My Musings on Life, Poetry and Short Stories

After the initial euphoria of the dare devil exploits of players like Gayle, Pollard, Rayudu, Sehwag, Peiterson, Usuf Pathan, Virat Kohli etc., which made the viewers sit glued to the TV during the first 4 versions and the current IPL 5, one begins to wonder where this takes the Game of Cricket per se ! A mighty heave or a swashbuckling reverse sweep may be pleasing to the eye once a while but repeated attempts to hit the ball without worrying about the nuances or the principles of stroke play, which makes the Game of Cricket a connoisseur's delight, makes the game a comedy of errors. The players tend to throw caution to winds in their attempts to score the maximum runs and it robs the game of its finesse! No doubt you see the Great Tendulkar not being able to do the heroics of the other players because he still adheres to some technique and style the game is known for. I am not saying the T-20 Version is a sham but only request that the players do not try to make it a wild game of chance. There is nothing wrong in trying to excel but make sure you do it in style. Happy Viewing!!

In the recent Tri Series match between Sri Lanka and Australia there was a lesson or two for our tottering cricket team, who seem to have lost their appetite for wins! Despite the decent score of 280 aided by Peter Forrest and Michael Clarke the Sri Lankans had their Game Plan neatly chalked out before beginning their reply. Mahela Jayawardane got his side off to a flying start which ensured that there was no undue pressure on the other batsmen. Such was his dominating display that Dilshan, who fell for a meekly compiled 3 and Kumar sangakara with a breezy 22 were made to look below par. His batting display even enthused his less known colleagues to rise to the occasion!

After losing Chandimal and Maharoof Sri Lankans were needing 31 runs from 4 overs. I could not help thinking what India would have done under similar situation and the thought wasn't a happy one. Sri Lanka had different plans. Despite Angelo Mathews falling for a catch in the deep, Perara and Nuwan Kulasekara rose like a Phoenix from the pyre to finish off the chase with four balls to spare! Boy! This is what is called defiant performance. I am sure our team was watching this game and would have got inspired. We need such defiant innings from our not-in-form Seniors as well as the promising young brigade.

With over half the matches completed and finding ourselves at the bottom of the Points Table is not a pleasant situation. But as Churchil said  "In Defeat Lies Defiance" ! It is how we play that matters and not the Wins or Defeats. Let us go and give a truly delightful display of cricket which our players like Sachin, Dhoni and Lakshman are well known for instead of brooding over what went wrong or blaming each other. Victory will surely follow.

There is no doubt in anyone's mind about who is the greatest Batsman in the world, both in One Day Format as well as a Test Match. Sachin has sculpted his name in the Altar of Indian Cricket. Well having said that, it is time to think whether the Legend should push himself so hard for achieving that one milestone, Hundredth Ton, with his failing form time and again. He is human and this milestone is no big deal when compared to the innumerable tons hs has scored against all the cricketing countries in the world. As an ardent fan of his, I really feel bad to see him struggle to achieve this. Perhaps he would have done it very easily if we hadn't kept the count of his hundreds and the 'Magic Number' was not pressurising him! He should gracefully retire with his guns blazing and we remember him as the Master Blaster. Like the Great Gavaskar once said, you should leave when people ask "Why?" rather than when they begin to say, "Why Not?". Again this is not a criticism on Sachin's Capabilities as a Great Batsman but only a sincere appeal from an ardent fan who wants to remember him as the "Master Blaster" who sent the best of the bowlers to the fence with his Magic Willow. Wish him all the luck for achieving this elusive hundred.