Catches Win Matches

Yes catches do win matches and it is very evident from the past 10 days of IPL matches. In one game there has been a time when we saw some easy once go down and the respective team loss a game just because they could not hold to the catch which was offered. The other situation when match has been last from a winning position when a catch has been taken from no where.

Let us take few of the matches which has been last just because a catch was dropped in this years IPL. First it is a team which has been the best fielding side for all of the IPL and it was CSK. After scoring a ton of runs on a pitch which had a lot for batsmen in came Maxwell with whom the term attacking batsman cannot be compared, rather you will have to say a brutal batsman. He was in a great form of hitting the ball rights from the word go. He gave a gift to CSK and it was not accepted. Then again against the SRH he gave a chance at 11 and it was once again rejected. The result the match was lost by both the teams and on both the occasions Maxwell was instrumental in the wins.

Coming back to catches winning matches, CSK played match against DD and RR and on both the games were at their best, taking some blinders and removing batsmen on important junctions of the game brought them victory and on both the games there was not even a single drop. This shows how much important the catching is for a team.

Coming to yesterday’s game, the match between KKR and RCB was balanced heavily against the men from Bangalore and was to be won easily. That is when according to me two catches changed the result of the game. Yuvi played an innings out of his character but a needed one. Where he played a calm innings when it was needed. Virat was going great and he played the rotating innings, the best was when he played Narain with proper defense and was never troubled by his variations.  He played an innings against him which most of the team do against the best bowlers, play out that bowler and attack others. He did the same, once Virat departed he played the attacking game and when he was going great a good catch at extra-covers did the trick. This was very good and important catch of the match since the hit was a good flat drive which was fast too.

But that catch of Yuvi was just the starting of what was to come.  Still sitting a bit comfortable with two great hitters in AB and Morkel and just 9 run needed by RCB came may be the catch of this session. AB’s hit was mistimed and was destined to be caught at the boundary a good judging fielder in Chris Lynn could have swallowed it easily. But that was not the case, he made a little mess of it by slipping up a bit. What came after it was something out of this world. The recovery was made by taking a catch with a bent back, judging the distance from the ropes to perfection and taking a blinder so perfect that it made the team to be inspired to an extent where they won and made the batsmen at the other end down on moral that he could not convert the full toss to the boundary. Best example of the term catch wins matches.

From all my playing days from tennis ball cricket to college and club level matches taking good catches has always won matches and missing easy once have always been instrumental in a loss.

Who are the real Hero’s?

I many comments when you read about in many famous site based on cricket or any other sports there are two type of people. One who calls sporting guys as hero and legend and the other who asks if they are hero’s then what about war veterans. 

So who is the right person to be termed as a hero. There are no second thoughts about people who give their life for the sake of a country has to be held high among all others. But at the same time do they get the credit for doing it. They are paid very less and at the same time are not considered while taking a decision by the government all around the world. Take the instance of the Vietnam war, American war returns were looked as if they were criminals for taking up the war for which they were never a part of. Similar is the case with Army men who are fighting against terror outfits and ULFA outfits at our borders. They are seen in bad light in those parts of India. Ask a person from those parts and they will never agree that an Army man is a Hero for them. You have to look at certain things with lighter heart.

For example if a sports person inspires a young person to work hard to achieve something in life both on the game and off the game is a hero. Any one who inspires us is a legend and we as people will always look up to him for inspiration. Sachin’s and Dravid’s for cricket lovers are legends. AR and other musicians are Hero’s and Legends for people who share a passion for music.

Dose this mean the soldiers are not hero’s and legends, are not the people who fought for our independence are hero’s and legends. The Truth is if we ignore them at our heart we are not worth to be living in this world. People are hero and legend in our heart and you don’t need that to be expressed. If you really want their importance to be know educate about them to our younger generation for whom the only idea about a freedom fighter is their ability to remember their name and score marks.

Cricket is a game and watch it as a game. Don’t make comparisons between a cricket hero or a legend to a hero and a legends whom we should have respect from deep down our hearts. Both have made person sacrifices for attain the status so rather than making a big deal about it, I would say “Get a life you looser and live your life with your heart and not mind”.  

Who Is The Best

Who is the best?

A question which arises through all the cricket fanatics head is a simple yet by large the most debatable one is, Who is the best cricket of all time.

Some with in a second would give the answer as “Sachin” for his records, there are other who talk about the elegance of “Lara”, the ruthlessness of a “Pointing”, Impact of a “Kallis”, Unbreakable technique of a “Dravid” or the Average of a “Sir Don”.

There are legends of the game who have come and gone. Legends who stood their ground and played out of their skin to either dent the opposition or to deny a win. Some of them have even left scars in bowlers hearts and minds too. But does these attribute gives them the tag of a best batsman of all time name. This is again a debatable topic. There are many people who fight and ponder upon there hero’s name to be the best. People bring examples about how great player have said what about one and other player during their interview and so on. A Lara says for him Pointing was the Best batsmen whom he respected among the opponent, Sachin says he felt Kallis was the most impact player of all and so on so forth.

There are other theories too a Lara broke down when all the pressure of batting was on him, same could be the case with Pointing. Pointing to his own admission mentioned it was the pressure which got the best of him rather than form when he retired. Sachin on the other hand had to carry the pressure of the biggest cricket watching population in the world and he did it for 24 years. Dravid was always played with a tag of being not so gifted player like all others around the world. He had to slog like a mule day in and day out to be what he is to date. Kallis was the endurance machine for his country with both bat and bowl. Lara and pointing were the gifted lot, everything they touched turned to gold.

There are other arguments among commoners like, Sir Don only played against a type of opponents and never against the spinners on a spin friendly tracks. But we should not forget he played in an era were there were no covers for pitches, high quality protective gear and bats like we have for the past 15 odd years. But still he has an amazing average that can only be dreamed in today's world of cricket

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So all this brings us to on simple question. Who is the best Batsman of all time. For me it is not a single person of the above. In this case it has to be taken in correlation with the Hindu Religion were we don’t have one single God rather many of them from one region to another. For me all these players are Gods and have made what Cricket in the religion today is.