The rise and fall of a dynasty

Now that I have seen the rise and fall of an empire, I realize that no matter how brutally and viciously the empire ruled during their days, in their moment of weakness you can’t help but look back with fondness on their days of glory.

I used to be a hardcore cricket fan as a teenager. Religiously following every match in every format of it (that was the era before 20-20 was a legal format of the game) on star sports and ESPN. It dint matter which country was playing whom. I even watched the highlights, the presentation ceremony, the senseless talk shows with scantily dressed women in it. It was like a disease, I would loose sleep over it, praying for the Indian tail-ender’s bat to kiss the ball so that we could steal some runs and lower that impossible ‘required run rate’. But engineering college with its unpredictable schedule and one-TV-for-the-entire-hostel rule cured me of this disease. I tried picking up the habit again but it was difficult because by then there were too many unfamiliar faces for me. Its frustrating looking at the batting line up and not knowing if the next guy is a “Matthew Haydon” type or a “Rahul Dravid" type.

Coming back to the time when I was still passionate about watching the game, I remember the one team that was so unbeatable that it was almost evil. They were the formidable Aussies led by the very glamorous Steve Waugh and later by the Adam Gilchrist. It was easy to hate this team. The rival teams easily had nightmares of the kangaroo with the fosters T-shirt running away with the trophy even before the series began. That nightmare was repetitive. Every win against the Aussies, if there was ever any was celebrated all over the world irrespective of the rival team. Even a drawn test was seen as a failure to the Waugh’s tough boys.

Any hero who did his magic against this team was garlanded and worshiped like a god. It was during one such tournament down under that VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh appeared to me as serious cricketers’. It was then that a sports editor decided to christen Laxman with the Very Very Special (VVS) tag.

For over a decade journalists and TV show anchors could easily refer to them as the “world champions” and people would understand who we were referring to. I miss that aggressive bunch badly. As much as I thought they were rude snobs it was always a treat to see them do what they did best—Kick ass on the cricket field. To watch a white lipped Shane Warne’s arm movement as he took his last steps before releasing the ball and wonder if he was going to bowl a “flipper” or a “slider”. To anticipate which corner of the ground Mattew Hayden would smash the ball. Mark Waugh’s never rarely disappointed his bowlers in his fixed position in the slip, diving for even the most impossible catches. Glen Mcgrath’s “faster than witches” balls. Bret lee was a newbie then, very very handsome and martial issueless. Adam Gilchrist the “pitch hitter” stole the show from his opponents more times than one. Not to forget Justin Langer’s infamous word games with the opposite teams and the umpires.

Ashes, is the most notable legendary rivalry in international cricket that dates back to 1882. The ashes cup contains the Ashes of the bail used in the 1^st Ashes series. During the days I used to watch the Ashes, the English were raped match after match, series after series. They had my sympathies even before the match began. From 1989-2003 the Aussies won six consecutive Ashes extremely convincingly. It looked like there was no stopping this monster. Like they could go on and on forever, and no savior would ever come to break the monotony of their success. But nothing lasts forever, and slowly one by one the great legends in the Australian team had to retire. Soon it was fresh faces with Punter boy to lead them all. This ended their fairytale story.

Last month I closely followed the Ashes in the news papers. I wanted them to loose, yes. Even after 3 previous Ashes loses, and many humiliating defeats with teams all around the world I still can only remember them as that snobbish sniggering team that grabbed all the trophies greedily. This included three consecutive world cups. Yes, the Aussies did loose this Ashes too, not to mention convincingly. But when the score turned to a 3-1 my feelings to the Aussie changed a little, I suspect it to be pity, sympathy. Out of the last four Ashes series, England won three. I would like to blame Ricky Ponting for the crisis. I never liked him, not one of the players I admired. But that would be unfair. They had failed as a team and it wouldn’t help to blame the captain, we the Indians should know that better.

With the world cup only days away the Aussie team must have a plan to keep the world cup with them. But even while watching that team play I am sure I miss a few familiar faces. The world cup shall miss those formidable players. Something tells me the world cup will also miss the Aussies.

More than a ball game

A month Pune and Kochi were dancing. Why? Because they were getting their own IPL team, but today slogans of ‘Ban IPL’ are being screamed all over.

A month back IPL news meant ‘KKR thrashed again’ or ‘Sachin proves he is god in all forms of the game’ or ‘Yuvraj angry over captaincy issue’, but today it means ‘Was Shashi Tharoor really playing a foul game or is he another victim of controversy’ or ‘Modi not going down without a fight.’

So ultimately who is the joke on? Is it on Sunanda who was forced to give up her share in the Kochi team? Is it on the newly ex-president of the IPL Mr.Lalit Modi ? Is it on the million cricket fans who religiously followed every match, only to realize that it was all fixed in the 1^st place.

Tharoor’s little secret game has now become a major issue involving many big names in the underworld, and questioning the credibility of many politicians and the government. It all started with Modi’s casual tweet about Tharoor wanting to be all hush-hush about his girlfriend Sunanda holding free equity in the Kochi team, and that ironically has got Modi himself under the axe.

When Tharoor who claimed to be ‘only a mentor’ to the Kochi team found himself at the receiving end of the IPL and political blows, with no ‘team’ to support his case, he bailed himself out by resigning as foreign minister, with grace. His resignation speech was classy to say the least, and only a fool would think that was his vote of thanks to political life. Lets all hope that will rise from the dead.

Lalit Modi was the next victim of the IPL hurricane, but for all we know of him, he wasn’t one to give in so easily, the IPL was his brain child, his baby. For the past 3 years Lalit Modi has taken centre stage of the IPL, he hasn’t had to share the limelight either, because the rest of the world didn’t care for the supporting actors. Modi took the all the right and wrong decisions associated with the IPL unilaterally, and always thought it a better idea to tweet about it as soon as he decided.

But one who has lived by the axe must die by the axe, and ultimately at the end of IPL-3 Modi has been reduced to just another twitter fanatic. Most of the in-house people in the BCCI who Modi trusted he could depend upon has let him down. But then Modi’s best friend Sharad Powar had to play Brutus here, lest he dirties his hands and poses a threat to his own position as the next ICC president.

Modi’s top crime is that he was involved in betting and match-fixing allegations. The IT department has proof for that, but investigations have come out with more surprises, putting the whole IPL brand name into shame. Names were dragged in, denials were in plenty, and the media saw to it that no one was spared.

Earlier Preity Zinta had a lot of explaining to do over the alleged ‘proxy ownership’ of the Punjab kings XI. Now its Shilpa sheety’s turn to save Rajasthan royals face, and she has opted to do that by the language IPL best understands by now, tweeting.

The tax department and the government are determined to get to the bottom of the IPL mysteries. This has become bigger than a national issue, and the government knows that if they do messy job here the ICC will step in along with the international paparazzi and that could turn really ugly.

Except for the bookies no one likes the word match fixing, irrespective of the result of the matches. I remember the match fixing controversy during South Africa’s tour of India 2001. Too many hearts were broken when the secret was out, including mine. So if any hint of match fixing is whispered we want to know the truth.

I was watching Preity Zinta’s interview with Barkha in which Priety stated that, “everybody is talking about the IPL which is great in a way but I wish they would focus on the game, I wish they would focus on the sport which everybody's completely ignored.”

Yes Preity we wish for the same, we would also rather talk about and watch the game, than the dramatic IPL circus show. But we would also like to be assured that whatever happens on the field is the result of those 22 guys who toil is out in the field—The same guys who we idolize, the same guys for who we prayed, and not the result of a raw deal made between a bunch of high profile businessmen in the luxury of a 5-star hotel room. If the latter is found to be true then we definitely won’t be laughing, as the joke would undoubtedly be on us the fans.

god Phelps those who Phelp themselves

ok i wake up in the mornin, go ahead and do my ritual of turning on th TV and switching channels..and what do i see..?
this tall guy with a really broad chest smiling in one channel and swimming in the next..
8 gold medals in the Olympics..
god what do they feed these ‘unique pieces’..
i mean seriously here we are erupting with joy over one dude who won one gold and there they have this stud named Michael Phelp who's like paddling his way to grab the gold in every event he involves himself in...talk about being greedy.

Now seriously speaking im wondering what to call him, some news channel lovingly calls him “the aqua gladiator”..but if you ask me thats too cheesy. So im scanning my brain for the fastest fish i know...and then the truth dawns..i dont know of any such fish.
yes i could run a google search on the same .But never mind , Phelp is an interesting name.Kinda funny but it gives a certain impact ,so phelp will stay.

he was supposed to be a hyperactive kid once upon a time..and that gives me hope. Coz yeah a lotta people including family and friends say im way too hyperactive..but suddenly truth No. 2 dawns upon me, 'IM NOT A KID ANYMORE'.. all rite so maybe its time to grow up.On second thoughts, not really i like it this way..ok im sorry if i have managed to make this something about me, cause that was really against my humble intentions. For all i wanted to say was Rock On Phelps, continue your romance with the Hydrosphere as long as you can, while we sigh with wonder.

PS: i cant swim :(

Shooting Star wins Olympic Gold – Chak De India!

Someone once said that ‘Cricket is the only sport that matters in India’. If you agree to that I’m sorry to say that you are wrong. I see every chance that India is going to loose the ongoing cricket test against Sri Lanka. But I don’t care. Neither does the rest of India. Yes on any ordinary day there would’ve been plenty of cursing and crying over it. But not today, not today. For today there is a new kid on the block to fuss over, a new Hero. A real one. The hero has a name and that is Abhinav Bindra. What is his extraordinary feat? This shooter just won India its 1^st ever individual gold in the history of Olympics at the Beijing Olympics.

The last time India won an Olympic gold was in 1980. So that means it has taken a long 28 years of wait since the nation tasted that kind of victory and this definitely calls for a Desi celebration. As I watch the post win press conference of this young man I cant help but conclude that he has a healthy sense of humor and is just your humble next-door boy that every Indian mother would love to get their daughters married to.. I’m wondering how great a moment is this in terms of Indian Sport. It strikes me that this could be rated the greatest till date, even higher than the 1983 World cup win. I mean the world cup was just a contest between a handful of countries, however in the Olympics we are talking about global competition in the real sense of it with almost all nations participating in it.

I’m not much of a sportsperson myself, but I know the weight of this incident and can only imagine the impact it is going to have on the nation. For overnight this young lad will become a legend, overnight every word he says is going to make headlines. Overnight every politician is going to start preaching promises of investing more money in professional Shooting. Overnight every kid in India will idolize this hero. Overnight India will be filled with delight and more importantly hope.

As I go through his earlier feats and begin to understand how hard he had to train to reach here I see a lot of potential in him. A lot of potential to keep going on for long. But as I watch this confident 25 yr old young man on the victory stand with his shy smile, fair skin, neat haircut, cute nerd looks supported with his spectacles I see another potential in him too. One that could work out for the better or for the worse. The potential to be seen endorsing mobile phones and health drinks. The potential to be the poster boy in every teenage Indian girl’s bedroom. A potential to fall prey to the celebrity lifestyle we Indians so often offer our sports heroes.

But then that’s all a thing of the future and for the moment as you said yourself Abhinav, today is your day, so enjoy every moment of it. You have made the nation proud and more importantly given us faith to “believe in India”. You are indeed our “Shooting Star’. As for the rest of the Indian team in Beijing all we have to say is “Give us another one, just like the other one”.