Dealing with Tough Times

They did it……. They blew it…………… sad but true………… end of story.

If only Jaysuriya was given out LBW first ball…………If only Sangakara would have been run out first ball……….If only Chmara Silva and Dilshan wouldn’t have been allowed to get away……. If only Ganguly would have kept his head……….If only Sehwag wouldn’t have been a sitting duck to Murli when he had the bowling at his mercy…… If only Yuvi would have kept his head……….. If only………

Unfortunately these days Indian cricket is very an often a story of ifs and buts. And these ifs and buts always hide the real facts. Fact is that apart from a brief period in 2003-2004 we have had a very mediocre team for a very long time. Fact is that our best players are past their best. Fact is that we lost to two teams who were better prepared, better equipped and better balanced in the grammar of the one day game.

These will be tough times for Indian cricket. Some hard decisions will be needed to be taken. Unfortunately the one man who was ready to take some tough decisions will be shown the door. You may agree or disagree with a lot of things which Greg Chappell did. But you cannot disagree with the fact that he had the conviction of mind to take some tough decisions. Unfortunately we as a country always tried to find something sinister
behind his every move.

Indian cricket will need to find its feet again. Take some tough decisions and concentrate on winning matches. Not on making money. It's not the Indian board's motto yet, but as someone once famously said, "Money can't buy happiness but it can give you the kind of misery with which you can live comfortably."
And by the way, please don’t tell me that we are a cricket loving nation. Because if we were, we would have been looking forward to the Australia South Africa game. Rather than burn effigies.

Lets keep our dignity

Saturday and Sunday apparently showed the world how passionate Indians are about cricket. Cricket is our religion we proclaimed, and hence we burn effigies. We are crazy about the game and that’s why we threatened Dravid’s family. India had lost to Bangladesh and as a consequence Dhoni’s house needed to be ransacked.

I was as devastated as anybody across the country when India lost to Bangladesh. Honestly speaking, we should have never lost to Bangladesh. But that does not give any body the right to vandalize property or threaten the players or their families.

“ Whatever happens we should not lose our dignity”. These were the famous last words of Jock Stein, the famous Scottish Manager. Minutes later Jock suffered a heart attack and died on the football field during his team’s final World Cup Qualifying game. Scotland won that game and Stein never did lose his dignity. Nor did Rahul Dravid or Greg Chappell lose theirs. They were disappointed, perhaps even devastated, but they did not lose their head like some of us did on Sunday.

And what do we say about Bob Woolmer. He was dignified enough to apologise for his teams defeat. And then he went away. His death should be a lesson to all of us. Whatever be the reason of his death, Bob Woolmer did not deserve to die simply because Pakistan lost to Ireland.
For at the end of the day, cricket is only a game played with a leather ball and a wooden bat. Nothing will ever change that and we should never forget that.

The Fun Begins

I was 10 years old when the 1992 World Cup took place in Australia. It was a wonderful tournament, although i was very disappointed with the Indian performance. The one lasting memory I have of event is of watching India beat Pakistan at MCG. Sachin Tendulkar was the Man of the Match that day and he quite simply carried India's hopes during that tournament. 15 years later not much has changed.

The 1996 WorlCup again had an unforgettable India Pakistan Match at Banglore. Ajay Jadeja was the hero this time . The entire country was in a frenzy as Jadeja made Waqar Younis look like a club bowler and smashed him to all parts of the ground. The Cup though was won by Sri Lankawho were quite briiliant during the tournamenmt.

1999 and 2003 World Cups were dominated by the Aussies. 2003 saw Sachin at his brilliant best. Caddick and Shoiab were smashed for unforgattable sixes in their respective games and it was Sachin at his very best. Ashsish Nehra's spell against England is another unforgattable memory from that tournament.

What about 2007 ? fun for sure. Its the West Indies, perhaps the best place to watch cricket. The format for the tournament is also very appealing. So let the fun begin.

World Cup Favorites

Are Australia as bad as people are making them out to be? Is Nathan Bracken a bad death over bowler all of a sudden? Is the team suddenly very inexperienced? I don't think so.

The Australian Team that lost to New Zealand was without Ponting, Lee, Symnonds, Gilchrist and Clarke. That constitutes alomst half their team. In such a scenarior , realistically Australia had no chance of winning. 4 of the above mentioned names will be back for the World Cup and will make a huge difference to the side.

All though Australia will miss Lee, the one person who they will want desperately to be back is Andrew Symnods. Symonds with his power full hitting, exceptional fielding and more than use full spin bowling will be a vital cog in the Aussie Wheel. If he is fully fit, Australia will be hard to beat.

Sri Lanka, India, South Africa and Australia are my picks to be in the last 4. An India South Africa final with India avenging the humiliating losses suffered just abt two months back will be the perfect ending.

Ahh and by the Way are Shoiab and Asif really injured. If they are then they should be replaced. If they aren't then the players should not be allowed to be replaced. But who knows what the truth is.