Compensate a role, Compensate antics of past, Flag bearer of a state- Sanju Samson and the Customs to follow

Yesterday:

"Well.. lets hope he gets a chance this time" a guy whom i never seen before was saying to the person standing next to him in the bus.I was travelling back to my room after office hours.

"Yes. Hope he does not turn out like his precedent" that was the response i heard  from the other person. 

I couldn't listen to the complete conversation as the guys had reached their destination and got off the bus which we were travelling.

 One Year Ago:

Indian team completed their England tour with mixed results across three formats of the game, and in an interview with the Indian captain M.S Dhoni  a question came up.

Why wasn't he given a chance?

"He is very young. He will have lot of opportunities in the future" Captain replied in his usual style.

Two days back:

Young Samson appointed as the new skipper of Kerala team.

Friend's thought:

There is every chance that Sanju Samson may appear in Blue jersey for his national side within the next three days. This is by far considered as the best chance for a player like Samson(should have said "best chance for Samson" alone) to remind the selectors that he is always available for playing squad whenever they are looking to bleed fresh blood .

Today:

The pessimist in me came out and was following my optimistic side which soon joined the conversation with me after dinner . I was half-sure about the outcomes of topic as usual

Pessimist: Do you think he will play tomorrow ?

Optimist: Of course, he will. As he(friend) mentioned this is by far the best chance for a debut for Samson.

Me: Yeah. Right. Rahane is the captain. His teammate in IPL. so i don't see a reason for the team playing without him.

Optimist- Yeah right buddy. you bet

Pessimist: Great. Do you think that he can perform well? On what grounds was he selected to the team? did he have a great IPL season? how good was his statistics in last Ranji season?

Me: Well not good enough. he had one 50+ score in this IPL season. I read that he has a double century to his account in last Ranji and a couple of good outings as well

Optimist: You can write him off by numbers but lets not forget that what all positions he played  for the team in this season of IPL. Not so familiar slots like opening and No.5, 6 and 7 positions where his only role was to finish off games for the team. Why wasn't he given chance to play in England when he did justice to numbers as well? 

Pessimist:  In England, we had a long tour, remember last time, players were hit by injury and we had to send replacements in between. so we send a 17 member squad this time .And for IPL, if you are a successor of Dhoni this is just a training parade .if you can't do it in IPL how could  he do it in international level.

Me: So the opening slot experiment.?

Pessimist: Well if you still don't know that Watson's absence and smith's success in No.3 position pushed him to that slot, better take rest. So he has to fit into any slot if the team  asks .Don't you think so?

Me: Yeah i guess.so the finishing role is what he is supposed to do.

Optimist- Can't understand such a logic. since when did the custom of training finishers come into existence? Why are you drawing lines of comparison with Dhoni? Is it because he is a wicket keeper?

Me: Yeah. he will be leaving the game with a reputation level like never before. So his followers should take up similar job as well?

Optimist: Well is that case Dhoni was name as Indian reply to Gilchrist from Australia.He was a hard hitter. Cool head.. Later on he became  Bevan from India and later became superior than Bevan according to many.

Pessimist; That's how you become when you play for Indian team. You just become next Sachins, next Dravids, Next Laxmans. you can't leave away the legacy of those easily.

Optimist: Well then, where is Pujara now. He was adjudged "Next Dravid" after 10 matches.

Me: So who was his primary version? Manjarekar, Wassim Jaffer ?????

Optimist: Stop nonsense. Why cant you treat players with their own identity? Why do Kohli have an identity on his own? can't that be applied to others as well.?

Pessimist: Well .He is a combined version of aggressive Ganguly, run-hunting Sachin, wrist-y Azhar........and....a couple more. 

Me: Hundreds in run chase.... Anything abut that?

Pessimist: Yeah, a bit of Dhoni as well. Since he plays up the order he is able to score more centuries.

Optimist: Guys , our topic... Was Samson.

Pessimist: Well you can't change the custom. just to remind how good Dhoni was, as a finisher..World cup final... 92 from79 .. the biggest moment..

Optimist:  What about Gautam gambhir who had 97 in thee same match and 75 in  T20 final 2007.

Pessimist: we were talking about Samson. Right.... Lets not deviate.

Optimist: So you are coming to say that Samson needs to prove that he can fill into Dhoni's gloves.

Me: Within 2 matches!!!!

Pessimist: Yeah that's the chance he has to prove that he is worth a try . A weaker opposition is what he has to play against. consider that as well.

Optimist: So did Dhoni has his mettle proved in the first two matches??

Pessimist: There wasn't much of competition at that time.

Optimist: Great logic. He needs to show his nerves in no time. Awesome . what else does he needs to prove? 

Pessimist: Of course , the lost pride of our state due to match fixing scandal. A new flag bearer, Even when barring the fixing scandal, the other guy's antics were total shame for us. Lets hope sanju is not that kind

Optimist: Is it proved that the guy is guilty?

Pessimist: No,but why would one get arrested for  no reason.He is still a misfit though. too much aggressive, 

Me: But Most Australian players are aggressive as well right?

Pessimist: Stop stupidity. they perform well.

Optimist: So what all roles should Samson fit into?

Pessimist left without a reply and optimist has nothing left  to argue for. So he too left ...I was driven into confusion once again .

End Note:

Well Samson's numbers may not be there yet. Be it his age, or his career. One cannot certainly deny the  fact that early exposure to international level can do good to his approach to the game.

Classifying the possibilities of his place in eleven after Zimbabwe series :

He may get a chance to continue in T20 side which gives him a responsibility to score big in domestic level and earn place in other formats

or 

Even if left out of playing eleven in next few series', the experience of being there in the middle will urge him to come back with strong performances.

Well my pessimistic side has a few notes here as well. But i go with optimist this time and hoping for any of the above to happen.

Its not easy finding a player of his quality from our state. That too a batsman hailing from kerala.

Remembering the name  "Balan Pandit" -who was considered as "Father of Kerala Cricket"in this moment. 

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By the Way.......................Why was Samson made skipper of Kerala team?

Pessimist & Optimist: Don't pull us back, just to utter the word "Custom" . stupid...........

A Captain who solved the mystery of "Why" and "How"- Sourav Ganguly

         Speaking about Tendulkar's style is an easy job. You can keep on talking and still you won't bore people. Arguing for Dravid's defense is a tough task. You may never find it easy to win debates. Talk about Laxman and elegance. You can always write a tragic script for a movie in Australia. But, when speaking about "Ganguly", you should be careful. Because, its not just Dada, but his fans are still hot to handle.

        This could well be the most carefully prepared piece in my collection(still amateurish) till now and there is some inspiration behind this. 17 years ago, two young lads from India stood on the "Mecca of Cricket" making their debuts against an English side who had already went up in the series by 1-0. Many people still believe that these guys should have given chance in the first test and it would have resulted in the series ending  in a draw or could have become a day dream come true(winning a series in England), which has turned out to be a nightmare for the captain cool and his co 2 years ago .No time machines invented till now to go back and change things. So, have to day dream for at least one more year.

 Coming back to the series, it was not an occasional debut , a couple of gems were discovered that day, who went on to play the perfect second fiddle where the GOD of cricket occupying the first, and sometimes taking over whenever the pedal was under their feet. It take some character to overcome the hurdles and take the driving seat of a flight in which the engine name is "Sachin Tendulkar". When a person  named as "Sourav Chandidas Ganguly" took over the pilot seat which was tampered by a rod called "Fixing" many questioned....... WHY???????

 It looks easy to judge a team by the way they performs. Watching the last champions trophy is giving us a feel like the "Art of Dominance" is no longer an Australian product in the cricket market these days. But wait... Why would some one like Brian Lara make a comment on his favorite captain on the very same day which gave wonderful memories 17 years ago. A sensation-centered questionnaire from media may have brought it out. But Lara had no doubts in pointing it to Dada ahead of someone like Dhoni. Its easy to understand the fact that no 5-year kid would thank the one who planted and looked after a mango tree before it actually started giving the best fruits. But Ganguly earns it from everywhere where people know what really team work means and how difficult is the process of "Moulding the team".  Even if he is termed as the arrogant boy of 90's who had rejected the rumor of not carrying drinks to his team-mates, he proved wrong at the age of 35. No wonder he brings a lot of charisma to the team with his presence.



 A leader is one who believes in his team and himself. A leader is one who leads from the front. A leader is one who display risks as strategy.... etc... etc.. There will be a lot of captains to get a first class percentage with this list.  But Ganguly achieved outstanding marks to solve the "Why" in a period where aggression is a patent for Australians, in which pace bowling as an art of conquering the opponent with a mystery named Shane Warne who was having a hand which could make even a china bowl hit the off-stump pitching outside leg. Indeed Ganguly had the likes of a God,a Wall and a Kangaroo Hunter.(Arguing for Bhajji would bring in debate but i always felt if there was someone who brought the best out of him, its Dada) But its takes lot more than some quality to reach the ultimate territory. If kolkata was the path to that place then Ganguly guided the so called quality which was moving 360 without knowing the path.

A flat track world-title is not darker in any aspect, but becoming runners-up in testing conditions always gives a sense of achievement even though the aggression was surrendered before the dominant Australia in 2003. The decision to bowl was criticized. But its take a lot of courage to be Ganguly. He went for it, keeping faith in his pace trio. A retired veteran bowler who makes a great come-back(ahem.. ahem..Not Afridi by the way, he does that very often), simply on captain's call was truly unbelievable. One would have considered Piyush Chawla would have been a better replacement for world cup to keep in bench. But it was not Dhoni who captained India. It was Ganguly. Yes, there was and there is politics in Indian cricket. But never lesser was the joy on an Indian fan's face whenever 11 players gathered together to forming a circle, when a wicket falls irrespective to which team they played against or which match situation it was.

No matter how the strength was on paper, India remained only paper tigers  for a longer period in  history of test cricket outside India. A win at Haedingley, an Adelaide or a Rawalpindi is not familiar for a "Captain Cool" or a "Vice president" of Indian Cements. There comes the "HOW" ..... Which only Ganguly can figure out ..... So keeping it down by the fact that a lot of finals have been thrown off or outclassed in many ways Ganguly has always been a passionate leader. If some one like Yuvraj says that "He will do anything for  captain like Gangly" after a four year period of retirement of the captain guess what the influence Dada had on his growth(success) ????? How could one promote a middle order batsman to opening and goes on to become the most destructive player after Viv Richards?????? How could show belief in a part timer in the last over of  match with lead bowlers watching?????? How could one keep faith in a slip-fielder to be keeping wickets for a world tournament?????? Lets just eat and drink whatever Ganguly does. Don't have any other answer for these.

Its is easy to find a good player these days, to crop them and bring them to the highest level of game in some period. But, young guns creating moments in the history of game on their own- that is something you could only find under a captain who is highly an absorbing personality. No one bites his finger-nails so hard while fielding. No other captain worries about the performance of his fellow player more than the player himself. No other batsman gets angry for no reason when his partner gets out. Of course, he is emotional, outspoken, controversial. But that doesn't shatter his never-give up attitude in any way. Running around the ground after taking a wicket at the age of 39 like a young kid and the guts to take off his shirt at Lords. That is him. Only he can do it.


 Despite being rated as the sixth best ODI batsman of all time and impeccable records Ganguly clearly stands out as the best captaincy material India ever had. He was the God of Off-Side. He was the arrogant price from Kolkata. Evaluating him in terms match winning knocks and huge pile of runs wouldn't be a proper way to recall the memories of a captain who had the greatest influence in Indian cricket. You can love him or hate him but you just can't ignore him. Just go to kolkata and ask "who is Sourav Ganguly?" carelessly. 9 out of 10 times you will get slapped. Fact or story... sounds good when it is about Dada.

A Farewell- Some 'Shoulds' and a million "Should Not''s- Sachin Tendulkar

This might be one of  my thoughts which is not at all timed in many aspects. But letting my personal interests to be in my table, there are some thoughts which i would like to pass to all cricket lovers. Accept it or just dump it like a girl do with a boy's proposal. :)


Sachin Tendulkar- One word that defines it all. I am not here to make an analysis on what his qualities are, but just to look upon certain things which could probably occur in some period of time. Border-Gavaskar trophy is going on and having India already claimed the series, what actually i look forward as an Indian fan is nothing less than a whitewash. But the second day of fourth test is just making a subject to think about- Sachin.Why now? Team has already won the series. Whats wrong with him. Let him play his natural game. There are certain points of debate i would probably bring in.

After the World Cup victory everyone was on heaven's height. Of course it was a proud moment for Indian cricket and Indian regaining the title. But there was no discussion on Sachin's retirement at that point of time even though many Indian players including Dhoni himself suggested before the world cup that the Title was meant for Sachin, which went in the right way. But Indians were brought back to real world by England and Australia when Indians toured there. By the end of each tours the call for retirement of seniors came up. Former players and analysts felt it was time up for seniors to hang their boots. Dravid hung his boots and it was expected since his  thoughts were that, he considered one series at a time. Laxman went rather unexpectedly which was an unlucky decision for fans and cricket lovers. Not to forget there is still no proper replacement at number 6 after Ganguly left, which was a dark day of Indian cricket by the way he called off from duty.

Now its sachin who is the only one left in the fab-four. His knocks haven’t been impressive since the world cup. It’s not like he is someone who lost his touch completely or being put into misery like Dravid or Laxman in Australia. The passion and his Midas touch is visible in each game. Only thing is that he was not able to carry it to a big one. Coming back again, how long can Sachin continue like this. It’s definitely up to him to decide when to make a call for himself. But it should not be on a losing note. It should not be upon a selector to tell him that he should move on. That is one thing every cricket lover would expect. Let me just share some thoughts which made me to think about his retirement plans now.

The first test of Border-Gavaskar trophy was a great sign of relief for the fans in which Sachin showed his class and many of us thought he would rule the so-called weakest bowling attack of Australia. But apart from that 81 there hasn't been big scores from him.  So how is he going to proceed from here. There is an African series coming up and to make matters worse the bowling unit of south Africans is one hack of a problem everywhere. Taking from the positive side of ongoing series a fan can hope India would do the unexpected there and Dhoni and his team would lift the trophy(Keeping fingers crossed). What if it happens in the expected way. The question of Sachin's retirement would come up again.

So this is where I point out some recent happenings in cricket. It all started with Dravid announcing his retirement from ODI in England. He made his final knock a memorable one with almost a full packed crowd putting a standing ovation when he got out and Trott taking off his cap before he shook hands with the wall.

A player who was known for his records in tests was indeed more qualified to receive a better once for his last test. But unluckily that didn't happen and on one fine morning he announced his retirement before some media representatives.

Forgive me for not mentioning Laxman because it hurts many fans like me when talking about his retirement. So what i came through next was Ponting who was said as the next biggest player in Australia after Don called off his career. He too was unlucky being dropped from ODIs before he made a call for himself. But his retirement from tests was rather colorful in the way it happened(not the result). He was applauded by a passionate crowd. Even Nathan Lyon can't forget the applause he received that was meant for Ponting. Smith and his Co greeted him with honorary guard and it was a pleasant sight for a cricket lover.

    Not after a big time gap Mr.Cricket too hung his boots. It was a double blow for Australian cricket in every aspect since they were not expecting it, at least we people here were not. But for God's sake his retirement was on a winning note and  he held his head high as a champion who fulfilled his destiny.

It was really an awesome sight scoring the winning runs in his last test match and leave like retirement was never his plan. But rather unexpectedly he was not picked for the one-day series.

So coming back to Sachin. It was one black day for Indian cricket when Sachin announced his retirement from shorter format when Delhi was burning. It was hurting for a cricket fan because he went way when 1 billion people went ready to stand up and salute the champion for his contributions that is never matching to any others. what more hurting was that some political thoughts made it a cover for government's escape attitude towards the Delhi rape victim. Not to go in detail, it was a bad day in many ways. We made a mistake. So is Sachin? He never wanted to have people's attention, but his decision was indeed unlucky for us more than Sachin himself.

So what’s next. A projected whitewash in Africa could make the Champion think again about his future plans. Indeed all that we can hope for is his hard work ends up in positive result. But if not, can we pay the price for watching him calling up a press meet and announce his retirement? I pray it won't  happen at any cost. Even if it is in a losing cause there should be a google image for Sachin's last test with the entire ground giving him the 'Guard of Honour'. Each and everyone knows who Sachin was, and who Sachin is for India. And 'what Sachin has to' is above all.. The 'Never Say Die ' attitude won't vanish from his mind and his passion would go on forever. But each cricket fan has the ambition to salute him and applaud him like nothing for one last time when he makes a call. Be it in Africa or any other nation. Before He gets ready for what the unacceptable we thought for years, it is people who should prepare for. It's not about youngsters. Its not about replacements. It’s all about gratitude of a cricket crazy nation for their "Cricket GOD".