Winning at Oz

As a kid growing up in 90s while we played several sports only cricket stood out probably because that was the only sport where India had a competitive team. While we did watch football matches and tennis regularly on TV, cricket still had a special place above all of them.  In early 90s, I remember following some tournaments like one in Sharjah and when South Africa visited India for first time. But never really had any favorite cricketer and was still coming to terms with the rules and what the sport meant. My folks liked watching tennis matches on TV and Dad loved watching football. So I really don't remember watching cricket until the Australia tour of 1991/92. Late that year the Benson & Hedges cup ODI tri-series down under was broadcast on TV and that put cricket on top for me. I did reach scorecards and match reports by then in newspapers and used to read 'Sportstar' magazine.It was good to see and become familiar with some names like Kris Srikanth (with a familiar tamil name) the adventure seeking opener who would play some wild shots, the dour and defensive all-rounder Shastri, Azhar the captain, Kapil Dev the famous all rounder, Prabhakar the other new ball bowler and some young batsmen like Sanjay Manjrekar and one really young kid Sachin Tendulkar who I preferred over the more established names mainly because while grown-ups or older kids in the area knew about others and would talk about them the younger ones were just on the scene and not very known and everyone just knew he was special. Just after the tri-series where we got to final and got walloped was the 92 World Cup, the first one I followed. To an extent I still remember most of these matches ( youtube highlights videos and cricinfo articles and scorecards help as well I guess), like most kids I knew we all took great delight in beating Pak in the World Cup league match. The match that really broke my heart was the thrilling 1 run defeat to Australia in that World Cup.

So the morning routine in those months especially when there was no school and sometimes even when school was there was waking up early and switching on tv. I would ask my parents to wake me up much earlier than usual and they were amused as well. However what unfolded on TV was my favorite Indian team would get mauled even though we did put up some fight occasionally and gave glimmer of hope, the final result will be a resounding Aussie win presided over by what would eventually become familiar voices to kids who grew up watching cricket broadcast from Australia. While we all became life long die hard cricket fans, following action from wherever we are and that became one common thread for conversation with several friends and relatives who grew distant otherwise. In 90s the cable tv era truly arrived and we also got access to cricket matches played across the world, the ones from Australia always appeared better produced than anything else. There was something about cricket played in Australia that left a lasting impression, the way their players chewed gum, painted faces and strutted about, the commentators, the reverse score, the ducks walking across screen compounding humiliation often for a visiting batsman, the sledging, the crowd with their funny and cheeky slogans, everything ...

There was a clear belief that these Aussies were numero uno and beating them especially in their own backyard was extremely hard. In fact some friends of mine became huge Aussie fans even favoring them over India simply because of their winning / dominating habit, they might be pushed to a corner but still find a way to claw back and win. Even IPL's most famous and successful team picked Yellow jersey to resonate with Aussies who always win ( that line even made it to their team cheer song).  In early 90s we saw these guys at home were solid bunch and through 90s Aussies just showed they were top dogs in both ODIs and Tests and had several all-time greats in their lineup.

The next tour there was after 8 years or so and was even bigger flop, by then I was a die hard Sachin fan and felt terrible for him. Cut to 4 years later another Indian team was visiting down under led by Sourav Ganguly with Sachin, David, Very Very Special 281 Laxman and Sehwag as well around I felt a little more hopeful. I was staying in Mysore having started my professional career at Infosys and it turned out all 6 of us staying in that big house were cricket fans just like majority of the training batch. Our landlord lived opposite and he was also supplying us food, he was also cricket fan and did not mind us dropping by on cold early mornings to sip tea at his home while watching the telecast from Australia. He was really hopeful that we will win this time, which all of us admitted did not even cross our mind, we were just hoping we manage to compete especially since we did not have any experienced bowlers. Surprisingly on that tour we did compete  really well and when the Adelaide test was happening we were having an RDBMS concepts lecture in training classroom, but the instructor was young chap and eventually got persuaded to stop his slide show and replace it with rediff live score update feed as Dravid took us over the line in what to Indian teams of that era was a near impossible chase. Though we lost in Melbourne, during Sydney test a win loomed large but beating Aussies at home was not easy and thanks Steve Waugh and no thanks to Mr.Bucknor the series ended 1-1.

That series must have given a lot of hope for the team and for fans like me it was a big boost as my team had shown their mettle in what most of considered as the toughest stage in World cricket. The next tour was a bit of blur for me as I was doing my MBA from Singapore but cricinfo was around by then and following the game was easy even when attending classes. That series was heartbreaking as we felt a bit robbed though Aussies did what they did best, emerge successful from tough situations. In 2011 though we had a terrible defeat in England, I was somehow optimistic about chances in Australia and this time we had social media and several friends of mine had created an email group and during our day at work we would discuss cricket through emails. I remember camping somewhere in Karnataka with my cousins Vaidya and Sharad. It was a really cold morning and we had our tent set up in the  courtyard of our homestay and they had a TV kept just outside their home as that was the place they would set-up campfire and dinner for all guests. We parked our tents in such a way that if we roll it up we could see the TV and watch the test match early in the morning. There was lot of hope since Sachin and David were batting properly that day, then they both got out and then just like that it all came crashing down. Memories of 90s returned as Aussies just broke the team like they usually do to most touring sides and after a while the opposition just turns up to get pummeled. While MS was castigated and perhaps deservedly for not raising the morale and making the team compete, it was clear that his men did not have the goods to do anything there and the opposition was just a formidable wall or fort which could not be scaled and it was clear as day.

2014 was slightly different, as the tour started with a tragedy in Aussie domestic cricket and it sort of cast a pall of gloom over the entire atmosphere. There was a change of guard as Kohli took over as captain replacing an injured MS and made some left field ( some would say hare brained ) choices. All out aggression was the mantra and while Aussies clearly motivated to make a statement and dedicate a win to late Phil Hughes were playing extremely well, it was not that easy. Like it always happens India ended up chasing a huge total and the familiar script of trying to fight a bit and maybe a lone wolf waging battle while crashing to terrible defeat was expected. However Kohli and co just created some unbelievable magic the likes of which I had never seen as Vijay supported to an extent and the total surged past 300 and the possibility of an impossible win loomed large. It turned out to be Kohli's Chennai 99 moment as he finally fell and then the team collapsed. What seemed to be a golden chance to seize control and win the series was lost. These guys can never win down under we all agreed. Next match was just more of the same, they were in the running for most part and then a sudden collapse and boom the series was gone. Two draws that happened next did nothing, no one was saying at least its better than 0-4 defeat as in past, it was a feeling that there was a good chance to win and compete well and it had ended in another series defeat down under.

When 2018 tour started it was still hard to say, India having promised a lot but coming up short in SA and looking to be in running at least in the first half of England tour kept falling back towards the end as England always managed to land the knockout punch, so not so inspiring record outside India that year. On the other hand Aussies were without their talismanic captain Smith and prolific opener Warner out banned for an year for ball tampering controversy, but their bowling was still very good. We knew the Indian bowling lineup was good and could blow away the opposition and take those 20 wickets and set-up the game, the question was if batsmen will be able to linger long enough to seize the game. Living in US meant the matches are no longer early morning ones for me, this time I had not subscribed to any TV pack as we have become a no TV household.  So cricinfo was the place to be to follow the action, first day started and India started batting there was the familiar unease and dread. True to form the wickets started falling, the familiar story started repeating with less than 50 runs on board 4 wickets had fallen.

Not again was the general reaction among friends on my group and in social media as we all got used to that familiar sight of Indian team promising to cross a barrier fall to a poor start yet again and fall into a position of no return. It was 100 odd for 6 and then Pujara stood up and continued standing up for rest of the series. Slowly things turned normal and within a few days the tables were well and truly turned and despite some nervous tail wagging India won the first one. Then the familiar script returned as selection gamble backfired in the next one and India went down. This stage is usually the make or break stage in most series and India usually would miss seizing the chance after this. But not this team as the team crossed that barrier and won in Melbourne and almost had another big win in sight at Sydney before rains arrived to save Aussies further humiliation. 3-1 would have indicated the domination achieved, but 2-1 was good enough. After having watched India always struggle to win there even though they played well and competed a few times, this was ultimate abroad win for many like me who started watching in 90s. It felt very good to finally see that happen. It may not have been the best team Aussies assembled and it may not really be like India's wins in Eng and WI in 70s but still it feels Indian team has been able to break new ground. Of course future is a mystery and we the cricket fans are always hopeful but this is a great place to be right now for the team you passionately follow

Its just not cricket

'Its just not  cricket',  is a phrase used at times to indicate something thats not correct or not done properly or against the norms. But cricket being a game which constantly reinvents itself ,at times this phrase is even used by folks at a newer variant of the game which has suddenly become popular and threatens the more traditional variety. It was used against One Day cricket when it really emerged with colored clothes and day night games. More recently it has been used against the  T20 format which crunched the  game even further for this generation with ADD.

I had been part of those skeptics who viewed this new format with  mild amusement and felt this  probably wont amount to anything as we had two well established formats the Test cricket for the real aficionados and the shorter variant for general public/ mass consumption. Things did seem to be going well for the game in India at least so why  experiment again we all thought. Some of the previous experiments like 'Max cricket' , six a side cricket etc never clicked.

The 2007 T20 WC indeed won many of us over, the tournament worked but mainly because India won! But I think for many of us it took entire IPL season 1 to truly understand what T20 cricket is and to have an opinion which most of us formed and discussed and debated ad nauseam. Long story short, T20 arrived and it was here to stay and stay it did as we roll into IPL 9

I would easily fall into the category of cricket buffs who love watching any decently competitive game of cricket. I eagerly look forward to international matches and its not just about my favorite team and like most folks of my ilk have huge reverence for Test match cricket. I follow through the score card and news reports most of the test match action that happens across the world and remain aware of the key events and players globally. The interest wanes further for other forms of cricket and what I state could be true for most of the keen followers of the game. We all love the drama and slow folding action of Test matches and nothing really comes near that for sure. So leaving that format out of discussion.

As a kid I had started watching cricket since 91 and it was ODI cricket which first really pulled me into this game with the tri-series and WC down under in 92. During childhood it was easy to watch any form of cricket but as you got older watching Test cricket was pretty tough unless on weekends but ODIs with Day/Night games was easier to catch on TV. Most of 90s and until late 2000s there was not much to compete with cricket viewing and cricket being a sport with so many breaks was easy to follow unlike something like Football. As time progressed ODIs for me got a bit harder to watch as other interesting things started coming up! Ofcourse I did watch most of the important matches but slowly reducing my viewing time to first 10 overs and then the final 15 overs and nothing much happened in those boring middle overs.

Again the game didn't change much, the middle overs were the same boring middle overs or consolidation phase of the game which always existed. Its just the mind set of the viewers changed. Faced with several other things to do in our lives and several other entertainment options available the 'boring middle overs' started losing out to other options in tv remote control or internet browser. For most folks in modern world who are not having ginormous amount of free time watching an entire ODI was out of question. Basically we would try to catch first 10 overs before mom/wife starts getting annoyed and starts assigning some random errands. Usually the starting phase of the match is exempt as something is always 'happening'. Same goes for the death overs as something seems to be happening always you are less likely to be disturbed and allowed to watch the ending. So basically you end up watching like 20-25 overs of an ODI and we had sort of made peace with that

T20 as a format has taken some time to evolve, for teams to really  figure out what exactly they need to do and over last few years it seems to have settled into a steady flow. There are bound to be good and bad effects which will impact other forms of the game and the game overall will change for sure. Does it provide good balance for bat and ball? No.
Is this something which aesthetically pleasing  (like watching Roger Federer in full flow)? Of course No.
But is it cricket? Surely yes.
Does it get over in 3 hours? Oh yeah.
Is it possible to actually watch the entire action, given our regular schedules? Oh yeah

All of these factors did play role in me deciding that ODI cricket is just not worth the time and energy and I have really been wishing that people cut down on what I think are meaningless bi-lateral ODI series and instead just play t20s and get over with it sooner and spend more time playing Test cricket. I think its a given that game cannot survive or sustain interest without catering to masses so we need Shorter variant of the game, and my vote goes to T20 for that.

In many social forums I interact with friends and other fellows, I have controversially harped on scrapping or scaling down ODI cricket and instead packing international calender with more T20s and Test cricket instead. I have faced huge opposition at first, but now the volume of protests have come down perhaps because the same folks have argued the same points several times now or because folks arguing for ODIs are getting tired of defending it

Now ODI WC is something that I really enjoy and I dont think anything T20 throws at it can quite match the appeal or the place in our heart that ODI WC holds. Despite my grudges against the format I think ODI WC is quite special and is the only reason why I dont want the format scrapped. Again that is because that is the only ODI tournament/series which has some context or relevance which the bi-lateral series just doesn't have

Now for the main topic which prompted all this cud chewing on limited overs cricket - the recent T20 WC... maybe its because its pretty fresh in mind but the recent tournament was something that I enjoyed highly. I did watch almost all matches despite the tournament happening in early morning time for me and felt this was a very 'open' World cup unlike the 50 over one in which the odds invariably favored 2-3 nations. Most of the matches were close which is perhaps because of the very nature of this format where almost all contests stretch into final over and no one is truly out of the game until the very end.

We have very active college whatsapp group among some of my friends in which 90% of discussion is on cricket and recently we again had a rerun of ODI vs t20 and several folks begged a few of us to stop discussing this again and again. With the recent experience of following 2 major T20 events, I thought I will jot down a list of things which make the format work for me as a viewer/fan who is keen to 'watch'/'follow' entire live sporting action.

1. It sort of respects my time and doesn't assume I have 9-10 hours of free time to park my butt on an uncomfortable seat in the stadium or even my more comfortable couch for TV viewing. Its the usual argument that the game is just about 3-3.5 hours for a t20 match is about the time taken for almost all major spectator friendly sporting events - think Football, Tennis, F1, Soccer

2.The other redeeming factor for pushing for this format was the sheer closeness of the matches because of the format. Lesser the overs closer it gets but if the number of overs become too less its not a match it becomes a farce and I think at this point 20 overs seems to strike the right balance

3.There was a fear that the format would be bowler's graveyard and they would just give up altogether and audience just want to watch 20 over chases of 200+ scores. The recent 2 tournaments in Asia were not quite that way. The pitches were not highways and bowlers who have done their share of innovation came to party with several smart weapons to counter batsmen. So if there is will to have regular size grounds and pitches with some life in it even in this format there can be a good contest between bat and ball

4.As a common man viewing the game, there is a greater sense of identification for masses as this format is pretty close to the game we play on streets and maidans. You dont need to be super talented,skilled to make your mark and an average player can still have his day and pull it off for this team.  The success of journeymen cricketers in IPL like  Bisla, Valthathy, Jakati, Tambe etc is a good example of how it allows folks with basic abilities to have their days under sun as well with positive intent and huge amount of luck as well. Who doesn't love an underdog!

5. I did watch quite a few matches played by associate nations and the gap between them and established nations are narrowing but no format gives them such a good chance to pull off upsets and stay competitive as T20. It seems to be fairly obvious that if cricket wants to move beyond the 10-12 nations where it commands a good following then T20 is the way to go. The good run by Afgans and managing to pull off a stunning win over the eventual champions in the recent world cup is case in point. The qualifier felt like cheating but the number of mismatches have come down drastically and this format represents the only chance for game to expand to a real 16 nation or beyond competitive WC

6. Really good players will still rock this format. Think Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Md Amir, enough said!

7. Cricket is a game which takes stats and records seriously. A bit too seriously! No I'm not going to encourage any discussion on my fav batsman Sachin ;)  There has been lot of debate on whether players slow down when reaching milestones like 50, 100  and yeah 200 etc. There is huge obsession over landmarks, average etc The number of 100s a batsman has and making a 100 was something that ODI inherited from Test cricket, but t20 is a format where people just care about scoring and atleast as of now milestones don't seem to matter as much as other formats and run scoring and delivering for team when needed seems to be even more crucial factor than sheer volume of runs or wickets

8. t20 is the only format which can make leagues like IPL, Big-bash, Ram-slam work and makes it possible for cricket loving folks to get more and more cricket on tv during summer


So thank you T20 for giving some sort of cricketing action throughout the summer, I didnt watch last IPL but this time thanks to Asia cup and WC I'm all enthused despite the fact that my fav IPL team is no longer around. Hoping to get a few hours of regular good cricketing action throughout the summer

Down the memory lane with World cup and Ind-Pak matches

Harry Potter books among several neat magical concepts had something called Pensieve. For those
who dont know it is an object to store/retrieve memories. For me World cup in general and Ind-Pak matches in particular is something similar. Majority of Indians watch/follow cricket but thats a very loose terms associated with being aware of the game and having a general idea of whats going on. There are a lot of us who follow the game passionately and  most of us follow almost all matches played by Indian cricket team but given the fact that India plays 40-50 matches an year most of the action is forgotten very soon.

However World cup is one of the events that is remembered for a long long time. Among my earliest memories of cricket has been watching the Benson & Hedges World cup in 92. Thought I do remember catching some action in the tri-series prior to it, the 92 WC was the first time I followed an entire cricket tournament, we all caught up with everything available, read the newspapers caught the action on TV whenever possible and spoke about it with friends in school and neighbourhood and had our own reenactment of those matches in gully cricket!

You sort of pick up general vibe from your parents, neighbours and coloumns in newspapers and Pak was a country we really wanted to beat and mostly fell short in close battles until then in ODIs and it in 92 WC we were meeting them for first time. As such defeats in Sharjah were fresh in our minds then and this match with More-Miandad clash and Kapil and Sachin scripting a good win was athe lone bright spot in an otherwise not so memorable tournament from Indian perspective. But South Africa , Jonty Rhodes, NZ team with Dipak Patel opening and Crow and Greatbatch and Inzy, Wasim , Lara  and of course the rain rule is what I remember even now from that edition.

By the time the next world cup arrived I was in 9th standard and had become a huge cricket fan reading up all I could find about the game which meant newspaper and Sportstar magazine. This was around the time my dad had decided that I was wasting too much time in non-studies related activities and had banned cricket from tv for a while .I still managed to find a transistor radio and caught up with action is another story but even his resolve to keep away melted as the World cup fever heated up and I ended up watching most of the significant matches. Ofcourse the most memorable match indeed was the Ind-Pak QF game of 96 which is perhaps the best Ind-Pak WC game that ever was given the stakes involved and mental baggage. I think we were batting well and looked set for a good score and then all of a sudden Jadeja ( that meant Ajay then) went berserk and ripped apart fearsome Waqar. But Pak reply was equally good with Sohail and Anwar batting really well and then that Venkatesh Prasad moment happened which I do believe was sort of thing which ensured the 'mental edge' and swagger Pakistanis had (atleast in mind of Indian fans) dissapeared and our heroes seemed to be an even match for them. Another enduring sight was Miandad struggling and looking hapless. From WC perspective it was last time the mighty WI showed their dominance and Aus also impresed and pulled off a brilliantly heist in semis, but the Lankans were the team of the WC and eventual winners but the way they played their cricket was something else. My dad termed them 'unprofessional' and was convinced such crazy batting cant be maintained and indeed many others who had seen the game for a while could not understand what was going on as Lankans threw old theories of batting steady aside and forged a new way to win matches which got adopted by almost all teams in the next few years and sort of changed the game itself! That Eden defeat to SL was very painful indeed. Sri Lanka made a powerful statement to the world with the WC win


The next world cup arrived in 3 years and this time I had completed board exams and was preparing for Engg entrance and with high performing cousins securing marks in high 90s and admissions in colleges of choice there was added pressure from parents. This meant no TV at all, but I do remember watching the Ind-SL match with my cousins and a score like that was unbelievable. I couldnt watch most games  was only able to catch up on newspaper next day on what exactly happened. The only exception made was the Ind-Pak game and somehow I dont remember much about this match at all except that Prasad took a lot of wickets. The best match of course was the semis when Australia pulled of yet another heist like previous WC

2003 WC was in my college final year and this time I was in hostel and there was a general cricket fever and a big group used to sit together and watch and discuss during matches. The India-Pak clash was another memorable one, I cant remember why there was a huge hype around this one perhaps because we were hardly playing Pak at that time. This was billed as Shoaib vs Sachin and Pak put up a huge total. The reply from Sachin and Sehwag is something that I will remember for a long time the entire TV room in college hostel erupted with joy with every big hit. There were lots in the initial overs as Sachin went after Akthar and Sehwag also smashed Wasim and Waqar and there was a huge silence and Sehwag and Ganguly got out immediately. But there was still Sachin and boundaries kept flowing almost every over and huge chase was achieved. Another thing I remember from this world cup was performance of Zim and Kenya and the fact that they could not help these two teams make it to big league given their promise and performance in 2003 should rank as one of the major failures of cricket. Of course the WC final was a match all Indian fans would like to forget as it was a savage mauling by an extremely strong Aussie team that we watched/suffered through. And what an Aussie team it was!

By the time next WC arrived we were suddenly very sure of Indian team being able to cross the final hurdle as Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid and Ganguly were complemented by a solid middle order of Yuvi and Dhoni and we had changed from poor chasers to a team which can chase any target. But it turned out to be the worst ever performance maybe the format can be blamed but net result was that from a fans perspective this was one of the least memorable World cups. I was working at Infosys and  no longer had to contend with exams and other distractions but with India crashing out and the matches starting late evening there was not much incentive to sit whole night and watch the matches. Ofcourse Ireland and Bangladesh would be summary of the World cup from subcontinental fans perspective, that and that squash ball! Again Aussies were unstoppable and they completed yet another comprehesive WC campaign and were hardly troubled while defending it and my fervent wish throughout the WC for some nation to upset Aussies remained a wish alone until ...

2011 WC was in India and I had taken up an offer from Cognizant to join their Business Development team and with WC in mind negotiated with my previous employer to reduce notice period and release me early and had asked Cognizant for a later joining date and created a gap of 1 month which was when bulk of World cup happened. This meant home food and viewing world cup matches without any kind of disturbance and this was indeed the only WC where I could watch almost all the matches fully. The match of the world cup for me was the Ind-Aus QF when India finally stepped up and stopped a strong aussie team ofcourse the final was a great win and the win against Pak in semis were also really crucial but in terms of strength of opposition and how scared we as fans were it was the QF that really mattered. The Ind-Pak match was a semi-final and as such a high pressure one without baggage associted with usual rivalry. But as Indian fans we were lot more confident of our team and it was the Pak team which seemed to have lost the mental resolve and swagger and looked very nervous and fumbled around and lost. That was the match which sort of confirmed the trend in the rivalry for a while and it perhaps began in mid 2000s as India stopped being nervous about meeting Pak and routinely coasted to wins. That ending in Mumbai was the moment fans of my generation will keep talking about or atleast thats what we thought that time!

2015 WC being in Australia and me living in North West US had made it hard to follow first there was the matter of getting the matches on TV. Lot of discussions with friends and searches on net later the package was identified and purchased 30 min before start of Ind-Pak game and then several other NRIs seemed to be doing the same as the website's server crashed with everyone trying to activate subscription. Luckily just as the toss finished and teams were lining up for National Anthemn the link came up and gave me Sky Sports HD coverage. Since WC 2011 this was the first match that I saw entire innings, I have ranted a lot about the length of ODI format ad nauseum and for a while I have been only watching first 15 overs and last 15 overs and catching the rest on cricinfo or chekcing score occassionally. But this being WC and Ind-Pak out of nowhere came this desire to not miss a ball, I couldnt watch the entire Pak innings but went to sleep confident that this Indian team had their opposition's number. This might perhaps be the weakest Ind and Pak squads to have clashed in a WC but under high pressure Indian batting really stepped up and Pak bowling struggled before coming into their own towards the end. Sadly their batting couldnt put up similar fight. This might be low intensity group stage clash but the effect an Ind-Pak clash in WC has on fans and ultimately the teams themselves is something to be seen to understand. Due to various reasons mostly attributable to form of Indian cricket team most of us were not really looking forward to the World cup but now that it is here and has kick started hoping to catch as much as possible despite the hurdles imposed by timezone

My tryst with "Indian Summers"

Seems apt for the season, but this one is actually a book review of "Indian Summers" by John Wright. Before I get to the book, let me cover why I wanted to pick this one and how i picked this one up as that is also a good tale. I remember reading somewhere many years back that  during his coaching days John Wright was of the opinion that Anil Kumble would make a very good captain. Its another matter that Kumble eventually took over the reins and did pretty well and justified the observation of former coach who had watched him from close quarters. Also I heard from somewhere about this book which is basically made of stuff from a diary Wright kept during his coaching days so I was very intrigued to know what went on behind the scenes during a huge transformation period when India went from being an also ran team to a force to be reckoned with in turn leading to creation of a strong vibrant team, fan following and a huge cricket market that is there today.

But the search for this book turned out to be an arduous challenge in itself as most stores didn't seem to stock it, I had tried at small bookstore in Navi Mumbai ( where I was based then) where the owner was friendly and used to be give discounts, but no luck with this one. Tried  Crossword and Landmark bookstore, again no luck. I had started buying off flipkart by then and any book I wanted was there waiting with a generous discount but this one proved elusive. I wasn't daunted put a request to notify me when it becomes available and then forgot all about it. After a few months in a new city I happened to take part and win a quiz competition at my workplace and got Odeyssey bookstore voucher and the first thing I went and checked was this book. Again no luck, the guy was friendly and offered to write it down, he even recognized John Wright as our old coach and promised to talk to someone and get back to me. He never did, still I checked a couple of times but it was leading nowhere and after several futile online purchase searches I slowly forgot all about the book.

This IPL V season started and while discussing cricket with friends the usual who was the best captain ( the usual Dhoni Vs Ganguly) debate started and interesting this time during IPL there was a chance for face-off of several men who had led India and who wanted to lead India. While debating this I again wished if I had access to that book of Mr.John Wright where I hoped he would have shed some light on what really went on and how did Indian team team transform itself was it because of an aggressive skipper who managed to give it back to 'them' ( By backing his mates, giving more chances to people as some believe or by coming late for tosses, whirling shirt from Lord's balcony as some others believe). During one of those chats with Vaidya about cricket and captaincy a couple of weeks back I mentioned that I was looking for this elusive book for a long time. "Try flipkart" was the reply, I was pretty exasperated and wanted to start a lengthy drivel on my search for this book when tht was accompanied by a Flipkart link to the book which claimed it was indeed available. After quickly erasing all that i was typing I typed a quick thank you and promptly placed an order. But the order snagged somehow, towards the end the page went blank and order status was incomplete. Only then I noticed the book was priced at Rs.84 ... surely something was wrong, not again! But then I decided I will try again and ordered another book along with this and this time it went through. Vaidya did warn there must be some error somewhere as no one sells a hardcover for Rs.84 and they might ask for money during delivery. So called up my mom and explained this and told her to give me a call when book comes in case they ask for extra money. The book took some time to arrive and strangely nothing extra was charged. When I got home next weekend, this fantastic hardcover edition with a cover price of 18 Pounds was mine for just Rs.84. Surely there is some cricketing God somewhere!

Now onto the book, it was a pretty breezy read Mr.Wright sure has a good sense of humor and his whole India 'experience' thats what it actually is about is narrated pretty warmly. You cant help smiling when you read through many incidents which would bizarre/unbelievable for those unacquainted with India or Indian cricket. But Wright soaks it all up, learns how things move and slowly but surely changes the course towards something positive. He claims he was not all that soft as media believed and he did give players an earful and had picked up fights with high and mighty in the system but still its hard to shake off the image of the genial Kiwi quietly working behind the scenes and getting things done. However the book doesn't contain anything controversial and Wright is quite measured in his criticism. He is aware of the enormous responsibilities entrusted to him, the expectations from a nation of billion plus with very little sporting success. He is frustrated with the way things work and how an ineffective system is preventing a nation with so much talent from reaching its full potential.

Wright takes through all the major events during his term as coach and for an Indian cricket fan it is guided tour ( Like Directors commentary in Movie DVDs where lot of behind the scenes stuff is revealed) of  Team India's major campaigns which resulted in a lot of wins we are proud of. But Wright steers away from all controversial topics and takes care not to put up names or reveal who did what and instead subtly hints at lot of things. Some of things I liked was his narration of how he landed up in India to take up this job with no contract and not even an Indian visa! Lot of hilarious incidents like culture of players sitting in chairs and sipping tea during nets and munching sandwiches in gym while opposition players sweat it out! Concept of different team managers for every tour and getting people who had no clue as managers and how the concept of having selectors from a  Zonal system is turning the whole thing into a farce is well captured.
How he changed that culture with rudimentary support equipment and not much support from board is a story to read. There are lot of info that most people don't know like how Laxman was almost on verge of dropping out of the famous Kolkata test of 2001 because of a fitness issue and he also does cover the incident that became a 'hot potato' - Dravid declaring with Sachin batting on 194! The way he lost his cool and almost manhandled Sehwag ( just like every Indian fan would have) when he threw his wicket with a reckless shot, the book is replete with many such moments. But the relationship with Ganguly and other major players isn't covered in detail, Wright does point out quite a few things though. I thought he managed to strike a right balance between covering various issues while keeping lid on certain private behind the scenes stuff. Even though he doesn't give out much he leaves enough hints for a careful reader which is why I really liked this book.

Like my post - the book is also more on the overall experience and not just the cricket , the frustration and anguish and the talent and hope that is India for him. How it all comes together to make a great journey made a good reading experience as well. Highly recommended for fans of Indian cricket   

the Aftermath

The defence of the 'Crown' was half hearted, more than knowledge of conditions our past reputation and self belief were to be the main weapons ... but once the leader of bowling attack limped out in the first session, things started going downhill. After two heavy defeats suddenly our talismanic leader was under attack, in the third test he responded with a couple of gutsy knocks. I noticed a tweet at the end of the test saying "finally India's captain showed up but sadly the rest of the team didnt" as we hurtled towards yet another heavy defeat.

More than defeat, the way we folded with minimal fight has led to a lot of talk. Perhaps some of the criticism is justified, we have done poorly no denying that, but the expectations were very high. Lot of the hype was created by media of course, but when a team is ranked no:1 in the world you do expect them to win more often than not. But again we all knew England was no pushover, beating Australia home and away is a feat unmatched in last few decades and add home advantage plus players peaking at right time. It made all the difference compared to India's unsettled lineup which was hampered by players not adapting , untimely injuries(we need to remember tht we played first two tests with just 3 bowlers) and sheer bad luck. Curiously some time back people were questioning the whole world no:1 thing saying the system was not proper. But suddenly in this series the whole world seems to think the ranking is all that matters and India is pilloried for doing injustice to world no:1 billing!

This is not a post aimed at criticizing Indian team nor justifying their capitulation. There are enough number of articles/people doing that. What captured my interest was the reaction of public to this, people of facebook, twitter, friends I keep in touch, colleagues in office and any random conversation I happen to hear in office cafeteria or while travelling to work.

Everyone is disgusted with the team and some swear not to follow cricket anymore, but quickly check the score at start of Indian batting to see if Viru might return with a bang! Everyone is clear on what is wrong, in fact a few days back I heard a lot of conversations questioning Dhoni's leadership ability and whether he merits a place in test team. This is a man who had never lost a test series before this tour and has the best track record for an Indian skipper and only one in a long time who seemed to be handling captaincy without letting it affect his batting. I dont think I need to waste any time pointing out his numerous successes but just how fickle is public memory! Just 3 months back when Dhoni smashed a six to seal the world cup people were cheering wildly, sporting "Bleed Blue" buttons and proclaiming from rooptops that we are champions and this is the best Indian team ever. But the moment they lose some matches people turn their back and start attacking the same guys. Again I'm not saying winning World cup means they dont need to win anything henceforth. But such drastic reactions are totaly unwarranted, media seems to be playing an active role in this with extremely critical articles in which reporters get very judgmental and sometimes seem to be worse than your average cricket fan. Also the opinions carried of former cricketers also fuel the fire with every 'expert' condemning team, so cant really blame the man on the street who thinks Dhoni lacks 'dynamism' as captain and needs to be replaced! Everyone has quick fix solutions and their own diagnosis of the problem. Funny thing is most of the problems noticed were there in the team for a long time now, with these very problems we became world no:1!

Its really strange, as a nation we go through life with zero accountability from all authorities and we hardly seem to care about the corruption, bad roads, poor administration and what not, but somehow demand total accountability from cricketers!

Its not just a game !

Sport is an indicator of the state of nation , it reflects the character of nation and represents the aspiration of its people , that is the reason why lot of importance is placed of sporting victories . Also the reason why people follow their national team with great fervor and corporate houses invest so much money in these events and in sport-stars.

60 odd years ago 2 nations were created at the end of colonial rule and both have taken their own unique route . Cricket field is very good indicator of the way India and Pakistan have fared and performed in the world stage. This should also answer the question of skeptics as to why is the nation so much obsessed with this game called cricket !

Indian cricket team traditionally was always good on paper with stylish players and spin wizards , but never quite managed to translate that potential into victories in world stage and were perfect representation of an under performing nation growing at 'Hindu rate of growth' whose economy stagnated with corruption , excessive protectionism and regulations , while other smaller 'Asian Tiger' countries leaped ahead in the first five decades of self rule.

Pakistan was also going through similar phase as India , a nation with lot of potential but never quite managing to put it across when it mattered , just like its cricket team which could be world beaters one day , challenging any nation and fold up meekly the next day.

At the start of this decade , Indian economy slowly started 'shining' , the growth really picked up and India was recognized as an emerging power by the world over the next few years . With steady growth of more than 6% over last couple of decades , India which is now the 4th largest economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world

At the same time the cricket team under Sourav Ganguly and later under Rahul Dravid started challenging all major powers both at home and away on consistent basis. They started managing test wins in most of the major tours abroad , gradually improved that to series wins in Eng , Pak , WI , NZ and finally leading to No:1 ranking in tests with a win in T2o WC also in between ... Nation also firmly established itself in the world stage by opening up its economy resulting in a stable domestic market . The success of IPL is an example of the economic might of India , the amount of money it has been able to pour into the game and the way it has been able to attract cream of world cricket is sign of strength of its local economy and the belief of all investors in the potential for growth in the country.

For Pakistan whose team was the dangerous floater of 80s and 90s , the next decade was not so memorable as they could not match their neighbor in consistency, despite occasional dominant performances like T20 WC win last year it has been more of lows than highs.
Similarly the country which allied with US in war on terror has been believed by many to be running with the hare and hunting with hounds. There has been a gradual destabilization as the extremist forces have started making in roads and govt struggling to maintain stability and peace.
As the cricket team changed captain after captain - they have recently named their 7th captain in last 3 years - nation also plunged through leadership crisis with Democracy being overthrown by dictatorship which was also collapsed leaving the nation without effective leadership as extremist forces continued to attack and the country getting world wide attention for trouble within . As the country is battling to overcome infighting , Pak team is also going through similar phase with senior players being removed/banned and several players reprimanded for damaging team discipline , with players coming in and going out constantly

In contrast India has had relatively stable rule with a functioning democracy and governments getting re-elected and Test team had captains enjoying long runs at helm.

Quick look at numbers confirms the same :

Indian test team had a success rate of 20% before 2000 and in the next decade(post 2000) it has improved to 35 % . The Win/Loss ratio was 0.65 earlier and it has improved almost 100% to 1.22 in the last decade.

For Pakistan team had fared better than India in previous decades , success rate was at 27% earlier had only marginally improved to 29% in the last decade. Win/Loss ratio has actually dropped by around 50% for them, with the drop being more in the last few years. For Pakistan economy which was model economy initially with its high growth rate in the first few decades , the last few years have mirrored the fortunes of their team with Balance of payment crisis and GDP growth rate dipping in the last few years.



Note : Economy stats pulled from wiki and cricket stats pulled from cricinfo - rough calculations only ; Cricket - Only test records considered in order to measure last 60 years performance. Results against Bangladesh and Zim have been omitted while preparing this statistics as 1) They were not playing test cricket that much before last decade 2) I don't personally believe they are Test class teams !

A Curious Case Indeed !

In 2008 there was this wonderful movie made by David Fincher called "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" , based on a short story of same name by F.Scott Fitzgerald. The movie was about titular character who was born as 70 year old and aged in reverse . Curiously as he grew older (age-wise) , Benjamin Button kept getting better , fitter , energetic and younger. Age is one those concepts which we always love to challenge as it dictates what we can/should do , it creates an invisible boundary or box limiting the roles to be played during that period of life. Hence the concept of being able to defy and move opposite to age and what it entails is a very fascinating subject.

Of late in India , there seems to be a 'Benjamin Button' effect going around , clock seems to be running in reverse all over. First there was this case of country's biggest ever superstar actor who is in late 60s , sending the clock for toss and playing a 12 year old kid suffering from progeria. While it could definitely be said that Mr.Bachchan fitted the role to perfection and nailed it with his portrayal , same unfortunately cannot be said about another blockbuster movie which hit the screen earlier this year. The movie has a title which in a way proclaimed what it expected the audience to be ! It had an actor in mid 40s and two other actor in 30s hoodwinking concepts of age and playing college kids who challenge education system with glee and with great commercial success ! The movie in spite of strange choice of age-defying actors did work thanks to the basic ideas espoused by the movie and its good presentation . Credit is also due to the actors for having put in effort to ensure they somewhat fit the bill. The concept has been such a huge success that this month in India there has been a spate of Ads on TV starring these actors with one of them reprising a college boy role again in a series of Ads for a telecom operator .The other actor , the super star , amazingly continues to play yet another age-defying role this time of a young son leaving family for first time to big city for his first job (!) , promising to stay in touch with his parents and also his college going girlfriend through his cellphone ! If this is not enough the 3rd actor , who is from South India , appears in an ad for a bathing soap whose USP is that it helps hide age and makes you look much much younger !!!

Now for some serious time benders - in the field of sport. This years' IPL has just proved that age is just another statistic which can be bandied about during pre-match analysis and discussions , but out there on the cricket field it hardly matters. The so called veterans of the game , who were supposed to be on their last leg and were being nudged out by media decided that this is the time to roar back . Sachin Tendulkar has never batted so well ; In international cricket in the last few months He has played some stupendous innings and in IPL that form seems to be continuing He can hardly put a foot wrong of late . Kallis seems to have struck the form of his life and in the initial matches no one could even get him out . Vaas rocked the party right from start of season with a clutch of wickets . Hayden put many youngsters to shade with his experimental Mongoose bat , rest of the veteran gang - Murali , Kumble , Dada , Gilchrist , Warne are all having a ball this season and seem to be more competitive than most youngsters. And the buzz is that Brian Lara is planning to come back and is widely believed to be in contention for a place in one of the new franchisees , with Kemp and Martyn also playing (and heck with Michael Schumacher behind the wheels of a F1 car ) one could be excused if there was a confusion on which decade we are in !

What has happened to world suddenly i wonder , the clock seems to be turned back somehow ! What next i wonder ?!

No Country for bowlers

It was a hot March evening - about middle of last decade - me and my roomie were casually watching cricket on TV and saw Ricky Ponting demolish South Africans in style with a brilliant knock and lead Australia to an unbelievable 434 in 50 overs ... tht was quite a score at that time . But when South Africans began the chase , we knew that this was something special and we sat through entire 50 overs not able to believe what we were witnessing , it was a run feast - yes . Bowlers were getting slaughtered - yes . But it was fun to watch and was good cricket . South Africa pulled off an amazing win in the end in what is even now billed as one of the greatest games in ODI cricket , and no total was safe after that in ODIs. After 2005 esp , we have seen a run glut in ODIs with scores of 300+ being commonplace . Somewhere during middle of last decade , when the attendence started dropping for cricket matches a new crisper format was created called T20 . Matches getting over within 3.5 hours , just 20 overs per team but with runs scored almost at twice the pace of ODI cricket !

With advent of T20 , batsmen started getting more creative with just a few overs to play they started taking more risks and changed the whole mindset of building an innings and consequently opened up whole new ways to score runs . Reverse sweeps , scoop shots , switch hits started getting employed and if that was not enough stricter rules for wides , Free-hits for front-foot no-balls meant that noose tightened further for bowlers. Stats-wise last few years have been the worst time ever in cricket for bowlers , never have their clan been thrashed around so much , in the era of T20 an economy rate of 6 runs per over is a luxury and is celebrated as achievement . Its not only in T20 but in ODIs and test cricket too batsmen have started thriving , scoring runs at fast clip.
It would seem like they have been liberated from some curse which had for generations held them back and had controlled their ability to attack and decimate their rivals the bowlers , their seemed to some natural order of things , balance of nature which allowed batsmen to prevail in most contests , but always allowed bowlers to comeback strongly call shots too on many occasions and stamp their authority enough to ensure there was always a contest between bat and ball ... but something seems to have snapped during late 2000s , never before have bowlers appeared so clueless as a tribe (of course there are a few practitioners who still conjure up magic , but they are a rare breed indeed) ... it could be the emergence of subcontinent where tracks are bowlers graveyard , but that is just one factor ... matches all over the world in last few years have produced high scores ... T20 cricket as I mentioned earlier must have played its part too in increasing the appetite of batsmen. How else do we explain Indian test team successfully chasing a near 400 4th innings target to win a test match on final day !

Experts have mentioned that this is not an overnight phenomenon and this is something which has been happening over the years with batsmen getting benefit of good protective gear , better bats , smaller grounds , stricter laws which reduce scope for bodily harm and ensure bowlers bowl in a channel where batsmen can if they play properly - hit the ball , docile pitches , sheer workload which burns out most bowlers have all played a part in slowly titling the balance more and more away from bowlers. I think these might be the set of reasons which has caused this imbalance in the game between the two traditional opponents ... But the tipping factor to me is that match in 2006 when the myth of an impossible to chase target was demolished !

But is it all over for the bowlers ? Have they been reduced to pathetic losers who need to scratch and bite the cricket ball on sly to manage to compete with batsmen ? Are they mere accompaniment pieces to batting armies , playing support roles to batsmen ?

The prognosis doesn't look very good at the moment for bowling , but there are still a breed of fighters left the ones who deliver precise yorkers , ones who bowl with genuine pace , ones who manage beat the batsmen with their flight and variations. But they are a diminishing tribe , for the sake of the game lets hope they prosper and come up with newer tricks in their sleeve to restore the balance. This IPL did suggest that even though it is show of batting might ... there are guys who can 'swing' or spin the match away with the ball too ... even in matches where 200 runs are scored in 18 overs .. 2 tight overs in the end turned a possible record chase into a close fight ... however bowlers need to move away from playing supporting role by just stemming the flow of runs and its time they asserted their might with new innovative wicket taking deliveries!

T - 20 , An incredible Journey !

I had started following cricket in early 90s , around 91 i think , started reading newspapers and 'Sportstar' magazine . Since the time i started following Indian cricket there was this young kid with curly hair , who was regarded as the most talented by one and all . As kids we loved him as he was a youngster who could take on much older guys , it also helped that he was bloody good . Benson & Hedges cup tri -series in Aus (91-92) was when i started following live cricket action on TV first time , used to wake up early and follow the matches , thts when i saw Sachin in action for the first time ! That tour confirmed to the world what he was one of the most talented and complete batsmen with his centuries in Sydney and Perth . For me as a viewer that series was the beginning of the era of a legend whose career i would be following eagerly over two decades . A career with a lot of promise which actually ended up getting fulfilled , one with a lot of expectation which were easily surpassed effortless by the man known as The Little Master , but for the legions of cricket crazy fans in India for whom the game is nothing short of religion , He is God !

Over last 2 decades a lot has changed in India , post liberalization and opening up of economy the country has totally transformed , among all the crazy transformations the only constant has been the His presence in the Indian line-up . They say 90s was the decade of hope after a long period of just sustaining and surviving India decided to break shackles and slowly tried to make its presence felt . Sachin was a symbol of that hope of 90s , a country that was changing ,as TV sets became more common the fanatic worship had begun , then and now, He was/is always the reigning deity and He never disappointed the millions. Indian cricket in 90s began and ended with Sachin Tendulkar , such was our belief in Him that the moment He got out millions of Indians without a second thought used to switch off the TV and come out of the bubble of hope and exuberance that was built by His mere presence at the crease . As long as He was around we were always in the game was what majority of Indians felt.

As 90s ended , India as an economy had acted on the promise just like Sachin . Economic growth took off in 2000s , things started improving all around , IT , communications , infrastructure boomed , basic facilities improved , red tapism had gone down , private sector was running the show now , cable TV and news channels had emerged and for many Indians life started getting better. The cricket team also improved , VVS Laxman and Dravid put up a huge partnership following on and even without Sachin doing too much India made a miraculous comeback and defeated Aussies. More victories started coming , other support players emerged , Ganguly was the brave new captain .. Sehwag was new hard-hitting fearless opener cracking triple centuries ; But for most of us He was still the no:1!

The presence of an effective support cast meant a lot of burden was lifted off His shoulder/elbow (the tennis one !) He moved to a different role that of a consolidator , the boy ripped apart attacks was cast aside and the man who could ruthlessly accumulate runs was born. We didn't like it initially we wanted the old kid back , one who would pummel the opposition to surrender , the one who would create nightmares for the bowlers even if they were regarded as Greatest Leg-spinner ever. But He knew better and He excelled in his new role as a mentor figure for youngsters , someone who would guide India home.

Economy was now clocking steady growth , BSE Sensex was mirroring the run aggregate of Sachin and things around us were improving at a steady rate , Sachin was also scoring at a steady pace . However time and again critics would surface point out flaws only to have The Little Master put them to shame with an impeccable display of batting They said he cant play in finals , He thrashed Aussies with a 117 and 91 in 2 finals to guide India to victory in the CB series finals in 2008 , they said he cant play in the 4th innings in test match , He scored an assured century and guided India to a brilliant victory chasing a huge 387 run target in 4th innings at Chennai . Just when u think you have seen it all , He turns the clock back and comes up with knocks like the 175 in the recent ODI agains Australia which turned an impossible run chase to a thrilling one and almost had India coasting home !

To the person up there .... Thanks a lot for 20 years of Tendulkar !

Million Dollar Babies !

what do you think of it ? asked my friend while we were watching TV. Tv channels all of them were into "Team India" bashing mode then , the very media who projected them as heroes were now after them show after show , funnily in between these debates the ads featured had cricketers endorsing products ( initially !)... on tv we were flooded with images of fans going berserk ... majority demanding that the team come back right now and stop 'disgracing' us !
( where were these ppl n those who interviewed em when hockey team was playin or when any other intl sports meet where we took part was happenin .. i wonder ;-) )
well it was that time of the World Cup when a extremely cautious India was shocked by a carefree Bangaldesh. I had hopes of the team bouncing back then as i beleived (and continue to beleive that we are a good team) but it was not be. Ex-cricketers , who had given 'expert' opinions bout the greatness of current team and had rubbished Bangaldeshis before the match , suddenly discovered that the team was not good and were able to come up with a lot of flaws. More hilariously TV channels went around asking common men and funnily filmstars for advice on what was wrong with Indian cricket... comments were really hilarious ( some sick) to say the least. here are some i recollect ...universal conclusion was that it was ads which was responsoble for the 'spineless' capitulation ..."stop them from doing all these ads , then they will be better cricketers" they all quipped . They should stop doing all these ads and practise harder instead they all chimed . How easy is the life of an arm chair critic ! we are a nation of under achievers yet we expect our cricketers to do magical feats. Ads i thot meant safe n secure income and optimistic way of lookin at it wud mean that a cricketer who has a 5 yr contract wud not be very worried about getting out and can be free of pressure and hence can perform better which cud lead to more ads and more money .. translating to more motivation for ground breaking performances ! But whole country acc to media polls thinks otherwise ... Another enterprising gentleman had this formula , there some 10 point agenda to reform Indian cricket ! Another KPS Gill in making i guess :-) if they dont perform , dont pay them they thundered. ..
some ( inc TOI newspaper !) were of the view that cricketers should be given targets like sales executives ... " they should be set a target of say 40 runs ave .. to be maintained over a period of 10-15 ODIs , if u dont match it u r dropped, same for bowlers , they should have x economy rate and ave over a period of time or they r dropped".
Gosh .. how idiotic can ppl get ! now they want ppl to conc on the personal records instead of helping the team win. now if these ppl/media have their way u will have ATP style ranking system wherein the top 11 wud make it to the team and others wud work hard to earn points to make it to top 11 and enter the team ;-) one politician was quick to poune on this and demanded bannin cricket as solution to all our problems ... i guess a better solution wud be to ban all these politicians, who discuss cricket in Lok sabha instead on concentrating on graver issues n problems botherin the nation.
my answer to 'it' would be that we are a nation which is evolving fast yet some things like mindset dont change so fast. im sure we will in due course realise that our Cricketers are no heroes they are also humans like each one of us and are prone to failures like most of us !
Our society has changed/evolved a lot in last 25-30 yrs when watching sports / playing was considered criminal waste of time by most parents ... to healthy appreciation of both .. to current trend of coaching camps , tennis academies where 6-8 yr olds are dropped for coaching by ever eager parents... The cricket economy has grown at a much faster pace then the game itself in our country and hopefully sooner or later this gulf wud get bridged , this defeat i guess wud in that sense go a long way in correcting the perspectives of most and would actually do us a lot of good in the longer run ... Soon we will come terms with defeat and will realise as late Bob Woolmer said "it is after all a game" !

Bang on Target !

They have done it ... it is yet to sink in for the 2 heavyweights from subcontinent.
It was supposed to be a walk in the park for both , but suddenly both India and Pakistan find that the park has turned into a maze and they have totally lost their way. Pak has been booted out , but India still has a chance to make it . If they come out of the mental maze they have created for themselves . As expected newspapers and news channels are full of criticism for the players , which rite now is waste of time . When one team played like tigers and other team was bleating around like lost lambs it was an uneven contest ( i was initially tempted to call this post "Silence of lambs" and lambast Ind :-) ) . yes we all do feel bad that our team remained as tigers only in the pepsi commercial ! But simply shouting @ them / attacking thier houses is not the way out ... we need to back them to come back ... on the same note , while everyone were fretting about team's chance of bouncing back we are missing a huge phenomeon ... Cricket is slowly coming of age , liberated from clutches of the elitist club of 7 top nations and others can now swing their weight equally at world stage . Now isn't that something ...
Who would have expected all this a few days back !
This was the first time we had a World Cup with so many teams and there was this talk of 2 different WC contests , round one was to be fun with minnows and then the big ones get together to fight the real world cup in a round billed as super8 !
but i guess yesterday changed it all ! WC has seen its share of upsets and tales of underdogs pulling it off like that of Kenyans last time. But politics and hence teams forfeiting matches played a role then , which is the reason why the matches yesterday are so different.
Now cricket WC has started resembling Soccer WC a bit , we are not yet there , but looks like this could be a beginning for more exciting contests . Honestly i never believed it when ppl called this group D as 'group of death' , such things happen in Soccer maybe but not in cricket is what i believed , but Bangladesh has shown the spirit and has acheieved the impossible. But what Ireland has achieved is totally unbelievable esp for a team playing its first Cup , I cant beleive it is yet to be beaten in WC !!!
And to think of it most of the ppl were looking forward to "April 15 " ( when India was supposed to meet Pak in Super 8 !!! ) , guess we need to wait another 4 yrs for that !