Spoken words

So is there anyone untouched by the Indian Premier League. Well I suppose it would touch most Indians, even if they don't like cricket, or to say the least,, hate it. One cant really get a day away without hearing a word about it - either on the news, or listening to the colleagues opinions on how last night's match could  have been won, or a discussion on a public forum, or your friend's status message on facebook. There is just no escaping it. With the advent of T20 format, and the popularity of IPL, its certainly a money tree. A radical fast paced adaptation of a game, that normally used to last for days. A game that used to involve artistically guiding the ball along the ground, with the flick of a wrist, instead of making it fly to the farthest corners of the park. A game which used to be about facing a 100 balls to score 2 runs, has changed to scoring 100 runs of 37 balls. To add to this,  bringing in players who used to swear to be mortal enemies, into the same tea...

When the 1983 World Cup began, India was considered to be the underdogs. Not even given the slightest chance of putting up a a worthy challenge. But things were a lot different than what was expected. A dashing cricketer from Chandigarh, leading a group of young guys in their twenties, proved the world wrong. With the least bit of expectations on their shoulders, there was nothing but the game on their minds. The underdogs put up an inspiring performance that took the cricketing world by surprise. Indians had announced their arrival at the forefront of cricketing history. In their league stages of the tournament, they won 4 out of their 6 matches. This, in a pool consisting of West Indies and Australia. Both considered to be strong favorites in the tournament. Zimbabwe in the same group was capable of creating some upsets too. Particularly Kapil Dev's brilliant 175 against Zimbabwe after coming down at 17/5, remains one of the most spectacular performances in cricketing history. U...

Finally the seven week long cricketing carnival is over and the Australians get to keep the cup....again.That makes it three in a row and four in all. Somehow it was not too much of a surprise for me or anyone else. It had to be them. Actually i don't know What could have prevented them from getting it this time. Sri Lanka could have been considered as a remotely possible hurdle ( some might disagree ), but that was not to be. The rain interfered match had its share of excitement. Though it got delayed by se veral hours due to rains and the overs getting reduced. Yet it had a lot of action when it finally started. Gilchrist, who didnt have a very good run at this World Cup so far, showed his abilities mercilessly against the Sri Lankan bowlers. The Aussie fans had a lot to cheer for. I think it was his innings that made the difference. Sri Lanka did make a descent start with Jayasuriya and Sangakara showing good temperment. Unfortunately they were not good enough. With the rain p...

As expected the debates and the blame game is on. Indian cricket is being analysed and dissected by experts, the cricket board, former players, the shop keeper down the street, the milk man, the bike mechanic, my neighbours and almost everybody ( Not my mom though. She hates the whole game.). Everybody who has a mouth has an opinion. Who is to be blamed for the poor show at the World Cup? One or all? What changes should be done in the team? Should X quit and should Y be the captain? Many questions to answer and every one ready with one. Quite surprisingly Greg Chappell had a very neat answer. He had a lot to say regarding the pathetic performance.Chappell had claimed a lot during his unabated bashing of senior Indian players a couple of days. For one thing he blamed the Indian seniors for poor sportsmanship. He said that the seniors operate like the "mafia" . He also claimed that "They hammer and abuse them because they feel threatened by the junior players and don'...

As far as I know, it was India's most terrible performance ever in the World Cup(I was not born when it supposedly happened the last time, so i can't be a judge of that). The Indian team has certainly shocked the enti re nation with their pathetic performance. It was unbelievable the way they went down so meekly against their opponents. Even against average opponents like Bangladesh, their loss was very disgraceful. No one expected them to be beaten by teams of such caliber. It really is very embarrassing when something like this happens. Seriously, the only team that they were able to beat since the tournament began was Bermuda - a team composed of part time players and weekend cricketers. When it came to playing against professional players we had our backs against the wall, waiting for the trigger to be pressed and our heads blown off. India was considered to be one of the strong contenders for the world cup. The reality was quite the opposite. Not even being able to make it...