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India Versus Pakistan: A Battle?

India Versus Pakistan : A Battle?

When it is India versus Pakistan in Cricket arenas the sports become more a battlefield than a game and the most of the credit to this scene should be given to our news channel who hold panel discussions in the name of ‘Battlefield, The Big Game, Maha Muqabla’ Sabse Bada Muqabla’ etc. The debate in these programs of both the nations have praises for their country and instigation of animosity for the opponent in a way that people watching it started looking it as personal win or defeat.

When India lost to Pakistan on 18th June 2017 in ICC Champions Trophy Final these channels who first adored Team India started abusing and demeaning the player. The reactions on social media are more heart breaking. People who are feeling hard to congratulate team Pakistan stoop so low to blame team India and Captain Viarat Kohli for fixing the match. The father –son joke remained in circulation throughout these three days of final (two break days plus one final day) which was not in good taste and can hurt people of an independent nation.

The personal relations of India with Pakistan are always brought up in the game. The way politicians and government politicize the issue game has also become part of warring strategies. This if happens with all sports can be digested but it only happens with Cricket which many in India has followed like a religion. Pakistan’s victory later becomes more distasteful when some people unnecessarily started blaming Indian Muslims for celebrating the Pakistan’s victory. It did happen in part of Kashmir (reasons best known to government) but no such incident came out from rest of India.

India’s cricket defeat made people forget two special victory’s on the same day, one of India’s hockey team’s victory against Pakistan in International Hockey League and another of Srikanth Kadambi’s win in Indonesia Open 2017. I am not against people loving sports but I am against undue importance to one game and neglecting others also game should be treated as game and not war. Till next post God bless Indian Sports.

Boom Boom Afridi

Shahid Afridi the evergreen cricketer of Pakistan also retired from the international Cricket. The last cricketer of the 90's generation when I used to watch cricket (now I only watch few Indian matches and IPL) and I think he was the man who changed the dimensions of the cricket. Sanath Jayasuriya was the first man who started utilizing the 15 over Power-play and he also become the perfect exploiter of these overs. However I have not watched him playing many long innings except the one when he scored 37 balls century fastest at that time on his first match. Otherwise he has scored few runs but mostly with boundaries.

He was famous in India too and garnered appreciation for his play and looks when Pakistan team toured India. He was more of a bowler than a batsman. His batting innings were usually short and he got out quickly after scoring few quick runs but as a right arm leg spinner he appeared as a match winner for his team in many occasions. He started pinch hitting which was followed by many cricketers after him. The chants of Boom Boom Afridi were always heard when he was on the pitch not only from his country's supporters but also from the opponent country fans. He always made the match entertaining through ball or with bat.

Now when he retired from the international Cricket at the age of 36 he still remembered for the youngest cricket debut (16 years). He holds many world records and records for his country like :

Highest T20I wicket taker (97)
86.97 among batsmen with more than 25 Test caps he has the best strike rate.
9 Five wicket haul in ODI's which makes him thirs highest with Brett Lee.
Only all-rounder after Jacques Kallis with 10,000 runs and 500 wickets.
Most sixes in international cricket across all formats (476)

With him heroes of the 90's cricket fans have all retired. I will remember him as the cricketer on the field who always brings energy to the game. I wish him good luck in his future endeavors.

Cricket Mein Kuch Kala Hai

Cricket Mein Kuch Kala Hai.

'Where There Is Uncontrolled Money, There Is Also Black Money'

Cricket is an Indian religion without any formal god and temple but yet like religion people showered their praises and hard earned money on unofficial gods and their priests for their love for the game. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is a private entity uncontrolled by any government agency and out of the reach of RTI (Right To Information). In spite of irregularities, immoralities, corruption and unlawful acts in this organisation no political party is bothered to clean it. On the contrary political parties and business tycoons enjoy representation in various state cricket boards nobody knows why and nobody has any objections about it. Hum Saath Saath Hain on such issues.

BJP MP Kirti Azad lost his party membership on raising DDCA (Delhi Districts Cricket Association) corruption issues and alleging Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who headed DDCA during that period for hiding its financial irregularities. Hum Bolega To Bologe Ke Bolta Hai but why a government who said that it is intolerant to corruption not remove the one who has spots of allegations but sacks one who raised corruption issue. Earlier Ajay Makhan of Congress too faced the similar fate when he was demoted from its post of Sports Minister for bringing a bill to regularize the working of BCCI during his tenure in Congress lead UPA 2 government.

Arun Jaitley also filed a defamation case against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and four other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders for framing him in DDCA scam. Why? Kyun? If he is innocent he should resign , face an inquiry , come out clean and hurrah! Your opponents fall flat on their face completely exposed in front of people of the country which is bigger than any penalty or punishment. Par Golmaal Hai Bhai Sab Golmaal Hai, our politicians more keen on politicizing the issues than to kill them for always. Remember Babri Mazjid, Godhra riots, 1984 riots, emergency, JP movement, Anna Movement, these and many more issues are brewing in Indian political diaspora to mislead public from real issues of poverty,unemployment and hunger.

Corruption in cricket now is not a new topic, match fixing, money laundering and other economic offenses are commonly reported but sadly no strong action against any culprit ever happens which further encourage these irregularities. Choddo Kal Ki Batein, it's never too late Modi government should set an example, hopefully next year we have better cricketing atmosphere till then God Bless India.

The Last Nawab of Cricket

The Last Nawab of Cricket.

The Nawab of Najafgarh (a place in Delhi) Virender Sehwag announced his retirement from all forms of cricket breaking hearts of all his cricket fans. Like in his career he didn't have the respect he deserved even in his retirement. No special farewell match was planned by BCCI (Board of Cricket Control in India) for such a great cricketing mind. He was sidelined by the team administration suddenly and then was never selected for either test or one day internationals.

What Sanath Jayasuriya did for Sri Lanka, Sehwag did for India. He accelerated the much needed start after which no target seem impossible and no opposition seem invincible. He was brutal with all world class bowlers of his time. McGrath, Shoib Akhtar, Shane Warne, Shane Watson, Shaun Pollock, Wasim Akram, they all tasted his cruelty for the ball. When playing on the field he tried to hit every single ball for boundary whether he succeeded in it o not.

In a way he laid the foundation of super-fast cricket followed by Kohli, Raina and others. I will always remember him as a fearless disciplined cricketer who never feared his opponent nor feared his position in the team and just played his natural game throughout his cricketing career like a Nawab. He scored first test 300 hundred for India against Pakistan in Pakistan's Multan for which he often referred as 'Sultan of Multan' and he is still the only Indian batsman to score a 300. Only batsman in the history to have scored 7,500-plus runs in both Tests & ODIs as an opener.

He played like a Nawab without caring what his critics saying about his unconventional style of playing. He was a nawab because he played on his own terms never tried projecting himself to be a future captain or one who could control team and selectors. When he announced his retirement he kept intact his Nawabian style, no speculations, no controversial comments, no demands just a sudden announcement of ‘Alvida Cricket.’

He is now involved in training young cricketers and instilling in them ‘Viru’ like cricketing attitude but since time has changed and the cricket has changed, the attitude of cricketers have changed hence he became ‘The Last Nawab of Cricket.’

Surf it All! Surf it Fast!

Image from Indiblogger brandcover

We Indians love cricket more than anything else in this world. We plan our vacations according to cricket season, we give marriage dates keeping in mind the cricketing season, skip office, postpone family get-together and even break promises for an important match. I am not surprised to say that we Indians eat cricket, sleep cricket and breathe cricket. Cricket moves in our veins faster than the blood. Accordingly we feel uneasiness if for certain reason we are unable to see a match. Our attention get diverted from a particular thing, person or occasion to cricket. We don't want to miss any match at any cost and thus knowingly or unknowingly hurt our closed ones with our behaviors.

Our love for cricket is so much that we feel almost impossible to miss a match but at times we are unable to do so and wish to have something which keep us updated about the match. We carry mobiles everywhere we go and if something keep us updated on cricket matches through our smartphones then we want nothing else in this world. But the time taken in buffering the video or in opening web pages our enthusiasm got struck like the video in the mobile. The only way to stay connected to the match while not missing out on all the little things that make life worth while is our smartphone which would surf fast. But the speed provided by our network operators is not enough to experience things in a way we desire. We can balance both the other important things in life and the cricket only if we could get match scores anywhere anytime without disturbing others.

UC browser has brought us a solution for this. A browser which is faster, easier to use with seamless transition has a feature called UC Cricket dedicated for cricket fans, connecting them to the match wherever they are. It provides latest scores and cricketing news in the real time without need to search it from Google or anywhere else. It has important match videos to see when you are not connected to someone important.

Life gives few loved ones in our life and its our duty to value them. In our love for cricket we sometimes didn't cherish their presence in our life and usually forget or miss or postpone important things just to watch a cricket match. In today's smart world we now can manage both with our hand- held devices which are as much part of our lives as anything else. So install UC browser and click on UC cricket to keep everyone happy. UC cricket displays mach updates in your notification panel so that you just need a glance at your phone to know the score and satisfy your cricket love. UC browser also helps you to explore many other app and services much faster from any other browser. #YuviSurfUC and we should also surf it.

Ek Nayi League

image from indiblogger.in brand cover

Cricket Leagues, Kabaddi Leagues, Football Leagues, Badminton Leagues and so many other leagues are coming in the country. Their motive is to promote their respective game by giving it a flavor of glamour and entertainment and their acceptance among the masses shows their success in the their endeavor. They have changed the way we see these games, the way we feel these games. They have earned a viewership of those people also which used to avoid watching these games or those who didn't like them at all. In this crowd of leagues our very own loving, famous, forever young cricketer Mr Kapil Dev is bringing #EkNayiLeague among us.

Ek Nayi League as the name suggests would be a different and a new concept. In his videos he is urging celebrities from the field of sports and television that playing this league with heart is like giving your own wicket (Hit Wicket) or a surprise twist (Googly). In his campaign picture he is posing like a quiz master touching his head with finger of his left hand an impression usually used to imply something related to wit and wisdom. If I conclude all these evidences then Ek Nayi League appears to me a cricket based entertaining game show.

A celebrity show where participants would face situations where they need to decide from emotional angle or practical angle and the emotional side would either eliminate you or would send you in danger for a new test essential for saving one from eviction. Kapil Paji's presence surely relates it to cricket because he is the one face along with Sachin Tendulkar who have instilled cricket in veins of Indian people. Everybody recognizes him as the man who first lifted the cricket world cup for India in 1983 and his image holding the cup from the balcony of Lord's Cricket Stadium (London, England) is unforgettable. Cricket, Celebrity, Cerebral is a deadly combination for an entertainment based game show. Kapil's mix of rustic and modern style would sure to add cherry to such a show.

I wish that if my guess about Ek Nayi League is wrong and it comes out something else even then someone should consider my idea for a game show of such type. Ek Nayi League's mysterious campaign have engaged online audience in this guessing game. Kapil Dev's twitter debut @therealkapildev before #EkNayiLeague is also making this event exciting. The interest generated by this campaign is humongous and lots of people are waiting for the revelation of this secret. I am also eager to know what the role Kapil Dev is playing in this new league. His role with this league is also a matter of suspense and curiosity among the masses. There are also possibilities that #EkNayiLeague would be a social initiative.What do you think about Ek Nayi League? If you are guessing something share it on at http://www.eknayileague.com/

Back To The Future

It's not unusual that I woke up early today. I may find difficulty in doing so during school days but summer holidays have started, so to play games,to watch TV and to read the whole set of Diamond and Raj comics you need more time. Moreover I have to wake up my whole cricket team being their captain since we have a match today with Police Colony team.

We reached the playground where our opponent were practicing. We won the toss and decided to bat, the interesting match with lots of up and downs ended with our victory. I came back home quickly to watch Disney Hour. It was my routine in holidays that I have my breakfast while watching this show. Then I did some holiday homework and rushed to my friend's shop who lend comic books. He took money from others but for me they were free. He was so fond of me in spite of our age difference ( I was five and he was in his twenties) that he gave new set of comics first to me than to anybody else on the condition that I wouldn't fold or torn them and returned them within one or two days.

Not only me my brother and sisters waited for me to bring those comics. As I reached home each one of us picked a comic and lost in their world. Chacha Chaudhary, an elderly man who could solve all problems with Sabu, Billoo, a teenage boy enjoying his life, Pinki a young girl who entertain with her naughtiness, superheroes like Nagraj, Super Commondo Dhruv,etc fighting evils of society, etc. The world of comics turned every other thing secondary for us. We exchanged comics after reading. They were addictive we could only left for other work only after reading them. I took the most time in reading being the younger of them all and a slow reader as I learned reading recently. In order to finish reading them I didn't know when I slept with dreaming about all these characters.

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I woke up in the morning from my smart phone's alarm. I searched for all comics but there were none. I realized that it was only a dream and I am not a five year old enjoying 90's era. I was back into the future, into the same monotonous life where cartoon shows have taken the place of comics in today's kids. I saw my nephews and nieces watching shows of stubborn Shinchen, lazy Nobita and Kenichi, greedy and authoritative Chota Bheem,etc which hardly inspire or teaches some positive qualities unlike Chacha Chaudhary comics which teaches that we should go to elders in time of problems instead of trying to solve them ourselves he being the aged protagonist solving every problem, fighting evil and emphasizing that truth and honesty always triumphs.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Write Over the Weekend inspiration for this time

‘Back in Time’. Imagine, one fine day, you wake up as a 5-year-old child and not as a grown up! What will you do then?

This post is also a tribute to Cartoonist Pran ( died 5th Aug 2014 ) who made our childhood fanciful.

The Man,The Legend,The Role Model

The Man who belongs to a sport the name of which became synonymous to his name. The man who redefined that game with the way he played converting all previous records to his name and creating other milestones which were hard to reach by the next generation. The man which infused that sport in the veins of that country which still struggles to get timely food, shelter and clothes but watches and plays that game to be like him. The sport I am talking about is cricket which we all Indians eats,drinks and breathes and the man is Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar.

India is known by his name in the world. The fame he brought to the country with his phenomenal cricket is an inspiration to the whole generation of young cricketers. Many cricketer of current Indian team like Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, etc gave him the credit to attract them towards the game and why only Indian cricketers foreign cricketers and the whole generation of of his era was glued to cricket due to him.

But what makes him the legend and the role model is not his cricketing records because someone would break them someday but his passion,sportsmanship and behavior on and off the field .His never say die approach in life. He never misbehaved with any senior or junior player he played with,encouraged younger generation keeping his own interests aside,supported his captain and coach in every situation, remain spotless at a time when match fixing hold every cricketer's collar, remain a true champion of the game even off the field with the way he conducted himself in public. We see today's cricketer indulging in brawls and fight with each other or displaying arrogant behavior publicly ill-treating fans and media for their little feats while he remained down to earth even after achieving so much.

There was a time when he was above the game but he never took appreciations to his head and always remained humble to everyone. His clean image, his soft spoken attitude, his sportsmanship, his tendency to take criticism positively and his principles(refused to endorsed a liquor brand) sets and examples for others to follow. Now he is separated from all forms of cricket after his retirement but the cricket is not separated from him. Commentators,viewers,spectators,opposition,captain still search for him in others that's what a role model is all about always in your mind to encourage and inspire you.

I am writing about #MyRoleModel as a part of the activity by Gillette India in association with BlogAdda.com.

Voodoo Cricket

Our group decided to watch India-Pakistan T20 match together at one of our friends house. But it was a working day, it was impossible to get a leave in March as there was financial year ending work load. It was also difficult to miss that match. It's the India - Pakistan clash and not any ordinary match. We were five friends in that group including Rohan whose presence at match viewing place was in doubt from the very first day we made this plan as the quota of his yearly allotted vacations was over. He gave us assurance for his arrival but we didn't have any hope of his coming.

I didn't face any problem being self-employed but all others came with the help of excuses.We were ready to watch match with switched off phones,Pepsi and many eatables when door bell rang. We were surprised to see Rohan and watched the match together after which he told his superb excuse. Since his boss was superstitious he made a doll with old clothes and Cotton similar to voodoo dolls used in black magic. He wrote his name behind it and showed it to his boss who got frightened for him. He told his boss that he found that doll in the lift and doubted that someone in office was doing such a heinous act. He pretended that he was feeling headache from the time he saw that doll. His boss gave him an address of a voodoo expert he usually consulted in the matter of magic along with the leave for that day. He did visit that expert so that his boss didn't got suspicion, he gave him a thread to wear.

It was genius on his part to think like that but we enjoyed his presence for his special comments during the match. He jumped with each boundary and wickets taken by his favorite teams which on that occasion was India. One if not glued to TV could watch a full match on his face which changes color and expression with each ball telling you exactly what was happening. Before starsports.com app he was the one doing all these works. Like Action Recap feature of this app he too could give you quick and complete recap of the match as if you were always there during the match. Action recap came handy for matches parts of which was missed due to office hours that's why I liked this feature the most.

This post is a part of Cricket just got better! Activity by starsports.com in association with BlogAdda.com.

Change The Game

Cricket's position in today's India is beyond any challenge by any other game,thus cricketers also enjoyed the godly status whereas other games are neglected, forget about the international presence we don't have national presence and interest in these games. The players of other sports than cricket are not known faces of the country. Their earnings are almost negligible as compare to earnings of cricketers. They lived harsh life without any facilities by government. The dream of a sportsperson to be cheered by the crowd of their country also remained unfulfilled. The condition of women in such sports is more frightening.

Women players in addition face social obligations. Even their families don't support them as girls are supposed to cover their body,they can't play in front of so many men,they are not allowed to go far away from the house alone and so on. The same is the case with Bhabani Munda and her Dooars XI of West Bengal. It's a women football team from Dooars in West Bengal. In spite of winning various medals and trophies they don't have proper sports shoes,jerseys and football. They support their dream and passion by selling rotis and tea. Half Stories - Do Right by Tata Capital initiative has highlighted this issue and helping them to buy those sports essential things.

In my opinion if we want to promote other sports we should take help of two other big things in the country Cricket and Cinema. Chak de starring Shah Rukh Khan helped a lot in promoting the cause of Indian Women's Hockey while endorsement of Men's Hockey by cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Verender Sehwag brought spectators during Indian Hockey League. Initially we can complete this half story by giving donations to Dooars XI through Do right to buy shoes and other accessories but the long term solution requires complete planning.

Organizing football matches along with cricket matches during IPL (Indian Premier League) as experimental basis would indulge the audience with football. We Indians are big fans of international footballers,arranging friendly matches with European teams is also a good idea. This is election time so ask your candidates,your favorite parties ,your leaders about their policies regarding promotion of sports other than cricket. What are their plans of sports development in rural areas from where we get most of our finest sports talent. So lets pledge to Change The Game by changing our attitude towards other sports.

This post is written for Half Stories by Do Right at Indiblogger.in

Taking Part in A to Z Challenge and The Ultimate Blog Challenge.

Today's alphabet is C and its UBC Day 3.

Ta-ta Tendulkar

Ta-Ta Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar has said goodbye to all forms of cricket with the end of India's second test match with West Indies which was his 200th test match. In his 24 years of cricket his name became synonymous with the game,he broke most of the records set by earlier generations and made so many new records which might remain intact with his name always.

Sachin's cricketing carrier was like a roller coaster ride with many ups and downs in it. At the one end he was making and breaking records and on the other hand he was criticized for playing for himself. India lost most of the matches in which he has scored centuries. We have also witnessed his jinx with nervous nineties. He avoided captain-ship of the team because of the pressure involved in it and when he got captain's cap he leaved it within a year. His interest in brand endorsements was questioned when he didn't performed well.

I will not remember him for his records because someone may break them someday but I will never forget him for the man he is. He never misbehaved with any senior or junior player,encouraged younger generation,supported his captain and coach, remain spotless at a time when match fixing hold every cricketer's collar, remain a true champion of the game even off the field,his mere presence in the game was enough to generate a hope among cricket fans,never ever indulged in fights on or off the field, always spoke with the bat when criticized. There was a time when he was above the game but he never took appreciations to his head and always remained humble to everyone.Cricket will never forget its true son who is an example of how a cricketer should be.

After his retirement cricket fields will miss a small man who brings energy to the game. Some are crying ,some are shattered and some don't think he should retire now but I am satisfied that he retired when we still think that there is something left in him. He is also a parliamentarian now I hope he will set an example there also. Ta-ta Tendulkar!

Indian Premier League ( IPL)

IPL is back with its sixth season,more action more glamour more money and more entertainment. A tournament for shorter form of cricket i.e T-20 is very famous throughout Indian subcontinent and most parts of the world. It brings world together on one stage just for cricket and spirit of the game. New talents from India which struggle throughout there life for name and fame gets it here instantly if they have skills in them,money they get is much higher as compare to Ranji Trophy and other such local tournaments in the country. This also promotes the concept of One World, it washes away regionalism as a player from one region plays for a team of other region or state and cheered by the people for his cricketing skills. With IPL cricket has reached new heights,those who don't like to watch it before now eagerly waits for it. We have got new stars like Yousuf Pathan,Shikhar Dhawan,Ravindra Jadeja,etc from this. It has also helped in removing rivalry of Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds as they both played for the same team.

But as I also look at the other side of the things,it has reduced players as mere commodities to be sold and bid for money,I must mention that there are reports of match fixings, as so much money is involved in it there are possibilities of more such incidents,also where there is money there is politics Kochi team was discontinued after brief introduction due to political involvement in this team,after much parties are reported with incidents of eve teasing and molestation,drunken players and team owners also came under scrutiny for there behaviour and Shah Rukh Khan's ban from Wankhede Stadium is an example of this.There are tax issues with teams and game is played for not winning or loosing but for profit and loss,the loss has made owners of Team Hyderabad to leave it for some other company.

Moreover I would like to say that in spite of pros and cons of IPL it is an family event, a carnival like situation where for two and a half months people really get glued to it and often get relief from there boring day to day life and useless serials on TV and remember this year SIRF DEKHNKA NAHI, get up and Jhampak Jhapak Jhampak