Yesterday the legendary bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor passed away. He was perhaps the most handsome and charming man ever to grace the hindi movie screen.
I think the best tribute has come from his friend and co-start Amitabh Bachchan. I reproduce Big B's blog on Shashi Kapoor.
Standing elegantly without a care in the world, I saw him standing by a Mercedes Sports car, a convertible, a smart trimmed beard and moustache, adorning involuntarily, the face of this incredibly handsome man. It was a picture that filled almost an entire page of a magazine.
Shashi Kapoor … son of Prithviraj Kapoor, younger brother to Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor, making a debut in a forthcoming film, is what the caption read ..
And I said to myself, as very uncertain thoughts raced through my mind of wanting to become a film actor, that, with men like him around, I stood no chance at all ..
1969, and those early years of efforts to join the Industry were also the times when there was a close proximity, to the area of an atmosphere, that swivelled around this most attractive man. On and off, common friends in the Industry, which I was just getting acquainted with, would introduce me to him at select social gatherings ..
“ Shashi Kapoor !” was what one heard as he extended a warm soft hand out to you in introduction ; that devastating smile complimenting the twinkle in his eyes. He needn’t have done so. Every one knew him. But this was his infectious humble self. When he spoke, there was a mischievous, gentle, almost inaudible, delicate, yodel, in his voice - most endearing and comforting to the one he was introduced to. The self introduction habit, was a gem. The one being introduced to, was, quite obviously, prompted to say his or her name as well, when they heard his. It was a remarkable tool to come to know the other persons name .. and .. if and when there was to be another meeting after many forgettable years, the same technology was most helpful in remembering the other persons name, in case you had forgotten it .. !!
I must admit .. it was a technology that remained with me as a learning, assisting me in using it during those uncomfortable times, when out of the blue someone would come out to you and address himself as a long lost buddy , with a :
“remember me ! we last met 6 years ago at the crossing of Kemps Corner, as you drove past and waved to me” !!!
My mind is warning me .. ‘of course you don’t, how could you possibly’ .. ‘stick that hand out ala Shashi Kapoor and act friendly..’
I obey ..
‘yes of course I do’ .. I say .. looking recognisably lost .. ( sticking hand out ) .. Amitabh Bachchan ..!!
And he would assure me with his .. and Kemp’s Corner and waving by, passing travelling vehicle, suddenly all come flashing by .. I am saved .. and he goes away with some rather impressionable opinions about me ..
The next .. was his semi curly hair on head, falling carelessly over his forehead and ears, not quite covering it .. and my upper story mumbled again : ‘hey ! maybe you should think of covering your ears as well ..’ … and off I went to Hakim the hair dresser at Taj Hotel with my plan .. and executed, it remained till date ..
What followed .. is a documentation of very intimate association, personal exigencies .. collective professional camaraderie .. ending in family bindings ..
He had been ailing .. somewhere he had let himself go after the passing away of his dear wife Jennifer .. I had visited him on occasion in Hospital during some of the times he had been hospitalised earlier .. but I never went to see him again .. I would never have .. I never ever wanted to see this beautiful friend and ‘samdhi’ in the state I saw him in hospital ..
…. and I did not today, when they informed me that he had gone …
The words of the ‘sher’ at the opening came to me minutes after Rumi Jafri, eminent writer in our film industry, sent them to me on learning of his death ..
“how long could I have preserved this exquisite and expensive book of life ; the pages of the book were damaged ..”
He fondly addressed me as ‘babbua’ .. and with him have gone many incredible unread chapters of his and my life ..
This
was the first session of the day. It covered where the Industry is headed, how
the test roles are evolving etc. The session was informative and very interactive.
Since I was 12 or 13 years old, I have had 2 heroes, Imran Khan (the cricketer) and Amitabh Bachchan.
I idolised these 2 not just because both of them reached the pinnacle in their profession through the dint of hard work, but because they also had other outstanding qualities as human beings.
They continued to be my heroes for the last 30 years.
But of late I am realizing that Amitabh Bachchan is too much of a 'no risk' guy. He never takes a stand on anything, especially if it can go against the establishment or if there is a danger of becoming unpopular.
I know that he has always been that sort of person and he himself admits it, but then given his position he plays too safe.
In the current controversy surrounding the movie 'Padmavati', he hasn't uttered a word and I am sure he will not. Even if it directly concerns his own field and his own co-starts.
I am now convinced that one of the essential qualities of a 'man of substance' is the ability to stand up for the things he or she believes in. Big B has hardly ever displayed this trait especially where there is a risk of becoming unpopular.
Let me, a Muslim, hereby declare and admit that I and people of my community have been adequately humiliated and rendered irrelevant as far as Indian politics is concerned. We're the most definitive outcasts in New India, a people who silently implore opposition parties to not speak in our favour, for it brings us greater alienation. We've begun to repent for the sins of people long dead, from Mughals to Early Man, and even those living but unconnected to us-- like Hardik, Alpesh and Jignesh (or 'HAJ', as a recent poster told us).
This is your moment in history. Mullas have been shown their place, and men wearing saffron robes or khaki knickers rule the country. Hopefully, your ancestors are avenged and your lost pride is restored. Hopefully, the squealing of Akhlaq, Pehlu Khan and Junaid has soothed your ears and balmed your hurt soul. Remember the disappointment on the faces of Muslims, who, despite all their strategising, failed to stop your cowherd-with-a-penchant-for-necrophilia? You have so much to cherish for a long time.
So the next time you step out to vote, feel free to vote for the future of your children. Please don't feel the compulsion to vote for illiterate thugs just so that you can defeat the Muslims. We've already been defeated. Thanks.
Watched the epic movie Mughal-e-Azam 2 days back. It was the colour version. Surprising I had never watched this movie completely. I had seen it in parts.
The movie is truly spellbinding even now.
I am also fascinated by the director K Asif who took 14 years to make his dream come true. In his career spanning 25 years he made only 2 movies. One of his films was released posthumously.
The Dalhousie Athletic Club is about a kilometre from Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It has a tent that serves as a restaurant and bar for its members, it has a practice pitch - half turf, half cement - and an open field of wild grass for a cricket ground. The ground is unkempt, the grass is long, and the pitch can't be seen. Dalhousie is not a club known for its cricket.
About six years ago, Sumon Chakraborty of Dalhousie Club called Debabrata Das of Town Club - one of the better cricket clubs in the city - to come to Rajasthan Club and have a look at a young fast bowler.
Das, a former assistant secretary of the Cricket Association of Bengal, asked Chakraborty what the hurry was. He was told it is "a small pearl, kho jayega [he will get lost]". Das says he reached the ground within 20 minutes, saw ten to 15 players practising there, and could easily spot the pearl.
Das recollects: "I asked him, 'What's your name?' 'Mohammed Shami,' he said. 'Where are you from?' 'Sahaspur in Uttar Pradesh.' 'Do you want to play?' 'Yes.' 'Your contract is Rs 75,000 per annum, and 100 per day for your lunch.'
"There was one problem. 'Where will I stay?' he asked. I said, 'My house.' I took Shami home and told my wife this guy will stay with us. After that, he started playing for Town Club."
Playing for Dalhousie before moving to Town Club, Shami had shown pace, but Das says that Dalhousie's Chakraborty and Sumonto Hajra felt the bowler needed to move to a bigger club. Until then, Das says, Shami would stay with other Dalhousie players in the tent or shared hotel rooms, and would be put on the train back to Moradabad, the closest town to Sahaspur, 20km away, where Shami's father ran a spare-parts store for tractors. Shami would make Rs 500 per match at Dalhousie, according to Das.
After taking four wickets in the first innings of his Test debut, and before his five-for in the second, Shami made it a point to thank his parents at the press conference. They had let him follow his dream without putting pressure on him to start earning. It helped that his father had played a lot of cricket - he bowled fast, too - in his village, and appreciated the dedication it would take to make a career out of the sport. The problem was, Sahaspur didn't have any cricket facilities. No grounds, no pitches, only mud fields. Let alone cricket facilities, Sahaspur still gets electricity only for eight hours a day.
"I saw the pace, though," says Tousif Ali, Shami's father. "I could tell he had the skill. His elder brother also bowled fast, but he had a stone in his kidney, after which he joined me in the business. The younger brother also bowls fast, but I knew Shami had the pace. I wanted him to give it a good go."
As Shami graduated college, he started playing in Sonakpur in Moradabad. Badruddin Siddique coached him for a year or so and Tousif went a step ahead, again.
This is where Tousif's knowledge of the progress of his son's career ends. It was a risk sending a 16-year-old to a new city, where he didn't know anybody, and his only sellable skill was the ability to bowl fast. Tousif says if Shami faced hardships, he didn't tell him. It's a story resonant with large parts of the migrant labour population in India. A year later, though, Town Club happened, and Das took Shami under his wing.
"Whenever I came to office, I dropped him off to play cricket," Das says. "After cricket, I used to take him home while returning from work. After one year, I observed he was growing. He was not into gymming or weight training. Running, running, running and net practice. He would take a new ball at the beginning of the net [session], and finish with the last ball, from 1pm to 4pm."
The workers at Dalhousie say similar things about the scrawny little boy who wanted to bowl fast. They used to doubt him, and Shami was keen to prove them wrong. He liked the workers there and he still comes back to the club whenever he is in town.
"[He is a] very simple person," Das says. "Very fond of sleeping, very fond of eating biryani. In every match against a big team - Town v East Bengal, Town v Mohun Bagan - whenever he was playing, if we needed two urgent wickets, I used to tell him, 'Shami, phaad de yaar [Burst through them].' 'Biryani?' he would ask. 'Yes, I will give biryani.' 'Achha gaind do [Okay give me the ball]'." And he would get the wickets.
There would be a lot of friendly sledging too. Once, in a match against Eastern Railway, Town Club were struggling to get the last two wickets. Das recalls: "I told him, 'Ghar mein jaake ammi ka kapda leke so ja [Go home, wear your mother's clothes and go to sleep]. He said, 'Gaind de.' And boom, boom! Two batsmen were bowled.
"Shami never wanted money. His goal was the stumps, the sound that comes from hitting the stumps. Ever since I saw him, most of his wickets were bowled. He bowls with an upright seam, on or just outside off stump, and gets it to cut back in."
Das says Shami still takes his advice in all matters. "Four months ago, he came to my house and said he wanted to purchase a flat," says Das. "I did the needful for the registrations etc. without any cost, except for the stamp duty. I think he has taken possession of the flat now."
If Shami doesn't go after the money, if he still respects Das so much, why, then, did he leave Das' Town and go to Mohun Bagan?
"I let him go," Das says. "If I hadn't let him go, India wouldn't have got Shami today. When he was in our club, he made it to the Bengal squad, but didn't get to play in the XI. I saw the kind of facilities Mohun Bagan has, the kind of political power Mohun Bagan has, the kind of financial power Mohun Bagan has, the muscle Mohun Bagan has. We can't match it. And I wanted the boy to get a chance.
"Yesterday [on Friday], he told me he doesn't want to play for Mohun Bagan anymore. He is a very emotional cricketer."
On Friday, Shami ran through the West Indies line-up with 30,000 Kolkatans cheering him on, intimidating the opposition batsmen. Watching in Sahaspur, the family saw their faith had paid off. People now identify Tousif as Shami's father, and he is proud of it. Seven years ago, he took the risk of sending his son alone into the unknown. A year later, another man took the risk of bringing home a boy he knew nothing about, except that he bowled fast.
Cricket can do with more such fathers, club owners and, of course, boys who bowl fast.
Now reading this book:
Wounded Tiger - A history of Cricket in Pakistan.
Written by - Peter Oborne
It is pretty good read. But the fact that the author tries to cover each & every test is not a good approach.
These stats & facts are already known. He should have provided more analysis and facts not in public domain.
By Barkha Dutt | From 'The Week' issue dated July 09, 2017
I am agnostic and entirely non-religious; I do not
self-identify with any religion and leave the required column blank in
application forms. I suppose you could call me—as my beloved Twitter trolls
will—(that dreaded word) a liberal, deracinated by her own lack of cultural
roots. I concede that my secularism has suffered from a lack of mooring in
faith. So I am not best qualified to see life through the prism of any
religious identity. Yet, for the last week, a question has been gnawing at me,
nibbling away, bit by bit, at my conscience and sense of comfort: what if I
were Muslim?
What would I feel to discover that my voice is now barely
audible in the country’s political discourse because I am no longer needed to
win elections? Or, that in the most populous state of India, not a single
candidate of the party that stormed home with a mammoth majority was Muslim?
Would I be able to celebrate Eid after seeing the photograph of Junaid’s
blood-spattered body lying lifeless on a railway platform in north India? A
teenager, Junaid was coarsely taunted for his religion in a squabble that
started over an elusive seat on a crowded train, but eventually became only
about Being Muslim. What would I tell myself after seeing the cattle trader,
Pehlu Khan, flung to the side of a pavement by a murderous mob, his
tear-stained face crying out for help that never came? Would I be able to share
the optimism of Mohammed Sartaj, a proud corporal in the Air Force, who told
me, “Saare Jahan se Accha Hindustan Hamara,” his belief in justice intact even
after his father, Akhlaq, was murdered over beef rumours, and the body of a man
accused of killing him was draped in the national flag, with a senior minister
present at the village? What sense would I make of this new lexicon where words
like ‘vigilantes’ and ‘lynching’ are casual normalisations of collective
bigotry?
If I were Muslim, how much helpless rage might I feel about
radical Islamists and terrorists who soil the name of my faith and then leave
me to carry the cross of condemning them, like I am somehow responsible for
their monstrous acts? What would I say to the family of Ayub Pandith, a brave
Kashmiri police officer, beaten to death outside a mosque on the holiest night
of Shab-e-Qadr? Or, to the family of strappingly handsome Umar Fayaz, a young
soldier, killed while home for a family wedding? How would I deal with the
self-appointed custodians of my religion—the orthodoxy that defends retrograde
practices like triple talaq—only to embarrass me and strengthen the bigots who attack
my community?
If I were Muslim, what might I feel as a citizen to learn
that no Central minister attended an iftar evening hosted by India’s President?
I would remind myself that even heroes of my community, President Abdul Kalam
among them, said no to the wastefulness of iftar parties, donating money to
orphanages instead. And, I would tell myself that my identity need not be
reduced to such tokenism. But a small part of me would wonder if the same
(welcome) political separation between religion and state would apply to all
other festivals, too, like Diwali, Christmas and Holi.
If I were Muslim, I would look back in dismay at parties
that claimed to speak for me but manipulated me and then abandoned me. I would
think of Shah Bano, who went to court for the right to alimony, only to have
the decision reversed by the Rajiv Gandhi government, in what would be the
first, but not the only, instance of ‘secular’ malpractice. And I would think:
are these my only options—a party that pushes me to the margins of irrelevance
and a party that uses me?
If I were Muslim, I would remind myself of all the million
reasons I love my country. But, just like every time they told me that I as a
‘moderate’ must speak up, I would ask, will the moderate Hindus—the vast
majority of India—speak up for me?
I Am A Practicing Muslim.
My Concerns Right Now For India Are...
By Rana Ayyub published in NDTV
Published: June 04,
2017 09:05 IST
I write this today as a Muslim, a practicing Muslim who believes in the
tenets of Islam, in Ramzan, in namaz, and I believe I
can continue to be liberal and secular while being proud of my faith. The Quran
that millions across the world read has the first word revealed to Prophet
Mohammed as "Iqra" (read). The Quran I have read has
given the world some of the best physicists and mathematicians like Ibn Sina
who would probably mock at the theory that the world was flat. The Quran that I
read each day during this holy month of Ramzan teaches me empathy
and compassion through fasting that helps me relate to those who go without
food each night.
Among the many reasons that I write the column, the biggest was the brave
assertion by Naseeruddin Shah in his piece in Hindustan Times where
he writes, "I cannot recall a time when Muslims were suspected en masse of
being unpatriotic." He goes on to say, "The nightmarish possibility
of my children being someday confronted by a mob demanding to know their
religion could be inching closer to reality."
Naseeruddin Shah is part of an industry where colleagues have mostly shied away
from displaying a spine or taking a stand, including those who have been feted
as superstars. And every time Naseer has taken a stand in the past, whether in
supporting Indo-Pak friendship or attending the book launch of Khurshid Ahmed
Kasuri in 2015, he has been labelled an anti-national and seen protests against
him by the right wing. In 2015, he spoke to
a newspaper saying he was targeted because he was a Muslim. "I do not
actually understand why anything said as a compliment to Pakistan must be
construed as anti-Indian. If I say Imran Khan is great, does that make Sunil
Gavaskar any less a cricketer...."
I must also add a disclaimer that Naseer was among the courageous few who dared
to praise my book and lend his support for the second edition of Gujarat
Files last year. Two movies which played an important role in
documenting the horrors of the Gujarat carnage of 2002, Firaaq and Parzania,
would not have been possible minus Naseer's stellar performance. It is
therefore that I think that I can humbly point out a few fallacies in his argument
in the column he wrote on Indian Muslims.
Neither Naseer saheb nor I claim to speak for the Muslim
community, nor must we, for we sit in a privileged position that does not allow
us to witness what Muslims in a new India have been witnessing on a daily
basis.
It would be unfair to suggest that Muslims were better off during the UPA for
not a single recommendation by the Sachar Committee or the Justice Srikrishna
Committee were implemented by the "secular" Congress. And the BJP is
nowhere close to the healing touch it promised Muslims during elections.
In fact, all one hears from the BJP and its sister organisations is talk of
minority appeasement by the Congress, which, in reality, is such a sham that
Muslims of the country continue to slip down the worst possible denominators of
development.
To ask Muslims to focus on education and hygiene and get out of the victim mode
is like quoting Naseer himself from his famous Muslim reformist film "Khuda
Kay Liye" where he mocks "Kissi ke doctor banney se
pehle aap is par aitraaz karein ki usse operation karna nahi aata" (the
absurdity of criticizing somebody before he studies medicine for being unable
to conduct an operation) .
Naseer and many liberal Muslims who have the privilege of sitting in swanky
living rooms, operating out of our MacBooks have not witnessed first-hand the
fear of moving into Muslim ghettos in Mumbai like Mumbra, Deonar and Bhiwandi
which went on to become a safe zone for Muslims post the 1993 carnage in which
thousands of Muslims were killed.
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My family was forced to move from the cosmopolitan Sahar village to the rather
lower middle class Deonar which was considered safer. My brother and my father
applied for a credit card thrice while we lived in that area and were which was
rejected on all occasions.
We were told later that these companies have specific instructions to not issue
cards to Muslims living in 'such' areas. The building in which we stayed was
next to the famous Deonar dumping ground and the abattoir from where the stench
would fill the neighbourhood. But we and many like us continued to stay there
because it was "safe".
Despite maintaining the best of hygiene, we had to live with the stink and
airborne diseases. BMC workers who would mark their presence every morning in
the swanky neighbourhoods of Mumbai like Peddar Road didn't mind taking days
off in our neighbourhood with the garbage piling up because we (the Muslims and
our many lower middle classes companions) could live with it.
Another problematic assertion in Naseer's column is that Muslims must stop
feeling victimized. I have and continue to believe as a Muslim who has had to
bear two communal riots that the community, like most communities in India, has
been resilient and has chosen to put its dreaded past behind it, voting in
every election for a change. But when every day you have videos emerging asking
Muslims to chant "Bharat Mata ki Jai" before they
are thrashed and cattle traders are lynched in public, the Muslim of the
country does not feel a healing touch on the scars of the past.
If indeed we are so concerned about the plight of Muslims, their education,
hygiene, then the topic of discussion should be to ensure that Muslim-dominated
areas, government schools for Muslims have the same level of cleanliness and
attention paid to them as other areas of Swachh Bharat. Muslims in this country
have moved beyond the pain of the Babri demolition, but if the well-being of
Muslims is indeed the criteria, those in power move on from Ayodhya and lets
discuss corruption in the Waqf Board whose proceeds could help get Muslims
access to higher education and a better status in society.
The alleged participation of Indian Muslims in ISIS is 0.0002 percent of the
total number across the globe. To fault them for this and use it as an excuse
to deny the 99.99 percent Muslims a dignified life is the worst one can offer
to one of the largest minority in the country which has a glorious past in the
country's freedom struggle. And which is now, as I keep hearing from many
around me, leaving me feeling like a "second-class citizen".
Watched Bahubali 2 yesterday in O2.
The special effects are quite stunning and the story is also good, no wonder it is creating box office records.
Credit goes to the director S S Rajamouli for his vision and execution.
Four years ago the image of Mahendra Singh Dhoni
playing drums and dancing was at the forefront of Ranchi Stadium's grand
opening. But now as the city gears up to be India's 26th Test centre, the mood
is strikingly sombre.
BCCL
When Ranchi makes its Test debut in India's
series-defining third Test against Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in
two days time, the most famous son of city will be busy leading his state in
the domestic one-dayers in Delhi.
Having shed his 'whites' to prolong his career in
shorter formats of the game in late 2014, Dhoni will lead his team against
Vidarbha in the quarter-finals of Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday.
The intense build-up to the Ranchi Test,
notwithstanding, Dhoni is certainly going to be missed, something that is
evident from empty ticket counters in the city.
"It's all because of Dhoni that we're able to
host our first Test match here. His rise has put the city in international map.
But at the moment, we want him to do well in New Delhi. At the same time, we
hope Ranchi becomes lucky for Team India," Dhoni's childhood coach Keshav
Banerjee said.
The association has distributed free passes to
schools and institutions, including Dhoni's alma mater Jawahar Vidya Mandir at
Shyamali as the secretary said every day about 10,000 students will turn up.
BCCL
"Dhoni is the only icon here. Certainly the
crowd will miss him during the historic occasion. But we are trying our best to
fill in the stands. We expect to see at least 30,000 in attendance each
day," Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) secretary Debashis
Chakraborty said of the 40,000-capacity stadium at Dhurwa in the south-western
outskirts of the city.
If not a grand cultural programme that marked the
inauguration of the stadium on the eve of the India-England one-dayer on
January 18, 2013, the state association had originally planned a felicitation
for Dhoni.
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But Jharkhand's fine fortunes in the Vijay Hazare
Trophy played a spoilsport.
"Our team is at a crucial stage (in domestic
one-dayers), and we want Dhoni to return with the Vijay Hazare Trophy," he
said.
The state's original facility was at the Keenan
Stadium in Jamshedpur but with the rise of Dhoni, the Rs 180-crore stadium here
came up in very little time.
Within three years of its maiden ODI, the venue has
hosted four ODIs and one Twenty20I and the third Test will ink a new chapter in
the stadium's history.
BCCL
This has become a reality after the BCCI's
ambitious plans to take Test cricket to small centres to revive its dwindling
popularity.
"We are grateful to the Board for awarding the
Test status to Ranchi. We have put up hoardings across the city mentioning our
'first Test match on Jharkhand soil' with Dhoni's photo.
"He is our ambassador. Whenever he is in
Ranchi, he visits the venue and spends a lot of time here doing fitness
training or giving us valuable inputs," Chakraborty said.
The JSCA has also invited Dhoni's family members
who are expected to be present on any of the five days.
Sushant Singh Rajput, the actor who played Dhoni in the MSD biopic is quite a cerebral guy and with an intellect rivaled only by Aamir Khan in Bollywood.
His appproach to his profession is very different from his contempories. Again it is similar to Aamir Khan. Maybe that is why Aamir likes him a lot and has predicted a bright future for him.
Sushant hails from Patna, Bihar. He was a brilliant student and eventually qualified for a prestigious engineering college in Delhi. He dropped out when only 2 semesters were left to complete his Engg degree. He wanted to act.
He tried his luck in acting and became a top TV actor. He left that and then wanted to get into movies. He is now on his way to making it big in movies, especially after his role in the Dhoni Biopic.
The guy is refreshingly down to earth, has some absolute nuggets of wisdom based on his personal experience of life. He doesn't run after money and only does movies which he believes in.
It is widely known that Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh were two of the most notorious pranksters in the Indian dressing room. So, when Virat Kohli was getting ready for his debut, trying to control his nerves but failing miserably, Yuvraj and Harbhajan told him to touch Sachin’s feet stressing that earning his blessings before the debut was a norm for all the newbies in the team. Funnily enough, Virat Kohli went ahead and Sachin later informed him than he had been pranked by the prank-masters of the team.
Sehwag & John Wright
This happened during the 2002 Natwest Trophy.
John Wright was incredibly frustrated at Virender Sehwag. Sehwag was in top
form, playing great shots and scoring runs at ease. At the same time he was
getting out playing extremely silly shots.
So once John Wright was discussing with Rahul Dravid and he said,"If that guy gets out to
one more bad shot I'm going to really have a go at him.".
And Sehwag in his trademark style got out playing a silly shot in the next
match. John Wright true to his word, grabbed Sehwag's collar and blasted him.
Fortunately neither Sehwag nor the team made a big deal out of this and
everything was forgotten.
Dravid actually appreciated Wright's behavior saying this incident showed just
how badly he wanted us to do well.
This incident improved Sehwag's relationship with John Wright.
Prank on
Dada
It was
business as usual in Kochi in 2005. With his routine swagger, Ganguly walked
into the team meeting before the opener against traditional rivals Pakistan.
The players were already present when he got there. He failed to note the
pre-planned buzz that quickly turned into pin-drop silence upon his entrance .
Everything seemed normal, just like he thought the meeting would be. Little did
he know that he would get the shock of his life moments later.
As was the norm, strategies and tactics were discussed, but Dada was aghast
when the players showed him a newspaper (fabricated overnight) where he had
made some comments against his team’s players. Still unable to fathom what on
earth was cooking, he looked on as Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender
Sehwag gave a sheet of paper to the team manager, Wing Commander M Baladitya,
and one to Sourav himself.
“We arranged a printout of an imaginary interview of Sourav, where he’d been
critical of his players. When that was shown to him, he pleaded he had not
given any such interview." recalls prank mastermind Yuvraj Singh.
Sourav went from player to player, claiming innocence. To make matters worse,
the sheet of paper given to the team manager was read out.
Dada's face lost colour when the team, as one, had spelled out their
reservations against him and his style of captaincy. "I almost had tears
in my eyes," recalled the former skipper. "These were the same
players I had always fought for. I didn't know why they were suddenly saying
all these things," he added. He looked pleadingly for some support but it
was just not there. He was all alone in this battle.
Sourav, in desperation, offered to resign from captaincy and promised he had
never made such statements, after seeing the Turbanator Harbhajan Singh and
Ashish Nehra storm out of the dressing room.
On the verge of his breaking point, Sourav just could not take it anymore.
Rahul Dravid (who else) could not bear to see his captain like this and told
him it was an April fool's prank.
“Dada picked up a bat and chased all of us out of the dressing room” said
Yuvraj, unable to control his laughter.
"I was more relieved than embarrassed," Ganguly said, years later.
Incidentally, he was given another sheet of paper signed by all. He could
barely find the courage to read, but when he did, it warmed his heart. It
simply read: "Dada, we all love you." The captain promptly hugged
each one of his boys, but gave them a stern warning, never to do the same again.
Gavaskar & Engineer
Sunil
Gavaskar and Farokh Engineer were selected to play for the Rest of the World
team in 1971. Farokh being the senior guy told Gavaskar to take it easy,
advising:
‘Don’t get
out for a duck as the walk back to the pavilion is the longest you will ever
experience here in Melbourne.’
Call it
irony or fate, Engineer himself got out for a duck and Gavaskar had the last
laugh!
Dhoni & Yuvi
When Dhoni
joined the Indian cricket team, Yuvraj would often tease him by calling him a
‘Bihari’. Yuvraj would also tell him that hitting big sixes was not a big deal,
winning matches for India is what makes a player great.
Guess Dhoni
took Yuvraj’s advice seriously going by the number of matches Dhoni won for
team India single handedly.
Sunil Gavaskar - A Fisherman !!
Sunil Gavaskar might haveended up catching fish rather than scoring
runs but for a sharp-eyed relative. After he was born, a nurse accidentally
placed him next to a fisherwoman. No one noticed the change but one of
Gavaskar’s uncles had noticed a birthmark near his ear and when he did not see
it in the other child, he brought the matter to the notice of the hospital and
baby Sunil was duly returned to his parents.
The Great
Sir Vivian Richards
It was a
county match in England between Somerset and Glamorgan. An unknown batsman with
unknown talent, named Vivian Richards was at the crease. Greg Thomas, the
Glamorgan fast bowler thundered in and beat the great man's bat.
'It's red
and it's round. Can't you see it?', the bowler taunted Richards.
The next
ball was an action replay. The ball pitched three quarters of length on middle
and off, seamed away, and once again Richards was all at sea and
comprehensively beaten.
'It's red
and it's round and it weighs four-and-a-half ounces. Can't you see it?', Greg
Thomas quipped.
Richards
took a stroll, summoned his powers of concentration, swung his arms around,
took a fresh guard and got ready for the next ball.
Greg Thomas
came running in. The delivery was right in the slot, and Viv launched into one
of his trademark shots and smashed the ball out of the ground and straight into
the river that flowed around it.
The maestro
told the hapless bowler who almost died watching the ball go, 'You know what it
looks like... now go and get it!'
Hilarious and Funny Cricketing
One-Liners
·Dennis Lillee once commented that the arrogant natured Yorkshireman
Geoff Boycott was, 'The only fellow I've met who fell in love with himself at
an early age and has remained faithful ever since.'
·The "Father of Cricket" WG Grace was once bowled first ball in
an exhibition match. 'They have come to watch me bat, not you bowl,' he said,
before replacing the bails and resuming his innings.
·Daryll Cullinan was on his way to the wicket, Shane Warne remarked that
he had been waiting 2 years for another chance to humiliate him.
'Looks like you spent it eating,' Cullinan retorted.
Sledging
During the 1991 Adelaide Test,
Javed Miandad commented that Merv Hughes looked like a fat bus conductor.
Big Merv dismissed the Pakistani
soon after, allegedly running past the batsman yelling, 'Tickets please!'
GAVASKAR….START
FROM SCRATCH….ALWAYS
To ease the pressure on himself, Sunil Gavaskar had
decided to come lower down the order and bat at No 4 for that particular match.
But, Malcolm Marshall fired out Anshuman Gaekwad and Dilip Vengsarkar for
ducks, setting the stage for Gavaskar to walk in at 0/2. Viv Richards said “Man,
it don’t matter where you come in to bat, the score is still zero.”
LEN HUTTON AND
SATISFACTION
Len Hutton scored 364 and Engalnd won the oval test
against Australia 1938. As Hutton and Leyland were waiting at a red light, a
lady stepped up and congratulated him. She said ” Well done Len, but couldn’t
you have scored 1 more for all days in a year”. After she left, Hutton remarked
” Maurice, Can you ever satisfy a woman, whatever you do ?”.
Malcolm Marshall & David Boon.
Malcolm Marshall was bowling to David Boon, who was having a bit of trouble
against the fast bowler and had played and missed a few times. Marshall :
"Now David, are you going to get out or am I going to have to come
round the wicket and kill you?".
Ian Healy & Arjuna Ranatunga.
The Australians were getting frustrated while trying to get the wicket of the
portly Arjuna Ranatunga of Sri Lanka. Various tactics were tried and failed
until Healy came up with a winner: "Put a Mars Bar on a good length and
that should do it!".
During a One-dayer between Australia and Sri Lanka Ranatunga decided he needed
a runner. The stump microphone then picked up the following sledge from
Healy: "You don't get a runner for being bloody overweight'.
Fred Trueman.
An Australian batsman was walking onto the field, opened the gate and before he
could shut it, Trueman remarked: "Don't bother shutting it, son, you
won't be there long enough".
Merv Hughes & Robin Smith.
Merv was bowling a few crackers that Smith couldn't even get an edge to.
Merv: "If you turn the bat over you'll get the instructions
mate".
