When an underdog wins...

In “David Vs Goliath”, had Goliath won, I wouldn’t have been talking about it now. It was and is David, the underdog, that we desire to win, in the innermost caves of our hearts. So, whenever we find an underdog fighting a big opponent, our heart goes out waving cheerflags for him/her. We saw it recently in Gaurav Sabnis case but no, this is not about him.

In Indian cricket, it is normal to find that certain states like Kerala and Orissa do not have a strong history of representations in the national team. There might have been an odd SS Das or Abey Kuruvilla who have represented these states. There might been a few “potential”s like Ananthapadmanabhan, who were always in the reckoning for god knows how many years, but still never could make it. But it is heartening to note that sometimes bright talents are awarded, righly so. Yes, the newest entry into the national team, Sreesanth, deserves a loud applause for grabbing the cap with both hands. In the recently concluded Challenger trophy, this lad from Kerala stood out among the pacers, paces ahead of the Irfans, Agarkars and Zaheers that we’ve been supporting in recent years. To quote an instance, in the final game, the Senior team was walking smooth towards a thumping victory against an insipid batting display by the opponents, India B. This man, representing the B-team, didn’t believe that they could walk away so easily. He was given the ball and he came out with his heart bursting in front of him sneered two wickets with his sheer energy. The seniors were six down and finally had 1 run to win. But Sreesanth thought that 1 could be made tougher. He came out with a splendid yorker castling the wickets of a senior team batsman who had just walked in to nudge off the single. An underdog had won then – not the match but in attitude. The “never say die” attitude won him the “Man of the series” and now a place in the big league.

We are waiting to see much more from you, Sreesanth. Let your attitude infect the team.. Hopes come in sparks and you are the spark we are pinning our hopes upon….