"SAY.. WHACK !

Krish Srikkanth, the yesteryear world cup star was the then premier one day specialist. A swashbuckling opener who captured the imagination of the followers of the game with his penchant for driving the cricket ball over the fielders in the inner circle. His scores of 30 plus often times gave the much needed impetus to the Indian batting line up of world stars that made tons of runs in test cricket with their brand of block mostly and rarely push and run cricket.

Romesh Kaluwitharna, Mark Greatbatch, Simon O Donnel and some other bunch of pinch hitters later made the brand of batting pioneered by Krish Srikkant mainstream.

And then a generation of super talented folks like Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Sour av Ganguly, Tendulkar, Sayeed Anwar,Jayasuriya,Afridi,Hershelle Gibbs et al made the first 15 overs of cricket as interesting as the slog overs. They brought an element of art and science to the way cricket balls sailed over the heads of fielders over to the dancing stands.

Virender Sehwag debuted somewhere in between the Sourav, Waugh, Tendulkar, Jayasuriya and Gilchrist times. And then ..boy ..hasent he come of age to script a brand of cricket that is only getting more famous by each day across each new format of the game. With Sehwag there is a romantic charm of mind over matter brilliance. An ingredient filled with a possibility what one Krish Srikkant mumbled as "Have Bat, Will Hit " strategy.

Pitch,Toss, Seamers , Tear Away pacers , Spinners, Test Match , One day Internationals, T 20 or whatever comes next, matches at home or matches away..this Guy "SAY WAGS" his tail to any situation and HOW?

The 125 run brazen blistering ball against the black caps made mockery of the boundary line, power plays , bowler reputations and even the century mark jitters irrelevant. An age and time in a sport where the greatest players wind down their speed gears when they reach a milestone this lad from Delhi gets his arms to swing the willow with the greatest arc to send the glozzy ball sailing over the boundary ropes with alarming regularity. And be it a hundred, double hundred or triple hundred the milestones don’t really matter. The style and approach remain as menacing as ever with the result of half a dozen runs scaling Sewagh's reputation to stratospheric heights.

Sewagh seem to have the head of a Dalai Lama on his shoulders which at the crease. His mind so uncluttered that his game plan seems so simple for him. At NewZealand he even got a few shot which was not in his rich repertoire so far. The hook of the back foot and a pull to square leg. In the post match conference he to was surprised by his own admission that "Where those strokes came from"

For a man who scored more that 250 runs in a single day , he sure does have tons of talents and deeds yet to enthrall us ! To me he is an amalgamation of artists like Azhar, Sangakara , Gilchrist, Lara with the appetite for big innings of a Dravid,Ponting and Border.

Mark my words by the time this nawab from najafgarh is finished he will me more revered than tendulkar. He will upstage the master by the sheer quality of his selfless brand of entertaining cricket in the forms of the game to unfold in the future. I only pray he is fit as a fiddle and his appetite for runs inexorable. This guy is a legend in the making !

Mahi - An Inspirational Blessing !

Seldom have some ones ability to lead stood like beacon of light in the sporting world. Leaders with the charm and charisma and their deeds at getting the most out of their team mates have always captured the imagination of sports lovers.

Maradona, Platini , Zidane , Cryuff in foot ball inpired their nations to some historic triumphs.Maradona was oozing fountain of talent , a miracle at play . Singularly could take his team home on the football field. Cryuff was the brain plotting the strategy before going for the kill. Zidane and Platini , two french stalwarts carried the team along with their individual brilliance.

In cricket many have led a team of extraordinary cricketers. Clive Lloyd , Mike Bearly , Allan Border , Ranatungs , Fleming , Kapil Dev , Ganguly etc but none as yet reached the zenith which Imran Khan and Steve Waugh conquered. A peak scaled by exemplary leadership , leading men , inspiring them to levels of success celebrated in the cricketing history even today.They command a unique platform and abundant respect in world cricket.People listened to their speak with bated breath every time they spoke during their playing days.


Indians were always tepid and often soft or docile when it came to leading from the front on a cricket pitch. The second most successful captain Azhar believed that he dint need to tell much to players competing in an international arena. He made decisions by consensus and some worked at home and most bombed abroad. Sourav Ganguly changed the DNA with his fire brand combative leadership.


Then came along Mahi like a gods gift to (let me say ) World Cricket. His thinking crystal clear , his conviction so unwavering. Steve Waugh was called the iceman. This Singh is getting cooler and that too in a format of criket like T20 where every over is a death decree.

Mahi stands tall with his leadership and could walk into any 11 with his leaderships skills alone. He leads with performance when it counts the most , much like Steve and marshalls his troops with the elan like the great Imran did to the paki under dogs down under. Mahi commands a great deal of respect which was one of the strengths of Steve and Imran.

Like Steve he may not have the best technique but can conquer the oponent with sheer determination and guts .His bat broder and stout like his heart. Watch him at any post match or prematch pressers and you will hardly find Mahi toung tied.

In a short span he has managed to build a world class team while managing legends like Kumbe, Dravid , Ganguly , VVS and Tendulkar. His fringe players like Praveen Kumar and Joginder revel on the sheer faith he reposes. Reputations hardly matter. Ever since he took over the great Tendulkar seems like a burden on team . No one misses Sachin, Dravid or even Zaheer or Bajji.

Which captain would have balls to throw the ball to Joginder Sharma for the last over when the greatest prize in the newest format was to be won aginst Indias greatest sporting enemy Pakistan?

In another era Yuvi would have had temples in his name as the junta would have anointed him a demi god status after the 6 6's he scored last season. For this team under Mahi centuries dont seem to matter. Individual records just a means to win a game. Reputations are only as good as they performance on that day.

Team is winning as a team more often instead of depending on individual brilliance even if the team has on their day superplayers like Gambhir, Sehwag, Yuvi, Irfan , Zaheer , Rohit , Raina or Dhoni himself.

Didnt you see the dreaded debate of opening combinations die a natural death. Those were those days were Indians believed that the only spot Tendulkar played effectively was as a opener. Now the team is experimenting with the slots , allocating each player a distinct role tailored towards the ultimate objective of winning the game. On that day. This naturally give throws open a lot of options and importantly negates the ploy of the opposition teams to decipher the game plan.

Toss always mattered . Even if we dint win the toss the team chase and set a target with out too much to complain. But then Mahender Singh is winning the toss as well as the matches .Often.Both home and away!!!


It wont be long before Mahi is revered like Imran Khan and Steve Waugh as the Indians under him conquer milestones after milstones. I only hope Mahi remains sane always. Cause a rush of blood for a micro minute like Zidane will cost us the loss of an Inspirational Blessing ! A sports which is a religion uniting in the country.