E-vents of my life

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

ASHES 2005!!!

With ashes 2006 coming up ... I thought why not post this one that I had written about the last one!

This is undoubtedly the best cricket series I have ever watched no matter what happens from here on in the series. The only others that come even close to this is the series between WI and Australia in WI (in which Lara played some amazing innings) and our own Indians vs the Aussies. Guess its no coincidence that Australia have been a part of all of them.

Two consecutive test matches so enthralling might have seldom occurred between any two countries. The first one, England wins a test match by 2 runs (2 RUNS!!!) and the second, the best drawn match ever! What a treat it has been for every cricket lover world wide.

Some scintillating individual performances have been the highlight of this great series. Most notable is by a man they call Fredie Flintoff. It is hard to imagine that this is the same Andrew Flintoff who used to bowl slower than Anil Kumble once did. He used to be Geoffrey's mom's best friend then! And now he's the wonder man of English and international cricket. Second one that comes to mind is that of Ricky Ponting. What an innings! Full of character and determination, a typical Aussie innings that.

But above all its the team effort by the English that has put Australia on their Toes (to say the least). Everything seems to be going just right for them at the moment. Looking forward to another wonderful test in a couple of weeks. Till then watch some Indian cricket to get down to earth.

My previous post was something I had written a few months back so dont wonder what finished "yesterday" ...

More the merrier?

One of the greatest sports event, if not the greatest, ended in grand celebration yesterday. Not so much to celebrate for India though. A solitary silver medal from a contingent of 65. One thing that astonishes me is when people in India say, “A country with a population of a billion can’t manage to win even a single gold medal”. Well, this is not a case of more the merrier! Population, I think, is one of the main reasons of our dismal performance in the most prestigious sports event. A population of a billion brings along with it a million problems that need to be solved. Which is a problem that needs to be addressed immediately? Provide food (at least) to all Indians or provide facilities to sports persons so that they win shiny gold medals for the country.

Moreover, sports are not a part of Indian culture unlike the Chinese. I am not suggesting we stop encouraging athletes who have given their all at the Olympics. All I am saying is that Indians need to have patience and not expect miracles overnight.