VERY VERY SPECIAL LAXMAN IN THE WORDS OF LEGENDS

VVS Laxman. The name is always special in world cricket. It is unable for every cricket lover to forget the trails he made during his fantastic cricketing career. Being one among the fabulous five of Indian cricket, he showed us newer depths of cricketing. Laxman is undoubtedly one of the finest test batsmen of all time. Here are some quotations made by some legends on the legendary Laxman

• "When I walk out to play in Hyderabad I will feel a deep void. A void that can never be filled. My dear friend, VVS Laxman." – Sachin Tendulkar
• “If you get Dravid, great. If you get Sachin, brilliant. If you get Laxman, it’s a miracle.” – Steve Waugh
• "The best part about Laxman was his sense of grace on and off the field, both in good times and bad times. I will remember him most for his sense of balance while batting, his ability to keep smiling whatever the situation and the tenacity to keep bouncing back." – Rahul Dravid
• "Laxman you were amazing [at] cricket everyone knows, but you were surely the best human being I have ever met. God bless you with all the happiness in future." – Harbhajan Singh
• "VVS is one of the finest human beings to have played cricket. One of the main pillars of the team and a true friend. Words are not enough." – Virendar Sehwag
• "From carrying his innings to carrying himself, VVS has shown immense class. Will miss you Laxman bhai." – Suresh Raina
• "Laxman bhai has always been an inspiration for all the cricketers. Gonna miss watching him play for India. Wish him all the best for future!" – Manoj Tiwary
• "Laxman. His attitude is infectious. Felt at peace after talking to him. A salute to him for a great career and inspiring many lives." – Unmukt chand
• "Requires a very special man to turn his back on a grandstand end and accept the moment has come. Rose in my eyes if he could any more." – Harsha Bhogle
• "Not many batsmen made batting look as easy as VVS Laxman. If a cricketer's greatness is to be measured in terms of his performances against the best opposition of his time, then Laxman stands right at the top; his record against Australia, the world's No. 1 team for the better part of his career, speaks for itself. Indian cricket-lovers, and the game of cricket itself, will miss him for the elegance and grace that he epitomised, on and off the field." – N Srinivasan
• "That was the brightest day in Laxman's career. That innings had a big impact on Indian cricket. It had given us a huge sense of relief and made us have belief in ourselves that we're not behind... Since then, we never looked back as Indian cricket kept improving." – Sourav Ganguly on Laxman’s 281 in the 2002 Kolkata Test against Australia
• "Laxman has had an outstanding career. He is one of the few batsmen who was a great chaser, an art only a few could master." – Dilip Vengsarkar
• "The whole team will miss you VVS. One of the best human beings I have ever met in my life. Spent a lot of time with him while batting and fielding and the chat would always be about the team. Personally, I will really miss you Lachu bhai." – MS Dhoni
• “On his day he could beat even 22 fielders and find the boundary.” – Zaheer Khan

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The Wall in the words of legends
God in the words of legends
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THE WALL IN THE WORDS OF LEGENDS

Rahul Dravid, "The Wall" was the backbone of Indian cricket team that evolved from nothing to a team that believe in itself. Even though Sourav Ganguly is credited for leading the team to great heights, he could'nt have done it without Dravid, the cement that held the foundations firm while flair players expressed themselves. Here are some quotations made by some legends about Rahul Dravid.

• "If you can't get along with Dravid, you're struggling in life" - Brett Lee
• "Try to take his wicket in the first fifteen minutes, if you can't then only try to take the remaining wickets" - Steve Waugh
• "All this going around is not aggression. If you want to see aggression on cricket field, look into Rahul Dravid's eyes" - Matthew Hayden
• "Time and tide wait for nobody, except Rahul Dravid" - MTV India
• "Dravid could play attacking cricket like me but I could never play like him" - Chris Gayle
• "Team in trouble? Whom do you turn to? Rahul Dravid!" - Ian Chappell
• "Nothing can beat experience" - Brad Hogg
• "Rahul Dravid is a player who would walk on broken glass if his team asks him to" - Navjot Singh Sidhu

GOD IN THE WORDS OF LEGENDS

Sachin Tendulkar is still a mystery in the cricketing world. The way he bat, the way he score, the way he behave with others, everything he has shown the world are epitomes for a good cricketer. There are many things one could learn from him. This is what makes Master Blaster the cricket God. Here are some quotations made by some legends about the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.

• "I don't know about cricket but still watch cricket to see Sachin play. Not because I love his play, its because I want to know the reason why my country's production goes down by 5% when he's in batting." - Barack Obama.
• "If Sachin plays well, India sleeps well.." - Harsha Bhogle.
• "I want my son to become Sachin Tendulkar." - Brian Lara.
• "We did not lose to a team called India, we lost to a man called Sachin." - Mark Taylor.
• "Nothing bad can happen to us if we were on a plane in India with Sachin Tendulkar on it." - Hashim Amla.
• "He can play that leg glance with a walking stick also." - Waqar Younis.
• "There are two kinds of batsmen in the world : 1. Sachin Tendulkar, 2. all the others." - Andy Flower.
• "I have seen God. He bats at no:4 for India in tests." - Matthew Hayden.
• "When you bowl at him you are not trying to get him out, you are trying to impress him." - Andrew Flintoff.
• "I see myself when I see Sachin batting." - Don Bradman.   
• "In my several years of international cricket, Tendulkar remains the best batsman I have ever bowled to. It's been a pleasure to bowl at the master batsman even though one hasn't always emerged with credit from the engagements." - Allan Donald.
• "I have delayed my shoots many times to watch Sachin bat." - Amitabh Bachchan.
• "I am fortunate that I've to bowl at him only in the nets." - Anil Kumble. 
• "You get him out and half the battle is won." - Arjuna Ranatunga.
• "I have to say Sachin is better than Lara, because he has that aura when he comes out to bat." - Brett Lee.
• "Tendulkar is to cricket what Michael Jordan is to basketball and Muhammed Ali to boxing." - Brian Lara.
• "He has been in form longer than some of our guys have been alive." - Daniel Vettori.
• "I am one among those fortune people who have seen Bradman and Tendulkar bat in my lifetime and in my opinion Tendulkar is the best batsman I have seen in my life." - Hanif Mohammed.
• "He continues to give more than 100% and his schoolboy-like enthusiasm for the game is something I envy and admire. For the team he is the best available coaching manual." - Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
• "Don't bowl him bad balls, he hit the good ones for fours." - Michael Kasprowicz.
• "Test cricket is bloody hard work, especially when you have got Sachin batting with what looks like a three-meter-wide bat." -Michael Hussey.
• "The more I see him the more I want to see him." - Mohammed Azharuddin.
• "His mind is like a computer. He stores data on bowlers and knows where they are going to pitch the ball." - Navjot Sidhu.
• "There is no shame losing to such a great player." - Steve Waugh.

Related links:

Why cricket boom in India?

WHY CRICKET BOOM IN INDIA?

Cricket is undoubtedly the most famous sport famous sport in India. The boom of this game in the hearts of Indians was very rapid. Indian fields got transformed into cricket ground. Rather different from hockey which was once the greatest game in India, cricket was able to gain extreme popularity in every nook and corner of all Indian villages. The rules of this ‘bat and ball game’ are an essay able topic for every chap in this country.

Cricket is believed to have originated from the leisure time activities of Shepherds of northern England. As the time rolled out, there came a lot of rules and changes in the game and is now known as ‘The Cricket’. Cricket was introduced in India during the colonialization period of the British. Though the British showed footballing it couldn’t gain much popularity as that of cricket. Then what made cricket boom in India..?

The most important reason for the popularity of this sport is undoubtedly the winning of the 1983 cricket world cup by the Kapil’s Devils. The surprising victory of a below average team against the former world cup champions (West Indians) supercharged the spirit of Indian cricket. The dailies throughout the world enjoyed the incredible victory. People began to see India as a growing super power in cricket.

The formation of ‘Asian Cricket Board’ after the world cup victory also helped cricket in India. The Indian camp had to face many difficulties during the world cup tour. This triggered the then BCCI (Board for Control of Cricket in India) members to take an initiative to form the Asian Cricket Board. This united the cricket of Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan etc. The newly formed board enabled the Indian cricket to express their voice and acquire their rights.

The vast amount of money the BCCI made through advertizing also helped the growth of Indian cricket. The players got big salaries apart from the achievements they made individually and their standard of living was lifted to a higher level. Rather than becoming a sport cricket became a business as an effect of this.

The names such as Dawood Ibrahim was very important once in Indian cricket. Money flooded in the cricket fields like anything due to gambling and other third rated activities. Though this remains as a black mark, it helped in the growth of cricket up to a large fraction.

Another important reason is the coming up of world class cricketers like the Fabulous Five – Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble. These players of impeccable records are also among the top class cricketers of all time. They inspired the whole cricketing world and was always epitomes in field as well as in life.

The galleries which were once empty got filled up. The overpopulated audience also helped in the performance of players and also brought huge money.

Cricket academies like the National School of Cricket, MRF Pace foundation, Cricket India Academy etc, helped in developing good cricketers through high quality coaching and use of modern equipment and facilities. Rather than becoming a part time cricketer these institutions provided the talented, a career of vast opportunities.

Definitely the ‘Men in Blue’ has inspired as a lot during the last thirty years of cricketing. The game once played by the privileged class of the society has now become the game of all, the game of common man.

Related links:
God in the words of legends.

DECEMBER 19-PERSON OF THE DAY-RICKY PONTING

Probably the best captain I have ever seen..

             

Australian cricket team was always one of my favourite team,just after India.. It was because of the attitude they show towards the game. Each and every team member would be totally involved and it was like..an 'elixir of life' to them.. Whether its Gilchrist, Hayden, Lee, Warne, MagGrath or Ponting... Everyone was awesome.. But, it was always Ponting,the captain of the ship, controlling the game.. During its Golden era,the team would have a fielder everywhere the ball goes.. It was due to the pure talent and experience of this great cricketer. He is a right handed batsman and widely considered one among the best one after Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara..

Ricky Thomas Ponting was born on December 19,1974 Launceston, Tasmania. He made his first-class debut for Tansmania in november 1992. His one-day International debut was in 1995

 against the all time rivals, South Africa. He did his test debut in the same year against Sri Lanka in which he scored 96 runs. He lost his place in the team frequently due to lack of form and discipline before he became the ODI captain in the early 2002 and Test captain in 2004. He is Ausis's top scorer till now and one among the four (Sachin, Dravid, Kallis, Ponting) in the world to score 13000 runs in test.

As I have already told, he can be considered as one of the most successful captain with 44 test wins in 78 matches. As a player, he is the only person to be involved in 100 Test victories and 262 ODI wins. He had also captained 2 consecutive Worl Cup victories of 2003 and 2007 out of Ausis's hat-trick(1999, 2003 & 2007) and was a player in the 1999 world cup under Steve Waugh's captaincy.

Everyone of you does know him..as a cricketer.. But he has another role to play.. A role to save thousands of lives from the evil cancer. Yes.. He with his wife Rianna has set up Ponting Foundation to do everything possible to help young Australians and their families to beat cancer. It provide financial and emotional support to families suffering from the difficulties of cancer.

So.. Let us all wish this great cricketer, or, more than that, a great human being, a HAPPY BIRTHDAY,,

ESPN CRICINFO:  http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/7133.html

Take care friends..