Subramanyan » cricket

Tee off

Guhan — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:14:20 +0000

I got back to hitting in the range after a long gap. Thanks to some high work load and laziness :-)
I really took an interest to Golf about a year back. Today, it was almost like the first time I went to a driving range, but the difference was that some of the coaching tips helped me look less stupid.
Well, it was not all bad. Actually today I hit the ball pretty well. The Wilson 10.5 Fairway driver was good to me today, hit a few mighty blows. I tried some delicate chip shots with the sand wedge as well, they too were pretty good. Overall a happy return to Golf. Will get on to the course before I head off on vacation. The wilson set I got for my last Birthday is really good and I am enjoying it. I think its more than enough for the kind of golf I play. Still in the learning phase and already I am able to hit a 300 yard drive on the fairway :-) Not to get too carried away, such drives come only once or twice in a bucket of balls
The weekend and the monday has been good days for sport. Hit a powerful 98 with 8 6′s and 7 4′s in a 20-20 corporate cricket match. I thought I was middling almost every ball I hit. And this was the first 50 off my new Pume Vandetta 2000. I love this bat, its got an amazing sweet spot. I was initially reluctant to use such a good bat in corporate cricket, where slogging is the way to go and the leather balls are cheap and of bad quality. But I could not wait any longer. The hits were clean and many 6′s were in the ‘V’
I have been wanting to start swimming again. I am searching for some good pools in Bangalore closer to Indiranagar or Koramangala preferably. I love swimming. I think its the best exercise and is one good activity to work up your appetite.

3 cheers to sport :-)

200

Guhan — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:48:41 +0000

Wednesday, 24th Feb 2010 was the day when the world witnessed 200 runs scored by the greatest batsman to play Cricket, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Standing 5 feet 5 inches tall, Sachin is a class apart. Ask any bowler in world cricket, he would have surely had a night mare or 2 about bowling to Sachin.
Today, I had to miss office and a team outing because of a bad cold and an infected throat. But no regrets after watching this stunning innings. I was glued to the TV watching Sachin toy with the South African bowling. Not even a single chance, not a single slog shot nor a sign of nervousness during his innings. 36 years old and close to 20 years in professional cricket, Sachin was as hungry for runs as anybody. There was great article in Times of India by Rahul Dravid about today’s cricketers lacking the hunger to succeed and how they have way too many opportunities to fail. All of the new breed of cricket, the so called Young guns can sit down and watch this Sachin innings at least once a week. They will learn what it means to have passion for a game.
Even after batting for 50 overs, running hard for his runs, Sachin walks out on to the field encouraging his bowlers and settling down in first slip. Today’s cricketers are plagued by injuries and comforts that even if they were to score 50 runs, they choose to get a massage and allow for a replacement fielder to take their place.
There was a board in Australia held up by a fan that read “I have seen god, he opens the batting for India”, such is the respect Sachin commands. Never dogged by controversy, never got into an argument with a bowler, no fights, just goes about his business of scoring runs. I think Sachin is the only sportsman for whom an entire nation prays to do well. There was a phase in his career when people doubted his talent, and suggested that it was time he retire. People expect so much of him, I cant even begin to imagine the pressure he would need to handle every time he takes guard. And its just unbelievable that he most of the times lives up to the insane expectations of the cricket fans, and has done so for 2 decades with humility, passion and such style. He is undoubtedly a great role model. He is one batsman every bowler in the world wants to bowl to, just so that they might have a chance to get him out and go into the history books, but at the same time, have night mares the moment he takes guard.
Every time I bat in the cricket matches I play, I just wish I get to hit the ball as well as Sachin would. It would be hard for anyone to match Sachin’s talent, even harder to even come close to his achievements and all most impossible to be a better ambassador of cricket. All hail Sachin Tendulkar, the master blaster.

“Life is a game, cricket is serious”

Guhan — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:40:04 +0000

“Life is a game, cricket is serious”, eloquently quoted by a good friend of mine, Venugopal. It pretty much sums up how cricket crazy we are. A good cricket match can bring any busy city to a stand still.
I am actually writing this post while watching the India vs Srilanka 4th ODI. I am a huge cricket fan ( pun intended ) and have had a fair share of cricket in my life. The excitement and interest for the game remains the same, whether it was professional league cricket or the fast paced Corporate cricket.

I tried to think about why cricket is such a craze in India and how the game comes naturally to many here. Many times all you need is some thing that looks like a ball and a long enough plank that is used like a bat, Gully cricket it is called. But what is it that is so exciting about a wooden plank whacking a small sphere.
In my mind its the bully in all of us that draws us to the game, the feeling that you can spank a weak little thing with a stick or hurl a projectile as fast as you can at someone in front of you. Its the bully in us that forms a mob of 11 people all hell bent on sending someone away from a marked territory. Its a place where well disguised taunts and provocation is greeted with loud applause. Sport is generally a let out for built up energy and aggression, cricket is no exception. Its also a great leveler, no matter who you are and what you do, when are on the cricket ground, bully or be bullied is the single rule everyone swears by. Even watching a cricket match either in a stadium or on TV is like watching a good play or action movie. It has something in it for everyone, the emotions of a player dismissed, ecstasy of snapping a good catch, evil pleasures at injuring a player, sense of achievement on reaching a century, intricate plans, intelligent strategies, well groomed heroes, patriotism, flashy equipment and lush green well maintained grass :-)
A cricket lover will never say the rules and format of the game is complex. But I realized how complex it actually is when I tried to explain the game to a friend from the United States, the land of Baseball. A person who knows cricket and baseball will argue that both the games are similar in some ways, but my attempt at explaining cricket actually made me realize otherwise. People new to the cricket concept find it hard to digest the fact that a single cricket game can stretch for 5 whole days and still have no result at times. It gets funnier when you try to explain that the same game can also be played for one whole day or even for 4 hours during day time or night. The discussions about the game can be really funny and will usually end with the “Non Lover” completely confused :-)