(Previous mini rant on the mind-numbing regularity with which these two have been playing each other here.)

Straight Points paid homage at BCC!, 3 Idiots style.

Paddlesweep didn’t like it when people said “No one deserved it more than Sachin”

There are loads of people claiming that if anyone deserved it, it was Sachin. I disagree. Not because he did not deserve it, just because saying such a thing oozes empathy towards the person in question. Sachin Tendulkar needs, nor wants any empathy, sympathy or any other relevant pathy.

GreatBong -

The old Sachin radiated heat. The new Sachin gives light.

But he still remains the sun.

Ayaz Memon @ Cricinfo Magazine -

If Tendulkar were to retire tomorrow, a long queue of the game’s greatest batsmen would await him near the dressing room: Hammond, Hobbs, Hutton, the three Ws, Richards, Gavaskar, Dravid, Sehwag, Ponting, Lara, Chappell, Miandad, et al. And at the head of this queue would be Bradman, first to shake his hand and say, “Gosh, you little bonzer, I would have loved to play an innings like that!”

Meanwhile, somewhere in London, I raised my glass in Sachin’s honour. And not knowing what else to add when so many have done such a wonderful job… in true BCC! style, I simply said “Thank You Sachin“.

(You may…nay…you must join the Facebook group here)

I was at the Nehru Stadium on 31/03/2001 when Sachin became the first batsman to cross 10000 runs in ODIs. How I wish I was in Gwalior today.

Congratulations Sachin. Congrats Team India. Congrats India!!

There is work to be done yet. A match to be won to make this innings truly memorable. But this is going to be one record to cherish all life long

59/5 off 48.3 overs..not too shabby..

India remain #1..and all is fine with the world for now…

And you, Mr. Amla…MUCH RESPECT sir..hats off!

More later,

Ciao.

Deccan Chargers warn of boycotting the IPL as their “home” matches are being moved to Mumbai and Nagpur because of the security situation. The move was decided on despite assurances of full support from the authorities and the Telangana Joint Action Committee.  Trying to make sense of this development in conjunction with point 1 made me a little dizzy initially. Now I am just amused and waiting for IPL’s response.

The first thing I saw when I woke up today was that Steyn went for more than 4 runs an over. BWAHAHAHA

In November, NC wondered why Bhajji’s sister did not get married instead of Gambhir’s. She has obliged now. And Harbhajan has ruled himself out of the first 2 Saffa ODIs. Better late than never I say. Ha!

Nagpur

• Yeah yeah, Steyn was great..blah blah blah..line and length, and oh the pace…yada, yada, yada. Someday, I will appreciate that bowling performance more than I do right now. Ditto for Kallis and Amla. (P.S. In my last post, when I said that it would be great to see a Sehwag/Gambhir vs Morkel/Steyn, I meant I wanted to see a lovely contest where we could go all “ooh..aah..lovely bowling” for the first 20 overs, after which, normal service would resume and we would proceed to the demolition bit. Obviously, Steyn thought otherwise…)

• Mixed feelings regarding India’s injury woes. It could have been different if India wasn’t missing the middle-order mainstays. On the other hand, would it really have been any different, considering how unstoppable Steyn was? (While we are on injuries, I wonder why Harbhajan Singh never gets injured? :-/)

• The law of averages finally caught up with GG and MSD. 1^st real failure for GG in approx 11 test matches. And 1^st loss for Team India under MSD after 11 matches. That says something, huh! Too bad it had to happen now.

• Selection..uff…the lesser said the better!

Present

• THIS IS NOT DOOMSDAY. It’s ok. We lost. Rather badly, I agree. But it is ok. It doesn’t mean that we are suddenly not worthy of the #1 spot we hold (and hopefully will continue to hold). We lost to a very close #2 ranked team. Who, incidentally, just about managed to draw their “home” series with a team ranked #5. So if anything, this should just reinforce the fact that there is no clear “best” team right now. Just a bunch of very good ones, who will play “pass the parcel” with the coveted top rank based on who plays better when and against who. Until one of them finds the consistency synonymous with the Aussies of yore.

• I hope Laxman and Sreesanth are truly fit and not just hoping to somehow manage through the test. Playing XI – Sehwag, Gambhir, Vijay, Sachin, Laxman/Raina, Badri, Dhoni, Mishra, Bhajji, Zak, Ishant/Sreesanth? Barring any unforeseen injuries?

Kolkata

• The Test Of Love begins on Valentine’s Day. Aren’t you glad that it is going to be at Eden Gardens, a ground we hold great memories of? A ground we love? (Geddit? Test of Love…ground we love??)
• BCCI allegedly wants a dustbowl for Eden Gardens, and I say bring it on! Everyone plays to their strength right? And spin, apparently, is ours. Our batsmen can play it, and our bowlers can bowl it (er…right?).
• There is something about Eden Gardens that does something to Bhajji and makes him capable of taking more than 0 wickets. I checked.
• Just one piece of advice. India will do well to keep in check their fielding lapses. It didn’t matter that much against SL and B’desh, coz they were as awful as us. SA is a different league. (Visions of Saffers flying all over the field…suddenly appearing out of nowhere…)
• India will win this one. And it is going to be better than 2001. Think positive, be optimistic!

I don’t know why I am so fond of South Africa. It is not like we have a particularly great record against them. It’s not like they are an awesome team..they do tend to choke a lot. Is it because my earliest memory of cricket is that series back in ’92? Perhaps. But whatever the reason might be, they are here and we have delicious contest at hand.

(A lesson in history of these two teams wouldn’t be amiss here, so here you go.)

India goes into this series with a near inexperienced middle order. Rahul Dravid is injured thanks to Shahadat Hossein…

(Shahadat, you are one useless fellow. You can’t even bowl a bouncer properly and you call yourself a fast bowler?? And now Dravid will not be able to play against SA thanks to your uselessness!! WTH!! Test matches are a rarity anyways, and now I’ll have to wait till the IPL to see Dravid in action again…the IPL…do you realise how painful that is for me?? You better not get within 50 feet of me in your lifetime..or I promise..bad things will happen to you…I hope you have a rotten 2010…I hope that you don’t get any wickets this year and get dropped from the team..yes, this is my curse!!)

Sorry, where was I?

Yes, so as I was saying, RD is out because of his jaw and Yuvi and possibly VVS are out too. This means that we get a little peek into the future of Team India with Badri and Vijay and possibly Sharma getting a look in. I am not too happy about playing an opener at #3, but I guess asking for Pujara would be expecting too much from the selectors. And anyways, the BCCI did one good thing by at least scheduling a couple of tests, so one should not be greedy. Also, Vijay has done well with the chances he has got so far. And it is not unheard of in India for a player to bat in a completely different slot than he is used to. So, I can live with this.

Badri, I am happy he is getting a chance to stake his claim for the future. Whether he is able to do anything about it remains to be seen. Sharma, though, does not inspire much confidence in me. He might be immensely talented, but I feel he needs a year or two in the domestic circuit to learn how to do justice to his ability. To learn how to construct an innings. My choice for that slot would have been Kaif. But the lesser I think about that option, the better it will be for me coz I don’t see it happening.

Bowling now. I suppose the lineup should read Zak, Ishant, Bhajji and Mishra for tomorrow? Hope to see Ishant bowl well and Mishra out-bowl the dart-thrower.

For a team I claim to be a huge fan of, I am embarrassingly ignorant of their batsmen. Yes, so Graeme Smith is one of the mainstays. And so is Kallis (By the way, why does everyone hate Kallis so much? What has he done?). I hear good things about AB too. So I suppose they are the ones to look out for?

And their bowling strength lies in their seamers. Morkel, Steyn and Parnell. If at all there are some seam-friendly conditions, a Morkel-Steyn vs Sehwag-Gambhir contest should be riveting stuff.

I am hopeful for an intense competition on-field like Ind vs Aus usually is, but without the nasties.

Gentleman, play!

They have been having an affair for a long time now. These seemingly “casual” meetings here and there. It reminds me of Monica and Chandler hiding their relationship in the beginning, with the whole “Oh, you are doing laundry tonight? Me too!! Let’s do it together” thing.

Only,  it isn’t half as funny as those guys were. My feelings are aptly summarised here.

Stop, seriously.

What do you do then if you lose out on the record by a whisker? You are pained, you throw your bat about in disgust, you are extremely disappointed and tell everyone as much. If you are Sehwag though, you go out with a smile on your face. You acknowledge the fact that there was a record for the taking, that you missed an opportunity, but are not overly concerned. “There is always a next time”, you say.

I like that. There is a certain amount of selflessness in this approach. I like the fact that Sehwag is not too concerned about making and breaking records. It tells me that he will not alter the natural flow of his game just because he is near a milestone. Good for the team!

Congratulations and well done on the 293, Veeru. Veeru aur Jai (victory) ki jodi bani rahe!

…how sadness turned into rage on hearing the same old cliched quotes, on seeing the same old inefficient response to crisis…the whole “I cannot eff-ing believe this is happening”

…how bravely a few people fought, regardless of being ill-equipped to do their job

…how a few went above and beyond their call of duty to help those in need

…how life changed dramatically for a few, who lost people they loved

…the promises I made to myself, what I can do to play my part in ensuring this does not happen again.

To all who were affected by 26/11…I haven’t forgotten anything.