The Voice of Eden

I am not crying, I am sobbing. The reason? I know I am the one of the best and arguably the best stadium in the world (if you consider the atmosphere also). Many great matches have been played on me that has re written the history of Indian cricket again and again. After all it was I who had witnessed the first ever hat rick by an Indian in test. I witnessed the miraculous win of India over Australia after being asked to follow on. It was I, who prestigiously hosted the world cup 1987 final when many doubted I would be able to do so. Many people describe my greatness in terms of capacity, being one of the largest stadium in the world with a capacity of over 100000. Many great players including the legendary Sachin Tendulkar have described that playing on Eden is extra special than anywhere in the world. It is I who witnessed India fighting with South Africa to win the test to maintain the world No 1 test rank. When it seem nothing is working and draw was inevitable then suddenly something miraculous happened, that which I believe can happen only here. The entire crowd started cheering Harbhajan and in no time he took the last two wickets to finish South Africa with just 20 min more to go. I am the pride of this country as I always battled with Lords, England on the grounds of which one is better overall(Crowds, stadium, capacity, atmosphere). Many few people know that during this period of competition people often sold their blood to BloodBank and use that money to upgrade my capacity. Often countries like New Zealand and Zimbabwe have complained to BCCI that why don’t they get a match in awesome Eden when they are on tour. They say that the aura in the stadium cannot be explained but can only be felt. The passion of crowds that come to see matches have sometime resulted in matches being ruined but that is part of the atmosphere that you get over here and this is why I am unparalleled.

However, during the past few years cricket administrators have seemed to forget that I am the pride of the country and not of a particular state. They took the headquarters away from me. They took important matches away from me. They gave me 4 inconsequential matches of world cup 2011. Shouldn’t the best stadium in India host the World Cup final. Shouldn’t my sons make me feel like Lord’s who has infact hosted 4 world cup finals. Do I deserve such shoddy behaviour from BCCI who is putting more interest in Wankhade than it should put on me? Moreover, the tardy CAB officals haven’t done justice to my repertoire. They dragged the work on and on which resulted me getting robbed off the India vs England match, the only important match in the venue. As I look past behind my glory days I wonder I am still the best stadium in the world at least to majority of people, I still produce magical moments then why this happened to me. I should have more support from my sons(CAB, BCCI) who has now forgotten my glory and the country’s glory and are now indulged in cheap regional based politics. I sob because I am Eden Gardens- the best stadium in the world.

WANTED- A genuine quick fast bowler

WANTED- A genuine quick fast bowler who doesn’t reduces his speed after first couple of years and can take early wickets and produce the lethal reverse swing when the ball is old. Can bowl at least what is asked of even when senior bowlers are not around to guide him and should be vary of the fact that a string of wide and no balls means either you need an eye test or your feet has grown more than 2 inches and hence you need a doctor or a physio.

The first test ended and the result was anticipated, even getting out at 136 on the first morning was expected, especially with the pitch having dampness and overcast conditions making it ideal for late movement off the deck. What was not expected was getting only four South African wickets after conceding 620. And even if you digest the fact that the pitch was pretty placid on day 2 you cannot digest one thing: the ease with which those runs were scored. One thing is for sure and the management must realise fairly quickly that Harbhajan is losing the script day by day and he is a champion bowler who needs some time off and work again in the domestic circles. Let the message be loud and clear that even he can be the one who needs some work at the domestic level. Ishant and Sreesant generally look pedestrian in Zaheer’s absence and they didn’t do their reputation any good over here, as they would be the last couple you will turn to, to contain runs. Hence the script for defeat was written all over the place. Only the vouched batting line up could have done something to manage a draw but that was denied by two factors: two special balls from Steyn that got the wall and the captain out and the fact that VVS LAXMAN contribution was missed dearly. There is one more X factor that India should keep in mind. Sehwag has turned on to be a big X factor and only if he can take more responsibility when team is playing outside India then probably we would never need  a no. six like Raina. I feel Yuvraj is better tackling the bounce than Raina outside India, but having said that Yuvraj seems to be susceptible to getting out at the slips. In fact, India have never found a no. 6 after Ganguly’s retirement.

India would be banking on Zaheer’s return but that would not solve the pertinent problem. I really feel that In Zaheer’s absence Nehra is the one to look out for. The other day I was reading how Irfan Pathan is planning his comeback after back strain and how is he talking about the swing getting back and getting more lethal. India would be hoping to get Irfan of the old as after a long time we had a bowler whose fear made opposition not make pitches favouring swing. One down in a three match test series is something that India is not unfamiliar with hence getting back from here to square the series will do enough to justify the no 1 test rank. All the best to India for the Boxing Day test.

50th Test ton: 20 Years of 50 wonderful memories

Have you ever seen God, a spectator asks another spectator watching Sachin bat in final against Aus at Sharjah in 1998. The other one replied” No, but he couldn’t play better than this Avatar of his playing in front of us”. Such is the respect the little master has in public eyes. Twelve years down the line watching Tendulkar score his 50th test hundred; one can easily say that the spectator that said those words was not wrong. So, what’s the hype around the 50th test ton? Is it just a number or is it something else? It was make to look like a number the way master handles it, the way he was answering to questions at the press conference immediately after his hundred. As if, every second player gets it and there is nothing unusual about it. This stuff makes him God and not a hero. People vouch for a hero that’s true but the times are so full of negativity that they also wait for heroes to make mistake and fall and this is where the master differentiates from the rest because he never falls neither in his game nor in his conduct. He brings such sage like austerity to cricket that without him I won’t call cricket a gentleman’s game anymore.

Let us try to list down a criterion of what makes a sporting great across all sports. Longevity: I cannot remember anyone playing as long as he does across all sports. Performance: well there are few contenders here, Roger Federer, Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Pele, Maradona and Schumacher. Well all these great had there prime time when they made most out of it and achieved greatness. Federer had his share of fight on clay courts where he looks susceptible, Woods has done a lot of damage to his reputation due to his off field antics, Maradona had a career that was full of drug allegations, Pele and Schumacher performed but retired in short period of time or atleast none of them lasted for 20 years to pass on the criteria of longevity. But, for Sachin, he never seems to descends to normal level. He has kept performing at the same level with same intensity, consistently for the last 20 years. And mind you cricket can be sometimes more taxing than any other sports due to its long format under different and trying conditions. Beat that !!.

Every time this little guy walks to bat he is expected to carry the hope and expectations of billion people and a few years back of a team that was too fragile without him. All this pressure rather than affecting him has made him more strong as if his determination and grit is made of metal called Unobtainium (Unobtainable+ ium). Just watch the innings of 241* vs Australia in Sydney in 2004 and you will never forget these two words: “discipline and determination”. This innings was an epitome of these two words because he was not doing great as far as his form is concerned (as per his standards) as he was getting out a couple of times to rash stroke outside off stump. He determined and disciplined his mind not to do anything with the ball on the off side and he didn't score a boundary on the off side, didn't hit a cover drive. He waited for the ball to come to him, picked it off and clipped it to midwicket all the way not just to three figures, but a double hundred.

People in my generations are fortunate to witness such a sporting legend. There will be great sportsman that will come after him but the legend of Tendulkar cannot be beaten either in longevity, performance, attitude, behaviour and nor in character. I will end this homage to his 50th test ton by describing a real incident when I overheard two street beggars conversing, waiting and pushing each other to get back to work and one said if Tendulkar win this one today ( an ODI match with his 175 vs Australia in Hyderabad in 2009), I wont mind sleeping empty stomach tonight. Such is the hope and happiness he provides to millions. Master you truly are an “avatar” of God, born in the age of men. I wish for your longevity and many more such centuries to come, so that I can say to my kids: look at this man he is the great ”Sir Sachin Tendulkar”.

At last !!

It has to be this occasion; yes it has to be this. I keep telling myself after watching cricket for so many years (15 years approx.) that I should start writing something to do justice to the fact that lot my friends consider me a mini - encyclopaedia of cricket and If I don’t write my experience after watching these great games then it would do injustice to my passion of watching and analysing cricket. In India, every person is an expert on cricket and why not, cricket is just not a sport it a religion that we live by and swore by. Nevertheless, the passion for cricket varies from person to person. Of course those who know me will definitely agree to the fact that passion and Ashish go together and if its cricket its almost at the threshold of obsession.(Though I always maintain passion should never be allowed to become obsession because once it does then its the obsession that starts controlling your mind and not the other way around). With this, here is my blog dedicated to just cricket and its not just Indian cricket it’s the world cricket that I would have my take and views on. Comments and suggestion invited. I aspire to write a book on cricket one day and this is just a first step towards it.