Sreesanth: Enigma Personified

Interestingly, this post comes exactly a year after I’d written ‘An open letter to whomsoever it may concern with cricket.’ I am still a cricket fan. I still like the IPL. But sadly, very sadly, nothing much seems to have changed. Déjà vu! Read on…

A couple of years back, I remember watching a Malayalam movie which had a character named Sreenath, who was a flamboyant Indian cricketer. Although he is not central to the movie, a sub-plot to the movie is about the betting and match-fixing scandals. In the movie, a ‘clean’ Sreenath helps the cops in investigating and busting the syndicate of thugs that run the business. The actor, although not a look-alike, played a character that closely resembled a certain Santhakumaran Sreesanth. Two years can be a really long time in life, let alone in a small world of cricket.

Malayalees always shared a love-hate relationship with Sreesanth. They loved him because he was the first real Mallu to make it big in the international cricketing circuit (Abey Kuruvilla, Tinu Yohannan and Sunil Valson came and went, largely unnoticed). They hated him because of his antics. One can just glance through some public forums to see the amount of venom spewed on him, some of them funny, some downright ugly. But then, Mallus, by nature, are not known for their politeness.

I wasn’t his biggest fan, but I didn’t hate him either. The ‘Santh’ (quietness) began and ended in his name. But despite all his antics on and off the field, some of which I secretly enjoyed, he came across to me as someone who’d wear his heart on his sleeve when he had the ball in his hands. Take for instance, when he did a mid-pitch jig after smashing Andre Nel over his head. Or after making the pitch a pair of African drums when he knocked over Mathew Hayden in the World T20 semi-finals! But then there were some, where I felt like doing a Bhajji on him. Like when he bowled a beamer to Kevin Pietersen in England, or when he was giving an unwanted send-off to Andrew Symonds after the latter had already gone hammer and tongs on him. Or yesterday!

As the news about his arrest by Delhi Police trickled in, through Twitter of course, my first reaction was that of disbelief. I was led to believe that it was a massive frame up. It began to sink in. Slowly. If Hansie Cronje, believed to be an epitome of honesty, could succumb, Sree was like the hungry lonely fish in a drying pond. Easy picking!

How could a man who seemingly is from a well-to-do family, earning probably to the count of millions of dollars through his contracts, and well on his way back to the Indian team be so stupid? Surely, money can’t be the lure in this case, although it might have been for Ajith Chandila and Ankeet Chavan! Was it his friendship with his “distant relative” Jiju Janardhan? It probably was, but only Sree can answer that. 

I am being told by reliable sources that he was quite a loner in the team. But in Rahul Dravid, he had the best leader possible to get his career back on track. He was back bowling, and bowling well. And the more heartening part - behaving better! He was largely credited for being an inspiration to another probable future Indian player from Kerala - Sanju Samson and also to a talented Sachin Baby. One can only wonder what’s going through them after their ‘etan’ (big brother in Malayalam) is now probably behind bars now for selling himself off.

Santhakumaran Sreesanth was always an enigma. He remains one. Sadly, not just for his former fans, but even for his own family! 

When Mumbai called Virat a 'Cheater!'

Mumbai is selfish. Very selfish. The culture of 'Yeh mera hai. Tujhe isme kya lena dena' (roughly summarized and translated to 'Mind Your Own Business') is very much imbibed, if not already born with, into every second Mumbaikar's genes. That is seen everyday in our fight for a breathing space in a local train or on the roads, when we don't wait for a signal to go green. Or worse still, it is seen from the 'Priest and Levi'  (from Jesus' parable of Good Samaritan) attitude while someone's bleeding to death.

That probably explains why some section didn't care whether Virat Kohli was an Indian. For them, he had 'cheated' against their city's team, owned by India's wealthiest guy. Much like how Kohli himself didn't care when he took up a verbal fight, which almost went from mouth to fist, with a senior Indian cricketer from his own state just a couple of weeks back.

Kohli wanted the crowd to treat it as just another sport. He probably should have done the same when he reciprocated with a middle finger when the Aussie crowd gave him an earful. Or when he mouths a few 'non-airable' words almost every time he hits a century.

Coming to Wankhede's reaction, the fact that it is one of the most hostile crowds cannot be lost on anyone. 'Monkey-scandal' (not calling it 'Monkeygate!') had its genesis here, only for their target to play for their team a couple of seasons later. They booed their very own - a man who gets a standing ovation even in Rawalpindi. A kind-hearted like Harsha Bhogle may say these are a few 100! But when it happens with such alarming regularity, you got to question a city's attitude. And this comes from a hardcore Mumbaikar, who has no second favourites! I love it, still.

The other aspect that largely went unnoticed was the incident itself. Rather, the attitude surrounding the incident. Yes, the bowler didn't do it intentionally. Yes, it was all fair-and-square and Virat was well within his rights not to withdraw the appeal. Ambati Rayudu was unlucky. But he was out. Period. However...

Let me just draw a parallel between this dismissal and Ashwin's infamous attempt at Mankading Sri Lanka's Thirimanne. Here (Rayudu), it was pure bad luck! There, the non-striker was careless and stupid to venture out of his crease. Here, the bowler's leg accidentally came en-route the batsman's outstretched bat; there, the bowler's situational awareness caught the non-striker napping. Yet, our experts and media called this decision fair; but when it comes to Mankading, they'd go head-over-heels in saying how "unsporting and unfair" the bowler and his skipper are, to appeal (even if it is well within their rights). Playing within the rule book, I am still not convinced how one can be called fair and the other one not! I suppose, just like in real life, some laws are more equal than the others.

I guess, that is probably why many call Cricket a complicated game. We all love it, still.

Tweets during my three-hour local train journey to office today

Mumbai will never be short of stories. And each Mumbaikar will always have one every hour. Here's mine represented in the form of a collection of tweets during my three-hour local train journey to office today (produced in chronological order so you can get a feel of the 'ordeal'): 

1. Faaaaantastic morning... Till I reached the station. Central Railway continues its 'khed hai'/'regret the incovenience' announcements.
2. Trains continue to be in the 'delayed' or 'cancelled' mode in Central Line. Those travelling,plan accordingly. #MumbaiTrains
3. "Yaatriyon ko honewali asuvidha ke liye hame khed hai." Sounds very re-assuring and genuine,coming from a pre-recorded voice.#MumbaiTrains
4. Shouts,arguments&abuses in the train. Kalyan v/s Dombivli. Thank you, Central Railway. Couldn't have had a better start.#MumbaiTrains
5. One of the 'best' counter-argument points I've heard. "I am more educated than you." All happening in my train. #MumbaiTrains
6. What is it about arguments inside a first-class compartment where people suddenly start arguing in English? #MumbaiTrains
7. So people in FC compartments switch to arguing in English to prove that they are 'educated.' #irony#MumbaiTrains
8. If u ever wanted to witness a diverse India,just travel in a Mumbai local train during peak hrs. Abuses fly in all languages.#MumbaiTrains
9. Highly interesting when the arguments in a train turn into an 'us versus them' debate. Us=Kalyan Maharashtrains;them=Domb Maharashtrains
10. Peace in first class for the time being but i can hear abuses from the adjoining second class compartment now.
11. All the audience lacked in the verbal warfare in this first class compartment was a pair of boxing gloves. #MumbaiTrains
12. Ahaa! White flags. The 2 'educated' folks have moved on from arguing to discussing the delay in train. In Marathi, of course.#MumbaiTrains
13. I should have obeyed my instincts. Should have! Should have gone to Khandala in stead.
14. Stuck b/w Mumbra&Kalwa in a packed train for more than 1 hour. On a normal day,I'd be having my double half-fry in office now.#MumbaiTrains
15. Tempers flared.Fists raised.All because of delayed trains.Tempers cooled.White flags raised.New friends made.All because of delayed trains.
16. Train just snailed its way to Thane.1 'arguer' got off;not before shaking hands with his erstwhile rival "chala saaheb.bhetuya."#Mumbai
17. And not surprisingly, there were 4 Tata employees, including me, of the 6 seated folks to get off at VT.
18. VT! After 182 mins and 37 seconds of arguments, abuses, verbal cat and dog fights, peace talks & handshakes, my train tweetathon ends.

Hillsborough Disaster: Goof-ups, Cover-ups and a long wait!

In what was one of the biggest goof-ups by the English police, not only did they do little to rescue the choking and dying Liverpool supporters crushing (and vomiting to death) against each other and the fence at Hillsborough Football Stadium in Sheffield that fateful April afternoon of 1989, but strangely they didn’t even allow 43 of the 44 ambulances waiting outside from entering the stadium. As if that wasn’t enough, post the incident, they shifted the blame to the fans for the disaster accusing them of rioting and looting under the influence of alcohol. Indeed turning out to be one of the biggest and shameful cover-ups in British history, supported by an irresponsible editor of a leading tabloid, perhaps to sell a few extra copies.

For 23 years, the families of the 96 victims carried the burden of ridiculous false allegations that their "drunken and ill-mannered" sons/daughters/husbands/wives were responsible for their own crushing deaths that afternoon. Although they painfully fought for justice all these years, and even as the independent panel vindicated the fans from all blame, one wonders how much of that can make-up for all that the families went through for these two decades! The period between 1989 to 2012 was far from 'getting over and move on' for many of these folks. Some had to live through the burden. Some committed suicide. Some became mentally unstable. Some marriages collapsed. All of them had one less loved one in their families.

At 10, Jon-Paul Gilhooley was the youngest person to die at Hillsborough. His death and the tragedy inspired his cousin to lead his boyhood team and later, reach the highest level in club and world football- a certain Liverpool legend by the name Steven Gerrard! Stevie G though, undoubtedly, would have traded his entire career for a peaceful and eventless 15^th April 1989!

Adios Andy: Witty lines from Roddick!

After his loss to Juan Martin Del Potro yesterday in the fourth round of the US Open, Andy Roddick bid adieu to the world of professional Tennis! He was my personal favourite of the current lot. And in a generation that produced some legendary rivalries among future hall-of-famers, Roddick stood out as much for his funny quotes as his scud-like serves!

While the Djoker is an on-court buffoon, Roddick's witty statements to the Press made him one lovable guy. Well, at least for me, he was! I'll surely miss the character that was Andy on court, but would love to see him behind the microphone doing commentary. Hey may not have won many tournaments, and may only have one grand slam board etched with his name, but there's little denying that he was one of the news-makers in Tennis, and more often than not, for a right reason! Here are some of his classic verbal serves sourced from various websites:

 Whatever I said last year, just copy it. I'm sure it still fits.
Speaking to the press after losing the first round at the 2006 French Open

 It comes from playing like s**t. Why would I feel confident right now? If that was the case, I don't think we'd be sitting here having this funeral-like press conference. It's just weird because, I used to like hit for a half hour and then go eat Cheetos the rest of the day, come out and drill forehands. Now I'm really trying to make it happen, being professional, really going for it, and I miss my Cheetos.
Speaking with reporters on the source of his frustration and lack of confidence after his loss to Igor Andreev at Indian Wells. 

 "As good as anybody not named Roger."
On his chances at the US Open. 

"Roger Federer has a physical and mental advantage over everybody. He's doing to tennis what Tiger Woods did to golf a few years ago. He is making us all improve."

 "You said it, I didn't. I can't think of anything funny to say that would not get me in trouble. I'm going to leave that one alone."
Replying to a media question as to whether the new long pants worn this year by some of the Spaniards and other players are "too metrosexual." 

 "If I'd known it was going to be this cold, I wouldn't have done it."
On his new short haircut at the Masters Cup in Houston

 "Neither will you."
During an on-line ESPN-sponsored chat answering the accusation "...you suck and you will never win a major again so what do you have to say about that?" 

 "Baah?"
Andy Roddick's answer to the question "What letter in the English language sounds like a female sheep" on the British "Weakest Link". 

 "Hey you guys with the ladder. If you come here I'll buy you pizza." 
Calling out to firefighters in the process of rescuing Roddick and other hotel guests from a fire in Rome. 

 "You're on live TV, you know. You look like a real moron right now." 
Yelling at a chair umpire at Indianapolis

 "That's definitely my most improved shot from last year. I hit a backhand lob winner in the first game, and a backhand passing shot to break. And another one in the tiebreak. I couldn't hit a backhand into the ocean last year." 
On his improved weakness

 "No, if I wore a sleeveless shirt, people would try to feed me after the match. If you got the guns, go for it. I got two breadsticks sticking out of my sleeve. I'll stick with sleeves." 
When asked if he would be going with the sleeveless look

 I'm the most successful bad player ever.

 You guys are brutal. Absolutely brutal. The guy has only made two Grand Slam finals this year. I would love his bad year. I would love it. 
On Roger Federer's 'bad' year

 I threw the kitchen sink at him but he went to the bathroom and got his tub. 
After being being asked how he felt of his own play after losing the Wimbledon 2004 final against Federer

 I'm going to have to start winning some of them to call it a rivalry.
After being asked whether he and Roger Federer had a rivalry that would last for years

There were a few more, but won't be ideal for my blog. Which one of these did you like the most?

An open letter to whomsoever it may concern with cricket

Dear to whomsoever it may concern with Cricket,

I am a cricket fan like countless other Indians & I've been one even before I could get my vocabulory in order. My mom often recalls the time when I was just 1 and a half (Yes, 1&a half), with a small wooden bat in hand, and a left-handers stance, I used to call on to my brother, "aee aee! (bowl bowl!)"

Over the years, the fascination for the game headed north when I saw real 'men' playing in whites, and at times, in my favourite blue. Then along came a certain Sachin Tendulkar. He was just 18 at the time. It was 1991 (a couple of years after his debut). While he was a star in the making, he hadn't attained the demi-god status that he's been unfairly given now. But something about him made me seriously pick up the game, even though I could hardly pick up a 'season' bat.

No matter what, I was there to support you guys. Tigers at home and cats abroad, we were tagged. I didn't care. I was an eternal optimist. We were often embarassed and laid low by our opponents. For me though, they were just because of poor umpiring, or unfair treatment, or just pure bad luck. We lost because we lost the toss, I told myself, and others. Yes, I did criticize when we were sloppy, which was more often than not, but that was more often than not, just to join the popular voice.

I joined Venky in giving Aamir Sohail a farewell he deserved in that famous QF at Bangalore in 1996. I rejoiced when we thrashed the 'Pakis' yet again. I cried with Kambli when he walked out of Eden in the Semis. For I 'agreed' with him that we could somehow pull this one off. For the next couple of years, I looked at Sri Lanka and Clive Lloyd as ‘cheaters.’ I saw red when Bishop's no-ball went unnoticed and India eventually succumbed chasing 120 at Barbados.

I hated the Delhi Police when they supposedly caught Hansie Cronje on tape. I disbelieved their talks about involvement of Indian cricketers. Then Cronje opened up. Skeletons fells out in South Africa. I felt betrayed. Yet, when he walked out of the press conference crying, I was one of the rare folks who felt pity! I wondered why! If anyone, I was to feel pity on myself for watching game(s) that was/were supposedly pre-decided! Then they found evidences against some of our own. And I still refused to believe, so what if our Board agreed with the CBI!

Then came the turn around. I was down on my knees with Sameer Dighe after Bhajji hit the winning runs to kill the Aussie winning streak! I leaped in the air when skipper Saurav went parallel to the ground after his 100 at Brisbane. I pumped my fist with Dravid after that famous victory at Adelaide. And I sledged Steve Waugh with Parthiv Patel when he saved them the blushes at Sydney.

I almost did a bare-chested dance with Sourav at the Lords Pavilion. I knocked out Kaif with Sourav. The emergence of youth and re-emergence of Indian cricket gave me goose-bumps. The poster of ‘Brave New India’ adorned my bedroom wall. India was winning again. Abroad. We were shedding our cat spots abroad, and putting on the tiger’s attire! We were no longer lambs for slaughter.

Along came the World Cup. Sachin’s square cut over point of Shoaib brought out a “Take that loser!” We rolled over every team, barring those men in yellow. But a final after 20 years was not a bad bargain!

I stood by you when you went back down. I thought, against hope that Greg and Sourav can work together. They didn’t. India suffered. A first round exit in the Caribbean and he was kicked out for good. When all hopes were dashed, you guys got home the T20 World Cup! I was that fan who stayed to my seat unmoved till Sree held onto that catch.

I cried foul when Steve Bucknor got it all wrong at Sydney, when the Aussies ‘cheated’ their way to victory. I was there to support Bhajji as he defended some serious racism allegations. And when we slammed the Aussies in the CB series tri-series final, it was the revenge that I was looking for.

I supported when Lalit Modi brought out IPL. I felt the purists were being unreasonable. So what if every six and catch were sponsored? So what if they showed firangs dancing after every wicket or boundary? For me, it was all about cricket! I saluted the legend from the third tier at Wankhede when he hit his first T20 century last year. Talks of malpractices in funding, bidding etc didn’t bother me. I was enjoying the cricket.

When the world around bitched about BCCI, I supported you. I thought we deserved the high-handedness we showed. We gave ‘them’ (ICC) money.

Then came the moment we all waited for throughout our lifetime. The fact that I high-fived my dad for the first ever time in life says a lot about that victory at Wankhede. Thank you MSD and Co! You did it for Sachin? I didn’t care! You did it for me!

Farewells along the way for legends like Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, gave me a tear or two. Yes, we got humiliated in England and Australia. Like a typical Indian fan, I reacted too! The guy who coolly rotated his bat after slamming Kulasekara over long-on was now no longer of being the skipper. Yet, I loved MSD!

I was not entirely angry when Pakistani cricketers were caught red-handed while spot-fixing. As long as they were not Indians, I was fine with it. We were too clean. Well, till recently. Cricketers caught on tape. Indian cricketers! Talking about spot-fixing, under-the-table black money, using women for luring etc. Barely did the investigation begin, you guys gave us more. Manhandling, abusing, sexual assault, and what not.

I am disappointed. IPL V gave me some awesome cricket, close matches, heart-breaks on the field. But it’s slowly meandering towards a dangerous territory. A territory that has got everything, but cricket! And rest assured, I won’t be a citizen there. Can some sense prevail and parity be restored? Waiting.

Sincerely,

With Love,
An Indian Cricket Fan (Still)

The Wait...

There I waited for her with bated breath. Thought she'd come, for surely, she knew my time, and she knew where I stood. The wait seemed longer than usual. I was tired, what with a long hard day at work! But with that hope in me, the tired body seemed secondary.

Was I too late? I don't think so. I've seen her before at this hour too. Negativity begins to reign at an hour like this. Was she asked out before by someone else? Is she already taken? Has she become somebody else's already? Suddenly, hopes begin to fall off, one after the other- like a pack of cards. Slowly, I start my walk of failure, or at least that's what it felt to me! Slowly as I began to tread back home, the last of those cards seem to have fallen within me. I wished there was someone to hold me. Someone to comfort me. Someone to walk with me. No. Alone I always was in this walk, and alone I always will be.

Wait a minute. Is that her? And she ain't with anyone! Wohooo! Here was my chance, and I wasn't gonna let it slip. She stopped right beside me. Almost breathless with my little walk and nervousness combined, I finally popped the question, "Bhaaisaab, Patharli jaaoge?"

"Nahi boss. Aaj rickshaw strike hai!"