Glory brought to the shores

Neither Nationalism culminated in a day nor was fighting against the British the only mean to exercise it. In 1911, setting was in Bengal; Nationalist movement was on all time high after Khudiram’s martyrdom was causing ripples in the hearts of people. People were fed up by the vile British and with their way of governance. The unfair rules and regulations had started to take toll on the natives. Leaders like Gokhale and Tilak were able to inculcate and imbibe the roots of nationalist thinking in the heads and minds of people. Roots of rebel had been planted all over the country and were flowing like a stream. They were craving for change and something fresh was asked for.

Sport has always been one of the means to unite the segregated mass, it is a harmonious language which binds together everyone. In Bengal football had taken the same seat and it was becoming the undying passion. Somehow get a round ball and start hitting it. You need a field where the ball can roll and turn, hence a pretty inexpensive and popular means of entertainment. So football as a sport in Bengal became one of the foremost sports to be exercised. Football as they say is also one of the most violent sports. It has killed people more than any other sport has.

Now to juxtapose all the earlier discreet points together we head back to 1911 and glance towards the IFA shield. Mohun Bagan club of Kolkata had started plundering English clubs like rangers and Middlesex regiment. They stormed through the finals of the shield subsequently. The bare footed players were locking their horns with the mighty British. What eventually comprehended out was that in football they used to get the chance to hit the British and plunder them.

The very same emotions and feelings are arrested through the lens in the Bengali movie Egaro (The immortal eleven). It tells you the true saga of the eleven players who took the field in IFA shield final for Mohun Bagan against East Yorkshire. Caught immaculately through the lens of the cinematographer this movie is worth a watch. Well surely there are some melodramatic moments to magnify the effect of the movie, otherwise I felt the movie was flawless and was able to establish the crux of the subject. After seeing this I was kind of perplexed that how could no movie till date has been featured on this subject. Some may argue Lagaan was made on the same lines, but this football story is a true one.

This movie clearly depicts how the players had to face different kind of hardships. Most of them were deprived of any friends and family support because some of their folks thought it’s a risk which you bring to home if you take challenge with British while some of them did not see playing football a virtuous thing enough. Even some leaders of the nationalist movement foresaw football as a mere luxury and something which does not have a value of penny in the context of Nationalism.

Well eventually everything turned upside down as the match day progressed. People started taking this match as a mean and an opportunity to take revenge against the British. The footballers started to receive best wishes and compliments from all over the country. Media started to take note of this match. Shibdas Bhaduri (captian of the team) was hailed and talked about all and sundry. All had same mission that was to defeat British even the owners of other Indian club also started to hoot for Mohun Bagan.It became simple point blank fight between Indian resistance and English might.Government had to operate many more trains and buses before the match day, because people started to flock over to Calcutta from all parts of eastern India to see this much talked match. People as far as away from Benaras, Dhaka, Guwahati came to witness this historical event. As it happened Mohun Bagan was able to defeat East Yorkshire in a thrilling encounter.

Well this still looms large in the memory of all historians and soccer lovers; this thing has percolated down to our veins. This game was no lesser an effort to subsidize the british., these eleven were as sacred sons of soil as other revolutionaries were.

Fear of leather - Part 1

Anything which moves fast is quite a difficult thing to foresee and tackle with .Consider an object in air which moves along quickly also starts to sway away, keep imagining how difficult it would be to anticipate where that thing would be finally(Hiesenberg's Uncertainty huh ?) .Imagining a bulltet fired from a gun ?.

Well here I draw the analogy with a cricket ball .Similarly as it happens in the game of cricket. A fast moving ball can be very unconformable for any batsman to handle and to score run against. I have always thought a pace bowler running up in rhythm on a lush green field with the wind blowing behind him and then his delivery uprooting the timber is one of the best sight in the game of cricket.

A fast inswinger or a pacy bouncer can make a good batsman look like tottering kid.From time to time fast bowlers have become the nemesis of the batsman. Even the best bastman would get some jitters when facing a true fast bowler.

In this post I will divulge myself in discussing and sharing about the 10 best fast bowlers of last 2 decades (basically the time from which I am following the game).It will be a two part post as it is quite difficult to capture all the aspects in one post.I also start it by paying tribute to the infamous pace quatret of West Indies in the late seventies and early eighties.(in the picture from left Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner) They actually showed how menacing and fearsome pace bowling can be.To properly envision what it mean check the 'Fire in Babylon' documentary.

So here is my list of fast bowlers.

10. Shane Bond: I say very less people have as good an action as Bond had. Bond’s toe breaking Yorkers coupled with his express pace made him a menacing bowler. Also coming from a country where there has been no pedigree of fast bowlers apart from Sir Richard Hadlee.I consider him to take in the Top 10.

9. Courtney Walsh: A bowler who had bowled the least number of extras during his bowling tenure. Discipline and Dilligence were synonymous with Walsh. He successfully carried the legacy of great West Indian bowlers forward. I can recall that he was one of the few fast bowler captains the game has ever witnessed.

8. Chaminda Vaas: Claimed as Sultan of swing. He loyally held the citadel of Sri lankan seam attack for years. He became better and better as he aged on and his potent swings were literally unplayable. Coming from the pitches where there was little assistance to a pace bowler, Vaas’s credentials as a bowler accentuate more.

7. Jason Gilespie: May not be one of the elegant bowlers or as charismatic as his contemporaries. Some may argue with me about his inclusion in the top ten lists but for me Jason Gilespie was a toiler, was a hard worker. He was always there to provide support to the main strike bowlers like McGrath and Lee. Most of the times because of his endurance the strike bowlers used to reap rewards .A special mention must go to his batting where he used to hang in however the condition was. His grittiness was exemplary and to me he was a great character the game has ever seen.

6. Waqar Younis : One of the genuine swingers of the ball, both with the new and older ball. He showed an extra-ordinary mastery over the reverse swing .In fact I can say he was one of the pioneers of reverse swinging. One of the Double W’s of Pakistan pace attack Waqar had troubled and subjugated almost all the best batters of his generation.

Dont miss to check the next and the final concluding part of this blog where i reveal the top five of the list .And also wait and watch for the inglorious list of fast bowlers who they say were fast and furious.