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Talking about #ypu , Saha, screenshots and playing in the shadows of Dhoni and Pant. On Republic TV.
Showing posts with label wriddhiman saha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wriddhiman saha. Show all posts
Without Anushka Sharma, can this tour go on?
After WAGs ban, media threatens to boycott Sri Lanka tour
"Anushka (Sharma) is like the opening batsman in my best cricket stories," declares Abhijeet Sarkar, an erstwhile cub reporter on the Bollywood beat. He continues, "Bollywood was never my true calling, not that cricket is, but when Bollywood flirts with cricket, I really get turned on by their chemistry. Till last year I couldn't tell mid-off from mid-on, but now I know all about maidens and the overs they bowl to their mad men outside the maidan". Sarkar is part of a growing tribe of cricket journalists who cover what goes on under the covers - Bollywood's nexus with Indian cricket.
When Sarkar learnt that wives and girlfriends (WAGs) would not be allowed on tour, he cancelled his air tickets to Colombo. "Without Anushka, Indian cricket is zilch, zero, shunya... I'd rather do a story on Anushka and her separation albeit brief from her loved one, something that has an emotional connect than a dour one-dimensional series with Sri Lanka that has no interest whatsoever."
Suraj Rai Gangaram, a journalist with BollyStump.com nails it when he says, "Without Anushka, who will India blame for their misfortunes? Without Anushka, who will India thank for their good fortune?" Gangaram harks back to the golden era of Tiger Pataudi, "Frankly, more than how Tiger played cricket with one eye, wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see how he romanced Sharmila Tagore with one eye."
Meanwhile the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has actually had the gall to say, "Most of the players on tour are coming off a month-long break where they had enough time to spend with their families. And we've decided that their wives will not be allowed on tour". But what about the media? What do they expect us to write about, cricket? Even MS Dhoni's return to the one day international (ODI) team will be of little consequence without his better half, Sakshi Dhoni, holding on to their little bundle of joy, Ziva. And Shikhar Dhawan is half the batsman without his wife, Ayesha Mukherjee and their cutie, Zoravar.
"Think about it, without their glamorous wives, Jayawardene and Sangakkara wouldn't have been half the players they were. Certainly, no telecast would've been the same - every time they were in the nineties, who did the camera focus on - not Mahela or Sanga, but their lovely ladies praying or holding on to each other nervously. That's what the public wants to see, the glamour, the human connect, not two batsmen under helmets whose facial expressions are hidden from them. For me, more than these two greats retiring from the game, it's the first ladies of Sri Lankan cricket bidding us adieu," opines world famous sports psychologist, WADP Gurusinghe.
Dhoni's replacement behind the stumps, Wriddhiman Saha, looks at the ban on WAGs as a lost opportunity for him. "I really was looking at this Sri Lankan tour as an opportunity to be better known by virtue of my wife spending time with Anushka. It was too good to be true. I could almost hear the commentator saying, "... and that is the lovely Romi Saha sharing a few laughs with Anushka while their men muscle their way through the Lankan attack".
For a player like Cheteshwar Pujara whose wife, Puja Pujara has been regularly seen with Anushka Sharma in the stands, this is a bolt out of the blue. "I'm not sure of my place in the playing 11 anymore, and without Puja, I will also be missing out on a strong support structure. Puja and Anushka had previously built strong partnerships in the stands, and always been there for each other, especially with heavy overhead conditions when an early wicket or two fell and Virat and I were batting together. Yes, they had seen each other through some nervous moments, especially in England and Australia."
If Virat Kohli was bothered about Anushka's absence he didn't show it. "I just learnt that Ravi Shastri will be there for the first Test so all's good here."
(However plausible this might sound, this is largely a work of fiction.)
First published here
Song for the unsung hero: SAHA!
OK, now he is the sung hero. Saha! More power to cricketers who are players, not stars.Swaaha!
Why no DKNY?
The Indian selectors have decided to send Wriddhiman Saha as a backup to MS Dhoni for the Sri Lanka test series. One man who should be particularly pissed off is Dinesh Karthik.
The bugger's number seems to be on their Speed Dials whenever they need a replacement. How many times have we read Karthik being called in to either provide cover or to replace a batsman?
The guy has done a reasonably fair job in whatever chances he's got few and far between.
He was asked to open the Innings in test matches, he did it.
Asked to open in ODI's, done.
A test batting average of 27.
The number of tests he's played
2010 : 1 (so far)
2009 : 1
2008 : 2
2007 : 9
ODI batting average of 30. Still pretty handy for a keeper in these times.
Brad Haddin -32, Mark Boucher- 28, Kamran Akmal - 26, Matt Prior - 25, are a few samples you might want to look at.
He may not really be the explosive type that seems to be imperative for keepers these days. But, bat he can.
He isn't even a liability behind the stumps. Okay, i do still remember that backhand flick that he attempted at the stumps and missed while Dilshan was at the other end of the pitch
Saha might be someone for the future, but from whatever was seen in the SA tests at home, he clearly isn't ready for the big stage yet. Why not someone who's been in the set up for some time now?
What really is the motive behind sending Saha instead of Karthik?
what message does the Board wanna give to Karthik?
Do they just expect him to be the replacement guy all the time. Doesn't he deserve a longer run in the team.
He does goof up at times with the simplest of chances or either throws his wicket away when set for a good score. But the least the lad deserves is a decent run.
There really isn't much sense in making him the go to guy in case of an emergency and giving him the thumbs down when it comes to a proper stint.
Like Ali-G would say, KEEP IT REAL, guys.
The case for Saha
Two debutantes played for India in the first Test at Nagpur. The first was a domestic colossus. The other, a little known wicket keeper and another journeyman cricketer in the domestic leagues. The first was a surety to be in the playing squad even before it was announced. The other was just happy to be there.
The first was aware of his impending debut well before the squad was announced ( owed mainly to injuries to key players). The other came to know of it on the morning of the test. The first had pedigree. The other, spunk.
And it pretty much went according to plan. Everyone questioned the other's selection. Many were unhappy that he was being played as a specialist batsman ( a role that even he would tell you, he was not cut out for). Before the first day ended, the other had been written off, called a one test wonder, his test cap questioned. The first was the one to deliver for Team India - the ideal replacement in the famed middle order.
And come Day 3, everyone's worst fears and greatest hope came true - the first scored 56, the other 0. And that is where the story should have ended.
Except when the team was under cosh in the second essay, following on, the first scored 6, lasting 45 minutes, scoring one boundary and lasting all of 31 balls. The other, in the meanwhile, scored 36, lasting 150 minutes, playing 101 balls, with four boundaries.
And then the most obvious thing happened - the other got dropped, the first held on to his place in the side.
This is not a critique of Subramanian Badrinath, who has done enough and more to demand his selection in the Test team.
This is in praise of Wriddhiman Saha, a wicket keeper forced to play as a specialist bat, a man written off by all and sundry before he took the field, a man who showed enough bottle to fight the fight in the second essay when the chips were down and his own neck was on the chopping block and on the back of a scoreless first innings..
This is a salute to what he brings to the plate - character. A quality our current selection panel is sorely lacking in!
Baz McCullum and the Buddhiman Baba
No, this is not a Harry Potter spin-off. This is about the Kolkata Knight Riders and how they made a bigger asshole a**h**e of themselves by playing well today.
Brendon Baz McCullum had underperformed till now. He is a kiwi cricketer, he knows all about losing. He knows how it feels when the sport you play loses out to rugby. He knows how it feels when you end up as the 9th best side in the world, no matter what the rankings say.
He was the perfect choice for skipper because Buchanan knew that if you are destined to lose, better do it with a captain who can take it in his stride. I bet another book is on the cards for the pacman-loving coach. (of course, what else do you think is on his laptop)
Sachin Tendulkar has gone on record saying that he would not play under John Buchanan even if he is offered 100 billion dollars.
The above is not true. I used my journalistic liberties, but you get the point of course.
When it mattered, everyone failed. When it doesn’t matter, look at them. They are playing for PRIDE. If there was any pride in them, they would have taken their practice sessions seriously.
All this team does is hides behind controversies, fake blogs, bad coaching, and even racism. It seems Akash Chopra was called an Indian by Andy Bichel and he cried all the way back to India and told his friend Ajay comedy-judge Jadeja. SRK of course is not impressed.
Still, a hilarious word of praise for Wriddhiman Saha. Here is why. During the last over, when Kallis bowled a no ball and McCullum pushed it to extra cover, the latter refused a run, and preferred to take strike for the free hit. This did not go down well with the racially challenged bangali hello spirit hello of the Buddhiman Baba. So, when Baba himself finally got the strike for the last ball, he did what the skip could not even dream that he could do.
Concentrating all his angst on the ball, he sent it soaring above the long on boundary. Way to go, INDIAN!!! What was gestured to the skipper after the ball by the INDIAN is still not known, but I am sure the fake IPL Player would be working on it.
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