On The Only Religion I Have Ever Believed In:

Recently, I seem, by utter default, to have become a legal defender of Rahul Dravid and a complete Sourav-basher!!!!

Please note that this is extremely unintentional. I am certainly no Sourav discreditor. I believe he was the best captain ever to have occurred in Indian cricket. However, here I must point out, that whatever the statistics say, I never had much faith in him as a batsman. Yes, in his heyday, he was, at times sublime in his
drives on the off-side, but with such a long "bad-patch", I had, of late, lost much faith in him.
Neither, if I may be allowed to point out, am I one of the many, should I say, madly in love with Rahul Dravid. I certainly admire him as a great batsman, superior even to( if I may commit the blasphemy) Sachin Tendulkar. He is undoubtedly the Indian "Wall" and a textbook example in batsmanship. But no, I am not his particular fan.
Perhaps you will ask who then I am a fan of. The answer is Irfan Pathan. Actually I love the entire Indian team. But if I had to sleep with one of them, my choice would be Irfan!!! ;)
For entertainment's sake, my choice is Virender Sehwag (Veeru!!!!).

Now, regarding the problem I mentioned at the very beginning, it's actually all my grandfather's fault!!!
He is one of those who reads Anandabazaar Patrika, and swallows, hook,line and sinker, every word it proclaims. And hence, like many other contemptible Bengalis, he firmly believes that Sourav is the victim of a conspiracy theory, and Rahul, in allegiance with Greg Chappell and Kiran More, is plotting to keep him unfairly out of the side because...................................HE IS A BENGALI!!!!!
Many of you might agree with this theory. But in my opinion, it only shows the worst side of Bengali sentiments. If the race is so great, then how come it has not been able to produce any other great cricketer other than Dada?? I refuse to act like a sore loser. I agree that it is extremely evident that Greg Chappell and Kiran More have no sympathy to spare on him, and are out to implement their own agendas perhaps. But to drag the good name of Rahul Dravid into the fracas, simply makes my blood boil. And my grandfather refuses to acknowledge his own injustice!!! Yes, Sourav has been treated in a shameful manner, not befitting that which should be accorded to one who has served Indian cricket so well, and the entire nation should protest that. But Sourav, I believe, would like to come back in his own style. By letting his bat do the talking and not as a sympathy measure. I would say, in doing this, we degrade him even more! If he seriously cannot contribute with the bat any more, then he should gracefully retire, but I am sure he would not wish to be a liability to the team.
Even worse, of late my grandfather has been questioning the contribution of (hold on to your hats, folks!!) SACHIN TENDULKAR!!!!! Even to me, ( no Sachin fan, I guarantee you!!) this is sacrilegious!!!! I refuse to have the stature of this great a maestro hauled up! My grandpa says " Well, they keep on saying Sourav isn't contributing with the bat, is Sachin?" My mouth hangs open. I have nothing to say. In his opinion, if Sachin doesn't contribute atleast a century in every match India plays, he doesn't deserve to be in the Indian team!!!!
If he isn't superhuman, he is not Sachin!!!
Now if THIS isn't the heights of ungraciousness, I don't know what is!!! Sachin Tendulkar is, by far, the best cricketer India has ever produced!!!( Kapil Dev ranks a close second!!!) None, and certainly no Indian, has the legitimate right to question this stature of his! I think his stats speak for themselves!!!! Not I, and not even anyone who reads Anandabazaar Patrika should even think of such disgusting and completely unjust criticism. Sourav, even in our wildest dreams, cannot be compared to the Little Master!! He just can't, whatever you may say. Sourav is mortal, but Sachin is truly GREAT!! And now, even when he has contributed handsomely in India's last 2 ODI's vs Pakistan, my grandpa still refuses to acknowledge this very simple FACT!!!
In fact, our "arguments" have reached such an outrageous level that no amount of reason helps ( i refuse to scream at him) and I almost dread visiting their house ( the issue invariably comes up!!!)!!!!

A plea from a soul in mortal agony at such injustice: HELP!!!!!!