On Thursday 16th March the Bharat Army was invited to attend a sports cricket forum night to discuss the current India v England series. As always the Bharat Army turned up in our colourful BA tops to give our views on the great sport of cricket.

Click Here to take a peek at the snaps.

The event was presented by Mark Saggers and the panel was made up of Ashley Giles, Nick Knight, Phil De Freitas and Anuraj Singh. The Bharat Army was very vocal during the show and represented brilliantly as our english counterparts greatly appreciated our views. Various questions involved Sachin Tendulkar and whether it is the end of the line for him? What influence is the media having on his career. Ashley Giles did say he would be happy not to face him again : ) Our main concern is what is expected of Sachin in team India... we do feel he is playing an anchor role as he is a senior member... and we would rather see him play his normal aggressive game. "Sachin is God!" ... and i made clear you never right off Sachin Tendulkar! Never!

Other important topics were about the grass roots level of cricket in England. Why are not many other asians/other ethnic minorities coming through the ranks? This was an important issue for me as i hold it close to heart... i did slam the process for selection in Middlesex and its who you know that gets you in... Phil de Freitas was fantastic as he nodded with approval and a thumbs up. He also later on off the record did disclose how went thru the Middx setup as a child but got no where due to politics and unfair treatment... he went on to play for Lancashire and England. Anuraj Singh was also brilliant in his responses and pointed out you need to be at a certain type of school to get anywhere with cricket in this country.

The real talent is there... but its whether they will be given the same chances is the main problem. Cricket is a game which requires a lot of nurturing from coaches who can extract the talent. All in all it was a great night and thanks to Gurj who helped organise the event and the other members who made it. It was a great night for us once again. Thanks to Leicester boys for arranged the food and pre-meet at Tiranga.

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