RD 3:16

Those of you wondering what the title actually stands for, here is a little explanation. 3:16 was used by Stone cold Steve Austin and is an obvious WWF(as it was called then) hangover. Austin used it to denote that it was his time now. So the smart asses would have got the reference now and those of u who still dint...well....read the rst of the post.

December 19
0955 hrs
Mohali

India won the toss and elected to bat first. In walked Sehwag-Gambhir duo. As soon as sehwag got strike he tried to get out and was 3rd time lucky to get an edge. India 6-1.

Phase 1: An air of expectancy

Rahul Dravid walks in. His face as determined as ever. Striding out with the same helmet and the same bat he has been using for the past 2 series.(Some ridiculous news channel suggested that he is not seeing the ball properly coz of his helmet's grill, which was too close)

He did not look weighed down neither by expectation nor by the pressure. Afterall he had thrived on these situations all throughout his career. Too many questions were in the air. Is this his last outing? Has he stayed for too long? Is the Wall crumbling? Will he or more importantly CAn he make runs? RD as always and unlike the last 2 series had the answers this time.

Phase 2: Deja Vu'
It is winter time in India and Mohali is in the northern parts of the country. At this time it is cool, murky and foggy. Overcast conditions. Movement off the wicket. The conditions were more Leeds than Lucknow. Dravid is the man in such conditions and his knocks that elevated him from Good to Great came in such scenarios(Leeds 148, Headingley 217(2002)).

Phase 3: The Struggle
The first ball faced, is greeted with his best shot, the front foot defence. Long stride forward, the bat so straight that one cud use it as a plumbline, and sweet sound of leather hitting the timber.
The next few deliveries however

• A play and a miss
  
• Left alone but almost brushed the off stump
• Big inswinger struck on the pad....loud appeal

Its a struggle already. Grind.Defy.Fight it out. These words are synonymous with RD, and he is out there proving it one more time. More than ever before.
Desperation. RD off the mark with a "yes..no..yes" kinda single.
Just for the record. Stuart broad and James Anderson are on an absolute roll. Moving the ball in and out prodigiously,jagging back off a length.
Rd is precarious 1 off 16 deliveries faced.
Change of tactics from Anderson. Bat pad on the off side. This will prevent Dravid from lunging forward to deliveries.
Andy's Nuggets This might well be a blessing in disguise as it will prevent RD from prodding at the ball and nicking it to the keeper. he will have to play from the crease and play late. Good for him.
The slice of luck Dravid suffocated, tries to break free. Pulls awkwardly to Anderson. Ball loops up in the air but falls safely between Square leg and Deep square leg. Hmm..the rub of the green going his way for a change.

Interesting passage of play. Freddy bowling really well at full throttle.These last six balls have been played with confidence right from the middle of the blade by RD. negotiated safely. Not much of a feat but considering the kind of form he is in, this would do his confidence a world of good.
Confidence. RD pulls and pulls well. His first boundary in 5 innings. RD 11*(53)

21 overs negotiated safely. Its lunch on day 1 at Mohali. After the end of a curtailed but testing session RD still there.

Phase 4: The Signs
The palyers are back after luch. The skies are still overcast and no signs of the Sun coming out.
Monty to RD. Full outside off. BANG !!!. Cover drive .Four.
Godd to see that backlift goin and the full flow of the bat.

Ahh. Nice to see that. Flintoff steams in and bowls short of good length. The ball keeps low but RD manages well. SMILE. Finally its there. Long time since anybody last saw him smiling. Ahh that jammy childlike smile. B-E-A-utiful.

Ohh...Vintage Dravid. Full on legstump. Four. nobody moves. RD's ondrives are flowing now.

Now that is surely the moment of the day. Monty has 2 short extra cover fielders within 2 metre of each other, to prevent RD from driving. Dravid still drives and not only bisects the two of them but also beats wide mid off to earn a boundary. That shot had class written allover it.
RD 39*(87)

Phase 5: The waiting game
England have now resorted to defensive methods and are trying to draw mistakes from the batsmen by bowling well outside off stump with packed fields.
At Tea RD 53*(148)
The going is not easy. The wicket is not the easiest to bat on and england are genuinely bowling good lines and lengths.
Especially Graeme Swann is in the middle of a great spell. He has had 2 very close LBW shouts and had gambhir almost stumped and a catch dropped too. 7-2-9-0.

Phase 6: Thats all Gentlemen
Bad light and cloud cover causes the play to end early. Only 72 overs have been bowled in the day in which India has managed a healthy 179-1.
After the initial gring nothing seems to have perturbed Rd. He now looks in the zone with cover drives and on drives flowing off his willow. Though his strike rate for the Day is around 32 but one thing is for sure. The WALL has set up his stall and has everything to look forward to tomorrow. RD 65*(205)




This innings ended all speculation about RD's future in Indian cricket and cleared all doubts about his ability to still score runs at the highest level. The next day he went on to complete his 26th test century and was finally out trying to up the tempo. Caught panesar bowled Swann 136(328)
Even on reaching his 100 there were no fancy celebrations, no pumping of fists ...no punching the air. Just a muted sigh of relief and gratitude to the almighty.
His 71 runs on the 2nd day came off 123 deliveries. And soon after he departed India lost 4 wickets within 17 runs. Showing the true value of his innings.
He later said that he did not do anything different this time round, he knew that a big score was round the corner and it would come sooner rather than later.
The writer salutes the Greatest servant of indian cricket.

"Form is temporary...Class is permanent."

Rock On...DADA

"Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamarey dil mein hai, dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-qatil mein hai" This is what sums up DADA...a rebel. Yes a rebel he was who lived by the sword and perished by it too.
First of all let me make it clear that i was never an ardent Ganguly fan; and always belonged to the Dravid clan(media persons.... breaking news); but thats the greatness of the man, The pedigree to draw praise even from his critiques.
Defiance thy name is Sourav Ganguly. This 19 year old first came onto scene when he defied all notions and refused to carry drinks during his first ODI series(1991-92 Australia tour of India). He was not to be seen for the next 4 years until he defied all odds and struck a magnificient 130 against England at lord's on debut.(Rahul Dravid made 95 then playing the best man..as always) Although he was never seen as a test match great that moment redefined the definition of India and laid foundation of The Great Indian Middle Order.



His real test came when this young lad with pencil mustache was thrust into the captaincy role following the match fixing saga in 2000. Everybody thought that he wasn't ready and shudn't even be in the reckoning, but he defied the inevitable; again; to lead a young Indian side into the finals of the ICC Knockout cup 2000.
At that time he was the best ODI batsmen in the business and most times outscored his opening partner Sachin Tendulkar.
Under him India won some and lost some but what India learnt under him was to look into the eyes of the world and say" I wont lie down for the count; beat me if u can".
The most telling tale of his bravado was when Australia toured India in 2001, what was deemed as Final Frontier by the Australian media. But dada was up to it, he challenged the aussies at their own game. "Trash talkin", "Sledging" or "Mental Disintegration" as Steve Waugh called it. This is how he welcomed the No.1 test team with 15 consecutive test wins under their belt; "Australians may be the no.1 test team but they havent won here, last time they toured in 98' they lost, before that too in 96' they lost". And by his own admission this got onto Steve Waugh's nerves, then and there. To stomp onto a Lion's bare foot and stand your own ground is no mean feat. Dada did it and excelled at it too. That made him the captain India always wanted.
He was the one who always rooted for youngsters being infused into the team, and played mentor to the core of Indian team of now; Zaheer khan, yuvraj singh, harbhajan singh and virendra sehwag; who bloomed under his support. India always has had the class, the flair, the talent; he gave us the confidence to stand up and ba counted. Coz dats what he has done all his life.
His most astonishing feat is his knack of surprising even his ardent supporters. Arun Lal former India opener and cricket expert said recently"When he was dropped from the Indian team after the chappell saga, even i dint expect him to come back, but the way he played in South africa he surprised everyboby me included"
And sourav must have said to himself OOPS! I did it again.
There were many controversies in his career too, right from the start to the ego clash with greg chappell, an uncomfortable stint under once deputy Rahul dravid, differences with Sachin, and talk of his selfish batting; but thats not what we are going to talk about here.Visibly the pain has now risen too high for him. After being overlooked from the Irani trophy side he has decided to call it a day. He has not been in the reckoning for the one day side for quite some time now; for reasons best known to selectors. I also wanted him to retire but when he is now, it has left a bad taste in my mouth. This certainly isnt the way his end was meant to come.

The most successful test captain India has ever seen, The prince of calcutta, the God of the off side; watever we may call him has finally hung up his boots. He taught India how to be fighters and winners. He is a youth icon for sure; whom we must look upto. Dada deserves a ROYAL FAREWELL may he get one.

Lets pray he plays with the same death defying audacity in his last series and bows out on a high.
ROCK ONN ....DADA.
We will miss you.
And thats the bottomline cuz the great one said so.

The media can go to hell...

The Media Can go to HELL...
Well friends i am sorry..i dint want to convert this space into my Cricketing zone but now I have had enough. Today evening after i came back from a hectic day i was bamboozled by this absolutely senseless show that was coming on A news channel dont know star or aaj tak probably( As if it makes any difference though...). It was called La'CHAAR as in helpless. And the point of discussion were the fab4 of indian cricket who these people now were calling lachaar.



The four gentlemen you see here have taken Indian cricket to the next level and created a whole new level of standards for batting. And such shabby treatment by our own media who used to go ga ga over them just a few months ago; is totally unprofessional. I dont know why but it really hurt me..because some where in my sub conscious mind i too want to be a part of the media some day. Just to get TRPs , Cheap publicity or by sheer weight of money?? Do these people do it. and to discuss the topic they bring in names like Atul wassan(2 Test matches), Saba Karim(1 Test match) and even Maninder singh who is nowhere near thes people in stature.

So i decided that i will look into matters myself and bring out the truth. So i had a look at the inns by inns records of all Indian batsmen over past One year and compared them. And what came out was crystal clear. Yes playesr like dravid and ganguly have suffered a loss of form but the people these news channels hail as YOUNGISTAAN and great future prospects havnt done any better as well. So have a look at the Table below Where We have The La'CHAAR a nd the youngistaan and see for yourself.

Runs avg hs 100 50


Rahul dravid 464 35.29 111 1 2 111 SA 93 AUS

Sachin tendulkar491 49.10 154* 2 0 153 and 154 AUS

Saurav Ganguly 406 29.00 87 0 0 87 and 87 SA

VVS LAXMAN 554 39.57 109 1 0 109 and 79 Aus

YOUNGISTAAN

YUVI 220 31.42 169 1 0 169 PAK and32Sa

DHONI 244 24.40 52 0 1 52 and 38 SA

GAMBHIR 212 53.00 74 0 2 74 and 56 SL

SEHWAG 947 78.91 319 3 2 319 SA and 201 SL

(The last column shows the two best performances in this period)

So here is abit of my research that i did. By looking at the above table we can see that barring sachin the rest of the fab 4 average below 40 with laxman at 39 point sumthing that is just a touch below his career average. So he too can be forgiven. dravid averages 35 sumthin 20 below his career average. dangerous signs for him?? Well i dont think so coz in this period he has seen the worst phase of his career and still has a Hundred aaginst South africa to his name. The second highest score of this period being the 93 against the aussies at Perth a typical dravid knock that the team neede most. And i personally think that his 42 in the last inns against SL was a very promosing inns. More importantly he has been adjudged out by Third umpire referral system 3 times out of 4 this series. So once the trial gets over the average will move up by itself.
ganguly on the other hand is worrying as his average in this period is just 29. But he too is just one knock away from form. And dont forget he was the one who scored runs when nobody did against SA both at home this year and away last year. So let him play his natural game please.

Now for those who hail Youngistan and all. I agree the lot is talented no doubt but is still raw at test level. Gambhir and Sehwag are doing really well and shud be kept out of discussion as at this point of time they are the most dangerous opening pair in all forms of cricket.(All over the that is)
But Yuvraj Singh and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Shree Mahendra singh dhoni havnt fared very well at test level and Even Rohit Sharma whose name every channel is chanting failed to scored a fifty even in the recently concluded one day series. So all of them too as facing form crisis. So why target only the pros who have bailed you out of trouble time and again.
In the 2nd Inns of second test against SL even, The dravid Sachin partnership was very crucial when they put on 70 odd runs at run a ball against Mendis and Murali.

So my request to the so called Media Gurus is that please do your work sincerely and stop looking for spoofs that do not exist. It only creates doubts in the minds of the common man.
And mark my words you will hail these maestros in the same breath in which you are cricticising them....let the Third test get over.
"Form is temporary.....CLASS is permanent."

* Andy's believe it or not
"Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly scored more runs than Yuvraj Singh And Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the first season of IPL 20-20 tournament"

"And some people still think it is a youngster's game"- Sachin Tendulkar (In a press conference when Mumbai Indians beat Chennai super Kings"