tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post114636818699918684..comments2024-03-28T22:51:28.222+05:30Comments on The Middle Stage: Some thoughts on playing cricket at the OvalChandrahashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-52223785692549950222010-06-25T05:16:32.690+05:302010-06-25T05:16:32.690+05:30It is useful to try everything in practice anyway ...It is useful to try everything in practice anyway and I like that here it's always possible to find something new. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-1149580066497170902006-06-06T13:17:00.000+05:302006-06-06T13:17:00.000+05:30liked ur post. Turn back a few pages of my own lif...liked ur post. Turn back a few pages of my own life, I might well be the boy you described. Except that I probably would have been running with a pair of shoes that is smaller by a couple of sizesantyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04774671453426240079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-1146773085214523612006-05-05T01:34:00.000+05:302006-05-05T01:34:00.000+05:30Hi,I think you said it well about education and th...Hi,<BR/>I think you said it well about education and the gap it leaves in the minds. Thank god for cricket!!<BR/><BR/>All sport is a wonderful medium to learn life's lessons, dont you think? <BR/><BR/>Regards<BR/>SantanuSantanu Charihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00059394127804518651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-1146734245532511432006-05-04T14:47:00.000+05:302006-05-04T14:47:00.000+05:30Pleasure and instruction, true. Courage, concentra...Pleasure and instruction, true. Courage, concentration, competitiveness, perseverance, but not as abstract qualities - when the dream disappears, they become meaningless.<BR/><BR/>I myself am a lazy, irresponsible dilettante. That's why academics have always appealed to me. Armchair cricket, and stats.Cheshire Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463645065346922684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-1146584772214762642006-05-02T21:16:00.000+05:302006-05-02T21:16:00.000+05:30Confused - of course I'll buy you a lunch. In fact...Confused - of course I'll buy you a lunch. In fact I owe all my loyal readers lunches, but only at Noor Mohammadi. Just email to fix the date and time and I'll turn up. Life is nothing if not salted by good food and conversation. <BR/><BR/>Only some topics are off-bounds, such as Tendulkar's loss of form, the Sourav Ganguly affair, or the ICC and how it is ruining the game, or the present state of world cricket.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-1146510112348168462006-05-02T00:31:00.000+05:302006-05-02T00:31:00.000+05:30I apologize if you thought I mentioned the said ge...I apologize if you thought I mentioned the said gentleman in a flippant manner; that is why I said ''in the making''. Rest assured, I have the highest respect for him. Interview-that will be a pleasure to read.<BR/><BR/>Since, I am a much lesser luminary than Amitava(infact I am no luminary at all ) will you buy me a lunch? :)<BR/><BR/>Just kidding. <BR/><BR/>Look forward to the interview.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-1146505482995094222006-05-01T23:14:00.000+05:302006-05-01T23:14:00.000+05:30Amitava - Thanks very much. As you are the biggest...Amitava - Thanks very much. As you are the biggest luminary ever to have left a comment on the Middle Stage, you are cordially invited to lunch at Noor Mohammadi the next time you are in Bombay. As you are such a luminary (the biggest luminary ever to have left a comment on the Middle Stage) you'll be paying, of course.<BR/><BR/>And yes, that's a very good way of putting it: "the desire for escape and everything that at each moment threatens to thwart it". That's it exactly.<BR/><BR/>Confused - Yes, I did get your comment, and there was nothing offensive about it. But I chose not to publish it because it compares me unfairly to a much better writer on the subject. While I am a highly immodest soul, I do also occasionally see the truth for what it is.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, to mollify you, I have plans of soon running a long interview with the gentleman in question.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-1146497627948687232006-05-01T21:03:00.000+05:302006-05-01T21:03:00.000+05:30I liked this piece very much because it links geni...I liked this piece very much because it links genius to ordinary things<BR/>like rides on a scooter and shoes two sizes too big. Your analysis returns cricket to the realm of lived realities, and shows how the drama of the game isn't only the contest between bat and ball--but primarily between ambition or the desire for escape and everything that at each moment threatens to thwart it. Thank you.<BR/><BR/>Amitava KumarAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-1146496649060524872006-05-01T20:47:00.000+05:302006-05-01T20:47:00.000+05:30Hi Hash, I swear I left a comment here. To...Hi Hash,<BR/> I swear I left a comment here. Totally inoffenive. Useless? Maybe. <BR/><BR/>I don't meant to question your judgment on your blog, but I wonder why was it rejected.<BR/><BR/>regardsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-1146422934275179902006-05-01T00:18:00.000+05:302006-05-01T00:18:00.000+05:30I agree with your points on the importance of cric...I agree with your points on the importance of cricket for youth. But in addition to freeing the mind and teaching a fair bit about life, as you pointed out, there seems to be a Horatio Algeresque aspect to the game when a big player or two suddenly come up from rural backwaters that provides plenty with hope. <BR/><BR/>From being a game for the upper echelons of English society during the Empire, it's turned into something for people of all socioeconomic classes and a bridge. One only needs to look at people like MS Dhoni, from the backwaters of Jharkhand, Steve Waugh, a Bankstown boy from a large middle-income family, or others like Vinod Kambli and Sanath Jayasuriya.<BR/><BR/>Cricket means a lot to plenty of people, a number of whom play it solely for the love of the game and the joy it brings. But what about those who take it a little more seriously and look at it as a way of moving up in life, by breaking into a Ranji or Duleep Trophy squad - or perhaps, like Sreesanth or Munaf Patel, into the national team?Salilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02024757873081383487noreply@blogger.com