A glimmer of hope!!

                                        I'm sorry, this post is not about some noble piece of work that I recently did or witness :) This is more about my passion, passion for cricket and passion for the greatest batsman ever, Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar. I don't remember exactly when I started watching cricket. It was probably during the 1996 cricket world cup, held jointly in India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka. I still have faint memories of some matches back then. My love affair with Indian cricket team started from the beginning, largely due to my dad also being an Indian team fan. I still remember my late grandfather talking to me about cricket during those early days and I clearly remember him mentioning during the Australia-West Indies semi-final, that the West Indies great Brian Lara was a top batsman of that era. But as years passed, I realised that it was not Brian Lara, but a young Indian by the name of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, who took that world cup by storm, until his failure led to the team's failure in the semi-final against eventual champions Sri Lanka, that was going to be my future hero :)

                                            I have always been an Indian cricket and Sachin Tendulkar fan since childhood. So much so, that sometimes it became difficult for me to chose one between the two. There have been instances when I have wished India losing all wickets and lose, after Tendulkar doesn't  bat well and is out cheaply. As I look back into all those memories now, I can only conclude that it was my love for the great man :) Known to be a media-shy, he  is so humble, polite and inspiring in the few interviews that he has ever given. His quote - 'Chase your dreams. Dreams do come true' that he said, after finally winning the 2011 world cup last year, hangs in my room on his poster :) Though at times biased, I have always rated him above other great contemporaries like Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting or Jacques Kallis. I've heard the line 'Cricket is a gentleman's game' many times, during cricket commentaries and for me, no other batsman better exemplifies this than Sachin Tendulkar (Rahul Dravid, a close second :)) As far as my memory is correct, I don't remember Tendulkar getting involved in any on-field controversies, other than the 'ball-tampering' incident in South Africa, in the early 2000s. That is excusable, for a man that has played cricket for 23 long years, I guess :) The fact that he has to perform under the weight of expectations, of probably more than a billion fans like me, has always intrigued me. Though he is not successful all the time, but because of the times he is, he always gives jitters in our stomachs, when he is batting :) 

                                      Sachin Tendulkar is not having good times lately. He is the highest run-scorer in international cricket (Both test and ODI formats), has 100 centuries, has played the most number of matches and the world cup win last year, was the icing on the cake, in his long glittering career. He is 39 years old and is well past his prime. His 'glory days' are behind him. But he is still playing, 'I'll only think about retirement, when the love for the game, dies in me', he said recently. As a die-hard fan, I want him to play forever and I'm happy with his longevity. At the same time, being a realist, I'm hurt by the immense  criticism that he's facing, from some old *successful* cricketers due to his batting failures, in the past 1 year. He has not performed well in England, Australia and the home series  against West indies, New Zealand and England currently. His failures led me to believe that perhaps 'the end' is near. The retirement of Aussie batting great Ricky Ponting this week, the only other cricketer near to Tendulkar's records in the past decade, added to the effect. The pressure was increasing on me, let alone Tendulkar :) But today, in the first innings of the third test against England, played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, he made a fighting 76 runs. He had already failed thrice in this series and more failures would have probably raised the pressure-bar to the maximum. I myself believed that he should retire at the end of this series. Today's innings has probably eased some of that pressure. Everyone saw how he fought for himself and the team today. There were some vintage off-drives, leg-flicks and the shot unique to him, the pedal sweep. He was out on a good ball that would have troubled many a good batsmen in their prime. So, it's been a day of happiness, for Sachin fans like me. By this knock, the 'master blaster' has given us fans, a glimmer of hope and made a statement that perhaps 'he is NOT finished yet' :) Ending another of my sports-related posts with a relevant quote, 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going.'

The last-minute winner!!

                                    There is probably no other sport with more twists and turns than a ninety-minute game of football. Witnessed a truly remarkable game between the English team Chelsea, whom I have been supporting whole-heartedly for the past 5-6 years and the Ukranian outfit, Shakthar Donetsk in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) yesterday night. This game meant a lot for Chelsea, the reigning UCL champions, not just to qualify to the next round but also due to the off-field issue of 'racism' that had been plaguing the club for quite sometime now and had been bringing some unnecessary spotlight. Moreover, the same club S. Donetsk had outplayed them 2 weeks earlier at their home-ground. So being a home-tie for Chelsea, this was seen as a must-win game, to redeem themselves. 

                                      The start of November had activated the daylight saving time change in Europe. This meant Nepalese football fans like me had to wait till 1:30 AM for the game to kick-off instead of the usual 12:30. As I had done in the previous years, slept early at around 10 PM and woke up in time for the game. (Staying awake all the way was a bad idea, I knew from experience!! :)) 

                                   The game started brightly for Chelsea as we took the lead early through Fernando Torres. It was more than just an opening goal for us as Torres had performed only in bits and pieces since his big-money move last year and all Chelsea fans (including me!!) were praying for his consistency. (Goals, would be more specific!!) The joy was short-lived however, as Shakthar equalised within minutes. Our defence certainly looked fragile in the absence of the regular captain and centre-back John Terry. As the game went on, Shakthar increased their dominance and we were looking more and more vulnerable. But against the run of play, we took the lead again, this time through Oscar, and what a goal it was!! He took advantage of the goalkeeper's error and  volleyed the ball over him and into the net from around 30-35 yards. Just like the commmentators mentioned, it was a world class finish!! 

                                   Frustration grew as we squandered the lead again, at the start of the 2nd half. The same leaky defence, was at fault again. We started to play better in the 2nd half than the 1st. Created more chances, the goal looked inevitable but did not come. The game seemed to be heading to a 2-2 draw. I started thinking about how we had won this competition the previous year, for the first time in our history, against all the odds (It was the best moment of supporting Chelsea for me!!) and were now on the brink of elimination. We badly needed 3 points from this game but it looked gone now. It felt all gloomy in that early morning until 21-year old Victor Moses, out of nowhere, scored the headed winner for us in the last minute. He had entered as a sub in the 80th minute, it was the last minute of injury time (94th) and it was just too special!! I jumped up in joy, thought of screaming but held on considering all the people that were sleeping  in my new flat (I wouldn't want to upset the new landlord, would I??:)) It felt so good, it reminded of Chelsea legend Didier Drogba's equaliser for us in the UCL final last year. The 2 headed goals and the men who scored it looked identical as well. Moses sure is a future star at Chelsea, I had never doubted him, just hope he reaches the same height that Drogba reached for us.

                                 Had been hearing this line a lot, during cricket commentaries - 'It ain't over till the fat lady sings', (probably related with opera, google will tell) it was proven once again, this time in football!!...