Selectors' impulsive moves taking Indian Cricket backward

Indian Cricket team selectors, they do surprise us at times with some rare inclusion or exclusion, but they are mostly known to be predictable. But this time, they gave a real shocker!

Rahul Dravid's exclusion sure came as a shock. Although some sections of the media had been debating on it, no one really thought it would happen, because this is not how good players have been dropped. They did drop Ganguly, they did drop Sehwag. But they persisted with them long enough and dropped them only after they were consistently inconsistent!
But Rahul Dravid! That too after a form slump in just one series? That was something totally unprecedented.

Agreed Dravid was looking out of sorts in the series against Australia. He seemed to be a little down on confidence too.
May be he was just finding it a little tough to come to terms as just another player in the team, considering he was captaining the team for last couple of years. And a break for a few matches may only have been good for him.
But if they are serious about bringing him back, they should have done it in consultation with him. He should at least have been informed of it beforehand. Suddenly dropping him only would dent his confidence even more.

Poor guy didn't have a form slump for ages. Now he doesn't play well in a series and he finds himself dumped so unceremoniously!
It sure was harsh on him since he has served Indian cricket so arduously for almost a decade now. Considering he has been our most consistent performer, he definitely deserved more chances.

And do we have anyone as a replacement for Dravid, since he has been our best bet in a crisis situation? 50 over matches cannot be won with plane hitting. You need players who build the innings. And if he is to be brought back, I wonder what the criteria is gonna be, since he isn’t playing any domestic cricket either.

Although Ganguly has also been 'rested' after his return, it will be interesting to see if he'll be 'dropped' too if he doesn't perform in a few innings.
And Tendulkar's is another interesting case (with all due respect to the master, he still remains my favorite). They persisted with him for over a year when he was going through a form slump.
The double standards and favoritism are difficult to comprehend.

Sehwag's inclusion was even more surprising considering we already have enough openers/hitters in the team. That apart, he has been given enough chances already and has been found grossly unsuccessful at the international level for a long time now. One good knock of 70 at the domestic level doesn’t justify his return. Agreed he is one of the most aggressive batsmen we have, but he should have at least been made to prove his consistency before recalling him back. And tomorrow if he turns out to be inconsistent again, it’ll be interesting to see how they justify this move of theirs.

And one wonders what happened to Bhadrinath? He seems to have been included in the previous series just to fill an empty slot. If they really thought he had the capability, they should have persisted with him instead of bringing back Sehwag.

It's tough to understand how the selectors take their decisions and whether they follow any process at all. I hope sanity prevails again and they understand they are selecting a team which represents the whole nation, and will do their job by keeping favoritism aside and by selecting the most deserving candidates. Else Indian Cricket will only go a step backward with such impulsive moves which can only be termed as irrational.

Dravid, back to doing what he does best!

Rahul Dravid didn't impress me so much when he had initially arrived...
Although technically gifted and a stylish stroke-maker that he was, he didn't score his runs fast enough for me to feel entertained while watching him!

BUT over a period of time, since the time he has 'transformed' into a one day player...since he started being a solid force against the Aussies... a guy dedicated to the team cause... doing whatever it takes in the best interest of the team (keep wickets, go bat at any position the captain wants you to... stay for as long as it takes on the screeze...)...I've really found it hard not to admire him.
He has GROWN INTO A CHAMPION, mostly due to his hard work and dedication.

Even as a captain he started off promisingly... he looked aggressive (always trying something new), didn't really seemed to care for records over wins (declaring an innings when Tendulkar was on the verge of getting a 200), didn't really mind dropping non-performing seniors (Ganguly, Zaheer)... supported all-rounders consistently(Pathan, Dhoni)...encouraged playing youngsters more... leading from the front most of the times and batting even better. Indian cricket hadn't seen that sort of aggression for a long time.

It was all fine till his experiments were working and winning matches for India. But the moment they started failing, and India lost a couple of series while getting close to the world cup, the selectors gave into the media pressure, brought back the older players, showed no faith in the captain or the coach and things were back to square one in a hurry-burry!
I guess bringing back of Ganguly, who the media portrayed as a scapegoat of Dravid/Chappel's strategy only messed up things more, adding to the confusion in the dressing room.
It's tough to believe that Dravid, a simple man that he is, had anything against Ganguly. He was probably just doing his job. And Ganguly anyway didn't warrant a place in the team solely as a batsman at that time.

And of course the world cup was one (un)forgettable affair...first round exit... something no one was prepared to witness...

By then, Dravid must have realized that the fans are supportive only as long as you win...couple of losses and your wins are all forgotten...
He must have realized that any further experimentations will not be taken positively and if at all they fail (which is likely when the team is on a low), then he'll have to take the entire wrath. That's why I think we saw a change in his strategy after the world cup. He was more of a planner, sticking to his regular batters, bowlers and not really doing anything drastic and staying away from any sort of risk, being too cautious at times.
When before he used to lead from the front, now he was seen going down the order. There was no doubt that he wasn't being himself any more...

Unlike his batting career which only got better and better, his captaincy had been on a sudden decline. It was obvious that he wasn't enjoying it anymore and was probably waiting to be let off the hook and get back to concentrate more on batting, which as per his high standards, had also hit a low for some time.

When former Indian captains were known to be sacked from captaincy, I'm glad he resigned honorably, that too on a winning note and showed what a gentleman he is.
Of course, the irony is that he'll always be remembered for not enforcing follow-on rather than for having won a historic series in England!

Now Rahul Dravid is back to doing what he does best - serve the team with his batting. He still being as youthful and fit as ever, for the next few years that he has left in international cricket, I hope he hits his peak again and gives the younger players a lesson or two on consistency.

Good luck to you, sir!

Tomorrow never comes...

I've wondered how to get out of boredom...
I know I aint doing enough to feel excited...kinda stuck with the daily routine...kinda bored with the mundane living...

It isn't so tough to break the routine, it isn't so hard to feel excited again... but I feel like waiting for tomorrow... to feel excited...to live life again...

I chalk out a plan, I schedule my day well.... but the plan remains a plan and it hardly gets executed...!

It's so easy to live like this...the longer I live this way...the tougher it is to come out of it...
I know all that, but I still wait for that elusive 'tomorrow'....which I keep pushing a day away...!

I keep reminding myself that this isn't how I want to be, this isn't how I care to live....
I get a 'sleepy' response from inside... which says 'it isn't tomorrow yet' so chill and relax!!!

Reminds me of an inspiring quote I heard in my previous office which was something on the lines of:
"Look around... smile at your friends today, talk to them now... don't wait for tomorrow...tomorrow is a myth...
All you have is today...all you have is now...there is nothing called tomorrow and it never comes..."

So wake up my friend and start living...coz you know you are not so boring!

My report on Abhi-Ash wedding - Aajtak ishtyle mein!

Our media! Oh boy, they have no limits!
They report covering slightest of the nuance in great detail!

Now if I was a reporter at AajTak, I would probably report something like this:

Abhishek tied 3 knots and all very tight! We heard he even proposed to tie the 4th, to express his commitment, but the pandit was against it and so was Big B.... of course, the Aish's ex-beaus we heard were consoled because of that as the 'bandhan' will only be 3 knots 'atoot' and not 4, hence they have a better chance of breaking it going forward and hence may be, just may be (this is just our speculation) they might get a second shot at Aish!

Abhishek ke iss bachpane se, Amitabh kaafi naraaz nazar aarahe the...Aur unke aanko se ye lagraha tha, ke woh Abhishek ko manhi-man koss rahe the... Aur kyon ki woh goggle pehene hue the, hum ye maloom nahi kar paye ke woh Abhishek se kis hadh thak naraaz the!

Ab kuch shaadi se judi khabar:
Salman khan ne humne suna hai aaj upwaas rakha hai...aur Vivek ne movies se sanyas leneka faisla liya hai!
Karisma Kapoor se jab humne sampark karne ki kosish ki, tho woh ghar mein nahi thi... par unke ghar walon ne Abhishek naam ke kisi bhi shaks ko pehechaan ne se sakth inkaar kiya!

Ab ke liye bas ithna hi...Abhi-ash ko (3 knots) atoot bandhan mein baand-ne waale iss din ki hum aapko lagathaar jaankaari dethe rahenge... Unke alaawa teen dukhi aathma-oon ka dil ka haal bhi hum aapko sunathe rahenge...

Tho dekhthe rahiye aajthak... sab se thaze...sab se acha aur humse koi nahi sachcha...!

For all the lovely women!

Women, women you are the icon of love and beauty...without which this world would have been sad and empty

Today is your day, so go and spread your grace... coz u r the one who makes the world a beautiful place!

Happy women's day!