For the love of the Game

Saw the first glimpse of you in a charity match in Delhi. You were blasting the opposition with ease. You literally murdered everyone out there but paid the right respect to none other than Anil Kumble. That was the time when your game was still developing. The one fine day, at a friends house. I came across a photo of yours and when asked. He told me that he is your cousin and showed me the Cricket bat and the SG ball that you have gifted him. Chapter Ended. The ODI Debut: Not the most impressive one. Out for 1 against a formidable Pakistan bowling attack and against the only bowler to clock 100 MPH twice . As opposed to the ODI debut his Test debut, he scripted his innings with a Debut Hundred. There are a lot of players who have achieved this feat and it's not that rare either. What is rare is the way in which he scored it. It wasn't in the flat pitches of the Sub-continent. It was in Bloemfontein, South Africa against the likes of Pollock, Kallis and Ntini. Sin...

There have been times that you remember over and over again. The ones you want to feel for one more time. One of the best bowling sessions of my life was the second last practice session at Pritam Pura sports complex. It was a day, when I wore a black T-shirt and Red Shorts. This was the time when a new skill was learnt. Learnt the art to swing the ball in the air and making it seam off the pitch. I was angry over something and I could use that anger to be better at something. Use the inner energy that I had in store which would have been wasted by questioning and reasoning. Choosing to use the anger in the right place made me being admired and complimented for what I did. It made me realize what a great potential anger holds in itself, provided used for the right way. The hard rock fitted so nicely in my palms that it was made for me and indeed it was. It was a spell of fast and accurate hostile bowling. Knocking the stumps of the best batsmen in our team was such a delight and m...