ut it. Its not something I spend a lot of time wit

Punjab v Services, Mohali, 1997-98Even before I made my Ranji Trophy debut, there was some chatter that I was in contention for a place in the Indian side. My name was doing the rounds because I had played the Under-19 World Cup, and I was the only spinner in the country who was bowling the doosra at that time. Earlier in the season, when the Indian team was practising, I was asked to bowl in the nets to them.Before that, there was a West Zone team that came to Jalandhar for the Deodhar Trophy; there was Sanjay Manjrekar, who was leading the team, Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli. I bowled to them in the nets and got all of them out quite a few times. At that time, [Mumbai coach] Balwinder Singh Sandhu apparently wanted me to represent Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, but people in the Punjab Cricket Association said I had a promising career ahead and would play for Punjab. So I knew my turn would come any time, and wasnt really surprised by the call-up.The Punjab team had Vikram Rathour, who captained in this game, Sherry pa [Navjot Singh Sidhu], who captained the side that season, Pankaj Dharmani and Bharati Vij. These were the big guns we used to hear of during our U-19 days, and here I was, playing alongside them. I knew Punjab already had an offspinner in the form of Ashish Kapoor. I had no idea at that time if the wicket we played on would allow for two spinners to be played, but I got to play and I was really happy.The Punjab team was sponsored by a famous apparel brand at that time. Every player in the team used to wear the branded t-shirt - the jersey was nicely done and was proper English white in colour - and I used to long for it too. It was a great thrill to finally wear it, and I wouldnt take it off even while bowling in the nets in Jalandhar.The one thing I was most scared of - and there wasnt much nervousness about my debut - was facing up to one of their bowlers, who had a reputation for being very quick; I think it was MV Rao. At the U-19 level, you dont face many quick bowlers, and you naturally assume that bowlers in the Ranji Trophy are much faster.I was worried about being hit by Rao, and kept praying that he wouldnt bowl to me. It was one of my earliest experiences of wearing the helmet - given the hype around Raos pace, I would have gladly worn two of those. As luck would have it, it was Rao who was bowling when I came out to bat. But, after I got bat on ball off the first delivery, I felt good and realised I had been unnecessarily scared. Now, I knew that he wasnt unplayable.Soon, I began to treat it as just another game. Somewhere down the line, I realised that it had been harder bowling to some U-19 batsmen than against Services because they werent a great team at that time. When I picked up my first wicket, Sherry pa said in his typical style: Oye, Shabaash bacchu, Cha gaya beta [well done, kid]. Sherry pa was my hero. There was a jolly environment in the team at that time, and we would constantly pull each others legs. I was younger than most and used to hang out a lot with Harvinder Singh most of the time; he was another prankster.I played only four or five first-class matches before my international debut. In that season, there was a game against Karnataka, which was quite crucial for Punjab. Nine of Karnatakas eleven players were internationals - people like Rahul Dravid, Sujith Somasundar, Venkatesh Prasad, Javagal Srinath and Anil [Kumble] bhai were playing. The selectors were there to see what the big fuss was about me. I picked up three wickets in the first innings and two in the second.I bowled well in whatever opportunity I got in the game. I troubled Rahul Dravid quite a bit, and was more than happy that I was challenging a top batsman like him. With every game I played, I knew I was coming one step closer to my dream of playing for the country.As told to Arun Venugopal http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Hoodie/ . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/T-Shirts/ . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Justin-Bethel-Jersey/ . Olli Jokinen, Mark Scheifele, and Bryan Little each had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg won 5-2, handing Calgary its record-setting seventh consecutive loss on home ice. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Frostee-Rucker-Jersey/ . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Patrick-Peterson-Jersey/ . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge.RICHMOND, Va. -- Look at London Fletchers career stats, particularly the column of numbers under the letter "G." Nothing but 16s for "Games" played. On and on and on. Through four years with the St. Louis Rams. Five with the Buffalo Bills. Six with the Washington Redskins. Its become routine to say that Fletcher has never missed a game in his NFL career. Its routine to hear him say that hes been "blessed" with "good genes." Its routine to hear him insist that he only thinks about his playing streak when reporters bring it up. And, every year that passes, the routine becomes more remarkable. Robert Griffin III has missed a game, and hes only played one season. Keenan Robinson, the 2012 draft pick groomed as a possible successor to Fletcher, has already missed five games and had two serious shoulder injuries. He might not play at all this season. Fletchers streak is now at 240, the longest among active players in the NFL. Hes been credited with 1,321 tackles and 608 assists, which translates into nearly 2,000 confrontations with running backs, tight ends and quarterbacks -- and not a single impact that caused him to miss the next game. "London," Griffin said, "has been amazing." Fletcher is now 38, back for another year captaining the Redskins defence as an inside linebacker. It wasnt a sure thing that he would make it back this time. There were times last year when he couldnt practice because of injuries. Then he kept silent for a while after the end of the season and waited until he had ankle and elbow surgeries to proclaim that, no, he never seriously considered retirement. "Its just something where you get up every day and go to work and dont think about it," Fletcher said. "Its pretty much how I go about my business. I get up every day, come to work and dont think about the durability part until somebody brings it up. I feel good. I try to do a lot of different things to keep myself feeling good. The training staff does a great job of working with me, and the coaches do a great job of monitoring my reps and things like that. So I dont think about it a whole lot." Besides, now is not the time to quit. The Redskins went 32-48 in Fletchers first five seasons in Washington, and the losing was starting to wear on him.ddddddddddddNow they are the reigning NFC East champs. They are on the rise with Griffin, whose own medical marvel is the speed in which hes returned from reconstructive knee surgery. "Well, if I was impressed with him before (last) season, how do you think I feel about him now?" Fletcher said with a laugh. "I think he exceeded all expectations, and thats really hard for a guy like him to come in with such high expectations. And when you think about it, this franchise has been looking for a franchise quarterback for, I dont know, over 20 years. So to finally get one ..." Fletcher is two-plus seasons away from the record for consecutive games played by a defensive player, Jim Marshalls 282-game run from 1960-79. Hes in the last year of his latest contract, but thats immaterial. As long as he keeps playing well -- hes been second-team All-Pro the last two years -- the Redskins will want him back. "Really, in the National Football League, you are always on your last year of your contract for the most part," Fletcher said. "This is just the nature of the business. I have scratched and clawed my whole career. I came in as an undrafted free agent, so I was on the last year of my contract 16 years ago when you really think about it. Its not something I spend a lot of time with. Im focused on this season and thats pretty much it." Notes: Griffin was a bystander for nearly the entire practice Tuesday as the team prepared for Thursday nights preseason opener against the Tennessee Titans. There were no 7-on-7 drills, and coaches arent letting Griffin do 11-on-11 drills because of his knee. Kirk Cousins will start at quarterback against the Titans and play about 15 plays. ... Running backs coach Bobby Turner, who is also an assistant head coach, ran the practice because head coach Mike Shanahan was away attending a friends funeral. Turner refused to take questions from reporters after practice. Asked why he wasnt answering questions, he said: "Because Im just filling in." ... Heavy rains forced the Redskins indoors for the first time at training camp: The morning walkthrough was held at Richmonds convention centre. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '