After 15 years, critics finally decide to shut up

Doosra: A second look at cricket.

After India’s victory in the Jamaica test which was powered by Dravid’s magnificent ton, the Bunch Responsible for Impeachment and Criticism of Known personalities (BRICK) issued a statement which said they would quit writing off Dravid. “I know demanding Dravid’s resignation was our favourite pass-time, but every time he would prove us wrong. He is like the ‘hit-me’ toys which always silently stood up no matter how many times you punch it down”, they explained. “After all, what match is a BRICK against a whole Wall”, they concluded, before saying they would rather focus their energy on someone else, like the Indian Prime Minister, who did not even have a bat to do the talking for him.

Dravid has never got his proper dues. Even on a paragraph meant for him, he shares space with someone else.

Dravid who had just completed 15 years in international cricket, repeated his 2006 feat in Sabina Park, Jamaica when he almost single-handedly batted the opposition out of the game in a deteriorating pitch. The West Indies cricket authority decided to rename the stadium as ‘Jammy Ka’ in his honor. This news was ignored by everyone, as has been his story in the last 15 years; he has always been content playing the second fiddle (not to be confused with Edwards) in the team. Although Dravid has been the most unsung hero in our cricket team, he can take heart from the fact that he will always be part of our national anthem.

Also continuing to make news is the UDRS issue. Sachin Tendulkar had an apparent change of heart when he said he was in favour of the review system as long as it became consistent – a stance directly opposite to what BCCI has been pushing for. Now BCCI has made it clear several times in the past as well that no one messes with it. The next thing we learnt was Sachin had to sell his Ferrari and take a home loan for 25 lacs INR.

In other news, the New Zealand cricket board had asked the captaincy candidates – Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum to present a power-point presentation. It is believed that Taylor finally got the post, because McCullum, after tasting tremendous success with his ‘DilScoop’ shots, insisted on playing his slides in reverse.

Meanwhile Lalit Modi accused BCCI of scuttling the ICL. This led the BCCI honchos to take some prompt action – they immediately looked up the meaning of ‘scuttle’ in the dictionary. When asked why the board was reluctant to allow Indian players to participate in the Sri Lankan Premiere League, a board representative said, “SLPL, ICL, UDRS, LKM!! Stop throwing these acronyms on us”, before winking and adding, “A GPL by IPL (OC) will lead to a KLPD for SLPL”.