The Comeback KiD !!

           All those who thought that I was one of those 'One-Day Wonders' and have fallen past the edge of the cliff into oblivion, this is to announce my comeback. Yes, I was dropped but here I am, back in the larger format of the game which they think is as good as retirement. Contemplated and even tried being the commentator, but its tough sitting on the edge and watch the action, I would rather be a coach, but even that would have to wait. Cutting the crap and coming straight to the matters of that 'Cap n Jersey' which most of the times is the 'Million Dollars, Billion Dreamt- Blue Team India' one. Blue  is cool but once it goes to somebody else it makes you cry tears of blood and it’s not a good feeling as the 'Bleed Blue' campaign is misunderstood to be. 
  
   One of the many oddities that unite us as a country is our ability to forget the opener who played a crucial knock n hammered hard the already softened ball & submitted bowlers. ‘Cometh the Hour...Cometh....The Middle Order’, picture perfect when all the photographers bring out their cameras. Lights, Camera ...The Glamorous Presentation Ceremony, Champagne flowing in every direction making u look like the Knight in Shining Armour. Clapping in a corner, stands the epitome of perfection knowing petty well that a conspiracy is being hatched to bid him farewell.  At the end of the game all we remember is only the ‘Man of the Match’, who cares about the ones who laid the foundation. He might act as the wall but deep inside there are cracks that he cannot hide for long. He looks around to find a quiet corner to cry out loud because the next morning, once again the gentleman act has to be performed.

     All this did not happen over a night and on a fateful evening when the night watchman went on strike and refused to rotate it thereafter. All your life you might have played with the spirit of the game, running hard, taking quick singles, even if the probability of the batsman on the other end scoring a run is totally dependent on the bowler being predictable and you are faced with this 'Night-Watch' who would just not rotate the strike. The flashy hitters seem to have forcibly taken over from the purists of the game.  Either running has gone out of fashion or everyone is trying to keep you off the strike.  Hence on display is a very good example of the individual sport hijacking team sport in its own game .Making  you look like a drag on the run-rate, so much so that even the 'Night-Watchman' gains the confidence to act like a Pro and might even  end up giving you a few tips about how to connect the ball. Destiny-The Selector tries all to drop you in the name of rest, but you cannot rest people for long without an appropriate excuse. Thus they try one of the many tactics borrowed from military to cricket i.e. control the dominant one by teaming him up with someone who won’t stand for long. Thus send a batsman so low in the order that even if he stands the test of time, won’t be able to score much.

     But then its the temperament which takes you the distance and not the power behind the strokes and thats why we had a Rahul Dravid & Sachin Tendulkar. The weight and size of the ball would make it implicit that it would carry to the 'Hungry Hyena' formation ,waiting eagerly for the tiger to fall. The tiger who had provided them with a steady supply of hunt. So, I would borrow a few gentlemanly response from these legends and frustrate those who thought bowling negative line is much more smarter than a Yorker . And why stop at .22 pound cricket ball, the football needs to be put into the goalpost and I am going do that with the ‘Head of  a Player’ act. When the going gets tougher the tougher doesn’t go hiding and takes things head on. This is a header into the goalpost which has a goalkeeper, coz I don’t think its a feat to score without one. Those who think this is a castle in the air, I can hear the croud cheering me up. If you thought that it did not connect, replace cricket with life and it would make sense to you. Down but not out yet, I might give in someday, but not today. There is still some game left in me and I am going to stay till the end, no matter what’s the outcome :-))