Pakistan rise like a Phoenix from the ashes to emerge champions

So, Pakistan are the new world champions of T20.

Did they deserve to win? I think they did, despite my being an Indian who would be the most unlikely supporter of anything Pakistani. Though I can also have a last laugh by saying in the same breath that India beat Pakistan in this very World Cup even before the first official ball was bowled in the championship. So, we’ve vanquished the eventual victors, and by that very logic are better than them. However, I do not wish to steal their thunder, and for once I will applaud them for their achievement.

The pre-tournament favourites for me were South Africa, Sri Lanka and India (not necessarily in the same order). However, there were other teams who gave two hoots to what I thought and came to the party. Both West Indies & Pakistan showed that they were hungry and ready to play big daddy. Amongst the early favourites, the South Africans did reach the semis but choked at that stage as they so often do (maybe they should get an automatic bypass to the finals the next time they qualify for finals in a championship, and then maybe they can lift a cup). Both Australia (who weren’t in anybody’s reckoning despite being the best team otherwise – I know I am playing with peril by saying this, but no arguments please) & India (the defending champs) withered away in the early stages to set up the final clash between Sri Lanka & Pakistan. Finally, the champion is a country that didn’t just deserve to win; it ‘needed’ to win badly.

The two finalists were nations whose cricketing destiny seems to be intertwined ever since the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore on 4th of March, 2009. Pakistan has been the pariah of cricket ever since. That they have been reduced to becoming touring cricketers, who are now forced to embark on a journey every time they want to play international cricket, since no nation wants to tour the terror-ridden Pakistan, has meant that they’ve not had too much going for them for some time now. They did need something to revive them, and for sure this victory is going to do wonders to the sport and the general feel-good factor in the country.

Sports has a way of creating a mood across any nation, and it finally reflects in the economy & general behavior of people. Is it because the people are generally happy after the victory, prone to partying & spending on self, family & friends? Or is it merely coincidental? Historic evidence suggests that every time Brazil has won the football world cup, their economy has received a huge boost. Indian cricket (and Indian confidence) really started looking up post the 1983 world cup win. When Italy won the FIFA Cup in 2006, for months it seemed that the nation was forever in a celebratory mood, and the economy went into 5th gear. Since it has happened so many times to so many nations, it can’t just be written off as a coincident. And I do hope this victory does something similar to Pakistan – they really need to have something to rejoice about. They need to come out of their closet and become a part of the developing world where terrorism has no place. They need to bask in the glory of what they have achieved, and not bicker over what was never theirs. They need to shun violence & hatred, and embrace friendship & goodwill towards others. They need to be seen as people who one can be friends with. History has given Pakistan an opportunity, and as a neighbour I do hope they grab this one.

Cricket’s glorious 5 centuries!

There are billions of followers of cricket the world over, many of them self-confessed fanatics. Yet, very few know about the origin & evolution of cricket. In this article, I try to put forth what I learned based on my own knowledge & some research over the Internet.

While a lot has been done to trace cricket’s origins, there is no final conclusion. It is commonly believed that the game was invented by English shepherds to while away their time while grazing the sheep. They used to use farm equipment & wooden sticks to hit a round-shaped object made of wood or stone… winner being the one who hit it farthest.

The first written evidence of a game known as ‘creag’ played by Prince Edward at Kent is in 1301, which could place cricket’s history back to 7 centuries. However, it is merely speculated that this was cricket and there is no concrete evidence of the same. For all purposes of reported history, cricket originated as a sport in England in the early 16th century, way back in the Tudor era, sometime earlier than the beginning of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign (1558 – 1603).

The earliest definite reference to the term ‘cricket’ is in 1598, when it was called ‘creckett’. The reference is in a court case about a sport played by the students of the Royal Grammar School, Guildford around 1550 (whew, that is over 450 years ago). The word is assumed to have been derived from the Old English word ‘cryce’ meaning a stick/staff. Way back then, the cricket (or cryce) bats were shaped liked bent staffs (like hockey sticks), and the ball used to be rolled on the ground for the batsman to hit. The bats continued in this form until they evolved over 2 centuries (!!!) later in 1760, when bowlers started pitching the ball instead of rolling it towards the batsmen. This meant that the ball came bouncing towards the batsmen, and this necessitated the introduction of a straighter bat, the kind that is used today.

By the early 17th century, around 1610, the sport had evolved to the level of a contest, where inter-parish matches were being held. The game’s popularity kept growing through the 17th century; however, it was popular mostly in southern England and it still remained a villagers’ game. But, by the end of the century, things changed. The rich started patronizing the sport and forming their own ‘Select XIs’, on whom they placed bets (who says ‘Super Selector’ is new?), and this helped it become an organized sport played for high stakes all across England.

The first proof of cricket’s popularity comes from a newspaper report about an 11-players-a-side match that was played in Sussex in 1697. The fact that a newspaper found this worthy-enough of being written about in ‘holier-than-thou journalism days’ also suggests that the sport had assumed a fairly important status. As early as 1707, cricket had become prominent in London, with teams coming to play from afar, which attracted huge crowds & betters.

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) was founded in 1787, when the Lord’s Cricket Ground (named after Thomas Lord, a professional bowler who was encouraged by his club-mates to find & run a private cricketing venue within easy distance of London), the mecca of cricket, was formally opened. However, the first ground was not in the same place as the current ground and Lord’s has been moved twice till it reached its current home. Though it was not the first cricket club in England, MCC quickly assumed the position of the most premier club and the custodian of the Laws of Cricket.

By the end of the 18th century, cricket had become so popular that it was accorded the status of the national sport of England, and the expansion of the British Empire led to cricket being played by the Englishmen in other countries. The game became well established in Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean Islands, India, South Africa and North America (yes, North America – even though it is not a very popular sport in that continent anymore). In fact, you’d be surprised to learn that the first ever international cricket match was played in 1844, between the United States of America & Canada (although neither has been accorded a Test-playing nation status ever)!!!

By the mid-19th century, international matches begun to gain importance. In 1859, the English Team went on their first overseas tour to North America (see picture below). In 1862, the English made their first tour of Australia, and in 1876-77, played the first Test Match at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia. The term ‘Ashes’ came into existence shortly, due to the cricketing rivalry between the English & the Australians in 1882, when at The Oval, Australia beat England on an English ground for the first time, and a newspaper wrote that English cricket had died, and “the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”. Within the same decade, international cricket expanded further when South Africa became the 3rd nation to play international cricket, when they played England in 1888-89.

The English Cricket Team aboard their ship on the tour to USA & Canada, 1859

With cricket’s growing footprint, a global governing body was needed, and the International Cricket Council (ICC) was formed. Originally founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference by England, Australia & South Africa, it came into existence exactly a century ago on 15th June, 1909. It was renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.

The game has gained huge popularity over these 100 years, and today ICC’s headquarters have moved away from England to Dubai, highlighting the widespread impact that other nations have had on cricket. Today, over a 100 nations (that’s half the world by nation-count, and probably half the world even by population count) play the sport, and the popularity is growing. That’s cricket’s impact for you – 5 great centuries, and getting better!

Dutch courage humbles the English in their own backyard

Dutch courage – what is it exactly? The term has its origins in naval warfare. In the old days, the Dutch navy was feared by all other navies because of the courage it demonstrated in fighting a sea battle. This was especially true during the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th & 18th centuries, when Netherlands & Britain were bitter rivals, and the Dutch were particularly dreaded by the British navy, and the Dutch East India Company was forever taking on the British East India Company in atrociously daring attacks. It was rationalized that such an attack could only be undertaken by a drunk man, who was not scared of anything at all. And thus, the phrase Dutch courage came into existence as a slang for courage gained from alcoholic intoxication.

Well yesterday, the Dutch proved once again that they have absolutely no fear of how strong the opposition may be, and especially Britain needs to be extremely wary when facing them. Were the Dutch cricketers drunk before the match or not, I do not know. What I can safely say is that they would definitely by drunk on the success of beating England, and Pakistan, who are next in their line, must be a worried lot.

Predicting a winner in Twenty20 match is not an easy task. It is akin to predicting the future. There is only one problem though… the difficult aspect about predicting the future is that… uhm, it’s pretty difficult to predict. And as was demonstrated yesterday, this holds equally true for cricket. Or, at least, Twenty20 cricket.

Well, the tournament has begun with a huge upset, and that is the beauty of this game. One can never say who will win on a given day. Though, I also notice a trend thus far – most winners in practice matches and in the opener too are teams batting second. So, maybe, just after the toss, we can predict a winner most of the times. Hope Dhoni notices this too, and wins all tosses for India… starting with the one today, or we might witness yet another upset.

India demolish Pakistan in a World Cup yet again

Yawn! Yawn!

So, what’s new guys? History repeats itself, and every single time, whenever India & Pakistan clash in a world cup cricket tournament. For the past 34 years, ever since the very first World Cup, Pakistan has never been able to beat us, and I am sure they will not be terribly happy about this at all. Pakistanis would wonder, who says cricket is a great leveler? As for us Indians, it is just a great reveler.

Even though this was a warm-up match, nothing associated with this game would suggest so. The tickets for the entire stadium were sold out 2 days in advance. The crowds donning their country colours, cheering and jeering with mad frenzy on every boundary & wicket, made it seem like the final before even the first ball is bowled in the actual tournament. And the intensity with which Pakistan batted in the first inning, surpassed by India in the second inning, hinted that this was not just a friendly warm-up match, but a battle which both sides wanted to win under any circumstances. So much so that when Harbhajan dropped a catch early on, there was genuine sorrow being seen on his face and his compatriots, and the Indians amongst the crowds were groaning and the Pakistanis celebrating. The whole atmosphere was electric to an extent that even the final would be proud of.

With the kind of response this match generated, guess England would want to become the neutral venue for all Indo-Pak matches – it’ll ensure capacity crowds and great television earnings in a country which fathered this great game, but where football is pushing this into the background. But then which country won’t like to play host to an Indo-Pak game? The rivalry has become bigger than the Ashes, and I think it is time that this also is given a commemorative name – how about “Clashes”? (…No pun intended).

158/6 that Pakistan scored, after winning the toss and electing to bat first, was by all means a decent score, and one that should not have been too difficult to defend. At least, one would have assumed that the match would have been a cliff-hanger, going to the last over if not the last ball, before either side emerged victorious. The bowlers were not entirely effective, and India had to employ 7 of them. The fact that 5 of them did snare a wicket each and kept giving crucial breaks meant that India were able to stop Pakistan at a chase-able, under 8 target. And with 158 on the board, even Pakistan would not have been too unhappy going in to bowl in the 2nd innings.

When Gautam Gambhir & Rohit Sharma walked out to open the Indian innings, many would have felt Sehwag’s absence, who is out because of injury. However, the two openers were out on a mission and ensured that there were no twists in the tale, and went on to score at will, marauding the Pakistanis. Incidentally, Pakistan too employed 7 bowlers, but only 1 of them could get the sole wicket to fall – Rohit Sharma who scored a brilliant 80 off 53 balls. When he departed, the score stood at 140/1 with 4 overs still to go to chase the balance 18 runs. Undoubtedly, Pakistan’s fate was already sealed. Gambir & Dhoni completed the formalities of hammering in the last nail in Pakistan’s coffin in the very next over, and India romped home in front of a 23,000-capacity crowd in style, with 9 wickets to spare.

For us Indians, the final has been played, even before the first ball being bowled in the actual tournament, and India has once again crushed Pakistan on the world stage to emerge victorious. Whatever happens hereon in the tournament is not so very relevant.

As I finish writing this, a thought has just drifted into my mind - why can’t we settle all disputes between India and Pakistan peacefully through a cricket match once and for all? Condition being, it is played at a world cup tournament.