THE PHOENIX roars!!!
This is dedicated to all the MIG fans…
PROLOGUE:
“WHERE THERE IS GREEN, THERE IS SELF-CONFIDENCE”
-Anonymous
CHAPTER 1 TO EPILOGUE
“Is it a bird??!! Is it a plane??!! No. It’s …” was the caption I read in one of the magazines when I, as a 9-year old kid, was enthusiastically browsing it for the poster of my favorite cricketer. As usual, my face glowed like a Havells bulb when I couldn’t find it .At that minuscule instant, I thought of chopping my friend, squeeze him and make him into “karvadu”. He knew I was such a “paithiyam”of that guy and told me”Vicky, this edition of sportstar has got your favo cric poster. Get it quickly”. Believing him, I went and bought it without any hesitation, thereby getting that well-earned bulb and when I confronted him the next day, he coolly said ”gotcha for “otifyin” me with that girl yesterday”. I was fuming with so much rage such that it was like fire coming from a mini-dragons’ nostrils. Seeing thus, he promptly poured water to cool me down. Luckily, my teacher came and thus ended what should have been the “the first water war of the world”. K. A big topic digression had taken place now. Like the dean who is constantly singing “ID-CARD ID-CARD WHERES YOUR ID-CARD WHERES YOUR ID-CARD??” looking out for students not wearing tag, let’s focus our attention on the big matter. Yes. My favo cricketer was none other than - The man who revolutionized the art of fielding and who defied Newton’s law of gravity (Am sure Newty would have become a nutty seeing him) and probably stupefied the scientific world too, with his agility and nimbleness to fly with such ease, poise and grace. An outstanding fielder in the point region. Perhaps, the best, the cricketing world has, will and ever see in that region or for the fact in any corner of the field. You guessed it right. It’s none other Jonathan Neil Rhodes or fondly, like how we call puppy, biscuit, powder, Vicky packy etc, in the cricketing arena, he’s known as "Jonty" Rhodes. As far as am concerned, he should have been named “Bulty” Rhodes.
I was a 5-year-old kid when I saw it for the first time. Well. I meant my first ever-cricketing match (which happened between South Africa vs Pakistan, 1992 world cup). Nothing else. I didn’t know who or what South Africa or Paki or what the game “Cricket” was all about at that time. Actually, no one would know anything about anything other than nothing at such a tender age unless he’s a prodigy or something and definitely I ain’t such a thing. Anyways, Jonty’s sensational run out of the “gentle giant” Inzi was recorded in my memory and I used to replay it again and again like “Padayappa Neelambari”. Finally, I was able to comprehend the game fully (took nearly 5 years for that). I was basically an Atheist as a child till..Well..Roughly for about 201 months from the day of my birth but I worshipped South Africa as demi-god and there was no other god other than Jonty. I emulated him on the cricketing field (local ground with my friends) and had my hands, legs broken, injured, bruised..what not!! When trying to catch a catch. Such was my craze.
By then, the Proteas were on the ascension and were looking like as if they would win the 1996 Wills world cup when disaster struck in the form of “BRIAN CHARLES LARA” in the quarterfinals. He literally screwed them up by hitting a scintillating century (111 to be precise) and as usual, I “seluthifyd my ananda kaneer“for them, ignoring my friends’ snide comments for being such a sissy for a cricket team. But then, “kazhudhaiku theriyuma karpoora vasna” (donkey doesn’t know camphor smell). Eventually, in the course of time, powered by Aravinda De Silva’s century and 3 wicket haul, Sri Lanka won the world cup beating Aussies by 6 wickets
Note:
• The SL team was automatically selected to the quarterfinals without even playing a match as their league matches were forfeited on security grounds. Also, their semi-finals against India was officially the first match to be awarded as a default victory to the Lankan team after India was reduced to 120(something) for 8 when the Kolkata crowd began to throw bottles and fruits on the players and didn’t quieten till the end.
• It was the second time that the Proteas failed to win the world cup after a lousy rule called “DUCKWORTH LEWIS METHOD” (it was introduced for the first time in that series) which left them reeling of an improbable task to get 22 runs from a single ball, thus preventing them from gaining access to the finals of the previous WC, which Paki won ultimately against England.
• DUCKWORTH LEWIS METHOD- attempts to predict what would have happened had the game come to its natural conclusion. It was devised by Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis. (But, as far as am concerned, it is an idiosyncratic method).
I was fourteen or so when this thought gently strolled into my head like my 5E which is slower than the slowest slow moving animal. I was searching for my math notebook to do some xyz XYZ –based problems in Algebra. As usual, my place, which was so worse than garbage bin, I couldn’t locate it. But then, I searched again. I couldn’t find it. I didn’t give up. I searched again and again and again. It seemed that my book had vanished into thin air. It was then, like a spark from the fuel plug which ignites the petrol engine, I was struck by an idea which determined my future. As I was iterating the same job again and again, a word came drifting into my mind….RE-SEARCH. This word kindled my interest into re-searching in the field of research and finally I decided to adopt this streamline as my main course once am done with my Engineering. At the same, I found my math book lying underneath my TINKLE and CHAMPAK comics. Considering it as a good omen, I decided to pursue my career as a researcher. So, it was decided that I wanted to become a researcher. Bubbling with enthusiasm, with a sparkle in my eyes, I was thinking of what I should research first.. What else..And your guess is right….I decide to do my first ever research on my favo team. I was really appalled to know the condition of the team when I dug into the realms of the South African team history. They made their debut against England in the year 1889 and where stripped of their cricketing privileges in the year 1970 due to their government’s overtly racist policy, Apartheid (the govt. had said that their team will play only against the white teams namely Aussie, Eng and New Zealand and also field only with white players) by the INTERNATIONAL CRICKET COUNCIL (ICC). This lead to the exclusion of players like GRAEME POLLOCK, MIKE PROCTER, BARRY RICHARDS etc and also lead to the emigration of future star cricketers like ALLAN LAMB etc. Finally, by 1990, the stars began to shine down on them again. Their rightful cricketing rights were restored and were granted the ODI status by making their debut against India and in the process, stormed the cricketing world, catching the attention of all the people with their swash-buckling performances in the 1992 WC. This is the basic and… the only story behind the teams’ so-called past. And I was very happy to get to know their darkest black and white past.
After 1996, like the Midas touch, everywhere they went, they seemed to strike gold. (Sorry. It should be diamonds for they are South Africans. He he he...k..jokes apart) , winning in all countries except in the Land of Kangaroos. They were suffered a humiliating 2-nil defeat against the Aussies. But, “andha rana galathilum oru gillu gillupu irundhuchu” (glamour is there in battleground also). It marked the rise of 2 superstars – the power-hitting LANCE KLUSENER and the ever patient but stylish- JACQUES KALLIS. I should say especially for KALLIS as it turned out to be a benchmarking series in his career for he had performed so horrendously in the tour that his career was hanging by the thread. SA was in a precarious state in the 3rd test and was fighting to save the test with half their side in the pavilion, sitting and eating apples. KALLIS was the only recognized batsman and the Aussies were desperate to take his wicket. A rising delivery from GLENN “PIGEON” MCGRATH was fended awkwardly by KALLIS and it hit his glove and the ball was scooped in the air. All the Australians were ecstatic that they had got the wicket they needed and was damn sure he was out and asked the umpire for his decision. STEVE BUCKNOR took his time to time to give his decision and finally raised that dreaded finger. Everyone was jubilant except for one man. NO GUYS. It wasn’t KALLIS. It was actually RICKY”PUNTER”PONTING. While everyone were celebrating the important wicket, he stood up and said “I DROPPED THE CATCH” for it was a very difficult chance as he had to dive forward from silly-point to catch it and in the process the ball had hit the ground. Before, he could say anything, others started to rejoice. But, finally, he told and that turned out to be a turning point in KALLIS’s career as he hit an unbeaten 150 odd some runs, thus saving his teams’ face from an embarrassing whitewash and also to prolong his career in the team and emerge as a formidable all-rounder in both forms of cricket. So, once again, the day is saved. Thanks to..Not to power-puff girls, guys. But…to RICKY”PUNTER” PONTING & JACQUES KALLIS.
1999 world cup was around the corner and the Aussies suffered a heart-breaking defeat in the Indian sub-continent. Once again, the Proteas started as favorites as they had won the 1st ever MINI-WORLD CUP, held in Dhaka, the previous year. Indians started as the second favorites. But, once the clash of the Titans (between India and SA) was over and the former suffered a 5-wicket defeat, there was no doubt in any cricketing fans’ mind which team was going to lift the world cup. Likewise too, the Proteas played some unbelievable cricket, winning matches, where they ought to have lost, thanks mainly to LANCE”ZULU” KLUSENER. Standing tall, waving his bat like a baseball player, hitting the balls with such tremendous power, he was almost like a modern day BHEEMA, (not vikram..but the REAL one as in Mahabharata), excepting the fact that he had a bat instead of a club, this guy won almost all the matches single-handedly for them including the most unforgettable and forgettable(for a SA fan)match in cricketing history--->Semi-finals of the 99 WC. Chasing a moderate target of 213, the Proteas started off to a great start by GIBBS & KIRSTEN, when both were bamboozled by brilliant deliveries from SHANE WARNE. After that, it was a topsy-turvy match, the balance tilting in either side from time to time and finally ending with the Australians until the advent of LANCE KLUSENER.18 needed from 2 overs with 1 wicket remaining was the equation required for them to earn them a spot in their first ever finals. A lot of drama happened in that over. ZULU hit a low full toss ball of MCGRATH and all the 50000 supporters’ (including me) eyes were watching the trail of the ball as we knew he was about to be caught. My heart almost stopped beating and when I placed my teeth to bite my nail, to my horror, I found there was none as all my fingernails had been bitten thoroughly during the course of the match. So, with no nails to bite, I started to bite my teeth itself. But, PAUL REIFFEL misjudged his timing and instead the ball sailed for a six hitting his hand. MCGRATH was furious and STEVE WAUGH, the captain, was staring at him which was to be construed as “magane iru di…avanga matum jeichanga ni kothu kari dan” (son..look...you will become a hot dog if they win this match). I started jumping up and down like a maniac and yeah..my heart started to function again..not knowing, that am going to suffer the worst heart disease possible in the next few moments. And finally the last over, it reduced to 9 runs of 1 over to win the match. DAMIEN FLEMING to ZULU. Wham!! The ball was smashed through the cover region for a four. All the fielders could do was to “pepera penu” watch the ball disappear over the boundary like us. It was hit with such brute force. Second ball. Outside the off stump. Yorker length. Smash!! The ball traveled with the velocity of light to the fence. All the bowler could say was” avan epdi potalum adikran da” (however I bowl he hits man). The entire crowd was backing for a SA victory as they needed just 1 run of 4 balls to win the match. Easy thing. Any Tom, Dick and Harry country would have achieved it. But, certainly not these guys. That too, with a “quaky” character like ALLAN DONALD as ZULU’s partner. That donald duck almost ran himself out in the 3rd ball, going for an non-existent single. Luckily, DARREN LEHMANNS throw was just off target by a few mm and my heart, which was almost in my mouth, thumped back in its right place. Heaving a sigh of relief and cursing Donald duck for his carelessness and hoping that they will win the match, the 4th ball was bowled by FLEMING. I almost went inside the TV. ZULU smashed the ball down the ground and started to run towards the other end. Instead of watching him, that Donald duck was concentrating only on the ball (ZULU advised him to see the ball and run after that tragic comedy he performed in the previous ball) and was not focused on his partner or his call. The result. ZULU reached the bowlers’ end while Donald duck was still watching the ball “bey bey nu”and then only realized that his partner was in his end and made a late dash to the batsmen’s end. I was watching with bated breath as the ball was thrown to the bowlers’ side where ZULU had reached and was praying that Donald duck should reach the other end. The whole world knew what happened next. LEHMANN threw the ball to the keeper, ADAM”GILLY”GILCHRIST, who whipped the bails in a flash, leaving Donald duck, well well short of his ground. And no guesses as to what would have happened next. I started crying “vicky vicky, thembi thembi” right in the middle of the night. I felt like shooting that Donald like how we shoot the ducks in The Duck Hunt game. Across the world, the entire clans of SA supporters were drowning in sadness, mourning the loss of their favo team including me. That night, I was crying while sleeping and to make matters worse, the next day, I saw the highlights of the match again and started to cry even more. All the papers, TV channels were making a mockery out of SA team and once again, tears started coming out like a leaking tap across my already swollen face. The after effect of the match lasted for almost a week in which I didn’t eat properly, sleep properly, getting all ignominable insults from my friends. But, whatever, it had been a dream of match for any fan. Be it an Aussie fan or a SA. And then, the finals was mere a formality between Aus & Paki where the former chased down 100 odd runs in less than 20 overs. The shortest final ever in the history of WC till date. And rightfully, the man of the series was given to LANCE KLUSENER whom I saw as the god of gods in cricket But, from then, there was no looking back for the Aussies who dominated the cricketing arena for nearly a decade in all forms of cricket and world over including India. All thanks to that Donald duck.
In the mean time, SA team was under the cloud regarding the match-fixing scandal which happened during their tour to India in the year 2000. The scandal shook the very foundation of the cricketing world. Many famous cricketers were apprehended and given life-ban by the ICC for demoralizing the spirit of the game. The list included: MOHAMMED AZHARUDDIN, AJAY JADEJA, MANOJ PRABHAKAR, HANSIE CRONJE and S.WILLIAMS. GIBBS& BOJE were given a one-year ban by the ICC for their charges could not be proved and refusing to co-operate with the Indian police for interrogation. From pinnacle, they fell to the bottom. It really hurt them. The captain was changed. Many new players were introduced and given chance and then sidelined. This real life incident could be equated to a concept in paleontology. In paleontological terms, this is called “Softening Up the Beachhead”. That is, after every environmental change, waves of extinctions happen- but not right away. For instance, the mass extinction of tigers, giraffes and mammoths had vanished from North America due to glacial action, but the animals started to get extinct only after the glaciers descended. It was as if these species are weakened by the major change. That was precisely happening with the South African team. Likewise, the captaincy was passed onto SHAUN MACLEAN POLLOCK, who despite looking like a Pomeranian dog with Rabbit teeth, was ushered with the onerous responsibility of bringing the team together after the suicidal scandal, instilling confidence and motivating them and at the same time to bring good results. During his brief tenure for 3 years, SA was never consistent, winning some, losing many, especially the semi-finals of the MINI-WORLD CUP, held in 2002 and going down in the rankings. From then, they were tagged as “CHOKERS”. I was really disappointed to see such a mar on the face of South African team but my spirits were uplifted when one of the spectator on TV, displayed on a chart which read as follows “ anyone calling them “chokers” are f***ers”. It brought a smile to my face.
The 2003 WC was held in SA team and there were high expectations from the home team. Many high profile players like ALLAN DONALD, JONTY RHODES considered retiring from world cricket after the extravaganza and thus I was glued to all SA matches, despite having my 10th board exams. But, as luck would have been, they got themselves exited in the first round itself. The DUCKWORTH LEWIS METHOD haunted them once again. It was actually a do or die match against Sri Lanka. Whichever team wins they would get qualified to the next round. In a bizarre twist to the match, it started raining in the second session, the Proteas were batting. According to the method, they were asked to score something around 225 in 45 overs and MARK BOUCHER smashed a six of MURALIDHARAN of the penultimate ball to get them to the required score and as usual, I cheered by shouting “hip hip hurray”. But then, the match referee came and dropped a nuclear bomb, saying that the score issued in the method is the score to tie with the team and hence the match is a tie and Sri Lanka gets qualified due to a good run rate than SA. As in “Thiruvilaiyadal”, the entire world came to a standstill before I could digest the truth that SA IS NO LONGER A PARTICIPANT IN THE WC AND THAT THEIR JOURNEY HAD ENDED RIGHT THERE. I was actually filled with so much sadness that I didn’t read that entire day for my exams but cursing that stupid method. That DUCKWORTH LEWIS method is really “DUCK” WORTH LEWIS method. In the end, I had some consolation happiness as Aussies won the WC for the second time in a row. Ye ye….I could see the confusion in your face as to why I was happy for an Aussie victory. I was asked by one of my friends “ Is India your favorite team” I said “no” and promptly enquired me “why” .I said “these guys lack the self-confidence and is solely dependent on one batsman namely SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR. A team game is supposed to be a team game and not a one man show”. Hearing this, he asked me “ok..fine…perceptions change...so, then which is your favorite team” and I replied”if India played against Paki, I want India to win. If India played against Sri Lanka, I want them to win or for the fact if they play against any other country, I want India to win. But, if India plays against Aussie, I want Aussie to win and if Aussie plays Against SA, I want SA to win. So, from this, you could deduce which is my favo team”. He scolded me with almost all the bad words in dictionary when he heard this dialog. Atleast, I guess u would have inferred from that dialog (without scolding me) which is my favo team in the increasing order of hierarchy. The Aussies were my 2nd favo team and my friends beat me black and blue for supporting them instead of India in the finals.
The end of the WC saw many heads rolling in the SA camp starting with the captain to the coach. SHAUN POLLOCK resigned and the relatively young and inexperienced GRAEME SMITH took over his position at the age of 22. At the age of 22, what will we be doing??!! Sitting at home and waiting for some software company to call us and in the mean time, our bodies and mind get rusted due to lassitude and boredom. But, this person took over such an important responsibility to lead his country from the front; to enable SA to regain its lost glory and honor. Also, with a slight quarrel between him and ZULU due do the former’s saying that ZULU’s aggressive behavior affects the younger players, sparked enough controversy between the two of them which lead to the expulsion of LANCE KLUSENER from the SA team. But, Cricket SA covered it by saying “he was dropped on grounds of poor performances”. Thus, without the likes of DONALD, JONTY and KLUSENER, they faced heavy losses in the year 2004 with just a series win against the paltry WEST INDIAN team and saw them finishing at the lowest ever ranking :6th position in ODI and TEST. But, with a cool-headed and aggressive captain like SMITH combined with coach MIKEY ARTHUR, turned the tide for SA from 2005. With almost a rock-solid batting order with GIBBS, SMITH, KALLIS, AB DEVILLIERS and the findings of bowlers like ANDRE NEL, CHARL LANGEVELDT, JOHAN BOTHA etc. They really united well as a team under the watchful eyes of their coach, who scrutinized them closely and thus, started to move up the rankings by the end of 2006 to 3rd position . By 2007, they regained the number 1 spot after the Aussies lost to New Zealand in the Chappel-Hadlee series to become once again the hot favos to win WC2007. But, as usual, they “parapaksha pakama sodhapifyd” (don’t know how to translate that in English) in the semi-finals. The team. Again AUSSIE. This time, the “chokers” tag was rubber stamped on them just like how “Aranganar gets stamped in the movie “Mudhalvan””. They lost their briefly held (<25days) top ODI spot to Aussie again who regained it back after their 3rd consecutive WC victory. But, after the WC, a tsunami hit the invincible Aussie team.
Firstly, they lost disastrously to SA 3-2. The deciding match was a serious blow to them as they couldn’t defend 434 runs in a 50 over match. 434!! Goodness, gracious me!!. This match is considered the best match ever played eclipsing the 99 semi-finals, again between the same two teams. “Vayula dosa veklam idly veklam but Africans kept them aapu” and sent the Oz packing away. Then, the Indians toured the Aussies and was expected to be kicked out disgracefully by them. But, life’s full of surprises and there was a twist in the tale. The Indians beat the Aussies in their own backyard and that too in their favorite hunting ground- PERTH and with a lot of controversies, the Aussies managed to square the series, regaining the Border-Gavaskar trophy. The Aussies, without MCGRATH, WARNE, GILCHRIST, MARTIN and LANGER, toured India, later that year; they were mauled by the Indians, who gave them the taste of their own medicine. And later suffered defeat, at the hands of Proteas. But, managed to hold on to their number 1 ranking by winning the dead rubber against them (SA were without their captain SMITH who was out of action due to an injury, but later, he braved on to the field to salvage a draw for his team but failed to do so as he was bowled, with 10 balls to spare) .So, the Africans have to wait for the number 1 spot in test cricket till march when the Aussies tour The Land of the Wild. But, on a happy note, once again, the Men in Green (MIG) regained the top ODI spot from Oz when they beat 4-1 in the recently concluded ODI series. The number 1 ranking for the MIG is just temporary, provided the Oz doesn’t win against the New Zealanders in the Chappel-Hadlee series which is all set to begin on Feb 1st. But, right now, the Africans have shown to the world what self-confidence and hard work can do to a person or a team. From expulsion to stardom to despicable controversies and scandals, this team has transformed into a pulverizing unit and are in ominous form (form here doesn’t imply any application form, registration form or whatever. but it refers to the manner in which they play) which is sure to rattle all the oppositions in future, provided they don’t get over confident and keep up their commitment and dedication in their work. With the Aussie grip dismantling rapidly, the Proteas could achieve what the Oz had achieved for the past so many years. They have announced to the world (Especially to the nearest rivals- Indians) that they are back in typical “Ajith Billa” style by burying the Aussies and keeping wreaths over them. But, whatever be it, this T-REX (Me) will always be behind the MIG, supporting them, cheering them as he had done always. But, definitley, he won’t cry this time, even if they lose, as winning and losing is a part of life. As Morgan Freeman RIGHTLY said in the movie “The Shawshank Redemption”- “Hope is a good thing. Maybe the Best of All Things” Likewise, the T-REX hopes for sure that the Proteas would win the coveted WC in the next edition. If not, in some edition before its soul rests in peace, peacefully.
EPILOGUE:
“CHINGU CHA CHINGU CHA, PACHA COLORU CHINGU CHA…”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
I would like to thank Jonty Rhodes for his acrobatism in that run out without which I wouldn’t have written this small blog or story or whatever. He was solely the reason for which I liked MIG team. So, I thank his parents (for bringing up such an athletic person), their parents, and their their parents…k…it goes on and on..So...let me a put a full stop to it.
I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the supercomputer (my brain…of course) without which the stats and the data wouldn’t be possible.
Finally, I would like to thank the EB department for not switching off the power at that crucial juncture when that run out was effected.
