The Death of a Class

 

And so the man retired. It hasn't hit me fully yet, may be it will take time to realize that now, I will never be able to see one of my most cherished cricketing heroes on the field.

I don't quite remember how he made his debut for India. But in my initial years of watching cricket, I wasn't quite fond of him. His slow defensive style of batting was never exciting to see after the dismissal of the great Sachin in 1990s. But as the years went by and he improved his technique and I as a cricket fan learned that Cricket was more than just hitting 4s and 6s and what kind of joy watching a Test match can bring, I began to admire Dravid more and more.

Test cricket has always been his forte, but the way he improvised in One Day cricket (and recently in T20) was just phenomenal. It will remain a big lesson for cricketers that you don't need to be "God of Cricket", all you need is rock solid determination to excel, to earn people's respect.

There are a number of things that I loved in Rahul's batting. His rock solid defensive strokes were breath taking (a puritan will understand), his leaving the swinging and rising balls was a treat to watch, he was as good a hooker and puller of ball as anybody in Indian team, and his classic off-drives were the ones to pay for. But the most important thing in his batting for me was his flawless batting technique and elegance which can be matched by only a few in the world. What he brought to the batting crease was a sense of calm and a belief that at least one end of the batting was secured. And that sense, that belief, I never got even while Sachin was batting.

The tonnes of patience that he had, I believe if I could work with that much patience in my own field, I would be able to achieve virtually anything. He has always been a team man and the one who seldom showed his emotions. 

Dravid's records are incredible and something that any budding cricket would aspire for. But as Dravid himself once said, that if you are a decent enough cricketer you are bound to achieve all that if you play long enough. What makes great cricketers great is not the records they make, but how they play the game. Rahul sledging anyone is out of equation, but such was the respect for him in opposing teams and fans that I seldom saw Rahul getting sledged by anyone. I have stated that I don't have a role model as such, and I may never have one. But for me, he will always be someone to look up to.

When you play under the shadow of someone like Sachin, you are bound to remain under-appreciated. I always felt that his achievements were not as much celebrated as they deserved to be.

Interestingly though, he is a favorite of many a 'girl fans', which is surprising, since you would think that they will fall for some one like Yuvraj or MSD. I guess it shows women look more for stability in life rather than excitement.

He is called "The Wall" of Indian Cricket and I would say, aptly so. And that is why it was heart burning to see him, of all cricketers, getting bowled again and again and again Down Under. Dravid has said that he was going to review his future after the series anyway, so I wish like all other fans, that he could have had his last Hurrah at one of the best places to play cricket.

Pics taken from Flickr Under CC license.

This is not the way he deserved to leave Cricket. But I am glad he left Cricket on his own terms. Good Bye Jammy, without you Cricket will never be the same for me. 

The Unforgettable Clash

I deliberately stay away from topics such as cricket, politics etc. because I believe there are much better pundits and gurus out there and we can do without having yet another. But what transpired today has literally forced me to write it here. I would like to capture the moment today.

For the last one week, media especially Indian media has been super-hyping today's Indo-Pak Cricket World Cup Semifinal clash. It was ridiculous the kind of theories that were put forward last few days. Each and every move of the players was being analyzed and deliberately misinterpreted to add spice. And when you have the PM of the Pakistan visiting your country on the invitation of our PM to see the match, it becomes that extra special.

Had to bunk (I like to call it 'miss' since it seems more polite) the afternoon lab and rush home to see the match today. But exactly as I anticipated, there was a big crowd returning home in the searing afternoon.  There was abnormally high amount of rush on the road (for the afternoon) and I could see that everyone was trying to speed up. And there was an insanely high amount of calls and messages being exchanged on the route. The buses were so crowded that I had to miss a few of them and as a result reached home 10 mins after the match started. Everybody and their dog seemed aware of what's gonna happen today. One could sense the tension reaching its boiling point. It was as if pushed a bit more, some volcanoes will erupt.

In the quarterfinals against Aussies, I had an electricity blackout for more than 10 hours, which meant I could only catch up the last 20 overs of Indian innings in that match. I was a little bit worried about that repeating today and there were a few more like me, who were making sure on phone that there was still electricity at home.

For all that was going to happen, I knew one thing for sure; that it was not going to be a dead rubber. It will live up to the hype that was created. And how well it did. And it was kind of predictable too:

Sachin-Viru doing the initial assault. Pakistan coming back from the blue with some smart bowling; but also dropping catches whenever they got an opportunity to do so. India's famed batting not living up to its potential. The fightback from the tail-enders. The explosive start from the Pakistan batsmen, but one wicket after, such an inspired fielding and bowling performance from Indians. Pakistan loosing wickets at the regular intervals, at times that were least expected. Shahid Afridi playing a suicidal stroke. The match not being over until the very end. And the fire crackers at the end.

It was as if it was all scripted. That's classic Indo-Pak key clash for me. If anything that was missing, it was lack of clashes on the field (there were some minor ignorable moments though) and no run-outs (where did you go Inzi :)

It really was a roller coaster ride emotionally. There was euphoria, there was pride, there was hopelessness, there was hopefulness, there was desperation, there was worry, there was prayer, there was fun, there was sadness. Finally India won the match. The last 8-9 hours have now become an integral part of cherished memory section, just like a few more India-Pakistan matches.

What cricket does is that it unites this nation. It even unites families. After a really long time, I spent so much time with my grandfather (watching the match on system through Internet streaming) and dad (watching the match on TV downstairs). I actually had to juggle up and down a few times, so as to spend equal time with both of them. Even the ladies in the family weren't complaining about not seeing daily soap today and were showing interest in the match. And of course, sharing comments with friends, throughout the match made it all the more enjoyable.

Next up is the big final against Sri-Lanka. And that is certainly not going to be easy, because Sri Lanka is one of the most clinical side in this tournament. But I still hope and wish that India wins the cup. That would mean, Sachin will say good bye to the biggest platform on a winning note, I would see India bringing the cup in my lifetime (live). Certainly don't want a repeat of 2003, just like Sri Lankans won't want a repeat of 2007.

AdsAreTeasements

So, India-South-Africa Test Series concluded recently. And what a great series it was. Though India couldn't come out trumps but it was heartening to see them fighting RSA ball to ball (literally!).

But this post is not the 'post' series analysis by yet-another-wannabe-cricket-expert. This is actually about the agony of a long lost cricket lover who is just frustrated to see the deck of ads being slapped on him every second of his cricket watching moments.

I was a big cricket fan. I really was. Used to go to others' home to watch cricket since we didn't have cable TV at home in childhood. Liked to watch match from end to end and always remain scared when Sachin used to bat (thinking he will get out soon and the match will be over). Used to enjoy fall of each opposition wicket like only a true Indian fan can do. Have in memory a lot of memorable cricket moments. Well in last 5-7 years, I turned to other sports and so now cricket is not that much of a passion to me.

One can say I have moved on. But I would say I was pushed into NOT watching cricket. And I would partially blame Coke, Pepsi, Hero Honda, Airtel, Parley, LIC and other such companies for that. And more than them the very TV broadcasters, the courtesy of whom I get a live feed anyway. 

In good-old-days, there were ad intervals in between overs because the fielders used to take place and the batsmen took guard, changed ends etc. Sometimes, the match got so exciting that you desperately wanted a break, so it was good to see ads. Turn the clock to now-a-days. You see half of the first ball (bowler is already in action) and half of last ball (batsman defended, don't mind where the ball went), even half of the fall of wicket (Ball knicked the bat, it's going to a slip fielder, of course he is gonna catch, hey check out this latest ad of paan-masala).

And if that was not enough, slowly you started to get those side advertises in during overs. Replays and other 3D analysis were already sponsored, so don't worry about them. And now my new favorite TenCricket (Let's not be anonymous and POINT the culprits this time) has taken the Ad hysteria to an altogether new level by showing the ads on the grass close to wicket-keeper while the bowler is taking action. Now, all that is remaining is to see ads occupying the remaining center screen. Com'n why don't you change it to 24x7 shopping channel? Stupid me; I thought 'ads in between overs' meant "in between 2 overs". Now I know; it means "in the middle of an over".

OK, I agree cricket is a huge money game. Broadcasters have spent money lavishly to buy the cricket rights, and they have to get their money back. Every second of TV viewing is worth lacs. Every pixel of TV screen is like gold dust. But I have a question; is Cricket a more watched or higher value game than say soccer or F1? or even Tennis? OK, may be in India, what about worldwide? So, why is there not so many Ads during the transmission of those sports? OK, some of the tactics like Ads sidebar is employed there too (broadcasters are the same!) but still I can safely say, I watched more of Soccer or F1 than Advertisements.

Watching cricket now gives me a feeling that I as a viewer is being taken for granted. I don't have anything else to do, I don't have any other choice. So, come what may I will have to digest whatever crap is served on screen. Even the Ads Hungry Google doesn't do such an act!

I just hope this article/post reaches the eyes of some sports channel broadcaster (besides my friends). I am not saying don't earn money. By all means do it, but at least be ethical and care for your viewers.