With the IPL broadcasting (deferred) live on YouTube, the Twenty20 bug also seem to have bitten Google Chrome.
Came across this online ad for Google Chrome:
Fast cricket
in a fast browser.
Get Chrome
by Google
When the teasers were running (Aamir Khan doing all the housework) I was wondering what product is? Now that I know, I'm more than pleased to also find the charming Gul Panag as Aamir's better half in the TVC.
The agency is O&M and this is one of the better ads that Aamir has been seen in (he is usually too full of himself).
Aamir tries to act as a 'good' husband waking his wife - Gul Panag - in the morning, making a breakfast of scrambled eggs, slightly burnt toast and carrot juice and also packing her lunch. Checks the fridge for necessities annd gets them on the way back from work. Also offers to make the evening tea... all to watch a cricket match that clashes with a Saas-Bahu serial.
But Tata Sky Plus hain naa... isko laga dala to life aur bhi jhingalala.
Download video [00:01:06 FLV 1.51 MB]
Tata Sky+ is a DTH personal video recorder service that allows users to record, pause and rewind live TV (wonder when will we able able to fast forward it) and the hardware (Digicomp) costs Rs 8,999 plus installation and other charges. I'll wait a while for the prices to drop.
The last time I discovered a cricketing hero's childhood photos, I was quite excited and passed it on to the readers of this blog. Today, I found another.
Continuing with the guessing game tradition, guess who? (and for those hooked to television comedy talent shows - pehchaan kaun?)
Not very tough I think, or maybe it is. I'm sure some of you would have seen this photo, even though it isn't as popular as that of a a wavy-haired little Sachin.
Got it? If not, this is the original Little Master when he was actually little.
This photo of Sunil Manohar Gavaskar is sourced from his 1976 autobiography Sunny Days. And the caption accompanying the photograph reads:Gavaskar 'the baby' cricketer, in leg-guards stiched by his mother and sweater knitted by his grandmother.
And this photo is when he grew up a little more and tied the knot with Marshaniel.
Last night's India-Australia ODI at Bangalore was washed out, but what cannot be easily washed away is India's zeal for the game of cricket. Defeats may lower the spirits, but another high is just a victory away. Now again it is at a peak following the Twenty20 win. Here's a SET Max - the cricket and movies channel - ad featuring Kapil Dev and quite an opponent of a bowler for a kid. This also showcases the craze that cricket is in India.
To share/embed this video click here
Download video [00:00:43 FLV 1.04 MB]
Watta match! It did live up to the tag of an Indo-Pak encounter. And India winning it made it even better. It was a thriller with all the twists and turns. And at last when the ball went sky high, millions of throats would've developed lumps on both sides of the LOC and only on one side were there shouts of exhilaration that followed. It was a match which will take this quickie form of cricket ahead.
Two teams bereft of some of the big names, ostensibly rested from a more youthful version of the game. Two teams who couldn't even make it beyond the first round of the 50-overs version of the World Cup went on to battle for the first ever Twenty20 World Cup. But then those teams were a little different from the 22 at the Wanderers.
The BCCI had initially phoo-phooed the idea of Twenty20 only to reluctantly embrace it. The launch of the Indian Cricket League opened the eyes of the custodians of the game of cricket in India to launch their own version of a domestic T20 league. Now with the success of the Indian team at the World Cup the BCCI is attempting to wipe off the egg on its face (it is by now quite used to it) with currency notes worth approximately rupees nine crore (that's what Ravi Shastri announced as reward for Team India and Yuvraj Singh on behalf of the BCCI).
Cricket it is said is a game of uncertainties and even an inept administration cannot always come in the way of a spirited team. Though there will be many clamouring to take the credit, it should always go to where it is due - the team.
And India also keeps it all win record against the arch rivals in both forms of World Cup cricket.
India versus Pakistan. World Cup Finals. What more can you ask for? Well, India to win in that encounter.
Prior to the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup at South Africa, I (and also millions of others like me) hadn't watched a single T20 matche. And when they did, I would say they were hooked. The longer versions of the game might have more grace, but this format of the sport isn't about gracefulness, it's just full throttle ahead. And everyone seems to enjoying the exhilarating pace.
Two teams who ingloriously exited in the very first round of the ODI World Cup early this year meeting in the finals of the World Championship of the new format of the game is good for the game. Because it is the Subcontinent which helps sustain interest in the game in all its formats and it is here where the money flows from. And the manner Yuvraj Singh is hitting the ball, the revenues have the potential of going higher than his sixers.
It was the success of the first World Cup (the Prudential Cup) in 1975 which brought One-Day cricket into the limelight and following South Africa T20 is here to stay. Just hope that in the future they don't narrow it down to the five-overs-a-side matches that we played in our locality.
And it feels good to see the Aussies humbled. This also is good for the game.
Cricket is a beautiful game, especially the longer five-day version. But earning a livelihood does no longer allow me the privilege of watching a Test in total. I cannot even watch a One-Day if it goes on till late in the night (haven't watched a single Twenty20 match till date). There are some extraordinary cricketers who add more beauty to this beautiful game. Brian Charles Lara is one such cricketer.
In an anti-climax of a climactic career, often as the lone ranger, he was run out for a lowly 18 in his last international appearance. But that wouldn't take away any credit from the man and his abilities. Often accused of being a selfish player, like another contemporary great Sachin Tendulkar, Lara amassed a lot of records. Some of which will take a long while to break.
Often during my school and college years, friends would call up at odd hours and ask me to turn on the TV to watch Lara play. And I religiously did, because it was a real pleasure watching the master in action. But that magic was waning. And he was right to rest his bat.
Many feel that Sachin should also follow Lara's act (and also Inzamam's, but Pakistani cricketers have a reputation of coming out of retirement), but India's injury-ridden-and-fickle-form sensation still has a few years left in him, so does Saurav Ganguly. But Ganguly is not at the same level as Sachin and Lara.
Lara should now focus on grooming talent for West Indies, where the game is dying a slow death, and ensuring that he is not the last cricketing great to emerge out of the amalgamation of islands.
Now I'll have to watch archival footage of the Prince in play to say "Lara, kya hain mara!"
Kapil Dev lead India to its only first Cricket World Cup victory in 1983. Even prior to that eventful English summer Kapil was a hero in India. This ad from July 4, 1982 (Indrajal Comics No. 418) in a comic strip format has the Haryana Hurricane riding a BSA SLR followed by a Test victory and the Man-of-the-Match award (Agency: Rediffusion).
[Click on image for a bigger view]
The day BSA SLR helped Kapil Dev fly high. BSA SLR - The Sporty Bike.
Looking forward to a similar Dravid ad, with the ICC World Cup in hand.
Jeetega bhai jeetega, India jeetega!
Ouch! The shoulders are still aching, but the pain is sweet. It was worth it. The sound of leather hitting the willow. Bliss! I heard and felt the sound after more than six years. Tennis ball cricket and the congestion and rush of metropolitan life had snatched away the little joys.
It was time for the inter-departmental cricket at work and I was pushed to the practice nets. Wary, whether after so long a time if I still knew how to hold a cricket bat and roll my arm over. The touch was missing and the joints had gathered quite some rust over the years. But the feel of the sewn red cherry between my fingers and later the willow in my hands made the ache and the bruises worthwhile.
It was yesterday and I wasn't in the shape to blog about it. Today, I missed the practice as it is my day off and so is tomorrow. The match is on Friday and therefore I'll not be in the team. Anyway, it was good to realise that even half a dozen years out of cricket, you don't exactly lose your touch, the legs might not move on the crease, the length and the line of bowling may be awry, but it is still there. Maybe cricket is something like cycling and swimming, you've learnt it once and it'll be there with you all your life. The feeling feels good as I cheer Team India to yet another victory over the Windies.
Does the Sachar Committee report on the socio-economic status of Muslims in India look into the film industry and the Indian Cricket team? In both Bombay ruled for long, but like the city of Bombay both have astonishing tales to tell. Gulu Ezekiel (just learnt that his full name is Gul-Fraaz Mohan Ezekiel), in Hindustan Times, looks at the Muslim representation in the Indian Cricket team over the years and suggests, "Our politicians could well take a leaf out of Indian cricket’s history books rather than periodically condemning it."
"The newspaper’s headline the day after the Durban ODI: ‘Hindustan one-day team mein pehlee baar chaar Musalmaan ek saath.’ Yes, there is much wrong with Indian cricket. But while I have not done the necessary research in other sports, there is no doubt that cricket treats our minorities fairly."
I don't remember exactly where I got these from, but when Picasa discovered them for me on my hard disk last night I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe some of you have seen the photographs before (if you recollect where - a book, magazine, website - please pass on the info here). The initial photographs are a lot of fun. So let me play a little game.
Can you identify who this cuddly little six-month-old baby is?
[Click on the images for a bigger view]
Here are some more
And more
Not yet? Let me bring in some colour.
Okay, a cricket bat (If that helps).
This one should remove all doubts (The title of the post is also a big clue).
Here's he with his mother
And with his father
Those who are still lost, let me add to the confusion. Here's he (sixth from the left standing) with his hockey teammates.
I think that's enough. Rahul Sharad Dravid has grown up a lot, and has always been the quiet type (as the photos reveal) since his childhood. Always strived to reach for the heights (see third photo from the top). And he did. He might be at the helm of an underperforming team at the moment, but that doesn't take any credit away from his ability as a cricketer. He's been one of my favourites, even though he remains an unexpressive gentleman in the towers of triumph or the depths of defeat.
Many years ago, a cousin of mine came visiting. He was just over a year old and armed with a bladder that went off precisely at the time when there wasn't any diaper to guard the cushions against his wet assault. He was just beginning to talk, and I never heard him say 'Maa' or 'Baba,' as kids usually do. His tongue had a distinct liking for the name, "Daa-bid" and he jumped with excitement every time Rahul Dravid was visible on the television screen. Haven't met him ever since. Putting this post together reminded me of him and his infantile Dravid attraction. To you, perhaps the youngest ever Dravid fan.
More bricks from the wall:
With classmates
Athletic ability: School sports day
With brother Vijay
During his and his brother's thread ceremony
Jammy with Sunny: With Sunil Gavaskar
With fellow House Captains at St. Joseph's Boys High School, Bangalore
South Zone Under 15 Cricket team (December 1986, Cuttack)
Trophies galore
On the field
And off it (with the gear intact)
With family
With friends
With a python (it looks like one)
And as a Chinese
There were more photographs in that forgotten folder. But that's what you usually see in the papers whenever India is donning the blues to play in the greens.
