Sir Arjun hota toh astra kamaan mod deta Ram hota toh Shiv baan tod deta ye satya asatya ka parakh murakh nahi jaanta mai raftaar hu zabaan di thi main kaam chodeta guys im an innocent
A lovely write up but just a quick correction
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored the most penalties in La Liga and Champions League which he shared with Robert Lewandoski
However, Lionel Messi has taken the most penalties in the FIFA World Cup, La Liga and the Champions League
Let me add to your write up
I think people have allowed all these agendas to go too far but I love how people are coming out to speak
I mean nobody ever talked down on penalties until Cristiano Ronaldo started scoring them
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Ronaldo Delima scored a hat-trick of penalties against Argentina, nobody refers to it as something bad
Nobody talked down on goals until Ronaldo started scoring them
In 2002/2003 and 2003/2004, Arsenal's Robert Pires scored 14 Premier League goals each season
He was praised for being prolific as a winger
Ronaldo redefined wing play by not just dribbles but scoring goals, it was played down
The likes of Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Fillipo Inzaghi, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi and other top strikers in the game scores a variety of goals through their positioning in the box
There is no problem with these players but Ronaldo is called Tapinaldo for scoring the same type of goals
The yardstick they use in praising others, the same yardstick they use to condemn Ronaldo
Lionel Messi is being praised for scoring 91 goals in a year, it won him the Ballon d'Or in 2012
In 2014/2015 season, I remembered Arsene Wenger, speaking to BeIn Sport, he said
"When Messi sees that Ronaldo has scored so many more goals than him, it will play on his morale.
"In the long term, he won't be happy"
Barcelona was having it tough at the beginning of the season before things changed later and they won the treble
From 2015 to 2018 that Ronaldo left Spain, Messi scored a lot of goals and he is still scoring till today and getting the praises
But for Ronaldo, it's a taboo if he scores....
You will start hearing many narratives
And if he doesn't score, you will still hear another agenda!
There are too many agendas against Ronaldo.......
[looking at people younger than me] you have your whole life ahead of you, [looking at people older than me] you have your whole life ahead of you, [looking at myself] it's over.
You remember the auction room of 2018. Some kid from Patiala, barely old enough to vote, zero first class games to his name, suddenly worth 4.8 crore. It looked like the kind of punt that destroys franchises.
7 years on, that same kid is hitting sixes like his life depends on it. Because it does.
From 2019 to 2022, Prabhsimran played just 6 IPL games. Punjab kept the chequebook open, kept him on roster, kept whispering about potential. But potential without release rots you. You spend nights in hotels carrying water bottles. You watch Gayle & Dhawan do your job. You start believing the auction price was a curse, not a blessing.
He ran to stay human. 7 kilometers, then 8. Every morning. The burning in his lungs was better than the silence of the bench.
Sachin Tendulkar told him something once; He said most boys would kill to sit where he sat. Told him to find contentment there. Sounds like advice for a monk, not a cricketer. But Prabhsimran clung to it.
Then 2023 happened. The Impact Player rule dropped. Purists screamed about death of cricket. For Prabhsimran, it was oxygen. He could swing from ball one without worrying about the collapse.
13th May 2023, Kotla. Delhi Capitals had them against the wall. He walked in & played the innings of his life. First 30 balls: 27 runs. Next 35: 76 runs. No other batter crossed even 20 runs for his team while he scored his 1st IPL century. Delhi missed the playoffs. Prabhsimran found himself.
But that is not why he bats like his life depends on it. You need to meet Sardar Surjit Singh, His father. Kidney failure. Three sessions a week hooked to machines. The house in Patiala is heavy with it. The only time the old man lights up is when his son opens for Punjab. They carry him to the couch before every game. Position the TV. For 3 hours, the sickness vanishes.
Think about that weight. Every boundary is not runs for him, It is medication. Every six is oxygen for an old man. When he says he plays for his father, he means it literally. The single joy in a week of hospital corridors & medical debt.
Come the 2025 auction, Punjab retained 2 players only. Shashank Singh & him. 4 crore for a keeper who had spent 4 years doing mostly nothing. He repaid them with 549 runs at 160 strike rate.
Shreyas Iyer gave him something simple; Freedom. Told him he was senior now. Told him one bad game would not end him. Freedom to fail.
Now he is flying. Strike rate pushing 173 this season. 80* against Mumbai off 39 balls. 51 off 25 against SRH. Each innings bigger than the last: 37, then 43, then 51, then 80*.
The boy who waited is now the man who delivers.