Sunday, November 26, 2006
The No.1 Team of the World - Take Three
Like I had mentioned in my previous post, everybody likes The No.1 Team of the World. But right now it is the Proteas who like them the most. The reason is beyond the obvious.
The cricketing gods had long deserted South Africa. As a result, the Proteas were mauled beyond recognition by Australia. Moved by their stricken plight, the new cricketing Gods (formerly mortal Men) decided to set things right. Judging by recent events, the Gods (formerly Men) have been quite successful in their selfless endeavour.
This is what the grand old game of cricket is all about. It's about humanity, friendship, peace and the works. And that's why the Men, nay Gods, are undisputed global ambassadors of the game. They travel all over the world, uplifting downtrodden cricketing nations and resurrecting the self-esteem of ravaged national teams. It is an exercise in nobility the likes of which has not been seen since the times of Geldof's Live Aid concert.
Even a team as evolved as the Men, nay Gods, can sometimes get carried away by the animal instinct of competitive sport. This was reflected in this match when they reduced the puny South African line-up to 76/6 within no time. Fortunately, the Gods (formerly Men) woke up to their actual intent of comradeship and solidarity with the struggling Proteas just in the nick of time. The Gods (formerly Men) then set aside baser goals and quickly helped their opponents reach 274/7.
Of all charitable deeds that are regularly performed by the Gods (formerly Men), one really stands out : while the Men, nay Gods, treat the opposition's fast bowling attack with kid gloves, their own fast bowling attack doles out half volleys and full tosses to the opposition's batting at the death, redefining benevolence and munificence in the process. Is there is any other team that can boast of giving away in excess of 100 runs in the last 10 overs of a match with astonishing regularity?
India coach Greg Chappell cautioned the Men, nay Gods, against getting carried away again during batting. Led from behind by the legendary opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the Men (nay Gods) accomplished their mission with aplomb. They even made a has-been like Shaun Pollock look good. Hollywood insiders inform us that the next installment of the Mission Impossible franchise will feature the impressive Gods (formerly Men) instead of the unimpressive Tom Cruise.
Sachin pretended to do a Ricky Ponting in attempting to play a pull shot off Pollock. The ball went up in the air, briefly bringing memories of Ponting to the horrified Pollock and his teammates. But instead of sailing over the fence, the ball landed in the quivering hands of an overjoyed fielder called Boozeman or something like that. It was a well-played joke that led to quite a few chuckles and Sachin walked off, quite pleased with his sense of humour. Most of the Gods (formerly Men) stuck to Coach Chappell's words of wisdom except for the captain Rahul Dravid and the "new Gilchrist", Mahendra Singh Dhoni. There is talk of having them disciplined for contravening the Indian code of conduct. But all's well that ends well. The Men, nay Gods, finished with 168/10. Inspite of their stupendous efforts, the Gods (formerly Men) had to face criticism from some quarters for handing out such a strenuous workout to the hapless Proteas bowlers in uncomfortable weather for all of 41.3 overs.
Coach Isiah Thomas of the Knicks (the No.2 Team Of The World which has been vying for the No.1 position rather unsuccessfully for a while now) followed the game with keen interest. He is said to have shown a video of this incredible game to his team in order to inspire them to even greater heights of success.
Management Class : News
The cricketing gods had long deserted South Africa. As a result, the Proteas were mauled beyond recognition by Australia. Moved by their stricken plight, the new cricketing Gods (formerly mortal Men) decided to set things right. Judging by recent events, the Gods (formerly Men) have been quite successful in their selfless endeavour.
This is what the grand old game of cricket is all about. It's about humanity, friendship, peace and the works. And that's why the Men, nay Gods, are undisputed global ambassadors of the game. They travel all over the world, uplifting downtrodden cricketing nations and resurrecting the self-esteem of ravaged national teams. It is an exercise in nobility the likes of which has not been seen since the times of Geldof's Live Aid concert.
Even a team as evolved as the Men, nay Gods, can sometimes get carried away by the animal instinct of competitive sport. This was reflected in this match when they reduced the puny South African line-up to 76/6 within no time. Fortunately, the Gods (formerly Men) woke up to their actual intent of comradeship and solidarity with the struggling Proteas just in the nick of time. The Gods (formerly Men) then set aside baser goals and quickly helped their opponents reach 274/7.
Of all charitable deeds that are regularly performed by the Gods (formerly Men), one really stands out : while the Men, nay Gods, treat the opposition's fast bowling attack with kid gloves, their own fast bowling attack doles out half volleys and full tosses to the opposition's batting at the death, redefining benevolence and munificence in the process. Is there is any other team that can boast of giving away in excess of 100 runs in the last 10 overs of a match with astonishing regularity?
India coach Greg Chappell cautioned the Men, nay Gods, against getting carried away again during batting. Led from behind by the legendary opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the Men (nay Gods) accomplished their mission with aplomb. They even made a has-been like Shaun Pollock look good. Hollywood insiders inform us that the next installment of the Mission Impossible franchise will feature the impressive Gods (formerly Men) instead of the unimpressive Tom Cruise.
Sachin pretended to do a Ricky Ponting in attempting to play a pull shot off Pollock. The ball went up in the air, briefly bringing memories of Ponting to the horrified Pollock and his teammates. But instead of sailing over the fence, the ball landed in the quivering hands of an overjoyed fielder called Boozeman or something like that. It was a well-played joke that led to quite a few chuckles and Sachin walked off, quite pleased with his sense of humour. Most of the Gods (formerly Men) stuck to Coach Chappell's words of wisdom except for the captain Rahul Dravid and the "new Gilchrist", Mahendra Singh Dhoni. There is talk of having them disciplined for contravening the Indian code of conduct. But all's well that ends well. The Men, nay Gods, finished with 168/10. Inspite of their stupendous efforts, the Gods (formerly Men) had to face criticism from some quarters for handing out such a strenuous workout to the hapless Proteas bowlers in uncomfortable weather for all of 41.3 overs.
Coach Isiah Thomas of the Knicks (the No.2 Team Of The World which has been vying for the No.1 position rather unsuccessfully for a while now) followed the game with keen interest. He is said to have shown a video of this incredible game to his team in order to inspire them to even greater heights of success.
Management Class : News
mental baba 10:30 PM
