The love that cricket is.

So the other afternoon, utterly bored in this Bangalore apartment of mine, I chose to finally unpack the bags & start reading The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N. Murari. While the concept & story of the book is as good a novel as it could be, here is a few lines I thought was worth sharing with ya'll knowledgable fellas.

"Cricket is a democracy of actions and reactions….the two warriors are pitted against each other and only one can win…..Think cricket as a theatre in which an action repeats itself over and over again until the character is defeated….. Cricket is theatre, its dance, its an opera. …It’s about individual conflict that takes place on a huge stage. But the two warriors also represent the ten other players…It’s a relationship between the one and many. The individual and the social, the leader and the follower, the individual and the universal."

What to say about cricket? Alluring an affair as it is ever. It is love that consumes you, drives you crazy, makes you sane & suddenly you realise how it's sitting right after oxygen & food in your life cycle. The manner in which it prevails as a team game as a sum of multiple individual showdowns. The one on ones are charming. The situation, the need, the aggression, the calculation, the dominance and the way it unfolds makes the culmination a supreme delicacy. Well in Harold Pinter's words, "I tend to think that cricket is the greatest thing that God ever created on earth - certainly greater than sex, although sex isn't too bad either."

Be it Sachin vs Steyn or Uthappa vs Amit Mishra. Don't laugh at me yet, I have point to prove that requires a comparison on the ridiculous side. The former was lauded as an epic battle, as we all are aware of, appreciated, acknowledged and admired by the bests. The latter didn’t have the build-up any close to the former & not many were aware of it either and yes, I confess, it didn't have a lot to the sing it’s praise. There were a few though, who were flattered by the flurry of strokes, bouncers and glares. The few in fact was quite considerable in number, because this is Ranji Trophy we are talking, the jaded, bruised domestic tournament of India, extremely non-glamourous, hidden behind the curtains of IPL etc, which rarely attracts crowd and there was even one time when the number of security guards outnumbered the crowd. Back to the battle or combat or blitzkrieg. It was a quarterfinal game in the Chinnasamy stadium, Bangalore. Karnataka vs Uttar Pradesh.

 I didn’t know what to expect from Uthappa who was just back from a considerably long injury lay off. He greeted the paltry crowd with a fine leg boundary. Samarth, who opened the innings, performed very well in his debut against Mumbai was pushed down with Uthappa opening with the very talented KL Rahul. The first blow of the day was delivered by Rajpoot who impressed the CSK in a talent hunt.  Amit Mishra was quick enough to land killer blows with two wickets in as many balls in the next over. The batting team seemed crumbling and the momentum was very much with the UP team. Just as you thought they will run through the line-up, Uthappa thought it was about time to prove some people wrong. He kept his cool & took the conflict to his heart.  The scoreboard read 15-3. One to the point boundary, one to the fine leg fence, one to the unarmed deep mid wicket. He dominated the bowlers with his aggression in an unlikely situation. The contest in which he took the centre stage. And there was a pattern. A short ball, a stare, a boo(paltry yet vocal crowd) and a lovely boundary. The conflict was still on. Next over, Mishra had the upper hand with a near edge, a streaky boundary and a short ball. A Sachinesque straight drive followed in the Rajpoot over and the scorecard read 59-3. Uthappa’s contribution was 47. He is known for his shotmaking. He played them all and grew in confidence with a late cut and a midwicket heave. There was a clear winner now. As it goes, Robin Uthappa played to his strengths, unfazed by the situation forcing the dominance and thus winning a crucial individual conflict for the other ten. Cricket is fascinating no? (Oh the match had an interesting scorecard as well)

If you did follow Ranji this year, surely there was a pattern in the results, unlike the recent past that would've caught your sight. Here is some thoughts on them : 

January 23, 2012. Rajasthan was lauded for winning the premier domestic first class tournament in India for the second time in as many years. The final was so Ranji Trophy esque. It was decided on the basis of first innings lead and the finalists had four wins out of seventeen games till finals.  Karnataka, Saurashtra , Baroda and Madhya Pradesh had more wins than one of the teams in final in which Rajasthan managed to hold on to the trophy with just three wins throughout the league and knock out stages.  Mumbai which had three wins in the league stage was kicked out by Tamil Nadu in the Semi Finals by guess what?- First innings lead. That was the state of Ranji trophy two years ago.

Fast forward to January 18, 2014. Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka were gearing for the semi finals with eighteen outright wins to their distinction. There has been a massive turn around in accordance with the number of  results. More than half of the matches had produced results. To be accurate 59 out of 112 matches had either of the team winning outright and score stands as 52.67% . To shed more light, the figure for 2011-12 season was 38.6%.

With BCCI getting involved in the media for all bad reasons (Still not enough in my opinion) they deserve brownie points  for this hefty turn around. Credit where it’s due. Right after the 2011-12 Ranji Trophy, the technical committee headed by Sourav Ganguly advocated a heap of changes in the domestic structure such as overhauling Ranji trophy format, abolishing the Elite, plate systems, introducing finer points system to push teams to go for an outright win including some changes in the calendar. After approving the recommendations BCCI had appointed Sanjay Jagdale to supervise and produce true pitches. For some reason Anil Kumble replaced Sourav Ganguly as the chair person of technical committee and he introduced four day gaps this season(2013-14) which wasn’t the case earlier.  Though the first year after massive overhaul didn’t show much improvement, the following year(current season) has improved strikingly if not drastically.

PS: Regarding the leaked position paper and proposed changes in cricket governance do what Jarrord Kimber said. You might get an idea about that here, here and here.

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On the defence of David Moyes.

Finally I have decided to come out of my exile. I am going to write a bit more frequently because this insightful piece enlightened me. And there is another reason to start blogging again. I don’t have a job anymore. End of a nice or actually not so nice journey in the corporate world. I am now bruised with the sore experiences  but rather with well built thought process about my future. "Experience is the best teacher," as they say and you have to experience to know that experience is the best teacher.

Sorry for the prelude. So, the heart of this blog? Manchester United.  Again this is a reflection of the reactions I encounter in social media which is turning out to be the perceived real voice. I am not sure how much it matters to the 75k odd people gathering in the old Trafford every weekend because unlike the whiners in the social media they applaud, they sing, they encourage the team in tatters.  If I am right, the mighty crowd even left the stadium once abruptly and I am not entirely sure because I rarely got to watch a game thanks to my ex-job.  Anyway the ever excellent Andy Mitten sums( up the mood which actually matters. Its not that we guys who never get to watch the game in the stadium doesn’t matter. But unlike us, the reaction of the 75k odd people matters more because they are seen as the representatives of the millions of United hardcores all around the world. He says the fans sing his name and the away support is reckoned to be the loudest of all and also adds that they feel Moyes deserves time.

Now. If anything that has to acknowledged from this season, that is the might of the great Sir Alex Ferguson. The point here is Moyes deserves more time to be judged. He is no guy who was picked just for the sake of it. He has his reputation. He has successfully managed a top 7 club in the most competitive league in the world. He has the knack of identifying and supporting the youth from the academy. Oh the Busby way.

“There was an unanimous agreement- David Moyes was the man”

-Sir Alex Ferguson in his autobiography.

Handpicked and supported by the man himself. Can't we spare him for a season or two?

Again in this four months, this squad is the testament of the greatness of Fergie. The old man has to be blamed. He spoiled every one of us with his spell. We were never used of an ordinary season. And by the tradition he was given necessary buffering time to build three great teams. David Moyes deserves it. I don’t agree with the argument that Moyes is inheriting a champion team which wasn’t the case with the former. To a certain extent that is true. Probably the team is far better but if there is anyone who could make this team win against the oil and Russian money, that is him and he has gone. David Moyes is not Alex Ferguson and no one can ever be. This is not a dig at DM and certainly not. This is in the praise of Sir Alex and an attempt to make people realise filling the latter’s shoe isn’t that easy as you imagine. And  learn the art of patience. Before you doubt his skills, give him some time.

And here are my arguments why Moyes isn’t responsible for the downfall. People easily blame the tactics.

[Customary disclaimer- You need not accept your opinion and obviously you are entitled with yours. ]

He resorts to wing play(add some statistics about failed crosses). –

What else he can do with our Ozil still finding his feet in premier league and RvP down injured pushing Rooney -who used to be creative from middle dropping down deep -to play as striker ?

You want tiki taka? With one proper mid field anchor in Carrick injured , squad filler in Cleverley, Manchester United’s own talent in Anderson ?

To Moyes’ credit he identified the areas that needed improvement right away only to be failed by Mr. Edward Woodward. We are still signing a left back and a creative mid fielder.

He could have erred here and there but don’t put the entire blame to make him the scapegoat.

You haven’t seen Fergie using a stupid odd tactic in a must win game? You don’t rememeber when we played Rafael and Fabio in the middle? And who could forget the shock after seeing Park against City at Ethiad.

” He would have been sacked had it been football manager.”

“Moyes should be sacked already”

And friends, this isn’t football manager or Chelsea. We are Manchester United.

And if you just skimmed through it, the point of  the eight hundred words above is – David Moyes deserves time. Let us judge when we feel enough is enough. Four months is not enough! Behave like a Manchester United fan, you sillies. 

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Tender Foot Virtuoso.

                       "If you can imagine it, you can achieve it.
                                                If you can dream it, you can become it.
                        All our dreams can come true.
                                               If you we have the courage to pursue them."
                                                                                                                     -- Walt Disney.



Nothing is impossible. After all, how hard it could be to dream & play cricket in a country that breathes more cricket & less oxygen? It could be. When you come from the country's one of the most if not the most politically disturbed places. And Geographically not at all suitable for cricket. Laid in the serene beauty of the snowclad Himalayas under the mountaneous Karakoram valley & to the west of the Tibetan Plateau, almost 1,073 metres above the sea level in the Northmost part of the Indian Subcontinent, resides the once peaceful state of Jammu & Kashmir. A place of breathtaking Lanscapes & breathtaking (technically) blasts, not left behind from the rest of country's cricketing megalomanacy is all set to watch one of its sons take the field in blue in Zimbabwe in a few weeks.


Not even close to the best of facilities. Yet here we are discussing the first ever (Statewise, overall third, after Vivek Razdan & Suresh Raina) Kashmiri to don  the blues. He goes by the name of Parvez Ghulam Rasool Zargar. Hailing from the beautiful "Town Of Chinars", Bijbehara, a small town on the banks of river Jhelum, the Parvez Rasool saga is worth it all. Like 8 out of the 10 cricket aspirants, his cricketing influence reflected upon from his father himself, at a very early age. "Parents wanted their children to study," says his father Ghulam Rasool Zargar, "to become doctors or engineers. But I always wanted my children to follow cricket." Ghulam himself was a roller operator in the government's mechanical engineering department but his passions seemed to be more engaged in the cricket he played at District level. The growing civil unrest in the Valley put paid to any cricketing aspirations he might have had but he was determined that things will be different for his boys, Parvez, Asif & Umar. "You have to be lucky to be born into suh a family," Parvez says, "for whom cricket is more than an amusement, a game for kids who can't excel at Science or Mathematics." The 24 year old Rasool took up cricket rather seriously playing first for his school, then J&K U-14 & U-16 teams followed by some club cricket representing the Bijbehara Sports Club, a prominent & renowned base for the cricketers hailing from Central & South valleys of Kashmir. There he chanced upon the expert eyes of once Jammu's Poster Boy of cricket, Abdul Qayoom. "When I first saw him in the nets, he would bat well and keep wickets. Then one day, he insisted on bowling to the tail-enders. He finished them off one by one and then I knew, he was a talent, a real all-rounder."

2008 :

Soon his cricketing prowess earned him a shift to the Capital, Srinagar, where he came under the selection radar to play for the U-19 & U-22 sides. In an U-22 CK Naidu Trophy match of 4 days against Himachal Pradesh, Rasool took 5-78 & hit the winning runs scoring a brisk 21* as J&K thumped HP by 6 wickets. An upset nevertheless & the main reason behind the upset, Rasool, found himself getting a quick call-up to the Senior Ranji side in no time. [ Scorecard ]

Cometh November 16, a bright eyed 18 year old made his debut against the Ranji side of neighbours, Himachal Pradesh. But, it didnt fold the fairytale way. Inexperience was taken for a toll as Rasool gave away 58 & 85 runs in both the innings at a less less less than impressive economy rate of 5.27 & 5.31 respectively, without picking up a single wicket. His handy contribution of 40 in the first innings came to no use as the mighty Himachal Pradesh thumped Kashmir by 480 big runs.

Dreams suffered a landslide first up, indeed.

Parvez, like many others in the team never had any giant leaps or whatever you would call them. His growth was a gradual one. More like one stair at a time rather than rocketing to the top of the staircase at once. He had a promising first year(2004/05) in the Vijay Merchant trophy. He never knew the at that time, the guy smashing 179 against his team will be his first national captain one day. His dual role helped his cause and was retrained for the next edition. Results aside, that season turned out to be a successful one for this man. 202 runs and 16 wickets.
The 'gradual' was evident yet again. He found his name in the limited overs team for the next year and retained his position in the longer format. Though the transformation from the U17 to U19 didn't work that well, he picked up his U19 form in his second year (2007-08)  by picking up 8 wickets against Jharkand. He picked up his batting by hitting a fluent 78 against Goa as the tournament went on. He took his team to the Cooch Behar trophy semifinals securing fourth place. A general observation here is he always peaked with the time. 

2009 :

Early 2009, right after his 19th Birthday, Rasool made his List A debut in a Vijay Hazare Trophy game against Delhi with his soon to be National Captain Mr. Kohli hitting him all over the park yet again & scoring 102 runs leaving poor Rasool with an Economy rate of 7.25. No prize for guessing, Delhi won the match 112 runs.

But the year 2009 in Pervez Rasool's career, rather sadly shall be marked for some other reason.

That was the first time the Jammu and Kashmir team traveled outside the North zone. Rasool, fresh from a five-fer against Orissa, along with his friends were excited without knowing the national limelight will be on their side within a couple of days. And not in the best possible way.

ICC Champions Trophy was underway. Rasool and his fellow J&K cricketers were staying at the KSCA complex at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore which happened to be the very same place where a match between Victoria & Cape Cobras was about to begin. Rasool was seized & taken into custody with a "suspicious bag with suspected explosives" causing the match a 2 hours delay & ultimately being a 17 over a side affair. Fortunately, it turned out to be "just" a suspect as the Karnataka based Forensic laboratory (FSL) cleared Rasool's forensic reports & charges.

"I always knew I would get a clean chit. Today, I have been proven innocent, but I request the Police not to let such things happen to anyone else, be it a cricketer or a common man. A small mistake can ruin someone's life." But well well well, guy turned out to be very much a Man of Steel. Four days after the Explosives-in-bag-fiasco, Rasool finaly did what he came to do in Bangalore. "Pick up a bat, get in the middle & play some cricket."

And he did play some cricket, scoring 68 against Karnataka. "After the day's play he mentioned three times in six minutes about his disappointment of missing out on a century." Gushed then J&K coach Abdul Qayoom. "The whole team stood up to applaud him & five team mates along with the support staff went downstairs to shepherd him in tapping his helmeted head hard."

Rasool did find some redemption. He scored a couple of half centuries in the Mumbai match to follow.
"I was determined to show that I am a cricketer and not a terrorist," roared a pumped up Rasool after his very well made 68 and 35 against the hosts Karnataka after that dreadful experience of him which he describes like this "Mentally, it was the most difficult phase of my life. I have been touring the country since my under-15 days, but I have never faced a situation like this before. So, you can well imagine what I must have gone through,"

He even raised a question which almost everyone knew the answer. "While other players kept moving around, I sat in my room and kept thinking: why me?"

Someone would have said him. India is that place where they fake encounters with all the prejudice. Politics aside. Anyone would have given up and he even thought "I shouldn't have come." He swept aside all those thoughts and this says why he is here travelling abroad with the Indian team.

"And I let my bat do the talking for me this time."
The building blocks of a fighter in making were polished that day. 

2010, 11, 12 :

A couple of wickets and a century at no.6 against Andhra Pradhesh in 2010, 5 wickets and 45 runs against Goa in the following were the notable games in his early Ranji career. However 2012/13 was the difference. He had good games and brilliant games all along. Most special of the lot being a game against Assam where he claimed a 5-for to go with a fantastic century. It was a selector-shakable-consistency if you could put it that way.

2013 :

It was time all the hard work, all the struggle paid off. And it did.
First he got a place in the the India A squad to play against England in a warmup in New Delhi, he was the first cricketer from the state & second Kashmiri to do so. He was also the lone cricketer to be picked from J&K to star in the Deodhar Trophy squads in consecutive years, under the captaincy of Virat Kohli.

Then came an Board's President XI call up to combat the visiting Aussies just in he nick of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Clueless Kangaroos lost 9 wickets to spin on the first in Chennai & 7 of them were to the very Parvez Rasool. [ Scorecard ]

The National selectors invited him to join the National Team's camp. "I was so happy," says Parvez, still visibly elated, "to be a part of the side, to bowl against Dhoni & Sehwag." As if its sill quite unbelievable, he adds "I travelled with them on the bus and they talked to me, joked with, shard their experiences." Boy, he's going to have to get used to it, soon.




With some stunning Domestic performances under the belt, the Pune Warriors India picked up Rasool in the IPL auction. And guess what? His first IPL wicket turned out to be none other than Kallis. He did savour the moment to the fullest. Later credited Yuvi for inputs. Modest lad.

The showdown occured late afternoon, 5th of July. Resting the seniors for an inconsequential Zimbabwe tour, Sandeep Patil & Co. decided to give the lad from Jammu a big nod in the Touring 15.

Parvez Rasool made the Headlines again. This time around, for the correct reasons though.

"Because we are Kashmiri, because of the bad times we have been through, we are the subject to so much suspicion. Now you see, when we go to play in Mumbai, we shall be treated with the same suspicion again for all this." Coach Qayoom's words reflected upon not Rasool entirely. Small town. Indifferent circumstances. Huge dreams. He is not just a talented young man equipped with impressive cricketing abilities. He is much more. And beyond. He is what Kashmir is. He represents. He reflects. Ever since India's independence in 1947, Kashmir has been the central of all the worry. Continious intrusions-invasions by various National & International forces combined with poor social-political infrastructure & lack of proper administrative concern have only lightened the fire further. Also, the cold shiver you feel the moment you hear "Kashmir", the continious media allegations of the Youth from the hills preferring guns over roses & bombs over proses have only worsened the case of the beautiful valley.

What we forget? We forget that dreams know no bounds or place or politics.

That is where my friends, among all the ruins, the ashes, the blood, the cries, the trials & tensions, someone picked up a ball and a bat & dared to dream. And dream big. & here he is.

Small town boys and their stories are always fairytalesque. Just because they would have heard more bleak backtalks than the encouraging ones. Beating odds against yourself & yet thriving to succeed is always sweet. It requires determination, love for the profession, self confidence and more importantly deaf ears to all those dismaying people. In that way Rasool is already a hero. We have always heard assassinations, assaults, wars, border issues, gun shots and explosions with kashmir. Now for a change, a cricketer. From Kashmir. This what you call a fairytale.

Maybe its Kashmir's reminder of being there after all these. Letting us know that there is more, more to Kashmir. Even if its impossible. Inspiring its misguided Youth with a lionheart.

That is why, Ladies & Gentlemen, Parvez Rasool is special. And the Parvez Rasool story, even more.





[Credits : Cricinfo & cricketarchives.com (stats), Tehelka & Google Images]

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