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The IPL fever is in its full intensity in India these days. IPL and its probable winner is one of the hottest topics of discussion here. Many people are of the view that it is one of the best things that ever happens to the game of cricket. In fact IPL has become so popular worldwide that Australian Captain Ricky Ponting had to issue an appeal to his countrymen to focus more on their national team’s recent series with West Indies than to watch their retired cricketers perform in IPL. The entire IPL tournament is being broadcast in Australia as free-to-air and it has become a huge craze.

As I watch so much craze of Cricket among people some thoughts come to my mind. What exactly is there in this game that make it so interesting and worth watching ? Why people are so crazy about Cricket especially in India ? Here is my attempt to demystify the secret of this game’s huge popularity in India (and the world at large). Read the rest of this entry »

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Hello friends !

Well I am already late in getting my first post of 2008. First a belated happy new year to all of you. I wish all of you good luck in the days to come.

India was livid for the last few days. And I really mean it. In a country, where Cricket is a religion, the treatment meted out to team India in Sydney test match turned out to be burning issue which overshadowed all other news. In every nook and corner of every city of India, this acrimonious test match was the hot debatable issue. The way Steve Bucknor handled the match with his extremely bad umpiring that appeared to be a partial one, resulted into instant anger and anguish in India. Thankfully today ICC has announced that Bucknor will not be the Umpire in the next test. Harbhajan Singh has also got some relief as he has been allowed to play the next test match till his appeal is pending.

Well no matter how this conflicting issue is sorted out, one thing has become as clear as a crystal – Australian Cricket team is no longer the best and the brightest team of the world. This team of once disciplined men, which attracted the admiration of the whole world for their professional game of power and performance, has turned into a bunch of wild hounds whose only aim is to win a match - by hook or by crook. I am sorry to see this unfortunate transformation of the team Australia which I once admired so much. The boys of Ricky Ponting have made me sad and disappointed. Their unnecessary aggressiveness and bully attitude has changed the way Cricket was used to be played till some years ago. Alas ! it’s no more a gentlemen’s game. It has become a display of ugly machismo where there is no respect left for the opponents.

The popularity of team Australia has touched a new low at least in India. From what I read in various news articles and blog, I think that Australian people in general are not happy with the way the team Australia match. Many Australians felt a bit empty with no urge to celebrate this win that way they normally do.

However, I think that, in the ultimate analysis, it is just a game. Emotions are momentary and slowly will fade away. There is nothing more interesting than to see a nail-biting cricket match- provided it is played with the sportsman spirit. I hope the series will be a success and this incident will not put any permanent scar on anybody. Amen !

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Wow ! India has won the 20-20 world cup. It’s truly incredible. For the last 24 hours the only thing which is dominating the discussions of Indians everywhere is this win of India.

The young Indian team has done the impossible. Look at the team. It came to South Africa without it’s three regular veterans: Saurabh Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. ­Apart from that, the team came without any full time coach !

Yet, this team of young and quite inexperienced Indian players created history. In it’s giant killer spree, the team defeated England, South Africa and Australia in a row and finally it beat Pakistan by 5 run in a nail biting final. And what a final it was !

With all the ingredient of a hollywood blockbuster, the final was a thrilling battle till the last moment. Heartbeats of millions of Indians nearly stopped when the Pakistani Batsman duo of Misbah-ul-Haq and Tanveer started hitting sixes. Pakistan, needing 53 from 23 balls at one point, brought down the requirement to six from four. The advanced celebrations stopped and the whole nation hooked to the Television to watch what was going to happen in the last six balls.

Joginder Singh was given the responsibility to do last over. Six balls and 13 runs to win with one wicket in hand. The first ball floated beyond off stump for a big wide. The third, a full toss, was slugged over long-off for a six. Now it’s only six runs to win in four balls But then came the unforeseen twist: Joginder, not Misbah, was the one to hold his nerve.

Here was the moment when this extremely talented batsman of Pakistan could not control his nerves and played a very bad shot at short fine leg giving an easy catch to S. Sreesanth. As the last wicket of Pakistan fell, the whole country entered into a jubilation mode. The battle was won. We are the new world champion in the new format of this game.

Simply mind blowing !

There was a premonition to most people that something like this is going to happen. As the match was in the evening of a working day (Monday), many people took a day off. In my office, majority of the people started leaving by 4.30 PM. By the time it struck 5.30 PM the whole office had worn a deserted look. Later when the match came into full swing, it appears that entire India has stopped.

It is after a very very long time (to be precise after 24 years) that India has won any major International Tournament of Cricket. In view of the disastrous performance of Indian team in this year’s world cup at West Indies (where team even failed to get into Super Eight), there can no bigger consolation than this. I hope that this major win give Indian Cricket a major boost and the team will be inspired to perform better in other versions (Test & One Day) of the game too.

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