taking fresh guard...

sorry for talking about mundane things like the upcoming india vs sri lanka series when the flavor of the season is tendulkar20 business...

its not that being a sachin fan i did not capture my feelings on sachin completing 20 years... but i came bit early to the party... end september to be precise...

coming back to the post... after the brain freeze series that india had recently against fractured australian team... the aura around sri lanka series seems to be just about the same... that india will have to just turn on the ground to beat sri lanka which has youngsters in the rank who have virtually no experience of playing in india... is carrying the weight of veteran jayasuriya... in a land where even the likes of murli have not find any favors...

i hope this is not the case this time... specially after the timely rap on the knuckles provided by australia... the last series was like the mirror placed in front of team india in which they could clearly see their ugly complacent face and the extra flab which needed to be shed...

hopefully now team india will realise what it takes to remain at the top... any team can have bad days but great teams usually keep the gap between bad days as wide as possible...

earlier team india was not expected to win and the win against top teams used to be seen as underdog defying all odds to beat the favorites... but now the table is turned... now india start as favorites to win most of the time... it will take some time adjusting to this scenario... much the same way it took australia some time to reconcile to the fact that they are not favorites or the same force anymore...

so next few series starting from srilanka series will tell us whether team india has it in them to cross this hurdle or this is the best they can produce... how they are going to cope with this new found status coz now even fans want team to behave the way favorites teams are supposed to... on and off the field...

good showing in upcoming series will go a long way in re-assuring dejected indian fans that they really have the team which is not only the best but can take the best head on... consistently...

whatever be the case... as far as indian cricket goes... we are in for some interesting times...

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twenty years of being sachin tendular...

"He has competed against the best in the world across different eras; against grizzly pros when he was a kid and brash, irreverent young men now; he has played on feverishly seaming pitches and on raging turners, on cold, cloudy days and blazingly hot ones; at home surrounded by family and fans and away amidst loneliness; when the body is obeying all commands and when pain and fatigue bring you to your knees. And he hasn't just survived, he's left his imprint on every situation."

writes harsha the way only he can... on sachin ramesh tendulkar completing 20 years of intense cricket... when you see youngster struggling to carry their form from one season to another... which brings me to my recent post on bored 'suresh raina is on staple diet' in which i said...

"its not easy being great... for that you must have an insatiable hunger for runs... every time you step on to the field you must shoulder the weight of expectations... of not only the fans but more importantly your own... in short you need to do a sachin... over 20 years non stop... not necessarily of sachinesque level... not everyone can be... but at least there must be something burning inside you that keeps you going... challenging you to run that extra mile... so that when time comes knocking at your door... you have the presence of mind... skill and urge to grab it with both hands..."

isn't its irony that on one side sachin has inspired fans, players, hopefuls... yours and mine kids to play cricket they way he plays... "you play like sachin" is the ultimate compliment one can get today... but at the same time those who share the same dressing room with him are often left wanted...

although its almost a fashion to thank sachin at the drop of hat... but the true thank to sachin will be to take the legend forward... to learn from him how he converted his skills into monumental scores... in all conditions... against every opponent... without complaints... without ever offering excuses...





are we walking into times when the hero will be as good as his last innings...? when you will be judged by every friday like the cine stars are judged...? when term 'great' will be used only on the impression of couple of good outings...? is expecting some kind of consistency from today's youngsters is asking too much...? are we knocking at the wrong doors...?

or we don't want to ask uncomfortable questions fearing answers...

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