Chak De effect or a fluke?

A delayed post but as the phrase goes: der aaye durust aaye ('better late than never - for my gore friends and all the desi angrez as well'). A couple of days back, I happened to flip the newschannel and came across a headline: India retains Asia Cup hockey title. As soon as I heard, the thought of Chak De! crossed my mind, since then friends - sports freaks are branding it a Chak De! effect, inspired Indian Hockey Team wins the Asia Cup title. Its not something new (remember team India was supposed to be replaced by lagaan XI sometime back), we Indians have the tendency of comparing real life with reel.

For millions of Indians including me, Team means 'Indian Cricket Team', Match means 'One day or Test Cricket Match (20-20 was not famous untill yesterday) and Captain means 'Rahul Dravid or Saurav Ganguly (yes you morons who still want to stick with dada as the best captain)'.

How many players are in a hockey (remind you its our national sport) team, who is the captain of Indian Hockey Team (?? clueless, yes I am too), what is the website that gives the scores and latest fixtures (tuff ques??), what is a world cup and what the hell is a penalty shot and more mysteries for an ordinary Cricket fan. Not anymore!

Shahrukh Khan and his team that made Chak De! have sent a powerful message. I don't know how many people received this message correctly; apart from the physical endurance, self-confidence and motivation the common terms from the coaching manual, this movie went miles ahead to cut the politics, ego problems within a team, lack of understanding, pursuing self-oriented goals than promoting team's interest, commercialization of the game, people who sit on the boards lacking drive and sponsor support and most importantly INDIA - A Country with Several Countries - that made the difference in this movie. The movie to me was powerful enough to convey the message of - Stay united, think like a TEAM, put the COUNTRY's interest forth and make your mark. Me thinks its a must watch for millions of Cricket and Hockey fans, must watch for Cricketers (esp, Yuvraj Singh will be surprised to see him in the movie) & Hockey Players of all levels and a must watch for Cricket and Hockey BOARDS.

But has a movie brought any big revolution in our country other than fear tears within the movie hall? I am not sure!! Can one result make us believe in Indian hockey team and its standards? Think time is the best teller, hopefully Indian Hockey is revived for good.

Look alike

Guys don't be jealous, yes the site says I resemble Brad Pitt. Girls heres the hotter, shorter and leaner version of Brad Pitt, just a click away. Cheers!

Chakde-ya India!

6th ODI, India vs England. India needing 25 of 13 deliveries, I saw Dhoni got bowled. My instant statement for my flaties was to stop watching cricket - Team India needs character, probably a coach like SRK (sorry for being too kiddish/filmish), in no time I had to eat my words.
I saw a spectacular display of character from Uthappa. A young lad from silicon city of India, and for sure this guy has an attitude to die for. Some of his earlier opening stands have been demolishing to say the least, today it was "cometh the day, cometh the man!" He came as a man with a mission, he wanted his place in India back and he could'nt have asked for a bigger stage.
Again like a typical Indian, I just have praise for him, afterall he made us win an all important match. As they say, "the best one-day matches are decided in tight finishes and, when the life of a series hangs in that balance, it makes the tension that much more real." To me, like Mr. Gavaskar and others he is the Man of the Match.
Having praised, we must realize that they are all humans and they will have ups and downs in life. Dhoni for instance was a find a couple of seasons back, got household name, posters everywhere, signed tonns of commercials, can hit the ball which will never come back, can hit a ball to Mars, what not, give me a break dude!! Here he was unable to play a straight shot and believe me or not, he is the best and only bet to replace our current kaptan. Is Dhoni by any standards close to our big 3? Answer is a NO. But we don't have a bigger cricketer than him in the current league, then who is at fault?
Dhoni? Probably, popularity gone over his head and he has already minted a lot, whats the need of playing more, better he insures money with GE money and roams around India with Narain using SPEED (or whatever crap of gasoline they sell). I believe its us, we make cricketers enter our bedroom thru television, we make them heros overnight, its not all about winning a couple of matches, its about wining consistently, performing in indian pitches and international pitches, its about playing for INDIA, playing for India to WIN.
Think it lacks in all the current breed of cricketers as they get instant publicity. Hope Uthappa has a good head on his shoulder and he keeps playing to make us proud rather than failing like our other Natwest hero - Kaif. Btw is he still in India? or is he playing for a county? or better for Indian cricket, has he joined ICL?