A truly unique sport

There are thousands of games people play around the world. Every game has its peculiarities. What sets Cricket apart? What is so unique about Cricket that makes it shine amongst other games.

The first thing that always strikes me about cricket is how the most little and completely unrelated things can affect the game and its course. For example, a small duration of little cloudy weather can turn the game on its head. A little patch of grass on the pitch is enough to get a bowler going. Even the smallest movement around the sight screen can get 'Sachin' distracted. A tiny bit of seam if goes out of shape on a ball can result in such nasty deliveries that umpires have to carry scissors.
Wow ! I have not seen a single other game which is so... if I may say so ...'delicate'. Do you agree?

We are just getting started... next thing, umpiring ! Now this is very interesting. Do you know any other game where umpires or referees have to judge so many complex decisions in a split second? The ball has to be over the shoulder and below the head height to be adjudged as the one bouncer per over... In the first second umpire needs to check whether the bowler's front foot is not crossing the front crease and in the next second ... well the next second is a hell's visit for the umpire. Next second has to decide anything among 'whether the ball is within the batsman's reach' or 'did batsman nick the ball' or it needs to check 'whether the ball crossed boundary or it bounced before that' All of this before he can blink. Can you blame the guy if he takes an early retirement :)

next thing, weird rules ! Just now we talked about decisions that umpires have to dish out in seconds. What's the root cause? Its because the game was designed by a computer programmer. Don't believe it? What other explanation is there for the LBW rule ?

If the batsman intended to hit the ball but missed it and the ball pitched exactly in line with the stumps; not too high as to go over the stumps, not too wide as to miss the stumps then he can be deemed out protecting his wicket with his legs.
But wait, what if batsman didn't intend to hit the ball at all ? well, in that case, the ball doesn't have to be inline with the stumps but it needs to be concluded that the ball would hit the stumps if the batsman was not in the middle of the ball and the stumps. That's just one rule ! There's a whole book full of such weird rules. I hear its bigger than income tax rule book.

Now one last thing before I rest my case ! the pre-game setup; We have to have a huge ground, that's a starter. Then we have to have a specially made strip which has to be guarded like a bucket of water in the desert. We have to have some grass on it; but not too much; few cracks are allowed but it shouldn't be like a cracked glass either. Then we talk about various gears that players need to wear. Shin guard, chest guard, elbow guard, pads, gloves, talk about protecting yourself !! I wonder why we don't call it Rich gentleman's game :)

Now there are many more such things that make the game that it is, and one little article is not nearly enough to cover all of them; but one thing is sure. All these little quirks, little uncertainties make our beloved game so much more interesting, so much more unpredictable and that is a big reason why we love it. Can we imagine if all the grounds, all pitches in the world behaved exactly same ? Would we like the game if every ball that got bowled ended up in the same place. No we won't like it; we have baseball for that ;) And baseball or any other game for that matter is not Cricket. And that's what Cricket is 'A truly unique sport'

Cheers !

Leading from behind the wickets

What's common between a captain and a wicket-keeper ?
When they are at their best; they are invisible.

Have you noticed that the wicket keeper is prominently noticed when he goofs up? Like a dropped catch or a mis-field that goes for four.
If he collects every ball as he should or catches a batsman out , well that's his job !!

So the sign of a really good keeper is that he doesn't get noticed.
Similarly a captain gets into limelight most often when something's not going the way it should.

Now combine these two things and you have yourself a hell of a job. Now add 'Indian' in front of these 2 skills and you have even more trouble coming your way (I don't need to explain why!!)

So when the whole nation calls M.S. Dhoni the 'captain cool', it is not without a reason. Very rarely have we seen in Indian cricket a player so unanimously accepted as a captain by the whole country without even a tinge of objection. Even more rarely have we seen the player respond to this trust with so much consistency and with so much calmness.

A very important reason why Dhoni has become the most successful captain in India's cricket history is the simple fact that Leadership is always by choice and never by force. The captain has to feel that he can lead his team to victory and at the same time all the other players have to share the same belief about the captain. And this is where M.S. scores big time. Be it T20, ODIs or test, players seem to respond to him and that is the essence of our success for last few years.

Another aspect where he gathers a lot of respect (and this quality is my personal favorite) is his honesty and ability to criticize himself and his team. I think we heard some of the most straight forward statements from Dhoni in last couple of years.

'If you want to irritate someone that should be the opposition and not your side.' to Shreesanth or ''Lets be honest, we are not going to be the best fielding side" such comments had been unheard of before Dhoni stepped into captaincy.

Even with players like Sachin, VVS, Kumble, Zaheer, for a long time what was missing in Indian cricket was the leadership. Ganguly started the modern aggressive style of captaincy; Dravid, Kumble carried it with their own unique dignified style for a bit and now it rests with Dhoni. And with Dhoni it rests for good. This is the best thing that could've happened to Indian cricket; a strong, balanced and shrewd captain. The captain who can take the team to a new high level; the one who can induce confidence into players that they can achieve what others might consider impossible.

With batting lineup other teams can only dream of; quality bowlers and the best possible captain to lead the troops, Now is the time to dominate over the Cricketing universe; now is our time;
I am sure I represent all of the Indians when I say this.
What we are seeing now is just a beginning of an era. Team India is THE team; blue is THE color and Dhoni is THE captain. Indian cricket is in very good hands.

Cheers to that !

Dear test cricket

It's been a long time we watched you in action. Even though we had T20 big bang IPL and we enjoyed it but it's not the same. There's only so much fast food we can eat, after a while we need the wholesome square meal to feel really good. So we've had our (more than) fair share of burgers and chips, now we need some real food. We are waiting for the 'Chicken soup for cricket's soul' :)

It's almost strange in some sense.With the frightening pace of T20 popularity and sort of sidelining of ODIs, test cricket we had in last 10 years has been exceptionally amazing. Be it the 2005 ashes test where Australian last wicket partnership of 60 almost won them the match, or the Perth test match that India won after the infamous Sydney test, we need such unbelievable test matches; and we are craving for it now.

In the age of change, you are one of the few things that stand the test of the time. We might seem okay with the ever changing modern versions of the game for a while . Who knows, they will introduce six-a-side cricket soon. But we really need you to make ourselves understand that it's not just about bat and ball. It isn't always about the speed of things, not always about aggression.

We need some real classic encounters where it is all about building a story in the course of 4 days, 12 sessions, and then taking us gradually to its climax on the fifth day where the whole match hangs in balance very delicately. On one side onus is on the remaining batsmen who would die for getting the remaining 200 odd runs and on the other side bowlers are lining up for a final burst.

Oh those turning pitches in India ! those bouncy tracks and lush outfields in Australia, 5 slip fielders waiting for a catch like a tiger waiting for its prey, fielders breathing down the neck of the batsmen, a snotter of a delivery that whizzes past the batsman's ear over after over, a resilient batsman under that helmet that just won't throw his wicket away,

oh how much we miss this !! We wait for you.

Yours faithfully,
a cricket fan

Galli or Delhi : A Gambhir debate

There's one stream of thought that says that players are free to choose what they want to do in their life while other school of thought says that playing for country must (not should) come first and foremost for any player.

We all know that this is not the first time this has come up. This time the center of debate is our Gautam Gambhir. While in past this special place has been taken up many times by different players when they chose to take a break from a series. Another instance comes to mind instantly is when it was decided that 'Commonwealth games' wasn't as important as playing in 'Sahara Cup' We might remember sending the weakest possible team to the CW games to represent India in 1998 while the full fledged team participated in Sahara cup to represent 'BCCI'. This time it's the question between BCCI or the IPL sponsor let alone playing for country Vs BCCI.

I am sure this must be very tough for players also; constantly thinking about who they are playing for. It is such a relief that ICL (remember it?) turned out to be a flop show. If ICL had got hold of these players; I don't want to imagine a situation where Gambhir is playing for 'Delhi Giants' in Feb; for 'Delhi Daredevils' in May ; for BCCI in July and 'Royal Stag' and other advertisers in rest of the year (well forget about playing for Delhi itself in Ranji Trophy).

Talk about having many bosses !

Well in this whole mess of a situation, I wouldn't really want to add another complication by questioning player's moral and asking them to justify their choices. Soon will come a time when players will have hard time remembering who they represent.

What is then the best way out for players and cricket fans?

I would really like if players decide that they play for cricket fans; they play for people. I know this sounds most cliched but there isn't a better solution. As a cricket fan, I would like to see a good old fight between bat and ball. I dread the day when Zaheer decides not to bowl at his full run-up to avoid getting injured or Sehwag decides not to play upper cut so that he can still play in some other series.
I want nothing more than players giving their 100% on the field no matter who they are playing for.

So at the risk of sounding old fashioned and most cliched, I request players to play for us ; play for the people who come to see you play.

Here's to Sachin !!!

Our mind works in mysterious ways. When Team India was knocking over other teams in world cup, all I thought was about winning the cup. Till the time Dhoni hit the six of his life, all my mind could process was about the Cup. Like most other Indians, I ate drank and breathed with only one thought, the Cup.

And when that moment arrived, I was so amazed at my own thoughts. I was over the moon obviously. But there was a sudden shock. One more thought came rushing through my head.

Will HE retire now ?.... Is this it ?.... Is it possible ? ....No it can't be.... There are so many things he still needs to do ... wait ! are there ? ....not really....well may be crossing 400 in a test inning... I don't think he will be interested....Individual score of 400 means a drawn test... he always plays to win.... so what else? What can he find challenging to keep on going?... a hattrick may be ?....

For non Sachin-crazy people (?) this may seem over the top but such is our love for HIM. Those who started many of their days with Sachin's magical innings and ended with the highlights will understand and share the feeling.

So what's next?

Come 24th of April, all of us will celebrate and share the joy. It's the master's 38th birthday.
I still remember the innings he played in Sharjah on his own birthday to beat Australia. That was 13 years ago. I still remember the goose bumps I got with every six he hit. Well, 13 years have gone by and Sachin is still Sachin.

Since he started playing, everybody has been expecting some thing or the other and HE has been delivering, for us, for India, for Cricket. I think for the first time in last 20 years, we are in a situation where we can just let him be as he wants to be. He can now just play for himself , just for sheer pleasure without any pressure.

On his birthday, what can we wish for him ? He already has the love and good wishes of billion people. He has everything that anybody ever wants, a loving family, great fan following and respect world wide. So the best thing to gift him is to let him free from all the pressure, all the expectations and let him just be.

You never know, we might see the Sachin as we have never seen before !

So here's to wishing him pressure free years ahead !!

Sachin you are simply THE best.

Cheers !

Rumour has it ...

When there is a tournament like world cup going on in India, there are bound to be few rumors floating around. Here's a look at some of the interesting rumors a little birdie has been chirping around.

• Canada, Zimbabwe and Kenya all very keen to tour England after world cup: Namibia is also considering it very seriously. All their players have been requested to take sick leaves in their real jobs. Word has spread; England really want to promote cricket in non test playing nations
• A batsman edged a ball; Kamran Akmal caught it. ICC to preserve the video for future generations to see and marvel at.
  
• Bipasha attended a match between India and England, where reporters asked her before the match who she is supporting. She said "ofcourse !! Mumbai Indians...."
  
• When asked Deepika about her reaction on Bipasha's statement, Deepika replied "Poor Bips, she doesn't know that this isn't a T20 match. We are into the 22nd over of the match. This is clearly a test match. I've learnt so much about cricket from Siddharth in the past few weeks."
  
• Shilpa Shetty has asked her assistant to see who owns the team Netherlands and what in the world that team name means.
  

Few more to come when the little birdie visits again :)

Jana Gana Mana...

I don't think there will be many that disagree with this. There are few things that happen automatically when we are about to hear those magical words. First we literally drop everything we are doing and stand up. Then we observe our heart beat go up at a racing speed. We automatically start singing along. Next 55 seconds go without any thought before we can blink an eye.

It is so refreshing to hear the national anthems before the start of the match. I don't know when it started but it is an absolutely amazing experience for everybody including those who are about to play and those who are about to watch the match.

It gives me great joy to stand up with our team during our national anthem and to share the adrenaline that must be pumping all over the place with everybody. I wonder after attending the national anthem anybody has changed their mind about match fixing or spot fixing at the last moment :) Well If that doesn't give the players a feeling of playing for country, nothing ever will.

And it doesn't make a difference whether you are an avid cricket lover or you are an internally ignorant about it. It just takes everybody along with it. And to add a cherry on top, then they show Sachin with hand over heart honoring our beloved 'Jana Gana Mana' with all sincerity. What more can we ask for before the match even starts? :)

The stuff dreams are made of...

There are no hopes; no expectations from the team. Just a bunch of losers wasting their time they say. It just gets worse after every game adding fuel to people's already furious sentiments. It all seems just so wrong and hopeless.

We all have seen sports movies which start with this premise haven't we ? Sure there are minor changes and variations but the basic plot remains the same.

And just when it seems there is no future; and everything seems to be lost, out of nowhere there comes the hero who completely changes the game with his inspirational performance and leadership. It just takes one such flash of brilliance to change the way their people perceive the game. Same bunch of people flock the pubs to watch the match and the wave of excitement just takes everybody with it, just like a breeze of fresh air in the hot afternoon.

Sounds dreamy, doesn't it? because it is. Its called a dream for a reason because not everybody can live it in real life.

And that is why the special knock by Kavin O'brien against England the other day was such a treat. It is not everyday we get to see somebody live the very dream that must have crossed everybody's mind at one point or other; of being THE hero; snatching the victory literally from the doors of defeat and saving the day for the country.

It was all over for Ireland at 111 for 5 chasing more than 320. When he came to the crease the fate was already sealed and packed. Most people had already left the stadium and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the irish storm hit the English players in the middle. It was as unexpected as Irish weather and as emphatic and head-on as their beer.

Before English players could realize what was happening with them, Kevin had written an amazing script with a very happy ending for Ireland leaving England literally high and dry.

I think the only thing that proved it real and short of a movie was the fact that there was no heroin waiting for the hero at sidelines all the while cheering for him with tears in her eyes and smile on the face.

Well Kavin, you the man !! That's the stuff dreams are made of and we, the sports fans thank you for living it for us.