Smells Like Team Spirit

Few days are special and January 19.2008 will be etched in memories of Indian cricket lovers for a long time. Whacking Australians at WACA takes something and mind you saying so is a gross understatement. And this “something” has been done finally. Kudos to India.

Well with too much cricket played all around, with players complaining of sore limbs and tired shoulders, these days every match stands like an entity going down in record books. Few tons scored, few fifers taken and adding up to statisticians’ delight.

Among these matches, Perth test match would be remembered because it was most unlikely venue for an Indian conquest. Not long back bowlers around the world used to boast of making Indian do hip hop on chin music treatment. Tennis ball bounce, deliveries precariously close to ears and green hard belt of a 22 yard strip;demons started playing in minds of Indian team before they really took few on their knuckles. Opposition bowlers were deemed undertakers ready to provide merciful killing for our hapless willow wielders. And all we could have as a team was a 15 minutes of glory provided by certain Gavaskar and in later years by another mumbaikar Tendulkar. But team surrendered arms too tamely, thinking they did not have ammunition to fight anyways.

So it was pleasant surprise to see bunch of 11 gentlemen in white flannels emerge as super fighters and take wind out of Aussies’ sails. What was even more pleasing was the team coming as a winner sans any single piece of individual brilliance. There were notable contributions but in the end they gelled as a team celebrating each other’s moments of success and consoling few moments of despair. The desperation to give it back to hosts was palpable on every single Indian face. None symbolized it better than Dhoni’s desperate run to deep third man to hold onto a remote offering by Clark. I have always been an admirer of Kumble and to this date I would rate him along with Dravid as two most crucial components of great Indian conquests. Kumble is a humble and silent person whose action speaks louder than thousand words. One has to marvel at his grit and determination, bowling over after over with a broken jaw against windies springs to my mind when asked to describe Indian skipper.

Excellent victory to savor gentlemen, we all await many more over somewhat overweening Aussies. Soar like a Team and your ear to ear grins will be maintained.

PS: Win at Perth is another big hurdle overcome; as I started watching cricket I always felt there are few venues on “eternally cursed list” for Indians, winning it meant another name gets vanished from that list. Here is what the list looked like few years back.

Leeds, Headinglay ; England

Old Trafford, Manchaster: England ( famous for India’s caving in for 42 runs )

WACA, Perth: Australia

Bridgetown, Barbados : West Indies

Kingston, Jamaica: West Indies

Christchurch : New Zealand

Port Elizabeth : South Africa

Leeds, WACA and Kingston are already off this cursed list, awaiting others to follow the suit soon….

Project-2007 Doomed 2 be a failure??

I am a sports freak. Like any average Indian, Cricket was my first love. Started following it at the tender age of six, remembered all names, their hours of glory, all those sunshine and subsequent inconsolable rainy seasons when Indian team went into hiding. For me, a partisan Indian of course what warmed cockles of heart was that swagger in walk of whom else but sir Isaac Vivian Richards. A match against West Indies always was close to heart because casual looking gum munching Richards was there. Yeah cricket involved twenty two players but for me it was one man’s show, who else but Richards. “God let Richards score a ton and yet ensure Indians romp home” was my typical prayer.
Those days have gone and no degree of nostalgia can turn laden footed Windies of today back to those nimble footed Richard’s halcyon days.


So finally Windies are slated to stage the great cricket carnival in their backyard. So Barbados which produces more cricketers per square kilometer than any other nation may see best of em slugging it out together. A Ponting pull. A Laxman flick off hip , Lara kamikaze all packed together , wow what a recipe , windies would be having a whale of time.

Hmm now discuss our paper tigers. You blink they win you blink they lose “Indian Cricket team”. Indian cricket team reminds me of over hyped English soccer team, full of all those charismatic stars who just cant deliver. To me a Sachin is no better than Lampard who fizzles out when asked to take a penalty.

So do men in blue stand a chance? You never know they say cricket is a “game of glorious uncertainties”. Ah a hanky panky game to put in a straight forward manner.
Did they stand a chance after being shot out for nothing in last world cup against aussies but they made a comeback only to surrender to their tormentors in the finale.
And why not ??who expected Debonair Pathan Imran Khan to annex it for pakis in 1992 or portly Ranatunga to lift it in 1996, so why not our very own Dravid can do it this time around But however fickle the color of cricket may be it too follows certain laws, specially one day cricket is more of science today with every detail being taken into account . Every single move of a batsman dissected as never before you can get that chink in the armor n rhythm and line length of a bowler being frozen and unfrozen before you time and time again. Certainly cricket has been robbed of romanticism associated with it not long ago and more so it means imperial masters (we Indians) are at certain disadvantage in this mad game of payjama cricket. Indians are in doldrums with their best bet misfiring and bowlers being carted all around the park. SRT isn’t getting any younger, Sehwag is yet to know what has hit him, Yuvi is out with an injury, Kaif is good in field but still awakward when it comes to wielding a willow. Bowling department looks toothless, ready to be walloped by any hungry gladiator on that 22 yard of strip.

So where does it leave us , Chappell has not shown much to repose faith in him but then there are few options. I don’t expect much from my cricket team this time around. Call me cynic , yeah a cynic I am , I ll prefer to be called a level headed sensible guy who knows what the conditions will be and Indians will be facing the music . Chances are slim , it may be Sri Lankans, may be even Proteas , but ‘Men in Blue’ having a blast at Kingston/Bridgetown , well that looks a far fetched idea to me. I won’t mind 24 year old ear to ear toothy grin of Kapil being replaced by a serene smile of Mr Dravid, but would God be Indian , hmm wait and watch.

A small corner of glory in foreign land

I desist telling that but I have to say that I do have sense of déjà vu.
Poetic justice has been meted out to the ‘Men in Blue’. Jo’berg has been the place of redemption for them. I would evade words such as “I saw it coming”, but truth is it was long over due. And what a better place than Jo’berg.to drape yourself in glory.

But why Jo’berg you may tempt to ask . Well Jo’berg has been place for many crucial battles for India and unfortunately in the heat of moment at famous “Wanderers” they have always been found wandering, drifting away from that sweet perfume of victory.

Circa 1992, South Africa is back into cricketing world with big bang leaving those much scorned apartheids behind. well I have fleeting memories of this match , don’t expect much from a 10-11 year old who is still learning ropes of balancing his life between unjust demands of school and late hours of cricket watching. All I remember a young 19 year old scoring a breath taking Ton , kinda daja vu for young cricket fan like me who has seen his exploits earlier at WACA, Perth , said 2 be the perfect place for a batman who relishes chin music with red cherry shootin past his ears . Do I need to mention teenager’s name , most definitely he is SRT(Sachin to us ). South Africa saves the match as Jonty Rhodes feels padwork can effectively substitute willow craft and umpires feel ‘LBW’ is not a part of any legal cricketing dictionary. Hmm on that sunny day at Jo’berg we were 11 against 13, despair writs large over all Indian faces and match ends in a tame draw.

1997- I have already seen couple of tests in this series. In first match we are molested (a kind of assault you take, grin and put your hand forward to congratulate the assaulter), second we again ate humble pie, a pie I never relish (Fatso Indians need to shed weight and pull up their socks to make it worth while --I wince, grimace and end up uttering),
So we are back to lovely Jo’berg and a new star is born. Indian wickets keep falling like nine pins, huh what’s new? History repeats itself you may tempt to utter, hold a while and behold the sight of young titan standing tall among debris of mere mortals, Name is RD, Dravid ,, Rahul Dravid. The man who brings fresh breeze from garden city and rock solid technique even lightening fast Donald fails to breach. We are here , we are here to overcome proteas , but oh dear fat lady you forget to sing , yeah it rains heavily and Proteas scrap through courtesy some rock solid show by Cullinan and Klusner and sudden amnesia of googly,leg breaks and top spin by Kumble does the rest. “A great ton , a victory would have been icing on cake” is all young titan can mutter. Jo’ you again leave us empty handed all this truly ardent fan of cricket (me who else) can hiss.



2003- Stage can’t get bigger than this. The coliseum is ready and so are young gladiators to wrench all guts and blood they have on this cricketing field. Yeah sir and ma’am too (if they have developed sudden interest in a game played by gentlemen in silk flannels) this is the culmination of cricket carnival 2003 (WC). But God suddenly discovers his ancestral roots lie somewhere down under,” what a time to know your DNA God!” I end up cursing Him. Ponting and Martyn make hay in brilliant sunshine with our cannon fodder(if you call them bowlers) , rest is history and a frustrated soul hits the sack earlier than usual. SRT gets man of the tournament award from none other than great sir Garfield Sobers, but personal glory is lost in sea of yellow shirts and odd baggy green cap, world cup is taking next flight to Brisbane mate.


2006- Enough pasting already received, Indians are looking a harried lot. Few heads start to roll, few oldies have suddenly found warmth in hearts of team management.
All signs of despair, desperation when you try all the tricks up your sleeve to avoid constant hammering that has been well your destiny. From no where appear three demi gods of Indian cricket. players who were left in cold not long ago and pension(if BCCI gives one) was pretty much on cards for them. One , an elegant southpaw so called God of all beautiful things on off side, other a smiling assassin who mesmerized all willow wielders world over and made them question basic laws of physics. Third, a very stylish bat , cherry always ordered him when he chose to caress it , ask kangaroos who learnt it hard way when paradise was lost for them in a garden of Eden.

But timely arrival of three gentlemen (old wine tastes better) and a pumped up lad from down south ensure Jo’berg is no longer a cursed place. From what could have been Jo’berg has been transformed into a place of we have tasted it here. India is no longer left wandering at “Wanderers” .

Way to go boys, you never know they may get a pasting in next test. A leather hunt is very much in offing and I am not denying it, but taste of first (be it love, honor or victory is always special). Soak up the sun boys; relish the richly deserved first hurrah in South Africa. ‘Wanderers’ was destined to be your place.

Ps: someone tell certain John Terry, Jo’berg is the place for paper tigers and WC-Soccer Finale is slated to be very much here. Deja vu ….eh Poms!!!!