Where is Cricket?

One good performance is all that is required to save yourself, to be praised and to spread short term memory loss amongst star frenzy cricket fans. Ten continuous failures are forgotten with a single scintillating performance. A disastrous away tour is forgotten after a One day series victory over a lowly ranked team. A belligerent hundred or a fiery five wicket haul needs to be praised but does not cover up your earlier mediocre or even worse performances. Or, does it?

Similarly, the cricketing world, the media and fans have just lost memory of the scandalous IPL. Have all forgotten those episodes? Sreesanth for that fact openly speaks about returning to the Indian team. Is entertainment and money making the only reason to run the sport? Where is the spirit of the game? Where are the sport loving authorities who run the game? Where are the genuine critics? Where is that genre of cricketers who play for the love of the sport? Where are the true fans who love a good game of cricket without prodding much about who the winner is? Where is the sport, CRICKET? Hope we do not end up losing a magnificent sport amidst all the chaos that is surrounding it.

Success at last for Sreesanth

Success does not come so easily to anyone. For cricketers it is all the more enduring because of the numerous talented youngsters out on the field. For Sreesanth it was his hard work that has paid off. He started off his career by sledging Sachin Tendulkar during a challenger trophy match which gave him the initial ladder to success. This was followed by the comical act against Andre Nel after hitting him for a six. All the criticisms by then had taken him to a level which he always dreamt of. What better way than to show faces at Andrew Symmonds and Matthew Hayden to take him to the top league? He was a few steps away from success when his performances back stabbed him. A couple of decent performances in South Africa stood as a hindrance. He pinned his big hope on Harbhajan Singh during IPL and the sardar obliged. Success was knocking on the door by then. The icing on the cake were his injuries, non performances and a big disliking by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. To spice things up he opened the slapgate issue again during IPL 2013. But was he content? No, he needed that big success and the only way he could achieve it was by fixing matches (Wish that towel had entered his pockets much early in his career). Now he stands so successful at what he was trying to achieve all these years-  To be thrown out of Cricket! 
Congratulations Sreesanth...!!

The Australian Whitewash 2013

"This is the weakest Australian side that has toured India", says Sourav Ganguly. I absolutely second that and  hence is the scoreline 4-0 actually portraying a correct image of the actual caliber of this rejuvenated Indian team? I doubt. The Australians were plagued by injuries, lack of quality spinners and team issues. Lack of quality spinners stand out, they did not have a Monty Panesar or Graeme Swann to thrash Indians like the English. What exactly is the reason why  Indians lost to the English team and whitewashed Australians on the same Indian pitches? On a positive note you may say the consistency of Murali Vijay at the top, a swashbuckling innings each from Shikhar Dhawan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja  played a huge role. But the actual reason has to be that the Australians were far too weak for the Indians.

With IPL about to begin and no white dresses till October  this thought would definitely not be re-opened until the away tour to South Africa. Can the same Vijays, Dhawans, Ashwins and Jadejas perform similarly on the distinctly different  South African pitches against the Steyns, Morkels, Philanders, Amlas, Kallises and De Villerses? Half way through the tour, hope the Indian selectors will not think about the discarded test players. The real ball game lies in South Africa, far away from the dead pitches of India.

Reactions to the India - Pakistan series

Mahendra Singh Dhoni- "My averages and scores are improving, but the team is not performing. Sachin paaji, you should not have exposed me by retiring."
Virender Sehwag- "Pakistan, you disappointed me by losing the last match."
Gautam Gambhir- "Thanks Viru Bhai, one of us had to take it. "
Virat Kohli- "Wish it was still 2012."
Yuvraj Singh- "I thought Broad was a part of the Pakistan pace attack."
Suresh Raina- "As long as MS plays I will survive."
Rohit Sharma- "Where is that numerologist, I need to change my jersey number again."
Ravindra Jadeja- "You include me in the team to remind me again and again that I should not be in the team."
Ajinkya Rahane- "I was so happy warming the benches. Now since am in the team, I have to perform."
Ravichandran Ashwin- "What am I? A bowler who can bat a bit or batsman who can bowl a bit"
Ishant Sharma- "Dinda, pass me your bandanna. All say I need them more than you do."
Ashoke Dinda- "Forget my deliveries, Pakistan batsmen do not even fear my jump."
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar- " I should not have performed so well in my first match. Now I seem to be the team's front line bowler."
Shami Ahmed- "I will not perform exceedingly well to be pressurized in the future"
Amit Mishra- "I am happy carrying water bottles."
Duncan Fletcher- "The crisis in Zimbabwe was not this severe. Home calling!!"
Sandip Patil & Co- "Srikanth, do you want to get back here?"
BCCI- "There was no AMAN and ASHA in Pakistan's peformance."
Sreeshanth & Harbhajan- "Hamara number ayega..."
Sachin Tendulkar- "Even my retirement timing is exquisite."