It was 1999 World cup, one among the many World Cup tournaments where Indians bowed out of the series with a bad performance. I was tired of seeing this never ending failure of the Indian cricket team. Each of the members of the team had made up their mind to take turns to perform well, hence as a team they never performed...the result they hardly won. There were innumerable defects in every department be it bowling, batting or fielding. The last best fielder I had witnessed in the Indian cricket team was Jadeja and with him being caught up in the intricacies of match fixing the fielding suffered badly. There was Sachin , Sourav, Rahul but still there was something the Indian cricket team missed, the hot blood and the talented. Their search for this ended soon but before that I had broken all the contacts with the cricketing world.It was probably in 2002, a few months before the 2003 World cup that I again sat down to watch the cricket match , out of compulsion. It was the mini world cup tournament that was played before the actual huge one, so my dad didnt want to miss it at any cost, sad for me though. The match was between India and Srilanka, the match continued at its usual pace, I didnt know anyone in the Indian cricket team, all new faces had made their way into this team. Who cares was my attitude, as it is the result will be the same. It was Zaheer Khans over, when a miracle occurred, I didnt blink my eyes for a while. Oh my god what had i seen just now, an Indian player had just then taken a brilliant catch, diving over a few feet to his right. I was wondering over the next 2 mins of the ad break as to when and how had Indian cricket team manged to get a fielder like this. Believe me the catch was absolutely superb, the Jonty kind of a catch from Indian player ufffffff, I was already his fan . I was desperate to know, who this Indian Jonty was, thanks to replay technology, I did see the catch all over again, hoping to see him but all I could manage was to see his T- shirt and it read 'YUVRAJ' in bold letters. When I finally got to see his face, my face turned bright, I was smiling away, what a handsome man he was, "hmmm talented, young,charming and hot... all in one" was my first thought. A combo for any girl to go gaga over and I bet many girls would agree with me. After that there was no single match I missed. He had completely taken over me , he was there on my calculator, my notebook, my wallet, my bag ...... just everywhere.He had become my hero overnight.
His fielding capabilities is just impeccable, his throws hardly miss the stumps, the ball rarely surpasses him and his hands seldom drop the catch.He has been doing justice to his job as a part time bowler, giving India a break through in several instances when they were craving for one.With the bat he is just a Satan, you dont belive it???? check out his strike rate and average, they say it all. His exhibition of aggressiveness as a batsman is a feast for any of his supporters, for which the ball and the bowlers pay the price. His energy packed shots are capable of sending the ball out of sight in no time, the miracle is the ease with which he plays these shots . This ruthless treatment to the bowlers has earned him several stares, a few words ,which only compelled him to continue his triumph over them. During world cup 2003, which was the best show put up the Indians ever, next to World Cup 1983, he proved his potential as the most reliable all rounder of the future Indian cricket team.
This was the story only about the ODIs. He silenced his critics by playing a magnificent innings with a score of 100 during his first test match against Pakistan on their soil , where the other demigods of Indian batting line up failed royally. He displayed that he too can play a game with patience and temperament when called for. Now he is the major contender for skippers position, this goes to prove the depth of confidence the cricket board has in this mans leadership quality.So does the nation.
There have been bad instances during his tenure as a cricketer, most of which was the hype created by the media. The story about his lifestyle makes it to the front page while his achievements are given a step motherly treatment, when it comes to prioritizing them. As a consequence the public image he creates is of a party goer, rich , famous and an irresponsible individual, who has loads and loads of attitude. My argument is that, who cares about his personal interests and his private life as long as he performs well? This way of thinking from the public,would take the load of putting up a good boy image off his shoulders, which would only make way for more and more cricket.
All in all Yuvi is one such cricketer who gives his fierce attitude a tinge of charisma adding a feather to his cap of masculinity. He is an idol for kids who aspire to become batsman, an awesome entertainer for the audience, pain for the opposition and above all a dream boy of many young gals. Entire nation will surely look forward , to see great things from this youngster in the near future and so do I.
To my dear friends here it is finally the blog that you were awaiting, a blog abt whom Iam crazy ,which i guess by now many would be aware of.
