The turnaround

A shock loss to Bangladesh, a determined thrashing of Bermuda that included a emotional hug between Sachin and Dravid that indicated they would reach the next stage come what may and finally a disappointing collapse against Lanka. The Indians were out of a competition many tipped them to be contenders for. An emotional country had reacted spurring on a stupid board to take action against the players. Fingers were raised and heads were called for. Honour was clearly at stake. A long journey for redemption was awaiting the players.

It begun in a easy place - in Bangladesh where as the media hyped it Revenge was on the menu. Seniors were "rested" and the juniors managed to win the ODIs. But for the rested seniors - Sachin and Saurav there were points to prove. Sachin battled on to get two hundreds - determined but laboured. Not quite Sachin they said. Over the hill they said. Retire was the call.
Two Hoots was the answer.

The journey had begun with the easy steps taken. Onward they went to the United Kingdom with a battle to fight with the Africans of the Southern variety. Two nineties in 2 ODIs from the big man - one laboured one cracking and the Indians were winners. The more difficult step had been taken. The smile was back as was the spring in the step. Cricket was enjoyable yet again.

The Tests beckoned. The practice game saw the England Lions taking on the Indians. With 4 cheap wickets down all seemed lost. After all it was only the man who shouldve retired and a prince who never quite looked like getting to the throne at the crease. The man-who-shouldve-retired threw his head back - the bat on the ball and leather was belted. 177 of the best and then again the doubters had to hold back their harsh words. Would he still get the better of them?

The first test. Lords. Never an international century here. Jinxed. Failure. A streaky first salvo till Anderson got one to swing in. And then the ball that did happen twice in the blue moon. He had been Montied - once too many it was. The test looked lost. Till Dhoni decided his place in the side merited a fighter knock. Till rains decided that they owed India a few. Till Bucknor decided not to go anti India this time atleast. They got out of jail. However the doubters were purring in joy - they had evidence to launch the "Retire" campaign again.

Till Trent Bridge. Only till then. Because once Zaheer had done his deed - the openers partied and soon Sachin was there. Circumspect but purposeful. Hit on the head. Boundaries hit many times more. A duel with Sidebottom - perhaps lucky but more importantly persistent and classy he survived to get a classy 91 till Taufel decided someone should take over Bucknor's mantle.
A Ganguly special followed by another Taufel special - India were on their way to victory

And yet again Zaheer did his deed - superbly - with RP getting the nomination for best supporting act. 73 to chase and barring a few hiccups India had won.

The long journey to redemption was well on its way both for India and Sachin. It will only be complete if the series is won and more importantly later if Australia is felled.

I for one would gladly exchange a world cup for beating Aussie in Aussie in a test series. For without great dreams we have no great future.

Fifty

I have crossed 50 posts - slow and in a stuggling manner. But as they say in Test Cricket - what really matters is that I am still hanging in there.

Sitara News - Sansani bhari Khabar

An excerpt from hypothetical coverage from a hypothetical news channel

Aur hume yeh khaas jaankari mili hai ki Sachin Tendulkar ne Ice-cream khaane ke liye apni wicket gavayi. Yeh unki aur umpire ki mili bhagat thi ki unko galat tareeke se out diya gaya. Akhir kya ice-cream desh se jyada mahatvapurna ho gayi hai? Waqt aa gaya hai ki Sachin retire karein ya Public ki gaali ke hakdaar bane

"Ye Re Ye Re Pavsaa"

Translated from Marathi that would mean "Come Come oh Rain!" That easily was the most heard prayer by God yesterday and after having ignored many such pleas starting from the WC 2003 finals - He thought that it was about time to relent and finally signalled the Rain Department to shower on Lords. Ofcourse the Department was in complete readiness for that command by raining all around the ground (except on it till that command came in) for the best part of the day. Perhaps they too were wanting to see if the Indians were upto a fight - to see if they could survive two sessions. They did - thanks in no small measure to Dhoni who yet again showed he has the brains - and then the Gods obliged.

One cant really blame the Gods for delaying the rains till the last minute possible - after all if we had a spine we would have lasted for 15 minutes in the Kingston test against West Indies - taken the rains that were so strong that they lasted for 2 weeks and washed out 2 ODIs. But no - we did not do the hanging around and instead had downpour of tears instead of the rains.

But perhaps yesterday was the luck we deserved - not for any great achievement in the field - but just for Dhoni's insistence on keeping the strike as far as possible though the Gods might have been tempted to deny India the luck given the way Zak and RP tried to gift it all away.

But it stayed. India will take the luck - grin - and move on to Trent Bridge where hopefully the Batsmen will realise that they are infact supposed to be one of the best lineups in the world and perform accordingly.

What also is heartening is the statistic that every time in an England Series that India has failed to lose the first test - they have gone on to win the series. So perhaps the rains in the first test mean that a series victory is heading our way.

The Last Laps

One always tends to get nostalgic when one knows that one is doing something for the last time. When you have done it time and again repeatedly - and when you know that this is it - this is the last time you will be there - its only natural that one will get nostalgic or look at things indulgently. Its all the same - there is relief and there is that sadness at knowing that never again will you be able to do it again. Be it the last exam, or the last game or whatever - one has the right to be indulgent and look at the past - which if you look at it indulgently would have been good.

For Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly and Kumble the last lap has begun. After making zillions of rounds around the race track - they will now start seeing the places they have seen so many times for one last time - passing by all the milestones. The last lap has begun for them all.

For Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly - England holds a special place. First Century for Sach, 3 centuries on Debut for Ganguly and a confident 95 on debut for Dravid. England 1996 was where the germs of a superb middle order were first laid.

And since then we have seen some stunning knocks on the tours to England. Dravid's gritty 147 at Headingley followed by the 193 by Sachin and the 120 odd by Ganguly just to name a masterpiece each by the three of them.

It will be really interesting to see how they sign off on the tour. For Sachin who had announced himself with a gritty match saving century (maiden at that) as a teenager - it will be paramount that he goes out in similar fashion to the match against the England Lions.

This is the first of the milestones on the last lap - Australia awaits. And winning here is the only way we can go to Oz Land looking to win