मालवा में पानी की कमी है । पिच की ठीक से तराई नहीं हुई तो सूखा रह गया । बिना घास के ढीले विकट पर पहले अवर से ही धूल उड़ने लगी थी । मैच की पाँचवी गेंद को बेतहाशा टर्न मिला । कंगारू स्पिन तिकड़ी के सामने आईपीएल सुपरस्टार्स के होश फाख्ता हो गए…
Category: Cricket
VIRAT KOHLI’s SUBTLE ART OF BEING IN FINE NICK BUT NOT GETTING TEST HUNDREDS
Virat Kohli fought really hard in the second innings of the Indore Test. Adversity and Australia squeeze out the best in him. With India facing a huge first innings deficit on the shit-cake of the Holkar wicket, Kohli applied himself beautifully and played his very best. He hit a glorious cover drive for four, and…
अतुल बेड़ाड़े के चार छक्के फिर भी शारजाह में भारत की पाकिस्तान से हार
भला हो यूट्यूब के एआई का । कहीं से अतुल बेड़ाड़े का एक विडियो सुझाव भेज दिया । बैठे-बैठे मैं उनतीस साल पहले ट्रांसपोर्ट हो गया । मौका था औस्ट्राल-एशिया कप फाइनल का – भारत बनाम पाकिस्तान, वेन्यू शारजाह, साल चौरानबे । दिन यकीनन शुक्रवार रहा होगा, महीना अप्रेल का था, यानि हमारी फाइनल परीक्षाएँ…
Dropped by the Wicket-Keeper Time, Pant must play like a Man Spared to Rule
No one buys a fancy car to crawl like a tortoise. Yet hardly anyone drives fast to meet his maker. The young just wish to soar above the tedious and the commonplace. ‘Feeling alive’ is a worthy pursuit. Speeding is how you leave the rest of the world behind. You just do not want to…
Sir Garry Sobers, “King Cricket” – A Man for all Positions and every kind of Job
Garry Sobers scored more than 8000 runs at an average of 57, hit 26 hundreds, claimed 235 wickets at 34 runs per wicket, and bagged 109 catches. He has a simple enough explanation for this legendary fecundity. “For most of my international career, I was playing for two.” The other one being Collie Smith, who…
The Ever Undependable, Always in Motion, Frivolous & Pathetic Mr.Karthik
Dinesh Karthik is not just a perennial passenger and a cipher contributor, he has pathetic body language, which is enough to sink any sports team in the moments of crisis.In the match against Pakistan yesterday, he trod into the middle taking his usual busy strides when India required 16 runs off 5 balls. Akash Chopra…
Disproportionate Frenzy upon reaching Individual Milestones– A Typical Indian Ailment
You cannot blame Virat Kohli for trying. He is a professional cricketer who has been woefully out of form for three long years. He had to cop a lot of criticism which the anxious fans and cricket fraternity dished out. Then one fine evening, he came up against emotionally spent, physically exhausted Afghan bowlers, going…
Arsh’s cool, but time to question Bhajji
Arshdeep knows he dropped a dolly. It was a crunch moment. In a crucial match against Pakistan! Encomiums were not likely to come his way for this costly drop. Mollycoddling is still not a national pastime. India is not yet a ‘woke’ country. We might never become a liberal heaven. He had erred big time….
फॉर्म हुआ फुर्र, कोहली होजा हुर्र
शास्त्री तो बहुत पहले ही रेस्ट prescribe कर दिया, सनीभाई ने इस आरामखोरी को criticize भी कर दिया, कपिल पाह्जी ने ‘drop him’ ऐसा advice कर दिया, चोपड़ी-भोगली ने फिर भी कोहली को eulogize ही किया, क्या रे विरटवा, professionalize करते-करते सब commercialize कर दिया? रोहित ने भले खराब फॉर्म को trivialize कर दिया हो,…
The FALL of ROY- An Obituary for Andrew Symonds (Poem)
( I wrote this poem in 2009. Pup had refused to stand-by Symo, and the latter was sent home by the Australian team management. His career seemed to be as good as over.) Warnie’e era was over, the Pigeon had flown, The explosive Gilly retired, giant Haydos gone, Suckers took over the Cricket Down Under,…
An Ode to the Blonde Conjuror of Leather-ball Tricks (For Warnie!)
Records drew the contours, Charisma filled-in colours, Bamboozled by his craft, Magic was lent by charm. (4) The promise of ball in flight, Realized in dip or drift, Beautifully it then ripped, The woodwork lay shattered. (8) Crunch brought out his best, The Showman came alive, He always had one more trick, Forever carried that…
Lloyd, Imran & Dhoni – Exercising Captain’s Prerogative in World Cup Finals
When Dhoni walked in at three-down at the Wankhede, he had before him two famous precedents when skippers promoted themselves up the order in World Cup finals. Imran Khan had batted at number 3 in 1992, above Miandad, Malik and Inzamam, and had scored 72 match-defining runs. His century-partnership with Miandad for the third wicket…
Abhinav Pancholi 