It's not been very often that the Indian Cricket fan has had extended periods of euphoria. Sure, there have been series wins, thumping wins at that, but very soon thereafter there have been colossal losses or uninspiring performances and the build up has simply fizzled out.
One just gets the feeling that there are enough indications to suggest now that India may continue to be able to put across opposing teams more often than not. Phew! how careful can one get in choosing one's words! Can we just say that there is a clear trend, as technical analysts might say, towards a winning phase for India now? Surely, a series win against the all-conquering aussies is enough of an indication. The way they smashed the visiting pommies in the first one dayer - it seemed like they were batting in the highlights. Onward Ho!
What's wrong with Gilly? He's been one of my favourites throughout his career and one really liked his competitive spirit, his ability to live and let live, his honesty and above all his cricketing skill. Unfortunately, he hasn't exactly endeared himself to Indians with what he's written in his recent book. If I were literate enough on the choicest native expletives (hereinafter called CNEs) and he was patient enough to go through the same, I would construct a fully indexed page on words beginning with 'Maa-ki...'. Both he and Symonds seem to find it extremely difficult to believe that there could be such a phonetic resemblance to these abusive words. They only need to drive at near full speed on any of north India's roads and keep their recorders in play to catch up. To further explain the vernacular, this particular CNE is best delivered with a nasal accent and a suffix 'tho' is usually added to it... try it now, 'teri maa-ki tho..'. Howzzat!
While 'Maa-ki' or 'Behn ki..' expletives are certainly not music to one's ears, they are infinitely milder when pitted against racial abuses. One would certainly credit Bhajji with a good knowledge on the CNEs. But for god's sake, it's been nearly a year now; enough water has passed under all the bridges all over the world and let's let sleeping dogs lie!
On second thoughts, the last sentence may please be expunged - dogs and monkeys have no place in a column on cricket.
