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Showing posts with label Team India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Team India. Show all posts
The lion inside the man.
Admire is not a word used loosely. In life,
there will be many you love, like, very few you admire. You may not love or
like these people, chances are, you may not even know them, at least not
personally, but there will be something in them that will uplift you. Make you
soar. Make you want to be like them. Make you want to do it like they do it.
Hope to be as good as them.
To dig in. When it gets so tough, you
don't want to even be there. You want to run away, anywhere, but be there. The
man will dig in. Dig in so deep, you didn't know such deep reserves existed.
The man will go on and on and on. As if
he is not a man. As if he is something else. What that something else is, is
hard to tell. But he is not a man. The essence of the man will be a Japanese
scroll with a red sun on CV Kamesh's headband in the gym. It says, lost in
focus. CV Kamesh wears it every day at the gym.
Anil Kumble wore it every day on the
cricket field. Not the band. The belief. Not just the belief, the action. Anil
Kumble is more than the broken jaw. Anil Kumble is more than an anecdote.
Anil Kumble is the man. Not only when
he took ten wickets. But when he took no wickets. He was the piercing squint of
a lion's empty stomach on spotting its prey. He was the claws drawn out. He was
the Natgeo clip when the deer outruns the lion. He was the Natgeo clip when the
lion runs after another deer. And another deer. And another. Till he feeds that
empty stomach. If not on the first day, then on the second or the third day.
Kumble was the lion that knew a Test match can feed you on any one of the five
days.
He preyed on batsmen with that
knowledge. It wasn't until the 25th over that the first Pakistani
wicket fell. By the 61st over, Anil Kumble had all ten. 14 in
the match. He fell twice to Saqlain Mushtaq. Saqlain fell twice to him. This
lion's elephant memory will remember that.
The man was more than the 619 Test
wickets. Much more than the 337 ODI wickets. The man was the drama. Before
every wicket. The appeal to the heavens. The umpire above. Arms raised. Back
arched forward. Knees bent. “GIVE IT OUT.” The man preyed on the white cloaked
figure as the lion preyed on the deer.
Anil Kumble knew that after feasting
from Saturday to Thursday, lions are made to fast on Friday in the zoo. Anil
Kumble knew an empty stomach is not such a bad thing. Anil Kumble knew how to
straddle the wild and the zoo of world cricket. Anil Kumble survived both.
Welcome back to the jungle, Jumbo. You
are remembered by your lion’s heart. This time could be no different. You’ve
been blessed with a lion: Virat Kohli. A lion on top of his game. His kills
could decide how far you go. Or can you readdress the imbalance amongst the
cubs - from the den to the jungle? Indian cricket is ready for the straighter
one, again. Roar.
For Jumbo.
He was not what you call a master
He was not what you call a blaster
He was just a servant
Servant of the game
He was bespectacled, thick rimmed
Young and nerdy engineer type
Averse to any kind of hype
But eager like any beaver you ever saw
Nobody could read him
Nor batsman nor layman
He was the object of our ridicule
He was no less than a molecule
He was the reason we ragged in colleges
Any kid that that refused to fit in
He was the reason for our losses
He was the reason for our defeats
He was the reason we couldn’t fare better
As a nation, as a people, as a team
He was last choice captain
He was last man standing
He was broken in bandage
He was awoken in carnage
He was the very object of our scorn
Aren’t we happy now he’s gone?
He was the very object of our con
Aren't we happy now he's gone?
He was not Sachin, he was just Anil
He was not what you call a master
He was not what you call a blaster
He was just a servant
Servant of the game
He served in Antigua
He served in Sydney
He served in Delhi
He served in Perth
He served in Bangalore
He just didn’t serve in lore
He was just a servant
Servant of the game
The glasses have long gone
And so the man
He was not what you call a blaster
He was just a servant
Servant of the game
He was bespectacled, thick rimmed
Young and nerdy engineer type
Averse to any kind of hype
But eager like any beaver you ever saw
Nobody could read him
Nor batsman nor layman
He was the object of our ridicule
He was no less than a molecule
He was the reason we ragged in colleges
Any kid that that refused to fit in
He was the reason for our losses
He was the reason for our defeats
He was the reason we couldn’t fare better
As a nation, as a people, as a team
He was last choice captain
He was last man standing
He was broken in bandage
He was awoken in carnage
He was the very object of our scorn
Aren’t we happy now he’s gone?
He was the very object of our con
Aren't we happy now he's gone?
He was not Sachin, he was just Anil
He was not what you call a master
He was not what you call a blaster
He was just a servant
Servant of the game
He served in Antigua
He served in Sydney
He served in Delhi
He served in Perth
He served in Bangalore
He just didn’t serve in lore
He was just a servant
Servant of the game
The glasses have long gone
And so the man
(written after Anil Kumble’s
retirement)
Fourth innings' chase guidelines…
There was lots of confusion, disappointment, outrage, shock when team India decided to kill the chase in its infancy in the last test of the west indies tour...
Yours truly too was unapologetically disappointed... so i thought of contacting the team India management regarding this very issue... they were kind enough to issue me Fourth innings' chase guidelines which I am sharing with one and all...
Fourth innings' chase guidelines… issued in the interest of team India… err… World’s No.1 cricket team fan…
Is the series already in the bag? (if it’s a tick don’t even bother to go through remaining checks)
Are bowlers bowling dross…?
Is asking rate below 3.00…?
Is ground slow…?
Is pitch a belter…?
And last but not the least…
Is Sehwag playing…?
The last question is most important… because if he is playing… no matter what his second innings' average is… India won’t be given 'challenging' targets anyways…
what the defeat at nagpur has done...
...is that it has thrown the transition into oblivion... now no selector will dare to put up a youngster in the squad even against zimbabwe fearing the backlash... untill unless our seniors willingly put their hands up and call it a day... thereby dragging us into what we have always felt... staring at the possibility of mass exodus with no time to fill in shoes to keep the momentum going...
i expect youvraj to make smooth come back to the tests coz by the next test match nobody gonna remember the performances of badris, vijays etc... there are going to be enough odi's for players like bhajji and yuvraj to stake claim to test spot based on their odi performances coz we just work on the principle that says... out of sight out of mind... rightly or wrongly there has been tradition of vindicating one's candidature by the performance of another format and there are going to be enough opportunities for that in near future...
though i have said this before... but even at the cost of repeating myself i will say that again... our five wise men did nothing less than a historic blunder by not testing our bench strength against bangladesh coz that would have given them perfect stage to test out not only our next gen batsman but more importantly next gen bowlers...
with bhajii doing nothing but to raise his hand in proxy whenever his name is announced for a test... ishant discovering the second season blues... and mishra and ojha are made to look like pawns in musical chair game... our five wise men blew the opportunity to test the waters as far as next gen bowling is concerned... to developed inform bench strength... not like sree who has been drafted in 'cold' for as crucial a game such as kolkotta, which is going to decide who will rule the roost for a while, and will be judged on this sole appearance... while the one's who are regularly under performing will be spared to live another day...
for this only i hope and wish that we win the game at eden gardens other wise words like 'transition' or 'phasing out' will become a taboo in indian cricket (not as if they are not already but still) and our selectors will hide behind the comforts of legends whenever the voice will be raised... questions will be asked...
open thread: first test first show...
with laxman still in doubt... indian team management has no choice but to play all available batsmen, thanks to the foresightedness of our five wise men, rohit sharma in all probability will fill the spot vacated by laxman...
this is a series opener with still a match to go... so i won't rush laxman into this test even if there is an iota of doubt about his fitness...
the team india, in all probability, will be like...
sehwag, gambhir, vijay, sachin, badri, rohit, dhoni, harbhajan, mishra, zaheer, ishant
badri, rohit will be making their debut while vijay, mishra (and to some extent ishant) will be looking to give performances that will make their stock rise in the eyes of selectors...
but i think badrinath and rohit sharma will be under far more pressure coz i sense there is an air of skepticism or i dare say negativity about their selection and failure from both or either of them won't be taken kindly...
i like this nervy pressure situation coz this will keep them on their toes... they should look to spend first 15 minutes at the crease to ease the things for themselves after that it will be their temperament which will take them far... for the talent is never in doubt...
while badri is a long innings player if he gets going... rohit sharma is the kind of player, if given a good platform, can take the game away from the opposition very quickly... so, to me, he is a good replacement for yuvraj at 6...
in this light i leave an open-thread and invite you all to share your thoughts before the start of the first match...
Cinderella Redux
Once upon a time there was TINA. TINA was extremely popular with the Blue Man Group. She charmed and mesmerised her minions for almost 7 years. While her stock has gone down of late there are still some of those Blue Men who like to HUM songs in her praise, when in fact TINA is well and truly past her prime. Maybe her aficionados are high on MSD? These men of questionable taste are also seeing MINA on the side. No one really knows what makes MINA so alluring but it's been rumoured that MINA is TINA's younger sister, let's face it, it's every hot-blooded male's fantasy to score the sister combo.
But while the Blue Man Group was been blinded by their love for TINA and MINA, poor little HINA was left in the cold. HINA is their step-sister, a modern-day Cinderella if you will. All she does is play darts in her basement and curses like a sailor who hasn't been laid in months. No one has noticed her so far even though she seems to be The One for the Blue Man Group. Does HINA have a fairy godmother? Will the fairy godmother turn HINA into a beautiful princess who captivates The Blue Man Group, or will the Evil Sisters continue to cast a spell on those unsuspecting men?
sorry gary... you got it wrong...
instead of asking the players to have more sex... you should have asked the WAGs to have more sex...that would have sharpened the 'killer' instinct of our players...
Also read: Any more great suggestions, Gary?
make praveen kumar don irfan pathan's role as an allrounder...
two interesting things happened in the corporate trophy recently...
praveen kumar opened the innings while his ongc captain, gautam gambhir came down at no. 3...
...and irfan pathan was not deemed fit to play even in the domestic games now...he didn't get a single game for air india red captained by his ipl skipper yuvraj singh... i googled but there was nothing which indicated that he didn't play coz of injury etc... so we can safely assume he didn't play for cricketing reasons...
this got me thinking if praveen has the experience to open in domestic circles... why can't india use him as the all rounder they have been looking for since irfan's demise...?
he bats very late in the order which leaves him with no option but to slog his way thru... i am sure if given responsibility and nurtured by a watchful coach... he has the talent to turn into a good all rounder... much better than other pathan, yusuf pathan... who i still wonder... how has he managed to keep himself floating in the team by doing virtually nothing of note in the odis...
at least this way we can play two front line spinners in harbhajan and mishra with kumar sharing the pace bowling burden with either zaheer (when fit) and ishant or ashish nehra and ishant as of now... making the over all balance of team india look good for all conditions...
thank god they changed the color
get ready to see your favorite star in the new team uniform...team india changed its color today at a glittering event held in mumbai...
there have been mixed reactions about the change in color...some question the reasons behind it...some like...some dislike...
..and some fear that it can bring bad luck to an otherwise successful team india, sighting the example of how oz is going down the drain since they changed the color of their jerseys...
but we @ BCC! are happy...
now tomorrow if sachin won't fire...
yuvraj again starts dancing to the tune of spinners...
sehwag forgets his newly found responsibility after attaining fatherhood...
gautam the 'city' gambhir becomes gautam the 'village' against pace bowlers...
punter starts sending ishant's deliveries out of stadium even in sleep walk mode...'
zahir starts liking 'jelly beans'....
...and dhoni starts leading from the front with gloves too (haddin way)...
you know whom to blame...
yess it's the COLOR of jersey, stupid!
after the recent initiative of 'thank you sachin' campaign...the need of we hate [dash] was being felt very strongly...
so thank god (or BCCI?) they have changed the color...now we can say, very proudly, after every misadventure of team india or team 'indians'...
WE HATE the COLOR!!
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