When 'We' Lost The World Cup

India lost the world cup and I lost a part of mine !!

Cricket is a complete entertainment package, but if you try to look and play it for personal competition than instead of becoming the energy booster, this will engage your whole mind and will absorb all your positive energy, which you could have utilized in other productive work.

The reason why i have written the above almost impossible to decipher lines is because i have been victim of this phenomenon twice. One IPL and a World Cup entertainment is what it cost me. This post is complete out of the league from previous posts of my blog and mostly contains less technical details of cricket but would surly be helpful to keep an innocent cricket fan alive in you. Let me now try to explain what exactly i want to say. In the previous post as i had mentioned that i am playing the role of  Nostradamus in this world cup, so the result of it is obviously negative thats why i have to write a post full of philosophy to convince myself and move on. I could have won the competition but i lost!! I lost to my heart and mind battle and  i lost to my anger. I could have won it had i had not gave up at the last moment and putted a stop button at my anger. Had it be me alone predicting it, then i wont be that much hurt but once other people look for help from you because of your passion for game and their success is related with yours than you certainly lose a part of yours.You blame yourself for their loss and you have to live with this burden forever. My situation reminds me of one of my favorite dialogue from the movie Chak De India - "uss haar ka bojh kitna bhaari hota hai tum samaz nahi paayoge..itni taakat nahi kisi main ". 

Feeling relived !!! Would try not to repeat the same mistake again and like always would enjoy the game and not relate their success with mine by becoming result oriented.

With this note i gear up myself for the IPL and will watch it purely for fun. By the way I am supporting Chennai Super Kings like every year, but Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore looks promising too.

Thanks for reading . 

   

Good Start Is Half The Battle Won

India started its world cup campaign with arch rivals Pakistan and like they say history matters -have won against Pakistan like all previous six encounters in the world cup. Most importantly  India have won the match which matters  probably more than the  world cup and as the proverb says  ‘good start is half the battle won ‘  India have actually won half the battle already. Another team which is proving it right is New Zealand -the co-host of the ICC World Cup 2015 ,which unexpectedly became the first team to enter the super eight of world cup with three wins in a row. Home conditions matters !!!

Looking at the India’s performance in the past few months in Australia no one was expecting the world champions to perform well on foreign conditions. Probably the people have forgotten the fact that India is placed in a pool which donot have Australia and New Zealand and for all other teams these conditions are as much foreign as it is for India. India is playing like champion in its group and had qualified for the quarter finals with four consecutive wins, which means India would probably finish at top in its group, which further makes India;s path smooth in the next rounds.

This world cup is looking open in group stage and we won’t give it back is looking like a possibility from here. If Dhoni can do this for India then his records would probably become unbreakable in Indian cricket  history. But the matches after this would be the knock out ones and your performance on that particular day would matter. Cricket is a game of unpredictability, your can apply all possible if and else statement here.

And to test my analytical thinking, I am watching this world cup with a new perspective as I am  trying to become Nostradamus. Yes, I am predicting the winners and man of the match for every match and expectedly is predicting at least one thing right. Experience matters you know !!  

Lets hope team India and I keep their winning sting going till 29^th March and emerge as champions.  

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Chooses To Fed Away From Tests

You Just Cant Predict Him

There came a magician who had taken Indian cricket to the greatest heights and made this cricket crazy nation believed that India can conquer any thing and then suddenly he choose to retire from the purest form of Cricket in which he had made team number one for the very first time, without giving any reason. The retirement reminds me of the statement which Mahendra Singh Dhoni made in one of the press conference when he was asked about 2015 world cup, in response to which he replied that he even is not sure whether he will be alive and playing cricket or not. He also once stated that he could leave playing tests in coming years, so this might be the date which Dhoni had selected from lucky draw.Well I wont appreciate the timing of decision looking at the all important world cup, as this decision would surly be blamed for if India will not perform as per the expectations and its consequences would be even worse. But lets not forget the fact that he had always been valiant in taking unorthodox decision and proven himself right, hope this goes in his favor as well. 

The plot was already set when for the first time in his career Mahendra Singh Dhoni was rested because of an injury rather then simply stating it as a rest by the officials. Another thing is Mahendra Singh Dhoni just choose to fed away for tests and even did not himself announced his retirement, it was the tweet by BCCI which made it viral and left all the questions unanswered of cricket fans .  Whether it was his own decision or not, will soon be cleared from India’s performance in the upcoming ODI series and world cup, but the decision once again shows that how competitive cricket has become now a days. The modern day cricket requires continues performance .

As Dhoni had already given signs that he will quit tests in future, the reason for it was clear that his style donot actually fits for test cricket.He was made T20 captain first and then ODI and later forcefully after the retirement of Kumble the test captain. But he actually could not perform to his potential in this format because this format had never suited his batting and captaincy style and he already knew it from starting. Dhoni keep calm and then explode and his style of taking retirement was not an exception.   

Another interesting fact got associated with Dhoni's retirement is that -Ganguly , Kumble , Dravid and Dhoni all four test captains retired while playing against Australia ,which actually gives a logical conclusion and a buzzing title for the Australia tour as 'The tour where legends announce retirement'.

Lets accept the fact now and thank Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his contribution to the test cricket and keep our faith in the phrase that every thing happens for a good reason and hope for the best in the coming time. 

Playing It My Way - Sachin Tendulkar's Autobiography

Playing It My Way - an autobiography of Sachin Tendulkar.Yes, the maestro has named it correctly and he is going to share the experiences of his glorious cricketing career through his book. The reason why i said that he has named it correctly is because he has made his own decisions, innovated his own techniques, challenged all the odds and hence achieved success like no one else in the international cricket.

Needless to say that the book is a must read for everyone and will be as successful as was Sachin Tendulkar's cricketing career. Releasing on November 6 the book will cover many lesser known events of Sachin Tendulkar's career and life for the public.

Its been over ten months of his retirement and for those who were blown by the present happenings in cricket and have forgotten the greatest batsman ever, this book will make them go through the memory lane and make alive all the memorable innings of Sachin Tendulkar which they were proud of throughout his career. Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography will bring his fans even more closer to him, as it will reveal many personal things of maestro.The book will surely be a great source for inspiration for a kid who want to become Sachin Tendulkar and will guide them in right direction as it is direct from the horse mouth.  

Playing It  My Way will actually be a historic thing because throughout his career of twenty four years he hardly gets into conversation and shared things with people. Get ready to relive the amazing Sachin Tendulkar era which you have seen who has dedicated his entire life on the principle Always Cricket First. 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni - Great Gambler Of Cricket

Finally came a day when one of the greatest finishers in world could not finish the  game in his teams favor with his taking the game to the last ball and all the audience on their seats with heart in their mouth .Like all the memorable wins which he had given to India with his trademark approach, this lost will also be remembered ,as he rarely fails !!

Sunday September 7 2014, Edgbaston ,was the day which will be remembered by many ,especially by the Dhoni's critics who donot agree with Mahendra Singh Dhoni's gambling tactics in cricket .Like usual he took the game to the last ball for the powerful fireworks but eventually fell short of a hit ,which was the difference between the results which two teams got.The reason why people say gambling is bad because once you start getting results in your favor you become so much addicted to it that you almost forget the probability of losing and  start believing that no matter what you will get the result in your favor .

Cricket is all about challenging each other .Every ball by a bowler is a challenge to the batsmen and if batsmen decides to dominate the bowler and play on his own will than it’s the biggest challenge a bowler can ever get. Mahendra Singh Dhoni loves to challenge the bowlers each times he comes to bat and hence loves to test his powerful hitting each time he comes to bat. Yesterday Dhoni once again the man with strong will power has shown how much faith he had in himself and how much he enjoy the game and the challenges.

Even after losing the game at Edgbaston against England Dhoni took the blame and responded by saying that it was his responsibility to finish the game as he is better known for finishing the game .Well, he always takes this responsibility of finishing the game take any match which you can remember be it world cup final or countless IPl innings. It is really admirable that team India’s captain known his role both as a captain and as a player. He takes decisions for team , he keeps for team ,he finishes for team overall he took the whole responsibility of winning the game for India.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s tactics are so full proof that maximum time the only possible result team India could get is a win. His tactics are perfect for shorter formats like ODI and T20 and the heights which team India achieved under his captaincy need not to be recited all the times.Lets forget the loss and hope for many more wins. Long live the wins!!

   

Cricket Commentary Adds Life To Cricket

"Welcome to the Chinnaswamy stadium here in Bangalore, to the day two of the second test match between India and Australia, India in the commanding position here.."

"We have got the two captions out there, Heads is the call and its tails "

"India have won the toss and they have elected to field first "

"Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the post match presentation ceremony we had witnessed some extraordinary cricket today ..over 700 runs have been scored but at the end it was India that have managed to win this one"

Yes, Cricket is not only about bat and ball, it is also about commentary. Its the cricket commentary which adds life to the game and makes every moment alive. Just imagine a match without commentary, I bet you wont watch the full quota of match. Commentary involves you to the game and if there is no commentary there are chances that many will not even understand whats going on. A wicket will not be wicket, fours and sixes will never look like the ones without commentary.

There lies a parallel world of commentary with cricket. Ravi Shastri, Harsh Bhogle, Ramiz Raja, Sanjay Manjrekar are the ones who rule this world. With their unique speaking styles and use of adjectives  they had grabbed viewer attention on television and are the ones whom people wait to here. It is because of commentary only match starts thirty minutes before for many, just to watch the toss and pitch report which is been presented by commentators in their own defining styles and ends after thirty minutes after the actual match ends.

Bang on target, that's hammered away through the covers, jam packed stadium, electrifying atmosphere, the ball raced away to the boundary, ball will win the race, thats going going and gone, maximum, using the pace of the bowler and giving direction from bat, thats dusra for you, helicopter shot, upper cut, edged and taken are some of the synonyms used for describing all the cricketing actions going on the field and this is how those action become live for the audience watching it on television. Commentary make you familiar with actions and brings you more closer to the game by explaining all the things going around on the field.

Although, I  doubt their might be any one who is not impacted by cricket commentary but still if you are the one I will suggest you to listen to commentary as well while watching cricket, you will surly enjoy the game like never before.

Mahela Jayawardene - A perfect Cricketer

If cricket is a team game than he is a complete team man , if a teams performance depends on its captain than he is a as clever a captain that every team demands ,if cricket is all about scoring runs than he had thousands of them to count ,if cricket is all about performing consistently than his long cricketing career answers your question.Cricket is blessed to have a student like Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene (Mahela Jayawardene) who had respected the game and played it with the defined set of rules of cricket.

Over 17 years in international cricket , more than 23 thousand runs under his belt ,50 international hundreds ,highest number of catches in ODI (204) -the stats says it all about the former Sri Lankan Captain who  had announced his retirement from Test cricket on 14 July 2014,which means another gem of a player became history in test cricket.

Mahela Jayawardene was among the Sri Lanka's most successful captains who had made me his admirer through his great cricketing mind . He has that gifted ability to switch his  game according to the format- be its ODI ,Tests or T20,thats the reason that he had not only scored runs in all the format but is among the rarest cricketers in this modern day competitive cricket on whom selection committee relied and elected as a captain in all the formats.In fact it is because of captaincy only he has been the first choice for captain for IPL teams as well. Always Cricket First is the principle which he had followed rigorously throughout his career   and hence was always available for Sri Lankan team whether it is for selection , for taking his team out from difficult situations or helping in the reformation of team .

15 May 2011 was the day when i got the opportunity to watch  this iconic cricketer live in action on cricketing field from stands. I really consider myself lucky that i got the opportunity to watch his captaincy ,watch his batting , watch his fielding,watch his team winning under his captaincy ,all live on ground.The memories of that day are still alive and would always be.

I wonder whether world cricket will have another nearly perfect cricketer ever who had achieved all the milestones with his fair play and inculcated the same in his team.

What a captain , what a player ,actually a perfect cricketer.