And We Love Australia Because...

What a marvelous article on cricinfo.
I completely relate to it. Here's an especially relevant paragraph:

A lot has changed. But there is one thing that is common even now to my first experiences of watching cricket in Australia: the unrivalled pleasure of getting up in the morning to watch the game. Could anything be better, quite so unsullied an enjoyment? If I am watching in India, matches in the Caribbean go on till early in the morning. A lot of the cricket played in England - and certainly the start of a day of Test cricket, especially the first session of a Test, the one that I find has unique appeal - is during working hours. With cricket in Australia, I am fine. I go to sleep in delicious anticipation, looking forward to waking up and watching. I start the day with the game, mind uncluttered, nothing having yet happened to ruin my day or mood.

I go to bed with the remote on my bedside table. Wake up and smell the coffee? No, wake up and watch the cricket. It's much more invigorating.

Beautiful. How I agree. :)

Do read the rest of the article here:
Click Me

Harsha Bhogle would be better off writing his own tribute, but since he can't, I'll make an attempt.

I must say, at the risk of sounding repetitive and obsessed, that Harsha Bhogle is the most amazing thing that happened to cricket.
The next time someone asks me who's the one person I want to meet before I die, I know the answer. I suspect I've known it for a while, but never actually thought about it. Sure, I admired him as a commentator. I admired him as a writer; as a master of words.
But I have realised, that I also admire him as a person, a character, a human being. He is like an uncut diamond. I know many see uncut diamonds as synonymous to "potential yet to shine through", but I see uncut diamonds as synonymous to elemental, grounded, modest with absolute blinding brilliance inside. Just like Harsha Bhogle- who is frank, opinionated, unpretentious, humility personified, with brilliance which shines through when he speaks. Like an uncut diamond, he hides away this brilliance with his modesty. With a simple exterior.

I think everyone should listen to his interview on Indicast. If you are a cricket follower, it is something you cannot miss. And if you are a Harsha fan and haven't heard it yet, it's an absolute pity and it should be the first thing you do after reading this post. Actually no, don't even continue reading, just go listen to it first.

http://www.theindicast.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7900231&Itemid=64/

What a gem of a person. He said in his interview that a Tendulkar comes along once in a lifetime and that we should simply thank him for his presence, because he is so great.

I would like to say that a Harsha Bhogle also comes along once in a lifetime, and while I'd like to say more than just a thank you to him if I ever meet him, I might just be so awed that I wouldn't even be able to string two words together. I used to pride myself on being able to speak and write reasonably well (I don't think I wrote BADLY, at least), but when I read Harsha's writing or listen to his commentary, I feel utterly insignificantly small in comparison. But the best part is that I don't mind it at all.

It's like when you stand next to a Tendulkar and feel incredibly disabled at cricket in comparison, but don't mind it one bit, because he is just so great.

Harsha Bhogle is an all-time great. When he leaves the game behind, unlike the Tendulkars and the Gavaskars and the Waughs and the Warnes, he won't have eternally preserved statistics in his name for future generations to remember him by. But I for one, hope that his name will live on in the hearts of all who love the game of cricket, in its purest essence.

---------------------------------------------

As a parting shot-

“Rahul Dravid is charging for a third run, but V.V.S. Laxman, who is a part-time traffic constable in Hyderabad, puts his hand up and says no.”
-Harsha Bhogle comes up with a gem during the 2nd test in Sydney

Masterful performances.

Today was a very mixed day once again- with India doing brilliantly to score 526 runs, and then Australia wresting the edge from India in the final hours of play, ending at 62-0.

But some individuals shone beyond the seesawing Test match.
Bhajji- brilliant batting to get to 63 and then he threw away his wicket. But he played a very handy innings, a batsman's innings, lower down the order. There's this ad which says "Bhajji jaise garam samose"- and I think it has described him to a T. His character (and the innings he played today) are precisely like samosas- perky, fiery, and a blend of many wonderful spices to form a well-loved whole.
Keep rocking Bhajji, that maiden test hundred is not far away.

Kumble- Captain Courageous.
Need I say more?
His innings of 87 and the 107-run partnership with Bhajji and then the 50-odd run partnership with Ishant Sharma were the highlights of today. He batted like a dream, leading from the front and by example. An amazing individual, who at 37 and the evening of his career, seems to be only growing as a cricketer. As Harsha Bhogle aptly put it- "not a short winter evening but a splendid, long summer evening".
Long live the lionheart of Indian cricket.

Tendulkar- the little master once again showed precisely why he has been nicknamed so.
And because I cannot POSSIBLY in any time in my life express myself even a fraction as well as Harsha Bhogle can, I'll quote his article.

Tendulkar’s century wasn’t the most breathtaking, the most strokeful or
crafted in the most dire situation.

Yet it was special because it was built like what a fine mason would the perfect structure. It was an innings that lovers of test match cricket would savour like, I am told, connoisseurs of single malt would their drink.

After a while, Tendulkar said, every ball went where he wanted it to. It is a feeling of power and control and visits only those with an exceptional presence. And in a striking co-incidence it brought to mind a clip from Bradman that I heard at the Annual Oration in Perth.

When asked about a specific innings Bradman paused and let loose a chuckle. “Every ball in that innings,” he said, and you could feel the delight in his voice as he said it,
“went precisely where I wanted it to.” Is that what turns on the masters? That
supreme, exalted height from which the world appears as they wish it to? Is that
how Borg felt at the baseline? Woods on the final nine? Jordan as he released
the basketball knowing it would find its target before the clock stopped?

Ah, such words. Such words. Honestly, if Harsha Bhogle was young and single and eligible, I would be in love with him- simply because he has such mastery over words.
So I'll add on to his paragraph up there-
Is that how Mr. Bhogle felt when he picked up the commentary mic, knowing his easy eloquence and charming chatter would find more than ample space in every listener's heart?

Masters of their trades- I salute you.

The little bit of bad news- RP Singh went off the field with a hamstring pull. I sincerely hope it's nothing serious. Cricket without RP and with an underperforming Jammy is not cricket as I have come to know and love it.

What will tomorrow bring?

Not Again.

Sehwag was given out off a no-ball. Nobody's made too much of a hullabaloo about it, probably everyone's too afraid of breaching the "spirit of cricket" again. :P

But there's no doubt about it from the replays that it was a no-ball and Harsha Bhogle mentioned it too.
Ho hum.

[edit]

"One thing you learn when you're touring is... NEVER go for a haircut with Alan Wilkins. He took me to a red-haired little Indian girl and by the time I explained to her what I wanted she said 'Thank you, but it's done'. And I looked up and it was very, very done. Took six months to grow back!"
-classically Harsha on what happened in England when he let Alan Wilkins take him for a haircut

Reflections from the Workplace.

These snippets of reflections have been drafted over the last few days at work:

1. There's something very disturbing and worrying about the whole 2nd Test match, but most so about the controversy involving Harbhajan. He has been hit with a three match ban, but the Indian management still says that there wasn't substantial evidence and have appealed against it. It is all very confusing. If there isn't substantial audio/video evidence, based on WHAT was Bhajji found guilty? Based on the word of Ponting and Symonds? If that is truly the case, then there is something very wrong going on here, isn't there?

Added now: Harsha Bhogle has the answer here.

2. I feel that it is unfair of fans to say that blaming the umpires for this loss is just finding excuses for India's pathetic performances.

Ok I admit we had batsmen who failed- Jaffer, Yuvraj, Dhoni mainly. Dravid, Ganguly, Tendulkar and Laxman scored in at least one innings. But we also had unexpected successes like that of Bhajji's batting. And Ishant and RP's batting.

And look at it rationally- Australia had batsmen who failed too! Phil Jaques, Michael Clarke and Adam Gilchrist to name the main 3. And Symonds, Hussey and Ponting would have failed too- had they not been given reprieves by the umpires.

So they had three successes which were mainly due to the umpires' mistakes. We had two extra failures (that of Dravid and Ganguly, one in form and one finding form, in the 2nd innings) mainly due to the umpires' mistakes. Hence the umpires are the significant reason Aus scored so many runs and the umpires are a substantial reason why India couldn't save the match on the last day. So how is it merely an excuse?

3. The big question is- was it childish and stupid of India to threaten to pull out of the series? That's what everyone is saying/asking. Well come on, Australia started it. Who went running to the umpires because they couldn't face up to a bit of sledging? I am not sour grapes, because an Aussie colleague of my Dad's said this:
"If Australia can't even face up top a bit of sledging, perhaps they should act like little girls and play cricket in skirts."

And as offended as I may be by that (because I'm a girl and all that), it is true and he says that many Australians share this view- that Australia's attitude was BAD. In fact, Kumble requested Ponting to settle the Harbhajan dispute on the field or to talk it out with Kumble, but Ponting refused and said that it's already gone to the umpires. So what does India do? Be childish back. Tit for tat?

I'm not saying that India did the RIGHT thing. But if they hadn't done this, then Australia would have continued getting away with everything. Mcgrath or someone called a Sri Lankan player a "black monkey" once. If that's not racist I don't know what it is. I don't think the player was charged. So I'm just saying that India did the best thing in context.
Feel free to argue my point. I enjoy a good cricket debate as much as anything.

Ok that's about all. Once I again, I refer you to the above link:
Click Me

It's a very good piece by Harsha Bhogle.
Now there's one person who's autograph I cannot leave Australia without.

The Dark Side of a Great Match.

India's lost the second test match too. Just. With 7 balls left in the day.

I will give you one reason why they lost. The umpires. You can call me sour grapes all you want, but it's the truth.

Let me count for you how many decisions went against India-
1. Ponting's caught behind given not out.
2. Symonds caught behind given not out.
3. Symonds stumping given not out by the THIRD UMPIRE.
4. Symonds second stumping which was not even referred to the 3rd umpire.
5. Jaffer getting bowled off a no ball and being given out.
6. Hayden getting two PLUMB lbw appeals, but given not out on both.
7. Hussey getting caught behind, but given not out.
8. Dravid given out caught behind when the ball only went off his pad.
9. Ganguly given out caught when it was dubious whether Clarke collected it cleanly. And THEN the umpires asked RICKY PONTING whether it was caught cleanly or not and OBVIOUSLY Ponting says YES and the umpire took HIS word for it and gave Ganguly out.

Nine decisions against India and ALL influencial decisions. And how many against Australia? Just one- that of Ponting's lbw in the first innings when he actually got bat on it- but that was only AFTER he had been given not out wrongly first.

I don't know what to say.

There is an unending debate going on about the controversies and the use of technology and about whether the umpire should take the FIELDERS' word for whether any catch was clean or not etc. I think this test match should act as the catalyst for increased use of technology in the game. A lot of mishaps could have been avoided and India could have drawn the match on this crucial fifth day. The StarCricket commentators can go on and be polite and say that one cannot say for sure that the decisions directly affected the outcome- but I say, banging my fist on the table for emphasis, that there is no doubt at all that the wrong decisions given TODAY (if not the ones given throughout the match) directly and very substantially influenced the outcome of the match. India were in a good position to draw the match. But the bad decisions prevented that.

On top of all this, Ricky Ponting has lodged a complaint about Harbhajan's verbal fight with Symonds- and Harbhajan will attend the hearing for that tonight. If he is charged, then I don't know what the penalty will be. But the question here is not about the penalty. The question is- who started it? Symonds or Bhajji? What exactly was said? None of the umpires heard what was said. The video replays so far have not been conclusive. So essentially (unless some sudden video evidence turns up), there is only Ponting's word for what was said. And according to him, it was racial abuse- apparently Bhajji called Symonds "monkey". I don't know how true this is, but Bhajji, TeamIndia and the Indian media are denying the racial abuse accusation. I don't know what the truth is. I just hope that Ponting was wrong.

Another issue on debate- about taking the fielder's word on a low catch. I think Sunil Gavaskar and all are right when they say that if you want to take a fielder's word on a catch (assuming that he is honest), that same player should also walk when he is batting and known he's out. I mean, it's one game, be it batting or bowling or fielding. And if he wants to be believed when he's talking about taking the catch, then he should be honest when he's batting too. It is a huge inconsistency if the player, knowing fully well that he's caught, stands his ground and doesn't walk, but expects to be believed when he says, YES I caught it cleanly. I mean, evidently he will have biases towards the side he's playing for!

How can the umpire ask the fielder? I mean, fine, go on and ask him, but you cannot base your decisions on what the fielder tells you! There is another umpire on the field- he can be consulted. And if both umpires are unsure, the TV umpire can be used. When the provisions have been made for the right decisions to be taken, why must there still be this huge denial to use these provisions and make such blatant errors? These errors may have been acceptable before, when technology was not developed enough. But now that it is developed enough and the mistakes can be broadcasted world over through replays over and over again, they are not excusable any more. I know cricket likes its old-fashioned-ness (which other game takes a break for TEA?), but I think this let-me-live-in-the-dark-ages-because-I-am-a-technophobe mentality is getting in the way of the game's progress. I think it is repelling fans from the game and as long as it continues, cricket cannot progress to become a popular world sport. Think about it- you sit down and watch this thrilling, exciting, high quality match for five days and in the end, a side loses simply because of the sheer incompetence of the match officials. How much of a farce it becomes then!

I think India and Australia played cricket of equal (and great) quality in this match. Yes, I agree Aus clearly deserved the Melbourne victory. They outplayed India there. But in Sydney, India fought tooth and nail and were sometimes even on top of Aus. A draw would have been a fitting result and a good tribute to the good fighting cricket played by both sides here. India did not deserve to lose this one. And anyone who watched the match would agree with me- whether you are an Indian supporter or not.

One thing that almost made me cry was the interview with Kumble afterwards. Harsha praised him for his lionheartedness towards the end (he really truly fought very very hard and very bravely for his country) but all Kumble said was (in this sad sad tone) "Thanks Harsha, but it wasn't good enough at the end. We didn't get the right result." And Sunil Gavaskar just praised Kumble's fighting spirit and his dignified behaviour throughout the match. And when he told Kumble not to get disheartened and to believe in themselves and fight on, it was very very heartening. Even Kumble looked like he could start tearing at any moment then. I've never seen the Indian commentators and the Indian media back their team to such an extent- they truly have stood up for the team and encouraged them and all. It shows that India did not play bad cricket. They have every right to feel, in Harsha's words, "done in".

India, you rocked this test match. I don't feel a sense of loss as I usually do after India has lost a match. I just feel very annoyed and a deep sense of injustice.

I'm going to be sitting in the ground at the next test match from the 2nd day onwards. It is going to be an enthralling experience, but I sincerely hope that it doesn't turn out like this one- marred by all the controversies. And I truly hope India wins it. If they even draw it, the series is dead. And the 4th test will be a dead rubber. There's a lot hanging on the next match. I'd just like to say, I'm proud of the way our team has been so dignified and kept up their reputation despite being given horrendously wrong decisions against them. They have conducted themselves very well, except for that Bhajji-Symonds clash, and even that is not very conclusive. We'll see what turns up at tonight's hearing.

In the meantime, after all the darkness, here's a funny quote from Harsha Bhogle:

"This is the best reality show you will ever see. There's no scripting. There's no one mouthing the lines from behind the scenes. Everything you see here is real."
- on all the drama and controversy during the 2nd test, day 5.

Cheerios!

Harsha's Hahas.

The second test is well underway- tomorrow is the 5th day and yes I am guilty of not updating.

So here I am with some entertaining quotes, courtesy of Harsha Bhogle:

"He is very one-dimensional. He's got the length... but not the width."
- on Ishant Sharma's skinny-ness

"Kumble is sitting there in his sleeveless vest and he's with the Australian Prime Minister! How cool is that- sitting beside the Prime Minister in a sleeveless vest? 'Do you like my biceps Mr. Prime Minister?' Hahaha."
- when the Australian PM was sitting in the Indian dressing room talking to Anil Kumble

Two minutes after the 2nd comment, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, joined Harsha Bhogle and Sunil Gavaskar in the commentary box for a good ten minutes or so. And he was actually commentating along with them!
Now how many times do you get to see a Prime Minister commentating? :)

Great stuff.
I need to remember to write down all the funny stuff I hear from the StarCricket commentators. They are absolutely priceless sometimes. In a good way!