Korak Sen

It is often said that a dog can change one’s life. There is certainly no arguing to that. I understood that at once after a day in April 2011 when Tekka left for his heavenly abode. He was a medium sized Cocker Spaniel with long ears and a happy disposition, but he thought of himself to be one of us and so did we. Although, I was always an inborn animal lover, being the youngest in the family, I resorted to pulling his antenna-like ears and tried to irritate him in every way possible. Sometimes when I tried playing with him, he doubting my kindness, would move away. Out of the 14 lovely years he spent with the Sen Family, he was never fond of me - not even if I tried to catch his attention with his favorite biscuit treat. Later in the years, I figured out why – I had probably taken up his space after being born four months after him. My  father was Tekka’s go to person at all times. Tekka could sense him returning from work and would run all around the house with excitement...

Having played the game for almost ten years now, I finally got the feeling as to how the standard of the game is falling rapidly. Although I tasted very little success at the local level, my ever growing love for the game keeps increasing each day. Whether it’s me scoring a century at the centre stage or levying water for my teammates, everything brings in a little bit of happiness in me because I feel I am doing something that I love and I am passionate for. In the Test matches, it was always so pleasing to watch the Akrams, McGraths or the Brett Lees running in hard and hitting the good length on a regular basis and forcing the batsmen to sneak at one of them to buy them an edge. Nothing beats the accuracy and the willingness to bowl in a channel and not trying too many techniques. Let’s not forget how solid the Dravids, Laxmans or the Pontings were. Let aside those odd bouncers or the deadly Yorkers, they always managed to come out on top, sometimes even by playing out the ...