Out of form? Indeed!!

One very convenient excuse for a string of bad performances of a cricket player is "He is out of form!". Now, that is the most pathetic excuse one can give for anything.

What does it mean? Lets see what I can come up with:

• I am having trouble at home with my wife/girlfriend and not able to concentrate while playing.
• I cannot concentrate because I am constantly calculating my earnings and tax returns in my head.
• No matter how much we sledge, it doesn't seem to affect the opposing team. Let me try this...
  
• I am the man, I always perform, look at me do this...
  

"Out of form" excuse has been used by many a cricketer, the last days of Ravi Shastri, Navjot Sidhu, Mohammed Azharuddin were torture for cricket fans as the batsmen came in to the crease and then just had a picnic. In the old days if a hunter went to the jungle and came back empty handed he would probably be ridiculed so much he would give his profession up.

Agreed, there is some bad luck when at the crease and probably the opposing team is in much better shape than you are, but when you are consistently inconsistent then you must step down for a while.

Now, lets see what professions or performances would not allow the excuse "Out of form"!...

• Student failing all his exams.
  
• Air Traffic Controller, God forbid!
• Soldier.
• A cook.
  

So, why are these highly paid cricketers getting away with that excuse?

Hayden calls Harbhajan 'obnoxious little weed'

Listen to this http://media.theage.com.au/?rid=35838 (The audio clip begins with an ad.)

In other words, "He still keeps objecting to our sledging after all this time." Note that it was Hayden himself who started it.

Also, to Ishant Sharma he says, "We all play for our country mate!". But Hayden also plays for Chennai Super Kings.

What a win for cricket!!!

After India's performance and its luck with umpiring in this series, I wasn't really sure of what would go down in Perth. Given the WACA's history and Australian team's aggressiveness I imagined Perth would be a draw rather than India's win. If India did win, then may be it would be a tight call.

But, no.

India won the series like champions of the game. When I used to watch Billiards and Snooker matches I used to think that I could hit the shots that the pros could, but there was one difference, the pros could do it repeatedly. So, when Ishant Sharma, R P Singh and Irfan Pathan bowled ball after ball with great accuracy and correct line and length they did show real skill in bowling.

That 19 year old Ishant Sharma would trouble a quality batsman like Ponting was not just amusing, but real treat to watch.

What would be memorable is R P Singh's hanging on to the batting along with Laxman to give just that little bit extra runs to India during their second innings. Kudos to Mitchell Johnson who made Indian bowling look stupid along with his adventurous shots, that stuff is what makes champions champions.

At the start of the game, the odds for India's win was $8, something I wouldn't really worry about. If I did bet on India, they might not have won, effectively, I made them win.

Picture courtesy: Cricinfo.com

Indian spectators taunt Andrew Symonds....

... or may be not. This message is for the omniscient media who have pitched notions such as 'Cows on the main streets in India', 'Turbaned Indians praying in front of Taj Mahal when aliens attack', 'Kangaroos on the main streets in Australia' and my personal favourite, 'Brides not meeting grooms before their wedding in India', please back the f*** off and report the facts as your supposed to!

Andrew Symonds was not subject to racist taunts, he was teased with monkey noises and ape like acts by individuals who probably belong to the jungle. Where does racism come into the picture? Unless monkeys are another race living amongst us.

For the record, us Indians do have a lot of respect for cricket and cricketers, we just get into the heat of the moment and start throwing things and making noises if team India is losing. When millions of us actually water at the mouth at the thought of India trouncing Pakistan in any form of the game, you can see that the audience at the stadium actually do congratulate even Pakistani cricketers for their achievements on the field. Still not convinced? then may be this should convince you. Seriously though, even Australian cricketers will know the passion Indian fans have for cricket.

What must have prompted the antics of a monkey must've been the appearance of Andrew Symonds with his braided hair and copious amounts of zinc that he applies on his face. I am sure that the average Indian would not know how to racially taunt someone like how 'Kaffir' would be the word to taunt a South African black player.

I congratulate team Australia for winning the series and am a proud Australian (one of my two countries) as we have won another series. As my friend Akhil did blog about this, I would say: "Andrew, get a haircut". Sad for India as they have lost another series.

Update: See here, Andrew Symonds never complained, it was the media who blew it out of proportion.