Silence Must be Heard

Jumbo 500 - An Ode to My Favourite Sportsman & Cricketer
After Kapil Dev if someone really facinated me in Indian cricket, it is the bespectacled engineer fighting silently for a long forgotten entuty, Team INDIA, the "Men in Blue". What stands out is the difference in spirit that he has demonstrated, over and over again, in contrast to his much more superiorly talented, notoriously undisciplined and unscrupulously unsportsmanlike peerslike Rahul Dravid and Co. Unfortunately enough he comes from the same place which is also the roots of Dravid.

The reason for this comparison, inspite of apparent dissimilarities is the two sides of the coin of Indian Cricket that they represent. Dravid had the potential of becoming a phenomenal cricketing sportsman, but he rather choose the more convenient route of being an opportunistic route through the web of Dirty Indian Politics. Irrespective of the credibility or the suitability of 'dada' for the post of Indian team what cannot be digested or believed is that Dravid's intense lobbying had his own narrow vested interests more in mind than the future of Team India. Irrespectove of his calibre and his competence, he deserves of being disqualified from Indian Cricket just on the grounds of performing actions unbecoming of his stature as Vice-Captain of Indian National Cricket Team.

In an unassociated bunch incidents, during the rift period between 'Dada' & Dravid, I was frequently cornered by BangaLURUeans in my office in an attempt to kick a debate as to the relevance and the contribution of 'dada' and his 'dirty games'.
Even though 'dada' was never my pick of players, I was duty bound to defend him , not because I was expected to do so as a BONG, but because these regional sentiment driven folks
(the bangaLURUeans) were discrediting not only Ganguly's current call at the indian Cricket team but also his contributions throughout his career to Indian Cricket. Now this was too much. Ganguly, is no saint but comparing him with Dravid who's sole focus was improvinh his personal game, is like comparing Finance minister's role to that of a domestic housewife. I simply had to show the "LURU's" my middle finger through logical reasoning route. But what hurt me the most is that being throughout brought up in Delhi, I never realised I was a bengali, in fact I was one of the harshest critics of them, I always thought that I was only an INDIAN. It took some Frustoo LURU's to bring narrow regional sentiments into the picture.
Now, I am back! I love praising people for what they have done, the choices they have made, the way they have conducted themselves rather than their dynasty, birth or other no contributional factors. I am back at praising my favourite in the Cricket team, without any concern that with this those LURU buddies of mine would jump out of their seat to claim their common link with my JUMBO, doesn't matter they never till now considered his presence even worthy of consideration.

There are certain joys in life that need no explanation. One of them is watching 'JUMBO' Anil Kumble toss a twirling ball at the start of his run-up and then determinedly trudge in to deliver his ball without any apparent effort. As a bowler, he has been credited with a vital role in many of India's victories in the last decade yet, in many ways, the leg-spinner remains Indian cricket's unsung hero.

I loved this man for the HONOUR he brought with his conduct to the Gentleman's Game of Cricket.
He stood out amongst the hooligans like Miandad, Inzamam, Shoaib and the whole Australian Cricket team who had reduced this sport to a cheap show of antics.

One of the saddest time for me was when Jumbo, as Kumble is known within the team, was dropped during the 2003 World Cup, and with him having to face constant comparisons with Warne and Muttiah, had been discounted with a career long over.
This habbit of whoring is something that characterises the narrow trivial mindset of South East Asians. The tendency of comparisons ignore the principle of Unique Selling Proposition or USP which is the mantra of modern business.
Jumbo need not prove himself against the other good bowlers to prove his way into the team, all that he needs to do is to prove his worth and show how he is indispensible to a strong winning Indian Side.
The silence has finally been heard, the discipline, dedication, Focussed hardwork has finally paid rich dividents. Jumbo has finally etched his name firmly and permanently into the Hall of Fame of international cricket with his 500th test cricket. God truly is fair, Justice Finally is done.