Why should the public wait for its servants?

I was surprised as I walked past the ever-busy Porur junction towards SRMC hospital at the peak hour. The road was empty, save a few cyclists and my fellow pedestrians. My bemusement finally ended when I saw a police-set up road block far down the road. The other side of the median was in sharp contrast to this one. It was packed with vehicles, the queue extending well beyond my eye sight on either side. People were beginning to get impatient and it was very ostentatious; horns and streams of abusives. The Humidity and time only added insult to injury. A few minutes later, two marked cars with red lights on top swung across the corner, reached the main road and coasted away.

It was a classic case of power misuse. Road blocks at peak hours only add to the misery of the public which has already developed an abhorrence towards road travel. Politicians, especially those in power are always considered pompous and acts like these only highlight those opinions. It is the them and their mind set which need to change.

It is ironical that they are called Public servants. But these servants have always displeased their masters. May be Lincoln was also misquoted as Shakespeare often was when he had said, 'Government is of the people, by the people, for the people.'

Have we lost our solicitude for the older generation?

I started reluctantly, my face not betraying any emotion. To visit my aunt’s distant relative did not brighten up my mood that evening. The car drew to a halt to ask directions along the famous ECR and proceeded. I never knew I was going to experience emotions that I never had before. The quiet road ahead led to the sea, but our destination was well in front of the shore. ‘Vishranthi’ was set near the shores of the Bay of Bengal

The sea breeze blew at a good pace as we opened the rusty old gate. The first thing we saw was a big cage filled with birds, mostly parrots. I smiled at the irony, for Vishranthi was no seaside bungalow or a beach house, but an old age home. A voice snapped from our left. Though polite, the watchman’s voice was pretty hoarse. We told him the name of the person we wanted to meet and were directed by him.

The walk through the serene and quiet home could very well mislead any reader. Though filled with greenery and perennial sea breeze at a gentle pace, the whole place had an air of heaviness. The face of the old people I walked past had a forlorn look, a look that suggested to me that they did not care anymore for the worldly things, a look of resignation, a look of acceptance of their ill fate.

We found the building and entered into the hall only after being questioned by a lady attender at its entrance. As we entered, several old women looked up from the inside expectantly. Then, it hit me. I did not need to be Mr. Holmes or Dr. Watson to read their emotions. All of them hoped we were some of their folks who have come to meet them. Some recognized soon that we were not and those who could not see properly held on to their hopes to see where we were heading to. It is beyond the capabilities of my words to describe the real scene with those high emotions. I virtually looked at all those faces trying to convey, ‘Sorry I have not come to meet you, sorry’

The hall we entered into was spacious with around 8 to 10 beds in random directions, a decent sized television and an austere dining table along a narrow corridor which led to an open terrace behind the hall. My aunt called out the old granny’s name. A woman directly in front of us put her book down, sat up on her bed and looked at us. Her face bore an expression of instant recognition and she called us in.

For a considerable amount of time, the old granny and my aunt were talking about people whom I neither knew nor cared to know about. The granny went on about her pastimes in the orphanage, about the dance and music programmes daily that took place inside the orphanage, about TV serials and about how bad the food was. I got bored soon and began looking around. I saw an old woman in the terrace beyond the dark narrow corridor. She was sitting on a chair in the middle of the terrace talking animatedly.

Out of curiosity, I craned my head to see whom she was talking to. I could not find anybody within her vicinity. Thinking she must be out of her mind, I began withdrawing my gaze when I saw a cat. The little brown cat was sitting on its hind legs and was looking at the old woman with utmost concentration. I was moved. May be it understood what she said or may be it did not. But it sat with her to hear what she had to say. I felt ashamed and brought my concentration back the granny who had not yet stopped talking.

I walked back, in a daze. It was very obvious. Every one of those old men and women sitting there were neglected. What did they demand? Money? Power? No. All they wanted was some time, compassion and love from the ones they loved most. May be it is because the modern man thinks that the planet rotates on a fulcrum called money. But he should remember that one day, everybody is going to grow old.   

TO THE TEMPLE

It was a pretty quiet Sunday evening and my father was dressing up. I knew his routines on Sunday evenings, to visit the Shiva temple. Every time he left to the temple, he used to ask me if I wanted to come with him. Usually I decline the offer, not that I am an atheist, but I do not believe in temples. Now, I asked my father if I could come. His face betrayed emotion and he was visibly surprised. As we approached the Shiva temple, the road narrowed suddenly, by people and footwear on either side. After a hunt for a small niche to park the vehicle, my father asked me to drop the slippers near the bike so that it would be easier to retrieve later. I did not realize the significance of the statement until I saw a plethora of footwear on the half constructed temple entrance. There were about 100-150 pairs of footwear, reducing the entrance way to half the original size. The crowd grew strong as we labored past the entrance.

To our right were three people. The first two gave a very distinct impression of beggars, asking for money. The third was a woman had a big basin type vessel over which a yellow cloth had been wrapped around. The woman alone, to my surprise had many 100 rupee, 50 rupee and 20 rupee notes whereas I could find nothing but coins on the other two beggars. Only then I realized that the woman, who was mouthing something mechanically, was collecting funds for the construction of the temple which was under process. I smiled inwardly and thought what the difference was between the two of them and this woman.

I lost my father for a moment or so and rushed past an old woman to find him join a queue. The queue was originating from the main altar of the temple. Unlike the Churches, the Hindu temples have many deities and every temple has one main deity which was Shiva, here, whom we were queuing up to worship. To my left was a makeshift stage where a couple of people were distributing Prasadam (an eatable which is supposed to have been blessed by God, merely by placing it near the statue). There was a queue for the Prasadam too. I sighed and turned to my right where there was another deity and of course, people thronging to worship.

By this time, we had reached the altar and I could see the queue folding up. As we were trotting through the altar, I was looking at the ceiling. It was decorated with many statues on the sides and many paintings overhead. There was also a familiar painting of the Astrological symbols. By this time, we had reached the fag end of the queue and my father began praying frantically and so did the people around. I had my hands into my pocket and was casually looking around and found few curious glances. I then realized that I had to fold my hands in the prayer gesture and that was the reason for those glances.

I am Agnostic and not much of an idol-worship man. As we exited the altar, I asked my father why one has to visit the temple to worship God. I asked him if God is everywhere, why go to a temple? He tried to pacify me saying that God was concentrated in temples and I laughed it off. We reached the end of the Prasadam queue and got our Prasadam. It was a sweet, Panchamirdam (A mixture of many fruits with sweet liquid). We went around the altar where there were many little deities. As we reached the other side of the temple, there was another Prasadam queue and I guessed the item there was Chakara Pongal (Sweetened rice). I did not have an appetite for it and my father was diabetic. Yet we got a scoop of the Prasadam in the leaf goblet with intentions to take it home to my mother who would first make a worship gesture towards the cuisine and then have it.

My father next moved onto the Navagraha Sanhidhi where there were 9 statues and people circled the statues. As we were going around it, there was a woman in front of me who was busy talking with her husband as they were going around complaining ‘There is no ghee in the Chakara Pongal’. I conjured up a mock smile as she met my eyes and turned around thoroughly disgusted. To many people, temple was place to picnic and I could find many groups who shared that vision. In the spacious, deity-free stretch of the temple I saw groups of people sitting and happily munching their Prasadam. Most people who were sitting and chatting were over 30 and the younger folk were busying playing Catch and creating havoc around the temple.

The whole place was filled with mike announcements made from the make-shift stage by a woman about donating money to the temple construction. We waded through the strong influx of people into the temple to reach the road. As we left home I began thinking how God has been commercialized. I did not get the answer to the question as to why God should be worshiped only in temples. I had many more in my mind. If temple, like many people say, is for attaining peace of mind, then it is absolute rubbish. With important mike announcements about donating money, kids playing games, people complaining about no ghee in their Prasadam, one can hardly even think about peace of mind. The amount of money at stakes is becoming alarmingly high.

Why for God’s sake does a temple have to have wealth in Millions? People have fallen prey to commercialization and now in a larger scale, it suddenly seems appalling. May be these were the after effects of a movie I recently watched called OMG (Oh my God) which also describes about commercialization, but it is nothing more than the truth. Just then, I woke up from the reverie, yanking my hand reflexively as I touched the hot Prasadam in my hand. Instead of taking it to home and feeding them to the haves, I should have given it to those Have-nots who were sitting outside, begging for money.   

Do we really mean what we say?

Ever since the surge in the development of technology, communication has increased leaps and bounds. Mobile phones have become a part of our life, an inseparable one that too. But throughout this advancement, one thing has remained as strong as a bastion. It is the way how we salute people after picking up our phone.

‘Hello’ we say as we pick up our phones. Have you ever wondered why we say ‘hello’?

If you think Graham bell had a girlfriend called Margaret Hello and as a token of remembrance used her second name, then you are wrong. It is one of the common misconceptions about the usage of this word. There was no person called Margaret Hello, let alone her being Graham Bell’s girlfriend.

What is more interesting is that ‘Hello’ was introduced by Thomas Edison and not by Graham Bell at all. He urged people to use ‘Hello’ instead of using ‘Ahoy-hoy’ which Graham Bell considered appropriate. Well then, the article is not to speculate about the usage of ‘hello’ but about how it is being used.

How many times have we lifted our receiver and blankly said ‘hello’? If the word ‘hello’ is a salutation, then should we not carry any emotion while we utter the word? It has become a habit, and almost forgotten aspect in the swirl of time that we no longer care for the emotion from the words we are spoken to.

In the same way, how many times have we said ‘Good morning’ or ‘Good night’ without actually meaning it? If we are wishing them a GOOD night or a GOOD morning, should we not mean it whole heartedly? All this is pretty similar to typing ‘lol’ with an absolutely stoic face.

The next time you wish somebody a good morning, try to sound as you really mean it. Rather than a cursory ‘Good morning’, ‘Good night’ or ‘Hello’, try giving some emotion to it. Mean the word whole heartedly before uttering it. It might not look different to you, but it would certainly sound different to the person you are speaking you. Have a GOOD DAY. 

She is the Pinnacle of Beauty

Behold the charm of my fair young lady,

Like an angel fallen from abode,

With an aura of suspense around.

Yes,she is the pinnacle of beauty.

Her black arched eyebrows,like a cupid's bow,

Expressions that make it move high and low.

With those eyes that speak on its own,

Beautiful it is,even when she wears a frown.

The forest of black,her long wavy tress,

Which suits her for almost every dress.

God,I accept is the master creator,

Gracing me with an angel of such demeanor.

Those fingers,as soft as fresh fur,

When caresses through her jet black hair,

Makes me lose track of this world,

And takes me around for a crazy swirl.

The sun shies away on seeing her face,

Measured,sculptured by Him with such grace.

A shiny star that she is in the night sky,

Unlike the moon,unwilling to come out-coy.

A colorful vivid butterfly she is,

Along my path of life,she flies,

Which I can only admire with glee,

But cannot want it to fly along with me.

Footwork

‘Bowled him’ hollers the commentator. Excluding a very small percentage, most of the ‘bowled’ dismissals are because of lack or improper footwork. Footwork plays as essential role in any batsman’s approach to batting. It is of vital importance in countries like England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. These are places where the ball swings in the air or off the deck compared to the Indian sub continent or the Caribbean.

But in the Indian subcontinent or the Caribbean, if one needs to play the spinners, he does need footwork. Therefore, without proper footwork, it becomes almost very difficult to exhibit perfect technique. Excepting a very few extraordinary players like Virender Sehwag, a batsman just cannot survive in the long run without it.

All the outstanding batsmen of the game exhibit excellent footwork. Different shots require different footwork. In case of a straight drive, which Tendulkar is undisputedly a master of; it needs a high elbow and full face of the bat coming down with optimum power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JSuZiUPnZM

The Square cut requires the batsman to go instantly to his back foot by judging the length of the ball. He has to meet the ball right under his eyes, just a tad away from his body and open the face of the bat as required to place it into the gap in the offside field. Dravid was well known for his square cuts.

Square Cut
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tntwyd4HPhM

Many play the Cover Drive well. It requires the batsman to lean forward and present the full face of the bat and place the ball through the offside field. The key here is not to get over balanced leaning into the shot, yet driving it through the gap between cover and extra cover. Here is a brilliant cover drive from Ian Bell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2U-y2qvXp4

The Pull and the Hook are two shots which are often misconceived to be the same. During a Pull shot, the batsman pulls a ball from his bodyline to the leg side, targeting the fence around midwicket to square leg. Whereas, in a Hook, the batsman helps the ball to the boundary anywhere between square leg and fine leg. The Hook is usually played to a ball the keeps moving towards the leg side, short in length, rising above the chest level.

Ponting was a master of the pull and the hook shots. The batsman, as you can see in the following videos has to rock back onto the back foot in very quick time and then play the cross batted stroke. The Pull can also be played off the front foot, albeit greater difficulty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d3Xf4jUSFQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBchw2gHjLM

One another classical shot is the Leg Glance. It is usually perceived that the sub continental players play the leg glance with style and elegance. The key to perfect execution of this shot is to meet the ball under the eyes, roll the wrists and not to over hit the ball, turning the face of the bat. The video tutorial is self explanatory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOlK_BOAnsA

In addition to this, there are the Late Cuts, Sweeps, Reverse Sweeps, Paddle Sweep (by Tendulkar), Switch hit for which more presence of mind, rather than footwork is needed. There are few unplayable deliveries. If you are a batsman, the best you can do except not facing the ball is to miss it. The ball pitched on leg, swinging away to hit the top of off is the most dreaded ball to face. Here is a couple from Dale Steyn, the most complete fast bowler of the modern era.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61ukudE_s04
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CnGABJrI8c

In the first video, the reaction from Dravid is an absolute classic. He just turns back and walks off. That is the respect, such a ball demands. Frankly, one cannot do much with such a ball.

As I had already told you, Virender Sehwag is one batsman who would ask you ’footwork? What is that?’ Because of his extra ordinary hand-eye co-ordination, he is able to play balls even though he has almost zero footwork. Batsmen tend to be very cold during the beginning of their innings without much footwork. Here is a video of Sehwag displaying zero footwork. No offense to the man, he is a brilliant player even without footwork.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq6UkJg3vDE

As you can see, the foot is rooted to the spot, no moving anywhere while attempting to make contact with the ball. While defending against the spinners, it is essential to go as low as possible, keeping the back leg well within the crease not to get stumped. 

Here is a classic example from the Master himself

Well, the next time some one gets bowled (not inside edged), just check out how they moved their foot. You might as well become the next commentator for Sky Sports. 

The Average Indian Tuition

THE AVERAGE INDIAN TUITION 

It was around 5 PM on a post-summer day in Chennai. The threatening grey sky walked the walk today and it began raining cats and dogs. This was almost a cue for the ever ready Electricity board to severe the power and soon, it became very dark. Without the computer or the internet to entertain me, I walked out to the common veranda  The children who come for tuition to my neighbor’s house were all crowding the stairs, 2 or 3 in each of the 4 staircases.

I fought my way through those little kids and reached the veranda where my neighbor was sitting on her plastic chair with a book and questioning one of those kids who seemed to live in another planet trying to recite a poem above the noise around. I made myself comfortable in one of the descending staircases. I became so intrigued about what those kids were doing. I pretended to listen to the songs with my mp3 player plugged into my ears.

There was one guy, with a lavender shirt and unkempt hair sitting on the 3^rd staircase, who was staring blankly at the ceiling up ahead. As if a perfect foil, there was another guy behind him who was looking down busily fidgeting with his pen. My neighbor’s kid suddenly tore up through the line of kids, running,   complaining about something. By the time he was silenced and sent back by my neighbor, the guy who was reciting his Hindi poem stumbled to a stop. He closed his eyes, looked up, turned around caught the railing banged it several times and still, he did not get those words back. His friend, another cute little fellow in navy blue completed the rest of the poem for him, though he had come for his English classes. The teacher looked at him and he said in Tamil, ‘Even I remember it because Rakesh was reciting it so many times sitting next to me maam’

Unceremoniously another guy from the 2^nd staircase got up and shouted, more than a plea ‘Maam, I want to drink water…’ My neighbor was already beginning to get tired and waved him off for his sip of water. This induced a nostalgic thought. I remembered how I used to buy hot samosas for my tuition maam during my middle school. Her house used to be dark and cozy and she used to ask me to buy samosas and come. I used to ride through the damp roads, park the cycle hidden from my flat since the shop used to be a couple of plots away from my apartment. My parents never liked to see me buying samosas instead of studying or for the fact, eating them from that particular shop.

I had a rude awakening and woke up from my reverie to see two guys in a fist fight. It took several seconds for me to comprehend what was happening out there. A few stern words, rather, stern growl from my neighbor settled the issue. The guy who had gone for his water break had returned only then and he had a bashing. He gave excuses saying he had to go to the restroom and only so, he was late.

The chap in the 3^rd staircase suddenly got up saying ‘Maam, I forgot to bring my Math book. I have a test tomorrow’. The rest was commotion. The teacher began her bashing in complete flow and the poor kid held his face down. He would have been better off without revealing the fact that he had an exam the next day. I began remembering my journeys back home in the middle of classes forgetting my books. I used to take the longest route possible cycling as slowly as possible.

The class became a little more silent and looked like it becoming settled. Just then, the teacher’s phone rang. She attended the call and it was very ostentatious to see her concentrating half on her call and half on the kids. Something had caused her to shift her concentration to the call, the kids began clattering and she became busy over the call. After about three to four minutes, she severed the call and turned around and suddenly the clatter stopped and there was pin drop silence except for the mildly falling rain. I used to have similar moments when we used to shout and scream, but when the teacher turns her attention on us we would act as innocent as lamb.

A few minutes passed and the kids got settled. Apart from the rain, there was no other sound. The kids got into a rhythm with their books and the fun I was having seemed to have stopped. As I was about to power my mp3 player on, joyous sounds erupted from the kids. I turned around to see the tube lights and the bulbs get switched on. Power was back and the kids began running inside.

My neighbor smiled and got up saying, in her broken Tamil ‘I’ll have to manage these kids again from the beginning’ and walked away, half pulling and half carrying the chair behind her. I went back into my house, smiled inwardly for a brief second and turned my computer on.

  

A Poem to the God

CELEBRATING A TON OF TONS

39 years ago,the journey started,

For till now,it has not been halted.

He has every record in the book,

When he is playing,no one can take just one look.

For a cricket crazy nation,

Where people always fill you with expectation,

He has handled the pressure like no one has,

For he has always played for India's cause.

There have been taller,stronger and beefier men,

Who could not survive in the long run,

Life in cricket is just too long to endure,

And no one has matched his undiminishing stature.

The hopes the little man carries,

Holds the key for his opposition's miseries.

He has tormented the wizards and the magicians,

For his armory was never short of ammunitions.

For him,centuries are mere numbers,

'cos numbers don't make winners.

So many times has he raised his willow,

That no one can ever dream of in their pillow.

All of us call him 'The God',

But he has said that he is not.

All the humbleness is what he is made of,

If you are against him,just bugger off.

He does not know the meaning for controversy,

And he is void of all hypocrisy.

He is the cleanest man you can find on the pitch,

Like him or not,it is your wish.

Ever since he started his long lonely journey,

Cricket has always been his best company.

He lives,breathes and thinks of the game,

It's holy even to say his name.

ALL HAIL THE MASTER

SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR

- Anirudh (One among the billion)

The Good vs. Evil Conundrum

THE GOOD VS. EVIL CONUNDRUM

It is the usual question. I often wondered why always the Good had to win over Evil. When I was 8, I asked my folks about it. They said, God is Good, which is more powerful than Evil and so it is always the Good that wins. I was convinced then. But again, the search for the question began when I began to think autonomously.

I had a few discussions with people in forums, from which I came to know a few facts. It was astounding that we have always overlooked these trivial things. There is, for the fact, no Good or Evil. As J.K. Rowling of the Harry Potter fame says,

“There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it”

Back then, when I was reading Harry Potter, this sentence did not mean a great deal to me. But now, it does. Ms. Rowling was spot on. There are deeds that we do which are deemed Good and Bad. In truth it is not. It is purely the ego, the brain, the perception of those.

If Adolf Hitler thought killing or evacuating the Jews was good for this country, his ego perceived the thought that way. It does not mean he was wrong. He was brought up thinking the Jews were his enemies. He did what he was taught about. So where is the Evil in it?

But was it? It is often the absence of a Universal truth that complicates the situation. There is no universal truth in anything. There is only a relative or perceptional truth. In general view, killing of people is Evil. But what do we do during war? We kill our enemies because we assume they are Evil.    So, Good and Evil are based on how we/our ego perceives a situation.

In generalized terms, the society does not want people harming it. So, it always sees to it that the Good wins over the Evil there by creating an illusion that only if you do Good, you will win, which it has done so very successfully that we cannot think beyond the point. In a ideal world, there would be nothing called Good and Evil.

Whatever you think is Good might not be good for others and vice Versa. So the next time you kill a fly and think you did a good, just re think about it.

Test Cricket-The Real Deal

TEST CRICKET- THE REAL DEAL

11 fielders, 2 batsmen and 2 umpires, all in white, with a red ball walking into a packed stadium. That is Cricket. That is Test Cricket. The heart and Soul of the game, the forgotten and unfavored form of the game these days. This article is an attempt to enlighten those who feel otherwise.

Test cricket derived its name from being called the form of game which puts all the skills of a player under the scanner. Only those few fans who follow cricket with such passion can develop that undiluted interest in this form of the game. Personally I’d give up 100 T20 games to watch one test match. The emotion the game carries, 5 days of struggle, to achieve supremacy, victory and greatness, is no equivalent to 20 overs of insane swinging and baseball style slogs. For me, a batsman scoring 70 odd in swinging and seaming conditions is far better than a 100 off 33 balls. It tells you about the technical skill and the mental conditioning of the batsman to play and survive in such hostile conditions.

Every test match, irrespective of the result has a story to tell. A story about a lanky young fast bowler proving himself, or a newbie finding his feet in the international arena, the resilience of a team or the inspiration one can provide for a whole team. Test cricket is all about stories that pans out in the 5 long testing days.

One another reason why I love Test cricket more is the fact that, it is the only form of the game where the bowlers are generally on top. Let alone, the placid and dead surfaces of the sub continent, elsewhere, it the bowlers, the swing bowlers who are in contention. Often, the game has favored the batsmen and seeing the bowlers being on top gives us that little pleasure.

A fast bowler steaming in, moving the ball sharply both ways with a packed slip cauldron and almost no fielders in the other positions is a sight to watch. It is also about surviving the difficult phases, going through phases when you know the bowler is on top.

Here are some of my interesting stat compilations on test matches played till date.

719 drawn games out of 2102 which is almost 34%

29 games – Team won by 1 or 2 wickets which is 1.4%

16 games – Team won by < 15 runs which is 0.8%

20 games – Team won with a margin of over 200 which is 0.1%

188 games – Team won by 9 or 10 wickets which is almost 8.9%

363 games – Team won by an innings which is 17.3%

From the above stats, I have elucidated the content in a more presentable form for easy comprehension.

No. of drawn games         -1 per 2.9 matches

No. of fair games             -1 per 2.7 matches

No. of one sided games    -1 per 3.8 matches

No. of close games           -1 per 45.5 matches

No. of tied games             -1 per 1052 matches

Now that we know that a draw is one of the most likely events, why should we watch it? It is often said that a wicket is not taken in a single ball. In test cricket, it is often setup for the complete over or spell where the bowler tends the set the batsman up and bowls his variation. Similar to it, test matches should not be considered in single. It is often about the complete series, how a team fares throughout the season.

The close games are more interesting than those of the ODIs or the T20s. Often with a lot of deliveries left, it is about how the last pair survives to score the remaining runs. Michael Bevan, who played very well with the tail in the ODIs, had a contemporary in VVS Laxman who more often than not did it for India. It is sometimes also about picking up the last or two wickets with a meagre runs to spare. Moments like these have tremendous pressure on the players since 1 mistake or brilliance can turn around all the events of the 4 long strenuous days. Now tell me, which is the pressure cooker situation, a 3 hour T20 or a 5 day test match?

 

THE ASHES

The historically famous Ashes series was born from an infamous test match for England. It was an English loss at Oval in 1882 which instigated the ‘The Sporting times’ to write an obituary stating that the English cricket was dead.

Ivo Bligh, the English captain promised the people than he would regain the Ashes by winning the away tour which had to come. In a controversial tour then, England won it 2-1 and regained the Ashes. Thus, the culture spread and now as a result, we call the series ‘The Ashes’ which was then not called so. It is believed that the small Ashes cup, presented to the English captain by a group of Melbourne women had the charred remnants of a cricket bail inside it.

Such rich history, test cricket had, which seems to be forgotten today. It is always special to see Australia and England battle it out who save their best for each other. Though I am an Indian, I love the Ashes. It, as of now, is the most competitive and hyped test match series. The other famous series played all around the world are,

   ·       The Aus Africa series between Australia and South Africa

   ·         The Border Gavaskar series between India and Australia

   ·         The NatWest series between England and the touring country

What about test draws? People usually deem a drawn game as a boring one. Well, if you think so, you are in for a surprise. The following is a collection of close drawn games. Look at the margin by which a result was avoided.

 

Runs remaining	Team	Score	Target	Opposition	Venue	Season
1	England	204/6	205	v Zimbabwe	Bulawayo	1996-97
1	India	242/9	243	v West Indies	Mumbai WS	2011-12
6	India	355/8	361	v West Indies	Mumbai BS	1948-49
6	England	228/9	234	v West Indies	Lord's	1963
8	Australia	238/8	246	v England	Melbourne	1974-75
9	India	429/8	438	v England	The Oval	1979
10	New Zealand	274/6	284	v Australia	Brisbane	2001-02

Here are some of the closest test match finishes. This is no ranking but a mere collection.

Ind vs. Aus, 2001, Eden Gardens

India followed on after being all out 171 in reply to Australia’s 445. India was forced to follow on by Steve Waugh when a miracle happened. Dravid and Laxman put on a 376 run stand to take India to 657. It was then left to Tendulkar’s 3 wickets in the final session to wrap up the Aussies for 212, thereby winning from an almost improbable position.

Match Highlights 

Scorecard

Eng vs. Aus, 1882, The Oval

This was the infamous test match were England lost to Australia by 7 runs. The media wrote the famous obituary to English cricket and from then on, the rivalry between England and Australia became one of the most celebrated and most awaited clashes by the name of ‘The Ashes series’.

Scorecard

Eng vs. Aus, 1981, Headingly

This was the 3^rd test of the 1981 Ashes at England. Australia were put into bat and scored a mammoth 401. In reply, England were bowled out for 174. The English 2^nd innings began dismally until Ian Botham smashed 149 off 148 deliveries and the rest was history. England then went on to wrap Australia for nelson, thereby winning the match by 18 runs. This was one of the most famous test matches simply for the fact that the team following on had managed to win it.

Scorecard

Eng vs. Aus, 2005, Edgbaston

This was another Ashes test match. Australia began the final day with another 107 more to win the game but had only 2 wickets in hand. With 62 more to win, Australia lost Share Warne. The English win seemed the most probable result, but Brett Lee though differently. He smashed the English attack to all corners of the park until 3 runs were required. Steven Harmison bolwed on down the chest of Kasprowicz who had edged it and the edge was gladly collected by G Jones. England had won the game, but then Kasprowicz had never edged it. Umpire Billy Bowden did not think so either.

Last moments

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Ind vs Aus, 2010, Mohali

This match would stay fresh in most Indians’ minds. India were 8 down with 92 more runs required. Ishant and Laxman guided India through until Ishant got out with India still needing another 11 runs. Ojha, the last man walked in. India survived through the nervous times to seal a historic 1 wicket win. Incidentally 2 balls before the winnings runs were hit by Ojha, an LBW decision was turned down by umpire, which looked pretty plumb in front. Australia’s bad luck with close finishes continued.

Highlights of Day 5
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A swinging ball, cloudy overhead conditions, players in their jumpers, batsmen struggling to keep terms with swing. That is the real fun. Legends were made by test cricket. Sir. Don, Sir. Ian Botham, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, all these players were products of test cricket. It is the dream of every cricket player to do well for their country in the white kit, unfortunately, it is not the though process of their fans these days. 

LIVE LONG TEST CRICKET