100 100’s : What does it mean ??

A hundred tons spun over 23 years of cricketing life. What does it mean to him.. ? What does it mean to us.. ? A lot ?? yeah.. its  a lot for everyone of us.

When boys of his age were playing off the field and having fun times with their friends, this 16 year old kid took up a nation’s hopes as his responsibility and he has been carrying till today. In the journey thereafter, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has amassed so many runs that his contemporaries might never even think about.. has crossed many a milestones, set many. The stats and records do speak of his greatness.

So, what is so special about this 100. For me, There is nothing really special about this 100. Critics may say that the milestone was carved on a weaker team, on a subcontinent pitch and he failed continuously over the past one year trying to cross the three figure mark. But, It must be noted that he is not the only one who failed during this course. Its everyone. Then why blame sachin.. ?? It is because we expect him to conquer the ground every time he sets his foot onto it. So, the critics expect a lot and when they don’t get what they wanted, they expect him to retire ?? Funny.

For me, This man, Sachin Tendulkar is an idol.. inspiration.. role model. After reaching the three figure mark, the message he left to the country and the youth that adore him – “Do not stop Chasing your Dreams – One day you might reach them”. What else is to be said about this man’s greatness after listening to this.

Yes, the critics may be right. Its always good that someone retire when they are on the top of the game to command respect for the rest of their life. But, Sachin has given a new definition to that form of exit.

Retiring at the top of your game, when you are still capable of doing something to your nation is a selfish motive. I agree with the master. Serve your country as long as you can and quit when you know that you are not able to keep up that duty anymore. And, there is nobody better than you who know when you can quit. So, critics.., keep bashing him.. and every time you do, he responds with his bat.. as he did every time. This 100th 100 in his career means nothing to me. It means nothing to him either. Just another feather in the cap.

Sachin – I respect you for serving me, your admirers, your critics, the nation of a billion people, the game of cricket this long and still carrying the same enthusiasm everyday of your life. You will be remembered by the people till the game cricket flourishes. 

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IPL Auction Vs. NBA Drafting–An Insight

With another season of IPL nearby, lets take a look on the auction procedures of these two games and what good does these procedures do to their respective formats of the game. First, lets start with the IPL, the Indian Premier League which is being the center of debate every year whether it contributes to the game or does it kill the real essence of the game – CRICKET.

IPL Auction:

Well – as we all know, IPL auction procedure is pretty simple. It is held every 3 years and then the players are bought by the franchise for 3 seasons of the game. As the regular rules of auction, the process is quite simple with all the teams having given the maximum limit for the amount they can spend on players, each team can bid for every player it thinks will add value to its team and can go ahead with buying the players at whatever be the cost they are bid to.

Clearly, the players do prefer the franchises which try to pay them more or give them off the field contracts such as advertisements, brand endorsements etc.. This doesn’t do any good to the game as franchises with more off the field value tend to attract better performing players and the teams down the chart stay down there every year.

Clearly, the players play for the franchise, but not for the game or to contribute something to their game when it comes to IPL and doesn’t actually focus on their team’s performance or rankings, but work hard towards their individual performance and eye on more bid rate the next season. Does this do any good to the game ? Do these players develop the standards of the game ? I guess No.

NBA Drafting:

The NBA drafting is totally different from that of IPL, where in the teams that have finished at the bottom of the list the previous year tend to get the first pick for players coming out of universities and state leagues. In this manner, the teams with worst performance rate get a chance to pick a better performing players for the next year, thereby boosting their chances of getting up the list in the next season.

For the 11 non-playoff teams that season, the team with the worst record would have 11 chances (out of 66) to obtain the first pick, the second worst would have 10 chances, and so on. Similar to the previous system, this weighted lottery system was also used only to determine the first three picks, while the rest of the teams selected in reverse order of their win-loss records.

Thus, each and every team will get their chance every season to better their performance, get quality players on their board and the players too, play for their team. The interaction of the top players of the game with some of the players in the lower rung will help the players at the bottom to increase their knowledge of the game, tactics, improve their performance on par with the better players in the team etc., This really does contribute to the betterment of the game on a whole.

Though Money plays major role in these two formats, it is the NBA, which is ahead of IPL in terms of contributing and adding value to the game, giving valuable experience to entry level players and thereby increasing their dedication to perform better for their team. Well – I guess IPL needs to study the procedure of drafting if it really decides to add value to the game, not the franchises.

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All Hail ‘Team India’–The team that finally won..

Raina and Jadeja Thrilled after a wicket

Finally.., after almost a couple of months, Indian fans tasted a victory. The Indian team gifted us a victory in rather a sheepish manner. As it is said, ‘One win is all it takes.. !!”, will this win silent the debate about Dhoni’s Captaincy.. ?? I guess so. I also guess not. Well.. Before you make an opinion, let me mind you that I am not bashing the team now. I am ardent fan of team India, it doesn’t matter whether they win or not.

Credit goes to fielders and Dhoni for an awesome display of athleticism on the field and a good keeping after a long time by Dhoni. Rohit Sharma and Jadeja excelled on the ground with their fielding and give the fans a ray of hope to expect a win in couple of matches at least during the coming Tri-Series with Oz and Lankans.

Dhoni – all beaming during the presentation showers all the praises towards the fielders “The Best fielding side I ve seen” he says.. well he is true for a reason. Kohli, Jadeja, Raina, Rohit Sharma displayed absolute excellence on the field committing no mistakes today.

Jadeja Congratulated after Running out George Bailey

Man of the Match.. awarded to Jadeja.. couldn’t understand why the commentator said it is going to be a controversial decision when he really deserves that better than anyone on the field today.

But, I wish the debate about the pitches in India, composition of team and search for fast bowlers in the country should go on. There are many factors that led to the recent test debacle of the team. IPL, over dependence on the senior clout, inefficiency of the bowlers to take 20 wickets – the main characteristic needed to win test matches. Let the intellectuals pour their thoughts into these, debate among them, come up with a solution and implement it before the senior clout phases out of the team leaving rest of the team clueless when they play abroad.

Till then.., we just enjoy this win to the fullest and debate on the test debacle.. who knows .. the next one may be as soon as possible .. or as late as never.. .. what say folks ??

Photos Courtesy: espncricinfo.com

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Egypt Soccer Riot–Who to blame for ???

 

 

The riot that killed over 70 people and injured almost 1000 spectators is the hot sport topic of the world. Well.. I don’t want to give you a news about this event as all the news agencies have already covered it, but would like to see where sport is taking us and what command it has on an individual’s perception towards other team fans.

The fans of local Al-Masry team chasing the visiting Al-ahly team fans with knives and daggers, pelting stones towards them when they are crushed by nothing but a closed gate at the exit corridor doesn’t actually seem to be spontaneous, but a planned attack by whoever it is. The links of these riots will be dated back to an year where the military leader Hoshni Mubarak was brought down from power by the people and his supporters waiting for an opportunity to hit back at the protestors. I guess these riots have nothing to do with sport, but are elevated as a soccer riot by the media. A group of fans, “Ultras” blaming the police for letting the rivals attack them and promising to have their vengeance clearly indicates the political angle of this riots and the consequent protests at Tahrir Square made this a national problem.

‘Ultras who support Cairo's Al-Ahly and Zamalek clubs have long been bitter enemies of the police who wielded wide-ranging powers under Mubarak-era emergency law. The fans' anti-police songs, peppered with curses, usually go viral on the Internet, an expression of the hatred many Egyptians feel toward security forces.’ (Huffingtonpost News).

“A complete Crime” this is.. the parliament’s defense committee head Abbas Mekhimar says. And yeah.. I agree with him because a rampage targeting a group of people cannot be done instantaneously and over a spur of defeat. Whoever it is behind this, It can only be said that this riot has nothing to do with the sport though it has brought a malignant image to Soccer in Egypt and turns the world’s heads towards the country with yet another incident claiming 74 lives.

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