There are only three truths about cricket in all time. One - the best purists of cricket in the world, as the entire cricketing world would admit, the best purists of cricket in the world are mumbaikars. Nobody else knows the game better. You may deny it, but if you deny the truth, then the paradox is that you are not one of the best purists of cricket in the world. Simple, na?
The second truth is that the best cricket out there in the world, is underarm cricket. The best purists of cricket in the world, mumbai cricket purists, acclaim underarm cricket as the best. Again, if you thought, since you are a mumbaikar, and that makes you a cricket purist of the best order, but you do not agree that underarm cricket is the best, then, you are a fraud mumbaikar cricket best-purist. Again, very simple, na?
The third truth is that street level underarm cricket tournaments in Mumbai, for prize money, as high as Rs. 11 to Rs. 51 in the 70s, and Rs. 101 to Rs. 151 in the 80s were the best cricket tournaments in the world. The prize money is much more now in the 21st Century. A tournament at Chembur offered prize money of Rs. 15,000 in 2006 and one in Lonavala offered Rs. 51,000 in 2008. If Lonavala is not Mumbai for you, cool it. The city is full of Mumbaikars, always, anyway.
The best thing in life, there is, and that is underarm cricket. Played on half the size of a normal over-arm cricket pitch, usually on hard concrete surfaces, or on streets or on a very tough clay pitch, which was usually difficult to get permission to play on. It was more dangerous on the streets. Not from the traffic, silly, but from the street-by-street specialist fast bowlers. They came in different styles. Fast, superfast, super super fast, dangerous, more dangerous and knee-breaking lunatics.
The knee-breaking lunatics never looked at the stumps while bowling. They always aimed at the batsman's legs and knees. They seemed to plan their bowling in that manner.
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