De ghuma ke!!

well here we go ... 4 years forth from the colossal stupor that was world cup 2007, and we find ourselves back in the supercharged, ultra colourful, manic frenzied environs of the subcontinent for what promises to be the turning point in the destiny of the middle-aged man's staple cricket diet : the one-day game. Yes, I did say that. Most of us who grew up loving the 50 over game are either in our late 20s or 30s, and in some cases 40s.. the frenetic pace of T20 is more suited for the smaller attention span of Gen-Y, and ironically, the meteoric rise of the shortest form threatens to do to 50-over cricket, what the latter did to test match cricket in its early years.

this edition, though promises to be a much needed shot-in-the-arm with no clear favourite [go India!!!!!!]. but this isn't the time to reminisce.. this isn't the time for forboding, this isnt the time to get nostalgic, that time is past. now's the time to limber up, wear your heart on your sleeve and lose yourself in the spectacle that awaits.

as the great Imran Khan once said, each World Cup has its own rhythm, and if the warm-up games were any indication, this one promises to have a gripping pace, rising and falling as we move towards the knock-outs waltzing our way through a month-long group stage. there'll be some brilliant solos sounding through, someriveting deuels [and hopefully some entertaining verbal deules, too!]. New stars will be born, the ones in their prime will shine bright, some will go supernova and some beyond the horizon, leaving behind a great legacy in their wake. then will be the pause as the strongest contenders brace themselves for the home stretch, as the world waits with bated breath for the maddening crescendo culminating at the Wankhede on April 2nd.

through all this mayhem, yours truly try to pick up the pieces every now n then and figure out a method to the impending madness. exciting times lie ahead for the game's connoisseurs worldwide, 3 nations of cricket fanatics, and a billion souls praying for the demi-God to clinch the only feather to illude his hat thus far. one of them shall be mine. somewhere down the line, nothing else really matters to a blue-bleeding Indian.

Go Sachin! Go India!!