An advertisement a few years back had tried gamely to sell the idea of a perfect cricket fan by associating him with the line "Eat Cricket, Sleep Cricket, Drink XYZ". If I look at that line as a mirror, I would think I have outgrown that line since last two decades of my living being. I don't eat Cricket, I live it. I don't sleep Cricket, I dream it. Taking off from another recent commercial, for me, Cricket isn't just a game. It's who I am. It is this sense of pure devotion that keeps me going through the thick and thin of life. In a manner that can be called Cricket- Sporting, Fighting and yet Gentlemansque.
If I take so much from the game each day, I am obliged to give a bit back. Not so much to enlighten others, but to remind myself of pure joy that the game brings to me, and to share a bit of that with the ones I love. Yes, my fellow friends and family, who read from me whenever I upload something on my personal blog. There are stories and then there are inspirations. Inspirations from closely fought battles, inspirations from improbable victories snatched from the jaws of defeat, and some from acts of gamesmanship that move you as much as they amuse you in this world of winning at any cost. Allow me a few honourable mentions without whom Indian Cricket won't be what it is- a Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid & Kapil Dev. The men who transcend the boundaries of being a role model not just by the way they played, but by whom they are.