It is not easy to be called the most technical batsman in the world. It is not easy anchoring an innings with remarkable consistency over 15 years. And it is not easy to be called Mr Dependable and The Wall by even the most ardent critics, time and again. Then again, it was never easy being Rahul Dravid.

There was a time when betting used to be on results. Then came a time when it was on scores and then it became a whole lot intricate with bets put on each ball and over. The India-England tour has defied all odds and left the betting syndicate topsy-turvy.

As a cricket fan, I have a lot of respect for what your team has achieved in the past few weeks but I humbly threaten you to return the trophy and make it 4-0 in favour of India.

Life has this strange habit of playing funny and not-so funny pranks all the time. Perhaps that is what makes it interesting. It's been more than five months now and the wait for Sachin Tendulkar's hundredth hundred is still on.

There are three aspects to contemporary international cricket. Batting, bowling, and shooting off the mouth. Get all three right and the chances of a win double up.

Ever since India lost the Lord's Test, rhetorical questions like 'can India retain the No. 1 spot', 'can England clinch the series against India', 'will Sachin score his 100th ton in England' have become the real ones or at least the media has (errr..ok..we have) portrayed them like that.

Edward Gibbon, the famous English historian, once said: "We improve ourselves by victories over ourselves. There must be contests, and you must win."

Legend has it that a warrior will rise from the ashes to take the world  by storm. For India, he rose two decades ago. And yet Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar failed to conquer the final bastion of world cricket in what possibly, could well have been his final assault.

For any cricket fan, watching a match at Lord’s is nothing less than a pilgrimage. And what if the God of cricket himself is in action at that very venue?

'Ladies and Gentlemen, day one of the first Test begins. Thank you and welcome to the Lord's.' While the much anticipated 2000th Test has highly followed cricketers pitted against one another, there are two master-minds here  who have managed to slip away from the spotlight with intentional success.