THE QUICK AND THE DEAD

Follies of the World Cup

2011-02-06T11:21:00.001-08:00

Every now and then we have people coming up with some kind of lists. However, this list is a bit different – a list of those moments of madness. You might be forced to ask: What were they thinking?

Imran Khan and his World Cup winning speech (1992): Imran Khan’s ‘Cornered Tigers’ won the world cup. However, the inspirational captain forgets to mention any of his team mates or coaching staff in the final speech. They say Javed Miandad is sulking since.

Sultan Zarawani’s no helmet show (1996): Let’s face it, you must either have some serious insurance or mentally unstable to face Allan Donald without a helmet. Zarawani was down and on the count first ball!

Hansie Cronje and his ear plugs (1999): An earplug was plastered to Hansie’s left ear. Officials asked the South African skipper to remove it. Tech-savy coach Woolmer and Cronje’s idea came crashing down, and an investigation was ordered by the ICC.

Zaheer Khan sledges Gilchrist and Hayden (2003): The first over of the innings by Zaheer went for 15, plus he was sledging both Gilchrist and Hayden. The sledging back fired and both got stuck into him. India never recovered from the onslaught.

Chandi Chowk to China get its inspiration from Kung-Fu Panda.

2009-01-06T02:30:00.000-08:00

Chandani Chowk to China has some queer similarities or should we say it is 'inspired' from the ani-movie Kung-fu Panda. These observations are based on the trailers that are on air these days. If and when I watch the movie, I'd be able to figure out a dozen more!

* Both the movies are based in China.

* A common, layman kinda person goes on to defeat the evil.

* An unlikely hero from an unlikely place.

* Poo (The Panda) is chosen to be warrior against evil . Sidhu (Akshay Kumar) comes to know he was an ancient Chinese warrior against evil.

* Poo is a cook and works at his dad's restaurant. Sidhu by the looks of the trailers looks a cook too.

* Poo know nothing about Kung-Fu. Sidhu also knows nothing about Kung-Fu.

* Poo learns Kung-Fu the hard way. Sidhu also learns Kung-Fu the hard way.

* Poo doesn't believe that he has it in himself to beat evil. Sidhu too believes in anything but himself.

* Poo's master's name is Master Shifoo. Sidhu's master name is guess what Master Shifoo.

An Obituary of the Late Mr. Rivalry (between India and Pakistan in cricket matches).*

2008-06-13T05:57:00.000-07:00

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Rivalry (between India and Pakistan in cricket matches) , who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost at the time partition. Rivalry will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Hate each other, Win at all costs, No match should be concluded without some good ol' sledging, among other things.

Rivalry started even before the time both the teams set their foot on the ground, the crowds started to cheer and the commentators engaged in setting up players with each other.

Rivalry's health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing tournaments like the IPL were set in place. Reports of a 30-year-old Younis Khan laughing his lungs out when he bowled the last over for four runs when the Indian scoreboard showed 331 shocked many purists; Afridi completed his bowling quota without even uttering a word to the Indian batsmen; Kamran Akmal going through the motions without even shouting or encouraging other players from behind the stumps.

Rivalry lost ground when Pakistani players were just short of back-slapping the Indian players on live tv.

It declined even further when IPL team-mates from both the sides thought that they were in an extended net session. Rivalry lost the will to live when there was no fight-back or resistance from the Pakistan side when India were routing them merrily. Rivalry took a beating when Pakistan team known not known for meek surrenders especially against India folded their innings with 15 overs to go.

Rivalry finally gave up the will to live, after Pakistan gave up the match even before the first ball had been bowled.

Rivalry was preceded in death, by his parents Partition and Politics, his wife Hostility, his daughter Sledging, his son Detest.

He is survived by his 4 step brothers;

Too many India-Pak matches

India-Australia is the rivalry to watch now

Pakistan team is no more the same

Pakistan team plays only with minnows

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

My dear Rivalry you will be dearly missed.

*Based on “An Obituary printed in the London Times”

Don't Stop, Keep Walking

2008-04-08T05:18:00.000-07:00

To succeed in business or life we must continually take remedial actions. Putting yourself on the line day after day can be extremely draining, especially when things do not work out as desired. Whatever happens don’t stop, keep walking; for success may be close than you thought it would be.

Bill Gates founder and chairman of Microsoft, has literally changed the work culture of the world in the 21st century, by simplifying the way computer is being used. He was the world's richest man for more than one decade. However, in the 1970's before starting out, he was a Harvard University dropout. The most ironic part is that, he started a software company (that was soon to become Microsoft) by purchasing the software technology from "someone" for only $US50 back then.

Abraham Lincoln received no more than 5 years of formal education throughout his lifetime. When he grew up, he joined politics and had major failures in businesses and senate elections, before he was elected the 16th President of the United States of America.

Isaac Newton was the greatest English mathematician of his generation. His work on optics and gravitation made him one of the greatest scientists the world has even known. Many thought that Isaac was born a genius, but he wasn't! When he was young, he did very poorly in grade school, so poor that his teachers became clueless in improving his grades.

He has no formal training in drawing caricatures, however, R K Laxman went ahead and applied to the J J School of Arts, Mumbai. He was rejected. The Dean told him that the drawings he had submitted as part of his application "lacked the talent to qualify for enrolment." R K Laxman continued to do what he loved to the most—drawing caricatures. He worked in the Times of India building, right next to J J School of Arts, and immortalized the “Common Man”. Many years down the line, R K Laxman was invited to J J School of Arts as a chief guest at its annual exhibition of paintings; ironic when the same institution had rejected his application.

Of the seven children born to Johann Beethoven, Ludwig van Beethoven and two younger brothers survived infancy. Ludwig van Beethoven, a German composer of classical music, is widely regarded as one of history's supreme composers. His reputation has inspired and in many cases intimidated composers, musicians and audiences who were to come after him. Before the start of his career, Beethoven's music teacher once said of him "as a composer, he is hopeless". And during his career, he lost his hearing yet he managed to produce great music. A deaf man composing music, ironic isn't!

Thomas Alva Edison who developed many devices that greatly influenced life in the 20th century. Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 U.S patents to his name. When he was a boy his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. When he set out on his own, he tried more than 9,000 experiments before he created the first successful light bulb.

Michael Jordon is the greatest basketball player of all time. A phenomenal athlete with a unique combination of grace, speed, power, artistry, improvisational ability and an unquenchable competitive desire. Jordan single-handedly redefined the NBA superstar. Before joining NBA, Jordan was just an ordinary person, so ordinary that was he was removed from the high school basketball team because of his "lack of skill".

A truck driver by profession for the Crown Electric Company, Elvis Presely was thrown out of the studios by the producers who said, “You ain’t no singer, lad”. Presley was bullied at school; classmates threw "things at him—rotten fruit and stuff—because he was different... quiet and he stuttered and he was a mama's boy." Nonetheless, Elvis went on to become an American singer, musician and actor. Elvis is also a cultural icon, often known as "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", or simply "The King".

Colonel Sanders (founder of Kentuky Fried Chicken) was only six when his father died, forcing the young Harlan to be responsible for taking care of his younger siblings and doing much of the family's cooking. A year later he was already a master of several regional dishes. Over the course of the next 30 years, Sanders held jobs ranging from streetcar conductor to insurance salesman, but throughout it all his skill as a cook remained. In 1930, the then 40-year-old Sanders operated a service station in Corbin, Kentucky, where he served hungry travelers and time-strapped families. At 65, after running a restaurant for several years, Harland Sanders found himself penniless. He retired and received his first social security check worth $ 105 dollars. He started franchising his brand of chicken with the money, and convinced others to invest. Today KFC has over 32,500 KFC restaurants all over the world.

Walter Disney was American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor and animator. One of the most well-known motion picture producers in the world, Disney founded a production company. The corporation, now known as The Walt Disney Company, makes average revenue of US $30 billion annually. Disney started his own business from his home garage and his very first cartoon production went bankrupt. During his first press conference, a newspaper editor ridiculed Walt Disney because he had no good ideas in film production.

Winston Churchill failed the 6th grade. However, that never stopped him to work harder! He strived and eventually became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Churchill is generally regarded as one of the most important leaders in Britain and world history. In a poll conducted by the BBC in 2002 to identify the "100 Greatest Britons", participants voted Churchill as the most important of all.

Divorced, unemployed and living on state benefits, J K Rowling (Author of Harry Potter) was diagnosed with clinical depression, and even contemplated suicide. Her first manuscript “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone” was rejected by twelve publishing houses in England. She found a day job and continued to hunt a publisher, until a small British publishing house in London agreed to publish her novel with a meager advance of £1500. The Potter books have since gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold nearly 400 million copies (and counting). The 2007 Sunday Times Rich List estimated Rowling's fortune at £545 million, ranking her as the 136th richest person and the 13th richest woman in Britain. Forbes has named Rowling the second-richest female entertainer in the world, and ranked her as the 48th most powerful celebrity of 2007. Time magazine named Rowling as a runner up for their 2007 Person of the Year noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fandom

Steven Spielberg is an American film director. He has won 3 Academy Awards and ranks among the most successful filmmakers in history. Most of all, Steven was recognized as the financially most successful motion picture director of all time. During his childhood, Spielberg dropped out of junior high school. He was persuaded to come back and was placed in a learning-disabled class. He only lasted a month and then dropped out of school forever.

Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist widely regarded as the most important scientist of the 20th century. He was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905 and "for his services to Theoretical Physics". However, when Einstein was young, he lived in a refugee camp and his parents thought he was mentally retarded. His grades in school were so poor that a teacher called his parents and asked them take their son home forever. The teacher said, "Einstein, you will never amount to anything in life!"

Born as Norma Jean, Marilyn Monroe was raised in orphan homes and worked in a factory where she was required to spray airplane parts with fire retardant. In 1947, a year into her contract she was dropped unceremoniously by 20th Century Fox because her producer thought she was “unattractive and cannot act for anything in this world”. That didn't deter her at all! She kept on going and eventually went on to be a Golden Globe award winning American actress, singer, model, Hollywood icon, cultural icon, beauty ideal, fashion icon, pop icon and sex symbol.

John Grisham's first novel was rejected by sixteen agents and twelve publishing houses. He went on writing and writing until he became best known as a novelist and author for his works of modern legal drama. The media has coined him as one of the best novel authors even alive in the 21st century.

Henry Ford's first two automobile companies failed. That did not stop him from incorporating Ford Motor Company and being the first to apply assembly line manufacturing to the production of affordable automobiles in the world. He not only revolutionized industrial production in the United States and Europe, but also had such influence over the 20th century economy and society. His combination of mass production, high wages and low prices to consumers has initiated a management school known as "Fordism". He became one of the three most famous and richest men in the world during his time.

Soichiro Honda was turned down by Toyota Motor Corporation during a job interview as "engineer" after World War Two. He continued to be jobless until his neighbors starting buying his "home-made scooters". Subsequently, he set out on his own to start his own company. Honda. Today, the Company has grown to become the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer and one of the most profitable automakers - beating giant automaker such as GM and Chrysler. With a global network of 437 subsidiaries, Honda develops, manufactures and markets a wide variety of products ranging from small general-purpose engines and scooters to specialty sports cars.

Akio Morita, founder of giant electric household products, Sony Corporation, first product was an electric rice cooker, only sold 100 cookers (because it burned rice rather than cooking). Today, Sony generates US$66 billion in revenue and ranked as the world's 6th largest electronic and electrical company.

Working as a freight company executive at Shaw Wallace in Calcutta, Amitabh Bachchan was a former stage actor and radio announcer. Standing at 6’3 feet tall, he was considered as the most unusual choice in a lead role. Surprisingly, despite having a rich baritone voice, Bachchan failed All India Radio’s audition for a news reader as bosses at AIR thought the voice was “too harsh for a radio news reader”.

At the age of 50, when most people hang their shoes and look forward to a retired life, Mario Puzo wrote the Godfather an international breakthrough story about the roots of mafia, corruption, violence, and honour. Francis Ford Coppola (director of Godfather) at first was not convinced and thought that the story was not good, and cannot be made into a movie. Godfather went to be become cult-fiction on the mafia and it broke box-office records and won several Academy Awards.

Brad Hogg: A rare breed of spinner calls it day

2008-03-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

Australia's left-arm wrist spinner, George Bradley Hogg announced his retirement and cricket lost one more gem of player. More importantly because, Hogg represented a rare art of spin, and was Australia's mercurial left-arm wrist spinner since 'Chuck' Fleetwood-Smith in the 1930s.

Grown up on a big 300-acre farm near Williams, Western Australia Brad Hogg's international career begun as left-handed batsman, he tried his hand had at bowling fast, and later accidentally turned into a left-arm wrist spinner. Little did he know that he was destined to be the second highest wicket-taking spinner Australia has ever produced.

Hogg still recalls the moment of transition. "We were playing New South Wales who had a bloke called David 'Freddie' Freedman who bowled left-arm chinamen and there I was trying to knock off Geoff Marsh and Tom Moody's heads with bouncers," Hogg said.

"Tony Mann, a leg-spinner, asked me to bowl a few chinamen for the batsman to prepare for Freedman. "He told me that they were coming out OK and it went from there."

And that's how the journey begin from a being a cipher to a world-class spinner, with a rare art of form. The likes of Freedman and Bevan were always around to pass on a tip or two, but apart from those interactions, Hogg virtually went untrained by a left-arm wrist spinner. Astonishing, when you consider that the guy went of capture most wickets after Shane Warne for Australia.

Working as a Postman in The Australian Postal Service, Hogg thanks his employer for being good and giving him the time off for state matches and fitting the shifts around practice. He candidly admits that working as a Postman has its own "moments" like almost running over a rottweiler while he was bust delivering letters on his motorbike. "I do my round like a Formula One driver," he once bragged – no wonder as Hogg was one of the fittest Australian followed by young turks like Michael Clarke and another veteran Michael Hussey in the shuttle competition between wickets. Hogg has this ever-present smile of a postman who's never known frantic dogs or rainy days, and may be that's where his strength lies when you consider he spent 7 years in wilderness when he was dropped after his first test match in Delhi against India.

Hogg's career was anything but a straight smooth line. Dropped after the Man-of-the-series award after a fantastic Bangladesh series in April 2006, he came back in the reckoning in the Caribbean World Cup 2007, taking as many as 21 wickets for a spinner behind none other then Murali himself. Known to posses one of the most difficult to spot googlies in the game, he spun a web around batsmen who were unable to read him off the pitch, through the air or out of his hand. For reasons best known to him, strangely enough his test career never really took off. Brought back into Test cricket against the Indians, after Stuart McGill was still unfit, he played the first two tests, outplaying Ganguly in particular, and was left out for the third test match in Perth. Although he played the last test of the series, which eventually turned out to be his test match of his career, Hogg was rendered ineffective on the 4th and 5th day track, when part-timer spinners Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke out-bowled him comprehensively. Things couldn't get any better, when Sachin Tendulkar got stuck into him, smashing his bowling all over the park. An honest man, Hogg confessed in his post-match interview that he couldn't do anything different because Sachin had smashed his best ball for six right over his head and that was about it.

Turning back the hands of time, Hogg recalls an incident from his school days where the students where asked to write an essay on what they would like to be when they grow up. Brad Hogg went to script his dream of playing for the Australian cricket team, however, the teachers and students laughed it off when the teacher read the essay in front of the whole class. Many years on and Hogg must be having the last laugh.

Thanks for the memories Hoggy. Well-played mate!

About the author: Vijayendra Darode is a technical writer by profession and works as freelance journalist for tech blogs and magazines. An avid follower of the game, Vijayendra virtually lives, eats and breathes cricket. He enjoys reading about the game, watching it and listening to the commentary. If you'd like to use this article for commercial purposes for your website or magazine, please mail him on vijayendrad@gmail.com or call him on +919881099629.

ICC, is this rasicm?

2007-10-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

Andrew Symonds was given the so-called monkey treatment by the crowds in Baroda and Mumbai. How on earth does these so-called monkey chants can be termed as racism? I have no clue whatsoever.

However, I did spot something, which I think the ICC must take a look at.

Here's Danish Kaneria doing his chicken dance to tease Kevin Pitersen. If monkey (our fore-fathers) chants can be termed as racism, this surely has to go down as one too.

Look Who's Talking!

2007-10-22T22:48:00.000-07:00

Glen McGrath on Sree Santh and his aggression.

Giving blokes send-offs or sledging when you talk back I don't agree with but that's up to the officials to sort out.

Oh really Glen? You amuse no ends.

Hindsight is 20:20

2007-09-27T05:47:00.000-07:00

A World Cup win is a World Cup win, so it doesn't really matter if it's a 50 over match or a 20 over match. It is not that everday you dethrone the world champions, chok the chokers, beat the Old Blighty at their own game and last but in no way the least, beat Pakistan in a World Cup final.

I am sure the Pakistan team and their fans must be thinking this when then last world cup ended: It is ok that we lost to Ireland and that we are out of the World Cup, however, the positive side is, this time around we were lucky not to get beaten by the Indian team in yet another World Cip defeat.

May be they spoke or thought about it too soon, the jinx follows the Pakistan team whenever they play against India in any World Cup matches. They might just render the services of Dr. Robert Langdon to solve this mystery.

The big three clearly did not anticpate India reaching the Super 8, leave aloen winning the cup. This win is for the people who did not believe India had it in them to clinch the T20 Champions title, incidently includes me too. This one's for the Dravids, the Tendulkar's and the Ganguly's. I can dare to say that of all the positives it has unearthed for the Indian team, this win has certainly taken the wind out of Rahul Dravid's resignation as the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team. In hindsight, being the sweet timer of the cricket ball that Rahul Dravid is, he couldn't have timed his resignation to more perfection. BCCI wasted no time in making making MS Dhoni the new captain of the Indian ODI team, thus investing confidence in Dhoni which showed in his calm demenour on the field, his sound decisions on the ground and his brutal batting on the pitch. So you might as well want to consider sendind a 'thank you' card to Dravid and to Tendulkar and Ganguly.

Let's spare a moment for the ones who were left behind to lick their injuries, the ones who opted to stay out and the ones who were never in contention for the T20 World Cup Team.

The two names that come to my mind instantly who were left behind to lick their injuries are Bengal's fiery batsman Manoj Tiwari and UP's rookie left-hander Suresh Raina, dubbed as the "a complete package" by ex-indian coach Greg Chappel. Poor Manoj Tiwari picked up a freak injury in a fielding practice in England and was clearly the most unluckiest to miss the bus. Suresh Raina has other things to worry about, after being declared not-fit for the T20 WC, he missed out on the test series against South Africa A tour of India. He's keeping his fingers crossed to get into the team for the one-dayers against the same team and ready to prove his fitness. This just might be his chance to redeem himself for the seven onedayers against the Kangaroos.

The ones who asked to drop themselves from the T20 Wc are the big three and Zaheer Khan. After a ultra-successful Test series against the Old Blighty, Zaheer Khan opted out of T20 WC, thinking it is just another cup in the offing. I believe he was dropped on the grounds of fitness and 'attitude' issues a few years ago. He might as well want to check the attitude meter again, and rue that he missed being a part of the team that won the cup. He failed to give importance to the cup, the format and eventually the future of one-day cricket.

The one who was never in contention for the T20 World Cup Team is a guy whose form has clearly eluded him in recent years. It is none other then Md.Kaif. Currently he is capatining the A side against the South Afria A. He was in the T20 probables, but in the final 15. He is not going great guns against the Proteas either.

Cricket is a funny game, it can make a God out of a Joe Bloggs and Misbah (read: hero) to zero in minutes. Piyush Chawla had the number of Pitersen on more than one occasion in the one-dayers against England. He was bowling like a dream, however, he was warming the benches and cooling the heels throughout the tournament. He has a great future ahead of him and he can take solace from the fact that he would be in the T20 team sooner or later. But not being picked even for a single game must have certainly hurt him. All the others 14 members got to play some or the other game. Talking of Joe Bloggs turning into might demi-gods, i can renstate the case of a certain Dinesh Karthick. What an unblieveable test series he's had and what a horrible run he was having with the bat in the T20 World Cup! He took a breath-taking catch to dismiss the dangerous Smith, but failed with bat in his hand. He would have loved to be in the playing eleven that won the cup.

This World Cup might also have ended the career of Ajit Agarkar. He did little of note in this crash-boom-crash format, either with the ball or bat. When the Champions returned home, they got a overwhelming welcome from the crowds, however, Ajit was not too excited. He just sat there on the bus, expressionless, no hands waving, no dancing with the team. He probably knows whats coming soon. Yet another unfulfilled promise goes by.

God forbid if there is a terror attack

2007-09-11T06:21:00.000-07:00

Intelligent Pune, an English weekly tabloid published my article in their latest issue of Sept 8th to 14th 2007. Intelligent Pune is promoted by the Bramha Group, a well known name in Pune in the real estate industry as well as a lot of diverse fields like education, retail and hospitality.

Click the image to enlarge.

How the BCCI was rocked and whats the hoopla about?

2007-08-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

ICL is going stronger by the day. It is good to see the monopoly of BCCI falling away in whiff. It was long overdue and fast coming. The most absurd thing ever to come from BCCI is that it is a 'club' and not related to India the Nation. With a body like BCCI coming up with things like these, it was only time they were calling their own fall sooner or later.

However, ICL has a lot on their hands, if and when, they are going to take off. Some wise men need to sit down and discuss some finer issues pertaining Cricket today. Here are the issues they would want to think about:

What would ICL's stand in case of bowlers with suspicious bowling action. Would ICL be the new ground for bowlers with suspicious actions?
How are the ICL going to handle drug abuse in Cricket?
How would ICL handle players who are involved in doping?
What strategies would ICL adopt to see that there is no match-fixing?
How would the ICL deal with incidents like sledging or the jelly gate saga?
How would the ICL handle incidents like the sledging, jelly gate saga, a la gatting-shakur rana, a la miandad - kiran more saga, a la abhijeet kale bribery saga, a la miandad - lillee fight saga, a la sree santh - michael vaughan saga and so on that have rocked Cricket.
How would the ICL deal with racial discrimination in the game?
Would the ICL allow their contracted players to play in county cricket in England?
Earlier BCCI snubbed both ESPN-Star and Zee when it came to broadcasting cricket in India. Would the two media giants come together to snub BCCI now?
It is speculated that the players on ICL role would lose their jobs with railways/airlines/corporates and so on. Would the ICL back them up with jobs in the media and other business interests of Zee?

Players are listed according to respective countries. According to Heath Mills, the manager of the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association New Zealand Cricket would suffer the most. Pakistan Cricket Board wouldn't agree more, after losing last year's highest test runs scorer Yousuf Yohanna ditched them to join ICL. I hope the ICL radar is high on searching some more international and national players. Here's a list of players they can go after.

Australia
Simon Katich
Justin Langer
Neil Harvey
Andy Bichel
Michael Kasprowicz
Shane Warne@
Glenn McGrath@

India
Lakshmikant Balaji
Tinu Yohannan
Hemang Badani
Vijay Bhardwaj
Ravneet Ricky
Reetinder Singh Sodhi
Pankaj Dharmani
Ajay Jadeja
Mohd. Azaharuddin
Aakash Chopra
JP Yadav#
Dinesh Mongia#
Ambathi Rayadu#
Abhijeet Kale
Dheeraj Jadhav
Hrishikesh Kanitkar
Amit Mishra

England
Adam Hollioake
Nick Knight
Marcus Treschothick
Robert Key

Pakistan
Saqlain Mustaq
Saleem Elahi
Asim Kamal
Shabbir Ahmed
Mohd. Sami
Arshad Khan
Abdur Razzaq#
Inzimam-ul-Haq#

Srilanka
Marvan Attapatu
Nuwan Zoysa
Russel Arnold
Upul Chandana

New Zealand
Chris Harris#
Chris Crains
Stephen Fleming
Nathan Astle
Mathew Sinclair
Daryl Tuffey
Andre Adams

A Drought of 21 Years

2007-08-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

21 years on and still waiting. Tomorrow is a new day, a new hope. A hope of changing things lying stale for 21 years and how. 9th August might just be the day that changed the fate of the Indian cricket team and its undying supporters.

Pray. Pray with me that the Indian skipper doesn't not come up with centuries old cliché of, 'it is just another test match' at the toss or pre-match conference. No Rahul, this is not just another test match. For Heaven's sake, it isn't just another test match. India have lost the plot in Zimbabwe in 2001, in the West Indies in 2002, in Australia in 2003, in Pakistan in 2004, and in South Africa in 2006 after going one up in the series.

It remains to see if India keep the same team that won the Trent Bridge test match. Speculations are rift that Ramesh Powar might get a look-in, instead of the old wily fox Anil Kumble. The reason: Powar can exploit the foot marks created by the two left-hand bowlers (if India bat first, Powar can also explot the foot marks of Ryan Sidebottom). Powar gives it tweak and is a known campaigner when the wicket starts to crumble. But what about the tail? Kumble has been able to gobble the tail, unlike any Indian bowler in the last two tests. Sree Santh by all means is lucky to survive the cut. I only hope that he comes out stronger, the criticism for the shoulder barge, the beamer and now the exclusion from the one-day team should boost him and his team. He has this tendency to get under the skin of the opposition like Sourav Ganguly used to have earlier. It remains to be seen how well he performs, as he is very mercurial.

England's ploy could be to exploit the extra bounce at The Oval. They would look forward to Chris Tremlett to do that. However, they can not rely too much on someone who has just made his debut a few tests ago. Too much pressure might just break Tremlett and in turn would open the floodgates for India and let it off the hook.

To sum up matters, everything largely depends on how the opening combination of Jaffer and Karthick negotiate the new ball. If they manage, anything close to the first innings partnership of Trent Bridge, England might want to kiss good-bye to their supreme record and the Pataudi Trophy too.

~ Vijayendra

What's ailing Sree Santh?

2007-07-31T01:38:00.000-07:00

Time to go back to the domestic circuit, again it seems. After a wonderful display of seam-up fast bowling in South Africa, Sree Santh has started to come off the seam now. In Greg Chappell’s wicked regime, he was thrown out of the one-day squad, and not it seems his test position awaits similar fate.

Zaheer and RP Singh have clearly out bowled him in both the tests at Lord's and Trent Bridge. He is eccentric to say the least. At first when he did that jig after hitting Andre Nel, everybody thought it was wonderful, and praised his attitude. But somehow, it has stuck with him. He could bowl as well he could speak, dance, sledge or whatever, he would have been in place of Zaheer Khan picking up the Man-of-the-Match award. Instead, he his busy running into Michael Vaughn, bowling BIG, I mean BIIIIIG no-balls that you would not even see in galli cricket, leave alone international cricket. His troubles are far from over, lately his rounds to the match referee have also gone on to become a common norm. In South Africa, he was fined for gesturing Alma when he was out and yesterday he paid another visit for fine of 50% match fees.

It is believed that he bowls legspin at the Indian batsmen in the nets. If that is true, i wonder what the Venkatesh Prasad is doing as a bowling coach. Sree Santh was bowling a heap of garbage, his run-up was all over the place, his action changing every ball from being a Merv Hughes to Imran Khan and what not. Being cocky is a different thing and being irresponsible is altogether different. I hope somebody goes up to him and has a word or two. Whatever they do, i am sure, Rahul will think twice before picking him up for the third and final test; which for that matter will decide the series.

The Great Indian Tail

2007-07-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

India has along tail and it is not wagging...atleast for the past 10 tests.

It would be interesting to see, the records in last 10 tests of the Indian Tailenders. The tail is invariably longish, starting with Kumble, Zaheer, RP Singh, Sreesanth.

Here are the scores of our tailenders when batting first in last 10 tests.

Anil Kumble: 11,1, 0, 0, 6, 45 , 43, 14, 21, 30= 171 runs
* the scroes of 45, 43 have come against a weak West-Indian attack in West-Indies.

Zaheer Khan: 7, 0, 1, 2, 9, 21, 20, 2, 13, 0 = 75 runs

Sree Sath: 0, 3,28, 0, 0, 0, 29*, 29*, 1 = 90 runs

RP Singh is playing just his 6th Test match, and therefore, cannot be judged as quickly. If his spirited display of batting against the England Lions in a practice match is anything to go by, than we can expect some more.

Here's a ready agenda for the yet-to-be-appointed Indian Coach: get the tailenders to contribute more. Anybody listening?

Dummies Guide to dismiss Kevin Pietersen

2007-07-27T02:20:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but notice the agony and pain Indian bowlers were going through when KP was dismissing all and sundry on leather hunt. They just couldn't get him out whatsoever. May be some the following things, might just put some light on KP has had in the past. I hope somebody from the Indian team or close to the Indian team is reading this post. Better still, call Munaf Patel, simply because he had a good success rate against KP.

1) Outside the Off: KP is suspecting outside off early in the innings. KP's county coach vouches the same. He wants to get off the mark as soon as possible. Get him to drive outside the off stump early on, and we might just have our man.

Here are some examples when the two teams met last time in India.

a)1st Test: India v England at Nagpur, 1-5 Mar 2006 (first innings)
40.1 Sreesanth to Pietersen, no run, Dropped! Pietersen gets an edge to second slip where Laxman,after taking a superb catch earlier, grasses a regulation one.

b)3rd Test: India v England at Mumbai, 18-22 Mar 2006 (first innings)
80.3 Sreesanth to Pietersen, OUT: Fuller, just outside off and holds its line. Pietersen goes for another forcing shot, plays inside the line, the edge is safely pouched by Dhoni. A great break for India and something England won't be pleased about

2) When in doubt sweep: KP is a big sweeper. Loves his big sweep from outside the off stump. But he has caught napping by quiet a few teams sweeping. Harbhajan, Murli, Shane Warne they all have done it time and time again. Keep throwing it up for him to sweep, he is gonna miss one soon. Buy out his wicket.

Here are some examples when the two teams met last time in India.

a)1st Test: India v England at Nagpur, 1-5 Mar 2006 (second innings)
66.2 Kumble to Pietersen, OUT: pitches outside leg again. Pietersen plays the slog sweep again but this time the top edge lobs behind Dhoni and Dravid takes the catch. Pietersen goes for 87 after accelerating the lead towards 300.

b) 2nd Test: India v England at Chandigarh, 9-13 Mar 2006 (second innings)
26.5 Harbhajan Singh to Pietersen, OUT: wicket! Tossed up on middle and leg, Pietersen again goes for the sweep, ball lobs off the gloves and pops behind the stumps where Dravid at leg slip holds the simple catch! Harbhajan gets one to his name and he is mobbed!!

3) Slower balls: He doesn't like em'. He is the kind of batsmen who likes the ball come on nicely on the bat and then smak it all around the park. Something similar happened to Sachin tendulkar in his haydays, when Fanie DeVillers used to regularly snap Sachin at short-midwicket.

a) 2nd Test: India v England at Chandigarh, 9-13 Mar 2006 (first innings)
48.1 Patel to Pietersen, OUT: Wow!Big, big wicket to get on debut! Slower ball on off, held its line and drew Pietersen into the expansive drive, Pietersen chips it back to the bowler who holds a good catch! Take a bow, Munaf! What a way to get off the blocks in Test cricket.

Reference: Ball-to-ball excerpts courtesy by Cricinfo

PMT: Facts and Benefits

2007-07-27T00:27:00.001-07:00

Ever had to travel by Pune Murder Transport? Do you still live those horrid moments? Well here's something that will cheer you. Laugh away.
Click on the image to enlarge

Medicine Man

2007-07-27T00:24:00.000-07:00

Outrageously Funny. I almost died laughing after reading this hilarious piece. Presenting you the Medicine Man live and direct from the Himalayas.

# Look out for Shankar bhagwan emerging out of the Himalayas
# Look out for all the known species of animals going haywire over Himalayas.
# Lastly, comment on your fav. line from the writeup.

Welcome on board Mr.Lawson

2007-07-17T23:14:00.000-07:00

Get ready for the new fast and furious. With Pakistan appointing Geoff Lawson, former Australian fast bowler, their new coach; we can expect the old ghosts to haunt us again. Pakistan has produced some illustrious fast bowlers over a period with names like Sarfraz Nawaz, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram (the greatest left-arm fast bowler ever to play the game), Mohd. Asif and Shoaib Akhtar. The list keeps on adding every year. I always wondered the way Pakistan excavated high-quality fast bowlers at will and at regular intervals. It is a no brainer for us to think what their toe-crushing yorkers or their bouncers did to our batsmen.

Lately, with the exception of Mohd. Asif the Pakistan bowlers had ceased to pose any threat to any of our batsmen. They were nowhere near the class of the earlier mentioned crop, neither they had the tenacity to work hard and come out stronger. However, with Lawson at the helm of affairs, Indian batsmen's nightmares resurface again. They would also want to take their protective gear out and start practice facing yorkers and bouncers. Irrespective of nationality, and thinking purely in terms of cricket, there is no better sight in world cricket than a tear away fast bowler up against the best batsmen with speed, accuracy and hostility. The sight of flaying bails and walking stumps does not get any better. Bring it on, Mr. Lawson.

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About Pakistan's new coach: Geoff Lawson has a histroy of working with bowlers like Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken. He has mentored Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh when he was captaining New South Wales team. A brief coaching stint again with New South Wales from 1995-1997, saw the team finish on fifth and third position. Lawson is a qualified level 3 coach.
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Hinjewadi IT Park: An Avalanche in waiting

2007-06-15T01:50:00.000-07:00

Hinjewadi IT Park
An Avalanche in waiting

It is 9 am, Monday morning and we are yet again stuck in traffic jam on the ‘usual’ road to our company. If the Monday blues are not enough to fight it out, we have regular traffic jams at Hinjewadi. It is getting worse everyday. Right from the time, we enter the Mumbai-Pune highway leading to the expressway.

The whole stretch leading to Hinjewadi is anything but safe. The road has uncalled U-turns, both government made and man-made, at junctions where cars are zooming at high-speed. There is at least one accident or mishap everyday involving the local village people and IT executives on this dangerous road. Not to mention the ‘white death’ (read cab drivers) flooding the road with unwarranted speeds and breaking traffic laws at will. The irony of all this is, you would hardly see a traffic police officer to help matters.

The trouble starts from the Sadanand Resort Chowk, where cars, bikes, transport carriers, company buses hoard from all the sides. The traffic department has not bothered to install a traffic signal, may be they are waiting for the Commonwealth Games to come to Hinjewadi. But that would be a bit too late for the locals and the IT guys working in Hinjewadi who can take no more of this chowk. If at all you happen to escape that horrid chowk, you get trapped at the Octroi Post where at least 20-30 trucks occupy the road which goes inside the Hinjewadi IT Park. The thin lane road which takes you to Hinjewadi IT Park reminds you of other small crapped roads of Sadashiv peth or other peths of Pune. For starters, sadly it is the only way to the IT Park. With the second phase of the IT Park booming and companies making Hinjewadi their adobe, this small road can not at all equipped to handle huge traffic. The petrol pumps, encroachments, lack of traffic officers and no planning makes matters worse by the day. Even inside the IT Park, there are no speed limits or appropriate speed-breakers to control the speeds of the cab drivers or company buses. Oh yes, I see police officers doing their favorite thing, picking up two-wheelers from illegal parking zones in the IT Park and minting money from the already bugged junta. They come only for that, otherwise it is hard to spot a single police officer.

I am also increasingly getting a feeling that big chaos awaits at the Hinjewadi IT Park, God forbid, if some calamity, terrorist attack or any other unfortunate incident falls upon us. The simple reason being, the roads are too small for the first and second phase to escape from the IT Park at a single time and there are only two suitable roads to run away. Working in the IT Park is more or less like a mousetrap. The recent fire in a warehouse near a software company highlighted another problem, the lack of Fire Brigade in the IT Park. Still there are no measurements taken to provide one.

I have not even started to underline the mental and physical stress for It guys due to traffic jams, the precious time wasted everyday, that costs huge money to the company. The talent we lose to death on the highway, loss of property and so on. Everyday IT companies from the IT Park are losing money due to traffic jams in Hinjewadi and Wakad as employees are not able to login on time. The case being that of lots of call centers and technical supports engineers, besides others, who have to attend important meetings or discussions. Request you all to pass on this message to one and all IT Guys who work in Hinjewadi. Something has to be done to avoid an avalanche of sorts, before it is too late.

Watch me if you can !

2007-03-02T01:13:00.000-08:00

Players to watch in the World Cup.It is common knowledge that the Pointings, Tendulkars, Laras are the people to watch, if not, watch them making a last appearance in the World Cup. So who are we talking about here? The fringe players. Players who we thought never existed. Players with "that" spark in them.

Here goes:

Shahadat Hossain (Bowler, Bangladesh): Here’s bloke to watch out for. He has got height, pace, bounce and born aggression. Yet to make a mark, but I believe he will be deadly. Over a decade of International cricket and only the second Bangla player to notch a five wicket hall, speaks volumes of his talent. Has to use his aggression carefully though; thinking sensibly.

Ravinder Bopara (Allrounder, England): The Collingwood clone. Bopara was selected ahead on Mal " the fast bowler sweeper" Loye. Top-order batsman and useful skiddy medium pace makes a great prospect in the lines of Paul Colligwood. If wickets are anything to go by, his first wicket is Mike Hussey. If at all Bopora gets into the playing eleven, he is going to cause some headaches to the opposition.

Peter Ongondo (Bowler, Kenya): There was Collins Obuya in 2003 and then there is Peter Ongondo in 2007. As his once illustrious team-mate Obuya, Ongondo has the capability to stun the opposition. Ongondo is the leading wicket-taker in the just concluded World Cricket League in 2007. Medium-fast, accurate and lower order hard-hitting batter. He is Kenya's ace fast bowler.

Jeeten Patel (Bowler, NZ): Often mistaken to be related to Dipak Patel, another off-spinner from NZ. This bloke is wicked, talented and waiting to make it big. You've got to have something to outshine Vettori, the man he once looked upon. New Zealand is thinking of playing both, the senior pro Vettori and the green horn Patel in the Caribean. Both are likely to operate in the middle overs and dry out the runs. Watch out oppositions.

Yasir Arafat (All-rounder, Pakistan): First it was Abdul Razzaq and then his tainted team-mates Shoiab Akhtar and Mohd. Asif to miss the World Cup. The Pakistan side suddenly looks out-of-depth when you know that Shahid Afridi is going to miss some games due to the ban he is facing. So who do you rely on? In comes Yasir Arafat, an all-rounder, who has made it good every time he is been presented with an oppurtunity. With a slingy action and a gutsy performance with the bat, he might just be the man Pakistan need if at all they entertain any dreams of lifting the World Cup.

Chamara Silva (Batter, Sri Lanka): Remember the semi-final of 1996 World Cup? Srinath had got the thorn-in-the-Indian-flesh Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluvikarna out cheaply? And then, we were hit by Arvinda "Mad-Max" DeSilva. Imagine DeSilva and now imagine Silva in the same mould. This bloke is talented as they get. Silva scored his maiden ODI hundred against India in 2007. Tom Moody, the Lankan coach is very fond of him and rates him highly.

Prosper Utseya (Bowler; Zimbabwe): Captain of Zimbabwe, Prosper showed glimpse of his magic in the series against India (yes, the same series after which Ganguly was captain no-more). His control, flight and economy are amazing. He is poetry in action.

Ashish Bagai (Wicket-keeper, Batter; Canada): Ashish which literally mean "Boon" (Not David), was the highest run-scorer in the World Cricket League 2007. He plundered 345 runs at 86.25 with two hundreds. Small, tidy and nibble on his feet Ashish is the man to watch when Canada taken on their opponents.Lionel Cann (All-rounder, Bermuda): Personally I don't know where Bermuda excatly stands on the global map. But I certainly have an idea that Cann is the man to watch. A strong lad with batting poweress, Cann is the clear winner in the otherwise lackluster Bermuda side, which stood last in the World Cricket League 2007.