Gautam Gambhir does not have flying pigs on his mind.
What he said:
“I think Sunil Narine will offer just another 12-second smile even if one day he sees pigs fly.”
Gautam Gambhir is certain that his team-mate Sunil Narine will meet both success and failure expressionlessly.
The Kolkata Knight Riders skipper is amazed that the West Indian bowler is none-too-perturbed at being reported for a dubious bowling action to the Champions League T20 Committee.
Gambhir writes:
“We were in the dressing room. I was waiting to see if his face reveals an expression. It didn’t. In the bus as we headed back to our hotel, I was still waiting. Nothing happened. At the hotel a cake shaped in numerical “13” to mark our winning streak was waiting for us.
A cake riot followed but my man offered just a 12 second smile. Later in the night we were all huddled in our team-room on the 16th floor. The boys were having fun downing beers and chicken wings rejoicing our achievement. My expression-less friend and I were in one corner playing football on Playstation. He played a flowing game and won. I thought he’d exult but nothing happened except a smile.”
He added:
“Good or bad, success or failure, win or loss Sunil has never showed emotions. Therefore, when he was warned for a suspect bowling action after our win over Dolphins on Monday night, I was worried. I didn’t know how he would react. I kept observing him searching for a hint of disappointment, worry or the likes on his face, but his expression was consistent.
Indifferent.
I knew deep down he was hurt and his pride dented. No sportsperson likes to be nudged for unfair practice. Sunil is no different. He must have been simmering deep down but he didn’t show it to anyone. We had a one-sided conversation for about 40 seconds. I told him, ‘Sunny (Sunil’s nickname), I have full faith in you.’ He offered a straight face. I continued: ‘I know you are not resorting to any unfair practice.’He nodded. ‘Just don’t worry, the entire KKR team is with you.'”
What Gambhir really meant:
“Narine’s my match-winner and I have to make sure that he is in the right frame of mind for the upcoming crucial games. Tonight, I’ll have hogs fly past his window just to make sure.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“I’m sure that Narine has nothing to say about being reported. It’s just one of those things that have happened in the past month. Perhaps, he feels he’s in exalted company. Or it’s just another hazard of the off-spinning trade. Maybe, he’s a stoic. Possibly he’s been advised by his agent and/or lawyer to admit to nothing. I wonder if he’ll stop bowling in long sleeves now.”
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Waqar Younis was unprepared for crackdown.
What he said:
“This crackdown is going to affect the preparations of teams for the World Cup especially those teams whose bowlers are being reported.”
Former Pakistani pace bowler Waqar Younis believes that the timing of the clampdown on suspect bowling actions is inopportune and adversely affects the World Cup chances of the teams whose bowlers have been reported, specifically his country’s.
He said:
“I am not sure about the timing of these new laws being enforced by the ICC. The new protocols and technology to test bowling actions could have been done after the World Cup.”
Three Pakistani off-spinners—Saeed Ajmal, Muhamad Hafeez and Adnan Rasool—have been placed under the scanner in the past month.
He added:
“When bowlers are reported at any level for suspect actions it obviously affects their confidence. I know Hafeez is concerned after being reported. So it does affect your preparations for the World Cup.
I don’t know because cricket has changed in the last decade or so, laws have changed and so have bowling actions. Spinners now use more variation and different deliveries because they are being tested constantly in all formats with the growing popularity of T20 cricket.
One can understand when the ICC rule for bowling action is being stretched so far but I still have my reservations about the timing of the new protocol for bowling actions.”
On the doosra:
“The doosra delivery is an unorthodox delivery but staple for spinners and it adds value to the game. I think the ICC needs to look at this aspect. Whoever bowls the doosra will always bend his elbow more than the allowed 15 degrees because it is natural. Secondly the medical aspect while testing bowling actions should also be taken into consideration.”
What Younis really meant:
“The Pakistanis are losing their match-winning spinners because of the crackdown. What are we to do if the ball we invented—the doosra—is outlawed? Play marbles?”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Let’s hope this whole affair reverse swings.”
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George Bailey likes short-sleeved Akshar Patel.
What he said:
“Wicket-taker, contains, and he does it in a short-sleeved shirt, which is nice to see for a spinner.”
George Bailey has nothing but praise for his Kings XI teammate Akshar Patel, a left-arm spinner.
What he really meant:
“The short sleeves imply that he does not rely on tricks to hide any dubious bowling action. That’s a rarity in today’s game.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“How about a doosra, mate?”
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Younis Khan’s 30-minute tirade.
What he said:
“Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf went while crying. When Inzamam was leaving, I was the one who went and clapped for him.”
Pakistani veteran bat Younis Khan is furious at being left out of the squad for the ODI series against Australia. The Pakistani Cricket Board (PCB) indicated that he will not be considered for next year’s World Cup either.
He said:
“Don’t select me, not even in Tests. I sacrifice my future.I am saying a simple thing, if they are saying that youngsters are future of ODIs, then where is the future of Pakistan in Test cricket? Don’t select me in Test matches and make [the youngsters] the future of Pakistan in Test cricket too. But what will happen if they can’t make a team for ODIs and Test matches after five months, will they again do recalling?
I won’t die and I won’t be 70-year-old in four-five months, if they don’t let me play with dignity then so be it. They have hurt me, they have hurt me when they said that players like me have no future. Then who has a future? So a player like me should shoot himself? When they are 35, 36, players like me wake up at seven ‘o’ clock, show commitment, I can do only this. Instead shoot ourselves, don’t play cricket at all, don’t play domestic cricket at all? I will wait for 4-5 months. They are saying that I don’t have a future, I will wait, I am not retiring, I will wait, may this team go ahead, if they make the team [strong] I won’t come back.”
Younis added:
“I came back after almost 17-18 months, but they said he is not in our future plans. Who has a future then? I give my 120% as a player, I am perhaps the only cricketer [who does so]. I am not saying drop a youngster and let me play. I am just saying that justice should be done with players like me, give us what we deserve. My nephew died and I came back. When they do such things with senior players, what will youngsters think. Change doesn’t come like this, you can’t wave a magic wand.
Don’t let everyone be treated in a similar manner, those who have raised the flag of this country, don’t disrespect them otherwise no youngster will play for Pakistan.”
The former skipper advised Pakistani youngsters thus:
“Is this my mistake that when youngsters struggle they come to me instead of going to coaches and I do help them? I try to help Pakistan, and still I am surprised that I have played for 14-15 years for Pakistan.
I never told anyone to back me in media or phoned anyone [about selection]. If I deserve Test matches and ODI I should be given chance. Is this my fault that I don’t go to selectors? I don’t call them? I don’t meet them before going for the match? England media was very harsh on us in 2009, when they used to allege us that we were doing ball tampering, then I stood firm and I defended Pakistan. I was the captain when Pakistan won the World T20. If this is my mistake, then my suggestion to youngster is don’t play for Pakistan. Don’t think about playing for Pakistan.”
What he really meant:
“Very few (Pakistani) cricketers are allowed to go out in style like Sachin Tendulkar. They are pushed out whether they like it or not. It’s just not cricket that they are (I am) unceremoniously dropped.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Can you lend me your kerchief, please? Mine’s soaked and salty.”
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Ashwell Prince – New Years Day Training at the Sydney Cricket Ground 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Ashwell Prince is done with his share.
What he said:
“You can’t survive for 66 Tests just on the basis of a quota.”
Ashwell Prince protests that coloreds in the South African side do not get full credit for their on-field achievements. His Cricinfo profile describes him as a beneficiary of the post-apartheid preferential treatment for blacks in South African sport.
He added:
“It saddens me that I have to point that out today, but you have to defend yourself.”
Prince said:
“As soon as apartheid fell away and we could compete with white kids, we proved that colour had nothing to do with it. Right from the start, we could go from Galvendale, which is where I grew up in Port Elizabeth, go to their ground and beat them. It was all about opportunity and being able to show what you could do.”
On the quota system:
“We were aware that there were quota systems in provincial cricket. But as far as the national team was concerned, there was never ever a quota system. Unfortunately, outside of South African cricket, people didn’t see it like that, so whenever someone of colour was selected for the national team there were these questions. It came as no surprise to me that opposition players would target me in that way.”
What he really meant:
“On the field, race hardly matters. It’s runs, wickets and catches that count. In my case, certainly, statistics don’t lie.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Have I used up my quota of words or what?”
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Kapil Dev Nikhanj
What he said:
“I used to hate England because they ruled my country but I am happy they gave us the game of cricket, which they can’t play very well, and the English language, which I can’t speak very well.”
Kapil Dev Nikhanj cannot resist taking a dig at the English in his acceptance speech. The former Indian skipper was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Indo-European Business Forum (IEBF) at a ceremony in the House of Lords in London.
The presentation was for his contribution to cricket and his work in upliftment of poor and destitute communities through the Khushii society.
What he really meant:
“I’m happy we’re free of the British and that we now Lord it over them at the ICC even though we still can’t speak the Queen’s English equally well. I, of course, suffer from short-term memory loss and have forgotten that Team India surrendered the last three Test series.”
What he definitely didn’t but could have:
“It’s time the English relinquished sovereignty over the language as well. There are more English speakers in India than in the whole of UK.”
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Narendra Modi
What he said:
“When our cricketers win a tournament, the entire country celebrates. What the scientists have achieved today, is much greater than that.”
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, makes a pointed reference to the skewed priorities of the Indian public when it comes to celebrating the country’s achievements.
The occasion was India becoming the first country to send a space craft into Mars’ orbit on its maiden attempt.
What he really meant:
“We need heroes from all spheres and professions—not merely sports and films.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Now that’s what I’d term bowling a maiden over!”
Ravi Shastri
What he said:
“Narine makes you no better than a blind, a lame or a mentally challenged person. Compared to him, video games are a child’s play.”
Ravi Shastri attributes Kolkata Knightriders’ stupendous show at the Champion Leagues T20 to one man, Sunil Narine. The West Indian mystery bowler continues to bamboozle his opponents.
Shastri said:
“While everything on this Earth is being figured out, Narine it seems is a mystery forever. It’s not that batsmen can’t see him or watch the ball fizz out of his hand.But what they perceive and how the delivery behaves are two opposites.”
Shastri—writing further—said:
“Rivals thus end up playing 16 to KKR’s 20 overs. The handicap of one-fifth of overs is too big to overcome in a format where a win is often secured off the last ball and a margin of 5-10 runs is routine. The related effect of batsmen giving wanton charge to other bowlers and rushing to their doom is less appreciated.”
What he really meant:
“The opposing bats are like handicapped golfers—at a disadvantage before they begin.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“What’s West Indies doing with a world-class spinner? Aren’t they supposed to have burly, fearsome pacers instead? And if he’s so good, why aren’t they winning more?”
Ian Chappell
What he said:
“Not only is it important to keep the contest between bat and ball fair, it also pays to remember kids are great mimics.”
Ian Chappell writes that bowlers with dubious bowling actions should be called early and their actions rectified before they go on to become successes on the domestic and international playing fields. The attendant adverse publicity casts aspersions on the game and its proponents.
Chappell said:
“…because kids are mimics and will copy the heroes of the day, and a sure way to eradicate dodgy actions is stop offenders before they reach the first-class arena.”
The player-turned-commentator adds:
“…the one area of the chucking issue the ICC hasn’t addressed is the law as it applies to on-field immediacy. How come a batsman is protected when a bowler oversteps the front line by a millimetre but he isn’t when a trundler suddenly pelts one after bowling the bulk of his deliveries?
Batsmen need immediate protection in this case rather than getting a letter from the ICC six months later apologising because they have discovered the delivery that uprooted off stump was illegal.”
What Chappell really meant:
“Kids are impressionable and bound to imitate their heroes. If they (heroes) have feet of clay, kids have no firm ground to fall back on for their mimicked actions. Besides, the mentality becomes one of ‘ If they (apparently) can get away with it, why can’t I?'”
What he definitely didn’t:
“I could teach apes to bowl and they’d bowl every ball cleanly.”
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Gautam Gambhir
What he said:
“I have enjoyed when a gorgeous cricket ball declines the advances of my well-manicured cricket bat. But loaded with the perseverance of a sincere lover, my bat wins.”
Gautam Gambhir waxes lyrical on the value of practiced perseverance. The Indian opener confesses, that unlike Andre Agassi, he loves his sport.
Gambhir wrote:
“Whenever I look at the Gautam Gambhir in the mirror it seems tennis star Andre Agassi is reading out passages from his autobiography, Open. Agassi says he ‘hated tennis with dark and secret passion’. This is after tennis gave him identity, fortune, silverware, a few wanted and unwanted perks that a successful, young man is prone to get, later on a beautiful wife and most importantly adrenaline of being in a competition. But the fact is he hated his sport. You’d say either Agassi teamed up with the publishers to sell his book, or he’s just being cynical. Sorry, neither.”
Gambhir adds:
“Unlike Agassi, I love my sport. I can watch any game of cricket on TV. Even if the repeat telecast is for the 600th time, I’d be glued with excitement of a woman watching serials on conniving ladies. I might bat like a novice in the middle but I just love batting and its romance. I have enjoyed when a gorgeous cricket ball declines the advances of my well-manicured cricket bat. But loaded with perseverance of a sincere lover my bat wins. It then starts to caress, cuddle and later even lovingly thump its once shining lady.
But the real challenge lies beyond these dreamy passages. You wake up on a match day and you are in company of fear of failure. You turn on the shower and instead of water you have expectations beating on your body. You dress up but in reality you are wearing the image of a celebrity that the outside world wants to see you as – a champion or a loser.”
On Andre Russel, his Kolkata Knight Riders teammate:
“Even in the past he has been our Superman. On most occasions he’s dancing, grooving, laughing and when he gets bored he does all of these all over again. He secretly admits that he wants to dress up like a Jamaican but can’t do it as he’d stand out among ‘sober Indians’.
Amid all this, he is still a bloody good cricketer. There is a method to his power-hitting. Just recall his use of the depth of the crease while hitting those sixes against Chennai Super Kings. He does 100 meters under 11 seconds which I think anyone having a Jamaican passport does. I told him that his Mohawk hairstyle needs a bit of a mojo as it has flattened out. He just gives me a hearty Jamaican laugh as if to say, ‘No mojo skippermaan, my hair needs Viagra!’ Don’t be surprised if Andre actually tells me this one day.”
What Gambhir really meant:
“My love of the game is based on practice and perseverance. The more I persevere and practice, the better I connect. “
What he definitely didn’t:
“Now if James Anderson and company were here, I’d show them how well I’ve mastered their ‘Lady in Red’. For now, I love hammering the ‘White Widow’ on Indian soil.”
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