Jacques Kallis – The Unspoken Hero

If you want to get a rough sense of Jacques Kallis's quite astonishing Test achievements, imagine Ricky Ponting, with not just all his runs but also Jason Gillespie's wickets, that’s Jacques Kallis for you.

Kallis, with 12,367 runs and 274 wickets, is undoubtedly the best all rounder from so many years and is a wonder of the modern age. Kallis has already done enough to be considered among the greatest batsmen of all time. When batting, the gravity of technique holds Kallis's creative spirits in place. He's an attractive, classically correct player, who for long batted in denial because of the demands of the team . The age actually seems no barrier to his performance that’s why even  at the age of 36 he is continuously performing for his team in all three departments and all three formats of the game. Ask for one day , test or IPL is has proven himself in all formats and is always considered vital element of the team.  

Its his second inning of career which is more sparkling than the first one as between 2004 and 2012, he has passed 1000 runs in a calendar year four times and made 30 hundreds including the double hundred (between 1995 and 2003, he had crossed 1000 runs a year only once and scored 13 hundreds) and the recent 43th test century against England says it all about his form .

Kallis is a rarity among all-rounders , a top-class, top-order batsman, who, when his mind and body are into it, can hit the 90 mph mark, a speed only the fastest of bowlers breach and is a  splendid, beautifully balanced catcher, primarily in the slips but this man has never received much publicity for his cricket. He is the kind of player which every captain wants to have in his team. If you jot down the names of all the so called all rounders in international cricket than probably he is only one who fits in all parameters. Over 20,000 runs in both formats and more than 500 wickets and 300 plus catches he defines versatility .He has achieved everything which many cricketers dream of achieving .

With time he may have achieved new hair head but he is still a reassuringly old-school . I hope a time will come when he will be considered as an idle standard of what should be called as an all rounder ,that would be a perfect tribute to this great player.

India Vs Pakistan Series Is Back After 5 Years

No matter how many matches India win or loose but when it comes to an India Vs Pakistan match win is the only acceptable result .The matches between these two arch rivals are always high voltage both on field and on stands with stadiums going jam packed .Indian cricketing history is full of many memorable matches between these two countries.For a while we thought India Vs Australia could make up for it but India Vs Pakistan 2011 World Cup semi final reminded us that India Vs Pakistan will always be special.

Apart from  game these tours are considered as a pathway in betterment of the relation  between these two countries .I still remember in 2004 when India toured Pakistan after 14 years under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly which I  had followed ball by ball ,has actually proven to be the strong step in improving the relation between the two countries .But it is vey important to understand that cricket is merely a sport and that eventually all solution will have to be political .Sports is a great vehicle for reconciliation ,but it is also true that terror and sport cant go hand in hand .

The last bilateral series between these two countries was played in November 2007 and after the 2008 terror attack India has cancelled all its sport assignments with Pakistan. The point which should be noted is that Cricket has always been successful in fulfilling the purpose of bringing the persons of these countries together but the problem actually lies within the country . I am sure even after resuming the cricketing relation after 5 years sport will definitely win .

Of course Pakistan touring India to play 3 ODIs in December  is a stunning and positive development for cricket and  I hope this time it proves to be positive in all ways .This is a statement of intent more than it is a cricket tour ,but in any case  cricket fans should be ready to enjoy some real electrifying actions on the field .

The Stolen Time

The role of a coach is not only to train players but also to teach them how to behave in a team and it is his duty to take care of the f act that the dressing room controversies should not be made public either by him or by any other players. But what if coach himself is the reason of all the controversies .Their was a time in Indian cricket when coach was responsible for the controversies and a world cup 2003 runners up who were considered biggest threat to Australia were degraded to such level that it  got eliminated in the next edition of world cup. So what actually went wrong .

India’s most successful captain Sourav Ganguly  has taken a stronger move by opting for an Australian coach just for the betterment of his team Greg Chappell was the chosen one but similar forces repel each other and that repulsion started within few days after he joined .For the first time coach became more important than players and most importantly it was because of controversies the team was in headlines rather than play .Seniors were  clearly the target of him which include the likes of  Sachin Tendulkar , Rahul Dravid , VVS Laxman , Harbhajan Singh , Zaheer Khan , Virender Sehwag and of course Sourav Ganguly or in other way we can say the key players of 2003 world cupsquad .The downfall of this players started from there  only and it was after  his resignation that these players have made a comeback with a bang .  

The period itself have many unanswered questions but one fact that Greg Chappell should accept that team was actually against him and he should stop giving his analysis even after so many years that it was players who were wrong .

"Sadly the success of the team was not universally enjoyed within the team. Some individuals felt threatened by the new world order and appeared to work against Rahul , had he been given the same wholehearted support in the role that he had given others, I think the recent history of Indian cricket may have been very different and he could have gone on to become the most successful Indian captain ever" Chappell has written in his book 'Rahul Dravid - Timeless Steel' –is the latest controversy which he has ignited .Well ,all I can say is it was  Dravid’s bad luck that he was captaining India during that time and  second to Sourav Ganguly’s reaction to this that “ Chappell ‘s remarks do not bother any one “.However he might be right because the reason for Dravid’s resignation from captaincy is still a mystery but its better if such things are answered by the concerned person . The controversies which he creates are the unsupported ones and its better for him to learn from the other successful coaches like John Wright and Gery Kristen who commands respect in India.

Greg Chappell  just cant appreciate Indian’s with clear words even in his articles which are published in ‘The Hindu’ and his piece in the Timeless Steel is one in the series.    

Cricketers Love Rain For Life

“Cricketers love rain for life” well the phrase is meant for the rain interruptions which proves beneficial for one , but the cricket fans didn’t like both on and off the field.  

Cricket is among the least talked sport these days in India , the  sports pages  are going without a word on cricket  !! The primary reason is their home team is not playing ,but it hardly matters for a true cricket fan because all they look for is cricket .But it seems that   even God do not want the little cricket to go smoothly by showering rains just on the match days. Be it test match or one day , no matter in which part of country you are playing rain interruption is something which you can predict in any match in this most unpredictable game of cricket .

It’s a good sign for other sports in India , as the sports lovers are taking interest in other sports which are going on at this time ,obviously people will become more aware of other sports when they will watch and read about them . Tennis , Football , London Olympics are the buzz words in India now a days and this has given every one a chance to follow them closely .Looking at all the drama in cricket ,What I personally found is ,  cricket is always  played with country first attitude by the players .They play with full spirit and are always eager to give their best for India ,the other thing is cricket is a team sports so that might be the reason but still its my  gentle reminder to all sports persons that ,remember your first dream was  always to represent your country .

I am not the right person to talk much about all such issues but would always like to watch the players playing with right spirit .

Conditions Matters A Lot In Cricket

I cant find a reason why Indian bowlers could not perform on the bowler friendly pitches of England and why the England batsmen could not perform on t he batsmen friendly pitches of India.

Well the question sounds  interesting  but its answer lies in one word “Conditions “.

In cricket a batsman or a bowler is considered great on the measure of how well he can adapt himself to the conditions. Yes ,its all about conditions in cricket and that’s what makes it interesting. You might have seen many great batsman struggle on overseas series and many bowlers could not find their rhythm ,the conditions actually plays a major role in their failure . Dew , turn ,bounce , cracks , grass ,dryness ,moisture are the factures according to which a player craft his skills so as to perform well on that particular surface and that’s the reason why team plays some practice matches at their overseas tour so as to get themselves  acquainted with the conditions .

You might often wonder why cricketers use to practice when the only thing they have to do is just play their best cricket . That’s very true that they have to play their best but what could be the best play on that particular pitch  is what they prepare for . That’s why everything small thing matter when it comes to condition ,whether it is winning the toss and electing to bat or bowl or getting the advantage of the surface to swing and bounce the ball or to adjust your bat speed and shot selection.

No other sport get that much affected by conditions as do the cricket .The way how bowlers take advantage of the situation and how batsman respond to it a treat to watch .  

ICC Cricket World Cup Completes 37 Years

On 7 th June 1975 the first ever ICC Cricket World Cup got underway and from their on it became the most important tournament in International cricket . Getting selected in national team and winning the world cup are the ultimate dreams  of every cricketer.

Many interesting stats depicts this short history of world cup and India has marked its presence right from the first edition .The 1975 world cup is also remembered for the 174 ball 36 (not out ) stand of Sunil Gavaskar apart from the fact that West Indies have won it predictably. Next was the year 1983  which was written permanently in the Indian history when the least favorite India done the biggest upset  of the tournament by beating the dominating West Indian in the world cup final and winning the ultimate glory which the generation next of Indian cricket kept on chasing for 28 years .

In 1989 when the maestro made his international debut the  speculations of winning the world cup for India became high . From its first world cup in 1992 to the 2012 world cup the impact of Sachin Tendulkar and India in world cup is open to the every one  . Sachin Tendulkar has always kept his best for this big event ,and that’s why he is the highest run scorer in the World cup . It seems that he perfectly depicts the story of any cricketer right  from dreaming of playing from the national team and accomplishing it at the age of 16 and then chasing the dream of winning the world cup for 22 years and finally winning it at the age of 38 in the year 2012. Well the pathway of winning the world cup itself carry a lot of records for India . From the 1996 world cup match winning innings from Sourav Ganguly to his superb captaincy taking the Indians to the world cup finals in the 2003 world cup in which  Sachin Tendulkar was in magical form , than the 2007 first round exit of Indians which every Indian wants to forget and of course the 2011 world cup which India have won as top favorite.

After the introduction of world cup many teams have dominated the world cricket from West Indies to Australia but India and other Asian countries have always given tough competition to them and produced many legends in the world cricket .A bitter truth associated with the world cup is that England from where cricket came in existence have never won the ICC world cup . South Africa which can be considered as a perfect team have got a chokers tag because of their loosing streak in world cup matches at crucial times  even after playing good cricket throughout the tournament.

The next world cup is in year 2015 which is to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand , it will be interesting to see whether India will be able to retain its title or we  will have new world champions but surly India is going to have an impact on that world cup too from a former champions point of view .

Cricket Has The Ability To Inspire

For me cricket is life and life is cricket !!!!! You have action, emotion, drama, success, joy, failure ,hard work, management every thing involved in cricket as we have in  life . In cricket each and every match teaches you a lot .

Cricket is a team game where individuals work together for a common goal. You can not see a best example of team work anywhere other than cricket where a bowler bowls to a batsman and all fielders are ready to back him for a wicket to his name, when a batsmen throw his wicket for the sake of other batsman and most importantly for his team, when a batsman come as runner for other batsman just for the sake of team .Probably that’s the idle team work which every one wants to look for where everyone contribute to their potential only for the sake of his team without any personal interest .

I live cricket because I learn a lot from it. How to be in a team, how to be disciplined, how to be focused towards your goal, how to do hard work, how to manage thing, how to think, how to take decisions, how to handle failure and almost everything, and that’s the reason I like all the cricketers for their some characteristics  and different teams for their strengths. For instance I like  Pakistan for its never say die attitude whatever the situation may be, Sri Lanka for as a perfect gentlemen’s team, Australia for their attitude and of course India for everything!!!

It is being said that “inspiration is sports primary purpose and sportsman are the  actual real life heroes who have to learn from his failure and keep on improving himself each day and  always try to be get better and better each day. Sachin Tendulkar even after completing over 22 years in international  cricket says he is still learning cricket!!!! That’s the spirit  which one should keep alive in his life  to enjoy it to the fullest. Cricketers teach us how one should take care of what they like and constantly do hard work to achieve that. They teach us that there is no short cut to success, and one should  learn from failures and not get run away by success  because both are not permanent. One should believe in its capability and try to improve himself .

Cricket teaches a lot to me and probably that’s the reason I enjoy watching it with the strong belief in this statement - “Form  is Temporary Class is forever”  !!