TRAVELS WITH THE INDIAN TEAM - 400
MY TRAVELS WITH THE INDIAN CRICKET
TEAM
The Title I am sure is going to confuse many and most People I am sure would have got me wrong about my place in the Indian Cricket Team . Barring a few occasions at the Eden Gardens , Calcutta , The Brabourne Stadium in Bombay or the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore where I have watched a few matches from the distant and packed stands is about the closest that I have ever got to The Indian Cricket Team .
From Schooldays onwards , for some reason my favorite Cricketers tag has always been with a PAIR , Pataudi/Borde , Gavaskar/Vishwanath , Gavaskar/Kapil Dev Gavaskar/Srikkanth , Ganguly/Sehwag, Sehwag/Tendulkar, Tendulkar/Dravid , Dravid/Sehwag , Virat/Rohit
Only missing name in that list is that of the THALAIVAA Mahendra Singh Dhoni . He has been the single Lone favorite of the entire nation for more than 15 years now . Captain Cool Dhoni s unmatched credentials as CAPTAIN , BATSMAN ,WICKETKEEPER of TEST , ODI , T20 and IPL Is likely to remain unmatched . Sad , he has called it quits now from International Cricket . All good things as they say must come to an end .
His two innings among the many that he has played , stand out specially in my mind .The first is the 3rd India / Srilanka ODI at Jaipur on Oct 31st 2005 , where he scored 183 not out . I watched this match at a lodge near Coimbatore Railway Station with my close Sasmira Friend PARASU IYER . I will be only honest to admit that DHONI S long hair and general demeanor hardly impressed anyone and least of all me at the start . But as the famous Tamizh filmy quip goes
PAARKA PAARKA THAAN PIDIKKUM ( you will like a person only after seeing his repeated deeds )
His last ODI , in the World Cup where he almost got us home in the company of Jadeja is still fresh in the mind .
Dhoni will always remain my favorite. One reason could be because of his connection with KHARAGPUR with which I too have fond and lasting memories .
KHARAGPUR has THREE very eminent personalities associated with it .
SUNDER PITCHAI AND MAHENDER SINGH DHONI are easy to guess , I will leave you guessing with the THIRD person in that list .
400th. Keep it up
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