Bye Bye, Pakistan!!

As the Asia Cup comes to an end, without the much-speculated/awaited India-Pakistan final, it is time to reflect on a few things.

Churn in Asian cricket's pecking order
This Cup has firmly displaced Pakistan from the hegemony of claiming the - forget #1, even the #2 spot among the top couple of teams in Asia.

Sample this:
India of course, has had an edge over the Pakistanis for a long time now. The time from 1987 - 1990s is the only time Pakistan had an edge over India.
In the present times, India have been dominant almost every single time.

But India aside, it is pertinent to note that Team Green has now also lost to Bangladesh consistently every single time in their last 4 outings against them.

Even Afghanistan, the most promising team from the Asia Cup, almost beat Pakistan. It was only their inexperience and Shoaib Malik's calmness that saw Pakistan through.

Silence, Please!
The brouhaha over the fluke that was June 18, 2017 is officially over now. After having lost comprehensively to India in that tournament too except unfortunately on the day of the tournament final, one had the same feeling of injustice not taking place again.
We do not grudge them their good day in office too, but the way they began jumping and taunting an anyday-better Indian cricket team on the basis of just that fluke of a win, has never been in good taste. Hopefully, now that they have been chastised and chastened, at least the less shameless among them might have been silenced.
To all supporters of the Pakistani team who have gone hoarse shouting from the rooftops about last year's one-off fluke, it is now time for: Silence Please!

We beat Pakistan handsomely in both the matches of this tournament, and one felt that another one-off lucky day for the Pakis would too much of a travesty of justice for the decidedly better team.

Thankfully, helped by their own implosions, they could not even qualify, and perhaps even their most ardent supporters would agree that given their performance, and the calibre shown by Bangladesh and even Afghanistan, Pakistan do not deserve to be in the final when as per pure performance in the Asia Cup, they have been only the fourth-best team in the tournament.

As Harsha also tweeted, maybe the world (and certainly the Pakistanis) got carried away by what was just an off day for the Indians.

India's Gains from this Cup
India's batting bowling and fielding supremacy over all other Asian countries, Rohit's captaincy, the re-emergence of Jadeja and Jadhav, and the efficacy of our bench strength are only some of good things that have come out of this tournament for India.

Tuning in for the World Cup
Time to reflect on preparing a solid middle order now for the World Cup - Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav seem to be our best middle-order bets at the moment for positions 4 and 5 in England, sandwiched between the greats - Kohli (at 3) and Dhoni (at 6). KL Rahul is my backup opener hands-down.
Just avoid too much chopping and changing, and get the Cup home, Team Blue!

Jai Ho!

Bye Bye, Pakistan!! :-)
Though we all wish the Pakistani team does well, for the good of cricket's health globally, what gets people is their (and their supporters') vanity - of even thinking, let alone believing, that they are better than India - which stems more from impish bravado and jingoistic grandstanding, and less from logic and facts.
This is why, many Indians derive special joy in always sending them home: Happy to send you home again, Team Green...it's Bye Bye, Pakistan!! :-)

Rest in Peace, Atal ji

The August of 2018 was a month where quite a few veteran, renowned politicians of the country passed away.

We first lost the DMK patriarch (August 07), followed by Somnath Chatterjee (on the 13th), and then finally, that pole star of modern Indian politics called Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on the 16th.

Now I know, there is a very convenient, armchair way of laughing off politicians and even their deaths. 

Good riddance, they weren't of any use anyway, they should all be packed off together, if anyone should die, it should be them first/only.

And suchlike (if not worse).

One can also see where all this comes from, and perhaps, it is the 99% of them who are giving the 1% of good ones a bad name!

What I can say for sure, is that like them or hate them, there is no denying the fact that these 3 politicians were stalwarts in their respective parties and ideologies. 

Both Somnath Chatterjee and M Karunanidhi were among those select few, who were not only politicians but also titans and recognized not just within party or within their dominant states, but across the entire country too.

One prays that God blesses their souls, and they rest in peace.

But with due respects to both the departed souls, there is no doubt that if there was one person whose death tore the most number of hearts, it was of the great Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

I am only one of a multitude of fans, who learned how to be a role model despite being a politician.

A person who had no enemies even after being in public life for multiple decades.

A refined poet at heart, and a statesman of the highest calibre, Vajpayee ji was someone we all loved.

Often labelled as the right man in the wrong party, his moderate temperament in a party of hardliners, his ability to take everyone together, his amazing oratory, his vision, his incisive analysis on everything he spoke about - all contributed towards making him the tallest leader of modern Indian politics, by a mile.

It was the early/mid-1990s and as an impressionable youngster, I remember wanting him to speak in Parliament, so that I could learn and enjoy his oratorial finesse, through the newly started live debates, televised on the telly.

Such was his impact, that one would be ready to reconsider one's stand, if Atal ji had said something contrarian to one's perspective.

That is the hallmark of a true stateman and shows the amount of genuine respect and regard he commanded for his vision and leadership, along with his transparency and integrity.

More than anything else, I believe that Atal ji, a true Bharat Ratna, will be remembered for making sure that one could get/make role models and heroes even through as generally abominable a place as politics.

Along with Late Shri Chatterjee and Late Shri Karunanidhi, I hope and pray that may you also rest in peace, Atal ji.

India will forever be lucky that one of her sons was a gem called Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Bring it on!

Every big match or big series neds its due recognition.
It is no news how eagerly, Virat and his boys in blue are looking forward to the England tour.

Messrs Shastri and Kohli have spelt their priorities quite clearly: the terms "success" and "greatness" for their Indian team are defined by performance and victories on overseas, especially South African, English, and Australian soils.

They have made a good start in that direvtion, with the South African sojourn being quite creditable for the team.
Now, come tomorrow, all heads turn to England, the biggest of tests and joys in cricket - in whites, and with the swinging conditions in England.

For the skipper too, there is no need to be inspired. We all know how important this tour is for him personally too. He has all the hunger and the ingredients to be counted among the best of the best ever batsmen, but domination in England has been a missing tickmark till now, on his CV.

So, as we enter the big day, here's wishing Captain Kohli and the Indian Cricket Team,  20 wickets in every match and atleast ome run more than England, each game :-)
Play well and good luck, bwaays!!!

Yoyo Mann!!

In news just in, it has emerged that popular rapper Honey Singh (oh yeah, of "O Yo Yo Honey Singhhh-ah" fame) has cleared the YoYo test.
He claims that he has ensured he has spoken YoYo more than 16 times in eah of his rap songs 😊

Well, PJs and fake-take apart, the whole episode of YoYo tests gaining popularity to the extent of being the sole criterion for selections and some former cricketers' disapproval of its importance has left many Indian cricket lovers baffled.

One hopes that the omission of Ambati Rayudu, one of the topmost performers of this year's IPL on the basis if YoYo tests, that too after having been selected, has been in bad taste.

Sure, it is only right to stress on fitness in today's cricket.
However, one can surely respect fitness without having to disrespect or humiliate (even though it is without any malafide intent) a selected Team India cricketer.

Why can't we have the hallowed and much-revered YoYo test conducted BEFORE the selection committee meets to pick the team?

It's time we avoided needless controversies and focused on the fame rather than the peripherals around it.
Here's wishing Team India the very best for the upcoming England series.

Rock it guys, a la YoYoHoney Singhh-a!! 😊