Few Sundays make for a weekly Sabbath as has today. A Cricket match, evening games of Football and an Olympic qualifier in field Hockey - the ball just kept rolling with the time.
The match at the SCG was as appetizing as a make-do delicacy of instant noodles. The taste was on the palate just as the match had begun to warm up, and soon the aroma was apparent, too. There was little suspense as to what would be emptied out of the cauldron. Sachin Tendulkar missed his hundredth century by a meager 86, running himself out, after Warner put in the dive the Legend wouldn't. Ashwin top-scored for India, and the much-touted all-rounder, Irfan Pathan, who has made a number of round trips to the Indian squad and back out, had a better tally than almost all the batsmen. Time to get the tinsels and festoons out to welcome the team back home later this week. The summer must have scorched despite the fairness creams!
Come evening, two games of football had kicked off simultaneously - the North London derby at the Emirates, and Norwich hosting United at Carrow Road.
In this season's BPL, it has been a trend, the high-scoring games when teams near the top take on one another, and many of the games have been one-sided. The North London derby between Spurs and Arsenal had acquired a profile that pointed to an uneven and typical contest favouring Tottenham. When Spurs were two goals up on their nemetic neighbour's patch, one had to feel sorry for Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger. But, if that were all there is to it, Football wouldn't be the Beautiful Game. What switches were flicked, and by whom, is unknown, but Arsenal put five past Spurs, including a now mandatory Robin Van Persie marvel. As to what was more astonishing, the Arsenal fightback or Theo Walcott's being cloaked in a fit of form, is a question that will potentially pass up all answers.
The game at Carrow Road was a must-win for United, who aim to keep the BPL trophy in the Devils' lair of Manchester. Paul Scholes scored the first goal of the match in the seventh minute, and Holt equalized for the hosts seven minutes from time. The script, though, was still being written. The moving hand was to document one more goal, and the protagonist was to be a man who'd had a milestone recorded earlier in the day, at kick off. On his 900th appearance for United, Ryan Giggs, the one-time Fledgling 'tearing you apart since 1991', pecked Ashley Young's cross into the goal at the far post, elevating the evening beyond just memorable. A scorecard naming Scholes and Giggs might have been routine a decade ago, but today, it is a token of transcendence and timelessness.
It was in between the Football action that I checked on the Hockey qualifier. The national game it may be, but even the Olympic qualifiers held in India fail to make it into the national broadcaster's list of sporting events of national importance. India's protracted devastation in the CB series down under, however, is available on a TV close to you, even one hooked up to a terrestrial antenna.
It's tangential, yes, but had to mention that the terrestrial antenna is not yet obsolete. The house behind ours has as one of its inhabitants a second-year PU student, who, in venting out his rage against his parents' decision to keep him from being distracted by cable TV, ensures all his neighbours are aware of the programming on Doordarshan.
Returning to the qualifier, India, having beaten France 8 - 1, will be at London. Kudos to the team. For all their exploits, they've always been consigned to candle-light dinners. There is nothing romantic about it, though, its origins being in the privation the national game is subjected to. A lack of corporate funds is usually fingered, but it is sad that the game cannot get the gasp of air waves that can keep it breathing in all corners of the country.
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