. Yes that’s it.  Dravid realized that it’s time to move on. He now knows that won’t be able to add any more fairy tale to the history books of Indian cricket. From a cricket fanatics perspective, I would like to believe that Dravid played his last Innings not on the pitch at the Adelaide Oval, but at the Bradman Oration where he as everyone expected gave the finest of speeches and showed us what cricket meant to him. The romance that he has with the game is something special. I won’t say cricket will be poorer without him, because you can never take cricket away from Rahul Dravid.

What’s the name of the game?

“Cometh the hour, Cometh the man”, “Master to the rescue”, “Another epic by the legend”, these where some of the headlines that flashed through my mind ever since i had come to know that India needed 156 runs to win going into the last day of the Mohali test. The recent adventures by Sachin were reasons enough for anyone to think along that line. But I must say that some other possibilities like “Sachin falls, India falls”, “Aussies too strong” were also getting their fair share, after all you have to consider the worst cases too,isn’t it? Anyway i was anticipating a very interesting day ahead.

So i switched on the tv at about 10 and the score was 102-5, so there was a 50% probability for Sachin’s being the one wicket to fall. But his form and Zaheer Khan’s(who was the night watchman) batting credentials might have made it a 30%, at least in my mind. After a few seconds i saw our master at the non-striker’s end asking Raina, who was the runner for Laxman to call properly, the percentage dropped to zero, not that it mattered anymore.

Things don’t always pan out in favor of our man, except when he is a bollywood hero(or a terminator).Yes, it happened, Tendulkar tried an upper-cut to a ball that didn’t bounce much and was caught out at gully. He made a decent 38, one that seemed like the possible top score for the Indian innings, after all he is allowed to fail having scored a 1000 runs in the calendar year.

Then came the ‘Midas touch’ MSD, but he couldn’t take his chance to silence his critics. It’s funny, isn’t it when a 70% win record is not enough to do that, but that’s what happens in a country of 1 billion people and 2 billion opinions. So India was 122-7 and then 124-8 minutes later. So It seemed like Ricky’s final frontier was almost conquered, though I’m sure he would consider winning an urn at the end of an English summer as the ultimate now.

So Ishant Sharma joined Laxman and India needed 87 to win. The rest is beyond me to describe and I’m not going into any of it. All I can I say is that Test cricket can be as great a sporting spectacle as any other.The tears in my eyes at the end confirmed it and that’s exactly what made me write this. No T20 cricket can be this intriguing. I’m curious to know the percentage of Indian public who would choose a Test match like this against a 400 runs t20 match where the result of every ball is obvious a 4 or a 6.

I must admit that I didn’t consider Laxman as a match winner anymore and I’m happy that I was proven wrong. We should hope that he enters an after 35 rejuvenation period just like Mr.Tendulkar did. The Indian win, I think, deserved a lot more media attention than what it actually got, but that’s understandable when there is a CWG going on in our country.

Indians are keeping an eye on the games, but that’s the biggest problem with these events, we keep only one eye on it. We just want to know how many medals have we have won, that’s it. What’s the point of being proud of winning a medal when we can’t enjoy the sport that fetched it. We don’t watch a Bindra shooting his way to gold or a Sushil Kumar wrestling fiercely or even a Saina Nehwal making strides on court. I’m not blaming anyone, but we should first have a taste of the sport before the stars, only then a CWG in India makes sense. Stars may come, even an Olympics may come, but it won’t change our sporting culture, what else to expect when Sports is considered as a hindrance to one becoming a graduate. However the games federation deserves their credit, they resemble a typical modern Indian Student who prepares for an exam just the day before and manages to pull off the impossible. ‘Slow and Steady’ for 7 years may win you the race, but who cares when ‘Fast and Furious’ for 7 days can do the trick!

World Ending-Looking ahead

The dreaded day

December 21 2012, what is so special about this date? Most of us would have known by now that there is a theory going around according to the Mayan Long Count Calendar that the world will end on this date. I’m certainly not good enough to go with this theory or counter it with facts. But one thing i can do is imagining a world awaiting its end. What will be the response of some famous persons to this adversity. So let us think about 2012 and the world order then especially our India’s. All of the things I’m going to describe are purely imaginary and not meant to hurt anyone(I know my readers’ count and none of the people mentioned here are among them to see red)

Rahul Gandhi seems worried

Think about our nation and its leaders. The Congress will still be in power at the helm and their biggest threat will not be from the B.J.P or the Communist party but the disaster that is about to happen. By then the Communist party will be in a race against the ‘world’ to see who ends first and the B.J.P will be hoping for a new world where they can start all over again.(How optimistic are they?) Rahul Gandhi will be the biggest loser and he may ask the election commission to advance the parliament election by 2 years(a small matter of time) just to get the Prime Minister’s chair. One man can be seen not bothered about anything.That is Mr.Chidambaram. He has every right to be like that when even losing the election by a huge margin could not take his cabinet post away.(“Come what may, I will be here”, he said in an interview).

Raj Thackeray:Maharashtra before the world

What about the Siv Sena and the Thackerays. They would be busy protesting against the world ending theory saying that it’s not the Mayan Calendar but the Marathi calendar that foretold this situation.(By then nobody will have time to listen to them). Another important personality is Ajmal Kasab. He will surely be in some prison awaiting trial long after his act of ‘innocence’. What will his mindset be? Whether he would be laughing at the Indians seeing that the fate for them is the same as that for him?

RGV: No more lights

Ram Gopal Varma will be praying to the gods(Not the good ones,but the evil ones) to give him and a friend of him some more time so that they can make another of those mind-boggling films,may be one about the end of the world. That friend is without doubt, Mr.Amithabh Bachchan. Mr.Varma even suggested the god to take away the sun if necessary as he could manage his film in mere darkness. Meanwhile Shahrukh Khan and Karan Johar might be planning their next film in moon instead of their beloved U.S. But they are sure to go back to that tried and trusted name for the hero, Rahul, what else after the debacle ‘My name is Khan’.

Lalit Modi: IPL should go on

Come to cricket. Lalit Modi can be seen seeking possibilities to shift the IPL to a planet that is not affected by the world-end. He would be busy in meetings with scientists from NASA to find out that whether the pitches in Mars or even Pluto for that matter is playable.(“Good Job Sir”). Ricky Ponting might be a desperate figure then. He would have hoped that once Tendulkar retires, he can go and get all the records. But just as Mr.Tendulkar calls it a day, the world is coming to an end, poor old Ricky.The same time in Pakistan,they would be discussing who should be the last ever pakistani captain(the third one for 2012) and Shahid Afridi would be hoping that he might get it this time around after his long lasting ‘services’ to Pakistan cricket. There are so many other faces and incidents flashing through my mind like the re-union of the Ambani brothers to make them the richest in the world, a subdued presidential election in the U.S for 2012, Bill Gates donating all his wealth to charity and so many things like that. Finally I must say that this world ending theory is hard for me to believe, much harder than to believe I’m not alive.

What makes a man commit suicide?

I was in the Island Express today coming back home. As always i was hopeful that somehow i could find a seat somewhere. So after getting into the train i started that familiar prowl from one compartment to the other only to find out that for the next few hours I was destined to be enjoying(if i could) those scenes outside standing at the door. I must say that they no longer drew my attention.

This is the time when you get into some serious thinking.I thought about those lucky guys who got a seat and seeing some of them making up for some lost sleep made me mad(not really) and i thought why these trains are always so crowded.surely, it’s not because they are too small that makes us think that the world is inside them. Anyway, thats not my matter of concern at least untill the next journey.

After a while i naturally turned my attention to the outside and that thought came into my mind.What if i just jump outside of the train now.I knew i was never going to do it. But it was rather a good subject to ponder myself with. I was sure that it was not the first time that i engage myself with these silly(if it is) mysticisms. So “what is it that makes a man commit suicide?”.

Is it that difficult to commit suicide? One way of looking at it is that there are more people taking their life off than getting a nobel prize every year. That sounds too simple. After all it is an easy thing to do if you just consider the physical efforts needed to do it as the metric. Like in this case, the distance between me and the door. What makes it difficult is then that desire to go on and live a better life if possible.

The reasons for one deciding to kill himself vary from one case to another. But they all have the same goal or purpose. Actually will one have any goal after setting their mind on a premature end to their life ? Suddenly something struck me. An answer with a tag saying that this must be right.We don’t often get them such that you trust them. The answer i got was pretty interesting. Nobody would do anything without hoping to achieve something at the end of it. The same goes for suicide also. So what is it that they are trying to achieve?

Consider the case of a poor man who decides to end his journey middle way through in a train. He should be suffering from many hardships in his life to convince himself that this is the only possible way out for him.So when he takes that last step forward, ahead of him lies some short moments of joy and relief. He gets that split second where he realises that he is then free from all his troubles. He no longer has any debts or liabilities. He is no more dependent on anyone or anything in the world. He is his own man for that fraction of time. That must be some feeling for a man who had all his happiness taken away from him and that’s exactly what he craves for.

So i was quite pleased at the end of that session of thinking knowing that i now have an answer to the question “what makes a man commit suicide?”. Even though that session had ended then, my journey still had three-quarters of it left. Thats the beauty of human mind. It can take you to anywhere within seconds and come back in double quick time that not even a bullet train could do let alone our electric trains.