Wednesday 30 April 2014

When I was a 'Bachelor Boy'


I wrote this just before I got married on 28th Dec 2001 !!

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  My days are numbered. I mean my days a as a bachelor are drawing to a close as I am getting married in a fortnight. The feeling prior to the event is nothing like going to the gallows as some people, who had the worse of the bargain, are apt to suggest. It is more of excitement though tinged with nostalgia about my bachelor years.

I am getting free advice from people of both species, married and unmarried. From the married ones , the standard line is like this, “ Bete aish kar lo,kuch din ke mehmaan ho” .( Make the most of it , young man. Your days are numbered) This gives me the jitters. Marriage is a strange institution. Everyone advises against it , yet everyone enters into it.


Recently in response to my mail informing him of my marriage a friend sent me a bunch of quotes on married life. Some were really funny : “ If you see a man opening the door of the car for his wife, only two things are possible, either the car is new or the wife is new”. Another one was like this ,“ I am not afraid of terrorism , I was married for two years” .This one made me think. My fiancé being a dentist she can rearrange my set of teeth under the guise of practicing her profession. She won’t even need the traditionally accepted equipment for such purposes , the belan. My fears were allayed somewhat when I talked to her and found out that she believes in non-violence.


As an employed bachelor I had the privilege of living in four different cities and sharing accommodation with 17 guys in all. It was a great experience. They  came in all hues and colors and have enriched my life. It taught me to adjust with different kinds of people. It also taught me skills considered necessary for normal grihasth jivan (married life).One is learning to keep finances. While I was ‘living-in’ with the guys we used to maintain a booklet in which the one who paid would make an entry. Periodically the accounts would be calculated. There was this fellow with us who was notorious for never paying. This eventually showed up as a huge negative balance in his account .When the calculation would be going on his pulse would race as his amount rose and when the final figure came out the poor fellow would be a nervous wreck. That was quite a sight.


Another addition to my skill set during my bachelor years is Cooking. Till now I have tried to keep this a secret from my fiancé as the implications can be dangerous for me. To begin with we would eat out daily.After a month it became clear that this is neither good for the palette nor cost-effective. So the kitchen was set up.  It would be more appropriate to call it a laboratory. Daily at night we carried out experiments. Initially the chapattis would resemble the maps of different countries, the pressure cooker would sulk and the contents would hit the roof. The urge to have home cooked meals triumphed in the end and we could somehow manage to cook palatable food.


Then there are the neighbours who come to mind. With bachelors living in the vicinity they react in different ways. There was this doctor who was scared as to what would happen to his two college going daughters now that four bachelors have rented the flat next to them. As time went by we became so close to that family that his wife was like a mother to us. Invariably wherever I have stayed the neighbours have been fabulous.


One also experiences funny and weird incidents. Recently I was in my office in Chennai. This is on the fourth floor of  a building. Suddenly the whole building started shaking. It didn’t take us long to realise that this was an earthquake. With the WTC attacks fresh in their minds, everyone ran down the stairs and were out in the streets in seconds. There was this colleague of mine who was on the phone when the quake hit. He calmly kept on talking as the floor shook and then after some time politely told the person on the other end, “Actually there is an earthquake here, would you mind if I call you after some time”. Then he walked out to the incredulous stares of the people already on the street. This must be the ‘height of nonchalance’.



I hope and pray that matrimony would not be such an earth shaking experience in my life as the only thing I want is to “settle down”.


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Tuesday 29 April 2014

Ammar's Cricket Coaching

 Yesterday was Ammar's first Cricket Coaching class. It is conducted by Springfield Cricket Club here in Chelmsford. Chelmsford being the headquarters of Essex Cricket, there is a lot of interest in Cricket here, even among English kids.
Some 30 kids had turned up aged around 6-11 years. This included 6-7 Indian/Asian boys. The ground called 'Coronation Park' is absolutely beautiful as are most grounds in England.
The practice was fun. It was with tennis ball. They have a innovative way of making the kids bat and run every ball. I could make out that in this group there were two Indian brothers who seemed to be way ahead of everyone else. Maybe they are practicing for a few years.
They have under 9 and under 11 teams who play with hard ball with full kit including helmets. Those teams were undergoing their fielding drills on the practice pitches.



All this was just imaginable when I started playing Cricket in my childhood in Kanke, Ranchi. We would play with hard ball which we called 'Corket' ball. This was made of Cork and would hurt quite a lot when it hit you. We didn't have pads either. We would play the whole day just for the love of the game but our technique never developed in the process.  It was village green Cricket.

We would challenge the neighbouring mohalla for matches. These matches were hard fought and would draw a small crowd. The losing team will hurl accusations that the other team 'borrowed' good players from other Mohallas. We used to call such players बोरो प्लेयर. These matches were played for money even though the money was a mere pittance. Each team member from both teams will contribute something like 50 paise each. The winner will get all the money collected which will not be more than 10 Rupees. They will collect this money to buy equipment.
There was no concept of  LBW in these matches. The umpire will be someone from the batting side and it was expected that he will tilt towards his team.

We will play 15-20 such matches in a season. The teams comprising a combination of competent players and others who joined to make the numbers. Some barely knew anything about the game. I remember one of boys would say 'Humko Borolene (Bowling!!) do na yaar'......another one appealing  'आउट दाइल '......

Those were the days.........




















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Sunday 27 April 2014

Robin Sharma

I had written about my interest in personal development literature a few days back. I had also mentioned many writers/motivation gurus whose books I have read.

Today I saw videos of Robin Sharma on Youtube. I must say I found him to be really good. One of the best. Not sure how I had missed him till now.

His origins are quite interesting. His parents were Kashmiris who migrated to Uganda. When he was 1 year old they again migrated to Toronto, Canada. He was a very successful lawyer but as he says, not a very happy one. He had the guts to leave that and move into his real passion, motivating others.

His second book, 'The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari' became a best-seller and slowly he has now become one of the most sought after gurus on personal development.

Interesting.....I was browsing through a website to buy some books online......they were selling the Hindi translation of this book which was called एक भिक्षु जिसने अपना वाहन बेच दिया !! This is what is called being 'lost in translation'.......

Worth watching this video -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FWCoqmJlkA

Some quotes from him -




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Saturday 26 April 2014

My Favourite Cricketers - Wasim Akram

We often hear this about bowlers, 'He almost made the ball talk', Of all the bowlers I have seen, the man who came closest to doing this was Wasim Akram. Wasim was an absolute magician with a ball in his hand.

I have never seen Akram being taken apart by any batsman for any length of time. Maybe for an over or two. No batsman could ever master him. However flat the pitch maybe, however old the ball maybe, however set the batsman maybe, one always felt that Akram can take a wicket anytime.



He was just unique. A left-handed fast bowler, with a short run-up with no leap in the air before delivery and a very whippy action. He was just impossible to pick. And his bag of tricks was amazing. He could swing it both ways at speed, he had a deadly yorker, a lethal bouncer, a well disguised change of pace and to top it all his reverse swing with the old ball was just unplayable.

I have seen him make the best batsmen in the world look like a fool. I remember a spell he bowled in 1998 tour to India to Rahul Dravid. Dravid as we know had perhaps the best defensive technique of all batsmen in the last 20 years (along with Kallis). Wasim bowled a series of inswingers at him which he somehow kept out. There was a very close leg before shout too. This went on for a while till he produced a beauty of an outswinger to clip the top of Dravid's off stump. This was a master at work.


I would call Wasim 'Cricket's Number One Box Office Hit'. With his boyish charm and his handsome looks and hair flying all over the place, he was no less than a movie star. Add that to his electrifying presence on the field. With ball or bat in his hand, one could feel that something exciting is waiting to happen. He could change the course of the match with ball or bat in a few minutes. He did this in 1992 World Cup Final. When England looked like running away with the match, Imran tossed the ball to his bowling spearhead. Within minutes Wasim produced two of the best deliveries ever seen in modern Cricket history to dismiss Lamb and Chris Lewis. This virtually sealed the World Cup for Pakistan.

He has done such things on innumerable occasions. He is the only bowler to take 2 hat-tricks both in Test Cricket and ODI's. For quite some time he also held the record of most sixes in a Test Innings. (12) in his innings of 257.

Wasim will always be remembered as the pioneer of reverse swing along with his 'partner in crime' Waqar Younus. The two W's 'Wasim & Waqar', this combination gave many batsmen sleepless nights. They are one of the most successfull bowling pair in the history of the game. At their peak, when they were reverse swinging the ball, one frequently saw batting sides slump from 170-1 to 195 all out. They were just unplayable. They would finish off the tail in minutes. Poor tailenders were like sheep being sent for slaughter.

Another remarkable aspect about Wasim was the joy he exuded when he was on the field. One could clearly see how much he was enjoying the game. His career was filled with many issues but that never diminished his enthusiasm for the game.

When he was made the captain the first time, the whole team rebelled against him. He was not on talking terms with his partner Waqar for many years. And his name came up again and again in the match fixing scandal. Perhaps the taint of match fixing has taken some sheen off his glittering career.

But for many many fans including me, charges of match fixing are just an aberration. Our love for the man and the admiration for his sorcery with the cricket ball will remain forever.




















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Friday 25 April 2014

IPL and the fate of Sehwag & Gambhir

IPL is getting into full flow. CSK beat Mumbai today.

 Gautam Gambhir has played 3 innings and scored 0, 0 & 0. A sequence one would generally associate with Agarkar or with B S Chandrashekhar many decades back. Sehwag has also been a failure so far. The question being asked is - will they ever return back to their best?

Talking of Sehwag first, I think his best days are long past. He is a shadow of himself now. He is living off past glory. We may still see a vintage knock from him in IPL , but the chances of that happening is maybe once in 10 matches. At his peak he relied on his hand and eye coordination. That is failing him now. He is not too old yet, maybe 35 yrs but fitness was never his strongpoint. He is clearly struggling. He is now becoming a liability for Delhi Ranji team, forget about the national team. He still got big bucks in IPL purely based on the past.

This assessment of Sehwag appears brutal and I feel sad to write this, but that is the reality. I will be quite happy if he proves me wrong. I must say that I believe, in his pomp, Sehwag is the only batsman who played like Viv Richards. His place in the history of the game is secure. But alas it is coming to a sad end.

Now Gambhir. I believe he has cricket left in him and he may even make a comeback to India team. He has a solid work ethic, he is a determined guy and he is working hard. I think this is a passing phase. The only problem is, by the time he regains his touch, there may not be any room in the India top order for him.......let's see. I hope he gets another chance and hence he has to show in this IPL that he is back to his best.



















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Thursday 24 April 2014

Life

Life is never still. It keeps changing. Good times are followed by tough times and then good times come back again. Man hopes that one day life will be free of problems, and every thing will happen as he desires. Well that never happens, and that is the beauty of life. The struggle to overcome the circumstances, that's the very essence of life. In doing that man is able to achieve his most cherished victories. So in effect, problems are challenges and in fighting them one finds satisfaction and achievement.

Some one has rightly said -
No one is born great, the formula is -
Ordinary Man + Extraordinary Goal = Great Achievement

So when an ordinary man decides to take on a great goal and persists with it at all costs, then in all likelihood he will be able to achieve something absolutely exceptional.

Feeling a bit philosophical today, hence all the gyaan -:)

*I have used man/he in this post, please pardon me for that, all this applies to women/she in equal measure !!
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Wednesday 23 April 2014

Dhoni & Ranchi

I am originally from Ranchi which is now the capital of the Indian State of Jharkhand. Jharkhand state was formed in the year 2000. Till then Ranchi was part of Bihar.
I did my high school from DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir school, Shyamali, Ranchi.




Till the year 2005, work had taken me to Hyderabad, and then to UK and USA.Everywhere I went I had a hard time explaining to people where I am from as Ranchi is a small town. People generally knew about the metro cities and even the 2nd Tier cities like Pune, Nagpur, Bhopal, Indore etc and the historical places like Agra, Varanasi, Ajmer, Madurai......but Ranchi? Where is it, they will ask.
All this changed in 2005, when Mahendra Singh Dhoni burst into the Indian Cricket scene with a bang. The man with the long hair, who electrified everyone with his big hitting and his helicopter shots.
To my absolute delight he not only belonged to my native place Ranchi but was also from my school.
He became the first person from Ranchi and also Jharkhand to play international cricket.
Now I was proudly telling all and sundry 'I am from Ranchi, where Dhoni is from'. I would get a knowing smile. As people know about cricket in England, they would get this immediately. I would even add - 'He is also my school'. To this many people would ask 'Was he your class mate?'......I would try to brush aside this query with some vague reply not wanting to disclose that he was many many years junior to me and we never met in school.  
Dhoni has single-handedly put Ranchi on the world map. Now there is a superb cricket stadium in Ranchi and many ODI's and IPL matches have already taken place there. 


I owe this to Dhoni, introducing myself to strangers across the world has become much easier and also fun.



















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Tuesday 22 April 2014

The 'Idea of India'


The elections in India are still underway. All indications point to a NDA government with Narendra Modi as the PM. Though one must add here, opinion polls nowadays are manipulated and they have been proved wrong in the past. So it is not a foregone conclusion, but a strong possibility.

Muslims in India are very apprehensive about this. The reason being Narendra Modi's handling of the 2002 Gujarat Roits. Though he has got a clean chit from the Courts but the perception that he is strongly anti-Muslim, remains. He has himself done nothing to allay that. It seems that Muslims don't figure in his worldview. He hardly talks about them.

There are already statements from some BJP leaders like 'those who don't vote for Modi should be sent to Pakistan' etc.

Though I am sitting far away in UK, I would want to take a larger perspective on this. And one which is not so pessimistic. India and the idea of India has been in existence for thousands of years. During this time India has seen many kingdoms, foreign invasions, colonialism and now Independence and democracy. The idea of India where people of many different religions, castes, languages, cultures live together has been around for nearly a 1000 years now. There have been attempts to change that, it has been attacked, but it has survived. The thinking may have shifted to the right and the to the left at various times but the centre is so large that it prevails. And, Insha Allah, it will continue to prevail.

If Modi comes to power, I hope he realizes that he has to recognize the diversity of the country and has to take everyone along. God forbid, if he does not do that and continues to push his divisive agenda, he may succeed for a time, but ultimately the idea of India which the average Indian holds, will prevail.

Indian is not just a country, but an idea which has developed over millenia.

Modi is a very small speck in the history of India. It is not in his power to change the basic concept of India. India has seen many like Changhez Khan and Modi come and go, but the 'idea of India' has survived and will continue to do so.




















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Sunday 20 April 2014

Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi..........

Ghalib has said.......

हज़ारों ख़ाहिशें ऐसी कि हर खाहिश पे दम निकले
बहुत निकले मेरे अरमान लेकिन फिर भी कम निकले


This is so true. The nature of man is such that he always thinks about what he doesn't have yet. A better approach would be to count our blessings. But it is not always easy to do that.
I heard somewhere that happiness is synonymous with being grateful. Always have a sense of gratitude for all the things you have, and you can find happiness.


This area of self-development, motivational literature interests me a lot. Since I was a teenager I started reading Dale Carnegie. Since then I have read Napoleon Hill, Jack Canfield, Arnold Bennett, Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy and many others whose names I cannot recall now.

Perhaps the best writing I have come across in this area is Arnold Bennett's essay 'How to live on 24 Hours a Day'. It was written more than 100 years back but rings so true even today.

Did this help me? Yes certainly. I got some great insights and ideas. But one thing is clear these books/writings can only show you the way, but to make life changing decisions & habits, it is still upto the individual.





















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Saturday 19 April 2014

My Favourite Cricketers - Rahul Dravid

Another one in the series on my favourite cricketers.......

When I started following Cricket in 1982, Test Cricket was paramount. To judge a batsman, the qualities to look for were watertight defence, knowing where the off stump is, supreme powers of concentration, ability to play long innings, taking a fresh guard after completing the first 100 and so on. The man who was the epitome of all these qualities was Sunil Gavaskar.

Then from the mid and late eighties batsmanship started changing. ODI's started becoming more and more important. Strike rates started being watched. In India Sachin Tendulkar entered the scene with his dazzling strokeplay and attacking style of batsmanship. Sachin became the 'God of Cricket'. Scoring runs quickly became the norm.



Amid all this emerged Rahul Dravid. He made his debut in 1996 scoring 95 at Lord's. His style of batting was a throwback to the era when batsmen would build an innings and would play the sheet anchor role. Dravid quickly became the sheet anchor of Indian Batting. He was first called Mr. Dependable of Indian cricket and then he was christened 'The Wall'.



This was due to his consistent performances against the best bowlers in the world both home and away. The bowlers were finding it more difficult to dislodge Dravid than even Tendulkar. Sachin would attack them and hence give them a chance, but they found Dravid's defence and concentration impregnable.

He made major contributions to some of India's most famous wins during this phase, beating Australia in Adelaide in 2004, (Dravid scored 248 and 72 no ) beating Pakistan in Pakistan (Dravid made 270), India reaching the WC finals in 2003, India winning the test series in West Indies and England. Just for the team's cause he agreed to don the gloves in ODI's.

There is long list of his cricketing achievements. But the reason I like him is the way he did it. He was hard work and dedication personified. Even though for most of his career he was overshadowed by Sachin, this just didn't matter to him. For him the number one priority was that he does everything he can in the ineterest of the side. In fact, in Test Cricket, purely by how he performed when it mattered the most, I rate him even higher than Sachin.

He never hankered after money and commercial gain.

His fighting spirit, his gentle ways, his humility, his demeanour on the feild, his intellectual ability (a rarity among sportsmen !!), his knowledge of the history and traditions of the game, all these made him someone I hold in the highest esteem.

He epitomized to me everything that is noble and admirable about this great game. He was for me the last link between the great traditions of the game when it was played by Amateurs to the slam-bang style and commercialization of the modern game.

If we  ever have to describe to our grandchildren how a ideal Cricketer should be like, Rahul Dravid will serve as the perfect example.

He played in a team which had some of the most towering stalwarts in the history of Indian cricket, yet he was 'The Wall' of that team.

A man of steel, yet a perfect gentleman.......................


















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Friday 18 April 2014

Easter Long Weekend

The Easter Long Weekend has started. We had gone yesterday to my Khala's (I call her Baji Ammi) place in Harrow. She has come with us to Chelmsford and will be staying with us in the Long Weekend. So that is great. Spent the day today mowing the lawn, went for Juma ki Namaaz with Ammar, general gupp-shupp and playing Cricket with Ammar in the backyard. He took some sharp catches to get me out.

In IPL Mohali has beaten CSK quite comfortably chasing 204. Yesterday Yuvi scored a quickfire half century to see RCB through. So he did answer his critics.


उल्टी हो गईं सब तदबीरें , कुछ न दवा ने काम किया
देखा , इस बीमारी-ए -दिल ने आखिर काम तमाम किया।

दिखाई दिये यूँ के बेखुद किया ,
हमें आप से भी जुदा कर चले।

Yaro mujhe mu’af karo main nashe mein hun
ab do to jam khali hi do main nashe mein hun
mazur hun jo paon mere betarah pade
tum sar-garan to mujh se na ho main nashe mein hun
ya hathon hath lo mujhe jaise ke jam-e-may
ya thodi dur sath chalo main nashe mein hun


मीर तक़ी मीर 





















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Thursday 17 April 2014

Lata Haya

Yesterday I discovered Lata Haya on YouTube. While browsing around for some videos on Mushaira's, I got to hear the shayari of Lata Haya. I had earlier seen something on her on Facebook but had never got around to finding more about her.

She belongs to a Marwari family from Jaipur. Her family were 'kattar' Brahmins. There was no exposure to Urdu language or culture. But she started becoming passionately interested in Urdu. She taught herself the language and started doing 'Shayari'. She has been participating in Mushaira's since the last 20 years and has now become quite renowned across the world.

She has also become very interested in Islam and has read a lot. Through her shayari she expresses her love and passion for Urdu and also for Islam. It comes straight from the heart.

She also appears in TV shows and has featured in some movies also.

Her shayari touches the heart. It is quite moving.

She represents the 'Ganga Jamni' tehzeeb of India. Dara Shikoh studied and translated the Upanishads and  the veds on one hand and on the other some of the most significant names of Urdu literature are Firaq Gorakhpuri, Krishanchander and Rajinder Singh Bedi.



















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Wednesday 16 April 2014

Random Thoughts


IPL starts today, Mumbai vs Kolkata. Not sure why but I am not really looking forward to it. Maybe the interest will build up as the tournament progresses. It is so long drawn out. Another reason is the packed season we have had already culminating in the most disappointing end to T20 WC final for India.
It has come out today that Supreme Court has named 12 players and also N Srinivasan in the Spot Fixing case. Good to hear that Sinivasan has been named. For too long the BCCI has been making players the scapegoats. Life bans were handed  by BCCI to Sreesanth and others last year and nothing happened to CSK and 'Damaad' Meiyappan......so blatant.....hope SC comes down heavily on this......
The weather here in Chelmsford is again very sunny today, Tomorrow the maximum temp. is going to be 21 Deg Cel....so pretty hot.
The Indian Election scenario is getting hotter.........opinion polls are predicting that NDA might get outright majority.......let's see, opinion polls have gone badly wrong in the past. I was in Hyderabad in 2004 when all opinion polls predicted a win for Chandrababu Naidu. After the polls, in 3 hours the results were out, Chandrababu Naidu suffered a humiliating defeat. He lost even from the twin city Secunderabad-Hyderabad for which he had done so much. So the Indian voter can be quite unpredictable.
If you follow the media, they have already concluded that NDA will win. Strangely, it appears Congress is not going all out. Maybe the leadership is not decisive enough to do that. Maybe there is some confusion. AAP's campaign is also losing steam a bit. For them it has been a whirlwind since they won in Delhi. It is a case of taking on too much too soon. Poor Kejriwal has been assaulted 5 times till now.....this is a new phenomena....

At the skating rink now.....Ammar has his classes......break for me from the mails, calls, follow ups....it becomes too much sometimes.....the so called 'knowledge worker' spends most of the time on MS-excel, word, outlook, lotus notes....where is the knowledge !!

Rozi Roti ke liye kya kya karna parta hai -:)

 


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Tuesday 15 April 2014

Amitabh Bachchan


I have been an Amitabh Bachchan fan/admirer since I was a kid as are most Indians. Everyone knows about his life, his movies, KBC. He might be the most recognized Indian across the globe. Four generations have seen him in movies, on TV in ads, in the media etc etc. My son, knows him quite well though he is just 10 years and Amitabh was already in his sixties when he was born.

At this point of his life the thing which strikes me the most is the longevity of his fame, the way he is still driving himself. I mean at 71 years of age he is far more active than people half his age and is able to maintain a jam-packed schedule. He is everywhere......... in movies, on TV, at book launches, shows, charity events, award functions, marriages, birthdays, you name it. How does he do it?





I closely follow his blog.He is now on Day 2190, without missing a single day. That means for 6 years he has written his blog every single day.....quite unbelievable. Apart from this he makes daily updates on FB and Twitter also. Mind boggling. He mostly ends his blogs in the wee hours of the morning like 2am and then might say he has to catch a flight at 6am !!

Some people think he doesn't write his blogs himself. I don't believe that. It is quite obvious when you read it that it is not ghost written.

Perhaps this is the secret of his success. Once he commits to something he does it at all costs and very consistently. Also, how organized and disciplined he is. If only we can take a leaf out of his book.

A lot can be written about the 'Big B'.........perhaps another day, another blog......



















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Monday 14 April 2014

My Favourite Cricketers - Steve Waugh


I wrote this in the year 2000 on Steve Waugh, reproducing in this blog. He retired in 2004.

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                                    ‘Waah’   STEVE


In the first Test of the 1999 Australia-Sri Lanka series the Australian captain Steven Waugh had his nose broken in four places when he collided with teammate Jason Gillispie while going for a catch. Against the doctors’ advice he came back leading the team in the second test. This was not the first time Steve Waugh has towered above adversity, rather it is second nature for him.

He is quite easily the toughest guy mentally in the international circuit. The greater the challenge , the greater he becomes. Remember once Jimmy Connors was down 4-6,4-6,0-4 at Wimbledon still came back to win. This when he was aged 36 or so. Nearing 40 he reached the US Open semi-final. No wonder John McEnroe calls him the ‘Last Dinosour’ of Tennis. It would be apt to call Steve Waugh ‘The Jimmy Connors Of Cricket’.


In the crises that Cricket is going through in the aftermath of the ‘match-fixing’ scandal he is one of the few top players who is unscathed. He lives by the old time virtues of hard-work and dedication.

He can be backed to deliver when it matters the most. He has done it countless times now. In the Super Six clash between Australia and South Africa in the ’99 World Cup Aussies were down in the dumps in a match they just had to win .Enter ‘Captain Courageous’ Steve Waugh , does his ‘valley of death’ routine with an amazing knock of 126 to take them home. That inning spurred them on to win the World Cup. This is nothing new. Look at Australia’s greatest triumphs in the last 13 years and you would invariably find that Steve has been one of the chief architects. Be it the ’87  and ’99 World Cup wins, the last three Ashes triumphs, beating West Indies in West Indies ‘95,beating South Africa in South Africa ‘97,beating Pakistan in Pakistan ‘98.His  latest ‘avataar’ as Captain has seen Australia reach  pinnacles of glory. He has led them to unbeaten streaks  of  15 One Day wins and  15 Test Match victories. Both these feats are unprecedented in the annals of the game.  Now his team is being compared to Don Bradman’s team of 1948 . High praise indeed !

He faces now perhaps the greatest challenge of his career , beating India in India.
Only time will tell whether this will be an Australian summer in India. 

 (** In retrospect this series actually proved to be an 'Indian Summer' with India halting Australia's winning streak. We remember this series for the great Test Match in Kolkata with Laxman and Dravid batting the whole day, Laxman getting 281 and India winning after following-on!)

Lets look at the ‘cold’ statistics of his career. He has scored more than 8600 runs in Tests at an average of 51 and nearly 7000 in One Dayers. Also taken 80 odd wickets in Tests  and nearly 200 in One Day matches. These are formidable figures indeed. On top of this his runs have generally come in crunch situations which have mostly decided the fate of the match. He has also bowled at the death in many One Dayers and taken Australia to some miraculous wins.


His best innings without doubt is the 200 he made against the Windies in 1995.This along with Mark Waugh’s 126 was instrumental in taking Australia to a historic series win. That innings was a grand display of grit and determination. He took countless blows but stood firm to grind the bowling to dust.

Steve Waugh , the batsman took some time to flower. He scored his first  hundred after nearly four years of Test Cricket. From 1993 onwards his batting has really blossomed and he has become one of the best in business. Considering all this it is strange that his twin brother Mark and Shane Warne generally walk away with most of the accolades. Also whenever there is a debate on the best batsmen in contemporary cricket the names which come up are  Tendulkar, Brian Lara , Mark Waugh and even Aravinda De Silva. His name is conspicuous by its absence most of the times. Why is it so ?


                                                Firstly he has not got such a great  batting record in One day cricket for the simple reason that he comes down the order at number 5-6.Due  to a proliferation of One Day Cricket the merits of a player are judged a great deal on how he performs in this version of the game. Secondly he is neither a destroyer of  bowling in the mould of a Tendulkar or Aravinda nor has got the silken elegance of a Lara or Mark Waugh. These are factors for which Steve can do very little. If  effectiveness, consistency and results are considered then he is up there with the very best, He has hardly failed at test level in the last 7 years. That is remarkable.


                                                Mark and Steve are twins but their methods at the crease are as different as chalk and cheese. Mark is certainly more talented. He is superbly well balanced, always seems in control and has got a silken touch. His batsmanship is smooth and refined. He is a sight for sore eyes. But as is the wont with talented people (remember a certain David Gower !!) he is also akin to playing a careless shot once in  a while.


                                                Steve’s approach is more grim. He is best when the chips are down. He thrives on pressure. He takes minimum risks and accumulates his runs without much flourish. Temperamentally he is streets ahead of Mark. He can score quickly too as he has shown many times. He has stood firm in the face of  hostile pace bowling. He has never flinched against the likes of Ambrose , Walsh, Donald, Pollock, Akram , Younus or Shoaib Akhtar.He has invariably won the battle of nerves against the fast men. This has paved the way  for others.


                                                He has been criticized for being cold and ruthless on the field. He has also resorted to gamesmanship on occasions. He likes to rub it in . Remember when Herschelle Gibbs dropped him in that crucial World Cup Super Six clash he  told him “Mate, you just dropped the World Cup”. Admittedly these are less than desirable  traits but they show how much winning matters to him. He loves seeing the opposition go down and then makes sure that they stay down. He absolutely hates coming second best whatever the situation.


                                                He may be tough and uncompromising  on the field , off it he is gentle and humane. His efforts in setting up a home for the children of lepers in Calcutta has touched everyone’s heart. He has taken up their cause with as much zeal as one sees in his cricket.

                                               
Hats off to Steven Waugh , great Cricketer , remarkable man.

*************************************************************************** ** This article was written in 2000                      


















               
 

                                                
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