Sport and the rebuilding of a nation

Two countries in the last one week made news in the sports pages – Afghanistan and Serbia.

I had blogged about the Afghan cricket team earlier – 1, 2, 3 – and I need to blog again. My friend Sanjeev , a fellow Afghan cricket fan, sent me a mail after Afghanistan beat Scotland in the Intercontinental Cup final. He says and I quote:

War-ridden Afghanistan, newbies to the game of cricket, won the Finals of the ICC Intercontinental Cup beating Scotland by 7 wickets! (I don’t remember the last time a cricket team had been this inspiring and for whom I had genuinely rejoiced like this!)

TOTAL domination..won every single match (including big wins against Kenya and Scotland) other than the first one which they drew! Chasing 370 to win, they were 211/4 in that match…so could ahve won that one too if it was a 5 day match and not a 4-day match!

The record is impressive.

Match 1: v Zimbabwe at Mutare (Zim) – match drawn

Match 2: v Netherlands at Amstelveen (Ned) – won by 1 wicket. A low scoring game, chased 209 in the fourth innings

Match 3: v Ireland at Dambulla (Sri Lanka) – won by 7 wickets.  Scored 474 in the first innings in response to the Irish first innings of 405. Bowled out the Irish for 202 in the second innings leaving them an easy target of 137.

Match 4: v Canada at Sharjah (UAE) – won by 6 wickets. Canada scored 566 in the first innings and Afghanistan scored just 264. Canada did not enforce the follow on and batted till 191/4 before declaring. Set a mammoth fourth innings target of 494, the Afghans achieved that losing just 4 wickets.

Match 5: v Scotland at Ayr (Scot) – won by 229 runs. The Afghans batted first this time scoring 435. They bowled out Scotland for 139. No follow on, Afghans piled on the pressure with 249/5 declared setting a fourth innings target of 545. Scotland were bowled out for 316.

Match 6: v Kenya at Nairobi (Ken) – won by 167 runs. The scoreline was very similar to the match against Scotland. The Afghans scoring 464 in the first innings. The Kenyans had a fourth innings target of 511 but were bowled out for 344.

6 matches, 5 wins, 1 draw. That’s their record. And all the six teams have featured in the ODI world cups before. They have players who play in the English county circuit or in South Africa. The two “home” matches were played in UAE and Sri Lanka. But, unlike their neighbour who continues to whine about why teams do not come there, the Afghans made no noise about not being able to play at home i.e. Afghanistan. In fact, it turns out to be a better deal because they get access to high class training facilities in UAE or Sri Lanka. Afghanistan may be a security nightmare but even infrastructure wise, they do not have the capability to host world standard international matches.

The final was against Scotland and obviously they were the favourites. It was a tough match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Scots scored 212 thanks largely to a century by McCallum (there were just two other batsmen who reached double figures). Hamid Hassan, easily the best bowler among the Associate countries, took 5 wickets. The Afghan batting could not hold up and were dismissed for 171. Scotland could have taken the match here but in the second innings, the Afghan bowling was unplayable with Hassan, Ashraf and Shenwari taking 3 wickets each and the Scots were bundled out for 82. Chasing 137, the Afghan second innings was more comfortable and they won by 7 wickets.

Not surprisingly, Afghans top the batting and bowling charts – Mohd Shahzad and Nowroze Mangal (the captain) top the batsmen with 802 and 593 runs respectively while Hamid Hassan with 43 wickets tops the bowlers.

After all this, one must truly stand up and applaud this team. As Hassan writes in his blog before the final started:

What a year it has been for Afghanistan cricket! Winning the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai in February was a moment I will never forget; having the chance to play India and South Africa at the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean was amazing and beating Pakistan at the Asian Games and securing a silver medal was one of the greatest moments of my career.

—

On to Serbia and the Davis Cup. The Davis Cup has always been looked upon as a poor cousin to the professional tennis tour. But for many countries, it is as big as it can get. The brand of tennis that is displayed here is definitely different from the Grand Slams but not in terms of quality. The different flavour that Davis Cup tennis gives is expressed in Djokovic’s words below:

“I would put everything behind me that I have achieved in 2010 just for this win. Definitely the best feeling that we have experienced on a tennis court, ever.”

The complex Balkan politics, war, civil strife etc meant a lot of new nations like Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, etc enter the sports arena with the task of building new teams even as their fledgling nations grow. Serbia had one big champion – Novak Djokovic. World No 3 who is one of the few tennis players to have won a Grand Slam in the Federer – Nadal era.

What does this mean to a nation? One had to see the matches played at the Beograzia Arena in Belgrade. The French captain Guy Forget called them “imbeciles”.

People may diss about the Davis Cup and probably justified too but the tournament like all inter-nation tournaments like the football World Cup has a different meaning – else why would people who never follow any sport chase their countrymen when they participate in the Asian Games or the Olympic Games?

Afghanistan: FTW for WC T20

As a writer I wanted to ask them about the war. I wanted to hear stories that would shock, sadden and startle. But as a stranger among this happy-go-lucky group I sensed that such questions would be awkward and inappropriate. The truth is that right now they have other thoughts at the front of their minds. Like how they will bowl to Gautam Gambhir and where they will find four pairs of boots for their quartet of fast bowlers to wear in the tournament.

Afghanistan play India on Saturday and some days later South Africa. Strictly speaking, if one includes all the nations that have been playing international cricket, their rise has been the biggest. From zero cricket two years ago to ODI status and a spot in the World T20 2010, that has been their achievement. Even Bangladesh or Zimbabwe have had such improvements in their game.

Andy Bull gives this story about their opening batsman Sadiq:

Sadiq has a confidence which sums up the attitude of his team. When I asked him about the prospect of facing Dale Steyn in the first over of their second group match against South Africa, he grinned and said: “I played against Shoaib Akhtar in a warm-up match last year. Very fast. Very, very fast. First over he bowled me two short balls,” he broke stride to mime leaning back to play a pull shot. “I hit them both to the boundary, bang, bang. One of them went on to the roof. Then I told him: ‘this is not club cricket’. I am a very good batsman, very quick reflexes.”

I think they will be entertaining and knowing the resilience of the people from that mountainous country, they are going make it difficult for India and South Africa. For the India match, my loyalties are divided. For the South Africa match, I am with Afghanistan.

1st September 1939 – WH Auden

The last great war began 70 years ago today when Germany launched its blitzkreig into Poland. In 1945, it was over. But is it? Cold war – a war without physical hostilities but was it peaceful? Stress free? Does anyone know how many countries have their armies in Africa? Iraq? Afghanistan? Albeit under garb of UN Peace Keeping Forces or Allied Forces, etc.

WH Auden writes (source: Poets.org)

On Fifty-second Street

Uncertain and afraid

As the clever hopes expire

Of a low dishonest decade:

Waves of anger and fear

Circulate over the bright

And darkened lands of the earth,

Obsessing our private lives;

The unmentionable odour of death

Offends the September night.

Accurate scholarship can

Unearth the whole offence

From Luther until now

That has driven a culture mad,

Find what occurred at Linz,

What huge imago made

A psychopathic god:

I and the public know

What all schoolchildren learn,

Those to whom evil is done

Do evil in return.

Exiled Thucydides knew

All that a speech can say

About Democracy,

And what dictators do,

The elderly rubbish they talk

To an apathetic grave;

Analysed all in his book,

The enlightenment driven away,

The habit-forming pain,

Mismanagement and grief:

We must suffer them all again.

Into this neutral air

Where blind skyscrapers use

Their full height to proclaim

The strength of Collective Man,

Each language pours its vain

Competitive excuse:

But who can live for long

In an euphoric dream;

Out of the mirror they stare,

Imperialism’s face

And the international wrong.

Faces along the bar

Cling to their average day:

The lights must never go out,

The music must always play,

All the conventions conspire

To make this fort assume

The furniture of home;

Lest we should see where we are,

Lost in a haunted wood,

Children afraid of the night

Who have never been happy or good.

The windiest militant trash

Important Persons shout

Is not so crude as our wish:

What mad Nijinsky wrote

About Diaghilev

Is true of the normal heart;

For the error bred in the bone

Of each woman and each man

Craves what it cannot have,

Not universal love

But to be loved alone.

From the conservative dark

Into the ethical life

The dense commuters come,

Repeating their morning vow;

“I will be true to the wife,

I’ll concentrate more on my work,”

And helpless governors wake

To resume their compulsory game:

Who can release them now,

Who can reach the deaf,

Who can speak for the dumb?

All I have is a voice

To undo the folded lie,

The romantic lie in the brain

Of the sensual man-in-the-street

And the lie of Authority

Whose buildings grope the sky:

There is no such thing as the State

And no one exists alone;

Hunger allows no choice

To the citizen or the police;

We must love one another or die.

Defenceless under the night

Our world in stupor lies;

Yet, dotted everywhere,

Ironic points of light

Flash out wherever the Just

Exchange their messages:

May I, composed like them

Of Eros and of dust,

Beleaguered by the same

Negation and despair,

Show an affirming flam

I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.

Accurate scholarship can
Unearth the whole offence
From Luther until now
That has driven a culture mad,
Find what occurred at Linz,
What huge imago made
A psychopathic god:
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.

Exiled Thucydides knew
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
To an apathetic grave;
Analysed all in his book,
The enlightenment driven away,
The habit-forming pain,
Mismanagement and grief:
We must suffer them all again.

Into this neutral air
Where blind skyscrapers use
Their full height to proclaim
The strength of Collective Man,
Each language pours its vain
Competitive excuse:
But who can live for long
In an euphoric dream;
Out of the mirror they stare,
Imperialism’s face
And the international wrong.

Faces along the bar
Cling to their average day:
The lights must never go out,
The music must always play,
All the conventions conspire
To make this fort assume
The furniture of home;
Lest we should see where we are,
Lost in a haunted wood,
Children afraid of the night
Who have never been happy or good.

The windiest militant trash
Important Persons shout
Is not so crude as our wish:
What mad Nijinsky wrote
About Diaghilev
Is true of the normal heart;
For the error bred in the bone
Of each woman and each man
Craves what it cannot have,
Not universal love
But to be loved alone.

From the conservative dark
Into the ethical life
The dense commuters come,
Repeating their morning vow;
“I will be true to the wife,
I’ll concentrate more on my work,”
And helpless governors wake
To resume their compulsory game:
Who can release them now,
Who can reach the deaf,
Who can speak for the dumb?

All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.

Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.

The emphasis in the last stanza is mine, my favourite verse of the poem.

Iraq and blogging

Bloggers remember Where is Raed (it now has a new avataar Salam Pax). For many around the world, it provided an alternative to the images broadcast by CNN and Al-Jazeera. The earliest archived post is of December 30th 2002 and it goes as follows

[salam]

from this article in the NY Times
If this wasn’t so sad it would be beautiful, the electricity went out at the Christmas week concert performed by the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra. The last time I went was when they were still playing once a month at the Rasheed Theater, now they play at the Ribat Hall, everybody was sad when they were moved out of the Rasheed the Ribat is just an abandoned ruin with bad accoustics. They sounded depressing then and I stopped going. The Rasheed Theater, after the French Cultural Center stopped using it for perfomances of french artists and movies, is rented now for a “commercial” theater group prefering silly slapstick comedies.

And then there was Baghdad Burning. The earliest archived post is of August 17th, 2003 – The blogger, Riverbend, writes:-

The Beginning…

So this is the beginning for me, I guess. I never thought I’d start my own weblog… All I could think, every time I wanted to start one was “but who will read it?” I guess I’ve got nothing to lose… but I’m warning you- expect a lot of complaining and ranting. I looked for a ‘rantlog’ but this is the best Google came up with.

A little bit about myself: I’m female, Iraqi and 24. I survived the war. That’s all you need to know. It’s all that matters these days anyway.

Riverbend

The voice of Iraqi people has been heard by millions through these blogs (and many others no doubt). There’s nothing much one can do but share the emotions and the struggle of these people caught in the crossfire of a confused war. In this light, this news report in USA Today made me perk up: Can Iraqis tweet their way to a state of normalcy? The online barons were all there:

The Online Barons - Google, Twitter, AT&T - meet up in Baghdad

Hopefully, we will get something. I will try and search for some people from Iraq on Twitter to follow.

Sam Bahadur

Our good friend Gulshan Singh’s birthday, June 27, became a big day in Indian history with the passing of Sam Bahadur. The page on Sam Manekshaw on Wikipedia while quite detailed does not write anything on his association with the Gurkhas.

The Bharat Rakshak website has more details

Lt. Gen (Retd) Depinder Singh, his former military assistant, writes this story in his memoirs

He was officiating as Army Chief in 1967 when the Chinese had their first clash with the Indian Army since 1962. This occurred at the 14,000 foot high pass, Natu La, in Sikkim where the Chinese learnt to their cost that the Indian Army of 1967 was a different kettle of fish from that of 1962. He was summoned to a meeting of the Cabinet where, as he recalled later, everyone present at the meeting was vying with the others to present to the Prime Minister his grasp of the situation and offering one suggestion after another as to what should be done. After hearing most of the speakers, the Prime Minister enquired whether the officiating army chief, until then a silent spectator, had something to say. “I am afraid they are enacting Hamlet without the Prince,” he said. “I will now tell you exactly what has happened, and how I intend to deal with the situation.” He then proceeded to do so.

Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw MC

Apr 3, 1914 – June 27, 2008