Death of Cricket

100 of 50 balls or 20 runs an over every other over is what we come to know while watching any IPL or ICL match. The game of cricket has lost its entire beauty in the 20Twenty format of the game. It is really pain full for a true cricket fan like me to accept scorelines such as 250 in 20 overs. With the coming of 20Twenty matches the game of cricket has shrunk to mere blind hitting, very much alike 'gully cricket'. The only skill which gets attention and applaud is that how hard can you hit the ball.It is true that results arrive in 3 hours with respect to 8 hours and five days for one day cricket and test matches respectively, but then it is worth asking that do we watch cricket only for the sake of results. Does tight balling and show of class in batting have got nothing to do with cricket ? In my opinion , and as a matter of fact any true cricket fan's opinion too, they are as much the part of the game as results are.But sadly enough with the coming of 20Twenty cricket these aspects are fast loosing their significance. Few days back some eminent retired cricket made a comment that in today's cricket Hard hitting pinch hitters are much more valuable asset for a team than a good disciplined bowler. This statement has left me pain struck and i kept wondering that has the era of bowlers come to an end. Has their role ended?
Its very painful for an avid cricket fan to see young talents, who could do marvels for their country in standard forms of the game, ruining themselves in the 20-20 league. I must say that the players have also gone blind after the money. Although a pretty strong statement but i still back it because of the mere fact that many international cricketers, who had a lot of cricket left in them, have opted for a premature retirement for the sake of playing in 20-20 league. My mind refuses to accept the logic given by the players that they too have the right to earn money. So is it that their earnings from international cricket wasn't enough to give them a comfortable living? It would be silly to even open a discussion on it.
20twenty cricket can never give satisfaction to a true cricket fan. I guess the ongoing IPL is much more about SRK and Preity Zinta than cricket. IPL is a sad story which has resulted in the death of soul of cricket, but i am sure that it cannot lure cricket lovers for long.The poor and rubbish quality of cricket on display in IPL will certainly push the fans away from it. Today an article in The Times of India said that already the signs of boredom have started to show up among the fans as they are getting to see the same hard hitting and fancy cricket to see in every match. Pretty soon the fans will become over bored and they will again turn to conventional formats to catch some real cricketing action.

The Elephant Story

I am an Indian so i have all the required rights to imagine about the India of my dreams and i am also certain that no optimistic Indian would like to imagine an elephant as a symbol for India in his or dreams. By all measures i consider myself an optimist, so is it that the image of a roaring tiger did not come to my mind while i was writing this blog. Certainly not, it could have easily come to my mind but then also i think that an elephant would be more suitable to describe India.Why?

Roaring tiger would have been the best image to depict India's 9% annual growth rate and especially when we come across news items like TATAs buying out FORD's brands more than often. But wait there's more to the story. Has anyone till now pointed out that even in the midst of a global economic recession, leaving aside few hiccups, India managed to walk steadily on the path of its growth and progress. This very feeling makes me proudly proclaim that Indai's growth story has been that of the elephant.

Our (economy) has been growing steadily and firmly without being threatened from global recessions which have now and then paralyzed the western world( the reader must remember the 2001 dotcom burst and 1997 Southeast Asian Economic crisis). This motion of India which is not fast ( like that of China) but is surely enjoyable for all the Indians. We the Indians are still in the process of dismantling age old shackles which inhibit our growth but once we do it there is nobody to stop us . We must enjoy each and every moment of our growth story as the elephant does in its movement. Beware world.........we are not roaring tigers but our growth is here to stay.

Your comments are welcome.