Mother

Today marks 2 years after my mother passed away. It is indeed an emotional day for me. However, I did not realise how much my mother would have gone through for raising me, until I was a proud father of a boy. My little joy is 11 months old today and I really miss my mother everyday. Everyday, I see my wife and my kid each other, I realise how much my mother loved me. When I see my wife and kid trying to settle down with each other, I go back 30 years and think how come my mother raised me without all the comforts which are on offer to my family right now. I will miss her more going forward seeing my kid grow up. How she would have reacted seeing my kid grow and compare his actions with that of my childhood. I could have relived my childhood if she was around.

Mother is truly god on earth. She takes care of you like no one else can do. She does it without any expectation of return on investments. She does it because she loves you. Though I have not told my father, he is really lucky that he (now 64) still has a mother who till date takes care of him like a kid.

It is of utmost importance in this dynamic world to understand one basic fact that we take care of our mothers regardless of her age. You never know when is her last day. Love her, show kindness, understand her needs, even argue with her but never hurt her. In this fast paced life, sometimes we forget to take care of our near and dear ones including mother. We take her for granted. Don't do that. Once she is gone all this will come back to haunt you.

I sincerely request all readers, if you have your mum with you (regardless of your age), you are the luckiest person on the earth. You have your god with you. Keep her happy that should be the most important thing for you. You may not be able to keep her happy all the time (for practical reasons) however, the fact that you tried to keep her happy will make you smile once she is gone. Don't celebrate only "Mother's day" in fact celebrate everyday as if it is "Mother's day". Identify what she likes, what she needs. Fulfill those likes and needs before she asks. See the joy on her face. It will be priceless.

We can enjoy life if we seize these small moments. 

India V. New Zealand - 3rd T20 - 10.02.2019

Today's match was a bloody street fight where many punches landed by fighters to each other till the time the other fighter was grounded. This game had everything. Ruthless batting, Smart bowling, some great fielding (some not so great), almost last ball finish, individuals with lesser reputation taking the centre stage to take their teams to the finish line etc.

Considering the bigger picture, Indians should not be disappointed. Pant, Hardik, Krunal and DK showed how dangerous they can be on a given day. Kuldeep Yadav showed that he has become a very mature bowler and does not get carried away if other bowlers are getting hit all round the park. These were very similar conditions which Indians will be getting in England during the world cup which is few months away. However, New Zealand played exceptionally well. With Munro showing why he is one of the best batsmen in T20 now-a-days, KW showing his class and Colin de Grandhomme showing his hitting prowess set up a steep target and somehow huffing and puffing restricted India 4 short of their score.

Kiwis were put in to bat by India. Unlike the last game, Kiwis' openers came charging on as angry bulls. Openers put on 80 runs within 8 overs. The stage was set for a total in excess of 200. However, Indians could have restricted Kiwis from putting on a mammoth 212 if Khaleel (when Munro was on 60) would have held on to a dolly catch. However, then munro added 12 runs to his individual total and perished. However, then KW and Colin de grandhomme came together and ensured that Kiwis make rapid strides towards the 200 run mark. Final flourish was provided by Daryl Michell and Roass taylor. Kiwis ended up with 212 on the board.

Indians in reply lost Dhawan early. Vijay Shankar came at no.3. Played a handy innings of 43 (28) to keep India in the hunt of the target. Rohit, uncharacteristically, played a innings of 38(32). Perished in 14th over trying to hit a wide ball out of the park. So was MS Dhoni. However, sparkling brilliance was shown by Pant, Pandya brothers and DK. Pant scored 16 runs out of first 3 deliveries. Hardik hit his first ball out of the park. Krunal hit 14 runs out of the first 3 deliveries of 18th over from Southee. DK hit 2 huge sixes. However, these all efforts could not help India achieve the target. In fact if not for DK and Krunal Pandya's partnership of 63 out of 27 balls, India would have fell very well short of the target. However, these were the positives out of the match that batsman other than Rohit, Dhawan and MSD propelled India's chase and almost won the match.

Really it was a delight to watch today's match. That's what T20 are all about. Thrilling and entertaining!!

India v. NZ T20 08 FEB 2018

The second t20 between black caps and team India was a must win encounter for the visitors. Though the visitors went with unchanged side (much to my surprise), the intensity was way better than first match.
This time KW won the toss and elected to bat first. However, RoHitman was also happy with the toss since Indians wanted to bowl first on a small ground with an abnormal shape for a cricket ground. Bhuvi was ably supported by Khaleel. They both bowled initial spell with discipline and only gave 30 runs out of their combined 4 overs with a priceless wicket of the hero of first match. However, body blows were provided by Krunal pandya in his first over (last over of the power play). Colin Munro was caught by rohit at midwicket and the controversial dismissal of Daryl Mitchell. The experienced duo of Taylor and KW tried to calm the innings, but with KW judged LBW in Krunal Pandya's second over and black caps were in more than spot of bother at 51-4 after 8 overs. Colin de G. (CDG) then came to the crease to join Taylor. He did excellent counter attack and hit a 28 ball 50. He propelled NZ's score to 128 in 16 overs. At that stage NZ fancied chances of a score in excess of 175. However, with accurate death bowling by India, NZ could only managed to get to 158-8 in their quota of 20 overs.

The target was not a big one, but was not at all walk in the park type. India had to be clinical in their chase against a talented black caps bowling attack headed by southee. For NZ it would have been a record if they managed to keep India from chasing the target. Lowest target defended on the same venue was 166 by NZ in 2012. However, the opening partnership between Ro n Shikhar of 77 in 9 overs, ensured that NZ's chances of winning were minimised if not eliminated. With this innings now Rohit has twenty 50s which is the highest number of 50s in t20. With roles reversed, Rohit pressed accelerator and Dhawan was happy playing second fiddle. This time Indian think tank did a sensible thing by sending young pant to the crease after the fall of first wicket. He did a good job scoring 40 runs out of 28 runs. After the first wicket partnership, India never looked back and Vijay Shankar and MSD provided the support which pant needed to chase down the target with ease.

With this win, now the series hangs in balance setting a mouth watering third encounter on Sunday at Hamilton.

India - New Zealand T20 - 06 Feb 2019

Today's match can be summed up as a Kid trying to drive a bicycle without using either of his hands on a road filled with potholes just to see how fast he can go without using his hands (remember your childhood days). India was that kid today and that kid fell on its face hurting itself badly. It was a bad loss. Indian think tank was trying to manufacture simulated conditions to try and know its bench's real strength. However, they forgot that today's match is not scientist's laboratory where experiments are done but it is actual market place where results are expected. 

India did a lot of experiments today in before and in the match. Infact, India approached this match as if it is a practice match. Virat and Bumrah already on leave. On top of it Kuldeep Yadav and Kedar Jadhav not selected for the match. Today's Indian team already was missing its key players. Further, India did experiments in its batting and bowling order. In both the experiments, Vijay Shankar was involved. He did not get to bowl for certain strange reason. Considering the fact that all the bowlers were taken to the cleaners, he deserved a chance to bowl. In batting, to everyone's surprise he was promoted in the batting order and walked in the park on fall of first wicket. Both the experiments failed.

Coming to the match, New Zealand was a far more professional team today. Rohit won the toss and decided to Bowl on a pitch which was good to bat on. Except for the first over where the New Zealand batsman sized up the pitch, the hosts were ruthless and relentless. Colin Munro is a completely different batsman in T20s. Delhi Capitals owners would be so happy to see this performance. Kane Williamson was also very enterprising. Both scored 34 runs. However, star and man of the match was Tim Seifert. He scored blistering 84 (43) runs hitting 13 boundaries (7 fours and 6 sixes). Hopefully, he continues Brendum McCullum's legacy for New Zealand. India had not seen much of him before the match. However, now they will for sure scrutinise his batting closely. Khaleel, who is yet to make his mark on international arena, was clobbered all over the place by the openers and so was Hardik Pandya. Both ended up with expensive figures of 1/48 and 2/51 out of their quota of 4 overs each. To add to it, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was also a pale shadow of his better version. He also leaked runs and conceded 1/47 out of his 4 overs. Pick of the bowlers were both the spinners who comparatively did better job with economy rate of  less than 10 runs an over. However, New Zealand did reach to a score of 219 with the help of cameos from Ross (swatting) Taylor and Kuggelejin.

India had a mountain to climb from the first ball. Infact, before this match, out of 60 intl. T20 matches only 10 times a team has chased down a score more than 200. The odds were stacked against India to 1/6 from the beginning. To add to it, Virat was not in the batting line up. It had to be a Rohit special to take India to the victory. But that didn't happen. Rohit was caught out on a bouncer of Southee by Lockie Ferguson on India's score of 18 in 2.2 overs. With that wicket, India's hopes of chasing this mountain nosedived, if not totally wiped off. As mentioned earlier, India was in mood to experiment. They sent Vijay Shankar to have some batting experience under a pressure situation. Dhawan, who did look in good form, but was got a brute of a delivery from Lockie Ferguson. Vijay Shankar, Pant, Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya perished trying to up the ante. By the time Krunal Pandya joined Dhoni, India's chances of winning had perished. From that position of 77-6 at the end of 11th over, it would have been difficult for Mr. Gayle as well, even if he was allowed to bat twice. Eventually, India got all out for 139 in the 20th over. New Zealand won by a huge margin of 80 runs. This margin in T20 is really a huge margin.

Going forward, if India does not come out of its laboratory, I don’t see coming matches in this series to have any different results. All said and done, New Zealand played excellent cricket and they deserved this win. 

Stat of the Day - Out of 60 intl. T20 matches only 10 times a team has chased down a score more than 200.

Tweet of the Day - "So NZ does not care whether it is 50 overs match or 20 overs match. They will hit almost equal no. of runs in both the format" - @tushargoyal89.