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Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Googlies: Yuvraj is the crown Prince

What balls,
what chakke!

chakke or sixes when said in Hindi has a ring to it, that English can never hope to muster. "Yuvraj ne England ke chakke chudaa a diye": translates to "Yuvraj hit England to sixes which is severe" but in Hindi it is louder, and bigger accomplishment. Six in six balls. A hundred percent is always hard to achieve. In last series Dimitri hit Yuvraj for five sixes, a hard enough accomplishment, but our dude Yuvraj went all the way. A fifty in twelve balls is hard to beat. Isn't it awesome that the man whose name means Prince is our vice captain now? Its nuts that we both studied in the same High School; I went there as it was called a factory for Engineers and Doctors. He went there for it was called the cricketing school of Chandigarh: the college that gave India Kapil Dev and Dinesh Mongia, used to give India thirty or more IITians every year and scores of Engineers and Doctors on top of it

I had the privilege of hearing Yograj Singh's comments about his son. Yograj got to play one odd match in International cricket and he ensured his son was good enough to play a few hundred. Yograj had an interesting life span, including a stint at Punjabi movies I believe, and attempts at running a Petrol pump in Chandigarh. So when an excited reporter interviewed him, the father said, "Sher ka bachcha hai, ghaas thode hi khayega" (He is a tiger's son, he won't eat grass), emphasizing that Yuvraj is meant for big hits and big matches. Each of his sixes was a delight to watch. Yograj, like every proud father, said, if his son asked him today, about how he performed the father would tell him, "not bad." Fathers will be fathers. When the reporter asked him if Yuvraj's sixes were an answer to five sixes he got he for, the father retorted, "It was an answer to the four hundred rule of the british. My son gave them a good loud message much like Gandhi, Nehru gave to British in their time." On a day like today, I will forgive the father of breaking into all the hyperboles he could think of, and I will join him in being a proud countryman of the man who hit every six taller and longer than what preceded it. Also Yograj raved how India and winning matches for India was more important than any personal accomplishments, and even if it sounded Bollywoodish, I felt proud, happy, excited and thankful.

India nearly lost the match; you may disagree, but I was worried. irrespective of what happened when we bowled. Our batting display was worth a watch, but England quite close. Much closer than what I expected. Sehwag barked and had a bite in his strokes: his usual wag and "get out as soon as possible" approach was missing. Gambhir took his namesake task seriously. Pathan was a revelation once again, and since he is young and good learner I am ready to invest hopes in him. Dhoni must have felt relieved after winning the match: as a future captain of Indian cricket team (or one day team), he would prefer to start on a good note. England did quite well, but it was a day where England could not blame Collingwood or his lap dances for their defeat.

For me the highlights of the series so far have been these surprises. Life is full of surprises and so is cricket. Australia was defeated twice, England and West Indies are out of the World Cup., a thirty three year old man has made us forget how important players Inzy and Md. Yusuf were for Pakistan. Odd players are shining. India is thriving without Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid. Australia is struggling. But the best part is number of sixes. Today Kemp showed us why he is dangerous. Yuvraj hit 50 off 12 balls. Asif had a tight bowling spell in a high scoring match. Bangladesh has been more competitive than it ever was in longer versions of the game. Vettori has emerged as a shrewd leader. irrespective of what team wins the series, irrespective of what flaws the shortest version of game has, the cricket has been entertaining and worth watching. I might watch artsy movies with relish, but I love a comedy, a masala (spicy) Bollywood movie for the entertainment value. If you think miracles don't happen, see how India escaped against Pakistan. Or see six sixes of Yuvraj. If you think skill is unimportant, watch Asif bowl, or Kemp strike his boundaries. If you want melodrama, hear or read an interview by Yuvraj's father:)

4 comments:

Vivek Sharma said...

from sulekha.com

delhivicky comments: on Sep 20 2007 6:56AM
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Very nice blog...and really this 20-20 is awsome...
Gaara comments: on Sep 20 2007 6:20AM
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Yuvraj must have been the captain...a great player in all!!!!!!!!
M V K comments: on Sep 20 2007 4:35AM
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good one
pradeep24s comments: on Sep 20 2007 3:28AM
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We make the players the prince when they play well and when they dont we treat them like street dogs..

funny world
rajakrao comments: on Sep 20 2007 2:38AM
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Dear Vivek,

I believe Yuvrajs best days and batsman is coming soon when he will top the world batting charts.
But OH! the sixes were a delight to watch the commentators David Loyd and Ravi shasthri almost lost their tonsils in that over and so did the fans.

Enjoy.

Vivek Sharma said...

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Vivek Sharma comments: on Sep 20 2007 9:35AM
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CV Varun: "Yuvraj Singh ko kaun nahin jaanta" (Who doesn't know Yuvraj Singh?)

Swarajya: 12 ball fifty will always be hard to match or beat or better; and the day someone does would be awesome to watch too!

Delhivicky, MVK, Gaara: Give the young gun time to evolve. He is still emerging from the shadows of holy trinity of Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid.

Yuvraj means Prince pradeep; and yesterday he wore the crown. A crown his father has worked so hard for, that in spite of how I joke about the hyperboles, I respect Yograj's mettle.

RajakRao: The sixes were awesome; to watch that kind of hitting is always incredible.

More so after Yuvraj himself was hit for five sixes only a few weeks ago. We all hope that Yuvraj will continue to progress, and at some point, become a reliable Test player as well.
C V Varun comments: on Sep 20 2007 9:15AM
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Nice 'sporty' essay.!!! Is it true that you know yuvraj singh ?
Any way the writing style was interesting.
swarajya comments: on Sep 20 2007 7:47AM
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Yuvaraj has created two brilliant records which cannot be beaten so easily.He made India proud.His six sixers were worth the gold.What an effortless innings he played.When he was hit for five sixers by Mascarenhas , he lost much of his dignity.But by hitting six sixers in six balls and the quickest 50, he has salvaged much his lost glory.Yes he is like a lion - a true son of a spirited father.We must not spoil him by entrusting the responsibility of a captain.England had won the seventh ODI because the umpire played for them.
A good tribute to Yuvraj and his father

Vivek Sharma said...

from desicritics.org

#1
Tanay
URL
September 20, 2007
01:28 AM

Cool report..Vivek, I missed the match but saw the snippets of the chake pe chaka in the highlights later..Google and if you find that in YouTube, add that to your post.

Also another remarkable day as the US Fed cut brought about the biggest single-day market rise.

#2
Vivek
URL
September 20, 2007
09:41 AM

Yuvraj's fathers comments were the highlight for me:) Sixes are always great to watch, six in an over: priceless!

#3
Chandra
September 20, 2007
12:14 PM

Yuvraj not playing SAF match. SIXER IMPACT? INDIA 19/0 in 3 overs...

#4
Chandra
September 20, 2007
12:23 PM

Gambhir Gone

Have you heard of an Indian player who has done well in 2 matches continuously?

#5
Chandra
September 20, 2007
12:24 PM

India in the deepest of troubles

two down for 32

Dinesh Karthik's terrible form in one day cricket continues...DUCK

#6
Chandra
September 20, 2007
12:27 PM

India- Over and OUT:

33/3...:-)

We are matching Sri Lanka's performance today :-)

#7
Vivek
URL
September 20, 2007
01:18 PM

Rohit Sharma and Dhoni steadied the ship:)

India is playing five bowlers today; so I guess 150 could be an alright score.

We'll find out!

#8
Chandra
September 20, 2007
03:27 PM

:)Won and did it in style.
A googlies post will follow;)

#10
Chandra
September 21, 2007
01:07 AM

Waiting...good bowling by RP

Vivek Sharma said...

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Vivek Sharma comments: on 21 Sep 07 10:22:00 AM
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IAMOKUOK: I agree with you quite a bit, and in my write-up after the next match, I had mentioned how this team was a team without superheroes that we typically associate our team with. Like Bollywood films, we want a batsman or bowler, who can singlehandedly beat eleven men (and their team of advisors, coaches and supporting extras). It does not happen that often in real life.

Naked Cricket: Yograj is a big entertainer for sure. I hope Yuvraj gives him reason to speak out more often.

Deepak: After all, it might not be a series on cricket at all;)

IAMOKUOK comments: on 21 Sep 07 01:07:00 AM
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dear Vivek Sharma,

Yuvaraj has shot his way to Criecketing " demi god" status with six sixes in one over. From now on he too will be another SuperStar Cricketer. ( Makes one wonder, if there are any ORDINARY cricketer in Indian Test Team).

This team of Superstars is a loser every where !!! The whole team is ordinary but the team players are ALL Superstars !!!

friendly regards
s.seshadri



Naked Cricket comments: on 20 Sep 07 17:35:00 PM
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The Yograj bits are priceless. Missed them on tv - after the 6s, hear he went crackers, as in burst some. Also when Sr Singh used to play the field, as in field, I hear, he wore a stetson. But yeah, he was supposed to be one helluva talent, rumour is, beyond Kapil Pajji, but politics did him in. Though it could have been his mouth, no?


dee_maini comments: on 20 Sep 07 16:17:00 PM
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The writing style was again the high point of this article. I liked the way different things were woven together to form an excellent quilt. The word 'namesake' was however used in a wrong sense, perhaps.
I also have been back to watching cricket. I watched the game today, as well. I have a few free streaming websites, so I suck them like a leech.

Good job.

Deepak Maini