हम इंतजार करेंगे...!

हम इंतजार करेंगे...
हम इंतजार करेंगे तेरा कयामत तक,
खुदा करेके कयामत हो और तू आये....!

गेले आठ महिने सचिनच्या महाशतकाची वाट पाहताना हेच गाणे आता तोंडावर येते. तो प्रत्येकवेळी खेळायला आल्यावर (गावठी) शॅम्पेनची बाटली घेऊन आम्ही मित्र बसलेलो असतो की आज होणार साला सेन्चुरी. पण प्रत्येकवेळी आनंदाने आणलेली ती बाटली दुःख पचवण्यासाठी मोकळी केली जाते. आजकाल ९९ हा आकडा नावडता झाला आहे. असो. प्रत्येकाची जवळ-जवळ हीच अवस्था आहे. सचिन पेक्षा त्याच्या फॅन्सना आणि मीडियाला त्याच्या शतकाची जास्त चिंता आहे. टिपिकल लोकल मिडियावाले सतत गोल्डन सेन्चुरीविषयी तासन्‌तास चर्चा करत असतात. "क्या लगता है आपको सचिन दबाव नही झेल पा रहे अपने माइलस्टोन का? या फिर कुछ ज्यादाही सोच रहे है अपनी सेन्चुरी के बारेमे? कैसे खेलना चाहिये उनको? क्या उनके तकनीक में कुछ खराबी है? सवाल अभी बहोत है... आप कहीं मत जाइये, लौटेंगे एक ब्रेक के बाद.....!"

सचिनसाठी शंभरावी सेन्चुरी काही क्षणांसाठी स्पेशल असेल. नंतर तो फक्त एक आकडा होईल. इतकी वर्षे खेळून झाल्यानंतर सचिनलाही ठाऊक आहे की जेव्हा जेव्हा तो खेळायला उतरेल तेव्हा-तेव्हा काही ना काही रेकॉर्ड्स होत राहणार आहेत आणि त्याच्या झोळीत नवनवीन कीर्तिमान पडत राहणार आहेत. सचिन जेव्हा सोळाव्या वर्षी क्रिकेट खेळायला आला तेव्हा अब्दुल कादिरच्या "गो होम अ‍ॅण्ड ड्रिंक मिल्क" या टोमण्याला त्याने पुढे सरसावून सिक्स मारून उत्तर दिले, ऑस्ट्रेलिया मध्ये पर्थ ग्राउंडवर मर्व हुजेसच्या स्लेजिंगला सेन्चुरीने उत्तर दिले. सचिन नेहमीच व्हिव रिचर्ड्सच्या आक्रमक खेळीवर फिदा होता आणि त्यांच्या स्टाइलनुसार खेळला. 'बॅड पॅच' दरम्यान बॅट आणि म्युझिक हेच त्याचे बेस्ट फ्रेंड होते. सचिनची पहिली टेस्ट सेन्चुरी जरी पदार्पणाच्या पहिल्या सिरीजमध्ये झाली असली तरी वन-डे मधल्या सेन्चुरीसाठी त्याला १९९४ पर्यंत वाट पहावी लागली (त्याच्या प्रिय संघाविरुद्ध... ऑस्ट्रेलिया विरुद्ध!). जवळ-जवळ दहा वेळा तो सेन्चुरीच्या समीप आला होता, पण कधी दुष्ट बॉलर्सनी तर कधी अम्पायर्सनी त्याला भेटू दिलं नाही. इंग्लंड दौर्‍यापासून सेन्चुरी त्याला हुलकावणी देत आहे ती पार ऑस्ट्रेलिया दौरा संपला तरी रुसून बसली आहे. कधी गिब्सन कधी चॅपल बंधू, कधी कपिल, तर कधी स्टीव वॉ सांगत आहेत की तेंडुलकर गोल्डन सेन्चुरीचे दडपण झेलू शकत नाहीये.

...९९ सेन्चुरींपर्यंत जो नेहमी दडपण झेलत आणि खेळत आला आहे, तो एका सेन्चुरीसाठी दडपणाला दाद देणार आहे का? बिचार्‍या दडपणाला पण कधी-कधी सचिनचं दडपण येत असेल!

आम्ही क्रिकेटप्रेमी आशा करतो की आमची लोकल शॅम्पेनची बाटली सचिनच्या 'गोल्डन सेन्चुरी'साठी लवकर ओपन होईल. तोपर्यंत...

हम इंतजार करेंगे...
हम इंतजार करेंगे तेरा कयामत तक...

The end of a defiance era....!

Atlast Rahul Dravi decided to call it a day after carrying the tag The Wall meaningfully for 16 years. He arrived on the scene against Sri Lanka in 1996 one day tri series just after the World cup. Dravid & Ganguly made the test debut on the Lord's the later got his century in that match but Rahul missed it just by 5 runs. After Sunil Gavaskar he was the one who looked always sure about his off stump leaving the ball without any ambiguous mind adding to the frustration of fast bowlers.  He was kind of a batsman who always played a secondary role of  keeping the wicket & steadying the team's ship.

It was the tour of S.Africa in the 96-97 series & later the West indies tour that earned him the name The Wall for his immaculate defense, scoring the runs on fast tracks & preserving his wicket. Team India always relied on him in Test matches played abroad to play long innings& he didn't disappoint the team's faith in him. Through out his career he never looked giving importance to personal milestones. Even after scoring century his joy, or  waving the bat was more of a satisfaction of putting the team in good condition. Rahul Dravid who made debut & today’s Rahul Dravid there is no change in terms of his behavior, way of playing or his physique.

He was never in a limelight for the records, number of runs or number of centuries, he never involved in so called sledging, indiscipline behavior. In 1997 in the final of tri series against South Africa Dravid hit a huge six over long- on against Allan Donald, The furious fast bowler then bowled a fiery bouncer to Dravid & confronted him with some abusive language. But Dravid did not respond  & just gave him a long stare. After the match Donald met him & explained that it was just the reaction of a typical fast bowler, but Dravid didn’t entertain him at that time. He was a kind of a person who would take pride of his batting.

To me as a cricket lover statistics of a player should not be the judgment for his greatness. But just for explaining the profile:- he scored more than 10,000+ runs in one day & 13,000+  runs in Test cricket.

There was a period when Rahul David’s one day career was a bit shaky. His playing style was causing the slow run rate for the team. In the death over he was not able to slog the bowlers & score quick runs. With other youngsters around having innovative batting style and scoring quick runs Dravid’s place in the team was not giving the required balance. To accommodate Dravid in the team he was asked to keep the wickets. To the team’s interest he didn’t deny & kept the wickets successfully. In the tests also when we were struggling to find even a descent opening batsman Dravid was asked “Will you open the innings?” , the gentleman played in the opening slot for the team’s interest again.

As for the records he has good runs on the foreign pitches than on the Indian tracks, he could achieve it because of his strong technique & heart to face the fast bowling. Before the last series against England, out of his 33 test centuries India has just lost one test..! Other 32 being drawn or in winning cause. It shows how much his runs were important for the Team India.

As a captain he didn’t enjoy a long tenure. He captained team India in 25 tests with a ratio of 8- wins, 6 –losses. & in 79 one day - 42 wins & 33 losses.

The memorable performances in tests were  always against top teams. Score of 180 against Aus. in Kolkata test 2001, double century in Adelaide test 2003-4, 270 in Pakistan, 145 against South  Africa in 97, 144 against England on lively Headingly pitch 2002 series.  He was also involved in 300 runs partnership more than 5 occasions, & also has highest number of century partnerships.

When Gavaskar retired he said that his foot movement was not getting to the requirement & the reflexes were not matching to the standards. In just concluded Australia series Dravid’s defense got drilled more often than not. For a high standard player like Dravid it was the sign of age affecting his batting. & I am sure the same thought would have creped in his mind.  Despite knowing this he didn’t give any indication or statement of his retirement to avoid the distraction of the team from the matches which was performing very poorly. 

From all cricket lovers we give tribute to Dravid for his dedicated efforts & contribution to the Cricket.

Its' an end of a defiance era....

Ritesh R Kadam.

rityakadam@rediffmail.com

Cell:-09011020015

The Battle lost within....!!!!

Just confused from where & how to start to explain why India played such a poor & heart breaking cricket in Australia.. The cricket lovers thought the young & enthusiastic team India would turn around the fortunes in  T-20, &  One day series  after  veterans failed to show their colors in the test series. We had all the required material to make this series remarkable & intriguing. Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Dhoni,  the high profile & attacking batsmen, Kohli, Raina, Rohit  Sharma the exciting future prospects of Team India, R. Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Irfan Pathan the  one day all-rounder,  Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar the swing bowlers, & the real quick  Umesh  yadav … What else captain would ask for to write down the success story.  Yes two more things which are more important than the individual record, caliber, & greatness those are commitment and team spirit which were missing.  The way we were getting thrashed in the test series the senior members & the core players of the team should definitely have shown some maturity leading to limited over cricket. Players need to understand that they are representing Team India & not the franchisee owned team where all this drama can be publicized to make the event more interesting. 

It is said that when Going gets tough, tough gets going. Sehwag not understanding the team’s need, Gambhir giving needless comment in the after match presentation , Dhoni termed as man with less emotions until the series started doubting his own player’s  abilities in the media. Did all this help to improve the team’s morale, or raise in the on field performance.  The coach is there to bind the team & keep it  focused on the ultimate target to win. Duncan Fletcher our team coach(?) reminds me the PM Manmohan Singh who appears mute faced in every circumstances & let the things happen as they are bound to happen.

Playing against Australia in Australia is not like the IPL matches where you can thrash the bowlers at any part of the ground at will. It’s a challenge, you need to plan your innings, your defense, opposition bowler’s flaws & waiting for the opportunity. Dhoni managed to do it to some extent. Such is the strength of Australian team despite  having  the new bunch they have the ability to turn the match around by keeping the pressure all the time with the committed efforts. The positive competition in the team keeps the players always alert for performing to the best of their ability. The fresh example is not far despite scoring the century & double century  in the test series and even being excellent fielder Ricky Ponting could not find his place in the playing eleven after just four failures. 

All of our players are so used to the batsman friendly pitches, even the ball one foot outside the off stump can easily be dispatched to the fence to third man or square off  the wicket without any foot movement. In Australia or the pitch having some assistant to the fast bowler the good length ball with just hint of movement can take edge & rest in the hands of hungry slip fielder. The likes of Jadeja, Raina, Rohit Sharma regarded as future  middle order have the talent but their casual approach is causing the detrimental effect not only to/ on Team India but also to/on their career. These players need to understand that it’s their performance and temperament   not the captain’s favor that will decide the place in Team India if they are serious about their cricket.  

If any individual pretends that there place in the team is granted & his only efforts can alone win the matches for team India, this scorching series is enough for him to come down on earth & walk with the team & it’s plan. And those who are dreaming to lead team India should better think again.

It’s not as easy as scoring centuries against mediocre team, it’s “A Shiv Dhanush “ first prepare to be competent  by playing with responsibility and then dream to think about it.

Ritesh Kadam
rityakadam@rediffmail.com
Cell:-09011020015