Respect for Hashim Amla !!!

Hashim Amla (SA batsman) is currently ranked as number one Batsman in ODI Rankings. I remember well that Dean Jones called him a 'terrorist' and Dean was sacked/fired by Ten sports!!!

Hashim Amla does not wear a Castle logo on his cricket shirt, said that he did not pocket a cent from his match fee.

Promoting beer & liquor is against the teaching of Islam and as such Amla became the first player to be the exception. who was granted permission by South African Breweries and Cricket South Africa not to wear the Castle logos on his clothing.

"Since Hashim understands his religion well, his beliefs are staunch and knows what is right and wrong. At the outset he made the decision not to wear the Castle logo on his clothing, which went public, and at the same time he also took the decision that the money earned from the Tests, sponsored by Castle, were forbidden for his use".

Your religion is clearly important to you but just how much?

The importance of my religion has increased as I have got older. I couldn’t put a time frame on it but I have found that following the Islamic way of life has a lot of beauty to it. Although I was born into a Muslim family I wasn’t always practicing. The more I have understood the differences in the various faiths I have adopted as much of Islam as possible. I’m certainly no saint but the discipline of the Islamic way of life has helped my cricket without a doubt. I don’t drink and I pray five times a day, which gives stability to my daily routine.

Can you tell us about your background?

I come from a small town 40 kilo metres north of Durban. I played a lot of sport at primary school like cricket, soccer, tennis, table tennis. I was brought up in a predominantly Asian community but I later went to Durban High School, which had a good sporting heritage and my Dad encouraged me to go there and paid the fees for me to go. Fortunately after the first year I got a bursary as I was good at sport and got looked after.

Hashim Amla has a habit of walking off the pitch when he feels he is clean out and he doesn't wait for umpire's decision.

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Courtesy : Cricturf

I don't Want to be Sachin - Harsha Bhogle after Ind-SA WC2011 Match

Remember when you failed an examination. How many people recall that, your class, friends, relatives? You failed to make it to the IITs or IIMs. Who remembers. How many times have you had the feeling of being the best in your class, school , university, state….., you failed to get a visa stamped this quarter…, you missed a promotion this year…, how did it feel when you dad told you in your early twenties that you are good for nothing…..and now your boss tell you the same...



You keep introspecting and go into a shell when people most of whom don’t matter a dime in your life criticize you, back bite you, make fun of you. You are left sad and shattered and you cry when your own kin scoffs at you. You say I am feeling low today. It takes a lot from us to come out of these everyday situations and move on. A lot??? really?



Now here’s a man standing on the third man boundary in the last over of a world cup match. The bowler just has to bowl sensibly to win this game. What the man at the boundary sees is 4 rank bad bowls bowled without any sense of focus, planning or regret. India loses, yet again in those circumstances when he has done just about everything right.

He does not cry. Does not show any emotion. Just keeps his head down and leaves the field. He has seen these failures for 22 years now. And not just his class, relatives, friends but the whole world has seen these failures. We are too immature to even imagine what goes on in that mind and heart of his. That’s why I would never want to be Sachin.



True, he has single handedly lifted to moods of this entire nation umpteen number of times. He has been an inspiration to rise above our mediocrity. Nobody who has ever lifted the willow even comes close to this man’s genius. His dedication and metal strength is unparallel. This is specially for those people who would have made fun of him again last night when India lost. They are people who are mediocre in their own lives. Who just scoff at others to create cheap fun. Who have lived in a small hole throughout their lives and thought they have seen the oceans.



Think about the man himself. He is 37 years of age. He has been playing almost non stop for 22 years. The way he was running and diving around the field last night would have put 22 year olds to shame. The way he played the best opening quickies in the world was breathtaking. He just keeps getting better which is by the way humanly impossible. Its not for nothing that people call him GOD.

But still I don’t want to be in those shoes. We struggle in keeping our monotonous lives straight, lives which affect a limited number of people. Imagine what would be the magnitude of the inner struggle for him, pain both mental and physical, tears that have frozen with time, knees and ankles and every other joint in the body that is either bandaged or needs to be attended to every night, eyes that don’t sleep before a big game, bats that have scored 99 international tons and still see expectations from a billion people.



And he just converts those expectations into reality. We watch in awe, feel privileged.

Well I think its time that his team realizes that enough is enough. They have an obligation, not towards their country alone but towards sachin. They need to win this one for him. Stay assured that he himself will still deliver and leave no stone unturned to make sure India wins this cup.

This is not just a game, and he is not just a sportsman. Its much more than this. Words fail here.....





--- HARSHA BHOGLE