Feeling Proud

"Thats why you can never count us off. We can come back from behind, from seemingly hopeless situations to win games. We can raise the bar when it counts, we can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Ultimately, thats the stuff champions are made of" - Steven Waugh after Australia won the 99 world cup.

Cannot write anything more right now, but I repeat ... "Wo sikander hee doston kehlata hai, haari baazee ko jeetana jise aata hai" :)

So near but yet so far

The 5 P's: Preparation, Planning, Practice, Pressure, Performance ..... are the keys to success. As far as my latest venture goes, I did great as far as the first 3 factors are concerned...I don't think I could have done anything more to change fortunes as far as these three factors go. But probably I was not able to handle the pressure and perform on d-day. The result: I may lose this one .... well there's still a big one to go on the 17th and while I won't give up till the last minute, honestly, its going to be an uphill task to win from here.
There is no shame in losing a game. But yes, there is disappointment ... and tons of it. And when you introspect, there is nothing but regret. Regret the mistakes that you made, a tale of what COULD have been but what it is. But again, principles let me not to give up and situation demands to try harder.

Bombay Bleeds

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/25kp.htm .... an article that I'd read after the bangalore blasts a few months back .... and history repeats, keeps repeating!

Are we really the best cricket team in the world?

It is really stupid of anyone who thinks that we are the no. 1 team in the world right now. To come anywhere close to being called no. 1, the team has to perform well in all conditions, against all opponents and for a consistent period of time. Just beating Australia, that too at home, is not enough to be coined numero uno. Just about three months back, we were mesmerized by Sri Lanka's spin bowling and lost miserably, just about six months back we lost badly to SA .... at home!!! .... were bowled out for less than hundred in the first innings. And still we consider ourselves the world beaters.
The truth infact is that we are no where close to what the Australian team was like in the last decade. Australia, ever since they tied that world cup semi final in 99, never looked back. Its been almost 10 years since then and that team won 3 world cups, beat every county home and away and won more than ninety percent of the games they played. They scored over 4 an over in tests and took the game to unseen levels. Even when they lost, say the 2001 series against India, the famous 400+ ODI against SA etc, the quality of cricket that was on display was breathtaking.
Point is that while Dhoni's boys are doing well currently, but their objectives should not just include winning the next series against England and then basking in the glory. But they should try to raise their game to a level that would transcend them to heights achieved by the Australian team in the last decade. Only then would they deserve to be called the no. 1 side in the world. Getting the world champions tag is not so easy afterall.

Habit of Winning

Winning is a strange habit. If you are used to winning ... if you are one of those who has had that Midas touch and everything you touched turned gold ... and then suddenly if you lose, the loss can be hard to digest. It is not at all easy to take the loss in your strides because you are just not used to losing the gold. Suddenly your abilities are doubted, suddenly you are considered weak and any reason given for the loss is termed a lame excuse. You are termed a sore loser.
So suddenly if Australia lose to India, they are considered a weak team and India are termed champions. If Anil Kumble has one bad series and Amit Mishra has one good game, Kumble is considered history and Mishra the next Warney. If Rahul doesn't score for a while its said that the wall is crumbling, if Rohit Sharma scores a couple of fifties he's considered an instant replacement for Dravid. If Federer loses one Wimbeldon final to Nadal, Federer is said to be fading.
Its the time of T20 where test cricket is so easily neglected. Its a world of one match wonders and proven performers are so very quickly forgotten!!! They say in cricket, you are only as good as your last innings. So true. But its all immensely frustrating and disappointing that you have to keep proving you critics wrong. Time and again.

Being a Spectator

There is a spectator, among a hundreds of others, watching a game. This spectator is not any ordinary spectator though. Not too long ago he was part of the team that is playing the game now. He is no longer part of the team: Maybe he is not fit, maybe he has lost form or maybe he has just plain not been picked inspite of being good enough to play! Afterall, he thinks he is better that many of the players featuring in this game right now. He wants to play, he wants to succeed, he wants to entertain, he wants to be cheered, he wants to be a part of the team. But he is not and he cannot.
The game begins. The hundreds of spectators surrounding him cheer enthusiastically for their team. The team is doing well. He tries to join the masses, he tries to be cheerful and enthusiastic. But he cannot. He should be happy that his team is doing well. But he is not. He has tried to put the disappointment of not featuring in the game behind him. He has tried to put his head down and work hard to gain lost ground. But still in some corner of his heart, there is a lot of frustration and disappointment. He is not happy, he is feeling lonely and hurt.
Being a spectator is tough. Particularly, when one is used to being a performer, a leader, and in the thick of things.

PS: Just watched the hooo haaa india, aya india pepsi ad by ganguly on youtube.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFkJNlvtqYs ..... can imagine what ganguly must have gone through then.

Fab Four .... not VVS

People say that Laxman is a highly underrated cricketer. I think exactly the opposite: He is an overrated batsman. Barring two or three really big scores: The 167 at Sydney, that famous 281 and a match winning knock at Adelaide, the guy has always disappointed .... I completely agree that those innings were innings of high quality and under pressure. No doubt about that. But dude, 2-3 good innings in hundred test matches is just not done. Ya, people do say he bats at number 6 and all and so he does not get enough chances to score the big ones. But thats all rubbish.
Here's a scenario that has happened an umpteen number of times with Laxman: India are 250 for 4 and Laxman is batting on 40 odd. The batsman at the other end is Ganguly so India lose their fifth wicket soon and the score becomes say 260 for 5. Laxman, instead of retaining more strike and trying to score runs quickly keeps taking singles, exposing the tail. The end result: India gets all out for 300 odd, Laxman not out 50. The guy complains that he runs out of partners every time and so can't score a hundred. Thats Laxman for you.
He is an extremely defensive cricketer. It happened numerous times under Ganguly that India took lead in a test series only to squander it in the next test. Laxman and Tendulkar have been majorly responsible for this: These guys get so defensive in the 2nd innings, their goal is just to occupy the crease and not get out and draw the test. Their aim is not to win the test but just sit on the 1-0 lead. They do not realize that eventually they will get out and that will put pressure on the lower order. The same thing happened in the Nagpur test recently: The openers gave a cracking start, going at 4.5 runs an over and the momentum was with India. Enter Laxman: 4 runs in 40 balls and gets out. Tendulkar saheb, 11 in 53, follow. Momentum shifts with Australia and india are 166-6. I donno what Ponting had in his tea that day, but India could have easily lost the test and again squandered the 1-0 advantage they had. Thats Laxman for you - The ultra defensive cricketer.
One may argue that Ganguly hardly deserves to be even called "fab" with his average of 41 odd. But remember, Ganguly was captain for 5 years. And the kind of job he did as captain, I would add atleast another 2000 runs to his aggregate tally of 7000! But Laxman .... he has always been found lacking and so not surprisingly the axe has always been on his head. He has played his 100th test and has scored 6000 runs at an average of 45 which is not special. He has a poor one day record, ha s never ever been a consistent part of the one day unit. But we still consider him Fab!!!!!!
Then there is another guy: He has played 63 tests (less than 2/3rd of what laxman has played), who already has collected 5000 test runs at an average of more than 52 with a strike rate of more than 70. He has scored two triple hundreds, the last 10 times he has crossed 100 he has gone on to score 150+. He was a middle order batsman but did not hesitate in accepting the tough job of opening the batting when the team was struggling to find one (this was ironically to accomodate Laxman at 6 because Laxman was not willing to open)! The guy has proven record in all conditions, against all countries on every kind of surface against fast bowling as well as spin bowling. He dominated Mendis and Murali when the Fab 4 played like chickens. He has single handedly won more test matches for India than even Tendulkar has!!!!!!!!!!
How the hell can Sehwag not be a part of Fab 4 man!!!!!!!!!!!!

Retirements

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/376791.html

Can't be a better way to express the feelings of a true cricket fan ... felt really really connected to that article.

A Late Starter

It happens with me all the time. There is a new song that others in the crowd are going crazy about. I listen to that song, the first time, and don't really think its special. After a few months when the "newness" of the song has died, I listen to the song again and this time I just love it and end up listening to the song a zillion times. The same goes with movies. There have been several good movies, which I did not rate really high of the time we came out of theatres. But then, after I think over the movies I begin to think .... well .... that was really nice.
The pattern follows with some trends like email, chatting, orkutting etc. I think I was the last in my group of friends to get my maiden email account: the one on usa.net I remember. Then I thought email was sufficient to be in touch with friends when they were all smitten by the messenger bug. I resisted then and by the time I gave in to chatting, most friends of mine had moved on to the next happening thing: Orkut. While I still do not give much importance to it and seriously hate the coolness factor that ppl associate with one's orkut account, I have to admit that I too belong to the category of people who check their scraps atleast a couple of times daily.
Blogging follows the same story. I was critical of it initially: Why do you need to make your thoughts public? Its just another way to gain attention and public eye.
But finally today, my resistance has ended and it just makes me label myself a late starter.