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Personally it’s been a rough wedding season. Looking back it’s like I’ve played 3 tests, 7 ODIs and an IPL in a few weeks. The ODIs are mostly like the wedding day (usually dry, I’m done with Car-o-bars, just come in late, leave early); while the tests and IPL are like the wedding receptions or the sangeet – it’s either a mindless binge or one of those rare days of joyous excess that make you want to pledge your life to the virtues of booze.
Bummers are games where India's slayed, and you’re so badly hung over the following day, because something is happening here, but you don't know what it is, do you Mister Jones?
There was one such sangeet in March, 1996. India played Lanka at Eden. Party at my place, watched very little of India’s innings, thankfully. One man in black claimed he was in mourning; most guys had the blues, they drank way too much. Bored Member Bhaskar Khaund was a notorious bartender; drinks flew over the cuckoo’s nest.
Today, I revisited that scorecard. Apart from the obvious pointers, only Sachin, Sanath and Murali remain from the 96 squads; I look at the Indian numbers – both Azhar and Jaddu didn’t score; Azhar was captain, Jaddu bowled 5 overs for 31, Srinath who had a three for bowled only 7. It’s crazy but once the mind goes strange places, there’s no stopping it. Unless you care to remember Aravinda walking down thumping them over mid on.
A match made in heaven or hell?
The day this Jadeja will be called Jaddu.
Shukla, my big, fat sabzi wallah was a diehard Ajay Jadeja fanatic. He was also big on Azhar but Jaddu always came first. He often quizzed me when Jaddu would return? “Jaddu khelega na?” I never gave him false hope, but he never gave up. And when he didn’t quiz me about Jaddu, he asked after Azhar.
Obviously Shukla doesn’t watch NDTV, otherwise I would’ve had a thing or two coming on Jaddu the cricket expert. But I’m curious what he thinks of Ravindra Jadeja – I have a feeling he likes all things Jadeja.
Must confess, I like Ravindra Jadeja. Not from today, but from IPL1. He seems so damn young, energised, earnest, you gotta have him out in the middle.
Today, he was in the middle, good they didn’t drop him after the first game no-show with the bat. Anyway, with the ball, he was way better than Bhajji.
So too in the second game today. And even though Jadeja came into bowl in the 30th, he had Hussey by the third ball. Hussey had Bhajji for three fours. That was obviously one of the two bad overs Bhajji had according to MSD.
Such is the protective shield around Bhajji that no matter what I or you say or think, he will play all seven games. And when his bowling numbers come off, they will fly a plane, and we will read his figures in that great big gig in the sky.
So forget about Bhajji and Mishra for once. Let’s stay with Jadeja, the sharp lines, the canny lengths, the bounce about him. Let us for once not say he had 354 runs behind him, Bhajji had them too, what came of it. Honestly, I find it punishing beyond words to watch Bhajji bowl. Short, wide, short, wide. There’s just so much a man can take. And that too from another man. I don’t have to, you don’t have to either.
Let’s hop on to Jadeja vs Yusuf Pathan. I have an inventory here of Yusuf’s miraculous ducks, no scores, zeroes, (lotta first, second ball ones too). Don’t duck, have a look here.
He played 30 odd ODIs, got a lotta chances, lotta overs, contrary to what some people will want us to believe.
Let’s give Jadeja half those chances, half that backing, half that belief. I’ll be damn surprised, if by then you don’t start calling him Jaddu.
As for you Shukla, we'll talk about this Jadeja tomorrow. It's time to live in the now.
Not a fast one.
As a batsman, you see the dust clouds long before the bowler descends on you. Though I never measured the run-up, the bowler ran from the far end of Hauz Khas Park, and at times, from the road behind it. He ran so fast, that by the time he hurled the ball at you, such was the bustle, that smokes, lights, coins, confessions, all disembarked, all at once. Looking back, I now know this was a distraction, guerrilla cricket warfare.
The action was slingy, possibly even chucky. But damn, it was fast. This bowler had put the sum total of his cricketing disgust for Venki's faster one into that one delivery.
And it was one such delivery, on the Hindu grounds, in the mid nineties, in speed and year that felled Ajay Jadeja. Hope the ball was not fixed.
It became part of DU folklore, he sings Dylan, he sinks Jadeja.
It has taken me all these years, but I now know it takes an Irfan to laugh, it takes a Pathan to cry. Here’s to the grey areas of cricket. Here’s to you, Happy Bored Day Bhaskar Khaund.
Early Cricket Watching Memories
By VM
A few days ago, for some strange reason, I tried to remember the first cricket match I watched. I was rather surprised that it took me some time to sort things out of a muddle of memories. The early matches - in which I was trying to understand the rules - I recall only in bits and pieces. In fact in such pieces that remember only one of the two teams that played the match –
The next memory that came to my mind was the ’96 World Cup semi-final between
So I ask you this. Is there a particular match that comes to your mind when you think of the first ever cricket match you saw? Are there any fuzzy memories? Any funny memories? What was your first full fledged tournament? What made you watch further?
