Anand Nataraj

Posts Tagged ‘Cricket’

I remember it was 1994 (I was 14 years then)and i went to visit my uncle in Trichy. Since my uncle was busy he left me in one of our family friends house & asked his friends son to take me for a game of cricket with him. That new friend of mine told me they will play cricket only by evening and he said we can watch India vs Sri Lanka test match.

Those days Sri Lanka were underdogs & I was not interested to watch the match because it was a test match and second it is a Indo Sri Lanka Match. But had to watch it as I didn’t have a choice. That is when i came to know through that new friend that there was a lone Tamalian in the team and that was Muralidharan. That is when i came to know this legendary guy. I didn’t know then that this guy is going to create records in his career. Though I supported India & admired Sachin I was happy to watch this guy bowl when this guy bowls.

Then whenever I see Sri Lankan scorecard (they use to loose most of the matches then) I see for Murali’s bowling figures only. But this team went on to become a great success during 1996 world cup and contribution of Murali in bowling was phenomenal along with Vaas & Wikramasinghe and batting was taken care by Jeya Surya, Ranatunga, Aravinda De Silva, Mahanama & Tillakratne. He was one of the core member of the best team Sri Lanka has ever produced till date.

From then the guy whom i admired has become the guy I mostly hated as Sri Lanka started winning matches & Murali would be one of the striking force for the victory. But I think India in the one of the team which has hammered him a lot. But his 100 wickets haul can show he was a success against India. Many times i supported the decision of banning him for chucking not because of logic but because I wanted to get rid off matches against India.

Second thing I got upset was him getting married to Madhu Malar daughter of Malar hospitals and I felt like i lost a fortune & a beauty . Still i envy him for that.

Today again he is one of the reason for India’s loss. But we must accept that this guy is a genius cricketer. It is not a joke for someone to be leading wicket taker in both ODI & in Test matches.

When I saw his farewell I instantly remembered the day when I first came to know about him & how he has changed the fortunes of a small island nation & his own image.

At this moment I would Thank him for entertaining us for all these years…

This is certainly a moment of pride for Chennaites. CSK Rocks!!!

There are several significant dates in Indian cricket history. Take June 25 for instance. A later generation would easily remember it as the day that India won the World Cup in England in 1983, while deeper followers of the game will identify it as the date India began her international journey at Lord’s in 1932.

August 24 is another historic date which Indian cricket fans will recall with relish – the day India finally won a Test and a series in England for the first time by winning the match at the Oval in 1971. It should also be easy to remember February 10 – the day India won her first Test match at Chepauk in 1952.

March 10 has to be one of the most significant dates in Indian cricket, for on this day 14 years apart two great triumphs were notched up. In 1971, India scored their maiden Test victory over West Indies and that was enough to give them the series played in the Caribbean. In 1985, India beat back successive challenges from Pakistan, England, Australia and New Zealand and won the World Championship of Cricket one day tournament in Melbourne with another victory over Pakistan in the title clash. Both triumphs were also notable because they were unexpected. When the Indians toured the Caribbean islands in 1971 they were rated as no-hopers.

In 23 Tests between the two countries dating back to 1948, India had never taken even the first innings lead. They had lost 12 matches and drawn eleven. And yet in the first Test at Kingston India not only took the first innings lead but also enforced the follow on before West Indies managed to save the Test.

However, the home team could not escape defeat in the second Test at Port of Spain. India dominated the match literally from the first ball when Abid Ali bowled Roy Fredericks and finally on March 10, registered a seven-wicket victory with a day to spare – their first victory over the West Indies in 25 Tests. Interestingly, the Test also marked the debut of Gavaskar.

Fourteen years later, Gavaskar was at the helm when the Indians took off for Australia. The Test series and the one-day series against England at home had just been lost and the atmosphere was anything but congenial. India were the reigning World Cup champions alright but since that memorable June day in 1983, their record had taken a beating. They had been outclassed 0-5 by the West Indies in 1983-84 and also went down to Australia at the start of the following season.

The WCC was going to be particularly tough assignment for all the seven Test playing nations were taking part. India were placed in group A along with Australia, England and Pakistan, while group B comprised New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

On current form, India were rated rank outsiders and given little chance of making the semifinals. But once the tournament began there was a transformation. The diffidence of the England series was a thing of the past and the Indians played confidently, even aggressively.

One amazing win followed another as the bowlers picked up the wickets at regular intervals and the batsmen got the runs at a brisk pace. Pakistan were beaten, then England and then Australia and India had made it to the semifinals. With another emphatic win over New Zealand, India unexpectedly made it to the title clash against Pakistan who had shocked West Indies in the other semifinal.

By now, however, the Indians were playing like a well oiled  machine that was purring along. They were simply unstoppable and an eight-wicket victory over Imran Khan and his men was the perfect manner in which to end a tournament where they had a dream run.

The picture of the Indian team taking a victory lap at the MCG in the Audi car that was presented to Man of the Series Ravi Shastri remains one of the most memorable in Indian cricket history.

And, in a poll conducted a few years ago, the WCC triumph was rated even higher than the World Cup victory.

For one thing the opposition was stronger and the victories were all emphatic in nature. Also, this was an all-win record whereas during the World Cup campaign two years before the Indians won six matches but lost two.

The 25th anniversary of the WCC triumph is as good a time as any to recall a very significant date in Indian cricket. Oh yes, March 10, whether 1971 or 1985, is one of the dates remembered with relish by Indian cricket fans.

Today must be an enjoyable day for lot many reasons like; 

• It is birthday of my icon Rajini Kanth.
• Had a lot of productive meeting in office.
• Visited CEO LifeStyle’09 in Chennai Trade Centre & enjoyed it very much.
• India won T20 against Sri Lanka & squared the series. 

So what more a person can get in a day? Being born from a Cricket crazy country and also to watch your country wining a match is a pleasant feel for any Indian. That too when it happens at the close of a happy day there is nothing more to say. 

I must say kudos Yuvraj Singh. What a treat he has given to all Indian during his Birthday. Great bowling, Spectacular batting & finally winning the match for India. 

I wish Yuvi a Many More Happy returns of the day and thank you for making the day so special.

I think it is high time for Indian fans to get mature when it comes to their expectation on Cricket. Personally I’m a great cricket fan and I can’t tolerate India loosing. But we have to understand how we loose. For sure the current team is the best even team India has produced in last 60 years and it has got lot of laurels.

But yesterday I got frustrated to watch a Tamil news channel telling Dhoni would be removed from Captaincy for Team India’s exit from T20 world cup.

Also I think Media is going over board in doing their postmortem. All I can say is Dhoni has proved his mantle as a captain on more than one occasion and this one defeat should not question his capabilities as a leader.

We must acknowledge that T20 is a game of luck. In this format of game any one player’s overwhelming performance can turn any match. This is evident from Team’s like Ireland & Netherlands winning prominent teams which would have been a challenge for them in One day format.

T20 doesn’t allows any martin for error compared with one day format where in you can make up for your mistake. This short version of game is highly speculative and more of a gamble.

We must also blame our Media for this defeat because from the beginning of the game they created lot of unnecessary issues like Shewag incident, IPL fatigue etc. Their interference on player’s privacy and team’s privacy has gone beyond limit. All we have to do is to control our media from doing nonsense job of criticizing.

I’m sure Dhoni & Co will bounce back strong with their capabilities. Good luck Team India for future endowers.

I wanted to take this topic because this in one topic which I debate with my friend K.Balaji. We have been astonished by the overwhelming success of India Premier League (IPL) and there has been lots of applause for itz architect Lalit Modi. Ofcourse he has done a great job by bringing all players at one place and added glamour by adding cheer girls and bollyhood.

But we have all forgotten the real person who was behind such an idea it was Indian Cricket League (ICL) and team. They deserve a lot to corner BCCI and the end result was a great product called IPL.

But what lesson we must learn from ICL is one must be in Right place and Right time to succeed. This reminds of my father who keeps feeling bad that he didn’t deserve growth in his company and he often feels bad that his juniors have gone above him.

But the sad thing is my father had a accounting degree and he was working with an Engineering company where people with Engineering background got more growth than him. My father didn’t realize this or didn’t understand this. He would have had great career growth if he has joined a Bank or any other company whose business model was related to accounts.

My father’s ignorance took a toll on me and my sister. He came to a conclusion that accounting specialization is of no value and only people with engineering specialization have value.

My father’s case can my compared with ICL where both of them lost because of being in a wrong place.

For wrong timing we can show cases of good movies in India which fails miserable because they might have got released when there is a Cricket World Cup or would have got released when theatres are on strike.

Likewise I see many people complaining about job satisfaction, fatigue etc. For all those people I’d ask them to see if they are in the right place or time.

On a last note let us not forget the contribution of ICL to Indian Cricket. They have pushed the competitor to get the best out of them. Still they are fighting and even of they loose they can feel proud for giving a brave and bold fight. For sure they have a place in my heart.

Itz been 20 years of international career and still going strong and we are talking about none other than our cricketing wizard Sachin Tendulkar… The day still reminds in my eyes as ever… I was studying in my Grade 5 and my uncle said this is the youngest player in the world and I was unable to pronounce his name… For some time was calling him as TENDOS…

From that moment I’ve been following each and every birthday of him and he has come a long way in his life and career… What a man and his contributions to game and country is unquestionable… There are lots of sites that were offering statistics of him… But I want to know how many days in this 20 years he has played professional cricket… Here is the stat;

He has spent one third of his career in playing competitive cricket which comes to six years and eight months…

Let me take this opportunity to wish this legend a Happy Birthday and wish he plays for the country for atleast next 2 years…

IPL starts from 18^th and more importantly it starts with Chennai Super Kings & Mumbai Indians… Last year I didn’t show much interest in the beginning but over days the tournament pulled me and also had opportunities to watch matches because of my friend Prasad’s influence with India Cements… This time I miss the tournament in India coz I can’t watch matches from the Stadium… Anyways let me do put a to-do list and make my schedule such that it doesn’t affect my work and watching matches…

• Download Matches Schedule and Place it in Desktop & stick a printout of schedule in my table…
• Subscribe for Sony Max in Sun Direct DTH… This is first priority and this must be done tomorrow itself…
• Buy Chennai Super Kings T-shirt from Reebok…
• Block Rs.10,000/- for betting with friends particularly with my twitter mate Sameer…
• Change my caller tunes to Chennai Super Kings song…
• If possible perform a special puja for Chennai Super Kings to win the cup this time…
• Form a group in Madurai to watch matches… In Chennai there is no need as there are lots of group which I must choose and join…

Also last time we went with my MBA group for matches… This time there is a get-together on April 27, 2009 before the graduation day… So, I might not miss my MBA group this time…