Deranged

I'm back home, and enjoying it. This is a fun little break from University life, which sadly shall end soon. But it's nice and rejuvinating, and gives me the opportunity to pig out for a while. Sadly, I must also get down to studying, or end up failing imminent midterms. Ah, well. Such as they say, is life.

Yesterday, I watched a cricket match, well half of one at any rate, after bloody ages. India vs Pakistan no less. Basically it's the closest you can get to ODI bliss in a long way. Even though it was a dead rubber, it was one hell of a run chase. With 8 point something an over to make off the last 20 overs, I had my doubts. Sure there were wickets in hand, but the pitch seemed to be on the slower side, and runs didn't come about very easily. However, I've been away for a while, and thus have not witnessed enough innings of a certain fellow named Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Now the first time I saw him place was this very arbit match of India A vs Kenya, in a tri-series between India A, Pakistan A and Kenya. Following that match, I saw the India A vs Pakistan A final. A common theme ran between the two matches, MS Dhoni coming in at one down, and systematically demolishing the respective bowling attacks. I heard he was a half decent keeper as well, and naturally asked why in the good graces of Gavaskar he wasn't in the playing 11, instead of a little bitty kid who seemed to drop anything that came his way and put up "Gutsy" performances which involved him not getting out for 50 balls while fast bowlers played Duck Hunt with him.
Sadly, the selectors only responded recently, and the series just before I was to depart. Since then, he's been in 35 matches, and averaged 50 odd. I've seen a very select few of those, and got another glimpse yesterday.
Well, hats out to both Dravid and most especially Yuvraj, who stuck it out and got the match into a controllable state. But when Dravid got out, and Dhoni came to the crease, you could sense something was about to happen.
You were wrong, however. Because according to the commentators, this man's strategy involves him playing the first 15 balls at a sluggish strike rate of 90 before he decides to "Go after the bowling".
When he does decide to Go After The Bowling, it is a sight to see, a sight I'm sad to say I've missed out on too often. The man is mad. Insane. Deranged. He has that Klusner/Sehwag/Jayasuriya mentality that tells you before the ball is bowled where it's going. Wherever that is, it is usually very far away. Somewhere around 20 odd runs, he decides that the asking rate is now an acceptable 7 an over, his partner Yuvraj has got an injury, and he really wants to go home. So why stick around? From an asking rate of 7, an over later is was down to 4.5. Another over later, it was down to 2. The next over, there wasn't a match left. A target of 287 had been negotiated in less than 47 overs. Because Dhoni wished it so.

I was blessed to witness some of the most audacious cricket shots I've seen in a while. The hit off Sami comes to mind, where he took him of a six over long off, from what was an attempted yorker. Yaseer arafat was taken for fourteen off an over, where he bowled three perfect reverse swining yorkers, which were unceremoniously swatted away but sadly failed to find a gap. The three other deliveries didn't have the same fortune, as they just missed the blockhole.

This man is out and out entertainment, and thankfully he'll be around a while. We're touring Windies in the summer, where I shall be around, and can't wait for him, Sehwag and Tendulkar to get stuck into what is now a very military medium West Indian pace attack.

Oh, and the food is great too. My mouth has most definitely had its fill, I've stuffed it plenty.
It's good to be home.