The Dancing Elephant - Sachin

Is Sachin The Best ... no way ... He is far above from any comparison ... he is not a master ... he is a class in himself , an Indian in his own stride ... and i can say now ... The Elephants can dance ... can dance .. can dance ...

The current version of IPL has brought out the best in the best. With the emerging hot spots and young bloods not coming of the age , the experience and the genius are on exhibit. It is no wonder Mumbai were on losing streak in first half of last edition with absense of Tendulkar. But this side is reckoned with the best of the best. And like Lion sits on the top of foodchain , we have Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar , hitting around like he ever was.

He is not in top form , he is now injury prone , he is declining in age, his enthusiasm is same, but his legs are shaking. Standing taller than his physical appearance , and running faster than his age would, he is scripting new horizons, new leadership, and above all as always breaking all myths he may not fit in this form of game.

It is true no one grows bigger than the game itself , nor does one grow out of the game, but it is not always the case. The matters go out of hands , when the not so perfect point the fingers at one of the most structured cricketer of modern era. An era in which cricketing career are cut short by injuries, he is injuring the critics who claim he should have retired a year ago.

He is blessed with the foresight of understanding the depth of the game, and as such his depths in history books and summits to the top of the cricketing world will stay. The only farewell gift Sachin can give to himself , or expect all others to give him is easy to guess World Cup 2011.

I have dared to , and dared have i wishing to see Sachin holding the WC for India, with most successful WC campaign. That will be the only contention when he stops playing, and i can rest on my seat to watch his gems of innings over and again. Just once more .... like a supernova ... the brightest of them .. Spark with the intensity , all the efforts before going in woods ....

The Fall Continues ...

Come another season , another tournament in the world. The undefeated and the terror inflicting Aussie team is no more invincible. The terror of losing the second spot in ODI is also not a deep possibility. The reason for Aussie not doing well is understandable. It was not like Aussies never lost, but when they did , they bounced back. Healed the shortcomings and bind more strong. The team never looked for changes , but the mentality has changed. Aussies are defeat prone, tired and lookingto rest players more often. Injuries are coming in like anything. forms are dripping, Hayden is out, so is Gilly and Shane. But watching them in IPL , one thinks they should have or rather could have served Aussie for another year. But ... aussies are falling , and just hope the new generation bring back the pride Aussies had. 

SA are world Champs ...

The final verdict is out . Aussies are dethroned from number 1 position for good, and if things go well for India , then possibly a third place awaits them. The kings of the millenium were beaten by the Proteas in the background and then again on the African soil. 

The kings with a continuous stretch of 21 victories , and no WC defeat in this millenium are no more number one. Indians thrashed them , Africans beat them and not so long ago , NZ chased down 350's and English held the CB . 

Ashes are considered to be a true test , get going. It is not. If I was to make an ashes between India and Ireland , then it is not valid. 100 years down the lane, it will be the oldest one, but it remains lopsided. English team have fought so hard but the number of Ashes victories can be counted on fingers. Whenever the Aussie team is down , they use Ashes to have good batting bowling practice and English thinking themselves as most tough competitor. Sorry , you are not. 

A more challenge would be African Aussie or even Border-Gavaskar. Alteast Indians have won or drawn the series many times. 

Aussies have always produced the greatest of batsmen , and they will continue to do so. But sledging has been instrumental for them. But they get better doses. They sledge , but when someone else did, not only did they lose the game and series, but also morals. Some ended up the careers. Others drip in form. Unlike NZ who try to stand up to challenge posted , Aussies are just another bunch of guys who want to win at any cost , but losing a game would defeat them morally. 

SA have finally broken the jinx and the shackles of spoiling it at the end. But lot is still there to see if Aussie can get back the numero uno position soon 

SA Aussie Third test match

South Africa and world ranking number 1, and one person stands taller than the distance between Aussies and Africans. The era of Johnson has begun, and is going to stay. The nemisis of Africans were revoked when Smith was out for just 8 , and having an opening spell of 5 overs with 6 runs given could tell the success story. Eventually ending the building partnerships and finishing for four wickets , what Johnson did for Aussie , was repeated by Kallis for Africans. Scoring a fluent 70 in tumbling wickets, and then Albie making his role justified. Duminy made his contri too . Lets see where the Aussies will go chasing the score , which i think should not be difficult on this pitch. 

and here we have Aussies starting well , but very keen on giving Africans a fightback. Ponting tried to gift his wickets, but SA were really not intrested in his wicket. Dropped him twice , and avoided his run out twice in the same ball. But Botha then got frustrated , and Ponting was walking back. Rudi got frustrated of Hussey to leave Aussies in Deep trouble. The number one team in the world wondering if they can maintain it. Then came Feugerson and hopes. and they bring in Hopes of winning the game. This time Africans did everything , powell was hot for consecutive fours ,and they decided to cut the power to distract it. 

Everything is fair in love and war 

Wisden Test XI of The Year 2008

Wisden has come out again with its list of Test side in world. Looking in the side: 

 Virender Sehwag, Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Kevin Pietersen, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Dale Steyn, Zaheer Khan

Virender Sehwag has eclipsed Smith for the leading cricketer of the year , but again is more of a chance to bat player. He keeps his head still and strays on loose deliveries. Many people say he treats a ball on merit, but as I see , any thinking captain can get him out cheaply. Vettori proved it. Sehwag does not a big score in the series in NZ in tests, and when seldomly he went rampage, Vettori had his claws back. Sehwag is hungry for runs, and has a strike rate of over 100 in tests, but again fail when needed. Chasing a score of 600+, one might settle for cameo seeing the strong lineup and two more wisden teammates to follow, but throwing a wicket while following on with 300 run deficit. A wicket on which NZ scored 600, and Dravid-Gambhir stood the whole day, Sehwag lost his wicket twice in the same day. His Strike rate was superb, but USELESS . Test is of wits. I would have voted for Gambhir instead this wonderful year with a couple of match saving innings.

Smith : Twice hospitalised with broken bones, was responsible for SA dismal performance against Aus in home. Smith has been metal strong and very tough mentally, but physically Johnson broke him. He is still the captain and suits this Wisden side. 

Ricky Ponting: I still think Wisden is not so elite anymore. A voting panel has to increase in size. It is not the best of Ponting , and no rebates are offered on previous year performance. Only because of his century against India, and having no clue against the bowling. Watch cricket a bit more closely Wisden voters, if Ponting was less scratchy against spin this time, he was cluesless against a newbie Ishant Sharma. Ishant bowled out Ponting so many times, that spinners didnt have a chance to beat him. Well, the team is out and we go by it. Though this again is a big NO from me to be in the BEST test side this year. Instead , i would have loved to see Chris Gayle in his place. He has plundered the opposite attack like playing against school kids. But sadly , no one representing the West Indies here to put his name forward.

Sachin Tendulkar: huh ! you made it again . I think now we should reserve a player or retire him from List and put him in Hall of fame. 20 years down the lane he is still in that list with the most energetic players existing. His performance is still better than many, and in many matches when he has not played , India have been on losing side. The T20 champs lost both the T20 matches in NZ . 

Kevin - Full of promise , enthusiasm and marred by English cricket. The English is said to be home of Cricket, but this South African is only cricketer from England to make a mark in the list. He has been another promise of 2005 Ashes , and still a promise. Supernova like Monty came and left , and I am pretty sure , Kevin still has a gem of an innings down under due in near future. 

Chanderpaul - I had always thought this person works against India, but in last couple of years, English will remember him more than any other. He has taken the one sided matches in the stride. He has been instrumental in West Indian fight back to the world scenario with likes of Ramnaresh, Gayle and Powell. 

MS Dhoni is continuing the good work started by Ganguly, stabilized by Kumble and Dravid. He is now capitalizing on the in-form selected team , an overcharged and bullish young blood taking the world by raw cricket power, backed up by the finance giant BCCI. Indians have come a long way from being underdogs to become the master of the game. The way English were mauled in ODIs, Lankans were tamed in the own country, and New Zealand made hapless is the symbol of the power this person has transformed the team India into. An obvious choice. 

 

Draw is India's Loss in 3rd Test ..

It is true you can bring out a match winner from the bunch of world champions, but to challenge the best , it needs to boil in blood. I remember Dravid not enforcing a follow on in Third Test in England , and then painfully batting ,infact battling 96 deliveries in a match where Indian wickets went down tumbling.It was then thrashed by Indian media. He took a long time to recover. I myself in this BB had him beaten black and blue in comments. But i was not that well versed as the responsibility a captain has. But I think Dhoni understands it. This understanding needs to change. Why do we look for permanent solutions to problems when everything is temperory. We have an out of form Yuvraj Singh, trying to cement his already non existent position in test matches over an inform Suresh Raina who is sent back after being one of the most successful batsmen in the tour. Defies logic. Dinesh Karthik has been reasonably bad , and his bat has not gathered runs overseas. We give him an onsite opportunity. But then we have Parthiv Patel , in form and vast experience sit back and eat. Indians play best with two spinners , and Amit Misra is enjoying the whole summer with straw in his face and money in the pocket. But we have Munaf bowling the overs. When Zaheer is expected to bowl 15 overs at a stretch , then i think two paceman would suffice. The services of ex-caption Veeru as bowlers are not utilized, and Sachin is brought seldomly. We are the best test side in the world , Sorry we are not. We are a bunch of over enthusiastic cricketers, money minded , baffled by the success, aiming for the top spot but dropping it as the catches throughout. We are not ready to learn from mistakes, neither start building pressure when on top , we still continue to lose the last match of each series as if bored of winning, and then tell to world we are best. We are best in making since 1983, and probably will remain so for another decade. This Indian side, like Great Sir Sachin Tendulkar will make unbreakable records, but it like Little Master, not reach the number 1 spot. Wake up. Change the stands. Think positively. Any cricket fan watching cricket regularly will stand by me when i say , Dhoni is riding high on luck as his success, but I have seen Azhar falling, the Ganguly giving way and the Wall breaking. Those were men of steel who came back, without luck. But when you are riding on luck , and it vanishes, Hansie is the fate.