Vijit's Opinion

Yesterday I happened to watch a press conference wherein Sachin Tendulkar was answering questions posed to him by press reporters. It was very interesting. I was surprised to see how humble he was despite hitting 100 international centuries. Not sure how he continues to remain down to earth. I was one of his critics when he was struggling to reach the milestone of 100 centuries. I have observed die-hard Sachin fans support him on facebook and equating him to God. However, the very fact that the pressure of getting that one last hundred got the better of him is proof enough that he is human. He has achieved a milestone that no person is likely to achieve ever. Sachin himself feels that records are meant to be broken and the only thing he hopes is that an Indian breaks it. His interview was very insightful. He told how he did not lose hope despite the fact that critics were asking him to retire. I was one of those critics who felt that it was high time that he should retire. However...

20-20 World champions, No.1 Test team and now one day international world champions for the second time, what more can you ask for? Before the match started I had received a sms indicating that the match was fixed. I ignored it initially. But looking at the Srilankan score and the way Sehwag got out early I somehow suspected that things were going as mentioned in the sms. However, after the match I felt guilty for suspecting our Indian team. If after fixing the match it could be made so interesting then I wish every match gets fixed. Indians played like true champions to chase a target of 275. Sachin and Sehwag got out early and all hopes were lost. Gautam and Virat steadied the innings. Then captain cool Dhoni arrived at the crease, ahead of Yuvraj once Virat lost his wicket. He along with Gautam laid the foundation of Indian Victory. Gautam got out and Yuvraj stepped in. Both Yuvraj and Dhoni finished off the match in style. Dhoni was adjudged man of the match and Yuvraj the man of...

Indian Tigers pull out a thrilling victory on the Perth wicket. Yes, you read it right, on Perth. Before the start of the match everyone was of the opinion that the pitch won't crumble but the Indian batting might. Also, after the Sydney fiasco that seemed a logical outcome. However, Indian cricket team proved everyone wrong. The victory march of the Australian cricket team was stalled once again by India. They were thinking of breaking their own record of 16 straight victories. However, India had some other plans. After the Sydney episode, I personally was looking forward for a strong fight back from India. Frankly I did not expect India to win or give such a strong reply. The arrogance of Ricky Ponting was outdone by Anil Kumble's patience and doggedness. Anil Kumble has emerged as a great leader. Ishant Sharma, the young lad bowled with a big heart. He took only one wicket but a very important one that of Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain. Irfan Pathan had sent the ope...

First time ever in the history of Test cricket Indian Eleven lost to Australian Thirteen. Yes, for the first time Australians played with thirteen players instead of the normal 11. The two umpires Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor were playing for Australia. Steve Bucknor taking the lead in getting the Indian players out. According to me Steve Bucknor is the Man of the match at Sydney. Atleast eight decisions went against India at the Sydney test. From day one of the Sydney Test the umpires were playing for Australia. Not only the two on field umpires but even the third umpire. The fourth and fifth day were the most dramatic. Harbhajan was accused of being racist towards Symonds on fourth day of the test. Atleast on this occassion both the umpires did not hear Harbhajan passing any racist comments. But at the end of fifth days play Harbhajan gets banned for 3 test matches. This seems to be a definite ploy to keep Harbhajan out of remaining tests because he was consistently getting the Aust...

India beats Pakistan to claim the first ever 20-20 World Cup Title. The Final match was a roller-coaster ride. Pakistan looked in control after it restricted India to a total of 157 in 20 overs. It also looked in control when Imran Nazir was hitting the Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground. However, after his exit India was back in the game and seemed to be cruising along to victory. But then Misbah-ul-haq was standing tall and he almost swung the pendulum in Pakistan's favour. Just when Indian fans were thinking that the match is lost, Misbah-ul-haq's wicket falls and India wins. How it all began? India won the toss and elected to bat first. It is always crucial to win the toss and elect to bat in an important match. Chasing in a world cup final is not easy at all. Mahendra Singh Dhoni once again took the wise decision of batting first. However, the Pakistan bowlers bowled a tight line and length and never let India to take charge. Yusuf Pathan came in as a replacement to...

Unlike the first semifinal of the first ever 20-20 World Cup played between Pakistan and Newzealand, the second semi final played between India and Australia was a thriller. It was the clash of the titans. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first. It was a wise decision to take because chasing in big matches is not easy at all. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir started off slowly but steadily. They didn't add runs quickly but they ensured that wickets were intact. After the exit of the openers the six hitter Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa took charge of the situation. Yuvraj started off from where he left in the match against England. He had hit the fastest fifty ever in any form of the game against England. Six sixes were hit by him in one over of Stuart Broad. In the match against Australia too he started hitting sixes at ease and one of the sixes he hit was the longest by any batsman. The ball travelled 116 metres. Yuvraj scored 70 of just 30 ba...

India beat Pakistan to win the first encounter between the two in the 20-20 World Cup. India Pakistan encounters have always been closely fought and it just cannot get better than this. The match was a tie but unlike in other forms of cricket, 20-20 matches now have a way to decide the winner by bowl-out similar to penalty shoot outs in football. India was put into bat by Shoaib Malik, the captain of Pakistan after winning the toss. India lost four wickets in quick succession. But Robin Uthappa or should I say Robinhood hit few sixes to bring India back into the match. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain for the shorter version of the game too played a solid innings. In the end Irfan Pathan hit few sixes and Ajit Agarkar hit some boundaries and brought India to a respectable total of 141 runs. Mohammad Asif was the pick of the bowler with 4 wickets for just 18 runs. He was awarded the Man of the match though his efforts were in vain since Pakistan lost the match. India bowled and...