It's an emotional one for me ...

My writing skills to describe what has been going in my mind since I heard about Sachin's 35th ton can hardly match his cricketing prowess. This brilliant century came against Sri Lanka in his 125th Test Match. A genius broke the record of runs in Test Cricket in Australia and another genius matched it with 35 Test Cricket Centuries in India.

I can not describe how happy I am. That's all.

In great touch at Wankhede

Sachin looked in great touch at Wankhede Stadium in the last ODI and was unfortunate to be out at 30 off 44 balls, when Prince made a brilliant catch at point.

The match however belonged to Rahul Dravid who is looking good for India as a captain. The Ganguly-Chappell brawl has taken some serious turns. Kolkata was in its traditional self when it booed the Indian team for Ganguly. That's a topic for another day, though.

Let's see what happens in the Test Series against SL.

On the backfoot ...

Dhoni's Innings against SL was brilliant. He has set a plethora of records. It was a feast to watch his innings of 183 n.o.

Sachin is in dormant mode. He will bounce back.

Lara in the meanwhile was superb as he surpassed Allan Border's 11,174 runs. Lara has 8 double centuries. Another genious!

Back with a bang!

Well, I won't say I knew it and I certainly don't want to jinx it. Sachin is back from an absence of leave for around 5 months from Cricket.

Forget about anything else. Just relax, sit back and enjoy his batting. Don't analyze, don't compare, just honor the moment.

93 and 67* against a reasonably good bowling attack of Sri Lanka is a remarkable feat. I am just happy.

Let me not forget the most important message behind this apparently successful comeback. It was/is just damn hard. Believe me. To be an athlete and batsman of his caliber for 17 successive years is just impossible. And Tennis Elbow is not easy to heal, certainly not so after a surgery. Anything could have gone wrong. Hopefully, nothing did. Mind you, this is a remarkable thing that he made a come-back. It might get unnoticed, but it means a lot to him, I know.

I don't know if it was Bejan Daruwalla's suggestion for Jersey No 33 (abandoning no. 10) that did the trick. But that's besides the point.

More to come, more to savor at!

After Tennis Elbow ...

Sachin will make a come-back. I don't have any doubts in my mind about that. More importantly, it is alright even if he can not do it. The guy has burnt himself helping Indian Cricket reach new heights. It is only unjust to expect him to be fit after carrying the weight of expectation of millions of people. It is physically tiring and mentally draining.

According to Greg Chappell, the little mater is close to hitting some good form.

Guys like me should not continue to have the heavy burden of expectations and let him play his natural game.

In the meanwhile, whatever Saurav is up to, is quite unfortunate. An elegant left-handed batsman is what we want. It does not matter who captains the side, then.

India-Pakistan 4th One-dayer 2005

Well, I tend to forget the matches I see. Because of Umesh's help, I am able to see some interesting cricketing action live. I thought it is better to blog about these moments for it would be easier to recollect them.

Venue was Ahmedabad. Indian team under pressure to perform. Ganguly even under more pressure. I had fought with Devendra for Sachin. I think there were utterly naive statements made regarding Sachin's current form. Here are a few of those meaningless statements:

• Sachin started the defensive approach in the III test at Bangalore.
• Sachin is yet to produce an innings to remember, in test cricket!
• He does not win matches anymore. Look at Kallis/Lara ...

I can't refute these statements because I don't want to. It only shows the lack of knowledge and adamancy of those who made these baseless statements.

I can't imagine how tough it would be for Sachin. I feel his pain, because I can imagine it is easier said than done to remain at pinnacle for so long.

Let me just complete my description of yet another remarkable innings from Sachin.

• He made 123 off 130 balls with 2 magnificent sixes and 10 fours.
• Started off really well, with positive frame of mind. Sehwag departed when he was caught napping by Younis Khan.
• Sachin made invaluable partnerships with Dhoni and Ganguly.
• Here is the shot selection made by Sachin:
• Real great strokes of the legs off Sami and Naved.
• Using "deleberation" against Razzaq who bowled really well. (10-0-42-0).
• Danish Kaneria was punished ruthlessly. The pitch was slow and it is difficult to make runs "behind the wickets". I can't forget the two lofted clean hits, both down the track, when Kaneria tried the round-the-wicket route. (One of the hits hit a photographer in the stands, right in his head. I hope he's okay).
  
• He finally had cramps at the 38th Century(!) mark, had a runner and still worked the ball well.

It was just a nice finish by Yuvraj who got 19 runs in the last over.

It was one of the best chases by Inzy and others and Pak won. Great cricket.

You know what, the guy who made a century also bowled reasonable 6 overs for 36 and a wicket.
Amazingly, he bowled the last over when 3 runs were needed to win and against an accomplished batsman like Inzy could concede the winning boundary only on the final delivery! A nail-biting finish.

What a cricketer!

Fellow Indians, he's a great cricketer. Please know who you're criticizing.