Desi Girl Talks Cricket World Cup!

February 19th, 2011:
India vs. Bangladesh

In true Desi style, the Indian cricket team came on to the pitch in Mirpur, Bangladesh, ready for BADLA (revenge)! It was at the last Cricket World Cup that Bangladesh literally slaughtered the Indian team which ultimately cost the Indian team a place in the final most believe. However, this time around, that would not be the case. Winning the toss and electing to field first, Bangladesh pretty much had no idea what was about to hit them.

Boundaries-Sixers-Wickets

* Whatever we saw of the Tendulkar-Sehwag jodi, although brief, was not to be missed. It's always heaven when the duo get together and hit it all over the pitch.

* After Sachin's early departure, Sehwag realized it was him who would have to stay for as long as he could on the crease. And stay he did. Hitting a whopping 175, the cricketer came out to bat in full form. Sixes and fours flowed zabardast all over the ground. And the best came after his century. Hurting his knee and immediately turning into Langda Tagyi, he decided to take aerial route as his overs literally looked like the following: 4 4 6 4 4. But even then, with the help with his runner (Gambhir), he added 75 to his total.

* Besides being uber cute, Virat Kohli is one young cricketer to watch out for. Thank goodness for eye candy on the pitch! Not only does the cricketer understand how even 2's and 3's can add to the scoreboard, causing Sehwag to run and how, but when it came to sticking around, he was there. A solid 100 to his name, this is one dude to watch out for. Ladies, binoculars out!

* India went on to pile on 370/4 for their full 50 overs. Realizing that this was not going to be an easy task Bangladesh tried their best to get as close as they could to the Mount Everest total. The dudes put on 283 runs with their players going for pretty good individual scores before they ran out of overs.

* Hello Munaf Patel. Kaise ho? Did you know you were a rockstar? Well with bowling figures like 4/48, you can easily deem yourself a rock star. Badu saras dhikra!

WTH Moments

* Uh yeah, what was up with Sachin's early run out? Hello bhai! So many years of experience and yet such an amateur run out? Sehwag to be blamed or not, bahut bura hua bhai.

* Rubel Hossain and Virat Kohli getting noisy on the field exchanging some not-so nice words clearly was interesting. But what on earth was the problem? Gr. I wish the mic stumps were on... or I could lip read.

* Indian fielding. Need I say more?

* Sreesanth's horrendous bowling! He tried and failed. Tried again and failed. And then this happened: 53 runs in 5 overs. Sreesanth, nachna band, bowling shuru bhai!

India wins in true style, agenda in tact: revenge (evil laugh)! And on that note, wickets down, stadium empty, I'm outta here. Fanatical Desi Girl who loves cricket will be back next week on February 27th as India play England in Kolkatta. Khoob Bhalo!

Photo Credit: Santa Banta

March Mayhem

It is only three months into the new year and March is already a month reckon with. The Indian Cricket team went on to create history and win a series against New Zealand after eons. Kudos to Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag who hit amazing knocks against the Kiwis. The women's Indian Cricket team, who unfortunately do not get enough accolades or recognition, are also doing fabulously at their World Cup. Team India beat the worlds best Australia in great pomp and style. I wish the media would cover their accomplishments and give them some publicity. These ladies are such fabulous sportswomen and its such a beautiful achievement on their part. No one may recognize it or see it, but kudos to you ladies.

On the other hand, it has been a week of some serious ragging in India. Young Aman Kachroo fell victim to "Ragged to Death," by his seniors and unfortunately only lived to be nineteen. Ragging is a tradition in many colleges across India where college freshers are bullied and teased in what is supposed to be a fun few days. However, in the past, this custom had taken a serious toll when youngsters took the fun and game too far resulting in a number of deaths. The government banned ragging of any form but it obviously has no meaning for the youth. Aman Kachroo was beaten to death by a group of seniors. School officials took over a day to finally inform the police of the incident. This piece of news made headlines all over India and made audiences believe that a point had been made - this is unacceptable. However, a few days later, a young girl attempted suicide after she was asked to dance naked as a part of her rag. To me, after such instances, I can totally understand why the government has no hope for the youth of India. I can see what they see: a youth that does not understand its boundaries and has no respect for life. Kachroo was a young boy who was the future of his family. It is even more disturbing to learn that he was a medical student and the group of imbeciles that killed him, were potential doctors. Is this what our youth has become - murderers in the form of medical practitioners?

And then there are the upcoming I.P.L's. Both of them: the Indian Premiere League in the form of Cricket and the Indian Parliament eLections. Coincidentally, both leagues will be occurring simultaneously which is a major cause of concern for the national security forces. Clearly both are important in their own ways, but election season has to take precedence. If a match occurs on a voting day, it is more than likely that voter turn out will fall. This is not good considering that the government needs as many votes as they can. At the same time, in the light of potential terrorist attacks which is a universal daily issue that must be tackled, protecting national politicians, international cricketers and our own desi cricketers will prove to be too strenuous for the local police officials. Ideally, the cricket league should either be completely avoided this year or pushed back to a more practical time. The I.P.L and B.C.C.I will beat themselves on the head if anything catastrophic were to happen on any of the match days. In the meantime, VOTE INDIA VOTE!

Keeping with voting season and taking a more positive outlook on the youth of India, they too have decided that this year, the balancing scale needs to be outweighed. A great group of youngsters have gone ahead and started the Lead India Campaign which has some great ways YOU and the government should/can help their country. You must take a look : http://www.lead.timesofindia.com/. You can add to the list of oaths, sign the pledge and get involved.

Hopefully the March Madness soon calms down and all ends well. Until then, my message this month is one of hope and peace. Hope in the form of a new bright India filled with a youth who is willing to take India into the future and peace for our country, our surrounding neighbors and around the world.

Photo Credit: thewip.net