Three Big Guns

I started following this game since 1994 and I was the premier fast bowler of my team but I was barely 6 years old then, so you can get the juvenility of my passions for the sport named cricket and here in India this sport happens to be a religion uniting religions where 'the three big guns' namely Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid have accomplished the stature of demi-Gods and they do deserve it, in my opinion, no matter how much people write them off they will always remain there, right at the top, the Dhonies and Gonies will be gone and forgotten eventually because thanks to our all trade jack media, which has recently got into the shoes of detectives and cops to solve the Noida murder case and like this they have always boo peeked into cricketing analysis to determine the future of these living legends whose service to the sport and country is unparallel and cannot be matched by any amateur poster boy having two good seasons in a row. Can’t the media restrict its role to what it is supposed to be and stop behaving like the ‘know it all’ Dharmatmas; then don’t complain ‘Salman Khan ne thappad maara!’ oh! where did he come in all this? Remember the controversial star slapping a couple of nagging reporters after his break up with his girlfriend? I mean a guy had a break up and you go up and ask ‘how do you feel?’ you might as well ask ‘Hum Chloremint kyon khaate hain?’ because the rationality behind both the questions is similar and so is the result. Coming back to the point, our dear news anchors who in my opinion never even held a bat or a ball outside their domestic compounds, analyze and determine the worth and future of these living legends! And more amusing is the fact that they invite idle, forgotten and retired cricketers who have played less number of international matches than the number of international 100s scored by any of the three above mentioned cricketing legends. And you the reader, you might as well open a couple of cricket stats websites as I am doing right now to cement my view that Old is Gold and form is temporary; class is forever because it is because of your forgetfulness that these cricketers are under the scanner time and again.
Let me take Sachin’s record for instance, as I can see in another window Sachin Tendulkar has played 147 tests and 417 ODI till date scoring 39 hundreds and 49 fifties and 42 hundreds and 89 fifties respectively and its futile to write on the stats of the remaining two gentlemen as theirs are similar in stature. Saurav Ganguly was the highest Indian run scorer and most consistent ODI batsman in 2007 and yet he is dropped from the team, The 2003 world cup roller coaster ride is attributed to Sachin’s bat and Saurav’s captaincy, Rahul Dravid has consistently saved and won tests single handedly for India on foreign turfs and so has Sachin and Saurav. The Master Blaster, The Prince of Kolkata and the Wall are respected world over by some of the best bowlers the world has ever seen and yet in their own country they are time an again humiliated and questioned by news channels that go all hay-hay for a rookie who managed to score once or twice and happens to be likable by girls to attribute to his fan following. ‘Give chance to young players’ is what the ‘cricket gurus’ say who wasted chances given to them in their time. You depend on the quest to search and give opportunity to young talent which is indispensable in my opinion but one must believe that the future should not come at the cost of the golden present. Their will be cricketers in the future who will match and may even surpass their achievements but should this mean that one must show them the way out at their twilight? The zeal of their youth is remarkably evolved into years of valuable experience as one can see them playing the role of sheet anchors and rising up to the occasions when it matters. Saurav recently saved a decisive test for India on the home soil against the might bowling attack of the South Africans and Sachin single handedly scored above 60 consecutively in the last three ODI against S.A. to win the series right after a high on success cricketer commented publicly that ‘seniors must concentrate on their game’. Ok I guess enough of stats are furnished to prove the point, please it’s a request to the media and ‘infotainment’ fraternity keep your feet in your own shoes and if you want to expand then don’t assume cricket field as place to carry out your blue eyed sting operations. When we watch the news we see advertisements flashing on the strips intended for stock information and news then how can you say that a cricketer is unjust to advertisements, moreover the advertisements they do are aired on your esteemed channels only. There is a selection committee and whole lot of thinking and analysis of performances that go in the selection of cricket teams, no one can live on his name without performances backing up and if some one gets a chance to play, he deserves that chance to play irrespective of his age.