bible truth 4m ipl games! - duke jeyaraj

8/2/2019 Bible Truth 4m IPL Games! - Duke Jeyaraj

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Duke Jeyaraj wraps Bible Truths Around Memorable IPL

Games from 2008

LIFE LESSONS FROM UNFORGETTABLE IPL-I IMAGES

Duke Jeyaraj

The inaugural IPL T-20 tourney (2008) was a huge hit, you would agree. It had us

at the edge of our seats. It set our pulses racing. The tournament is now over. But

some images remain green in our memory. We have read, "The music in my heart

I bore, long after it was heard no more" from the poem The Solitary Reaper. In the

same way, some scenes from the IPL Tourney remain in our heart long after thelast ball was bowled. Shall we revisit them? And may I take the liberty of making a

larger point after such a re-visitation?

Swapnil Asnodkar was unheralded when the IPL Tournament began. Most cricket

fans hadn't heard about him. But his coach-cum-captain Shane Warne handpicked

him to open the innings with Greame Smith. And this little fellow, Shane Warne

remarked that he wasn't much taller than the stumps - left the opposition

captains scratching their head with his inventive and explosive stroke play.

Because of Swapnil, the Rajasthan Royals had a smashing start for most of their

innings. Much like how Shane Warne chose the short Swapnil to open the

Rajasthan Royals' innings, Jesus chose the short Zacchaeus to open the door of his

house for Him. He told this man, who was both short in terms of character and

physical stature, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house

today!" Jesus wants to come into our lives and heart, even if our external

appearance is not appealing and internal character is stinking! He accepts us just

the way we are and seeks to have a relationship with us - a relationship that willchange us for time and eternity!

Kumara Sangakarra had to sit out for most of his IPL games because of an injury.

But he was in smashing form and waiting for his opportunity to bat, having fully

recovered. And in the Semifinal against the Chennai Super Kings, he nicked a ball



to wicket-keeper. Even the keeper Parthiv Patel did not seem to hear it. But

Sangakkara walked back to the pavilion voluntarily even before the umpire raised

his finger. What a gesture! That's similar to what Jesus did. He did not have to

die. He was God. And God by definition has neither beginning nor end. So God

cannot die. But God can choose to die if He decides to do that. And that is what

Jesus did. The wages of sin was death and Jesus committed no sin. Yet He

voluntarily chose to die for each one of us, sinners, on the Cross, more than two

thousand years ago.

The way Yousuf Pathan hit sixes was indeed special. Most of his sixes landed

among the crowds. Some of them even landed on the stadium roofs! On the

other hand, one of the most common forms of dismissal in this tournament was

that the batsmen were caught at the boundary line trying to hit a six. Their shots

fell just short of the boundary line on many occasions. That reminds me of

something. The sins we commit against God on a day-to-day basis make us fall

short of His glory or His expectations of us. These sins separate us from God, the

Bible teaches us. That is why we feel that we are alienated and lost in the heart.

We had sixes galore in the IPL. But one images stood out. It was the way M. S.

Dhoni hit those steeping sixes. He hit the ball the hardest. The leather of the ball

threatened to come off. I believe the Arnold Schwarznegger-like-Roman Soldiers

hit Jesus on His way to the cross with the same force and same fierceness. They

hit Him so badly that His back became like a plowed field, the Bible records. He

took the punishment for our sins on His sinless body.

Harbajhan Singh slapped Sreesanth after a game in the heat of the moment. He

was shown the door by the IPL administrators. He lost millions of dollars in

exchange for his inability to control his anger. Jesus controlled His anger even

though He was slapped by the humans He himself created en route to the cross.

When He claimed that He would return to this planet as a judge, with angels, He

was spat upon and slapped. But He took it in. He did it all for you. You should



Yuvraj Singh flying with a ball into the stumps to affect a riveting run-out to seal

and steal a win for his side. That was how the second game between the Mumbai

Indians and Kings XI Punjab ended. You need to do what Yuvi did. Fly to the

stump. Which stump? The stump of Jesse. That is one of the many names in the

Bible for Jesus. That name had a prophetic message hidden in it. Among the

billions of families on planet Earth, Jesus, it was accurately predicted, would be

born into the family of Jessie, the father of the famous King David. He did. He was

God who could fulfill prophecy at will because He controlled all of history.

Vijay Mallya, the owner of the Bangalore Royal Challengers turned sour when his

team suffered repeated losses. He complained that he did not have a team that

he wanted in the first place. In other words, he was suggesting that some in his

team were misfits for the T20 format. Jesus would not do a Vijay Mallya. He

accepts you, just the way you are. He wants you in His team. While Vijay paid in

millions of dollars to get the likes of Jacques Kallis in his team, Jesus paid with His

precious sinless blood, to have you in His team. And when you don't measure up,

Jesus will not criticize you, but will carry you. He will give you the power to

become like Him, day by day, if only you will cooperate with Him!

Yousuf Pathan, was dropped twice in the final, on his way to his match-winning

fifty. When Suresh Raina dropped him (he was only on 13), it could be said that hedropped the IPL Cup! Later it was the same Suresh Raina who ran him out with a

superb direct hit when he attempted to steal a run. But that dismissal came far

too late. Yousuf had already made 56 runs and the Rajasthan Royals were sniffing

victory by then. When you reject the offer that Jesus gives you of salvation, peace,

joy, purpose in life, you are dropping something far more costly than what Suresh

Raina dropped in the IPL Cup Final! You are perhaps saying that you would come

to Christ when you are old. You want to enjoy the pleasures of the planet now. It

may be too late to do that – just how it became too late for Suresh Raina to haverun out Yousuf Pathan. The reason? You could die at any moment, and, after

death, no one would get an opportunity to trust in Jesus and be saved, according

to the Bible (Heb 9:27).



Andrew Symonds hit a sub-50-ball 100 in the Deccan Chargers' game against the

Rajasthan Royals. And he was thrown the ball when it was the time for the last

over of the game. Shane Warne slammed him all over the park for 30 runs to

sneak in a famous win for the Royals. Symonds bowled poorly. He started the

game well with his slam-bang batting. And he ended the game in a whimper with

some stupid bowling. It is not enough to start our relationship with Jesus well. We

must keep going so that we will finish well. "He who endures till the end will be

saved!" said He!

When the IPL Tourney began, cricket fans were looking to the young players to

make the maximum impact, because T-20 form of cricket ideally suits those with

fresh legs and strong limbs. They wondered if players who were relatively old and

slow like Shane Warne, Sanath Jeyasuriya, Shuan Pollock would make any impact

in this championship. But these veterans proved them wrong. Shane Warne

bowled brilliantly as usual, battled nerveless when his team needed him to do

that the most, and his captaincy of the Rajasthan Royals was simply out of the

world. Sanath Jeyasuriya carted the bowlers all over the park like he had always

done, hitting 31 sixes in the tourney - the highest. Shaun Pollock bowled with

nagging accuracy to cramp the batsmen and curtailed the run-rate. These players

proved that even though they were old, they were not cold. Can that be said

about your relationship with Jesus? There was a time when you accepted Jesus

first; you were absolutely crazy for Him. You did not think twice if you had to tell

others about Him. You beat temptations consistently. You spent many hours in

prayer. You swam deep into the Bible, meditating and fishing out fresh truths. You

were that hot when it came to your relationship with Jesus. But is that the scene

now? Jesus' accusation against you is the same as His accusation against the

Laodicean Church: "You're not cold; you're not hot - far better to be either cold

or hot! You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit!" (Rev 3:15-16,

Peterson Version).



These scenes from the IPL tourney remain green in my mind. They reminded me

of these very crucial life lessons. Having seen these lessons would you set out to

implement them in your life?

TWENTY ONE REQUIRED OFF THE LAST OVER....

A Poem on the last over of the Kolkota Knight Riders and

Deccan Chargers in IPL – II on 16 May, 2009

The score-board said, twenty one required off the last over,

The Game between the Deccan Chargers and the Knight Riders was far from over,

With only three men in the ring, Mashrafe's first ball - was called a "No!"

Rohit Sharma smashed it for a four - to hear the Chargers' cheering, "Go Rohit! Go!"

16 runs off 6 balls, was the new equation,

In Hyderabadi homes like mine, the air was charged with so much tension!

However, sleepy-eyed, silken-touch Rohit Sharma stayed cool as a cucumber,

He suddenly exploded and thrashed the 3rd ball - a juicy full toss - for a huge sixer!

It was then the $600,000 worth Mortaza bowled a nervous wide,

At that point, he (and his captain McCullum) wished they had some place to hide,

With 7 off 3 balls, now required, Rohit hit the ball down the ground and set out for a run,

Venugopal's high velocity sprint converted that one into two - boy, for him, it was fun!



5 needed off 2 balls - that was the challenging task now,

When Rohit stylishly pierced the infield to clobber a four, the Chargers' fans roared, "Wow!"

1 off 1 ball - that is what the Chargers had to now get, This was surely a goose-bumps-giving, game, you won't, in a hurry, forget,

When Rohit Sharma sent the last ball over the square leg!

It was celebration time for the Chargers - everyone was shaking a leg!

While it's true, it was Rohit who, for the Chargers, saved the Day!

It is also true that it is Jesus, who is the Life, the Truth and the Way!

Why bring Jesus into the final over of Twenty20 game, you may well ask,

Here is why - While the Twenty20 excitement can fade behind our life mask,

The excitement, the peace, the life purpose, that Jesus alone offers, does last,

And I could not just wait to tell you this great news - so I made this poem up fast!

FakeIPLPlayer.Blogspot.com & Jesus, The Truth

Duke Jeyaraj on a blog that became famous during

IPL-II (2009).

The Kolkota Knight Riders (KKR) – they were easily the most glamorous team, most visibleteam in the IPL,

But their performance was so very dismal, they, their Owner Shah Rukh, was reportedly willingto sell,

They lost to Mumbai Indians by 92 runs, the Chargers thrashed them with will 41-balls to spare -well, well, well,



When they were within sniffing distance of an elusive victory over the Royals, Yousuf Pathan’s

Super Over heroics, their doom did spell,

The man who replaced Ganguly as captain, McCullum made 31 runs in his first 6 innings, andthe whole of Kolkota couldn’t but yell,

The terrible tactics of Coach John Buchanan – like not giving a game to Mashrafe Mortaza,whom KKR bought shelling out $600,000, with over half the tourney over – didn’t ring, in thecricket fan’s upstairs, a single, solitary, bell!

KKR did not have a single young, firing, Indian team regular batsman (like a Gambhir, a Dhoni,a Raina, a Yousuf Pathan) in the line-up of 7 Indians in their playing 11 – that was one clearreason why, I believe, they stayed put in their dark tunnel,

"I think he wants to send his laptop in to bat the next time, given the amount of time he spendswith it. Maybe if he spent half that time with us players, we may win a match or two." – that

stinging sentence about Coach Buchanan by an anonymous blogger who professed to play for theKolkata Knight sounded like his death-knell.

What’s more – that stinging sentence reminded me of the one the Bible tells me about, the onewho left heaven’s glory, to spend time with me, not just to coach me but to carry me in the gamecalled “life” – isn’t this news itself, a bombshell?!

That cutting remark made me recall the One, who did not just punch laptop keys to workout mybetterment, but instead got punched on his face, till blood oozed all over, 2000 years ago, so thatI would come out from my “sin- shell”!

Yes, it moved me to salute even the One, who picked me up when I fell, who all my fears didquell, who offered me, purpose, meaning and true joy in life, to forever smell!

It is my prayer, dear reader, that this little IPL poem that I’ve penned, will fuel in your heart, a

lavish love and longing for Jesus, that will always swell!

Dhoni in Dharamshala Vs God’s Son in Golgotha Duke Jeyaraj on the last over between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kings XI Punjab in Dharmshala, 18 April 2010,

easily the most exciting game in IPL-111

They were just an over away from possible elimination – despite having qualityplayers to flaunt,

16 runs in the last over – that’s what Chennai Super Kings needed stay in the hunt,

http://purposespot.blogspot.in/2010/05/dhoni-in-dharamshala-vs-gods-son-in.html

http://purposespot.blogspot.in/2010/05/dhoni-in-dharamshala-vs-gods-son-in.html



Irfan Pathan ran into bowl with determination, Dhoni’s efforts to get those runs, toblunt,

The onlookers couldn’t move – be it a person young or old, or be it an uncle or anaunt,

After Dhoni crashed the first ball for four – 12 required off 5 balls was the freshcount,

Even though the next ball he could only miscue for just a two, Chennai’s semi-final chances none could discount,

The next two balls Dhoni smacked over the fence – Irfan Pathan’s ego to bruiseand affront!

One six landed 104 metres away from Dhoni's blade, having borne it's awesomepower's full brunt!

The super cool Skipper then celebrated with a rare, never-seen-before self-mumbleand upper cut stunt!

It was as if he knew even at that point that Chennai would go on to win the thirdedition of IPL, upfront!

The Chennai players swooped on him in a flash to salute the efforts of the manwho never says, "I can't!"

“Dhoni scores 28 out of 29 runs required in the last 2 overs,” – that’s what thepapers reported in big font!

What Dhoni achieved atop that stadium perched in the 5000-feet highDharamshala’s mount,

Reminded me of Jesus who willingly received cuts on His body atop Mount

Golgotha, to open up a fount,

A fount filled with sinless, precious blood that would take away the sins of all, whointo it, would dismount! --------------------------------



4 runs to win. 1 ball remaining.Priyanka Chopra Watching.

Duke Jeyaraj's poem on the most exciting IPL game in the 70-game league phase on 22 May 2011between Kolkota Knight Riders n Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens, Kolkota, written on 23 May 2011

21 to win off the last over of the final league game of IPL-IV, this is whatthe scoreboard saidThe Mumbai Indians' chances in that game almost seemed buried anddeadLaxmipathy Balaji was to bowl it - a bowler known to bowl using his head

The first four balls, to the boundary ropes, unbelievably and furiouslyspedThe ball kissed the edges of James Franklin's blade and Balaji's heart bledThe fifth ball was bowled better and after Franklin stole a single, Rayudugot the strike insteadHe thrashed the last ball for a match-winning six making maximum use of the juicy full tos he was fedAnd thousands of hearts in Eden Gardens, including Shah Rukh's and PiggyChop's, were heavy as leadNow KKR must clash in a 'quarterfinal' with the MI in their own backyard -a contest they'd naturally dreadTo win the IPL-IV they've got to win three games in a row, instead of justtwo, it needs to be, now, said

Yes, the last over of a tight T20 Game can be indeed spine-tinglingBut I know someone who puts spine in your backbone and is far moreexcitingIt's Jesus - even as an embryo living in a virgin womb, he had someone(John the Baptist in also in embroyo form), in joy, jumping!

He went to the Cross to voluntarily die for your sin - the pain notwithstandingIf you repented from sin and believed on Him - You will have lifeeverlasting!

bible truth 4m ipl games! - duke jeyaraj

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