No 'No-Balls ' Please!!-

All the tiredness has vanished in the air with the NO-BALL!! What am I taking about. If I am not wrong which I am sure I am not, the whole of last week was about Dhoni and too much of cricket and his letter to the BCCI. But come Dambulla and the tri-series match between India and Sri Lanka, we all have a new story to write about. The birth of Suraj Randiv!!!!

Not much seemed to be happening for the Indians. Dhoni was tired , his fingers still tinkling as they always do , injuries to Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel being called for cover, Bhajji out of the tournament and then almost the final nail in the coffin-India’s loss to New Zealand by 200 runs. This is just what the doctor had not ordered but then this is exactly what the media wanted. It was great news for them to pounce upon as this series being considered as a build up for the World Cup preparations with Sri Lanka being the host country along with India and Bangladesh.
But then we are talking about cricket and something has to happen.And for a change there Bhajji was not involved!!. It was Virender Sehwag. Oh No! He didn’t do anything wrong! Wrong was done upon him. On 99 and 1 run to win for India , the Sri Lankans hit upon a gala plan . Reason-They knew the rules well and at the same time knew that by doing what they were going to do, they were in no ways breaking the rules of the game.Suraj Randiv bowled a No-Ball. Fine isn’t it!!. Not till you bowl it on purpose. Yes he actually did that .Sehwag in his customary style hit it out of the park and raised his arms in the air for two reasons –India winning and him getting to this 13th International ODI ton. But it was not to be. The latter part was not achieved. The moment Randiv had stepped over the line , the match was finished!!


Yes, it was a No-Ball which meant a penalty run and what happens next is irrelevant as per the rules of the game. Sri Lanka had exploited this rule to the hilt and in doing so they never realized that they were breaking the spirit of the game. Yes, they have been winning the Spirit of the game award for consecutively two years now. But then I really don’t know how this has been possible. They have been involved in doing stupid things like this before as well. Probably the award is not given to the team that has played the game in the right spirit but probably to the team that has fractured it to the least.

Bowling a No-Ball would not have had an impact on the game by any means. India would have won anyways.How does it matter to the Lankan’s whether Sehwag got to his ton or not. The attitude from Kumara Sangakarra the Sri Lankan captain should have been ‘Get him out’. Instead he was heard on the stump camera in Sinhalese saying to Randiv ‘He is 1 run away from his 100’.

This does not imply that Sanga asked him to bowl a No-Ball. But then the bowl before that which went for byes should have been collected by such a high class Quality keeper .It was not at all a difficult take, not atleast at this level.
Dilshan was ultimately indicted , Randiv was fined and Sanga warned . Final Result- Law to be changed?Nah not one bit. If the law is changed it would be an insult to MCC!!.Yeah the good old chaps who made the rules. That’s how is stays for now. The sportsmanship spirit broken and the gentleman’s game brought to a disrepute once again.

GOD of BIG Things

It was the evening of 24th February 2010.Every thing had gone quite.A pin drop silence.There was not a single GOD whose name was not taken.There was no escaping it.There was no way out.Neither did anyone want to escape it!!!!

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was on 199.He was not to disappoint us all, all the millions of cricket lovers, and of the people who were packed in the office canteen.A square cut, a misfield and the moment had arrived.The Zenith was reached.Between silence and a deafening noise there was a time gap of nano seconds.Only Sachin can do this.Only he can continue doing this.

Years and years of waiting for who will be the first man to score 200, there were some people who didn't have an iota of doubt of who will be the first to reach 200, I was one of them. His 175 against Australia had strengthened my thoughts and the belief that if any one ever was to touch that milestone, it would be Sachin. Finally when it did arrive, our joy had crossed all the boundaries,something when a mother sees her new born child for the first time.

SACH is the man, his stupendous performance on the field complimented by his ever down to earth approach,his humilty , the art of being a human when you are viewed as a GOD by most if the people who follow cricket and for those who don't ,he is an immortal.

If ever I had one wish to make, I would ask for the World Cup to be in Sachin's hand.It's a dream that Sachin has been chasing for the past 20 years, and all of us have accompanied him in his dream.There will not be a better moment in my lifetime atleast , when (don't like using IF) I will Sachin achieving this dream at the Wankhede Stadium on 2nd April 2011.

God bless Sachin...Sachin bless us all....