Make Time For Sports.
LINUS FERNANDES
Rahul Dravid: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
What he said:
“I could never have imagined it was a shoelace.”
Rahul Dravid is flabbergasted to learn that the sound he heard came not from his bat but from an errant shoelace. Dravid walked on being adjudged out by umpire Simon Taufel in the second innings of the third Test at Edgbaston.
In his own words: “"My first instinct was that I had not hit it. But there was a loud noise, and I couldn’t figure out where it had come from. I knew I hadn’t hit the ground, or my pad, or my shoe, so it confused me as to where the noise had come from. But I didn’t think I had touched it. So I asked my partner and he said there was a big noise. So I had Simon Taufel, one of the best umpires in the world, ruling me out, my partner saying it was out and I myself had heard the noise. I thought maybe it was just one of those instances where I hadn’t felt the edge.”
What he really meant:
“A shoelace? A shoelace?? A shooooooelaaace?”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Now, if I had listened to my momma and fastened untied, untidy laces, this would have never occurred.”Mahendra Singh Dhoni: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
What he said:
"We have not been sleeping so we don’t need a wake-up call."
Mahendra Singh Dhoni retains his sense of humour in responding to a question whether the 3-0 series scoreline is a wake-up call.
What he really meant:
“Actually, the boys are groggy from lack of sleep.IPL partying, West Indian discos and charity dinners kept them on their toes.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Motion sickness? Oh, yes, we’re going through the motions and our fans are sick.”
Ali Brown: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
Ali Brown, England and Surrey CCC Cricketer. Uploaded per request at Wikipedia:Images for upload. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
What he said:
“I always believed that the day my age exceeds my batting average it would be time to consider calling time on my career.”
Ali Brown (Alistair Duncan Brown), former English cricketer, announces his retirement from county cricket (and Surrey) with a witticism. Ali is 41 and his first-class average is 42.67.
What he really meant:
“’41 out on 42’ is what I really wanted to say.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“I didn’t want to go out with my waist exceeding my batting average.”
Venus Williams: What she said, really meant and definitely did not
What she said:
“I just like to receive fun packages. I don’t open the packages with orthotics in them or the sports shorts. (Laughs) I’ll open the ones with the DVDs and the new books and the new clothes. I got a textbook in my last package—I find those exciting, sadly. [What subject?] Organizational behavior.”
Venus Williams loves to receive packages of any kind. Books, DVDs, clothes are par for the course. Textbooks are exciting, paradoxically.
What she really meant:
“It feels like Christmas every time I receive one.”
What she definitely did not:
“I want a manual: ‘How To Play Tennis Like A Pro’. Get me one of those.”
Graeme Swann: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
What he said:
"I spend half my working life standing next to Strauss and I have to admit he is a bit of a hero to me."
Graeme Swann admits to hero worshipping his skipper, Andrew Strauss.
What he really meant:
“Strauss is the pillar I lean on. As for the other half of my working life, I spend next to KP. Now you know, no real comparison.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Andrew, you’re the wind beneath my wings.”
Nasser Husain: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
What he said:
“All the best for your charity but no sympathies for your injured fingers for what you did to me in the NatWest final.”
Nasser Husain has a long memory. He may no longer don English colours but his bloody-mindedness survives. Yuvraj Singh is the target of the jab above.
What he really meant:
“I know what you can do—healthy and injury-free. Broady remembers too.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Half a dozen roses for my Indian friend and a get-well-soon card, please. Overnight delivery.”
Kapil Dev: What he said, really meant and definitely did not
What he said:
“Everybody go ga ga about Sachin Tendulkar that ‘I learn from him and so on’. If you ask Virender Sehwag who is your guru he will say Sachin. If you ask Yuvraj, he will say Sachin. But I have never seen Sehwag or Sachin or Laxman, with their bundle of experience in batting, walking up to the bowlers to advise them the correct line to bowl.”
Kapil Dev Nikhanj is certain that the youngsters merely pay lip service tributes to the seniors in the side. The former Indian captain does not see the desired team spirit on the field.
What he really meant:
“If the bowlers keep repeating their mistakes and no one corrects them on the field, will they not continue in the same vein?”
What he definitely didn’t:
“What I really advocate is on-field coaching with microphones and headsets, specifically for this Indian side.”
Indian cricket: Bloody headlines, turnaround captains and a lesson
“A bad Board lets a good side down”
“RIP. World’s No.1 Test Team”
“India surrender No. 1 Test Spot”
“Humiliation is complete, No.1 crown lost”
The headlines in the DNA, Times Of India, Hindustan Times and Indian Express read as above on an Independence Sunday, for the Indian cricket fan to fully absorb a dismal, abrupt, abject end to the Indian team’s pretensions to greatness.
The knives are out, reams of analysis will be printed, experts will make a million suggestions and scapegoats will be discovered and punished over the coming weeks and months.
Should the surrender be total, and it is certainly more than a mere possibility despite MS Dhoni’s brave words at the post-match conference, the stewardship of the Indian cricket team would be on the line.
Test cricket and life
I’d say Test cricket grows on you.
In the beginning, there was only Test cricket, you knew of nothing better. Tests were cricket, cricket were Tests. Then India won the World Cup in 1983, and you realized that there was an exciting, faster-paced brand of cricket, a form in which India were world champions, a form that could bridge the gap between good teams and great.
And if you were a schoolkid, Test cricket paled in comparison. Who had the time to follow five gourmet meal of a game over 5 days, when you could get instant Maggi and masala?
But you grew older, and just like your appreciation of music finessed, so did your appreciation of the nuances of the longer version of the game.
Sure, you still found it difficult to find time to enjoy 30 hours of timeless cricket but you discovered that it mirrored life. That patience pays more, that it’s about plugging away and hoping that things will turn around.
It’s life, in a microcosm.
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Make Time For Sports. 