Warnie-Magician He Was

 Well Well Well!!! This has struck everyone like me. I had not thought that I would anytime be writing about him. But I believe his untimely death has stirred me up as it might have done to others.Life is infact like that we don’t know what we would be doing next minute/hour/month and Years. Yet we cannot help but brood and get worried about the Future which is not in our Hands.. Don’t try to Control the Uncontrollables. Should be more concerned about the Controllables and live in the moment as Warne Confessed that he always lived in the Moment and Cricket was very simpple for him. 

 First of all why I should be writing about Warne. He doesn’t runs my house nor does he pay my bills… But he did entertained us with his willy Craft. Gave us a reason to see the exquisite  art which he had and mesmerised us all. We belong to a generation which grew up Watching Him, Akram, McGrath  Sachin etc to name a few as far as cricket is concerned.  

He made his debut at time when the fast bowling was glorified and the Akrams, Waqars,and Ambrose dominated the World and and not many legspinners had adorned the game.

Announced his arrival on the World Stage with grandeur  with his 1^st Ball of the Ashes becoming the Ball of the Century by getting Mike Getting Out.

He can be credited with making  the Legspin Attractive and  reinventing the art. He was a courageus and Attacking Bowler like Fast Bowlers. Treat to watch when he was bowling in Tandem with McGrath.. Whenver Taylor, Waugh and Punter threw the Ball to him you knew you are in for a ride and its going to be exhilarating one. Of Course he was ably supported by Healy and Gilchrist behind the stumps.

He turned the ball square. We all tried to emulate him and is action in our playing days. I certainly did though it’s a different matter never succeeded. Tried to spin the ball from the leg stump which never did and resulted in Wides and Byes Sometimes.

He Transcended the Game and of course he was a showman. He would lit up the stage whichever stage it was and he enjoyed adulation.

 He was photographed wherever he went and which he didn’t liked because with him the Liz Hurleys and Jemimma Khans were also in the frame.

He was a bluffmaster always outdid the Bastmen and was a nemesis for Pakistanis & England Players not to forget South African Cricketer Darryl Cullinan who had to take thereapy because of him.

His Story was not of Perpetual Glory.  Had his own shares of Ups and Downs.Broken Marriage, Sex Scandal, and  Drug Controversy which  led to his ousting from World Cup 2003.  Always in the news for his demeanors off the field, but quite strangely enough it didn’t effected his performances on the field. He did paid the price for the same by not becoming the Captain of the Australian Cricket Team, the second most coveted job after that of being the Prime Minister of Australia.

Had this ability of keeping Professional and Personal Lifes Completely Seperate and operated in Silo.  

He had said “ I liked loud music, I smoked, drank and bowled a bit of leg spin.” That’s Warne for you straight and simple. He never pretended to be the person which he was not. 

He was the man of the match in the Semifinals and Finals of the 1999 World Cup taking 4  wickets each  against South Africa and Pakistan if my memory serves me right..

He had won 91 out of the 144 tests he had played for Australia and Australia rode on Him as he had a lot to do with its Ressurgence.

He liked to make things happen. He did against the South Africa in the Semifinals of the 1999 World Cup where Australia defended 213 where at one stage they were 48 for zero. It was the non-moving pitch. Removed Gibbs,Cronje and Kirsten in quick succession and the match was tied at 213 and as we all remember Austrlia Progressed to the final having defeated South Africa in the League Stage. Another instance Probably was 1996 World Cup where Tayor gave the ball to him when Australia had only 40 runs to defend and guess what Australia Won with Warne Producing the magical numbers once again.

 He was a bright Comet in the Cricket's Galaxy.In the team of Best he was cut above the rest.

When he was bowling you would feel as if every delivery had something on it. He would set up the batsman couple of overs before the final nail in the Coffin. He would bowl a short one going to be put away for four above mid-wicket, then another one would be a legs pin outside off stump to be put over point and then there will be leg spin Deliveries.. An the Final one would be a flipper which would  keep low and would skid faster getting the batsman Plumb or bowled.

Richie Benaud would say “He has done him between his legs”.

 Will never forget the manner of his appeals asking questions to the umpire bending on one leg . And in another instance doffing his Hat which only belonged to him.

Well he was the Captain and the Coach Himself for the Inaugral IPL edition in 2008 for Rajasthan Royals. Such was his cricketing Brain. He was the best Captain which Australia never had.  People would have laughed at us if somedody had Predicted. This was a starless team. . He actually pulled out the IPL Tournament from thin air. That speaks volumes about his Leadership Style. Before the Semifinals of IPL 2008 against Delhi Daredevils he went to Yosuf Pathan put a hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes, didn't uttered a word and he responded by playing a knock of 43 something from 21 deliveries. 

Statistics are like Biknis, they hide more than what they reveal.Murli might have taken  more wickets than him but the guile, deception and the ability to outthink the Bastman which he had made him the Best Spinner the game has ever produced and the he had carried that mantle all along.

Was very Vocal about his opinions and always had an answer what Australian and England Team were doing Wrong. Didn’t advocated the John Buchanan’s  Coaching style and was of the view that one doesn’t needs coaching at the apex level.

Even after retirement in 2007 he had enthralled us with his Cricketing logic sitting in the Commentary Box voicing his opinions which proved to be right more often than not. Have Gone too too early and Cricketing World has lost a star. He recently had expressed his deire of Coaching England Cricket Team.

We will Miss you Warne and and  your contrarian views on the Cricket. Game will never be the same again. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mahi..... The Small Town Boy

The first thing which comes to mind after hearing this name is Captain & he is from Ranchi a city in Jharkhand. Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar as an independent state in 2000, not very developed & not in  prominence at that time, ( when Dhoni made his debut in Dec 2004)  struggling to get its foothold on the geographical map of India as Capital of Jharkhand. Indian cricket per se was largely dominated by the bigger towns like Mumbai, (at one point it was more difficult to get into the Ranji Team of Mumbai than having earned the national call) Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chennai etc. During 1952-1956 7 players from Mumbai were part of Indian national team. During the 80s & 90s eight cricketers made their debut for India. Just for the sake of repetition the Tendulkars, Shastri's, Gavaskar's, Patils, Manjrekar's all were from Mumbai. In 2006 5 players from Mumbai were in the Indian Cricket Team namely Sachin, Zaheer, AjitAgarkar, RomeshPawar, &Rohit Sharma. Karnataka too in the 90s had their share in the Indian Team Composition Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, JavagalSrinath, Venkatesh Prasad & Sunil Joshi were part of the same team. In these times of  high concentration of players from patticular geographies of the country M S dhoni emerged from nowhere & went on to leave his footprint on the world.

Dhoni & the captaincy have been synonomous during the last decade or so. After having made his debut in 2004 he has come a long way in his career.

Since much of the talk happening around his leadership & captaincy issues ( we have only known Dhoni in this way only)  we all have forgotten what Dhoni has achieved as a cricketer. He is close to having amassed 10000 ODI runs with an astounding average of 51. That’s not a small feat especially coming at No 6 & batting with tailenders. The fact of remaining unbeaten many times (67) might have helped his average.

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave
Tests	90	144	16	4876	224	38.09
ODIs	290	250	67	9338	183*	51.02
T20Is	76	66	33	1209	56	36.63

It would be unfair to compare Dhoni’s career with anybody as everyone is different & a great player  but still a peak into the career of few of the players who played alongside Dhoni reveals that he has not done badly either.  Statistics are like biknis, they hide more than what they reveal.

Suddenly the world came to know on 4^th January 2017 that Mahi had decided to give up his ODI & T20 captaincy & will only be available for selection in the team as a wicketkeeper batsman.I too was stunned.  It was like a new year has just begun we are in the middle of a cricketing schedule with England with ODIs and T 20 matches still remaining ( though they have been defeated 4-0 in the Test Match series just concluded by the Team led by Virat Kohli) how can the captain call it quits . That’s Dhoni for You, our own Mahi whom we have been fortunate to watch over the last decade or so.He has always been like that keeping his cards close to his chest, not giving anyone any iota of hint of what’s going on in his mind.That’s his own way of dealing with things, nothing right or wrong about it. He had surprised us earlier also by quitting Test Cricket Completely in the middle of the test series against Australia in Australia ( Dec 14 ). Honestly speaking It's God's Grace that the chairman of Selectors Mr Sandeep Patil didn’t got the heart attack of his life, with the ODI world cup few months away.

The Month of Dec holds a significant place in the life of Dhoni. He made his debut against Bangladesh in Dec 2004, quit Test Cricket in Dec 14, Quit the captaincy of ODI& T20 Cricket on 4^th   Jan 17 (we can easily discount these four days.)

So what has compelled Dhoni to take this decision all of a sudden, or at least it seems so? During the last 2 years his magic has a one day captain &player has waned.

In 2015 India had lost to South Africa at home, were beaten 4-1 in Australia in early 2016, lost the T20 semifinal to West Indies and then marginally beat NewZealand 3-2 towards the year end of 2016.

In Test Cricket India had his share of contrasting fortunes. Kohli had enjoyed his splendid run as a test captain as the in the last 2 years after Dhoni said adieu to Test Cricket as the statistics would suggest ( till Dec 16 ). India had won 5 test series in a row under Kohli’s leadership. Out of the Total no of Tests Played 22, India has lost 2, managed a draw in 2 of them and has won 14 test matches.

It’s very difficult being a captain of one form of the game as there are 3 formats regularly played. Split Captaincy doesn’t work unless of course the two teams of different forms are completely different. If the same set of players play both the forms of the game reporting to two different set of Individuals……… becomes difficult.   

Mahi as we all know will be remembered for increasing our  heart beats to stratospheric levels before pulling off a match in the final stages of the game. Many would have died I believe, I survived the scare few of the times. He backed himself maniacally, it never mattered who was standing at the other end. He always played as if he had orchestrated the match & knew the script beforehand and the same panned out exactly the way he had wanted it.  You rarely see people who take it upon themselves to see it through and that too till the last ball. Michael Bevan was one such character but the styles of these two batsmen are poles apart. Dhoni would take the asking rate to 10-12 runs per over and sometimes even more than that and always pulled off the victory in the last over with the self-belief of the opposition shattered. The self-belief was translated into win with utmost ease or at least it seemed to all of us. But it was never easy. You go and ask any person facing the ball at 90 miles per hour with 20 needed of the last over.(Wokehtehainhain Tote udjatehain). The same script has been repeated n number of times with Mahi being our hero. 

And you are handling the hopes of 1.25 billion people. Cricket is a religion in India where a two year old learns & starts following Bat & Ball before learning anything else.

Under Dhoni's captaincy, India have won the top prize in all formats: the No.1 Test ranking for 18 months starting December 2009, the 50-over World Cup in 2011 and the World Twenty20 on his captaincy debut in 2007 which took the world by storm and was a harbinger of things to come.

Mr Dhoni has given us enough reasons to look back & cry, smile & reminisce those golden moments.Mahi at the other end of the wicket was always a good enough reason to miss one’s evening date with Pamela Anderson or JLO.

A walk through some of the onliners from the eminent personalities about Dhoni is reproduced below:

• “On my deathbed I would like to see the final six hit by Dhoni in the World Cup 2011 final against Sri Lanka.”- Sunil Gavaskar
• “Want a six in the pressure situation, Call MS Dhoni”- Ramiz Raza
• “If you come to srilanka you would find that Dhoni has more fans than any other Srilankan player”- Arjun Ranatunga
• “I pray that a tennis player should emerge from Ranchi as MS Dhoni emerged for Cricket.”- Sania Mirza

But some people like our ex cricketer & captain Mr MohinderAmarnath is of the view “ Kiyakyahai Dhoni ne” that’s his personal belief. Ok let’s assume for a moment (for a moment only as it is an assumption, truth is something different)  that  Dhoni has not done anything. India won the 1^st edition of the  T 20 World Cup after Dhoni was  being appointed as a captain of the T20 and ODI  team in 2007 ,( after being ousted from the tournament in the knockout stage after losing to Bangladesh which will become the folklore and will be talked about in the decades to come under the leadership of our own great the Wall Mr Rahul Dravid.)  became the No 1 Test Team when he was leading the side, won the ODI World Cup after a hiatus of 24 years ( we were strikingly close in 2003 when the destiny if one chooses to say so had other plans), won the Champions Trophy in 2013 all because our own Almighty choose it to be so. Dhoni has done nothing in winning these three major tournaments.

This issue can be debated till all the cows come homeas Everybody is entitled to his views  as we are living in the world’s biggest Democracy

I am a big Sourav Ganguly Fan but does that mean that you would hate Mr Mahi. It's perfectly fine if you love both your beautiful wife and not so beautiful girlfriend at the same time.

 When you love you love, “pyaar kyun karte hain" "kisko kam karte hain” shhhhhhh….. doesn’t matter.

He  had achieved whatever needed to be achieved as a captain, haan it was a different matter that he couldn’t please everybody.( Somebody has aptly said If you want to fail in life start pleasing everybody.) So he choose not to fail and that was his fault.

We don’t mind graytying to the numbers of Sunny Leone ( Laila mein Laila Kiasi mein Laila) I don’t know what is the percentage of her Indianness  but we have problems in acknowledging the accomplishments of a person who is an Indian by Birth ( are baba there are documents substantiating that Dhoni is an Indian) who has made the country proud on the global map. 

So another big name will soon go into the sunset sooner or later.  But then wo kehte hai na“ All good things must come to an end.”Uffff he will be missed that cool demeanor behind the stumps, those two arms in action swirling across each other, the chattering caught on the stumps microphone talking to and about his teammates. Those onliners while addressing the media some of which are reproduced below:

• As after losing 8 straight Tests to England & Australia in 2012  he had said “ When you die you die. You don't see which the better way to die is”.
• On Duckwork Lewis rules during the Champions Trophy 2017- I don’t think even ICC understands it.
• On losing the Test Series 4-0 against England in England- “I won’t Count it as a bad performance, It was so bad that I don’t count it as a performance”.
• On the repeated let downs by the Indian tail- Now even PETA has said you can’t cosmetically remove the tail. 
• About his retirement after Losing to the West Indies in semifinal of T20 World Cup 2016-Is the jouranalist happy with the way he is running between the wickets or his wicket keeping. Does he have a brother or a son  who can do the job better than him.

Since January after giving up captaincy Dhoni scored his 1^st century against England since Oct 2013 ( 10^th Overall ) stitching a record  256 runs partnership with Yuvraj Singh which was reminiscent of their World Cup 2011 Final against Srilanka. He was instrumental in ensuring that Rising Stars Pune reached to the Final of 10^th IPL edition 2017. On 30^th June 2017 He played another knock of 79 not out against West Indies couple of days ago. By doing so he has left behind Adam Gilchirist in terms of runs scored in International Cricket, and is only to next Mr Sangakara of Srilanka.  This is not a mean feat given that he has a batted  at No 5 or 6 and sometimes at 7. Records now a days belong to the top 3 batsmen of the line up.

By relinquishing captaincy what Dhoni has ensured is another 2-3 years of International Cricket. He is almost 36 now & if all goes well he might  play the 2019 World Cup in England to be held in May. He is still the best wicketkeeper in the world hitting the stumps frequently  Mohd.  Azharuddin’s way which no keeper in the world does at present. He still commands the respect of the dressing room.  Probably his reflexes while batting are not the same as they used to be couple of years ago which is natural as age advances. But he is still a 30 ball 45-50 runs player. The 19^th over in particular which was taken to all corners of the ground  in the just concluded IPL is a testimony to that.Wridhiman Saha has settled well in the Test wicketkeeper’s slot. The likes of Dinesh Kartik, Parthiv Patel & the newly found sensational lad Mr Rahul Pant are waiting on the fringes for their share of flesh.

There are two full years from now. Will he won’t he? Will 2019 will be the swansong of his starstudded career? It’s a bit early I think to decide. He has earned every right to go on his terms, & the world will not be able to know when he decides that. Adam Gilchrist decided to say it quits when he felt that  his legs were not moving.Dhoni is beyond numbers now. I think We all should be concerned with the value which he brings to the table.  Virat Kholi still discusses the situations with him when he is perplexed. We can take the captaincy out of Dhoni but not the captain.   

We all should leave that to him & enjoy being hypnotised&mesmerised by his glovework& batting at display.

The Swaglacious Raghuram Rajan

So, the news had hit,It had to eventually. I was not expecting it though, but it was a more practical & sensible decision by the man himself  The tall, dark, handsome, sexy & swaglacious RBI Governor Sri Raghuram Rajan will no further be available to render his services from Septemebr 4th 2016, 3 years after he was appointed as RBI Governor by the then UPA govt on  5^th Sep   2013. On 13^th Sep 2013 Shobhaa De had published an Article Titled “ Economy with Raghuram Rajan will be sizzling hot”. The link is given for those who still would like to catch up ( though live action is always more lively than the repeat telecast  & thts why its called live). The 1st  line had read  The guy’s put sex back into the limping Sensex, hot enough to raise one’s testosterone levels. This if the level of adulation which he received.http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-13/news/42041678_1_raghuram-rajan-rbi-guv-duvvuri-subbarao

The credit for bringing him to steer the Indian economy through rough waters has to go to Dr Manmohan Singh & our ex honorary Finance Minister Mr P Chidambram. Looking back from now I doubt if any body on this planet earth is having second thoughts on their decision. ( except of own Mr Swamy of the ruling Party). A lot of literature is available on  Mr Manmohan Singh’s credentials as a Finance Minister & the man himself had seen it through while bringing Rajan on a special Duty ( Chief Economic Advisor ) while Dr Subarrao was serving his last days as RBI Governor. Not many Indian People would have known him /heard about him while he resumed office. Neither did I honestly.   

He has called it quits citing the reasons as returning to the academia after giving shuttle hints suggesting otherwise. Such is Politics. In a statement to his fellow members at RBI he hinted that he was open to see the uncompleted tasks through.

Though I believe that after sprinkling venom on him Mr Swamy escaped unscatched. Neither did the PM nor the Finance Minister took the bulls by its horns after Swamy’s repeated attacks on one of the most credible Central Bankers of the World. He maintained dignified silence on the issue.  Even in a recent interview with Barkha Dutt he refused to comment on Mr Swamy saying that talking about him will be fuelling those baseless allegations. His credentials of being an Indian were questioned. He wore Patriotism up his sleeve & that’s why he came to serve India after taking a leave from his teaching assignment Leaving a cosy job of teaching having already established himself in his field by winning many laurels and taking up the job of a RBI governor among the Indian Politicians was not a easy task at all. He joined in India after taking leave from University of Chicago Booth School of Business and in his address to his fellow members at RBI has showed his willingness to serve his country again if the need arises. And the so called Swamy’s of the World question his nationality. Actually in the habit of taking regular digs at M/s Sonia Gandhi Swamy copied the same template to Mr Rajan as we Chartered Accountants are notoriously famous for. ( Pun Intented)  But we would be fooling ourselves if we don’t want to believe that he was planted by Mr Modi & Jaitey to take on Mr Rajan.

How many people in the world will risk their reputations going up for a toss knowing fully well that the job of a RBi Governor is not fully autonomous. That is the reason why the till date the Babus of Indian politics have adorned the chair of RBI governor till date. Our country never had a professional occupying the RBI’s Chair & the politicians would never want that also. We are all seekers of short term pleasures ( each one of us interested in bidding their own time ) without looking over the longer horizon. 

He took to the job as a Swan takes it to the water. Making an official speech after his appointment  to the press citing his main tasks as Inflation Control, Banking Reforms, providing stability to the rupee among host of other measures & then issuing the statement again on his decision to wrap it up. Many few RBI Governors, in fact none of them would have come and gone in the style which has been USP of our own Raghu. Her came at a time when the economy was in very bad shape. Rupee was depreciating every day, We were on the cusp of being downgraded to a junk status, our CAD was at an all time high. He is going at a time when we have forex reserves at an all time high, CAD is under control, India is in a bright spot & one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But the cup is still half full. More needs to be done.

He came from nowhere & he is again going into oblivion. He bought the glamour to the job though he never intended it. The panache with which he used the one liners mesmerized us all.  Never ever we had a governor who would run a full 42km marathon & would play squash in the morning every day. Because never ever the qualifications & the skill had been the reasons for being the pineapple of the eyes of the babus   ocuupying the North Block. Is this the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end? I am of the view that it is the end of the beginning. 

The famous being “My name is Rajan & I do what I do”. "I am not a superman & the  expectations are high."

I am a big admirer of this Govt especially Mr Modi himself, and India needs Modi for another term but somehow my heart starts pounding on the mere thinking of the fact that has this govt dropped the Govt itself by not playing a ball with Mr Rajan.( Like Hersheele Gibbs dropped the Cup by droping Steve Waugh at mid Wicket in 1999 Cricket World Cup, its itched in my memory as if it was yesterday). Though I don’t want to be so because we all want India & the economy to do well. The BJP can also draw comfort from the fact that their opposition  has a leader in the form of Mr Rahul Gandhi about whose abilities only the West needs to know & India is one of the sweet spots in the entire world where investors are flocking. I will not describe about the economy & Mr Rajan’ s achievements as this blog has already become too long to read despite my sincere efforts to keep it short. But still I suppose this govt & the new RBI Gov will have time of around say 1-1.5 years minimum before the world economy in general starts improving after which the benign commodity prices should reverse oil in particular and so will be the start of our mathematics of CAD, Fiscal Defecit, Inflation etc going awry unless something concrete is being done to have a sustainable growth. I Hope the government will.    

But the onus now  has shifted on the govt by appointing another credible name for the chair of RBI. My Vote goes for Mr Kaushik Basu IMF chief   can’t write on length about him as this blog is for Rajan, Mr Raghuram Rajan.   If they need a puppy with a wagging tail, then sorry we are again taking a step backward & all the good work done by Mr Rajan will go into the dustbin.

 But Mr  Rajan you don’t know how many men have fallen in love with you ( forget the women, you will loose the count of them) me included though there are  the Warne’s , The Dravid’s  the ABD, &  Federers  in the list too.( no question on my sexual orientation please). India is losing its finest economist but the show has to go on and so it will but the showman will not be the same. He has paid the price of speaking his mind, calling spade a spade, & taking on crony capitalism.

Well done Raghu Sir. We all are fortunate to have seen you. We all Bow to you.  I would just love to have another column form M/s Shobhaa De about the lack of sex in the Sensex post his departure. Mam are you listening?