History’s Greatest Series

Aaskar, I just wanted to congratulate you on a fine piece of writing. It is well articulated, touches on several points - the most important being that its not all about the cricket!
I am confident that if the peace initiative betwee the two countires proves fruitful in the near future, many commentators will refer to this series as having played an equally important role along with the countless meetings and diplomacy efforts.
Good work!

Gibran Bham

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The fact that this article was allowed to drift away quietly is an indication that people like Ballu and Jay Thackerey are in no mood to face the truth.

dear all
i was in lahore when balaji went to lums (right behind where i was staying in defence) and i can testify that the women went seriously nuts over him.
aakar

I am a bit puzzled at the poor spectator turnout for the test matches.the one day series had big crowds.Is this par for the course vis a vis test matches in India and Pakistan?

re: cricket in the land of Modi
Irfan Pathan seems to have a cult following in the ``land of neonazi Modi``. Even Modi had to acknowledge with pride Irfan`s achievement. Perhaps Modi would have liked to see some one like Patel take the honors but it was not to be.

Imagine. The person who is famous in Gujarat is a muslim. Not just a muslim but born to a pious muslim cleric who says Azaan everymorning and devotes his time in the upkeep of a mosque. A double ``kick in the ass`` for Modi. God has a sense of humor or what!
Sridhar

Some reminiscences!
Cricket rivalry between India and Pakistan is as old as the two countries. During the first match between the two teams played at the Feroz Shah Kotla grounds in Delhi, the Indian team consisted of veterans like Lala Amar Nath, Hazare, Vijay Manjrekar and Ghulam Ahmad while the Pakistani team was mostly of novices except for the captain, Hafeez Kardar. The ticket was less than two rupees for a day and ten rupees for the season ticket.
The Indian team even then had its share of dissension. Lala Amar Nath`s captaincy meant that Vijay Merchant, India`s star opening batsman, refused to play in the series. In the later matches, even Hazare refused to play.
Pakistan even than had better pace bowlers than India. Fazal Mahmood of Pakistan was faster and more damaging than Ramesh Divecha or Dattu Phadkar of India. India had a leg-up on spinners in Shinde and Vinoo Mankad.
I must say that cricket is more entertaining these days than it was back then. I remember both the Indian and Pakistani openers - Pankaj Roy and Haneef Mohammad - could bore you to death by spending a whole session on the crease without scoring more than a dozen runs.
BTW India won the match at Delhi but Pakistan evened it at Kanpur.

Balaji, up close, the words that come to mind are sinuous, feline grace, night fighter . . . you remember the books on ``The Saint``?

Chacha Cricket, the words that come to mind are humane, good man, intelligent, crowd motivator, true patriot to his flag and land.

In my book, both these qualify.

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I have seen both Balaji and Chacha cricket in flesh...

Needless to say none of them will be eligible for Mr. Universe or for a GAP ad.

Vereesh #22: Balaji is actually a pretty good looking guy. I don`t know why people keep insisting he is not. I think his looks maybe a bit under-rated in India. He seems to have developed a cult following in Pakistan.

``Chacha Cricket is also better looking.`` Hmm....I think this one maybe a bit of a stretch. Then again, I have not seen him up close, like you have. I have only seen him on TV. I have heard the TV screen adds an extra ten pounds. It could be he is just not photo-genic, and, like Hema Malani, looks a lot better in real life (though Hema Malani, unlike Chacha looks pretty good on TV also).....

Better looking means what, boss?

Balaji was the big hit with the Pakistani crowd, that`s what I know. The reason I got is that he seems to have no airs and is so simple looking behaving etcetc.

So Balaji is better looking. Chacha Green/Cricket is also better looking.

``Anybody got more details on Chacha Green and his disciples? That was and is one clear headed intelligent pragmatic human being.

I assume you are talking about Chacha Cricket. Unless he has a brother called Chacha Green. From what I have heard, Chacha Cricket became famous during the India-Pak matches in Sharjah. His green crescented Arab toub distinguished him from the crowd. Since then, his visa to UAE seems to have expired, and he is back in Pakistan(??) He apparently tours with the Pakistan team. Perhaps the PCB pays for it. He is now well-recognized in Australia, England etc. Perhaps the no. 1 cricket fan in the world......

vereesh: Let`s get to the comparison that really counts:

Who do you think is better looking......

#96

Ashok Leyland produces Hino engines under license in India. But I dont think AL engines go into HinoPak trucks/buses. They are probably imported from Hino itself and yes they could save money by importing from India.

Ah... I see that the usual Paki-Bashers (Jay, Ballu Khan brigade) are missing from this board.... Maybe the truth is too much to handle for some.