Cricket...

I am writing about cricket after a long time. India-Pakistan series should be right time to start talking about it. :)

This weekend there was nothing much to do other than cricket which is as dull as it can get. Pakistan has rolled out the flattest pitches available in the country. Are they afraid of losing to India? After a good show against England, they would be happy to get a drawn series against India. Nobody is talking about that. Because there are more interesting things to talk about. For example, is Ganguly's career over? Should Dravid open the batting?

Ganguly was drafted into first test squad perhaps because of pressure from cricket board. It is obvious because there was no reason to drop him against SL and there was no reason to change the squad for 2nd test against Pakistan. And here comes dravid as an opener. Is 5 bowler strategy just an excuse to drop Ganguly. Perhaps he will not feature in the next match also to make way for a regular opener unless India sticks to 5 bowler strategy. It is debatable whether he deserves a place in the side or not but why does it look so dubious as if there are hidden motives to not give him a chance to make a come back. One thing is for sure that he has no friends right now.

What about the match? I guess it will be another draw unless India proves their lack of application in batting just like every other time when they play a batsman short. Afridi is becoming another Jayasuriya for India. Our bowling attack lacks bowlers who can be dangerous without being dependent on helping pitches. Pathan is not consistent at all and all the talks of comparing him with greats should wait. Harbhajan looks ordinary every alternate match. It is going to be interesting to see how Tendulkar does here. He has not played much cricket off late and playing against Pakistan will tell us whether he is at his best or not. But I guess, he should be used as a bowler more often.

The series? It is going to be interesting match at Karachi if this one also ends in a draw. Let us hope now that it is not another flat pitch and there is some real cricket over there.

It's my life...

You have been given an opportunity to live your life. Nobody else can get this opportunity. Do not worry about what you did not do or what you could not do. Take it today as the way it is. And live it the way you want it.


More on this later... I need to catch up on some sleep desperately... :)


January 21

Could not get time to complete that thought which was actually provoked by Priyanka (don't kill me for this). Now, I have lost it. :)

Tujhse Naraaz Nahin Zindagi...

Today, while coming back from office, I was listening to one of my old CD's which I had digged out this Diwali vacation. The song from Masoom summed up my feelings: "Tujhse naraaz nahin zindagi, hairaan hoon main...".

Read this... It is very much true for all of us at some time or other.

Quarter-life crisis

Maybe we all go through this "Being Twenty-Something". It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't.

One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to The past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward. You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.

You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself. And while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out. Send this to your twenty something friends. Maybe it will help someone feel like they aren't alone in their state of confusion.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US
CHEERS!

No posts for sometime...

Check out my other blog where I try to share my experiences while travelling:
http://travelwithraman.blogspot.com

It is not cricket...

Cricket... It is a religion in India. And for me it is a long cherished passion. I am among a billion Indians who just can't live without it. India cricket has given a lot of greats to the world of sports and we had our ups and downs in cricket. It has always been a great experience following Indian cricket. India has gained a lot of respect recently in test cricket with wonderful performances down under and in Pakistan. Before the dramatic events of ashes this summer, India was the only side being considered good enough to remove Australia from the top slot. Of course, our one-day performances have been quite questionable lately.

But the recent events have really upset everyone following Indian cricket. Greg Chappell and Ganguly have locked horns publicly and all the mud is out on the walls. Media is doing a great job in making it as ugly as possible but that is there job. But all said and done, it is not cricket. This is not what a cricketing nation like India want to see. There will always be stories inside the dressing rooms. But why should it be out in newspapers. This is another issue. But considering that of all what is published even if half is true, there is something seriously wrong with Indian cricket. Who is responsible? Nobody will ever know all the details. But it shows a very serious aspect of Indian cricket and the whole process.

We are a country of hero-worshippers. We had all time greats like Gavaskar and Kapil but even they had a fair share of criticism and bad phases in life. Who can forget the great match fixing saga and Kapil's interview on BBC. But public has short memory. They will come in millions to greet their heroes after a win and will paint their house walls black if they fail. Even a player like Sachin has not been left alone for no reason of his when people started speculating about his injuries and wrong choice of bat and what not. But Sachin has been an example. Perhaps the best in history of Indian cricket for carrying himself really well. The recent events just show how we need more players like Sachin to keep the dignity of the game.

Saurav is great player. He has done a lot for Indian cricket. He has been a tremendous one-day players for years and the best captain in Indian cricket history (at least by statistics). But he has always been an eccentric person. He has his limitations. He more or less accepts them but he believes in himself to come out of it. He is a leader who will go wrong at times and accept it openly but will not back out. That was his strength in the past but it has now become the biggest issue in Indian cricket. His cricketing abilities are being questioned for quite some time but he was still considered the best captain till Greg Chappell decided to blow the cover. No doubt that Ganguly has one of the toughest job in the country but he has blown away his career by behaving in this manner in media. He has never been the best person to hide his emotions but this time it has gone too far.

I am not suggesting that all the fault is with Ganguly. If he is not supposed to be good enough to be playing in the eleven, then why is he chosen as the captain of the side. Cricket does not have the concept of non-playing captain. Why should Chappell be suggesting Ganguly to step down in the middle of the tour. Why can't we have a system where we choose the playing eleven first and then the captain. And that's what Australia does and Greg Chappell is new to our Indian system. He is trying to apply the Australian concepts in India which will not work just like that. It is a fault of our cricketing traditions where we can not easily remove the heroes even though we have better people to replace them. We need to change this soon to protect cricket in India. Because of all the hype and money, it is not surprising that it gets to your head and everyone can not be a Sachin Tendulkar. Saurav needs to take a leaf out of Sachin's book. That will make all the difference between him being just the most successful captain and the greatest captain of all times for India. I just hope these things do not remain in headlines for too long for the sake of cricket.