Bored and without work! Fast Internet, occasionally functional air-conditioner, passable head phones - and a worthless blog to stare at. Then it dawns upon the creator of that worthless blog that the time is ripe for a new entry. Nothing changed since the last post folks. Still jobless, and yeah still the same facility to access internet. Scrolling through the blog, I realized, I did not post my views on one of the greatest cricketers of our generation, thought it would be useful in such times in the future, where I would have more to tinker with, and for the present would help me kill some time by advertising aggressively for my new blog entry. Aaah perfect! Change the track. Admire the internet speed for being able to listen to music. Blare out the volume to its fullest. And overdrive! A little peek from the manager will not deter this author from his mission.
Easily one of the most gifted batsmen to have ever donned the Indian cap, this tall elegant batsman from the great city of Hyderabad (sorry could not resist) , the Very Very Special Laxman, is probably one of the most under rated cricketer in the history of the game. So stupendous is his success against the greatest team ever assembled on the cricket field that his other efforts have been rather unjustly overlooked.
Damn! Break in the flow. Work assigned. Testing times for the creator of the blog that is there because there is space for it to exist. None the less, with unmatched determination, never before seen grit, yet complete poise, he will overcome all odds to write what he intended to, (think I did that already).
VVS Laxman is the greatest batsman to have ever played for India since 1995, yes, not Dravid, not Ganguly. He is an absolute artist and the ease with which he plays can only be matched by the genius of Sachin. The countless match winning knocks, match saving knocks he has played have by and large gone unnoticed, largely, I guess, because they haven't been as loud as the 281 in Kolkata. But 10 years later, when people sit down and look back, dont be surprised to see a bald Harsha with grey sidelocks say that he was the greatest matchwinner India ever had. Here is to the most greaceful batsman ever seen in our times, the singer, ready with a new song to the Lankan beats, Very Very Special Laxman!!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Tale of a Magician, a Machine and a Djoker
It has been a while since you have last heard from me. Lots has been happening in the world we care about, the world of sports, but nothing excited me more than the third grand slam of the year. The greens of Wimbledon. A truly amazing event.
The failure of the top seeds in the women' s draw, the magical run of the short Chinese, the re - emergence of the enigmatic Safin, the disaster of the American's in the men 's section, Djokovic stunner, and of course, arguably the greatest end to the Championships ever, the finals' of the singles event in both the men 's and women 's. Yeah, we tend to forget that the women 's final was one of the highest quality, ever offered on the last Saturday of any slam. Unfair maybe, but I will spend my energy, time, and my office's internet facility on the other final. The men 's final. Actually on second thoughts, I think I will give that a pass as well. A lot has been written about it, and anything I add here will only add to the cliche's that are already flooding the space. Instead I will re direct my energy, and yeah the office's internet facillity, to write on probably the most intense battle for the top seat in World Tennis.
The three characters being the magician, the machine and the djoker. Djoker is not a name to insult a special talent like Novak, but I guess, it describes him best. He likes to speak his mind, and have fun while out there on the court. Sure does not mind making statements, that would make him likeable among the press. This mad race between Federer and Nadal, and the new entrant, Djokovic is more intriguing because of the contrasting personalities, styles and the whole history. Nadal blocking Federer's claim to be the greatest player of all time, Federer well, stopped Nadal twice before eventually falling, in the way of Nadal's dream to be more than just the king of clay. And well Djokovic. The brat. Just to make things interesting. It has the most perfect setting. Federer and Nadal, who dont seem tired of singing praises of each other, and then there is Novak, who doesnt hesitate in saying something that might be politically incorrect. Federer who makes the game look so easy, Nadal who runs around like a rabbit (thank you Safin), and Djokovic - well he is fun to watch too.
And the emergence of each character was perfect too. Federer, the prodigious kid on the block, took lots of time to come to terms with his huge potential. Before it started raining Slam's in his house, and buffaloes in his backyard.
Nadal, the prodigious young talent, expected to take over the world of tennis, but was too young at 17 to do anything significant, with time, turned into the King of Clay, but faced agonising failure before eventually tasting the sweetness of succes in the grass he cared about.
And Djokovic, coming from a country invisible on the tennis map, again took time to come to terms with what he was capable of, tasted failure in his first grand slam final, yes in the hands of one of the other two character's, before putting his country in the tennis map of champions.
All three of them faced agonising failure before the mad success that has followed. Something never heard of before. Nadal and Federer faced each other in 6 slam finals, a record. Federer reached - I lost count - consecutive semi finals, and Djokovic, before the Wimbledon blemish, had 5 consecutive semi's or better finish to a slam. While Nadal merrily continued his streak on clay, and became much more of a threat on the faster courts, and finally displaced the King of Grass, to keep his thrown warm for a while.
Besides the contrasting styles on court and attitudes off court, there is one more reason that makes this mad race, a lot more interesting. It is how each one of them, stand in other's path to the finish. That is what truely separates this from anything ever seen in the past. Such isolation of greatness. Nadal in Federer's path of winning all the slam's and claim to be the greatest ever, if he can't already, Federer in Nadal's path to become the world No. 1, shocking that a player as good as Nadal was never the best player in the world(just shows what a great player the magician is himself), and Djokovic, the ambitious young man, who believes the world is out there for him to rule. And he has done a lot to make sure he meets his dream. He is the only man to beat Federer and Nadal in the same tournament, back to back that too. And that speaks loads of his ability.
It is this which makes the battle of these three so intriguing. Having achieved considerable success, none has found it enough to be content with. And they have each other to overcome in their quest for ultimate content in life. This greed for success, and strive for perfection, initial failure, some success, yet lack of contentment - this is what makes all of us identify with this mad race. The greatest script that could ever be written. The leads being ordinary humans with extra ordinary skills. Let the show continue. Enjoy it as long as it lasts. Dont ever try to answer the question who is the greatest. Because the day you answer that, the greatest rivalries ever witnessed on that rectangle would have ended!
Enjoy the show!!
The failure of the top seeds in the women' s draw, the magical run of the short Chinese, the re - emergence of the enigmatic Safin, the disaster of the American's in the men 's section, Djokovic stunner, and of course, arguably the greatest end to the Championships ever, the finals' of the singles event in both the men 's and women 's. Yeah, we tend to forget that the women 's final was one of the highest quality, ever offered on the last Saturday of any slam. Unfair maybe, but I will spend my energy, time, and my office's internet facility on the other final. The men 's final. Actually on second thoughts, I think I will give that a pass as well. A lot has been written about it, and anything I add here will only add to the cliche's that are already flooding the space. Instead I will re direct my energy, and yeah the office's internet facillity, to write on probably the most intense battle for the top seat in World Tennis.
The three characters being the magician, the machine and the djoker. Djoker is not a name to insult a special talent like Novak, but I guess, it describes him best. He likes to speak his mind, and have fun while out there on the court. Sure does not mind making statements, that would make him likeable among the press. This mad race between Federer and Nadal, and the new entrant, Djokovic is more intriguing because of the contrasting personalities, styles and the whole history. Nadal blocking Federer's claim to be the greatest player of all time, Federer well, stopped Nadal twice before eventually falling, in the way of Nadal's dream to be more than just the king of clay. And well Djokovic. The brat. Just to make things interesting. It has the most perfect setting. Federer and Nadal, who dont seem tired of singing praises of each other, and then there is Novak, who doesnt hesitate in saying something that might be politically incorrect. Federer who makes the game look so easy, Nadal who runs around like a rabbit (thank you Safin), and Djokovic - well he is fun to watch too.
And the emergence of each character was perfect too. Federer, the prodigious kid on the block, took lots of time to come to terms with his huge potential. Before it started raining Slam's in his house, and buffaloes in his backyard.
Nadal, the prodigious young talent, expected to take over the world of tennis, but was too young at 17 to do anything significant, with time, turned into the King of Clay, but faced agonising failure before eventually tasting the sweetness of succes in the grass he cared about.
And Djokovic, coming from a country invisible on the tennis map, again took time to come to terms with what he was capable of, tasted failure in his first grand slam final, yes in the hands of one of the other two character's, before putting his country in the tennis map of champions.
All three of them faced agonising failure before the mad success that has followed. Something never heard of before. Nadal and Federer faced each other in 6 slam finals, a record. Federer reached - I lost count - consecutive semi finals, and Djokovic, before the Wimbledon blemish, had 5 consecutive semi's or better finish to a slam. While Nadal merrily continued his streak on clay, and became much more of a threat on the faster courts, and finally displaced the King of Grass, to keep his thrown warm for a while.
Besides the contrasting styles on court and attitudes off court, there is one more reason that makes this mad race, a lot more interesting. It is how each one of them, stand in other's path to the finish. That is what truely separates this from anything ever seen in the past. Such isolation of greatness. Nadal in Federer's path of winning all the slam's and claim to be the greatest ever, if he can't already, Federer in Nadal's path to become the world No. 1, shocking that a player as good as Nadal was never the best player in the world(just shows what a great player the magician is himself), and Djokovic, the ambitious young man, who believes the world is out there for him to rule. And he has done a lot to make sure he meets his dream. He is the only man to beat Federer and Nadal in the same tournament, back to back that too. And that speaks loads of his ability.
It is this which makes the battle of these three so intriguing. Having achieved considerable success, none has found it enough to be content with. And they have each other to overcome in their quest for ultimate content in life. This greed for success, and strive for perfection, initial failure, some success, yet lack of contentment - this is what makes all of us identify with this mad race. The greatest script that could ever be written. The leads being ordinary humans with extra ordinary skills. Let the show continue. Enjoy it as long as it lasts. Dont ever try to answer the question who is the greatest. Because the day you answer that, the greatest rivalries ever witnessed on that rectangle would have ended!
Enjoy the show!!
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