The Rough and Tumble!

India's one wicket win over Australia, at Mohali, has warmed the cockles of many an Indian heart. As for me, I'm delighted, particularly, with Ricky Ponting, having to eat 'crow'.Poor Ponting, for all his cricketing skills, has always come off as a person with a perpetual bee in his bonnet.

My first sight of the man, was, when he burst on to the international scene, vaguely resembling, the Hollywood star, Tim Robbins and in possession of the best cover drive that I've seen to date, Tendulakars included. During that series, Ponting was hit on the head by a screaming bouncer, from Bengaluru boy, Srinath.Ponting was floored. ( Srinath, apparently, is the fastest bowler, that India has produced, to date- this for ignoramuses who think vegetarians cannot be quick bowlers )Srinath, trotted up to a shaken Ponting and sheepishly enquired about his health. The response was, straight from the hip- "#### Off', from an incensed Ponting. Srinath was even more sheepish as he walked back for the next ball, head bowed. Cut to the present- Ponting got into a spat with yet another quickie, at Mohali, Zaheer Khan. There was nothing sheepish about Zaheer and his demeanour. He let Ponting have it, leaving Ponting looking disoriented and at a loss for words.Probably Ricky lost concentration for a while as well. The boot was firmly on the other foot!

India has always been, known for its gentleman sports people. Vijay Amritaj, Wilson Jones, Prakash Padukone and even Dravid and Tendulkar, who ignored brats, like Jimmy Connors or Ponting on the field.However I like people like Zaheer & Harbhajan Singh who return the complements and are up to a an old fashioned brawl.It puts things in pesrpective.

Psychologically, the team has turned a corner. We are not intimidated, before the match starts and are up to the rough and tumble of mind games.Does this reflect in our national psyche- Yes I think it does and I'm glad!

The Kulcha & Cricket!

A few years ago I saw a small portion of a test match between the West Indies & England, played at the Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica. England opened with its obdurate Geoff Boycott and the West Indies had Colin Croft bowling. Croft was fearsome, in size and demeanour.He snarled at batsmen from 6ft 4in and was mean, as far as batsmen were concerned.

Every ball had Boycott fending off his throat or head and at the sixth ball, he got a nick to the wicket keeper, and Boycott walked even before the bowler appealed. He later said that he was never more afraid for his life than that particular over.The fear of a cricket ball hurtling at you at speeds of 14-150 km/hr can be daunting.

Fast forward to the Feroz Shah Kotla, where a couple of days ago last SL/India one dayer was called off after the two captains deemed the pitch to be 'unsafe' for batting where the ball behaved erratically after bouncing on an ill prepared Kotla pitch. A pitch on which crores have been spent over the last few years!

While the entire sordid episode is a cricketing disaster, it is more of a national shame, that a cricketing powerhouse like India, can only manage a sub standard pitch in the nation's capital.

When the dust has settled & finger pointing ended, we will have to see who will be held accountable for the negligence.Delhi has also jeopardized its chances of holding a World Cup fixture in the following year.

A couple of days ago I read a rather interesting article as to how Mr.Arun Jaitley, former Union Minister, introduced the 'kulcha' to uninitiated Delhites and so vastly improved their sense of gourmet. Mr.Jaitly appears to be very well informed of the Punjabi cuisine and takes immense pride in talking about it. I wish he was as erudite in cricketing matters as head of the DDCA and not let the just discussed debacle occur.

Can we expect a modicum of accountability from Jaitley and will he take the cake or in this case the kulcha?

# 1

The year 2009 will go down as a high point in India’s cricket history, with the team being ranked at # 1 by the ICC. This, not withstanding the fact that we have not won a series in either Australia or South Africa. It was way back in 1971 that the Indian team got itself the label as the ‘unofficial’ world champs, following some convoluted logic, which went as follows: India defeated the West Indies & England. England had just beaten Australia and Pakistan. South Africa was out of the circuit due to apartheid and New Zealand the other test playing nation were minnows, so India were champs. We held on to the tag for a very short time. This time around, let us see how Dhoni and his boys perform.
While the pleased as a punch Indian team was gathering for their post match photo shoot, after soundly trashing the Sri Lankan’s at Mumbai, I noticed Rahul Dravid, standing beside Sachin Tendulkar, looking as always a little remote. There are certain guys who are just not part of the bonhomie. While Viru (Sehwag) is the hero of the moment, I was a little sad that the contribution of Dravid went unnoticed in the joy of winning.
Hark back to Motera, Ahmadabad, and the first test. India tottering at 32/4 on a seaming track and all that stood between the Sri Lankan pacers and certain defeat for us was the ‘Wall’ who came up with a classy 177. Had India gone down 1-0 in the series, the outcome may have been a little different and we may not have been rejoicing at all leave alone patting ourselves on the back that we are the # 1 Test playing nation.
The reason why Dravid rarely receives the accolades that he deserves is quite obvious. He is not a swashbuckling, gung ho swisher of the willow, a la Sehwag, who is every adolescents dream player ( not to be forgotten that Sehwag can play the way he does because he knows that Dravid & Tendulkar follow). However Dravid is around when the chips are down (poetic), but then who wants to talk about the bad times. Do we even want to talk about the fact that India’s best (Sehwag/Gambhir/Tendulkar/Laxman) were knocked over by a Lankan rookie pacer ?
It is this seeming inability in moments of triumph, to introspect that has been our cause of downfall earlier. Remember 1983, Kapil’s boys winners of the 1983 Prudential World Cup, were thrashed at home (5-0) by a ruthless West Indies. The result might have been a little better for the Indians had they planned better.
As a cricket watcher, to me, there seem to be troubling hollow areas with the Indian team. The fast bowlers are not in place and the spinners are quite ordinary. We continue our search for an all rounder. While I do not enjoy the role of a party pooper I think our stay at the summit is likely to be short lived.
There is also a raging debate as to which of the teams, 1971 or 2009 is better. In my opinion, the 1971 team had better bowlers while the 2009 team have great batters. Both had charismatic captain’s in Ajit Wadekar & Dhoni, so a draw would be in place…………………
Where does my heart lie? With the 1971 team, of course. Who can forget, Bishen Bedi, in his colorful patka and Chandrasekhar making great batsmen look foolish with their spin & guile.The solid defense of Gavaskar and the Vishwanath's grace & style. Those were the days when pajama (one day) cricket had not made an entry and cricket was still cricket ( as I played it ).
And so, thank God for small mercies, we are # 1 where it matters, in the real form of cricket where brain rules brawn and watching cricket requires one to use their mental faculties and the game is not reduced to a cama de una noche.