Dreaded Duo

I hate to be repetitious but Cricket so much flows in my veins that I have to write about it and have to write it at the start. This particular article is a preamble to things to come later this year or early next year. Mr. Wall and Mr. Specialist will be humiliated, mocked and torn apart in full public glare and with all the media coverage and very deservedly so. And Being one of the most loathsome opponents of the two I take it as a moral obligation to write their due obituary even before their demise.

My first objection to their existence is their self belief and ability to stand tall against the best in the business. In an age of fast cars, faster mode of communication and still faster way to execution (through bomb blast) how could these two bastards stay unfazed and concentrate on the job at hand? And they did it for more than a decade. In an age where boom-boom is the shortest and easiest way to glory, how could these two apply themselves ball by ball, session by session; sweating, taking blows on stomach, on face, on chest and still not gave up? In an era of Big Boss, MTV Roadies, Indian Idol all masterpieces on their own and reflecting true taste of society, the culprits in question gave us a boring Eden Gardens and a frustrating Adelaide. Couldn’t any body remind them the amount spent on broadcasting?

Their most heinous crime is to be the first among equals in a battle of courage but their reluctance to be a participant in a gang rape; a gang rape with full sanction of industry, media and general public and called T20. Here you are given the option of facing a bowler with his ass well oiled on a flat track and your virility is to be tested whether you hit him for a six or four and their will be appreciation even for holding out in the deep with the comments ‘at least, he tried.’ You have to be a base ball player in the guise of a Cricketer. That they tried to remain cricketer is the testimony of their impotence. When the bowlers themselves don’t complain and find a way to remain in news by slapping each other and getting high on dopes, these two needs to be punished for still being quiet. Isn’t it then, a poetic justice that the same bowlers err Khiladis find solace in Hasinas and the two in question get due humiliation bit by bit and from one and all?

T20 is perfect and is the need of hour, the TRP it got says it all. That it is backed by biggest business and entertainment persons is purely coincidental. It’s the public demand that forced them invest into it and in no way they drive the public sentiments. That same public liked Ashes 2005 and made it the most watched sports event ever is an aberration. That Test Cricket can be made popular in a society that knows exactly what it wants is a wishful thinking. T20 is here to stay.

So, I request all readers of this article to please assemble at the Stone-Pelting Ceremony marked for the demise of the duo and to be announced soon. It’s our moral duty to remove all traces of heroics prevalent around. And being one of the strongest believers in Societal Ethos and Public Demand I will be the first one to begin.