GR Vishwanath !! Epitome of Sqaure Cuts and special number 4

As the first little master GR Vishwanath or our great Vishy completes 50 years of first class cricket , I am tempted to revisit my choice of top 5 number 4 batsmen , however with huge respect keeping old stalwarts  out of the list and keeping the choice bit contemporary.
(The guys below played at other batting slots as well , but major contribution was at number 4 , hence enlisted).

5) Martin Crowe : A New Zealand great , tremendous cricketing brain , innovative captain and a great human being. The saddest day for any cricket fan was the day it was known , he was terminally ill due to cancer, ultimately cutting his life short. Happy for him that he could travel all the way to Melbourne for the only cricket World Cup finals New Zealand ever featured in . I assume the world lost a potential great coach because of untimely death of the great Martin .

He brought a sea change in NZ batting lineup and made the world change its outlook towards NZ. Few of the classics I remember from him was his 299 against the Lankans. He got out when none in the game believed he could get out. His partnership with Andrew Jones (186) in this match of 467 was a world record.
Martin’s exquisite timing , cool approach and ready to play in any condition brought a huge stability to the team. He singlehandedly brought Kiwis to World Cup semis in 92 World Cup . RIP Martin , we miss you !!

4) Javed Miandad : For all those controversies off the field and on the field , Mum-n-Dad was one of the finest number 4 batsman.
So composed and fiery on the pitch.Dominated the bowlers all over the world and giving a feel of not getting out ever. His 280* against India in Pakistan was a gem of innings to watch though bit controversial as in those days he was never given LBW at home. 99 against India in 83-84 series making crowd erupt and His last ball Chetan Sharma Six took away Australiasia cup from India.

His controversies like almost hitting Lillee
or jumping on the pitch to mimic Kiran More ,surely not matched his real worth as he was great anytime , nonetheless his mark on the game remains forever.

3) Brian Lara : One and only Brian Charles LARA. The name itself brings cheer to the game . Only batsman to score 501* in a first class game . Only player in the history to get back the coveted record of  most number of runs in test innings and scoring 400* against England.
Superlative footwork, play shots at will and all of them qualifying for classics was the epitome of his innings.
Windies was always great but LARA made it to top when the decline of the great nation was obvious . He single handedly kept the name of the team atop.

Leaving the battle of supremacy with Sachin when he was on top of his game marks Lara’s attitude and approach towards the game.

He did it in his own way and walked away as a king.

2) Sachin Tendulkar : The only GOD made out of human beings in the modern era is Sachin. A superhuman and super batsman.
All records galore and at the pick all through his career. His 241* against Australia when completely out of form remains the most memorable innings for me.He restrained himself from playing any out of the offstump ball all through that inning.

Guess the name is enough here 🙂

1) GR Vishwanath: For me he is one of the best , India ever produced.

He is the one who made people like me understand the meaning of century on debut. I recollect sticking to my radio with my father in the hope he would surpass Vinod Mankad’s 231 in an epic innings ultimately failing at 222 in Chennai against England.
His sqaurecuts are still unmatched . His ethics of the game are still remembered. A brilliant slips fielder and a complete team man he made a great combination with his brother in law Sunil Gavaskar on and off the field. Dip in the form and pressure from media , ended his career after mediocre Pakistan series in 1983. His Midas Touch is still missed in the game.

I was tempted to  name Greg Chappel , Graeme Pollock and Virat Kohli in the above list but choice became tough and chose to restrict the count to 5 .

However being biased Gavaskar fan , remember his score of 236* against WI at Chennai batting at number 4 again proving the best batsman of any team normally bats at 4 🙂

Each player added immense contribution to the game but Vishy being Vishy would always remain special. He taught Indians how not to budge under pressure, play the game honestly , made a generation to follow the game of the cricket , took a back seat when the tide was against and created the most memorable square cut (almost patented) of his own and gifted this role model shot to the world of cricket .

Vishy’s contribution to the game of cricket would remain and recalled forever !!

- Jayawant

http://jay1t.blogspot.in/2017/11/as-first-little-master-gr-vishwanath-or.html

ASHES 2017 : Carnival of cricket

As England begins its quest for the coveted URN at the fag end of November’17 (23rd) , I get back to this most intriguing bilateral cricket series on the planet earth.

I still recollect those childhood memories when there was no Television , the only medium for me to have the updates on the ‘ASHES’ was Newspaper and I had all those goosebumps while opening the last page of the daily early morning to get the latest of the game. ASHES has been the BAAP of any cricket carnival and the winner takes it all kind of limelight for any cricket fan and to add to it  the Boxing Day Match has always been the icing of the game.

I guess these ‘ASHES’ in the urn are the most exceptional ones considering the fact that no other ASH would get love from so many people and for that matter any individual. Such is the ferocity with which ENGLAND and AUSTRALIA come against each other for a full 5 Test Match series every 2 years and try to prove their supremacy in one of the most hostile conditions. The name itself is born out of the rivalry between these 2 cricketing nations and coming out of colonial failure of the British against the Kangaroos in 1882 Test Match and the English Media declaring the obituary of Cricket for the Lords of the game. The bails of the match were burnt by the fans and presented in URN as ASHES to set this more than a century old  tradition of the cricket supremacy.

I have been fortunate to read or hear so many Ashes stories from my cricket bible (my father)  and few of them still fascinate me when I try to correlate modern day cricket with the old stalwarts. Don Bradman , Len Hutton, Neil Harvey who can forget their contributions to the game . A cricketer of caliber of Sir jack Hobbs with 197 First Class Centuries, Jim Laker’s 19 Test wickets in a Test Match , Truman, Lindwall , the list is endless. Bodyline series especially targeted for the DON by Jardine ( Kids must watch the Television Series Bodyline) , guess these were the absolute miracles of the game. These stalwarts had to travel through ships and stay away from the world and make the use of the deck to be in touch with the game , only geniuses would do that. And who knows if the world wars were not there , Bradman would have taken away all the honors of game from the rest of the generations to come.

Not only did ASHES give legends , it also produced the wonders of Benaud, Lawry who showed the world how to make a 5 day match interesting through their unequivocal  observation of the game. These commentators  in fact taught how the game should be seen , described and played too. Watching and listening to ASHES is a treat to eyes and ears with the tradition still being followed by modern game.

Coming back to Modern day ASHES , it always meant to be Lilee or Botham /Willis , Boycott, Gower , Gatting ,Lamb , Gooch , Underwood , Kim Hughes, Yallop and Borders, Lees, Mcgraths, Pontings, Haydens  and the magician Warenys of the game.. OOPS , I still feel I have left out so many names though.. Howsoever, the entire generation of English Cricketers could not beat the might of the Kangaroos in 90s. The Newspapers ( and the Television by now J) repeated the old story for a long time . I recollect the change in fortunes brought to England by Flintoff in the 2005 series. They have been in quite consistent since then and been a force in the world cricket primarily due to ASHES success. Watching these masters of the game has been an absolute privilege ( though not all in real and some for sure on the green platter). They were once in a lifetime kind of a lot. So focused and so adamant to prove a point.

The 2017 ASHES are going to be special one and in my opinion will settle so  many future landmarks of this wonderful game of cricket. Cooksey on a lifetime trail of the GOD for most number of runs in the history of the game. This series could well be the decider whether he remains in the contention or would wind up early. The baby faced Stuart Broad might get the coveted 400 number. Smith or Warner, either of them would carry the Australian torch in the future. England ROOTS or Aussie SMITHS.

Whosoever is the winner , being a true fan of the game , A BIG cricket bonanza on the cards and let the URN go to the earnest team !!

ASHES !! Make it a point !! Prove the battle !! Enjoy the carnival !!

- Jayawant

https://jay1ntsashes.blogspot.in/2017/11/ashes-2017-carnival-of-cricket.html?m=1

Nehra ji : Indian Fans would miss him

One of the unsung heroes and never to be a legend who made his presence felt for almost 2 decades calls it a day today. As Ashish Nehra hangs his boots , citizens of Cricket bid adieu to this wonderful selfless sportsman.

One of the most could have been flourishing careers, Nehra always found himself either outside the boundary rope or outside the dressing room due to his fitness issues. But whenever , he had the opportunity to make use of those 22 yards , he was a wizard .

Still remember few of his magical spells which defined the course of the game .2003 World Cup match against England being the most notable one .His 6/23 was a dream spell putting the breaks on England dreams and he almost single handedly ousted them of the World Cup .Ultimately though Australia made a mockery of Indian juggernaut in the finals of the game. Moment of glory came again in the 2011 World Cup semis against the love your neighbour country and he was the most economical bowler in the match but again faltered through injury to be out of the finals. Alas !! As usual could have been a legend story continued 😔

With ever hanging fitness issues and consistently being out of Test team , Nehra made most of the opportunities in ODIs and got a real reprieve from 20-20s and the IPL through which he or the selection committee could make most of his potential and the class.

Goto Man for any cricketing captain and serving the game for almost 20 years and making a presence felt all throughout the career is the biggest takeaway for this untiring servant of the game.

For true cricketing fans ‘You are the Legend Nehra’ . Take a 🙇 🙇

- Jayawant

Pitch Fixing

Pitch Fixing !!

A new terminology and new dictionary word coming out of Cricket Textbook, a sad day for cricket for sure.

Media will now frenzy how the curators mint money and try to find out few more curators to make it a point....
Be ready for few more Breaking News 😀

One needs to go beyond and look at the lives of these curators, normally they are the past cricketers who could not make it big in the sports world and end up doing these type of jobs which give them satisfaction to be associated with the game and also ensure bread and butter.

The man at the centre of controversy (don’t want to conclude Pandurang Salgaokar guilty without even knowing the details and background but if it has any iota of truth i would definitely feel sad for such a great cricketer) , though had never seen him play but had heard lots of good stories about his bowling through my old knowledge books and understand he had the misfortune on the lines of Paddy Shivalkar of never making it to the Indian Cricket team .He however remained as one of the stalwarts of Maharashtra Cricket.

BCCI conducts charity matches for top notch cricketers who have earned huge money, have good future as coach or commentators. Instead, Why can’t it come forward and make it a point that each and every Ranji player has some mode of retirement benefits so the old age is secured for the players. It also needs to take care of support staff including the curators . These guys need to be taken care off and well enough to sustain the livelihood. They are the ones who nurture the pitch throughout the year , match or no match and are the background boys for making a success of the match and players isn’t it? They ensure any cricket match happen in the right earnest. Being the richest board, BCCI can afford it without much trouble to its balance sheet !!

Remember one thing , to make it as sports person , one has to keep aside all other goals of life and trust himself/herself for making it to glory and if failure hits badly , then all those goals which had taken a back burner ensure success will elude the person for a long time .

Nonetheless spur of moment for such decisions and greed in any form is not justified !! And instead of Breaking NEWS , one needs to look for the root cause eradication.

- Jayawant

Secret Superstar

After a long time , I went for a movie and this time the 3 generations (my parents, me and my wife and my daughters)  made it to the theatre for Secret Superstar. The excitement was already at its pick with few of the chartbusters by now already making it to must listen list.

The movie picked up the interest right from the word GO and it turned out to be an amazing treat for all of us and the only word which could describes the movie as fantabulous !!

As usual stellar performance by Amir Khan , Zaira Wasim moving one step up towards the category of thinking actresses, Meher Vij establishing herself as the new mom of silver screen and the enite other cast justifying their roles playing it to perfection. The story of a suppressed child and supporting mother is a real tribute to all the mothers and touches the hearts of the audience.

To keep 3 generations of audience glued to the seats need a gripping story and a talented story teller and director.The real secret superstar of the film is Advait Chandan. To start your innings as a writer director believing yourself and following your own conviction has turned out into a truly amazing film on the silver screen.

The movie is worth a watch for anyone who loves to see the movies having a content and Secret Superstar fits it to perfection.

My GOD says ‘Chase your dreams , they do come true’ and I could see this come  very true for Advait Chandan !!

-Jayawant

Anil Kumble - A Jumbo birthday !!

As one of my favorites Anil ‘Saral’ Kumble celebrates his 47th birthday, I go back to a childhood story which my uncle had told me and I always correlated it with ‘The Jumbo’.

Once upon a time there was a sincere medical student whom the college Dean didn’t feel fit enough to be a doctor. Tired enough of this student not leaving the college, the Dean finally offered him the degree on a condition that he will treat every patient through lime juice only and no other medicine... . Years down the line , the Dean fell seriously ill and no one could treat him , then he heard of a famous doctor in a remote town who was the last option left. The Dean met the doctor and within days , was back to full fitness. The Dean asked the doctor who are you and what was the medicine? The doctor disclosed his identity and told the Dean who he was ? He was the same student who was not fit enough to be a doctor and the medicine was Lime Juice. Moral of the story ? “ Perseverance ,sincerity, focused commitment and loyalty to self and the profession always pays and returns the dividends’.

Sounds so close to Kumble who was supposed to be a fast bowler and based on the advice from his coaches , shifted to spin. When he started his Leg Spin , people failed to identify where the ball was turning to? as it always seemed straight (Saral in Marathi). No body treated him as a spinner but could not gauge if he was a fast bowler or slower fast or faster slow. The critics of the game banged his talent and wondered whether he would ever get a chance. I always felt as if ( though hypothetical) , Kumble must have agreed to become a spinner on the condition that he would never spin and would not call himself the master of the art, similar to the doctor above and proved all his critics wrong by becoming the highest wicket taker for India , 619 to be precise and proved the same morals as those of the doctor mentioned.

Jumbo was always a man on mission, still remember him getting LARA out when his (Kumble’s) jaw was broken and he had come on the field with face bandaged. Hero cup final when through his flippers and googlies he had his career best (and the then India best) of 6/12 against the Windies at Kolkata. His 10 in an innings Laker (Jim) phenomenon against Pakistan had brought the whole country to a standstill and who can forget his baby faced jumping in the joy when he scored his only Test century for India against England and remember , in that series none of the greats like Sachin or Dravid could score any. He still remains the only Leggie from India ever to captain a Test side.

Kumble called it quits with more than 900 wickets and had a great run as India coach which had an abrupt end.

Have a great birthday Jumbo and may you continue bringing in laurels to India , albeit in different roles.

- Jayawant

Happy Birthday - The Little Master !! India's legendory son Gavaskar

As the legendary Little Master celebrates 68th birthday exactly twice the number of his record 34 centuries, It takes me into some of the most important events of the legend's life being his childhood fan and wonder if situations would have been different than the way they turned out to be :

1) When Sunny was born , by some mistake he was interchanged with fisherman's baby and no one realised that except by his uncle who had seen the new born baby .The fisherman's wife flatly refused to hand over her child. Gavaskar has some birth mark in his ears which his uncle used to convince the lady and somehow got his nephew back .Wonder what would have happened otherwise ?

2) Then came the challenge of naming the baby as his paternal aunt had decided to name him Maruti and his mother didn't like the name so after so much of deliberations, Sunil was identified as name which according to some reference matches Maruti , else we would have Maruti Gavaskar as a legend. Isnt it?

3) As a kid , he wanted his maternal uncle and former India player Madhav Mantri to handover test cricketer's sweater to him and his uncle did not bog down to the demand and told him to earn it on his own , thankfully as a kid Gavaskar listened , else?

4) The world complains about Gavaskar dealing in boundaries only and rarely hit sixes but the secret to it lied in Girgaon locality.To ensure no window panes were broken Gavaskar practiced hitting on the ground which made him one of the best players not getting out to mistimed shots .Had he come from any other parts of India , having huge open space then?

5) Sunny could not score a century on his debut against Windies but hit the winning run and went on to pile a still valid record of 774 runs by a debutant and remember , he was not part of the playing 11 in the first test . Had he played the first test ?

6) The new generation of cricket suffers from nervous ninety syndrome , Gavaskar never faced such an issues as according to him , he only counted boundaries and post 25 boundaries he treated it as a century , also he never heard any noise on the ground , as he switched off his ears while batting , such was his concentration. Had he not been so focused then ?

Apart from these ifs and buts , Gavaskar was a genius and was a class apart scoring 13 centuries and more than 2700 runs against the mighty Windies wherein even the look at the names of the Windies players would make any batsman jittery .

Gavaskar was always known as no-nonsense captain who once famously asked one of the superstars to keep his girlfriend out of the hotel as it was against the team policy , few would reckon this as a feud between these two legends but he helped the same legend when he realised that one of the tainted players is recording the conversation on match fixing and alarmed this guy not to say anything which would put him under the lense !!

As a commentator he made Indian English acceptable all over the world.

A genius who ignited Indian spirit amongst a generation , made Indian cricket one of the richest sports in Country and made the world take a note of India all through his life.

Such gems are gift of God and Maharashtra being the special recipient of such prowess , we wish and pray the almighty for long life for Gavaskar ..and let the cricket be bestowed upon by his genius for years to come .

Happy Birthday Sunnybhai !!! 🙇

-Jayawant