Rest in Peace, Raju ji

Comedian - A term that we often tend to associate with someone who can make you laugh.

Given the punch-down trend of comedy today, especially stand-up comedy (except a few honorable exceptions like Amit Tandon), Raju ji was a much bigger, better star from another league. 

He was at par with the Johnny Lever's and Surendra Sharma's of his time. This post is a tribute to the man who was more than just a comedian.  

Of course, I cannot claim to know too much more about Raju ji. Like most people, I was also aware of only his comic talents, his great mimicry style, and not to forget, his unique ability to personify even the inanimate objects or the most dull situations. 

Be it his hilarious take on flood-reporting by news reporters or the ROFL-worthy bits on observations at weddings or his performance of preaching as a gangster-turned-baba, each act was legendary and a comedy masterclass in itself. And obviously, these are just a few standout performances, it's by no means an exhaustive list.

The thing with Raju ji was that he never descended to the level of making comedy crass or below-the-belt. None of that could ever pass off as humor in his book. Every single act was something that the entire family could understand, enjoy, and watch on repeat.

Mimicry was another forte - where he could effortlessly pull off a Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Mithun, Johnny Lever, Shatrughan Sinha, even Shashi Kapoor, among many more. Besides, who can ever forget Amitabh Bachchan? His AB mimicry was on par with Sudesh Bhosle. No one else can ever come even close.

And then, there were those cute observations and one-liners on different authentic characters that he would pull from the common man - be it his sketches of an overexcited sister-in-law or the typical simpleton villager like Gajodhar, Sangattha, Baijnaath, each sketch was a treat to watch. Again, you could identify with the observations and marvel at his talent without needing any break.

But even more than all his talents, his best quality that I figured in these last few days was that he remained a genuine and true person, straight from his heart. It has been alleged that he was chucked out of The Kapil Sharma show because he criticized Bharti for consuming (and/or possessing) drugs. While the allegation may or may not be true, he is reported to have criticized Bharti only because he wished her well. There are also reports of many other comedians and artists who have shared that during their days of struggle, Raju ji had always lent his support to them in every way, including financial support.

Thanks to Saurabh Pant's podcast, in case you are also a fan, you can watch this memorable conversation of Raju speaking about his journey and the story behind some of his performances in this video.

Rest in peace, Raju ji. You went away too soon but your work will continue to live with us as some of our fondest memories. You will always be an immortal star for us.

You were a wonderful, lovely, and loveable soul who always brought happiness to everyone. May the Almighty also keep you happy and at peace, always. 

Om Shanti.

Chak de!

308 days ago, the stage was the T20 World Cup but the venue was the same and so was the opposition.

India Vs Pakistan

It really doesn't get bigger than this. More than revenge, it was a time for redemption for Team India.

On that night, we batted was timid and our bowling was lacklustre. 

Cut to August 28, 2022. Even this time, we were too timid in our batting for the most part (this was especially glaring after our new template of attacking the bowlers and batting positively from the get-go, in the last 6 months). We lost KL Rahul in what was almost a replica of his dismissal the last time around. With almost the same impact too.

We went into our shell for a bit, as edges flew, tensions rose, and we nicked and prodded for a few runs. Just when things were looking more in control, Sharma threw it all away and very soon, Kohli came tumbling after.

Then came the most significant partnership of the match, Jaddu and Hardik, as they went about their job of keeping the scoreboard moving and ensuring that we did not lose any more wickets. Remember, with only DK to follow and playing with a long tail while chasing at 9+ per over for the better part of the last 10 overs, another wicket would have set the cat amongst the pigeons.

Hardik Gold Pandya

No, the Gold is not his middle name because he loves wearing it along with a generous sprinkling of his tattoos. The Gold is very much part of him now (and may it long be) because he has become an invaluable cog in our armoury, with renewed zeal, much fitter physique, much calmer temperament and much fiery bowling spells too. And the killer batting prowess was always there. He is priceless to this team now. 24K priceless. And what better place for this golden boy to show his worth than in the Middle East!!

The zen-like calm and self-assuredness in his batting has been evident ever since his comeback after injury, in the IPL. Captaining a new team and taking it to IPL victory this year has only added to his credentials, qualities, and confidence.

What a beautiful blossoming and touchwood to that!

Overall, it was a great day for the team as we persevered in our bowling as well as batting for the most part, and eventually stood on the right side of the result after a well-fought, scrappy contest.

Some positives:
Hardik, Hardik Hardik

Jadeja's batting

Bhuvi's typical, understated brilliance

Kohli's semblance of his old self

Arshdeep (barring a few disappointments, did pretty well overall)

Things to work on:
KL Rahul

Rishabh's T20 future/potential team instability so close to the World Cup in October

Waiting for Deepak Hooda, Deepak Chahar, Ravi Bishnoi, and Venkatesh Iyer to make it to the team.
I know Venky Iyer is not even in the squad but he is surely a matchwinner and is ready, in my books.

My Preferred Team India for the T20 World Cup in Australia:

01. Rohit Sharma (c)

02. Venkatesh Iyer

03. Virat Kohli

04. Suryakumar Yadav

05. Rishabh Pant (wk)

06. Hardik Pandya (vc)

07. Ravindra Jadeja

08. Harshal Patel

09. Bhuvneshwar Kumar

10. Jasprit Bumrah

11. Yuzvendra Chahal

12. Deepak Chahar

13. Dinesh Karthik

14. Ravi Bishnoi

15. Deepak Hooda

16. Arshdeep Singh

17. Shardul Thakur

18. Washington Sundar

Anyway, that's for later. For now, well done, Team India - more power to you, keep going!

Jai Ho!

Jai Ho!

It's been a long month and we are not yet done.

It started with the last match of the longest ever Test series (spanning a full year between the first and last Test). When the Final Test began earlier in the month, we dominated for four days. The fifth day was all about Bazball cricket and how it took off, thanks to the English batsmen, particularly Bairstow and Root.

The match was disappointing for Indians not just because we lost a golden opportunity to beat England in England in Test cricket but also because we seemed to have exceeded expectations for most of the Test match. Don't forget, India just came straightaway from IPL cricket into what was a one-off Test in this year, in English conditions. If you observe our recent results, you would notice that we have been poor starters on foreign soil, especially in SENA countries. 

Last year's WTC Final against New Zealand is another example where we would have surely been better off without having to play just one Test out of nowhere. A series allows scope for redemption and comebacks. A one-off contest, especially in alien conditions, has basically been our Achilles heel.

Which is why, it was all the more commendable how we dominated this Test. Yet, on the final day, we lost. With more resolute batting, with more disciplined bowling, we could have easily drawn the match, at the very least.

Nevertheless, the 1-1 result was a tough pill only because we knew we were this close from making history and lost that moment because we fluffed our chances out of nowhere. It is still a compliment to this team that we are bemoaning a 1-1 series draw in England as almost a loss because we know the potential and ability of this team. 

It was the same disappointment we felt after what happened in the last two Tests against South Africa in South Africa in January. Our third innings batting and our last day bowling have let us down in two consecutive, crucial away-series moments, and it was truly disappointing to not get over the line.

Be that as it may, overall, we have still acquitted ourselves very well. The team won the T20 and ODI series in England and now, at the time of writing this, we have already won the ODI leg of the WI tour too, with basically a second-string team.

As the T20 season approaches again with the WI T20 series later and Asia Cup in August, culminating in the all-important T20 World Cup in October, let's wish our team well and continue to let them have our backs.

Go well, Team India - Jai Ho!

A tale of two teams

The T20 series between India and South Africa just concluded today. It was a series that came quick on the heels of a two-month long IPL, and a busy cricket season for Team India right before that. Needless to say, Workload management is the key factor in ensuring that our best XI takes the field for all our important matches. All good with that.

But having said that, we must also understand that workload management is just one part of the story.

The other half of ensuring continued success and dominance in any condition, against any opposition, with any XI, will come from our in-house depth. How much depth we have, how much exposure can we give to our cricketers, and how many players can we identify to do justice to the India jersey?

Thanks to the IPL, we can now say that India can field two teams of its own at any given point of time, for any tournament, on any ground in the world. And by team, I don't just mean a team that can be fielded to simply make up the numbers. I mean, a team that is almost of the same level as the original team in quality and depth, almost equally competent and competitive in skills and temperament. 

And with choc-a-bloc cricket in the New Normal, it is only to be expected that the all-format cricketer is now an endangered species. We might not find too many of them and even when available, we will have to ensure that the all-format cricketer is well-rested, with enough workload management in place (in other words, they must get enough rest and recuperation time between inconsequential battles to be available to win the bigger wars).

Our bench strength is easily among the best in the world. We can field two teams of near-same quality across any format, be it T20s, ODIs, or Test matches.

We have almost like-for-like replacements for all our cricketers. Come the T20 World Cup later this year, for example, we should be able to have enough players to match the skill sets of our First XI. 

In another welcome development, we are fielding two Indian teams at the same time now. One in Ireland for the two T20s, and the other one will be touring England for the sole carry-forward Test match, and the T20 series with the Englishmen.

As the series with South Africa showed, even our second XI can still be a handful and match any team shot for shot, ball for ball. Even after a slow start, we managed to keep ourselves afloat from 0-2 to 2-2, heading into the decider.

As spectators and fans of cricket and Team India, it's now time to encourage them as much as we enjoy their achievements. Do well, both teams - Jai Ho!