Indian cricket is on a high these days and the man responsible for this is none other than Saurav Ganguly. Handed the mantle to lead and transform the team into a group of world beaters, Ganguly went about this with nonchalant ease. He went in search of talent to shores beyond the traditional, he embraced the “no fear” motto and made sure that it rubbed off on everyone in the team and he got about a whole new dimension to the meaning of the word “aggression”. If the Men In Blue can match a team word for word when it comes to sledging, it is surely something that Saurav must claim a lot of credit for.

Being the fiery personality that he is, he’s had his share of ups and downs. From being controversies’          favorite child to a man with the steeliest resolve, he has proved time and again that he is no push over and can fit into any team purely on merit anyday.

Why are we talking about Ganguly in March when he walked into the sunset a while ago?

Ganguly commented on the current team saying he didn’t agree that this was the best ever Indian team to have played. It’s perfectly OK for someone to share their point of view, but coming from someone like him who is a sort of a demigod, it’s hard to understand the rationale. I have been following cricket for a long time. If my memory serves me right, I can’t think of hay days in Indian cricket beyond the 1983-1985 timeframe when a team won everything in sight and most importantly, across geographies.

If Dada feels his days at the helm were the best, they sure were, albeit the level of consistency and the energy and positive attitude surrounding the team today. Even in the days that we thought we won most, I’ve never heard a single player come out and talk about team spirit and how everyone backs for each other. For someone as revered and respected as Sachin to come out and say this is the best team ever, it speaks volumes! Sachin is a cricketer par excellence. His word is as good as a word from God and we saw that during the Bhajji controversy.

To me, this act of Saurav is a fall from grace. This is incidentally not the first time that he is doing this.

Just after he retired, he commented on Dhoni and his hairstyle. He backtracked in a couple of days, but the scars sure remain. To me, if someone who knows about the game says this team is not the best to have played the game ever, I think it is a joke!

Look at what these young boys have done.. they won the first ever world T20, went to the toughest place to play cricket ever and won – Australia, played in a few places around the sub-continent and won, and beating sub continental teams at home is harder than beating Australia and then called teams like England home and made them eat humble pie. They are sitting on the verge of making history in New Zealand (and I am hoping I am not speaking too soon).

Never has a team played with so much confidence and won everything in its sight. That said, there may be a time in future when someone team plays better than this crop. While I will be the happiest Indian cricket fan and certainly not alone then, I think anyone trying to say this team is not good enough to be the best is making a fool of themselves!

Come on Dada – stop your fall from grace by commenting needlessly and focus on your preparation for the IPL. I understand you played an active role in selecting the cheer babes.

I hope your cricket will entertain us as much in April as do your picks!

Image Credit: Hashir

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The recent 2 match 20-20 internationals between India and New Zealand were a “huge” let down for the cricket crazy Indian fans. Being so used to winning for a long time, the crash landing 2-0 score line had a lot of folks feeling bitter. The old habit of pulling out the daggers when the team does badly did certainly show up and the good old media at it again saying has India lost the plot. Add to this that a section of the media were asking a question saying was it the new uniforms!

What I fail to understand is the fact that that this was no big deal for most of us. These are T20 matches and true to their name, they are really 20-20. A result can go anyway and all that needs to happen to change the course of a game is 6 balls – A batsman can play out of his skin or a bowler can do the same and bingo, the game swings! The connoisseurs of cricket even fail to recognize that T20 is cricket!  To get into a difficult country where the pitches are fast, winds and wind chills have a huge impact and especially to play a game with literally no practice matches in hard.  People lose perspective to the challenges that the boys face when they travel around the world and expect them to perform at the same level always.

I happened to be travelling and caught both the T20 matches on blackberry – What surprised me was the kind of viewer comments that accompanied each defeat. I read all kinds of crap, the saddest being someone questioning Irfan Pathan’s commitment to the country when he bowled the last over and we lost the second ODI. Wasn’t it the same bloke who played out of his skin to win you a match that you had lost for God’s sake in Sri Lanka ? How can memories be so short lived??

I’m so glad the boys turned things around today to go 1 up on the ODI series. They did this with élan and showed that they are truly the team that is on the path to becoming the world’s numero uno. A few defeats here and there are bound to happen and one needs to be patient. This is a good team, not a god team that can win all the time. Winning and losing are part of the game and we must learn to accept defeat with grace. Pulling out daggers and knives is not a solution to an odd loss on the way. The path to greatness is never a bed of roses alone!

Image Credit: B Sandman

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