Sachin and the new Indian Jersey???

Thats what It was :)


That's what it is...
No Wonder Sachin does not look happy :-|

Surprised by the title?? Don't be! There is a direct correlation between the color of the Indian Jersey and Tendulkar's on field performances. And I am gonna prove it! Well this has been a Renaissance for Tendulkar. His performance over the last 2 years has been almost Bradman-like. But wait a minute! Did we say 'last year'? Last year- when India toured New Zealand? Right!!! But that was the time when India changed their jersey to the then-odd-and-now-used-to dark blue one, with Saffron collars and many other colors! But let us not discuss the jersey. We are discussing the God- Sachin Tendulkar.

So here we go, to my favorite part- numbers!

THE 'PRE-JERSEY' YEAR
India played in their new jersey from March 2009. And that jersey lasted till October 2010. (That makes me think it's such a cool way to earn on merchandise)From the period 1st Jan 2008 to 1st March 2009, (that's PRE-JERSEY :)), Sachin's figures look quite ordinary in ODIs, and decent enough in tests. He averages 48.31 over the 13 tests played in this time, with 4 100s and 3 50s. Admittedly, the opponents were Australia, England, SA and SL, so it's a good performance. However, in ODIs, the numbers go down drastically.

Sachin averages a paltry 34.14 over the 15 ODIs in this time; 1 100 and 3 50s. Not a great record at all, and obviously tongues had started wagging about the end of Sachin's era.

But then came the transformation the Little Master needed. The New Indian Cricket Team Jersey. And the numbers sky-rocketed.

THE POST JERSEY
From March 2009 to Nov 2010, Sachin averages a STAGGERING 86.23 over 15 Tests, with (hold your breath!!!) 8 100s and 7 50s. He averages 90 at home and 83 in away tests. The period also accounts for 2 of his double hundreds! So, if 48 earlier was good, Tendulkar almost doubled it in the new-jersey Era. Enough Said! Let's talk ODIs now, which I think is where Sachin has been a pleasure to watch recently.

In the same period (though he hasn't played an ODI since Feb when he scored 200*), he averages another STAGGERING 68.52 over the 21 ODIs, with 4 100+ scores and 3 50s. Once again, he has doubled his average over the previous year!!! Most significant is the fact that 3 of his highest scores have come in this period- 163* against New Zealand, 175 vs Australia and the special 200* vs South Africa. And, I personally regard that 175 as his best innings ever. But that's not the point. The point is- the New Blue Jersey was working its magic on Sachin, and runs were flowing crazily out of his bat!!!!

And then BCCI had a brain freeze, just like always. They decided on this new jersey. Since then, Sachin has played no ODIs, but has played 3 Test Innings- scores of 40, 12 and 13. Well the new jersey's unlucky! And with the World Cup around the corner, the jersey should be thrown out in favor of the old one. Or else, how do you make Sachin score like he has been doing!!!

Well, on a closing note, the article's written in jest, and I just tried putting something that I noticed, and was in my head, into words! With the GOD, it doesn't matter.. BUT, the question is- what if the Old Jersey was 'actually' bringing luck to Sachin??? ;-)

Some more stats...

As on August 10th, 2010...

When will Irfan Pathan be back?
A test batting average of 31.57, Bowling Average of 32.26, after playing most matches on unforgiving Asian pitches. Still Irfan Pathan stays neglected, while Zaheer is the leader of Indian Bowling @average 32.98... Stats don't reveal everything I know, but this does show something..

The Batting Juggernaut rolls on.
Indian Batsmen averages in the last 2 years: Sehwag: 71.1, Sachin: 78.22, Laxman: 80.75, Gambhir 60.87, Dhoni 68.09, Dravid 61.31... Really has to be the Golden period of Indian batting!!!

The wait...

Hmm..I am back, and probably to disappear soon again. Just jot down a poem today in a lecture, so thought of sharing. For those who dislike the "senti" me, your dislike might just grow further!!!

At fault am I, that I let you move in,
That easy for anyone else it had never been.
Rendered clueless with what this mind was thinking;
Or perhaps on some hope this heart was clinging.

A door sealed forever- its key you got,
You chose to enter it,guess you should have not.
There was no exit; and you promised to stay,
after all things always happened your way.

The nights rolled by, things got rosier
with you around, it felt always safer.

But good things seldom last, what a shame!
Just when my life settled, the hurricane came.
Blowing everything apart, it took you away,
and you too moved on, when you could have chosen to stay.

And that key's lost, the door's left ajar,
Waiting for your return, hoping you haven't gone too far...

This Is Going To Hurt Just A Little Bit

My condition reminds me of this Class 9 Poem by Ogden Nash :)

One thing I like less than most things is sitting in a dentist chair with my mouth wide open.
And that I will never have to do it again is a hope that I am against hope hopen.

Because some tortures are physical and some are mental,
But the one that is both is dental.
It is hard to be self-possessed
With your jaw digging into your chest.

So hard to retain your calm
When your fingernails are making serious alterations in your life line or love line or some other important line in your palm;

So hard to give your usual effect of cheery benignity
When you know your position is one of the two or three in life most lacking in dignity.

And your mouth is like a section of road that is being worked on.
And it is all cluttered up with stone crushers and concrete mixers and drills and steam rollers and there isn’t a nerve in your head thatyou aren’t being irked on.

Oh, some people are unfortunate enough to be strung up by thumbs.
And others have things done to their gums,
And your teeth are supposed to be being polished,
But you have reason to believe they are being demolished.

And the circumstance that adds most to your terror
Is that it’s all done with a mirror,
Because the dentist may be a bear, or as the Romans used to say, only they were referring to a feminine bear when they said it, an ursa,
But all the same how can you be sure when he takes his crowbar in one hand and mirror in the other he won’t get mixed up, the way you do when you try to tie a bow tie with the aid of a mirror, and forget that left is right and vice versa?

And then at last he says That will be all; but it isn’t because he then coats your mouth from cellar to roof
With something that I suspect is generally used to put a shine on a horse’s hoof.

And you totter to your feet and think. Well it’s all over now and afterall it was only this once.
And he says come back in three monce.

And this, O Fate, is I think the most vicious circle that thou ever sentest,
That Man has to go continually to the dentist to keep his teeth in good condition
when the chief reason he wants his teeth in good condition
is so that he won’t have to go to the dentist.

Testing Times...

Even with my obvious dislike for emotional outbursts these days, I can't avoid sharing a few sentiments of mine on this blog. So that explains my return here.

I am a bit lost for explanation these days. What else can you expect when your biggest strength becomes your biggest worry? When something you pride yourself on, makes you question yourself every day? Probably, it leads to a lot of self-doubt, which is what I am going through.

I haven't felt this helpless for a very long time. And not a surprise that love causes this. It is something that has made me do things I had thought I would never do. Well, a few good, and the rest bad. I have never ever been forced into this, always been my choice, and now that it hurts, I can't even blame anyone else. That's the tough part of it!!! You are responsible for your own decisions.

All it seems like is, I had the choice of two roads to take a couple of years back, and I chose one of them, and now I have come so far on it, that I can only move ahead... It reminds of the Mario game I played in my younger days, where you entered a wrong tunnel and then you just kept walking on and on. The game kept running and nothing happened, and the only option one had was to restart the game. Unfortunately, life doesn't come with that Restart button, and so I walk on and on.

It is kind of funny. After hundreds and thousands of conversations, lots of advices and pulling just about every thread in my brain, I still stand undecided about the outcomes. Probably,You want to wait, but the wait is made tougher for you. And then when you think the wait is too hard, and think you must move on, you find it is just not possible. Though the person you know has given you so many reasons so that you hate her, but you know she is not the person you had known. The situation and the factors have made her the way you never knew her to be. Now, has she really changed? Or can she still be the one you think her to be? That, as everything else, remains unanswered.

In a world where relationships fail as often as they are made, I can’t even find a precedent where things have went this way, and hence it’s just the more difficult. But then, when you can’t avoid it, then better accept it. And that’s what I am trying to do.

IPL is here to Stay...

Let me set it right. I love the IPL, and I pity those who dislike the idea of it, for they have, and are, missing the infant stages of a league that is going to revolutionize the world. That is, if it already hadn't!! I really don't know what happened when EPL started- I am as aware of its history, as much I am aware of what goes on in a POM-2 class!!! But all I remember is I watched Football in bits and pieces in my younger days- the first match I remember seeing was some JCT Phagwara and Mohammedan Sporting Club Final, almost 12-13 years ago, that went into sudden death and finished 8-7 or something like that. It was a stunning match, and that brought me to the FIFA World Cup. Then came the real stuff- I was awed with that wonder kid- Michael Owen!! Then Zidane happened!! And some more research later, Liverpool came into the sporting equations of mine, and thus my love for EPL was born. I never really pursued it a lot further, partly because I was pissed off with our cable operators not showing ESPN, Star Sports. But I still love the game. A lot like this happened with F1 too, where Kimi Raikkonen was the effect. Mark my words- IPL will do that to kids over the world soon.

It is like seeing a kid grow. I know Lalit Modi went on and on about some life growth models- but what I am talking about is the strides this league has made. Those who have followed it will realize that. Not just the marketing aspect, but a domestic league happening in South Africa- well that's something really I couldn't have imagined. An English Premier League happening elsewhere will generate huge viewership, but that can't be said about every football league in this world. But IPL did it, in its second year(even with those stupid time-outs). You can now see teams getting to gel together better, and as they play more together, I really believe it will get better. In some years, IPL might even be played all round the year, in a format similar to the EPL..

We have already seen countries coming up, and doing well in the next divisions. A very few of you would know that there is even a Division 6, from which Nepal qualified this year. There are more Divisions too, and at least 50 countries play these games. There is a huge mismatch, but then that is there in all sorts of games. Probably, cricket shows up the magnitude of that mismatch because of its nature, but over the shorter periods of this game, you never know what may happen. A guy like Rizwan Cheema, or Davidson, can finish the match on his own. Imagine just one guy like Yusuf Pathan being on the other side - you need to fear that team all the time.

With the game going global, we need more of leagues in order to promote domestic talents, not specifically in India, but elsewhere. IPL might just fill up the purses, but as its examples get followed elsewhere, those countries might just unearth special talents. One I can think of, is Steven Smith, a really good leg-spinner.

One can hate the film stars, one can hate the time-outs. You can be irritated to the helm with those mid over advertisements- but any true cricket lover would accept that you can't hate the IPL. But again, it's my blog, and it's my views. Your views are welcome. :)

Blog-Less..

Where do I start? And where do I end?? Acha, leave all that, what all do I write? Some questions that eat me up every time I step onto this blog. I love writing, as all my friends would know, but I really don't get things to write upon. Either I am too lost these days to focus onto something, or I actually have a non-blogging events filled life.. I hate being emotional, but thats when I like to write most, but then thats actually not what I am, so then I shouldn't be writing it.. Right? Confusing? Probably yes..

Its Holi time in a few hours, and right across my window, I see the full moon.. Quite stunning actually. Reminds me of all those nights of promises, that, well never really were kept.. And its so long back, but still times seems to have stalled since then. Though as far as life here goes, it has been running at a breakneck speed. There's something or the other to do almost always, and days of chilling are only days like these, some festival or some major event. Amm... Not the exact concept of work hard and party hard, since I do neither!!!.. But still a kind of life you curse on days, and then there are days when you cant have enough of it. That's the relationship I have shared with MBA throughout- a love-hate one.

As this year ends for me, I feel I could have done much more here. Some of it is my fault, some of it is the fault of the process I am part of, where your ability is judged by the words you can speak in a 10-15 minute interview, rather than your actions. But then, I guess it is the same everywhere, from our Kindergarten days to the XAT days. Talk and talk.. call it gyaan, call it golbal, or call it Gas.. Thats the way to do it best..I am trying to get out of this grave that I have dug up these days, but till now it has been futile. Let's see how long my attempts last!!! I know I can lose it very early!

That is obviously one big chunk of my life- XLRI.. but I am living 2 different lives inside. Balancing it out, one is too fast, the other is too slow. One doesn't allows me to think, and the other doesn't want me to think. It is like batting on a pitch, where some balls keep low, while other just fly by your nose. You never know whether to come forward, or go back. So much the same here- move ahead or go back? Well I am doing what the purists would advice- just fight it out. Sehwagology might want me to hit out, but then I can't play like that!!

And look, i know the post has gone nowhere- it has just moved here and there, and come back to its old place. No value addition perhaps. But that's what I said- I can't think of anything worthwhile to write. The pains of a Non-Blogger...

Sachin- a God forever..

On a day when the master reached the mercurial figure of 200, the first in 2961 ODIs, some sort of manic celebrations were pretty much expected. Not that I have not seen it before. I saw it after the "Sandstorm" innings, the 98 in Centurion in 2003 WC, the CB Series 1st final century (which as I read today, was his 1st century in a winning chase after 2001!!!) and many many more.. So as the famous hands went up in the air (again that is another change- earlier the bat was raised to the stadium, now he generally raises both arms!!!), I was very much prepared for the deafening noise. The celebrations will go into the night, I am sure ;-) They have been going all evening, with the "Sachin Puja" just finished now.

For long, it has hurt so many people in this country that India had the ignominy of facing the brunt of Saeed Anwar's 194, and no doubt each one of us has wished that some day this stain, if I may call it, finally leaves us. It did actually, about an year ago, when a little known Charles Coventry put his name at the top of the list by staying unbeaten at that same 194. It was an innings that I saw, and had it not been for an extreme shortage of strike in the final overs, he would certainly have touched the 200 mark. Anyways, there are no places for ifs and buts in cricket. Still, I don't blame the guys who didn't know about this record, since the major reason we all know of the "194" is, because India was on the receiving side..

Anyways, whether aware or not, Pakistan or Zimbabwe, Anwar or Coventry, finally the record is ours. And certainly it's a time to rejoice. Since evening, most Gtalk status messages, Facebook updates and almost everything hails Sachin as God. But were not those 92 centuries the deeds of this God.. Wasn't that Chennai special an divine act? The fact is Sachin has always been at that point, but people fail to acknowledge that. People talk about statistics and how Sachin doesn't win matches, but today it again came down to that one figure of 200. There can be comparisons to Ponting or Lara, but just by his sheer longevity and consistency, Sachin would stand miles ahead. Ponting, his closest contemporary, has had an amazing 3-4 years, no doubt. But he has faded in the last 2 years. He may rise again, but the competition has certainly died out.

Even more mocking is the fact that many of these followers would start cursing Sachin as soon as he starts failing. What kind of a faith will that be on your God? How many did actually celebrate the innings of 175, albeit in a losing cause, but in my opinion, an innings of much more substance, in much tougher conditions and certainly among the best he has played. The 200 today was special, but even with the 140 strike rate, it wasn't a destructive innings, a very sedate and chanceless one, and the ones that we can so easily associate Sachin with nowadays.

As a child, I have known cricket since I have known the master. The 1996 World Cup was truly Sachin's event, and since that day he has been a role model for almost everything in life. He hardly gets into any controversy, and is among the most humble guys playing today, and his commitment to the country goes without question. There was a time when he burdened the expectations of this country on his shoulders alone. Probably that time has passed now, and so many would have wished that we could see the Sachin of old, in this era. I have idolized this man since those days, and for me, and many like me, Sachin has been a God since that time.

This day belongs to us, who have loved this man through all the highs and lows. It belongs to the true Sachin fan, to whom he has always been a God.