Cricket and terror!

Thousands and thousands of blog and news entries have been written about Lankan cricketers coming under fire in Lahore. It is a very sad event, very sad for the brave Lankan cricketers and their families; very sad for the security personnel who died to save the Lankan cricketers; very sad for Pakistani cricketers and Pakistani cricket and last but not the least Pakistani public.

When no other cricket playing nation was ready to tour Pakistan, the Lankan board did. It was a brave decision. It is important to remember that the Lankan board was under lot of financial stress. They needed the money and the Pakistan board need home series. And voila! they both found an understanding and the Lankan players were flown off to Pakistan. The Lankan players, I am not sure, had much say in that. They might have sympathised with the financial position of their board or maybe it was a part of a deal in letting the players attend the IPL. Anyways, off the brave Lankan Lions flew!

The last time Pakistan played a test match at home was in early2008 or late 2007. The Pakistani cricket team has always been one with loads and loads of raw talent. Every other year, they unearth a teenager who plays in the international level with no difficulty. They have established batters and their fast bowling talent pool needs introduction only in non-cricketing nations. These players have little or no cricket in the last two years. Just in his first test match in a long time Younus went on to make a majestic 300+.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has been in a pickle ever since its inception. Team politics, drug abuse, match fixing, terrorism, mysterious death, battle with rebel league. You name it and they have faced it. Their board is the single most experienced body in the world in tackling the media. I am not sure they are proud of it. But they don't seem to have a way out of it. In the last two years, they have been bending over their back in trying to get the other teams to tour Pakistan. They have been fighting off the inhibitions of all other boards and also of ICC. They are supposed to host 2011 world cup. This would be a huge financial bust for the board and tourism of the country.

The Pakistani public have been forced to watch quality test cricket on TV or watch first-class matches. They love their cricket as much as any sub-continental country. They would have missed cheering for their favourite team on the grounds. They would surely have missed the Rawalpindi express steaming in and delivering balls at screaming pace; they would have missed Younus and Younis send the ball crashing to the boundaries. After more than a year, they got their wish, but cruel fate would take that away from them quickly. They cannot expect to see a home test in another two years.

In all this the security personnel are easily forgotten. They are the faceless people who have sacrificed their lives to save the Lankan lives. Not just the Lankan lives, they have also saved whatever pride is left in the Pakistani government. Had any Lankan player been injured gravely, the whole world would found satisfaction in calling Pakistan a 'failed state'. This is not time to blame Pakistan, it is time to help Pakistan come to terms and fight the terror inside. And Pakistan still has time to save its face and come out good, is thanks to these security personnel. I hope they rest in peace. I also hope the government looks after the families of its fallen heroes. The Lankans owe their lives to these heroes.

Terrorists won't hurt cricketers? Time to think again.

Bush-fire, cricket

Australia's cricketers will head to Victoria today to visit survivors of the deadly bushfires that have wreaked havoc across the state. Michael Clarke raised the idea with his team-mates in Adelaide and Cricket Australia (CA) gave its approval.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting says the players are keen to meet people in bushfire-affected areas and offer their support. "We're going to fly down to Melbourne and get on a team coach and go out to Whittlesea and spend a few hours there to try and make things a fraction easier if we can. We want to get in and help wherever we can," he said. Ponting says Clarke's idea was well received by players and officials alike. "So we'll go and lend our support and pay our respects."

Good onya mates... Well done!

The match between Australia and New Zealand doubled up as a fund-raiser and garnered around 6 million dollars. This money is inclusive of the match fees of all the Aussie players and a percentage of NZ players too. And generous donations from the crowd and the ticket proceeds. Some of the Aussie cricketers went with donation boxes amongst the crowd during the match.

PS: This is an older blog, which got accidently deleted.

Dhoni impresses!

Dhoni and Kumble were impressive today. I liked the way they went about saving the day. But the aussies were good. They can finally target and break the record. They deserve it. Umpiring errors do happen. We must not forget the test match in pakistan, where Yuvraj scored a century. He was out on atleast 5 times. But was not given out. There is no use cribbing. What goes around comes back.

I was actually cursing Ponting and was convinced that he was an idiot for not declaring earlier. But he proved himself to be a genius. What a win!! They could have managed to win sooner had they declared earlier. Saurav was classic. He played like he was in the nets. What a fluency with the bat. He was by far the best batsman in the second innings, including the aussies. Even the centurians Hussey and Hayden did not stroke the ball like he did. I pray, he keeps playing like this, forever and ever.

I havent thought of much else today. That is sad, is it not? Anyways.

India in Australia

Hi all,

I am starting with a my favorite topic, cricket! As per the Indian tradition, i love cricket.
But i love Australian cricket. So here is my dilemma, i am an Indian living in Australia. So whom do i support?? Well some say, being outside one's country makes you long for your country. They are right. I do long for India. But does that mean i should support for India?

I have been a staunch supporter of the Aussie style of cricket. I can say that i have played a bigger part in the success of the aussie cricket fortune, for from the time i started supporting them (which was right after the '96 world cup), they have been steadily dominating the world!!

So when i go to MCG in a week's time, i would have completed 12 years of utter devoted support of the aussies. Would it not be back-stabbing if i change sides now??

There is another piece to this dilemma (i might as well call it "trilemma") - Dada. I just love him. And after making a spectacular come back to the team, he is in the peak of his form and it will be the hundredth time when he steps out at MCG.

I want a century from Dada but i also want Aussies to win!!
It wouldn't surprise me if i haven't decided whom to back when i go to the ground on saturday.

Well i forgot the most important thing, I have ticket for the fourth day, and i hope the indians play till then.

Well this is my first blog. Keep coming back. i promise to keep them lively.