23 and counting....

Yes, Happy Birthday to me. Never thought I would be writing this to myself. Nothing wrong with a bit of self-indulgence. All of 23 and 3 white hair to show!! On a more serious note, birthdays seem to lose their edge the older one gets. Ofcourse its still a great excuse to get wasted (err, who needs one??). As a kid theres always a sense of achievement on birthdays. First its the 'teens'. Then the magical I-am-an-adult 'eighteen'. And then the now-I-am-an-adult-everywhere '21'. After that it just seems another number. The only milestone I can think of after that is 50!! Phew, thats a long long way away.

Amongst other things. Finally the tag of World Champions is attached to the Indian Cricket team. It gives a re-assurance that there will be life after Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid & Laxman. Despite winning the tournament, Twenty20 kind of leaves me hollow and unsatisfied at a level. Probably because of ones familiarity with 50 overs and Test cricket. The opening game between South Africa & West Indies had a lot of entertainment i.e. 4s and 6s, but it left me jarred and a bit numb. After a while they dont seem to matter anymore. And wickets seemed to me only as an aberration.

I think the key to T20 as a contest lies in the balance between bat and ball. For which I think there needs to be something in the pitch for the bowlers to exploit. Which was evident in India's matches when the pitch was not a flat track. Also the notion that T20 will hasten the use of bits and pieces players is also false. The failure of the likes of Jeremy Snape and Mascarenhas showed that at the top level in any format, you require a bit of class. The top run getters and wicket takers merely highlights the point.

I just hope that we dont get caught napping vs Australia because they have won World Cups over 9 years and we have won just one in a format which can be a bit of a lottery. Also it is precisely these kind of victories which allows the BCCI to behave like all is fine and dandy and paper over the cracks in our cricket system. Shame. Also the ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium was a joke. It was a more an apt election kick-off campaign for the likes of Pawar and RR Patil, who actually thought he was at an election rally from the way he spoke. Yes the English team met Blair after the Ashes in 2005 but it was the players who were wasted and shitfaced, not politicians!!

Cricket is in for some interesting times because of the successful emergence of T20. How the administrators try to manage the format and its growth will have a direct impact on both 50 overs and Test cricket. Rest assured its a problem the ICC rather than facing doomsday.

Jose Mourinho will be missed. Both for his on field antics and press conferences. Twas classic. The man was a genius and Chelsea will miss him for all their demands of fantasy football. I think somebody should gift Roman Abramovich a CD of Championship Manager or Football Manager for Christmas so he can indulge into running a football club all by himself. Given his demand for beautiful football and winning football, it should another London club he should be coveting. No its not Tottenham and it starts with an 'A' and guess what, they are top of the league.

Sachin Tendulkar post-Greg Chappell

Greg Chappell's time as coach of the Indian cricket team will always be remembered for all the wrong reasons. The cynical might also term it as one of the most tumultuous phases Indian cricket has gone through, right up there with the match-fixing saga. I believe the Greg Chappell era was a bit of an eye-opener for Indian cricket. It bought out both the best and worst the Indian cricket team had to offer.

But this post is not about the team. This post is about Sachin Tendulkar. The one marked difference I have seen about Tendulkar after the recent ODI series is that the "joie de vivre" is back in his game. The man is smiling again, ofcourse not when no brainer notout is given out.

The one aspect about Tendulkar's game that was always intact was his joy and enthusiasm for the game. Give him the ball in his hand and it was like seeing a child with a candy bar. Even when beaten by the bowler or having smashed them out of the park, the smile was always there. It is this factor that seem to have vanished for some time.

For a lot of part of Chappell's tenure he seemed to be a burdened man. His mind seemed to be cluttered. There was an indecisiveness in his game. He couldn't decide if he wanted to attack or defend. One can only speculate if it was him coming to terms with his aging body, or was it an immortal fretting over his impending mortality, or was it purely a confused state of mind who's seeds were sown by the coach. No one will ever know.

To be honest I was part of the minority camp that thought Tendulkar was past his best and that it his time he left the stage on his own terms with grace while he could. But I reached this stance based on prima facie his performances and his body language and what he was offering to the team at the point. Was a half fit Tendulkar worth his place in the side when another batsman could have been groomed? At the time I thought no.

Watching Tendulkar in the recent England series was a treat. Both for the seldom displayed doggedness in the Tests and the freedom with which he batted in the ODI's. He seems more focussed and clear in his approach right now. The Tendulkar I saw at the presentation ceremony of the 6th ODI at the Oval was one of the happiest I have seen in a long long time.

People who argue for Tendulkar playing on till the 2011 WC are foolhardy and are not willing to accept the fact that Sachin Tendulkar for all his mightiness will sooner or later retire. Like all legends, his time to go will come soon. However, he has earned the right to go out on his own terms. Which I fear might not be too far away.

The Master & The Apprentice

Ever since Sunderland confirmed their presence in the Premier League for this season, their clash against Manchester United is one I have been looking forward to. It pits the fiery Irishman against his equally fiery Scottish ex-boss.

I am an unabashed Roy Keane fan. I regard him for his actions on the field. Except for the Alfe Inge Halaand incident, which I thought was avoidable. He may not have had the most fairytale of farewell from Man Utd, but there is no other player as revered as him amongst the Old Trafford faithful. He is up there with the all time greats at the club.

I always saw Roy Keane as future Man Utd manager even during his playing days. On the field he was Alex Ferguson in disguise. He epitomized everything Ferguson wanted on the field. Also he possesses a lot of the qualities a manager requires of. Passion, drive to succeed, motivator, leader, no nonsense approach amongst a few and most of all, he is a Winner. Losing just wasn't acceptable. He even expected players of a lesser calibre to match his lofty ambitions. Although he will have to and seems to have reduced those expectations.

The one reason that a lot of people thought Roy Keane would fail as a manager was his temper. Surprisingly and for his own good he seems to have acquired an aura of zen like calm around him now. There also seems to be an air of quiet authority with him. A feel of someone in control and who knows what he is doing. Probably his slightly acrimonious exit as a player and a period of reflection has brought about a change. Who knows?! We might just see him lose his marbles like yore on the touchline. Although the odd Ferguson-esque hair dryer treatment wont be out of place in the dressing room. I don't expect miracles in their first season but Sunderland are my dark horses primarily for the fact that they are led by Roy Keane.

I see Roy Keane as a future Man Utd manager. Although that might not happen as soon as I thought it may have. He seems to have bigger plans at Sunderland. And I do not see Ferguson see staying on till too long. I think one more Champions League and he will call it quits.

So the path to Old Trafford for Roy Keane may involve a longer than anticipated detour at the Stadium of Light. As much as I love to see Roy Keane win, just this time I need to see him lose.