THE MAHI EFFECT CONTINUED

Test match is real cricket is an age old adage - A purist's game. Every cricketer wants to do well in Tests and showcase his Skills. So a real great Captain must survive the litmus test of test captaincy the real "कसौटी". Indeed Mike Brearly made a distinguished career PRIMARILY as a Captain [being a specialist batsman he averaged less than 23 in 39 tests but was Widely regarded as one of England's greatest Captains. Rodney Hogg famously said about him that he had a degree in people] .

Putting all this in perspective I think it is fair to say that Dhoni has had a fantastic start to his still early days in Test Captaincy. Till now he has won 5, drawn 2 and lost none of his 7 Tests. India under his leadership has defeated SOUTH AFRICA, AUSTRALIA TWICE. ENGLAND at Home and abroad NEW ZEALAND in NZ after more than 30 years, a stupendous achievement by any yardstick. The real impact of his value has been felt whenever he has not played, recently in the Test against NZ and more notably against Sri Lanka which he opted out of fatigue. Murali and Mendis attacked like tigers in the tests and when Dhoni came rejuvenated in ODIs transformed into lambs and were taken to cleaners Dhoni being their main tormentor. Just another illustration of his effect. Some people attribute it to plain luck but luck alone cannot sustain for so long and certainly not without inherent merit. Detractors said the real test will come in NZ sharpening their claws but were forced to get them clipped when he returned back triumphant. And in extreme cynicism if at all it is just luck so be it. God blessed him with luck and Indian Cricket needed it and as he is providing great service, it is extremely unfair to criticize him particularly where there is no due. Just look at the results in that he captains two matches against Australia we won emphatically, Kumble captains in other two and we draw. The lone test he captains against SA we win. Sachin & Co. could not win with other captain even once in NZ in so many TESTS and when Dhoni Captains lo they win.

So it is plain and simple that even with a small stint Dhoni has already proved what a great Captain he is. Calm, calculative, strong supporter of his teammates and possessing great insight and profound knowledge of the game he to my mind is the best in the business at present. I do not want to compare him the other past greats of the world as i have not seen many of them but since i have been following cricket, say last 20 yrs he has looked the most impressive of all. Talking only of Indian Captains while stats give an incomplete story India did not win much and our results abroad were pathetic. Dada changed that and how and Ganguly and Dhoni would be my candidates for best ever Indian Captains for Dada took on Captaincy in real difficult circumstances and turned a struggling unit into a winning one and like Dhoni gave full backing to his players. I have no real desire to stir a hornet's nest by picking between them and i am very fond of both of them, Dhoni may be a little more because he is from my brother's school. But if i have to at all choose neutrally i would still go for [but only just] Dhoni as under him for all practical purposes India is the no. 1 team in the world today in all formats of the game and not the least for the fact that he got us a WORLD CUP.

M S DHONI - How he changed Indian Cricket's fortune

Can India become the no. 1 side in world cricket? If I had asked myself this question 5 years back I would have answered: only in your dreams buddy. Being a passionate and optimistic follower of Indian Cricket I continued to dream thus wishfully ....... just maybe some day we will be a force to reckon with like Australia. India reached the 2003 wc final but lost twice quite comprehensively to Aussies. Taken as a whole Scenario we were not really dominating the stage inspite of the presence of awesome players like Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid, Ganguly, Kumble, Harbhajan and Laxman etc. We were good but there were not even whispers about being the best. Now turn the clock 5 yrs on to the present time and a distant dream looks set to become a reality. The Indian team is the flavor of the season and the side to beat.

So what has been the most perceptible change that has turn the tide in our favor? Friends we do not need to look further than an incredible Phenomenon which goes by the name of M S Dhoni. What an asset to the Indian Cricket he has proved to be. Every one but goes gaga over his tremendous influence on the fortunes of Indian Cricket. He has almost never put a foot wrong since he became the captain of our Indian team. Even before that he put the fear of gods in the hearts of the fiercest of Opponents. Fifth match into his career he blasted the Pak attack to smithereens scoring 148 runs. Months later the same treatment was meted out to the hapless Lankans. His 183* still stands as the highest score in the second innings by a player and of course the highest ever as a wicket keeper. Subsequently he also showed his great quality in adapting to situations and finish matches in victories for his team. He had a lead role in the phase when India was on a golden run of consecutive successful chases. He saved the first test against the English team scoring 76* in what was Rahul Dravid's last series as Captain and it was a very important event in India winning the series 1-0. His Cool Headedness and astonishing ability to change gears combined with extraordinary skills as a batsman make him an extremely dangerous batsman and he currently tops the chart in ICC Rankings of ODI Batsmen with an avg. of nearly 50.

His value in the team rises exponentially when we evaluate him as Dhoni the Captain. Records have been tumbling and new ones created right, left and centre since he took over. Starting with Capturing the INAUGURAL T20 WORLD CUP to beating Pak at Home and capturing the CB SERIES taming the Aussies in their own den. It was followed by India winning for the 1st time a bilateral odi series in Sri Lanka a feat repeated again by Dhoni and his team later by an even better margin. England was blanked 5-0 and New Zealand defeated 3-1 for yet again first ever in a bilateral series against India in NZ. The post is getting quite long and so will continue in the next blog about Dhoni as a test captain.

A R RAHMAN - a true genius and significance of OSCARS for me.

Sleep deserted me on the night before the academy awards ceremony and tiredness gave way to anticipation mixed with fear on the fateful morning as the program started. Hugh Jackman is a favorite but i waited restlessly for his act to end so that the real action unfold. Gandhi happened when I was a 2 yr old so this was going to be the biggest Indian moment for me wrt OSCARS. Resul won and got his award from Will Smith and my hopes soared high. Then Rahman performed and it was a treat to watch. Then came the gorgeous Alicia Keys with the High School Musical star Zac Effron with nominations for the best music score and lo A R RAHMAN was an OSCAR winner. After that i was sure the second trophy had to go to JAI HO. Rahman created history that day and became the toast of high and mighty of Hollywood. Rahman has created masterpieces countless times before and we in India have always known his calibre. Indeed he should have won the Oscar ages ago as surely many of his compositions had at least the same merit as his work in Slumdog Millionaire. Nevertheless the west had to wake up one day to his magic and he has asserted his place of supremacy in music firmly. Jai ho to RAHMAN a true musical genius. Some people feel that OSCARS are overhyped and should not be given much importance countering it with something like their movies not getting filmfare award and see it as an unnecessary hunger to seek appreciation from the west. Shekhar Kapur on his blog says that RAHMAN is bigger than the OSCARS and i fully endorse his views that Oscars were more honoured in presenting the award to the great man rather than the other way around. But still i feel THE OSCARS retain a certain charm and aura and it does give a sense of pride and happiness that we got those OSCARS. I am not ashamed to say ki meri chhati garv se chaudi ho gayi us din.

Since childhood while going through GK BOOKS i read how BHANU ATHAIYA was the lone co-winner of OSCAR for GANDHI and SATYAJIT RAY got lifetime achievement Oscar. So guess i feel VINDICATED for us. The last Olympic Gold ,the last Oscar and the last Cricket World Cup all happened before I was five. And it took about 25 years to see it accomplished again in this YOUNG INDIA by REHMAN and RESUL , ABHINAV BINDRA and MS DHONI and HIS BOYS . It has been a long wait and while to some it may look like an odd deal in that for a billion people one olympic gold and a world cup in a game played by handful of nations or again an award which we should be indifferent to creates such a massive hooplah among others i can quite recognise and appreciate the enormity of these efforts and proudly proclaim to belong to the latter category. MAY INDIA GROW BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS.JAI HO BHARAT.