Four years after

And the World Cup has begun. It is four years after the almighty Aussies conquered the Caribbean, making it three cups in a row – exerting the dominance never ever seen in cricket ever. It is four years after, we searched for a team Australia would meet in the final. And four years after, we see that the Cup is wide open, up for grabs for at least four top teams, if they can manage consistency throughout the month and half long celebrations.

But there are deeper questions that surround the ICC's 49-match, 43-day, 13-venue event, this time around. Yes, it is being organized in the biggest money collecting bowl for cricket in the world – the subcontinent we are a part of. Yes, it is perhaps the last time we'd see the two of the best batsmen of our times – Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, playing in multi-nation tourney. But this is also a time where ODI format is being questioned, for its worth, especially in the wake of the T20 onslaught.

Unlike in the past, the Cup's 10th edition - even before it began - was labelled as the decider for what course the 50-over game will take in future. And in all the likelihood, everything that happens in this edition will have consequences impacting cricket's future, almost immediately. The ICC now calls this World Cup, "The Cup that Counts", which gives enough indication how important it could be. More so for non-Test playing countries like Nepal, since they've been preparing for past decade to be able to play in the World Cup under this format. Imperative that our administrators watch every action that takes place during the World Cup, both on and off the field.

Since the 1980s, ODI World Cup has kept cricket expanding and has been the best advertisement for cricket in non cricket playing nations. Netherlands, Canada and Kenya playing at the biggest stage in this format have kept our boys putting in that extra yard of pace, that extra bit of power in their shots, in their backyards. If that were to fall, we would have to rethink our strategies, and the same stands true for the countries like Afghanistan.

Test cricket still remains purists' choice and delight. It's not old, it's mellow, like wine – they say. It's there to stay – they say. But questions have been raised on the relevance of the shorter format – the one dayers. With more explosive and animated form of the game, added with oomph (read cheerleaders) and shorter duration – the T20s – there are questions over why is there a need for format that lasts entire day. It has become the new tequila shot for the non-purists. Why need anything when we already have wine and tequila – they say.

There were many who said bringing in Bryan Adams at the opening extravaganza of the World Cup fitted well. After all, Bryan Adams had his peak in 90s, the same time as the peak of ODIs. Both are losing their charm – is what they complain.

But then, how many of us do dislike '18 till I die' or 'Everything I do'? It's that spirit of openness and romance that remains in us, no matter how old. That's akin to ODI format, which gave wings to cricket, just when Test matches began to become dull affair. The spirit of romance that ODI brought in cannot be compared with the oomph and money we see in the T20s. That ways Bryan Adams fitted well with the World Cup.

It's also fitting Sachin Tendulkar now will make his presence in the World Cup as a brand ambassador. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said once: "We are very lucky to have such an extraordinary player as Sachin supporting our flagship event."

So if not for anything else, for him, we should rejoice this event. The event that began in Bangabandhu stadium in Dhaka, a place where history and the memories live in, a place where the fans have special bonds, should be toasted.

After all, despite the presence of wine and tequila shots, rare scotch whiskey has its own value. Its value lies in being mellow and having the sting at the same time.

So let's celebrate the ICC World Cup 2011. For we can't be sure – what it will be, four years after.

(The article originally appeared in The Kathmandu Post, 19th February, 2011, in a weekly column of Yours Truly)

A fan's wishlist for 2011

Abraham Lincoln once said, “And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.” As a year comes to an end, and another starts, it's time to take stock of the year gone by, and a time to figure out what we want in another that has just started.

For sports fans, it's always about how many trophies their teams win, rather than how many matches they play. One bronze medal in Asian Games, added to a fifth place finish in South Asian Games is not what Nepali fans dream of. They want more, especially when Afghanistan, the latest entrant to SAG is breathing down our neck.

So what would a sports fan wish for, in the coming year? Brighter medal tallies, more efficient sport management and teams that would scare the opposition? 11 items from the wishlist of a sport fan for 2011:

-          We would like to see more Deepak Maharjans, for they represent the kind of professionals we need. Quiet, tongue-tied, but efficient in the punches they deliver at a boxing ring. We'd rather not have the boisterous players, promising more than they could deliver. Additionally, we would not mind having more Dipak Bistas, although that's a rare commodity winning us four gold medals at SAG, as long as they don't let their tongues work ahead of their brain.

-          We would like to see a Sports Minister, who would like to work with the sport officials, and not against them, using whims as a policy. We would rather like to see them making policies, which help the players and the game than leading contingent at multi-national events.

-          We would like to see an end to the rivalry between National Sports Council and Nepal Olympic Committee. Both are expected to help the sports sector flourish and despite knowing their rivalry is helping other countries bag more medals, they've gone about their way. It would be nice to see members from both the sides thinking for sports, together.

-          We would like the Finance Minister to release budget on time, for the players suffer when they don't get proper facilities. Lack of budget does hamper a player's mentality, just the way it does affect our households.

-          We would want our sport officials to be respected, as people who think for the players and development of the game. For now, the players - even while talking to journalists - use the unmentionables, when they have to refer to any sport official.

-          We would like the Supreme Court verdict which said, sports associations do not need registration under National Sports Council, to be honoured and implemented. It has the potential to open the doors for modernization of Nepali sports. The sport associations do not need control regime.

-          We would like to hear the news that sport officials were awarded for their honesty and integrity. We would like to see them working for the upliftment of the game, if that's not too much to ask for.

-          We would like to see more spectators in the stadium during the football league. Somehow the stadium being filled is either limited to folklores now, or the international matches, which is rare already.

-          We would like to see the ANFA president Ganesh Thapa, to delegate some authority, especially now that he might become Vice-President of Asian Football Council. We would like him at the helm for his developmental work, and not the goals he used to score in late 80s and very early 90s.

-          We would like to have a cricket coach that can better the records of Roy Dias, who brought Nepali cricket to international notice. We need someone who gets players' respect, carries on where Dias left and not reinvent the wheel again.

-          And finally, at least some from us would like to see Sachin Tendulkar scoring his 60^th Test match century this year, for the simple reason that he's born to do that.

Impossible dreams? But then, that's the liberty fans have, of demanding too much… And what a day it would be, if we get to see all of them fulfilled.

Joy Forever

Sachin Tendulkar scored his 50th century in Test matches this week. The news made headlines. Of course, the feat deserved it. At one point of time, say only a decade or two ago, it was way beyond anybody’s comprehension that a tally of 50 could ever be reached, especially that modern day cricket was getting more and more competitive. Those who wrote on cricket then would talk of 30s as a benchmark; none could even think that half a century of centuries could actually be accomplished.

So the feat was definitely special, worth printing in gold. But for fans it was something even more. It was an end to their wait, for they were waiting for the genius to reach there. As if some divine being had told them, this is a part of their pre-planned journey – watching Sachin making history.

Right after he scored his milestone ton, one colleague of this scribe asked him, “Don’t you think he’ll play for another five years?” Now take that for a question. And in certain ways, the question itself was an answer. A manifestation of their belief in the man, that stood just 5-foot 5-inches above the ground, yet towering above most of his contemporaries.

For one thing, Sachin Tendulkar would stand above all, that is for gathering the most number of fans across the globe, just the way we see him gathering runs in his pomp.

This scribe, among many of his generation, is one such self-declared a fan of his. The generation that took to adulthood in 1990s – which also included some Nepali cricketers who played in recent times – watched him take his first steps in international scene. The whole generation read as many pieces written on him as possible. For some, it was statistics; for some food for thought; for some a way of learning cricket; while for some, one more topic to talk at the tea stalls. And that would either precede or proceed with the highlights of his innings on TV, which for many of us, were always a ‘masterpiece’. The magazines like ‘The Sportstar’ were the new bible, but any issue that did not carry a story on him was ‘a piece of trash’ and not worth buying.

Growing up in 1990s was not easy. Nepal was an infant democracy, trying to learn how to walk the democratic path. The panchayat era influence on Nepali sports was there, although weakening; the newer controllers were trying to learn how to rein it in; the free market economic policy was the buzzword, although the younger lot were still to grab the concept; the insurgency was just flaring up in some remote part of the country; prices were going up and pocket money was not able to match with those; the curriculum wasn’t getting easier and the career path appeared limited; the IT revolution had started in our neighbourhood and we were not part of it – all enough to keep teenagers frustrated.

But then there was Sachin Tendulkar. In some of the most ferocious strokeplay we’d ever watched, we found peace. With a young boy looks (then he was young as well), and a heavy willow in his hands, he was trying to prove that there was hope, amidst frustration. The mortals suddenly appeared elevated, for there was some heavenly charm in those innings. The 90s had become bearable, despite frustrations it held for so many of us.

Come 2000s, we felt – journalists can be cruel people, especially with their questions. They talked about his decline. They asked him – When would you retire? And as most players, who spend a lot of time with PR coaches these days, he’d skirt away without an answer.

The fans looked sideways to find an actual answer. When there’s a lull in any player’s career, how do we know that he or she will not overcome the slump? Although journalists are quick to write a player off, fans are not.

And celebration of Tendulkar’s innings is vindication of fan’s faith in him. For they knew, it would come. It had to, even if it meant 7 centuries within a year.

And that’s a toast to Sachin Tendulkar, probably the greatest modern day cricketer, who could hold on to his fans, even when he could not do so, at times, with runs.

(The article originally appeared in The Kathmandu Post, 25th December, 2010, in a weekly column of Yours Truly)

The Year that Was!

And finally, this year (2009) comes to an end. At one point, yours truly thought this might never come to an end at all, rather the year 2009 would continue till eternity, maybe even surpassing the 'doomsday' announced sometime in 2012. But then every good thing comes to an end – and rather surprisingly, bad ones last too, albeit longer – and this one had to bid goodbye too.

However, this year has been a notable one, for yours truly, and he is sure, as he always is (whether it's about his buffoonery or somebody else's), it would have been similar, if not the same, for you too. For this has been the year when entire Nepal was more interested in the exact site, setting and semantics of mole on Namrata Shrestha's parts-in privy (as it should have been) than it was on how to walk to office (or back) in case some nincompoop party announced a bandh at its whim.

Yours truly enjoyed this year to the fullest, just as he's been doing it for last 3 decades. For this was the year when Tiger Woods proved that he was human, and not God, which all of mortals thought he was. It was amazing why he chose to tell the world that he was human by philandering – or getting in the news a lá Paris Hilton, and not getting out-foccused by some passers-by while putting those ice-cool putts he's been doing over the years. But the great news is, the Tiger is human after all, with the fallibility that makes some of us look like four-footed.

Amazingly, this was the year when Sachin Tendulkar proved his God-like status yet again. This is another year where he made us question: Is he human after all? People like us (the ones who can't see others happy) would keenly be waiting for the day, when he too takes the Woods road, and tell us why we love those high ups falling down. But then… yours truly also fears that day.

This was the year when our own government took the issue of climate change to heights, literally. Just as we were thinking of minimizing our carbon footprints on earth by trying out eco-friendly ways, like closing down lights when we need them most – by increasing load shedding hours, our government took half the country to Everest Base Camp. Imagine the fuel consumption… And just when we imagined nobody can beat that, Nepal went ahead and outdid itself. With 650 people at Copenhagen, yours truly is sure, Danish government got scared thinking the bandh virus had spread to the Nordic countries too. You can bet, that was the reason China, more or less, got scared and started talking about complying with global emission cuts. (China, with some 50 times our population, amazingly, sent less than 50 people to the summit)

But then, for yours truly, the best part of the year was – when Comrade (pronounced – come raid) the Fierce One, decided to quit the all powerful seat he was holding, and called the government-in-his-absence the 'puppet'. The Fierce One, or Mr. Awesome – as called by many – along with his partner-in-crime Comrade Red Flag (Laldhwaj, in Nepali) outdid themselves – just as we tried to forget which side of the border they were in while those 'famous' treaties were signed – by saying they're ready to talk only to the forces south side of the border. Well, that said all, but we pretend we're yet to know – and that, is the best part yours truly saw in the year that's going by…

And lest I should forget, let's raise a toast saying…

Here's to the bright New Year

And a fond farewell to the Old;

Here's to the things that are yet to come

And the memories that we hold… Amen!!!

PS: Yours truly, will, hopefully, come up with better ones next year...