Why Cricket is Religion in the Land of Zero ?

Why Cricket is Religion in the Land of Zero ? Or Why Cricket is Mathematics ?

Disclaimer: This is an original research article and hence might appear extremely long. Any perceived humor in any part of this article is unintended and is purely accidental like the 23.5 degree bend of Saeed Ajmal's elbow. If any part / parts of this piece appear disjointed like Suresh Raina's technique, that too is coincidental. The author holds all copyrights over the article. Any reproduction of any part of this post done any time in the past by anyone should be considered as pardonable acts of flattery.

While I was bothered by India missing out on an Asia Cup Final berth, most of India was busy celebrating Tendulkar’s 100^th 100. So I was wondering, “Is there something wrong with me ? Why am I hurt so much when even the players don’t appear to be hurt by losing the Asia Cup crown they had held thus far ?”

A Soccer fan on Facebook who hates Cricket pestered me a lot the other day. He refused to recognize Cricket World Cup and believed Soccer fans are jovial and Cricket fans turn violent if someone derides Cricket. He used a lot of convoluted logic and then demanded that I must give up on Cricket because I happen to be a Doctor and because one of his teachers believed Cricket meant Crick [whatever that meant].

After banishing him to pavilion, oops oblivion; I sat down and thought; “Why is Cricket so popular in India ? And why do I love it so much ?”. Since I am a hardcore Indian, who has never ventured out of the borders, if I find an answer to why Indians love Cricket so much, we’ll know the answer to why I love it so much !

Tendulkar: genius captured in 19 seconds

It was 2007. We were at Trent Bridge. The veteran cricket photographer Patrick Eagar was covering his 300th Test. He was kind enough to spare a few minutes for a chat, a wide-ranging discussion on cricket photography. At the end of the interview I asked him to name a cricketer who was tough to shoot. He considered the question for a few seconds. Here’s his response:

“I find Tendulkar quite difficult to photograph. That’s probably because I’ve seen more of Lara in the one-day situation than Tendulkar. You have to admire some of the inventiveness in some of Lara’s shots. I’ve seen Tendulkar in a slightly more passive mould. I find it very difficult to take a picture of Tendulkar that has people saying, ‘What a good batsman!’ I don’t know why; need to work it out.’

I thought of Eagar’s statement yesterday when Mahesh (@cornerd) pointed me to a Tendulkar six off Albie Morkel in the opening match of the IPL. It was the third over of the run-chase. He had struck Morkel for a four through extra-cover. Then he was beaten by a snorter that took off from a good length. Then he took strike for the fourth ball. And did this:

A Game of Thrones in Mumbai

The Mumbai Indians’ quest for IPL glory has led to the latest development in their camp: Sachin Tendulkar taking a ‘break’ from captaincy and Harbhajan Singh taking over the reins.

First of, there won’t be too many arguments in favor of Sachin continuing as skipper. Throughout his career, the Mumbai maestro has never mastered the art of captaincy, be it for India or the Mumbai Indians. Highlights of his captaincy includes more mis-steps than master-strokes; for instance, keeping Pollard for too late during the final of IPL-3. There is no doubt that he is a good mentor for the younger players in the squad and a good sounding board for fellow veterans; but captaining a team is something he is better off without. In that sense, relinquishing the captaincy makes sense, though I don’t understand the term ‘taking a break’. Does that mean, he will want the reins back, when he feels sufficiently rejuvenated and motivated? In that case, this move doesn’t make sense.

11 newbies to watch in IPL 2012

It’s IPL time, boss.

The time for colorful razzmatazz, dancing cheerleaders, local celeb spotting and pithy commentary is here –  and yes, you get to watch some high octane cricket too.

The fifth edition of IPL is bound to be more tightly contested than the previous edition, for the simple reason being that the Indian cricketers couldn’t have had a more contrasting build-up to this year’s IPL. Last year, they entered the tournament fatigued and emotionally spent after the World Cup win while this year, they will be itching to prove themselves after a couple of disappointing months on the international stage.  The favorites are the usual suspects: Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. CSK will be looking for an unprecedented 3rd straight title, while the other three are still searching for their maiden triumphs. The other teams have a lesser shot, but can take hope from the campaigns of Rajasthan Royals in IPL1 and Deccan Chargers in IPL2, which showed that if you grab the opportune moments, glory is not impossible.

This year, there are quite a few international players who will be making their IPL debuts, and most of them are match-winners in their own right. While the likes of Pollard, Gayle, Kohli, Raina, Sehwag etc are proven IPL performers, it will be interesting to see if these players can make a name for themselves in the biggest domestic T20 tournament in the world. I present to you, the  Newbie XI to watch in IPL 2012:

Richard Levi

Country: South Africa

IPL team: Mumbai Indians

Role: Opening batsman

T20 stats: HS – 117, Avg – 30.87, SR – 149.69

As if the Mumbai Indians were not bursting at the seams with batting talent, they have added a new explosive batsman to the team. Levi is one of the most dangerous players in the South African domestic T20s and within 2 games of his international T20 debut, he made the world sit up and notice with a blistering 117 against the Kiwis when the Saffers were chasing 174. A player who is built and strikes like Pollard, is just one more headache for the opposition bowlers. Will he be the new star in IPL 2012?

Tamim Iqbal

Country: Bangladesh

IPL team: Pune Warriors

Role: Opening batsman

T20 stats: HS – 91, Avg – 19.57, SR – 107.15

Its really surprising that a man known for his audacious hitting and rapid fire starts has a modest record in T20s. All that could change, given his recent form and new found consistency. With the likes of Ganguly and Graeme Smith to mentor him, Iqbal would be learning from the best, and will be aiming to make his captain and his countrymen very proud.

India vs West Indies 3rd Test – The Script

On the eve of Day 5 in the Mumbai test match, it seems the match is going nowhere but a draw. Luckily for us, the West Indian think tank had other ideas…

Ottis Gibson: Okay boys time to execute Plan C, we engineer a Callypso Collapso on purpose and bowl out the shocked Indians.
Darren Sammy: Wait a minute… we had a plan to begin with?
Shiv Chanderpaul: Coach, not such a hot idea with all the spot fixing allegations going on.
Ottis Gibson: We are the West Indies cricket team, minus you.
Shiv Chanderpaul: … point taken.
Graeme Smith: Worked for us!
Michael Clarke: Yeah yeah…

And so play began…

Dhoni: Sakshi? Ya its me, get the pakoras ready I’m coming home early.

But the West Indies innings swiftly ended…

© AFP

Darren Sammy: I think that was too obvious, even for us.
Cricinfo: Memories of Dominica! And we won’t stop reminding you.
Virender Sehwag: Relax guys I got this.
Cricinfo: Sehwag leads India to frenetic start!
Virender Sehwag: Fifty already? I’m bored.
Cricinfo: V Sehwag c Sammy b Bishoo 60 (87m 65b 8×4 0×6) SR: 92.30
Sachin: Target not big enough for a century.
Cricinfo: SR Tendulkar c KA Edwards b Samuels 3 (6m 7b 0×4 0×6) SR: 42.85
Dhoni: Rahul, we better force a result this time so don’t pull any of your stunts.
Cricinfo: R Dravid c sub (D Ramdin) b Samuels 33 (82m 49b 1×4 0×6) SR: 67.34
Dhoni: You too VVS, we don’t want the media to think we depend on you. Lets leave it to The-Future-Of-Indian-Cricket.
Cricinfo: VVS Laxman c Barath b Rampaul 31 (67m 53b 1×4 0×6) SR: 58.49
VVS Laxman: I should have stuck to being a doctor.

The Indian batting order fell away…

Dhoni:  Mmm pakoras.
Cricinfo: MS Dhoni c KA Edwards b Rampaul 13 (45m 37b 1×4 0×6) SR: 35.13
Darren Sammy: I can’t believe this is working.
The-Future-Of-Indian-Cricket: Time to show off my patience and maturity, despite my youth.
Cricinfo: Oh he’s so patient and mature, despite his youth!
Dhoni: Do you mind moving things along.
The-Future-Of-Indian-Cricket: It’s all about the drama boss, haven’t you seen Lagaan?
Cricinfo: V Kohli c Sammy b Bishoo 63 (136m 114b 3×4 1×6) SR: 55.26
The-Future-Of-Indian-Cricket: Damn.
Bad Light: I’m staying out of this.

The climax was upon us…

Ashwin: My selection is secure, you can have this one Darren.
Darren Sammy: But your first innings century was full of shots more delicious than pakora! Take it.
Ashwin: Not if we keep blocking!
Darren Sammy: Not if we keep bowling Marlon Samuels!
Aswhin: Not if Ishant and I run ourselves out!
Darren Sammy: Not if we fumble!

Before either side could make up their minds…

Cricinfo: Oh for goodness sake.
Minimum Overs: That’s it I’ve had enough of this.

And so a scores-levelled draw occurred, only the second in history…

The People: Test cricket is alive and well! All they have to do is keep batting like morons.
Sachin: Well at least I’ll have the West Indies ODIs to sort out my century of centuries.
Indian Selectors: Ahem.
Cricinfo: Dhoni, Tendulkar rested ahead of Australia tour
Sachin: (sigh)

Contributed by : Varun Prasad
Varun’s blog : The Cricket Musings

No Blunders for Down Under

I cannot remember the last time the Indian selectors received credit from all quarters for picking the best Test squad possible. Kris Srikkanth and co deserve it rightly for ignoring the likes of Shastri, in picking players based on their form and promise instead of past exploits and ‘getting under skin” crap. Harbhajan Singh has done nothing of note in the recent past to merit inclusion, while Ravi Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha have grabbed their opportunities with glee. There is no shame in it though, as Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Saurav Ganguly showed that they can come back as better players after an enforced absence from the team. It is up to Bhajji now to work his ass off and show the world that he still has got the goods for the international stage. The Indian team will be the better for it.

Apart from the spin department, there are a few minor quibbles here and there; Abhinav Mukund getting dropped after a poor tour of England, Rohit Sharma ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara, and picking two raw pacers for possibly the most demanding overseas tour for an Indian team. Still, the decisions are all justifiable. Ajinkya Rahane has impressed in the brief opportunities he has got and will have more confidence than Mukund, Pujara has just returned to full fitness and there is no need to rush him back when he have an in-form Rohit Sharma, and the pace combination is the best we have, given the lack of viable alternatives.

So, it all adds up to a pretty good team to tour Down Under. I would say that this is the best chance for an Indian team to win a series there, for the foreseeable future. Still, the Aussies won’t just roll over of course; they might be a team in transition, but with exciting players like Pat Cummins and seasoned veterans like Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey, they will still remain as tough nuts to crack. Hopefully, this series will end on a better note than the way the England tour ended.

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt &wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Zaheer Khan (subject to fitness)

Benny for DieHard Cricket Fans
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