The Phenomenon Called Sachin Tendulkar!

From the moment BCCI announced a test series against West Indies by trimming the more important series against SA in their own backyard, it was evident that Sachin would be retired, though not announced officially by him or the board. And when Sachin finally announced that his 200th test would be his last, I felt a little annoyed that these two tests were accommodated only to help Sachin sign off his illustrious long career here in India.

As they say, no one is greater than the game, a person who is known for his utmost humility could have retired even without playing a so called farewell series. Though that thought was on and off. I still wanted to see him play for one last time, but somewhere I used to get this feel, should he really play? Maybe he wanted the occasion of his retirement more ostentatious and more respectful than any other player who retired in the recent past or any sportsperson ever in India. But, why? he could have still retired, I thought.

The updates on my facebook wall, the two week long series of articles on almost all major newspapers about his 24 year career, the continuous tv shows, the debates on how higher a place he deserves in the cricketing world, the interviews, all this have been making me more turbulent. Somewhere I used to feel that he should have just announced his retirement right away and not after a series or so wherein a lot of hype would be created. I thought he could have followed the way his peers Dravid and Laxman retired, in a low-key affair.

But, I was completely wrong. He could have retired right away, but the thought of Sachin not playing anymore and that Sachin wouldn't be seen on the field one last time would have put the country, the billion people in a state of national mourning. Instead, he made sure that we get an opportunity to witness and savour his batsmanship one last time right here in our country and bid him a grand farewell which he rightly deserves. For many of us, Sachin's career is the timeline of our lives. His debut - our birth. His prime form of the 90s - our childhood and first friends of life. His 2003 world cup run - our teenage highs. His two centuries of the 2008 CB series - our career questions. His 200* of 2010 - our professional challenges. His retirement, 2013 - our lives at cross roads.

Maybe there are exceptions to what I have written above, maybe there are people who are greater than the game. And yes, Sachin is one among them. He can influence a nation. If inspiration can be personified, Sachin would be it's name, a nation like ours with such a huge diversity, the mighty respect and love towards him is the imaginary cord that connects us all. A person of this calibre truly deserves the farewell he got, maybe that was even lesser. If the rules would permit, and a 12th player would be added in a team, just as an honor of respect, Sachin would take that place permanently in the Indian team for ever. Having said that, I feel that the government has gone a little overboard in conferring Bharat Ratna to him, not that he doesn't deserve such an honor but that might open up a whole new can of worms, which I don't want him to undergo. Anyways, that's quite a debatable topic. I don't want to get much into it.

Finally, this post would be incomplete without thanking the master, the cult, the colossus. A big Thank You dear Sachin! You have just retired from the game, not from our hearts. Miss you. 

CSK! The Source of Envy!

Albie Morkel hits 28 off an over, (that includes two edges,and also four genuine cricketing shots). If it was any other player from any other team, they say, 'What a player he is!' And about the edges, well, they are part of the game!', just because the team is CSK, they say 'Did you see those edges? That's just sheer luck! '

And when people talk about luck, I get reminded of a quote, 'Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity!'  There you go, the opportune moment came in the form of an inexperienced bowler in Virat Kohli, and Albie Morkel was well prepared to cash in on the freebies! And if you call that luck, well I agree on the above premise! But how many would say that, that was a sheer tactical mistake of Vettori!!

CSK picks up seven wickets in the last five overs, there comes a comment 'CSK is riding on luck!', and they lose in the last three balls of the game, then comes another comment 'CSK's luck ran out!'

So what do they mean? A bunch of lucky blokes with no cricketing skills or a team headed by a man who is branded lucky, and who have won three titles just by luck!? Then I would say, you just heard a fantasy story!

And there comes a spectator flashing a placard - 'Tendulkar - God of Cricket, Dhoni- God of Luck', I don't want to say anything more about it, as I have already mentioned about it here.

Well, if CSK is so much riding on luck, they would have preferred playing Casino in Vegas and would be earning millions of dollars just by the so called LUCK, than wilting in the heat of Chennai and playing 20-20 cricket.

With the IPL completing four seasons, people have definitely taken sides, be it on the grounds of cities, regions, players or owners. And with the phenomenal record of CSK, they are certainly the source of envy and hence a lot of criticism! But its utterly ridiculous to brush off someone's competence and winning ability in the name of luck and hence this post!

Well, with three titles in the kitty, we could let go off one this time!! Let's wait and watch what's in store this season, till then, whistle podu!

PS: Yes. This post was intentional!

Image Courtesy: Google Images

In one word I say, Discordance!

When the blogger within me woke up on a late Saturday night and rambled few random thoughts that were marked by vent, and signed off  with a tinge of tollywood!


Work-life Imbalance!
The last two months have been the busiest of my work-life so far. There were some heart in mouth situations followed by a little phase of contentedness. And the time when my mind was idle, it went in retrospecting 'being 24 - Something'. Thought I would write about it, but backed off thinking that wouldn't be 'Substantial'. Then I realized, like many cricketers who lose form, may be, I too have hit a rough patch, and needs some time to get back to the original form flair. Also, this phase has helped me understand the importance of the line This too shall pass better than ever.

Sucker punch!
I thought I should write about this song, which talks about the 'firsts' of a couple in a relationship. This song meant a lot to me then! and a little now! (Please excuse me for the poor quality of the video. That was the only one available on the net.) And yeah, the human senses are so powerful, aren't they? Just the tune of a song, smell of a perfume/deo would make you travel to the past in a split second time.
Thank God! we are blessed with forgetfulness as well, else life wouldn't be that easy. I wish I write a dedicated post about the power of forgetfulness and olfactory!

Athithi Devobhava!
I was on a short vacation to my home-town the last week, my not-so-cricket-crazy parents didn't opt for 'Star Cricket' in their channel À la carte and hence I had to catch the action on National TV, it was after some years that I tuned into this channel.

One thing that amazed me the most were the advertisements broadcast-ed, those of educating people to maintain cleanliness while cooking and serving food, and Aamir Khan endorsing the 'athithi devobhava' campaign, enlightening us not to spit on roads,  scribble on walls of heritage sites, and other conspicuously trivial matters. That shows that there is still a large population of our country engulfed in stark darkness, where the light of civilization is yet to break through.

But considering some of the oldest civilizations being flourished and evolved in this great country, how did these common and basic human behavioral skills vanish? or were they never here and only we imbibed those from other countries/civilizations or through education?

After all this, they still stay, "India Shining!"

PS: I am perplexed why I kept one of  the sub-titles as 'Sucker Punch'!

Off-topic: My FB status read 'spider man.. spider man..' today, its because of this, its quite sweet, funny, raunchy, and a little stupid! The USP of this song could be accounted to the mellifluous voice of Gopika Poornima.


Image Courtesy : Google Images

M S D, Respect.

Behind the three wooden sticks, there lies a cricketing laboratory, powered by a sharp brain and a pair of quick claws. Yes! I am talking about an agile wicket-keeper who also is an aggressive stroke-maker, and above all a calm leader that comes in a package called Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Let me get nostalgic here, I was always fascinated with the story of King Midas as a child. As I grew up I can only associate the story to the modern Midas, MSD! The forerunner of the modern Indian cricket. Mind you, he doesn't have an MBA degree from the LBS or the IIMs. However, the decisions he take, that burgeon from his instincts, well supported by his enormous confidence produces great results.


Instincts
Be it handing over the last over of the maiden 20-20 world cup final to an unheard name in the form of Joginder Sharma, or be it promoting himself up the order in the finals of the 2011 cricket world cup, the success of MSD has been stupendously stupendous. I fall short of adjectives to describe more about his feats and his super human abilities! '

Sportsmanship
Who would recall the 'dumb' bell to the crease though his dismissal was legal according to the rules of cricket except a true sportsman like MSD, (there were some news that his decision was influenced by Tendulkar). Though this act of him was highly applauded by the cricketing greats it was equally censured by the rest of the cricketing fraternity. But with that decision he helped keep the cricketing ties between the two nations green!

A Leader
He is a true leader when it comes to sharing the credit to his team members, and at the end of the day he makes sure that each one of them gets their pie of honor, credit and respect. At the same time he backs his team and lead from front in the time of adversities. That is the reason he bats at six, and not to keep his averages thick!


Critics
However successful MSD is, there have been critics around the world who comment that his success is only because of sheer luck and not of any cricketing brilliance. To prove them wrong, here's what happened just a few days ago, India lost 4-0 in the away test series in England. And it only meant one thing - "EVEN MSD fails! ". A root cause analysis on the loss would help discover the answer - excess cricket means tired legs, tired body and a tired mind.

The loss clearly makes an understatement that luck has nothing do with the success he has achieved and the laurels he brought to the country. Only self-belief in your instincts, calmness and level-headedness means success for everyone!

PS - How ridiculous it is to compare the batting technique of MSD to number ten Ishant Sharma! Did you forget the days when you basked in the glory of  MSD's mighty sixes and the celebrations you did when he lifted the trophy which the whole country waited for nearly three decades! If you did forget here's that historic image!

PPS -

I remember reading a quote by Paul Strang of Zimbabwe ' What we[Zimbabwe] need is 10 Tendulkars'.

But I say what you really need is just one Dhoni!!


M S D, Respect!