World Champions!

What a weekend that was - India winning the World Cup; witnessing the same with some of your closest friends; celebrating like mad on the streets in the middle of the night; having an unfortunate incident transforming what would have been a good dinner into a memorable dinner that never was; and if that wasn't enough, add the usual tomfoolery that happens when close friends meet and record those moments in HD ;) The match! What can I say about it that hasn't already been said. It was supposed to be a magnum opus - a final showdown between the world's greatest batsman and the best off-spinner to ever play the game. Instead, it ended being a coming of age moment for the next generation of the Indian cricket and the battle scarred class of 2003 alike.

Despite the beating he took at the hands of a sublime Jayawardhande towards the end of the innings, Zaheer should be re-christened Saint Zak. His opening spell was serenity, calmness, control epitomized. Unlike his oepning burst in 2003 where he let the occassion get the better of him, this time it was he who conquered his nerves. His reaction after dismissing Tharanga just said it all. He knew what he had to do, and more importantly, how to do it.

The way the Indians fielded and the way Gambhir and Dhoni batted, it was obvious that they were here to win. They were ready to put everything on the line - their bodies, their reputation, they would have probably traded their souls with the devil, to win the cup for a man who in Virat Kohli's words had carried the burden of the entire nation for 21 years. When the win came, it was as if it had been so ordained - India's favourite son winning the World Cup on his home ground. The reactions after the win were cathartic - not only for the players but for an entire generation which had grown up hearing of the triumph of '83 - a generation that had cried with Kambli in '96 - a generation that had its heart broken in 2003.

What followed the win was one of those I was there moments. We headed to a popular night spot in Mumbai for a late night dinner. Instead of having dinner, we danced on the streets, shrieked with joy till our throats were sore, high-fived strangers. As we chanted Sachin Sachin and India India, we became part of something that would live forever. We saw foreigners with the tricolor painted on their cheeks joining in, absorbing everything in. To use a cliche, it was what dreams are made of... :)

p.s. Another post on all the tomfoolery of the weekend!

Random Noise

The same thing was repeated over and over again

Casualty, was Serenity yet again.

~

I had planned to do a post on the IPL moving out of India and its ramifications. But as it turns out, I ended up having quite a lengthy discussion on FB about it. Well, won't do the post, but would just say this: IPL belongs in India; in the streets of Delhi 6, in the chawls of Bombay, in the hearts of every Indian. It needs to return home, if not for the fans, for the sake of cricket it must.

Medley

Being at home means a quite a bit of TV watching for me. Coz unlike in hostel, where u have to struggle to get a view of the screen amongst a lot of prespiring bodies in stuffy environs, its quite comfortable at home. And add to it the delicious snacks being served to you, while you sit and watch TV.. :D

Statistics can sure lie

I was watching this Champions League fixture between Real Madrid and Liverpool and I couldn't help but wonder at the irony.. Madrid were comprehensively beaten 4-0, and one would think that the Madrid goalie had a horrendous outing. Contrary to it Casillas, for me, was the best player on the pitch that day. Had it not been for him, Madrid could have well been defeated by something like 10-0!!

I don't know how often I have judged performances based on the scorecard alone.. Never Again!!!

Ahh.. my bad luck :(

The Indians had been in an ominous form in the Kiwiland. Sachin had already scored a masterful century and in the next match Sehwag has set the ground on fire with his shots as India chased down 200 odd without losing a single wicket! Well it was in this backdrop that I decided to wake up at 6:30 in the morning to catch the final ODI.. Can you even imagine it... Me, waking at that ungodly hour!! Anyways, wake i did. But unfortunately for me first the weather and then the Men in Blue chose to play spoilsport. After a delayed start, the Indian team managed to score a grand total of 149!! Can you believe it? The same team that didn't lose a wicket in nothcing up 200 had been bundled out for a platry 149!!

I jus couldn't believe my luck at that time and had it not been been for HBO, which thankfully was showing Into the Wild, the morning would have been a total disaster.. yay HBO!! :D

p.s. Am not a huge movie buff but a home somehow I do notch up quite a few of them.. these vacations accounted for Erin Brockowich, Into the Wild, Rocky Balboa, and a couple of others.. and haan, even rewatched the Matric and the Pirates... :)

Oh my dear IPL

We all loved the first edition and are eagerly awaiting for the 2nd! SET MAx, the broadcasters have already launched the promotional campagin. However, amongst all this, the very existence of the event remains in doubt. And with the recent reports that there wouldn't be any games in jaipur and Delhi, the very structure and format of the event has been jeopardised. Come on, how can you NOT have matches at these two places... Jaipur, the home of the winners Rajasthan royals. how would it feel if they are not playing their home macthes at Fortress Mansingh? And how would the Nawab of Najafgarh feel playing his home matches in some obscure place in Himachal!!

As the things stand right now, it would be very difficult for the IPL organizers to come up with an event similar to the hugely successful first edition. First and foremost the home and away format has been put in doubt because of the elections and the security concerns owing to the Lahore terrorist attacks.

What I am gonna say now may seem bizzare to some and preposterous to others. But there's a rationale from where its coming. The Elcetion commission could have been more realistic while announcing the schedule of the Lok Sabha elections. While at the face of it, the remark seems blasphemous, it's not. The IPL had already announced the schedule for the macthes. Would it have been too much to expect that the EC would consider the ground realities, both emotional and rational, and schedule the elections after the IPL window? Cricket is a religion in India. And if it comes to a choice between elections and IPL, you need not worry as to which side would this cricket crazy country vote. 

Had it been that the IPL would have announced a conflicting schedule with the Elections, they could and should have been taken to task for it. However what is happening right now is not fair. Its not fair to the players, to the fans and to the organizers. And all this because the EC wanted to be Holier than thou.. 

oops! I should be careful.. recently heard that u cud be sued for ur comments on a blog.. :O!! 

The Off-Side God

The upcoming test series against Australia would mark the end of the career of India's most successful captain, the Prince of Kolkata, Sourav Ganguly. Sourav Ganguly, the man who along with John Wright transformed the face of Indian cricket; the man whose cover drives could find the fence even with a 7-2 field; the man who along with Sachin Tendulkar formed one of the most potent opening partnerships that the world of cricket has ever witnessed.

After a forgettable ODI debut on the tour of 1992 in Australia, Ganguly spent the next four years in the wilderness till he was chosen for the Indian team to tour England in 1996. Ganguly made his Test debut at Lords and oh boy what a debut it was! After making an imperious century at Lords, he followed it up with an equally impressive one at Trent Bridge in the next test. Later that year, in an ODI at Jaipur against the Proteas, the world, for the first time, witnessed the greatest opening pair of all times in action. Both Sachin and Ganguly helped themselves to fifties as they put up first of their many several century plus stands.

The next couple of years saw Ganguly at his imperious best as bowlers all around the world watched in awe as Ganguly threaded the off side field with nonchalance and deported spinning deliveries over the bowlers' heads and into the stands. However more than Ganguly the batsman, its Ganguly the captain that the fans would cherish. In Ganguly, India was lucky to have a captain who wasn't afraid, who had the self-belief to go out there and beat any and everyone in the world. Most importantly he was a captain who galvanized a number of talented individuals into a competitive outfit.

Ganguly was passionate and wore his heart on his sleeve. Though it would be feats like stopping Steve Waugh's juggernaut in 2001 and leading India to the World Cup final a couple of years down the line that would define his career. It were small things like making Waugh wait for a toss and waving his tee shirt at the Lord's balcony that endeared him to his fans.

Ganguly came from Bengal, and was made captain in times when Indian cricket was dominated by the troika of Mumbai, Delhi and Karnataka. The fact that today a young lad from Ranchi is leading the Indian one day side wouldn't have been possible had the Ganguly era not unfolded. Under his captaincy Indians became better travelers. He backed the youngsters in his team to the hilt. Harbhajan, Yuvraj and many others owe their positions in the Indian team to their then charismatic captain, Sourav Ganguly. He ushered in what could rightly be called the Golden Age of Indian cricket.

Ganguly was perhaps at the nadir of his career when Greg Chappell was India's coach. Ganguly wouldn't have imagined in the wildest of his dreams the impact that his decision to support Chappell against the wish of his teammates would have on his career. The last year of his captaincy was marked with batting failures and more batting failures. Captaincy was wrested from him and in no time he found himself out of the Indian team. But Ganguly was a determined man, determined to win his place back, determined to prove that he still deserved a place in the team he had so patiently built.

The determination was for all to see when Ganguly made his comeback in South Africa. He was composed against England, and when South Africa and Pakistan visited India, he was once again at his imperious best. He notched up his maiden hundred at the Eden Gardens and followed it up with a magnificent double hundred.

After an indifferent summer in Australia and a forgettable failure in Sri Lanka earlier this year, doubts began to surface again. His ODI career had been brought to an end in Australia and there was a question mark if Ganguly still had the hunger to go on. It's ironical that the last chapter in the Ganguly saga would perhaps be written at Nagpur, where he drove the first nail in the coffin of his captaincy by withdrawing from the Test against Australia. He has one last chance to do what he does best, getting under the Australians' skin. But no matter what happens in the series, his legacy would remain intact.

Good Bye Dada...