Why Sehwag doesn't learn

Lightning strikes from the very first ball of the innings – he sends the ball smacking and the bowlers packing. Fielders run for cover and the fielding captain begins to shiver. This onslaught continues until he throws away his wicket. Welcome to the world of Virender Sehwag.

Many recognize him as a disciple of the little master Sachin – right from his stance to the extremely fruitful hand-eye co-ordination that can pick any length to ease. Be it the most demolishing fast bowler or a weaving magical spinner, the don’t care attitude has de-motivated every opposition until smart captains realized Viru’s unforgivable potential of throwing away his own precious wicket after setting up a beautiful stage. It is most similar to David Bechkam missing out on a penalty shoot out, that too sending the ball over the goalkeeper outside the goal scoring area. But Viru’s wicket-throwing capability can be analogous to one such soccer star who does a Beckham even without a goal keeper in place.

Every cricketer takes guard with one thing in mind – not to lose his wicket. Of course, scoring runs is primary, but it can only be done on preserving the wicket. I personally get embarrassed when I give my wicket away, even in under-arm cricket. The art of preserving the wicket is not easy, but can be mastered and for all reasons it should run in the blood of any cricketer playing at the international level. Proper shot selection is one of the key lessons taught in coaching centers and I’m sure every coach will expect compliance at it. Poor shot selections can cost a wicket that could most often lead to a loss through butterfly effect.

Like most parents who keep complaining about their brilliant child for careless performances in examinations, there is every sense when Viru fans will keep complain about his lackadaisical attitude. With the capacity of scoring big scores being self-disturbed due to negligence and irresponsibility, no true cricket fan would be able to digest. Few cricketers are gifted with the ability to score of any delivery, but a genius proactively takes responsibility to care for it and Viru seldom does it. There are few innings (201* @ Galle) that makes us feel he is maturing enough to convert all brilliant starts into huge scores, but the very fact that he does it only once in a blue moon causes irritations in fans – and sometimes to fellow team mates. Not only it affects the break in such a brilliant innings, it also provides an overwhelming confidence in the opposition which might turn into an extreme pressure for the batters yet to come.

For a player to have scored 2 triple hundreds in tests, it shouldn’t be difficult to mature himself into a much balanced cricketer. Its high time Viru should learn to take care of his precious wicket than to shun it away in crucial situations. A little balance in shot selection should definitely convert quick starts into mighty scores.

Bang in Bangalore - Day 3

Day 3, a Monday, was as important as a usual working day although I wasn’t travelling to MCity. Instead I was supposed to travel to Electronic City – where the other parts of my project team were located. Karthik and I rushed to the bus stop to catch the 6:40 bus as we thought we missed it by a whisker. We had to wait till 7:15 for the next one and I boarded the bus to find a window seat for myself while he diverted himself to his workplace. I forced myself not to sleep, as I usually do back home, so that I could get an idea about the Bangalore city. Half way through I slept involuntarily and woke up somewhere close to the office. I reached the office around 9:00. Couple of my team mates accompanied me for breakfast which I had at the TERMINAL food court. I then started to get into my regular work and also met up with all other folks in the Bangalore team.

Lunch was a terrific experience – my manager took me to a 3-star like restaurant within the campus and we had a good discussion there – not to mention the good lunch too. I preferred to take vegetarian then although my motive of the entire visit was to hog as much as possible. She took me around one half of the campus after filling our stomach and I truly felt that the campus was looking beautiful especially with the drizzling atmosphere. There was not much activity in the afternoon as I pulled Preethi out of her work to take me around the other half of the campus. We spent an hour around the campus tasting a cup of tea and an “ice-cream-gulab jamoon” combo. I rushed back to my temporary workstation and wrapped up the day’s work to catch hold of the first bus back home.

As I alighted at the bus stop near Utham Sagar I already had had the experience of what people fear as “Bangalore traffic”. That evening was even worse with the rain gods showering their blessings on the city. Karthik picked me up and we had a meal at Utham Sagar. I bid goodbye to that restaurant with a sort of disgust for the only reason that he misled me with “Tomato Omlet”. It was still raining as we reached home and by that time it was time for me to start packing my bags for return. I had booked return in a Volvo bus for a comfort factor. The bus, which was supposed to pick me up from the pick-up point around 22:15, made us wait till 23:00 after which the next thing I saw was CMBT bus terminus. Although several auto drivers were pleading for a “savaari”, I preferred taking the bus as I stayed close-by. I reached home around 5:30 and from then on it was routine life.

Bang in Bangalore - Day 2

Day 2 started earlier than a usual holiday – I started waking myself up starting from 5:30 to 6:00 when I had to convince myself that it was already too late to get up for a function that starts at 7:00. Although the initial plan to attend the function was around 11:30, I was called in to be available as early as 7:00. Function???? What function???? Where did the function suddenly come in during a holiday???? Ye….. The primary purpose of my Bangalore visit was to attend the first birthday of my cousin sister’s darling daughter - Kavya.

The supposedly family visit had turned out to be an individual visit, thanks to health situations at home.

Karthik was too generous in accompanying me to the place – we struggled a little bit in finding out the house. He left me and his car there and walked off to watch a movie. As I entered the house, it was already 8 am. I sat along with everyone till the priest finished off the rituals after which we were all ready for breakfast. I hoped there was no “Tomato Omelet” this time!!!! We were served delicious Idly, Vada and Kesari. That might sound so suprising – the fact that "‘Idly’ being tasty" coming out from my mouth. I never liked Idlies and it’s only been in recent times I started eating it. After wrapping it up with a glassful of coffee, we sat down to rest for sometime (as if we’ve been working non-stop for 48 hours inside NASA) and this was the time I got to play with the little one. After Ria’s entry to our family, I learnt how to enjoy playing with little kids and I demonstrated the same in this case too. She was dressed up in beautiful violet “Pattu Paavaadai” and it was so pleasing to watch her reactions to the environment. Soon it was time for us to get ready for the birthday party and I helped my part for decorating the party hall that was situated close by. Although not many people turned up, it was a nice gathering and a decent environment and of course the food was way beyond satisfactory if not brilliant. I got to meet up with couple of my relatives who were more than happy to see me there representing the family.

Now, where was Karthik? I was sure the movie would have got over – no movie in India runs for more than 3 hours nowadays. He was almost nearing the place where I was and I quickly met up with him after leaving my cousin & family back home and collecting a bag of “function-snacks”, I drove back to pick up Karthik and we decided to go straight back home. On the way back we changed our mind and drove into "Vishweshwara Museum". Although it was not as interesting as it would be for a school-boy, it was a good way to while away some time in the afternoon. We visited all floors unambitiously and finally left the place with some road-side snack in hand. I drove all along the way back and finally reached home around 5 pm. I didn’t have an intention to wander after that, given the fact that I had to go to work the next day. I watched “Harry Potter” along with the left-over DBC, browsed for sometime and we headed off to buy dinner. Although I wasn’t really hungry I chose to taste chicken and felt satiated. With the “next day office” mindset, I sank myself into the bed with 2 thick bed sheets wrapping me to safeguard my chill-prone skin.

Bang in Bangalore - Day 1

I stepped out of the house with a heavy heart not because I was travelling alone. I looked at the dark sky outside. None would expect it to be bluish at this time of the day, rather night, unless you think of a polar existence. It was almost 9 PM as I waved goodbye to people at home carrying luggage on one shoulder and an umbrella on the other. It was pouring in Chennai while I was feeling guilty of not kissing my dream-girl before I left. Of course she would have cried if she knew I was leaving, what else would you expect from a 2 year old?

My wife accompanied me till the bus stand and I was left standing alone for another 30 mins for my bus. A bus came at last, but that would only go half-way and I didn’t hesitate to run into it. To my irritation, the traffic, along with the rain, was not letting me any closer to the railway station. Alighting at the CMBT bus stand, I ran without an umbrella to catch my connecting bus and seriously thought I would miss the train. But to my delight, the traffic cleared soon and I reached the bus stand well before the scheduled departure of the train.

I was travelling by 2nd class AC after a long time and of course I had to feel comfortable. I switched on the reading light on my upper berth and continued my Harry Potter until I felt it was already too late to doze off. Keeping 3-4 alarms on my mobile phone, I slept off in an uncomfortable position that would have stiffed my neck, but luckily it didn’t. I had asked Karthik (my BIL) to pick me up from Bangalore (EAST) station and he was well before time. I reached Bangalore with the fear of feeling cold. It reminded me of one of my earlier visits to the city where I had started shivering the moment I stepped out of the train. But this time, to my pleasure, things were different. I didn’t have to wear the 2 jackets Karthik had brought to the station on my wife’s instructions. I was mocking at him as if he was feeling colder than I.

The day started off with a nice tea-shop tea on the way to his home as we went driving. It was still dark and I liked it. I knew it had been raining here too which was evident by the wet roads. As we reached his house I lost all temptations to sleep. We had another cup of tea at his home and started planning the day. I had to meet couple of relatives and we mixed that plan with our own plans. Around 9, we took off for breakfast at Utham Sagar where I was misled by the menu card that said “Tomato Omlet” which ultimately turned out to be a dull-tasting Tomato-Uthappam. We next drove to Yelahanka to meet my relatives and had a nice time there. Soon, it was time for lunch and we sped off from that place to Empire restaurant where we had our fill of grilled chicken and fish biriyani. Being a crazy cricket fan, I took snaps of Chinnaswamy stadium on the way. We then drove to Double Road to meet another relative of mine, spent a hour there and headed back home.

Oh! How could I miss ‘Death by chocolate’ (DBC)? We reached home – I had a bit of horrible time in driving through the traffic. We headed again to Utham Sagar and then to Corner house where we purchased DBC for ourselves and came back home in his pulsar which I was supposed to ride not beyond 40 km/hr. What a punishment!!!!! We ate dinner followed by DBC and watching a Harry Potter movie I slid into couple of bed sheets to signal the end of the day!!!!!

Isn’t this enough???


Working on a Saturday guaranteed a compensatory off. It becomes usually a tough decision to choose the day when you can avail it unless you really have some reason to utilize it. This time it wasn’t difficult. With the India - Australia series evenly poised at 2-2, and the 5th match scheduled at the Hyderabad run-feasting stadium, I had no second thoughts on availing it on that day. The monsoon also tempted me to stay with that decision as it would be cozy enough to stay at home watching the match.

Ten Years ago……..

“He is in his peak form. This is his time.”

Nine Years ago……..

“His peak is already reached. He is into the downfall now.”

Eight…….

“He is struggling to play his old strokes. His health will rule him out of the game soon.”

Seven…….

“His game has changed. It’s high time he retires and gives chance to youngsters.”

Six……..

“He shouldn’t be opening. He should bat lower down. He has lost ability to score.”

Five……..

“He is losing his eyesight. His hand-eye co-ordination is vanishing.”

Four…….

“He’s getting older. He can’t bat for long.”

Three……..

“This is seriously the time for him to retire. How long can he keep going?”

Two……..

“He is having so many injuries. I’m sure he can’t carry along from now.”

One……..

The same blah blah blah ………….

I’m getting too tired of such comments.

Nov 5th 2009, Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad – A score of 175 off 141 balls at the age of 36 after 20 years of international cricket for India crossing 17000 ODI runs in the process and still counting. The only unfortunate event being that these 175 runs went for a losing cause. With 45 international hundreds and 91 fifties with a strike rate well above 85 and an average of 45.

But I admire all these critics who come up with some point to still criticize this man; the master; the GOD I worship. We dont appreciate you guys for being out of the ordinary just for the sake of it. The best part of you guys is that you cant find yourself a better player than him although you keep criticising him. HA HA!!!! If Sachin is not a great player, then who else is?????

I follow Sachinism.

Player Marks out of ten - CSCA Season 1

8/10
Venkat Sudarsan:
Almost the lone winner with the bat for WCC this season. His starts up the order were brilliant although the middle order failed to capitalize. He peaked with the bat right midway up the tournament with a brilliant century against RUNS N WICKETS in a T20 match at DB Jain ‘B’. Was very useful with the ball striking at right times to give breakthroughs for the team.

7/10
Kartik Srinivasan:
16 wickets in 8 matches is a great achievement, but went unsupported from the other end on most of the occasions. Got the new ball to swing enormously almost every time to strike early for the team. Got off to a brilliant 42 with the bat against TATA COMM, but not much later on. Being an aggressive fielder himself, he also energized the fielding unit continuously. Much appreciated for his deputy role in the team.

5/10
Murali Mohan:
Took full advantage being the sole left-hander in the side and was easily the only other high run scorer other than Venkat. Being victim of bad dismissals on a couple of occasions, his innings against RUCA at Sindhi and TORNADOZ at DB Jain ‘A’ were ones of character and temperament. Provided good strategies to the team from time to time and was always brilliant on the field.
Sunil:
Being a potential allrounder, his performance with the bat was highly disappointing throughout the series, but provided crucial breakthroughs with his bowling. Being parsimonious on a few occasions injected pressure on the opposition.

4/10
Ashwin:
Not enough opportunities with the bat excepting the semifinals where he played a crucial role to push the team to reach a moderate score. Bowled well in a couple of matches, picking few wickets, but was highly disappointing in catching.
Aditya:
As a captain, failed to score enough runs when it really mattered. Representing the middle order in the line up, he never lived upto the solidity that the team expected. Runs against ROCKERS (league match) & RUCA were the only consolation although both of them were for a losing cause. Ended the series with a disappointing consecutive ducks.
Anantharam:
Had a horrible start with the bat but finished comparatively well although nothing was upto this potential. Did a great job behind the stumps and was responsible for motivating the team on and off the field.
Raghavendran:
Highly disappointing and irresponsible performance with the bat and a moderate performance with the ball, although he is capable of being another terrific allrounder for the team. Has to improve on discipline with both bat and ball.
Vijayanand:
Bowled well in patches, but lack of consistency gave away few more runs. Didn’t get much opportunity with the bat.

3/10
Vishak:
Lot was dependent on him at the opener’s slot, but he never managed to reach upto a blitzkrieg innings. Showed good improvement on the field later as the tournament progressed and unfortunately was unavailable for the semis.

2/10
Lakshmi Narasimhan:
Played out the overs in a couple of matches to avoid an “all out”, but never got anything going with the bat, ball or on the field. Dropped few crucial catches that turned the match in the other way.
Karthik R:
Played few matches up the order and few matches down, but never got enough with the bat.
Sriraj Sukumar:
Represented WCC for one match and although didn’t score there, took a blinder of a catch to bring back the momentum for a victory.

The Musical Mistake
Disclaimer:
Dear reader,
This post is not to criticize you or your feelings or actions. It is just what I feel and what happened to me and I take complete responsibility of the transformations stated. You are no way responsible for this.

10 years ago
I opened the gates panting after a 3 hour non-stop play under the hot sun during 9th standard summer vacations. Being in Chennai, summer was hottest as compared to hot winters. As I neared the doorsteps I noticed more chappals than usual. I glanced at my watch – it was 5 PM. I wondered who these guests were. I could hear voices from inside – my mom’s being the loudest as usual with her excitement pouring out as if she’s met some old family friend after 30 years. And to my surprise, it was true. I strolled lazily into my house towards the drawing room where everyone was seated with all smiles ranging from ear to ear. “Adi, take a guess on who this is”, shouted my mom with full of enthusiasm. I stared with a blank face at them. There were 3 of them, 2 ladies and a guy – all of them definitely more than my age and looked like NRIs. I shook my head gently as I had no clue about their identity. “Don’t you know them? C’mon Adi”, asked my mom again. I scratched my head – my mom’s words sounded as though I couldn’t recognize Sachin Tendulkar sitting in front of me. “Think, think….”, continued my mom. “Was it a concept or a situation to think and arrive at a solution? Cant anyone understand that if I didn’t recognize a person there’s no concept of thinking on that?”, I murmured within my breath.
As I continued thinking indefinitely, one lady spoke out, “He was so small when we saw him at Ahmedabad. He wont be able to recognize us.” Ha.. at last they understand. My mom has a problem of overestimating my capabilities in a lot of ways, but lets not discuss that right now. At last they introduced themselves as my grandfather’s friends who resided in Ahmedabad when he used to work there. I greeted them and introduced myself. “Enjoying vacation is it?” asked another lady. “Yes, of course”, I replied immediately with a sense of laughter. My tiredness was still prevailing. After all I had been playing since 2 PM and who would not be tired by this time? I sat in a corner of the drawing room listening to their conversations when my brother arrived on the scene. He too, of course, had played long under the hot sun for hours and put up the same stare as I did some minutes earlier. But my mom was not to leave him as the same questions were posted to him too – poor thing he might not have even born when both our families last met. After an unsuccessful tremendous thinking from his side, he got introduced to them through my mom. He too was so tired after play and decided to sit beside me so that he could secretly tell me about his match. Though our heads were aching, thanks to the scorching sun, we looked as though we would fall down and sleep for 48 hours non-stop. Our eyes were half-closed with tiredness and we didn’t even bother to contribute to their conversation and resisted ourselves to remain awake at least till they left.
They continued their conversations bringing in stories more than 30 years old when suddenly from nowhere my grandma enthusiastically exclaimed. “Do you know? These 2 guys sing very well. They have been learning classical music for more than 5 years.” My brother and I looked at each other with scary faces. Oh no! Not again. We looked at our mom and gave a sharpened look. We knew where this was going to lead. “Oh, is it? Very nice.”, the lady started off. “We all love music and we hardly get a chance to listen to Indian classical music in the States. Why don’t you guys sing for us?” Both of us were drained out and here was a set of people who would love to hear us sing not bothering about the state which we are in. Of course we loved music, at least I did. Music was my world and I couldn’t do without it. But was that a situation to give a performance, do you think we were in a mood to perform?

Between 10 years ago and now

My brother shunned music and I was the only victim for all my relatives. They used to pester me for a song whenever we met and being a part of a huge family, such meetings are often. I used to oblige every time no matter in whatever mood I was - not want to hurt their requests. Sometimes I enjoyed singing, sometimes I hated it. It depended on my mood. Just like you cant taste a cup of tea immediately after tasting a chocolate, just like you cant go into the hot sun at 45 degree temperature immediately after being inside an air-conditioned room, just like you cant drink a cup of hot water after accidentally tasting a spicy chilli, getting into a singing mood is always tough unless you are already in it. My obligations and talent for singing spread like a woman keeping a secret and thus expectations were raised. Every time I met someone I had to sing – sometimes I was in mood and loved singing and sometimes I hated as I wouldn’t be in that mood although I obliged every time. Slowly and steadily an internal pressure started to build up and I started avoiding such request citing some reason or the other much to the surprise of many of my relatives and friends. I stopped practicing music and slowly my isolation with it became an easier excuse. Was it a mistake learning singing? Why does this happen to singers only? And why not to many other instrument players? Just because we carry our instrument along with us, why is it being exploited? Why cant requestors understand the comfort level of the singer and why do they pressurize them to sing? I know many people who have asked me – “Why do you need a mood to sing?” and this write-up is directed to such readers and not to criticize anyone. All these instances have made me avoid music although I wouldn’t love to do it; it has slowly made me feel – “Was it a mistake learning to sing?”

Future
I never know how music in me will grow or fade over time, but I would always love to be a singer and just keep singing, keep singing, keep singing………….

From gloves to bare hands

Cricket – a game termed as lazy by busy men around the world. Of course, it might be considered lazy for athletes who live on rapid sports like ice-hockey or table-tennis or badminton. In cricket, the ball rests for more time than being in play. Agreed. Cricketers require far less stamina than soccer stars. Right in some sense. So why doesn’t everyone become a master of cricket? Why isn’t Baichung Bhutia or Sharath Kamal or Saina Nehwal as popular as Sachin Tendulkar? Cricket has its own class, its own difficulty areas and creates its own fears in players. One such fear is “the fear of the cricket ball”.

Yes. The fear of the cricket ball might sound ridiculous for the ones who stay distant from the game, but more than three-fourths of the population who play the game in various streets and grounds and terraces and lanes in India cites that as a reason not to raise their game beyond playing with tennis balls. I remember being asked about my capabilities as a cricketer in the organization where I worked, before the captain nominated the playing squad. I, having the fear of the ball, told the captain that I was a wicket-keeper – knowing well that a wicket-keeper would have a pair of gloves to catch the ball with as compared to the other fielders who would need to painfully catch the ball with bare hands. I was fortunate to have been handed the gloves ever since and had no problems with fear having the big gloves to protect my hand. Of course, wicket-keeping had it own difficulties, but I was ready to take it as long as I didn’t touch the ball with bare hands.

Days passed and I continued as a wicket-keeper. Months passed as I moved away from cricket-ball cricket. Years passed and WCC enrolled itself into a cricket-ball tournament nominating me as the captain. Although I was initially assumed as the wicket-keeper, plans changed later on and I had to accept being a fielder. I had to throw away the gloves and go into the field with bare hands. I had to touch the hard ball with bare hands. I had to stop the fluent drives and pulls and cuts with bare hands. How painful would that be???? Oh my God!!!! I’d seen players getting hit on their palms and fingers and shouting in pain. I trembled with fear at that moment. I touched my hands – it was so soft. I had to make it harder. I had to practice harder. I had to catch harder. Even with all these fears, I had to set an example to my team. What more, I had to stand at slips, supposedly the toughest position with bare hands. I’ve seen balls flying over to the slip region, the place where most players get hurt on their fingers and palms. How am I going to catch with bare hands????

WCCs 2nd match - and I was watching the batsman’s blade with full concentration from 1st slip. I had to keep focusing even as the batsman moved his bat to complete a stroke. The ball hit the edge and that was the moment for me to react. Having dropped a couple of catches at slip previous match I had to make it a point to hold on to anything and everything that came my way. I had only a fraction of a second to react to that edge as the ball came flying towards me. I lost the track of the ball as it left the bat’s blade but my concentration converged my eyesight back to the ball that was now already only a couple of feet closer to me at chest height. I raised my hands towards the right side of my chest and the ball pouched in safely there. Ha…. What a moment!!!! The fear of the ball against bare hands was thus eliminated.

The Birthday Special

I have always fancied and expected the nearing of end of July. A clear guess would be due to the climate change as the monsoon slowly shows its head in this part of the country, though not full-fledged. But my excitement at this time of the year is always different. It is so special for me – yes it draws me closer to my birthday.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve enjoyed birthdays. I enjoy them even now – yes, even after marriage and even after having a kid. Unlike typical dads who ignore the enthusiasm associated with their own birthdays to concentrate on their kids’, I will never be willing to shed mine. People around me make it so memorable that I relished every birthday of mine till date. One dearest friend of mine starts wishing me in advance from a month before and is very particular that she is always the first person to wish me right at the stroke of midnight and that too with her trademark “Happy Birthday” song, until she accepted to give away that privilege to my sweetheart wife later on. I bet she still wishes that she be the first.
As a kid studying 2nd grade, I distinctly remember one of my birthdays in school where I loaded my backpack with a packet full of chocolates easily more than twice my class strength. When the teacher asked me how many chocolates I was willing to give each student, I said, “One” with almost no hesitation. Was it a weakness with Maths? Or with my chocoholic attitude? – I don’t know. I was just another kid who loved to swim on chocolates. No prizes for guessing what happened after that – I ate chocolates for lunch and for snacks too – I finished the excess happily all alone before I reached home. Guess what – I was down with stomach germs for the next few days.
The birthday I will remember the most is when I turned 25. 2 years into marriage and being acquainted for more than 6 years with my wife, I thought it was just another wonderful birthday ahead. With wishes flowing in since midnight, I was already into a dream as to what my wife would gift me – as though I gift her something for all her birthdays. Let’s forget about that for now. My wife was carrying and she had no opportunity to go out for any purchase and I wondered how she would be able to get me something. I convinced myself that nothing would come from her this time – poor thing. As the day progressed I got many more wishes from all my friends world-wide and was happily enjoying my time, till my wife called me into our bedroom and slowly dragged out a greeting card from between her stuff with a gentle smile on her face. Of course she had to be appreciated for somehow arranging this in spite of her restrictions. I was touched – touched deeply. I went close and hugged her with a ‘thank you’. The card was awesome, the words melted my heart. It was one of the beautiful moments of life – one of the beautiful birthdays I have ever had. I read the card again and again and loved it so much. I again hugged her – for a longer time now. Hours passed and I was still touched by her lovely gift until she came to me with a sarcastic smile and said, “This was the card I gave you on your last birthday!!!” I was stunned. :)

An experience with GOD...

On a hot Saturday in Chennai in early 2008, I was sitting alongside my mates cramped up on an uncomfortable plastic chair, focussing on the green floored area just in front of me that had a white rectangular strip at its center with timbers at either ends. Numerous advertisement boards were enclosing the area that was open to sky from the top. Close to 15 people on white clothing were spread across the landscape with more people converging towards the centre - where most of the action was taking place.

My mind was regretting the fact that the location was void of my presence the earlier day, a dreadful day for most of them who were currently positioned on the ground. Most of them must have lost their hearing senses upon the unanimous vociferation of more than many thousand local voices on the previous day. I had come in search of divinity, to quench my thirst on the religion I follow, to take a distant glance on the one and only GOD of my religion - a living GOD.

The red cherry, looking bright and shiny, was ready for yet another sling onto the surface. Only god knew if it was destined for further beating. If it could talk, it would have helplessly surrendered falling on Sehwag's feet - knowing the treatment its predecessor received throughout the previous day. But this cherry had an inborn luck, probably due to the goodwill it gained during past births, a blessing more than what I had - to physically reach closer to GOD. The black handed man gripped the cherry tightly and danced towards one end of the rectangular strip from the greenish turf, most definitely with a vigor on the face and purpose in the mind. It pitched and bounced and drifted in a jet high speed. The sleeping part of the willow on Sehwag's hands woke up, took a beating for probably the first time in the match and misdirected the cherry to slip's safe hands. Out went the devotee and in came ..................

All heads turned to one door towards the pavilion end and all throats were rehersing to render the scream of their lifetime. And so did mine. A little tiny figure walked out of the room, dressed in white, heads down with a willow in hand and probably with his ears plugged already. The inanimate willow was probably one of the luckiest of all - to have been taken care by god himself in his close proximities. It was probably more luckier than I. The head slowly went to look up at the sky - silently offering prayers to the creator of GOD. By the time, the stadium went berserk, with all throats putting up a tremendous live show, all eyes concentrating on the one and only GOD of cricket and all other organs deep into their worshipping mode till the little master took centre stage to take guard. The GOD in him will remain immortal, the worships will never end, and his soul will last forever.

I follow Sachinism.

A fisherman's exit and a team's decline

A man goes to fish. The management takes it as an opportunity to throw him away from the Ashes.

Cricket Australia is going nowhere. Compared to the time when the team was ruling the world in all possible formats and departments, it has declined in its process right from team selection to performance. With aging players quitting the team time and again proactively, the team hasn't got the right combination for more than a year.

Coming back to the fisherman. The entire cricket eternity knows his contribution in the recently concluded IPL in South Africa. The Ashes team selection was made when he was pulling his team back on track after a series of defeats midway up the tournament. Critics might argue about the fact that T20 is a different ball game compared to a test match - but people should always remember that he was a good test player and has made more than handy contributions with bat, ball and in the field. Moreover, his confidence was tremendous when he played his part in the IPL and that would have reflected in the Ashes as well. He is usually the man of crisis for them, batting at #5 or #6 and more often a partnership breaker with the ball. He might have a problem in holding his weightless tongue, as it was evident in Harbhajan's case and also during the IPL 2009 finals where. God only knew why he wanted to poke his nose into Manish Pandey and Van der Merwe. But he was instrumental in turning the match in favour of his side by scalping 2 successive wickets of 2 very good batsmen. His inclusion into the side would have been important for the Aussies to retain the Ashes considering the fact that England are playing at home this time and are grooming up to be a good test side even during tough times for a few of their members.

Another reason to blame Cricket Australia is their adamant behaviour in rejecting Nathan Bracken for formats outside ODIs. As a dedicated Indian fan, I would love not to see him as an opponent, but as a cricket thinker, I disagree with the logic behind such decisions. Its been a pity that the team has declined so badly since winning the 2007 WC in the West Indies and other teams like India and South Africa are waiting to stamp on their head to occupy the top spot.

Come T20, I wont be surprised even if Australia, placed alongside Sri Lanka and West Indies in the group of death, doesn't catch up with a super 8 spot. At least such shocks will inject some thought into the management to come up with a more balance side looking into the future. They will definitely be a team to watch out for, but in the negative sense.

Aditya.

Dream-Girl

I looked at her from a distance. There was a mob around her. It looked like everyone was waiting to see her as soon as she came out. She looked amazingly beautiful and the instant I saw her I knew she was mine. It looked like the so-called “God” pulled her to be with me. I looked around to check if my wife was watching. She was nowhere to be seen. Ha!! What a relief!!!!

“How do I close in on her? Will she accept me? How do I plunge in through the mob and capture her attention?” All these thoughts ran through my mind in a flash. She looked as though she was loved by everyone. Everybody wanted to surround her. Possessiveness could have crept in within me, but it did not – I didn’t know why. Was it because I was confident enough that she will love me the most? I didn’t know. And I never bothered. I just loved her at first sight. What a heavenly feeling it was!!!!

My wife was still nowhere to be seen. I took few steps forward to get close to the dream girl – she looked gorgeous with minimal attire. Someone took her to a different room and I quietly followed. I wasn’t allowed inside the room and I preferred to peek in through the window waiting for her to get back. I dreamt of the life I’ll be living with her. I felt chilled. Was this the happiest moment of my life? I didn’t know. It was one of the days that filled a lot of emotion within me. Almost immediately, I called up my best buddy to tell him about what I saw and how I felt. He too felt happy for me and I was thrilled. All the while I was thinking of her and I suddenly wanted to meet my wife. What do I tell her? How will she react? Where was she? I went in search for her. Where do I start? Was I right carrying this emotion? Will my wife feel cheated? She’s been my love so far, been through my ups and downs, happiness and worries, crests and troughs. We’ve spent several years’ together right from our college days. How much struggle it’d taken for us to get ourselves married to each other. And now what’s gonna happen? Is everything gonna get spoilt?

I didn’t bother about the past as I kept searching for my wife. She’s been my best friend so far and I never wanted to resist sharing this with her. I saw her finally resting alone. She definitely deserved some rest then. I went across to her looking into her eyes. My heart missed a beat….. I held her hands and slightly caressed her forehead. We kept looking though each other’s eyes and they communicated our thoughts. I smiled gently. We understood what our eyes said to each other – “it is a baby girl”!!!!