ASHES THUNDER DOWN UNDER

We are merely 36 hours away from the start of the most anticipated test series of this year,"The Ashes". So how big is the ashes? As the Australian cricketers are saying in a commercial, it is huge,humongous and many other adjectives. Probably in last 2 decades no ashes series in down under started on an even kill like this one. As many experts saying that this time England has got a pretty big chance of winning series in Australia,I could not agree more with them. But is there only hope or bit of conviction supplemented with this thought?Only time will answer that query. But for the time being we got to fasten our seat belts for some enthralling cricket action over the next 2 months.

Why so many people jumping out from there seats saying england are well and truly en route to win ashes on aussie soil after Mike Gatting's team did the same in 1986? is it such a giveaway question? My answer will be no. Yes, england will start this series with their noses slightly in front but that doesn't guarantee them a series win. We have to have a look at the teams performed well in the land of kangaroos over the past 2 decades. We will find that teams that had done well are West Indies who had a terrific fast bowling as well as a very good batting line up, India who had the greatest batting line-up in the last decade barring the aussies themselves and South Africa having a potent fast bowlers in form of Dale Steyn & Co. If we look at the current English squad that is touring Australia,we will see that they neither have a great batting nor a heartwrenching fastmen. But still they are termed as favourites and that speaks volume about them as a team. The reason is partially their performence over the last 12-18 months and most obvoiusly Australia's decline in form. But believe me they are still regarded as a team to beat.

England will be heavily depended on their captain Andrew Strauss not only as a leader but as their most prime batsman. England's fortune will be dictated a lot on how Strauss performs as a batsman. On such a physically and mentally demanding tour his batting form may bring the best out of him as a skipper.Though his partner Alistair Cook had a torrid time over the last few months. Cook answered his critics with a hundred against South Australia in a warm-up game but that counts very little. It remains to be seen how he copes with the pressure when the series starts day after tomorrow in Brisbane. As they say no 3 is the most crucial postion in test cricket and its even more important if you are playing in Australia. Jonathon Trott will have his task cut out. One thing for sure he will be itching to take the battle ahead as he has some fond memories of the 2009 ashes in England where at Oval not only he made a hundred on debut but played a huge role in winning that test thus regaining the ashes. Kevin Petersen is easily their best batsman on ability but KP is struggling for runs over the last few months. Its been more than 15 test matches that he had a test ton to his name. If England harbouring any ambition of winning this series then KP got to be at his aggressive best. Paul Collingwood is not someone who can ring alarm bells in the opposition camp but he is always a man for crisis. He will surely want to recreate the magic that fetched him a double ton at Adelaide in the last tour here.I think England will go with Ian Bell at no 6 instead of Eoin Morgan. I would personally like to see Morgan in action as he is aggressive and being a left hander will give England the much needed mix in their batting line-up though Bell scored a marvellous 192 against Australia A on a dicey Bellerive Oval track in Hobart. Matt Prior is a decent wicketkeeper batsman though he wont give much headache to the aussies. His keeping standard improved leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. In the bowling department Anderson,Broad and young Steven Finn will share the fast bowling responsibilities. Anderson is a good swing bowler but as general notion is that he may struggle in Australian condition. He has grown in stature compared to last time he toured here. With high humidity and some rain around Brisbane, one can confidently say that red kookaburra going to swing there.If that's the case then Jimmy will pose some tough question to the rival batsmen. Finn and Broad are the kind of bowlers you want while touring Australia. They are hit the deck type of bowlers and being such a tall guy if they can hit the right length with young Broad a handy lower order batsman also who knows they could play a pivotal role in this series. Graeme Swann will be the lone spinner in the first XI. Swann's performance in last 12 months already cemented him as one of best spinners in world cricket. But he has to cope with the pressure that historically off-spinners don't do well in down under. England certainly have the side but few more questions can be asked about their jittery middle order and a very young inexperienced bowling attack in Australian conditions.

The picture in the Aussie camp is altogether different. They have lost last 3 test matches they played which is like Haley's comet as last time it happened was way back in 1988 season.Side has declined long way from the Hayden-Gilchrist-Warne-Mcgrath era. They are on a rebuilding process. Like every side Australia too struggling in this transition phase. But still they are still a pretty competitive unit. Katich and Watson are formidable opening partnership. Watson had a great time once he decided to open the batting for Australia. They have a crucial responsibility to give a good start as it will settle the nerves in the dressing room. Ponting over the past couple of years isn't the punter we know. His only hundred in recent memory came early this year against pakistan when he got 209 after Mohammad Aamer dropped a dolly when he was on nought. He had some substantial knocks in India though he failed to convert those into big ones.Australia will be eagerly hoping that Ponting's bat goes wider and wider with the series progressing. If australia has to regain the urn then punter needs to score big. Clarke had a shocking India series. With a chronic back spasm creating problem, Pup needs to find that elusive midas touch. But this is a very big series for Michael Hussey and Marcus North. As young Usman Khwaja & Callum Fergusson breathing on their neck, they need to deliver and deliver quickly. Brad Haddin's selection raised some eyebrows as Tim Paine did quite reasonably against Pakistan & India. Haddin is a fantastic keeper and also a very attacking minded batsman. He may not be Gilchrist but definitely he can change a game with his aggressive intent with the bat. Australian fast bowling is quite good on their own backyard. Young Dougie Bollinger already developed into some sort of cult figure in Australia. He had an abdominal strain on Indian tour. It has to be seen how well he recovered from that injury. Mitchell Johnson going through rough patch but he is a sort of bowler whose one spell can change the tide in your favour. His biggest quality is that he is a wicket taker. Ponting will be keeping his finger crossed for Johnson to get back among the wickets. Johnson also has an important role to play with the bat.Some crucial runs lower down the order can prove to be decisive. Hilfenhaus is a conventional swing bowler. He has done reasonably after getting the baggy green. Peter Siddle making a comeback after a long injury lay off. On his day he can grab bagful of wickets and can run havoc in the opponent batting line-up. Spin bowling is the department that is a huge worry for them. Hauritz has been dropped after he was taken into pieces by Indian batsmen last series. Xavier Doherty got his chance after a great ODI debut but if we go with his 1st class record then it is anything but impressive. Young leggie Steve Smith also in the ranks but he has to go miles before he settles as a prominent test match spinner. I wont be surprised if Australia goes with 4 seamers in the 1st test at Gabba but with the series going on to places like Adelaide, Sydney lack of quality spinner can prove to be detrimental for the aussies.

So both sides are quite evenly matched . For cricket buffs like me its a huge change as we have grown watching the english side surrender against fabulous Australian teams over the last 20 years. But this time round we have a mouth watering clash in prospect. Can England retain the ashes or will Australia earn the coveted urn? I am not a Nostradamus. So,only thing I can say that I cant wait for the series to start and lets hope that it lives upto its reputation.

GLOOM OR GLORY

Season 3 of the much awaited Indian Premier League just started couple of days ago with some glittering extravaganza of music, lights and finally with some cricket.Those present at Dr. D. Y Patil stadium that day were part of the changing face of the our age old classical sort of game. In the first season everybody was little worried rather bit confused regarding success of this mega event. But with 2 years down the line we can surely state that Lalit Modi's little child has grown in stature in these 2 years. Amidst all this glamours, hype, stardom, pure cricket lovers like me are little apprehensive about the future of cricket. There is a huge clutter of cloud in the sky of cricket.

As we all know that cricket has always been a laid back type of sport. It always lacked the speed like soccer or tennis. But it is like classical music, no matter what the craze about rock n roll, pop music, classical music is here to stay forever. Advent of One day cricket in the late 60s and early 70s challenged this but core of the game remained more or less the same.Few years back invention of T20 cricket came as a thunder that changed lots of things around us.With the modern day fastness and lack of time to watch a game looming large on the sports loving mankind, it took very little time to settle down and then surge ahead like a Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. Suddenly there is a unknown cricketing scenario around us. With mainly country vs country concept of this game we moved to club vs club format like many other sport in the world. With IPL we tasted mouth watering as well as unique delicacies in form of a Kallis & Boucher going after their young South African team mate Duminy or Anil Kumble doing everything to get rid of his long time friend Sachin Tendulkar. We have not seen anything like this in this sport, henceforth craziness unfold in terms of fan following. Even women left all those Saas-Bahu dramas for the sake of watching IPL which was some sort of unimaginable thing few years back.Cricketers also having a bath in the shower of money. Many of them playing IPL well after there International retirement.

Here lies the danger. We are confused about where are we heading and I do believe if that's the case my dear then we have a grave problem in our hand. Not all about this T20 soap is bad. It is competitive, enthralling, full of passion.When it started it was like a cool breeze blowing in the evening of a very hot summer day.It challenged the monotonous nature of modern day one day cricket. It was a new concept and Lalit Modi done a wonderful job with his brainchild. So one can't deny the good things that IPL brought.

Like many I am also a lover of this but little sceptic about few things.Sometimes one can question that do we need the Preity Zinta's, Shilpa Shetty's? But that is different issue alltogether. I am solely concerned with the cricketing affairs. When we grew up we saw tough test cricket battles like Steve Waugh facing Walsh or Ambrose on a green top Sabaina Park not giving an inch to the opposition, Sachin Tendulkar trying every trick of his armoury to negate Shane Warne. Those were the battles of test cricket attracted us to the game. But when I see empty stadiums in test cricket apart from Australia & England or think about the 10 or 11 years old kid only interested in the modern brand of cricket that worries me a lot. For cricket to survive we need test cricket to survive. With all those commerce creeping in this game although good in some respect, it has its own detrimental effects.Many cricketers who could have played few years of international cricket opting to retire from that and only play in the IPL. IPL has become that rich brash kid to some extent.I still believe that according to most of the cricketers test cricket is still the ultimate form of cricket. I am not worried about them but afraid for the likes of Raina's, Rohit's, Jadeja's. IPL is certainly a good stage for young prodigies to showcase their talent but one can argue that playing T20 cricket is at all a good idea or not to harness your talent. With so much money galloring from the sponsors,advertisers in this shortest version of the game, the loger formats have to combat that challenge.One staggering statistics is that we will have more than 110 t20 matches within a time frame of 12th March to the end of May icluding IPL, World T20 & other international commitments. We have to acknowledge the fact that too much of T20 can also lead to the fall down of the interest from this game.

So how to go in the future? Nobody is sure. We will have 10 teams from next year that will mean 94 games in IPL season 4. This version is fantastic to attract fans from those countries unaware about this game.So we have to make our priorities very clear about how to strike the right balance among all the 3 formats of the game. I hope that ICC and able administrators around the world of cricket think seriously about this. We want both Lata Mangeskar as well as Michael Jackson songs. It will be great for us if 15 years down the line test cricket still thrives and IPL going as strong as it is now.

DECADE DOSSIER

With only couple of days remaining in this decade, it is time to look back a decade which changed the cricketing world. This decade revolutionized the mindset of the cricketers as well as the cricket loving people around the world. Whether this revolution will bring progress to the game or not , it is still unsure. But one thing is sure that the game is not the same as used to be in the earlier years.With all those money involved it is to be seen that how much passion is still left for the game.Cricket is not merely a game these days, it is a super selling marketing product.Only time will tell that this product survives or we will kill it on our own.

This decade started with match fixing controversies of the last decade looming large on it. But we got through that tough period with some dignity & responsibility back to the game again.It started with an incredible series in India 2001. Before the start of the series Australia were runway favourites. They brutalised India in the 1st test as well as in the first 3 days of the 2nd test. On 4th day of that test at Eden Gardens two gritty yet artists Laxman & Dravid had some other idea. Those who witnessed that 376 run partnership wont forget it ever.India won that test after following on. It was remarkable to witness that epic encounter. In that series the world saw another two stars rising on the horizon, one who terrorised bowling attacks all over the world, Mathew Hayden and another was the sardar from Jalandhar, Harbhajan Singh. Both of them made debut in the previous decade but established their supremicy in this decade.When Harbhajan hit the winning runs at Chepauk , it wasn't only the victory for India but it reignited the spirits of good old test match cricket.

There was another enthrolling saga waiting for us in 2005 Ashes series. After a long long time England was looking to challenge the mighty aussies. But 1st test at lords opposed that idea when the aussies roamped home with athumping win.The next test at Edgebaston was a drama to the core with so many twists and turns providing a scintilating climax.It was heartbreaking for kasprowicz getting out with just 2 short of the target but it was a marvellous day of cricket ended with the picture of Andrew Flintoff consolating dejected Brett Lee at the non-striker end.Australia fought hard but couldn't cope with the reverse swing of the English Pace Quartet of Hoggard, Harmisson,Flintoff & Simon Jones. The 3rd test at Old Trafford saw another heroic from Australian Captain. Punter scored a fighting 166 on the final day to save Australia from the blushes. It was something very best from an exceptional batsman called Ricky Ponting. When the intruiging battle reached at The Oval , England were leading 2-1 with their hand in Australia's neck but nobody can count out the Aussies. England had their share of scares when on the final day an wonder cricketer of South African origin Kevin Pietersen stumped his authority in world cricket with his brilliant 158 to take england the Ashes series after 18 long years. It was a series which rejuvinated a dead Ashes rubber. It was a series when the world saw some gruelling contest. In the end Shane Warne's 40 wickets couldn't save the Aussies but the game won many hearts.

This decade also saw the birth of "Fast Food Cricket", the T20 format completely revolutionised the sport.This was done to confront with the decreasing crowds at the ground as well as spreading the game beyond the old powerhouses. It completely changed the conventional thinking of cricketers and cricket loving spectators. T20 is fun for the audiences and to some extent cricketers.A member of the ECB, Stuart Robertson came up with this idea that is heading the TRP ratings everyday.Another revolution came up with glittering extravagenza of T20 cricket with the emergence of IPL. Money galored in the sport. Suddenly from primarily a nation based sport IPL threw a new light of franchisee based cricket. It was a completely new experience to watch cricketers of all over the world turning up for different clubs. As an Indian the most proud moment of this decade came when our Men In Blue triumphed over arch rivals pakistan in the T20 world cup final 2007. This also helped in the growth of the shortest format of the game in the worlds biggest cricket market,India.Still t20 is not accepted totally by the purists like me but one thing is sure whether you love it or hate it, you just can't ignore it.

With so much money galored in cricket , this decade also had its fare share of controversies. The most critical of them is the future of test cricket and one day cricket. For me, I strongly believe that test cricket will survive because it is completely different to T20 and all the cricketers still feel proud to play test cricket. But the situation is somewhat different in one day cricket. It has to tackle the monotonous nature of it. I am sure that ICC will do their every bit to the survival of one day cricket.Another problem is with the players choosing IPL over playing for their country. Many of them contemplating the idea of early retirement to earn more money in the cash rich tournament like IPL. It is a big threat to the game and we have a great fight on our hand if we want to keep the heritage .

Indian cricket reached some highs during this period.After the match fixing scandals, Ganguly and his men took us into greater hights. One of the most memorable achievement was reaching the world cup 2003 final in South Africa after a disastrous tour of New Zealand.It was pity that we lost to the invincible aussies at Wonderers but likes of Yuvraj, Zaheer with senior pros like Sachin,Dravid,Srinath gave us exhillerating display of their cricketing acumens.In 2007, in the same ground ghosts of 2003 world cup final buried by Dhoni and his young brigade in T20 world cup final.Yuvraj Singh hitting 6 sixes in an over of Stuart Broad etched in our memory forever.Finally in the last month of this decade India rose to the top of test cricket.With so many highs , there are few lows also. The Kotla Pitch fiasco was a capital shame. That shows the flaws with not only idiotic DDCA but for the whole administrative part of Indian cricket.But purely based on cricketing matters, this decade promised to bring new dawn of Indian cricket in the forthcoming years.

This decade also saw the retirements of great cricketing legends like Anil Kumble, Shane Warne,Brian Lara, Steve Waugh, Glenn Mcgrath etc. Their cricketing display will be ever lasting. Also some of the greats are no more in this world. None bigger than the Sir Donald George Bradman who left this world on February,2001. We have lost a great custodian of the game , David Shepherd. We will miss "Sheph" whenever the scoreboard Will show 111.This was a decade with lots of promise and battles which lies ahead. This was a decade of changes in cricketing world with true sense of the term. With old warhorses like Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya still going strong and birth of young prodigies like Virat Kohli,Umar Akmal, Mohammad Aamer, we can hope for "Aal Izz Well" in the forthcoming decade.

LORDS TO BRABOURNE--A ROMANTIC JOURNEY TO THE SUMMIT

Well many of us still remember the dialogue that Abhisekh Bachchan uttered in GURU," Bapu kehte the sapne mat dekho. Sapne kabhi sach nahi hote par maine sapna dekha aur aj hamara sapna pura hua". On a chilly morning of the English summer of 1932 at Lords Col. C. K. Nayudu must have dreamt about 6th December, 2009 when Mahendra singh Dhoni and his boys rose to the top of the most traditional format of our beloved game.It took us nearly 8 decades, 77 years to be precise. 31 test captains with 261 test cricketers have given their heart and soul over 433 test matches to reach the summit.That is why this journey is something to cherish for all the Indian cricket fanatics even more so because this happened in the home of Indian cricket at Brabourne Stadium.

When Murulidharan was caught by Dhoni off Harbhajan Singh, we all were ecstatic so were the cricketers. It was very apt that the side was captained by a man under whom Indian cricket has been phenomenal. He lead India 10 times in tests out of which won 7 and drew 3 which is a world record shared with former Australian captain Warwick Armstrong for remaining unbeaten for most no. of tests at the start of ones captaincy career. Under him India won test series at home against Australia,England,Sri Lanka and an away series in New Zealand. So you can see there were no freebies for him. Simply for that reason Dhoni and his team demands a huge credit for the domination they have shown over other sides in the last couple of years.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni may be the cynosure of all eyes right now but we have to look deeper to see that with every success there is a history attached to it. India have been served by 3 fantastic captains over the last decade. The first blue print of this result was drawn under a guy who changed the face of Indian cricket in 2001, Sourav Ganguly. Under his leadership India thought that winning overseas was also an option. We started winning test matches in Australia,England,West Indies which was unthinkable few years back.He brought us the belief in our ability. He was aptly succeded by a man who is totally of different character from Sourav, Rahul Dravid. We somehow seem to have a notion that Dravid was an average captain but results tend to disagree. Under him we won a test series in England after 21 years and in West Indies after 35 long years. I strongly believe that despite having a good team you need to have a good leader because very few good teams win with inadequate leadership. In 2008 during a very crucial juncture of Indian cricket Anil Kumble guided us with his strong yet cool demeanour. Winning a test match at Perth amidst all the stupidity around was not at all a mean achievement. Under him with Gary Kirsten & Paddy Upton, the final phase of our glory started.

During the last couple of years India played some breathtaking test cricket be it the victory at Perth or in Chennai.Ishant Sharma's spell at Perth was one of the best ever spell of fast bowling i have seen in my life from an Indian fast bowler. Virender Sehwag's thunderstorm at chennai and later on Sachin Tendulkar's ton in the same match spoke for the quality of this side.But test match cricket is not always about winning , sometimes saving a test worths like gold. Gautam Gambhir battled it out in Napier for 11 hours to save us from inevitable defeat. Zaheer Khan was stupendous with his bowling in last couple of years.Gautam Gambhir was bradmanisque with the willow.

It is sometimes pretty disturbing to say the least that many still doubt the ranking saying India still have not won test series in Australia and South Africa. I dont see any problem having a fantastic home record. South Africa, Australia also have been great in their own backyard. There is always this sense of devaluating India's success at home. I will like to remind those critics that even those 2 sides have struggled against us playing here. I think like all the successes this should also be celebrated. It is better to remain at the present rather than thinking too much ahead.

As they say that it is very hard to reach the top but harder to sustain it over a period of time. We should build up the future of Indian cricket, likes of Cheteswar Pujara, Manish Pandey etc as well as to see that the talents of Muruli Vijay, Sreesanth, Rohit Sharma do not go waste. The job in our hand is tough but the journey from Lords 1932 to Brabourne 2009 shows that nothing is impossible.

PIT---------CH FALL

What is the essence of a good, masaladar,entertaining Bollywood movie? The answer is very simple.It should have some catchy lines ala Salim-Javed script of the mid 70s, few melodious tunes with some "Monica Oh My Darling" kind of numbers, Romance, a Gabbar Singh or Mogambo like villain with some heart pumping brutal fight sequence involving a handsome Raja Harischandra like hero and last but not the least a Rekha or Hema Malini or even a Katrina Kaif. But if someone removes one of these factors for example taking Rakhi Sawant as the leading lady , I can bet that he is in the process of making his black money into white. Preparing a Cricket pitch also involves various factors. As Shashi Kapoor said "Mere paas Maa hai", I must say that Indian cricket pitches these days are missing their "Maa".

Comparisons most of the times dont reflect the truth but sometimes they are very much instructive.Over the past 5 years if we look at test records in Australia only 2 tests have been drawn out of 27 tests, in South Africa 29 tests have been played and only 3 tests did not end decisively whereas Sri Lanka hosted 22 tests with 4 tests going the full distance. In the same period till the end of the Sri Lanka series this year out of 26 test matches 11 ended without any result which is a massive 42%.If we consider the fact that after advent of T20 & ODI, the mindset of the cricketers towards the mantra of playing test cricket changed, yielding higher percentage of matches ending with a result, than it was back in the 70s, 80s or even early 90s, then this statistic is a big worry for the indian cricket fans as well as the future of test cricket in India.

There is nothing nailbiting, heart pumping as the exciting draw. The Oval 1979 when India ended at 429 for 8 chasing 438 or Old Trafford 2005 when last wicket pair of Australia survived the England's barrage of reverse swing or Cardiff 2009 which was just the reverse of Old Trafford. Sadly as an Indian cricket fan these 11 drawn games have been some of the worst games i have witnessed. With all those mindless exhibition of batting ,the bowlers have been murdered in a Talibani way.For example Ahamedabad 2009 where as many as 7 hundreds, 1598 runs were scored over the 5 days whereas only 21 wickets fell. Batsmen like Mahela jayawardena,Rahul Dravid, Prasanna Jayawardena etc lodged in there for bed, breakfast, lunch and dinner. But even when teams mercifully shook hands after the match, the pitch was good enough for another 10 days of cricket.

There is no problem about the surface being batsmen friendly as long as it deteriorates over the course of the game for example Chennai tie test 1986 or Chennai 2001 when India defeated the Aussies by 2 wickets with a nailbiting finish.People often talk about declining crowd in test matches. Back in the 70s and 80s despite some dull draws people went into the ground to watch test cricket but the difference is that back then people had much less scope for any entertainment. Most of the houses did not have any TV. So in that scenario you take whatever you get. But nowdays with so many forums of entertainment available, people wont take any mediocrity.

With the emergence of the T20 format & IPL, cricket is being treated like prostitute where test cricket is just a 200 Rs hook-up customer in a damp old room with a bulb.Authorities must realise that cricket is not just hit and giggles. Its high time that the board officials from the BCCI address this problem.

THE TENDLYA FROM BANDRA

Well 1989 was an eventful year both in indian & world politics.Just a week before 15th November,1989 Berlin Wall was demolished and Germany reunited, Rajiv Gandhi lost his first ever parliament election, V. P. Singh emerged as the hero of the Indian middle class, Nelson Mandela was still behind the bars in Robben Island, Harsha Bhogle didn't have hair;The world saw glimpses of a curly haired 16 year old genius at National Stadium , Karachi.

For the past twenty years that curly haired genius is still giving hope and joy to the 1 billion Indians and people from other countries too. He may not possess his trademark curly hair these days but the child- like enthusiasm, passion for cricket and foremost the hunger of getting runs is still there which is the most admirable thing. With 88 international hundreds, 30065 international runs, highest run getter and century maker in both form of the game and many more records, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar's feats have been remarkable to say the least. But there is more into it when someone speaks or writes about Sachin Tendulkar.

If somebody analyses the journey of this genius, it is nothing short of romanticism. From the days of Sivaji Park to Mumbai Ranji Nets to Playing for India at the age of 16 to the man completing his 20th year at the highest level, one would get the feeling that it is not only about a romantic journey that is typically associated with poetry rather with the romantic part, there is the grit, fight, discipline which is the essence of a blockbuster bollywood movie and indeed Sachin's journey is quite at par with box office hits made at the tinsel town.

The most amazing part of his personality is his grit, determination, discipline, work ethic. Other than cricket he teaches everybody these things that is ought to be learnt in practical life if someone wants to prosper . It is always fantastic to hear him saying how he prepares for a game, his focus & concentration while facing bowlers. There is a marathi word "Kharoos" often said in maidans of Mumbai which means mental toughness . Sachin Tendulkar is the prime example of that "Kharoos" mentality.One such incident was when Sachin was hit on his nose by a Waqer Younis bouncer in his 4th test at Sialkot. He was bleeding and Navjyot Sidhu who was batting at the other end came up to him and the little kid said to him"Main khelega".That shows his mental toughness,courage and love for the country as India was struggling at 35 for 4 to save that test.That day itself promised that this kid was there to stay and serve Indian cricket for a long long time. If we research about world of sports there has always been numerous number of young prodigies hogging the limelight in the newspapers , TV channels and everywhere but very few make the cut because it is very easy to get distracted at that age but Sachin Tendulkar didn't and that sets him apart from the others. Other than the liitle master- blaster credit must be given to his coach Ramakant Achrekar and his family specially his elder brother Ajit Tendulkar without whose influence we may not have got the genius.

On the personal front, I started following him in 1991 India's tour to Australia where he scored that mindboggling 114 at WACA, Perth which is still according to me his best ever test knock, closely behind is the hundred he got in Chennai last year against England. With so many runs, hundreds it is hard to pick my favourite Sachin Tendulkar moment but if at all I have to pick one that should be the innings of the desert storm in Sharjah. This is the journey of the little Tendlya of Sahitya Sahabas,Bandra East to the man of good hopes for India Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. As for me I will see God when I die but till then I will see Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

SWEET MEMORIES OF MY 2ND HOME- DELHI

Now you people must be wondering why i have written delhi as my second home as you all know that i come from kolkata. So let me come to the point quickly as i always like to talk straight. When it comes to delhi i always feel excited about it as it gave me my most joyful moment in my life till date , winning the STAR CRICKET CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD CRICKET QUIZ SHOW last month. But I am no stranger to the quizzes organised by ESPN STAR SPORTS . What I achieved last month is the ultimate but there is more into it. My first visit to Delhi was during my ESPN SCHOOL QUIZ days and it was just like love at first sight probably it has something to do with the youthful excitement that one feels while going outside his native place alone. I felt really enthusiastic about the whole experience. I can still remember the bundle of happiness in my heart when i first met Harsha Bhogle who was my childhood hero as i always wanted to be a great cricket commentator like him. I must also mention the name of Joy Bhattacharya most of you know him as the CEO of Kolkata Knight Riders but for me he is someone with a great depth of knowledge about sports. I represented MADHYAMGRAM HIGH SCHOOL as u all know that my school won the prestigious SUBRATA CUP FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT 7 TIMES. But sadly we lost in the 1st round to Tashi Namgyal,Gangtok. But I can still remember the fight we showed in the last round to score maximum 60 points. It was a tremendous experience that i had at such a young age just like all the other participants. I must mention the name of my partner Subhabrata Mukherjee who was equally supportive & brilliant. Also our games teacher Sujit Halder without whome it would not have been possible to participate as our idiot principal created lots of problems. Sadly our principal cheated us by taking the trophy nd 3000 bucks that we won from that quiz.

Last year again i went to CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD. We defeated Anna University and H R COLLEGE,Mumbai in the quarter final. It was the 1st time that i crossed the 1st round hurdle and got a good reward of 10000 bucks for winning that. But my most memorable moment came in the semis. Till date i just can not forget it. It was the mother of all close finishes with all 3 teams had their chances of winning it before the last question. We were tied with BMS COLLEGE,BANGALORE with 38 points while MNIT,JAIPUR was on 36 .MNIT missed their direct and BMS also missed the carry over. I was not sure about the answer but still went with my answer "David Boon". When Harsha said that SCOTTISH CHURCH COLLEGE through to the finals i was jubillant but suddenly the other two teams made an objection about that as there was some mistake about some statistics in that question and they were justified by objecting it as i would have also done the same thing. So they changed the question and again MNIT missed but this time BMS was quick on the buzzer to win it. What was even more frustrating that i knew the answer.But this is what sports is all about, sometime luck can go to ur way while sometimes they dont but nonetheless that incident taught me a lot.

                                          This year my fortune changed totally.It was my childhood dream to be in the national finals of ESPN QUIZ for atleast once. I was not aware of the fact that it would happen and happen in the way it did. There are some memories that ar truely unforgettable this years victory will certainly be top of that list. 1st round we had a good competition in form of NIT,TRICHY & CHAITANYA BHARATI,HYDERABAD. But i should specially take the name of SRIKRISHNA SRIRAM FROM NIT,TRICHY who is a gem of a quizzer. On that day we were in fantastic form and my partner suvajit sur was brilliant to say the least. We came through that round without sweating much.But our semifinal was a group of death cosisting of IIT,DELHI(RUNNERS OF 2007) & SYMBIOSIS , PUNE.I was not confident to win that semi to be honest but we had another flawless day where we could not have done anything wrong. It was a one sided affair to say the least but i still find myself lucky that our opponents were having a rare off day. Then came the D-day, the finals which were a best of 3 affair which i suppose is the best  format for final as it gives you the liberty of having a bad round of quizzing.

   1st final was a nail biter in true sense of the term.But we lost it in the final question which was our direct ,we missed it and jadavpur university was to quick to pounch on it. SARBAJIT & ROBIN were excellent that day and that thoroughly deserved to win that final. Then came the 2nd final which is till date my best ever performence in my quizzing career. There are some days where you feel that everything is happening with 100% efficiency for you and it was just like that for me on that day. We had to make a tremendous comeback to win it from a totally loosing position.Some people ask me how i get those fighting qualities when the chips are down as i dont believe in god. But i must say that i get those inspirations from real life incidents for example anil kumble coming into the antigua ground with a broken jaw just for the sake of the country. BMS,BANGALORE was shocked to lose that final as nobody including them thought that we could win it after the 1st round. Then came the last final where we knew a win would seal it or a 2nd place finish would be good enough if BMS,BANGALORE win that final. But if we finish 3rd then it would bring lots of equation like BMS have to win it by a margin of less than 20.I must say that i was nervous and that brought some poor performences from us on that day. It went too close for our comfort but thankfully BMS won it by a margin of 19 points. So we became the NATIONAL CHAMPION by a overall margin of just a solitary point.I cant explain those feelings in words.But i could feel the pain BMS had as i had suffered the same fate previous year to them, this year it became reverse.

   THIS IS MY FIRST BLOG I HOPE  YOU WILL ENJOY. PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS TO RECTIFY THE MISTAKES THAT I MADE IN MY 1ST BLOG.