Thanks Sachin....

Twenty years is a long-long time. Everything has changed around us, the world has changed but one thing has not change for we Indians is the expectations we have from a man to rise above the anticipations and perform to make us feel proud each time and again n again. The man is none other than youngster at the age of 36, our own visible god Sachin Tendulkar. He is one of those things in this diversified country who is loved, admired and followed by almost every Indian regardless of state, religion, cast, creed or profession. He is a phenomenon in this cricket crazy country. Apart from the fact that our expectations, hope , love has not changed for him, the one thing which also has not change in spite of all the success, fame and divine status he possess in this country is the man himself. He is as humble and passionate for the game as He was when giving probably his first recorded interview in Shivaji park to Tom Alter. I know whatever I am saying its been said number of times by number of people and specially whenever he reaches some milestone the whole world talk about the greatness of the man as everybody is talking now as he has completed twenty remarkable years in International cricket today but I can't help because whenever we pray god we chant the "aarti" all the time.

He is my Hero, and its been the same right from the start, My memories of Sachin tendulkar starts from the match when due to rain disturbance, one day match was converted in to a 20 over exhibition match in 1989 in pkaistan and Sachin tendukar knocked the international cricket with the sound of three sixes in an over against top class spinner abdul qadir. then after that if some of you remember a double wicket cricket tournament called pepsi cup was played in India and number of world's top players had come to play in that. Sachin tendukar was paired along with great Kapil dev and I remember the kind of sizzling stroke play he exhibited with lots of sixes against top international players of that time. Right from those days he was special for me and crores of Indians, then one after another tour he was established as the sole caretaker of all Indian hopes in whole cricket arena. I remember he was the youngest player in 1992 world Cup, Still his importance in the indian team can be understood by the fact that He was the highest scorer for India in that world cup and he was the man of the match in both the matches India won in that tournament. He continued to be the best Indian performer in the most important of cricketing events all over the world.

Then the time came when he virtually single handedly took the load of whole team, every match depended upon the a single man, If he did well India won, If he fails India looses, That was certainly not the ideal situation for any sporting team but that was also a proof of the difference of the status and quality of the man and other cricketers of that time.

Another example of his dedication and love for the game came when after the death of his father during the world cup 1999, he went back to play with in a week and hit one of his memorable centuries. there are number of examples of greatness of this man and his cricketing skills. but apart from his cricketing skills, his off the field decorum is one thing to learn. In the society where smallest of success rise above one's head, his humbleness, decency and easy going behavior is the example to not only young cricketers but to all irrespective of profession they are in.

Even After these twenty years he is the most wonderfull cricketer and human being around, And on the occasion I personally want to thank him from the bottom of my heart to give all those happy and proud moments, smiling faces all around me whenever he played well, make all of us feel one when he wins it for India. And I wish he continues to do all he was doing in these twenty years for endless time.

All the best Sachin.:)

IPL...The Passion is back...:)

If some one ask me what is one thing for which you can stay awake whole night and that too with out any regret, my answer would be 'Cricket'. And this is same for years now, and if I remember correctly, It is approximately 20 years, I am following the game with same intensity and interest. This is one thing that excites me more than anything. I remember all those sleepless nights when I used to watch India playing in newzeland, australia or westindies or even in toronto , I also remeber when I cried because India lost to zimbabwe in 1999 world cup and also that night which I past standing on street watching India play pakistan in toronto. There are lots of mad memories such as crying if electricty goes off in the city on the day of match or not having dinner if India lose the match and so on. Some one can say its sheer madness, But some how its life for me or any true cricket fan in this cricket crazy country.

Cricket has given me lots of best moments and also some sad days/nights but I don't regret, I just love it. You must be thinking all of a sudden why I am talking cricket, so friends I am again feeling excited, all those sleep less nights are back as IPL has started. A whole new concpet, top class player from around the world are playing together and against each other, It is like a "Kumbh ka Mela" for all those who regard and consider cricket as a religion. Although because of time difference here in south korea matches would be late at night for me but that really does not matter. last time around IPL was wonderfull and I am looking forward for the similar kind of buzz even it is not happening in India this time.

And IPL has already started, I was worried whether I would be able to see matches properly as there is no Indian channel available on TV and we are highly dependent on internet live streaming sites. Though these sites worked great for me during the last six months whenver India played, but you can never say that they will be available all the time when u need them.but luckily IPL itself providing free live streaming on their web site and at the time of the match I could find some or other source to watch match and hoping for same in next coming days.

Talking about IPL, Though I found it really very intresting but cannot decide which team I should support as I do not belong to any of particular city and also almost each team has some of my favorite stars whom I love to watch. It actually helps me to just enjoy the good cricket and support any team which has right approach and never say die attitude towards game. In first two days it is clear that this IPL is going to be different from the last one because of pithches and conditions. We can not change the playing conditios but I would rather love to see same kind of pitches as they were in India because T20 is total entertainment package and its appeal would go down if number of sixes and fours go down, so If some thing can be done to make the pitches flatter, it would be great for excitement of the public who love to watch T20 cricket.

But keeping the conditions and wickets in mind and after watching each team playing atleast once, my prediction , although predictions can go horribly wrong in T20 but for the discussion sake I think Delhi Daredevils seems to be strongest team for this season. Lets see how far they will go. So while hoping you all will enjoy this extravaganga of cricket in next 40 days or so, I am closing this entry and will back with more excitement and views about IPL-2.