Vindu Darasingh, Mayieppan, Srinivasan, Jagdale, Shukla, Vyas, interim president, spot fixing, helicopter, model, etc. etc., all these personalities and unusual words had occupied the headlines, news and sports pages in the recent past. Even IPL matches could not receive this much spotlight as these twinkling things managed to attract. These things and the characters out of the ground gave us the lessons how to play (with) Cricket off the field. Hope this episode would be ephemeral. Meanwhile, we came to know the Champions trophy would be commencing from 7th of June. I checked my mind and with whatever little knowledge available, reviewed the cricketing terms - swing, straight drive, pull, defensive shot, leg spin, off spin. Thank god, I had not forgotten cricket has this core base as its identity.
International cricket, that is what we cricket lovers always loved to watch by heart. IPL might posses the spice and flavor of enjoyment, but international cricket gives the mental gratification. Now, we will be moving from the franchisee pressure to the national commitment, which can be termed as Divided by the franchisee, United by the team. From chhotu entertaining cricket to some serious patriot game. Moving from the batsmen-oriented pitches and condition to the area and environment, which love romancing with the fast bowlers. From the erratic noisy cheer to disciplined, harmonic, synchronized and silent, the British way of enjoying the game. From the game of hard hitting fours and sixes to the battlefield, where we can get some good contest between the quality bowlers and the genuine batsmen.
Australia, S. Africa, England, Pakistan, and N. Zeland posses a bucketful of beautiful fast bowlers who have the charm to romance with the swinging condition. Dale Steyn being the most beautiful shouldered by the others, like Junaid Khan, James Anderson, M. Starc, Morkel and joined by supporters viz.- Wahab Riaz, Faulkner, Stuart Broad, Franklin. For India, apart from young Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav, other bowlers had to improve their skills to impress the moody British weather. Barring some respectable bowlers, the 22- yard strip of British grounds behaves like a step mom with the spin bowlers. Here, main role would be played by the fast bowlers, with the spin bowlers acting in a supporting role; unless, the directors like Dhoni come up with out-of-the-blue idea to accommodate the fringe players. He has the skill to “manage” few players with the “fringe” benefit.
Predicting who will win the series has always been like predicting when the monsoon will arrive. Speculations, team strength, weather condition, weak link, fast pitches, etc. etc. would be added like terms and conditions for the favorable results. We are destitute and inaccurate in predicting the outcome of the match, set aside the series. We believe in parity and respect the efforts of national jersey holders; be it blue, red, green, black, or yellow. One thing is sure, when these jersey holders battle in the middle, the rainbow of cricket will add to the joy of monsoon.
Ritesh R.Kadam
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