The World Cup – IPL Connect

The world cup victory for India has been a great reason for the whole nation to stand up together and cherish the historic moment that came to us after close to 3 decades. All of us alive and kicking can now claim that we now know how it feels to have won a world cup.  Amidst all these happy conversations and celebrations there were a set of, half educated, multi regional friends sitting together a week post the world cup win sipping their cans of Coca Cola (Brrrrrrrrrrrrr…!!) discussing the world cup win and on going IPL -4 and the connection between these two (if at all their could be one). There obviously have been wide ranges of discussions and arguments across the country as to who we won this world cup for? And who has got us to win this world cup? And who deserves the world cup the most in the country? For reasons more than one. This being the back drop of the conversation lets find out what these friends actually got into.

The Jharkhandi – Tum saala log, all shut up a, tum sab bawle ho gaye ke? iph not phor abar Dhoni, do you think abar team boould have played as a team? It ij hiz leadership skhills thate ghot us the borld cup. Donut phorget the captains knock in the phinal.

The Punjab da sher – Oye puttar, chup ho jao oye! If our launda yubraj not playing so well in all the matches, sadi team would have never won! Chak de patthe, nap ke killi, yuvraj ne khela aur le aaya world cup dilli!!!! Burrrraaaaahh!!

The Delhiite – Bakwaas band karo bae, aiyvain kuch bhi speak ae ja rahe ho! If our Sehwag did not give the team great starts and if our gambhir & virat did not take care of the middle order, none of your guys would have mattered. Aakhir toh sabne rashtrapati bhavan hi aana tha na?!

The Bengali – ami kya bolte ae, our Dada was the one who brought the winning spirit in to Indian kirket, and you jhealous people threw him out of the team? Ah! He is the man who still supported the team from the commentary box nay!

The Marathi – Tusa maila, bluddy north Indians salaa, listen up. From Bollywood to Hollywood, from BSE to NYSE, everything big in our country happens either because of or by a maharashtrian, in this case it was done phor Sachin and bhy Sachin. Jai Maharashtra manus!!

The Madrasi – Ennada rascala, our player played so well, he still wasn’t given many chances, you rascallas discriminating with a tammillah for a weird maliyali, we deserved better treatment. In fact this winning squad was chosen by our own tammillah Srikanth only no? he won a world cup himself &  now selected a winning team! Mind it!!

The Maliyali – You see, our sreesanth had paid the coast of being hit bed(read - bad) in the phirst match by not playing in so many maetchess, see he broght luck to the team in the phinal and he bowled well also no? tell no? now what happened? Poor hard warking phello being thargetthed

The Kaanadica – saaru, wait saaru, our dravid and kumble sacrificed their place in the team for the juniors and our mallya spending so much money, he getting deepika every time to watch the match and keep the fellows entertained. Think saaru, thinnnnk!!

The Hyderabadi Nawab – Kya miiyan, kya bolte tume, humara Andhra se koi player world cup mein ich nai khela miiyan, hume kaiko team mein jagaich nahi diye miiyan! We still contributed to the world cup win miiyan, tume aisa nako karo miiyan. Bawa tum world cup humeinich dedo bawa! 

As this conversation went on, each of these friends realized they now had reached a point where they needed to symbolically decide who actually would take home the honors of being called the key to our world cup win. As the arguments given by each of them were interesting, they couldn’t come to a conclusion as to who deserved to hold the world cup for the nation and that’s when these cricket freaks decided that, any how all 15 members of the world cup squad represent one or the other key cities of the country both demographically and in terms of their IPL side. Therefore they decided to dedicate the world cup to the team (city/state) that wins the IPL as each of these world cup winning players play a key role in the sides they play for in the IPL. And that’s the connect, each of the leading contributor to the world cup win is representing or playing a big role in each of the ten IPL teams. Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Dhoni and Yuvraj each of them lead Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkatta, Chennai and Pune respectively, while Virat, Sreesanth, Dravid, Chawla and Ishant represent Banglore, Kochi, Rajasthan, Punjab and Hyderabad respectively fighting to claim the world cup for some city or the other that has contributed great cricketers to the country in the build to this world cup win.

No matter how we Indians try to claim supremacy over the other states or regions, we all inherently know, in the hour of need, we are all one. Especially when we tend to take the game of cricket even more passionately than any other thing in the world, that now our players represent any state in the IPL and not necessarily their own! Our divide is just in the talks, not in the hearts and that’s where cricket connects our country better than anything else, be it the world cup or the IPL!

Today’s Favorite Line – The minute you settle for less than you deserve, is the minute you get less than you settled for.

Today’s Favorite Song – Its You (Ryan Cabrera)

The Wall – The Best A Team Can Get

Every home has four walls to protect the people living inside, to give them the feeling of being warm and secure from external environment no matter its summer or winter, calm or chaotic outside. We make sure that our wall is as strong and reliable as possible. But the Indian Cricket Team has been so fortunate, that though it has had a lot of other luxuries, though it has had only one WALL to protect itself, but then they never felt the requirement of anything more as THE WALL that they had made sure, performed the role of more than being a solid structure, by saving the team against all countries and conditions.

Lately there have been long and short battles going on between fans of two camps, ‘The Record Holder Camp’ and ‘The Wall Camp’ and the premise of the battle has more or less been pointless, how can you compare two people who have played two completely different roles in a teams success towards becoming a top team from almost no where. While one’s career has been totally to the team, by the team and for the team and the others has been more of to the record book, by the record book and for the record book, it hardly makes any sense to compare the two. My words might sound supportive towards the wall, but that’s also cos I have been a huge fan of him ever since my childhood, while all the other kids used to admire the short guy with tall records, I felt this lean guy with strength to rescue the team from every calamity was more commendable, not that the short guy never saved the team, but if you look at the lean guy’s record in lieu of corresponding situation of the team on a given match day, you shall realize who gave it all for the country each time.

This debate has primarily popped up just because the Indian media, blatantly ignored the fact that THE WALL of the team has reached a milestone that only two other batsmen in the world have achieved and more importantly it also in the joy of celebrating the records of the little master, forgot the more important aspect of the game, winning/ saving the game, which the little master failed miserably at, though he had some control over the situation. The media frenzy has been totally towards a record that we’ve been waiting for quite some time. Taking individuals over team, where did our post match analysis and cribbing go? As per my knowledge and understanding, on most of the occasions when the little master has played a good knock the team has not won! Take each of his knocks and tabulate it with the match result or situation, and you can judge the result for yourself. What’s the use of hitting a ton, when it can’t make my team win? We won’t see Dr. Manmohan Singh as a nice PM, the moment his government fares badly? (Aren’t we doing this already?)

In order to make a few things clear as to why we respect THE WALL so much, I have compiled a set of pointers (including a few individual records) to show how strong the wall has been and how crucial a role he has played as a team player, rather than being a selfish player( no offense meant). Each of these points below conveys how important his contribution was to the success of the team (not the record books). The following points have been compiled using the Wikipedia page of Rahul Dravid.

He is the first and the only batsman to score a century in all ten Test playing nations (The little master can may be emulate this, but not break this one record!)

Dravid has also been involved in more than 80 century partnerships with 18 different partners and has been involved in 19 century partnerships with Sachin Tendulkar - a world record. (Ever heard? partnerships win you matches, centuries don’t!)

Dravid was top run scorer in the 7th World Cup (1999), scoring 461 runs. He is the only Indian to score two back to back 100's in World Cup's. (He was a contender for Man of the Series award, missed it to Lance Klusner, an all-rounder)

Dravid was involved in two of the largest partnerships in ODIs: a 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly, the first pair to combine for a 300-run partnership, and then a 331-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which is the present world record. (Again stood besides these 2 greats of Indian cricket and let them take the lime light in both the occasions, though he was as much a part of the success)

Also, Dravid is the current world record holder for the highest percentage (%) contribution of runs scored in matches won under a single captain, where the captain has won more than 20 Tests. In the 21 Test matches India won under Sourav Ganguly's leadership, Dravid played his part in every single one of those wins, scoring at a record average of 102.84 and piling up an astonishing 2571 runs, with nine hundreds - three of them double-centuries - and ten fifties in 32 innings. He contributed nearly 23% of the total runs scored by India in those 21 matches, which is almost one run out of every four runs the team scored. (I am sure, the little master, could hardly get closer to this, contributing towards teams victory, every time! And we think Sourav Ganguly was a great captain, think of him without THE WALL’s contribution.)

Though primarily a defensive batsman, Dravid has scored 50 not out in 22 balls (Strike Rate-227.27) vs NewZealand in Hydrabad on 15 Nov 2003, second fastest 50 among Indians. Only Ajit Agarkar 67 of 21 balls is faster than Dravid. (Now I heard someone telling me, he is a defensive player. Oh Really?)

After a barren run in Test matches in 2008, Dravid came under increasing media pressure to retire or be dropped. In the Second Test against England in Mohali, he scored 136, putting on a triple-century stand with Gautam Gambhir. (Every player goes through bad patches in his career, but RD responds not by his individual score, but by his contribution to the teams cause. So stop playing god father, let him decide when he wants to retire)

He has been involved in the most century partnerships in Test history – 85, as on 23 Nov 2009. (Now, compare that with the little master’s partnerships, scoring 50 centuries won’t get the team the top slot, staying on in different conditions and making the other player comfortable to play with does!)

Involved in highest partnership made away from home for any wicket for India with vice captain Virender Sehwag of 410 runs vs Pakistan at Lahore in 2006, also, the highest partnership between a captain and the vice captain (Now, that’s a record! Breaking the opposition to pieces)

He is currently 2nd among batsmen who have scored most away runs in Tests (6430 as of April 2009). Only Sachin Tendulkar (7165) has scored more away Test runs. (Obviously the little master is a little ahead, but the difference in the number of innings and years played by both of them is quite significant a reason for the difference.)

He is the fastest batsman in the history of Test cricket to make 9,000 runs. The former Indian captain brought up the landmark in his 176^th innings playing against West Indies in 2006 and broke the earlier record of Brian Lara. (Did someone talk about his consistency?)

Partnering with Tendulkar, has scored more runs than any other pair, excluding opening pairs. They are the 3^rd best in terms of total number of partnership runs scored by a pair in test cricket. (And in majority of these partnerships, his contribution wasn’t acknowledged as much as the media always wanted to talk about the Record Master)

Dravid has faced highest number of deliveries in test cricket, more than Allan Border’s previous record of 27002 deliveries. (Staying there on the crease for the team, saving one side of the wicket when all others fail! If scoring runs is important, in test cricket staying on the crease is even more crucial.)

2nd highest number of fifties in test cricket after Australia's Allan Border (63) and jointly shared with compatriot Sachin Tendulkar (59). (Now, he equals the little master on this record, but again, how many innings of each of them rescued or put the team in a better position? Check!)

Rahul Dravid is the third batsman in the world after compatriot Sachin Tendulkar and Australia's Ricky Ponting to reach the 12000-run milestone in test cricket. (Last but not the least. Personal milestones matter but they don’t make a winner! So we mention it last, no matter whether anyone acknowledges it or not!!)

To conclude, I’d just like to say that, Rahul Wall Dravid is one amongst the BEST TEST PLAYER the World has ever seen. While RD has contributed 20 times towards the teams victory and SRT has contributed 23 times (Courtesy – Mid day Article), look at the ratio of innings played or no. of fifties plus hundreds scored to no. of times it lead to the teams victory and you’ll realize why I put RD above SRT in context of being a better team player, all over the write up. The only reason RD is being compared to SRT is, he is no lesser than SRT if not greater but like I started off, both are a class in themselves, nevertheless team comes over self, always!

P.S – This write up wasn’t intended to compare the two greats, but in the process of compiling facts and thoughts, my mind couldn’t resist answering all those record favoring and ignorant individuals ignoring the security this soldier has given to Indian Cricket for over a decade and a half, always being overshadowed by others and still never expecting acknowledgement. I Salute. I hope this write up would shut a lot of mouths suggesting retirement of RD for ever, its’ his fitness, let him take a call. You Take a Bow!!

Today’s Favorite Line – I'm not offended by what you say. I'm just glad that you're stringing words into sentences now.

Today’s Favorite Song – He could be the one ( Hannah Montana)

Lessons for Indian Cricket from Aussies

Australians have dominated the world cricket for more than a decade in all the formats of the game. It has produced quality players year after year and has nurtured them and then pushed others out cos there was a lot of talent waiting outside to take up the challenge. There have been times when we have felt that even the second or third team of Aussies could beat any other top team in the world; such was their domination in the world of cricket. They kept adding new talent to their squad as and when they felt someone had got old and had to give space to a new talent who has been waiting for years, just cos everyone was in form most of the times. So the old had to make way for the new, as they were assured that even the new ones will do exceedingly well. And as a process their top players retired one after the other at the peak of their forms, Steve Waugh retired in 2004 with an 88 against India, when he in no way looked like he was old or not fit, he just made way for new talent. This process continued in the latter years as well and they kept losing top cricketers due to age and pressure to give a chance to youngsters, which worked quite well for a long time with introduction of players like Darren Lehman, Simon Katich, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson and many more such high quality talent.

But today we are in a situation where the Aussies have lost their domination over world cricket; they have been losing, at times miserably and at other times after fighting out hard against different teams. One could never imagine that Aussies could rank as low as 5 in the test rankings, but that’s the fact at the moment, it has slipped down from being the top team to a mediocre one. If one observes keenly most of this has come as a result of the retirement of 5 top players one after the other in a span of 2 years, these 5 are the top players in their own specific role during their time of play – Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Mathew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer. These 5 have been match winners of Australia for more than a decade in some form of the game or other, except for Ricky Ponting who is still playing; these 5 have been the crucial factors of taking the game to Australia’s favor. Be it the dominance of Hayden and Langer in the batting department or the sheer excellence in the mind boggling spells of Glenn McGrath, they have all been the force behind the domination of Australia in world cricket and as a result of their retirement, Australian cricket has seen new lows in their form, that was never imaginable at least for a kid like me who grew up watching cricket in the era of these maestros and every time I watched a match Australia was taking part in, I knew the result more often than not, such was the magic of the team then. But now it seems like history, it’s hard to imagine Australia getting back to where it belonged, no matter it has the talent, but these talented stars lack the magic that the super 5 had along with Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting (at different times).

Indian cricket is having a magical time at the moment, with it being the top test team for quite some time now and it has also shown good form in one day cricket as well as 20-20 in the recent times. Be it due to the Dhoni factor or due to sheer presence of the best batting line up in the world. We’ve always known that India is a major power in world cricket only due to its batting, our bowling has never been impressive for more than a series max at different times and conditions, specially as we play almost different set of pacers in every alternative series, our bowlers either being out of form half of the time or being injured for the rest. The matter that concerns me about Indian cricket at this moment specifically in the context of the Australian downfall is the fact that the pillars of Indian batting line up are all going to retire post the 2011 world cup that might mean the start of downfall of Indian cricket in different forms of the game. Sachin, Rahul, Laxman, Shewag might all retire in the next 2 years for sure, with their retirement Indian batting line up looks gloomy specially as we are talking about the top 5 spots in the batting line up. None of the current youngsters in the Indian squad have shown as much talent and courage to fill the shoes of these maestros.

Gautam Gambhir was in the best form of his life last year but has been a sheer disappointment this year and the less we talk about Yuvraj Singh the better it would be for him, he has just shown attitude and no character on the cricketing field and outside lately and that has led to him being dropped from the test squad already. Suresh Raina is an excellent talent, he might fill in the gap a bit but how far he will be able to do this is still to be seen. Virat Kohli has played well at times and has come to the rescue of the team a few times, but again once in a while knocks are not sufficient to fill the shoes of the fab 4. Dhoni himself has been showing no performance in terms of his batting for quite some time, as a captain he might be doing decently, but if he doesn’t perform as a batsman how far he will be able to remain a motivated captain is a big question. There are a lot of other brilliant names (Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Murali Vijay) that are in and out of the squad at different times, so its not quite reassuring that they would fill the void that would be created as a result of the retirement of the fab 4. So the batting line looks really gloomy, but can the bowling department go a notch up to fill the imbalance in the batting department? Like I said earlier, bowling is always a concern in itself, how can we expect it to compensate for the lackluster batting?! Indian Cricket should take a lesson from Australia’s recent history and do something constructive about it at the earliest else it would just follow the pattern we have observed with the Aussies.

P.S – Let’s not forget Aussies are still the top ODI team, but do you think they’ll be able to hold on to that for long? Lets wait for the outcome of the on going India – Australia series to get some idea. And obviously we have the world cup to look forward to, while teams like Bangladesh and Kenya are doing exceedingly well but teams like Pakistan, West Indies and Newzeland have their own problems in different departments.

Today’s Favorite Line – If being apathetic is wrong, then I don’t care

Today’s Favorite Song – Waka Waka (Shakira)

Kalmadi – The Unsung Hero

Oops!! Is the title right? May be, We’ll find out soon. India so far has conducted a Cricket world cup and a few other sporting events of some scale now and then, nothing great or bigger apart from that. We aren’t surprised on India’s ability to conduct a cricket world cup, but could you have ever imagined or can you still imagine that India could host a mega event as huge as the ‘CWG’? Do we have the expertise, the experience, the support of all the stakeholders? (Now you would say yes, but what would have been your answer before the games started?) No matter what your answer to this question is, we required courage, leadership and faith to be able to even dream of something of this scale and size. And since we showed all of that in some sense or the other, in some people or the other, we pulled it off, don’t you think so?

Every cat, dog and mouse (tom, dick and harry is old) have been abusing and accusing the chair of the OC, the guy who got the CWG to India (agreed, it’s not his individual effort but his role was quite substantial as I understand), who fought the bureaucracy, the system and most importantly the mindset, by making us believe that we can do a mega event like CWG and that will take the sporting arena in the country to a new level by providing our sportspersons excellent infrastructure and world class atmosphere within their home to be able to compete with top sportspersons from across the world at par. If it wasn’t for his courage to take the responsibility and the risk of doing the unthinkable in India that too as a public project (unlike cricket world cup, which is a private entity in more senses than one) to me is commendable!

Talking about the accusations of corruption and delay, give me one concrete proof or example of the same, all the accusations that our beloved media has so far made are nothing but assumptions and hidden camera operations to try and unearth something to make a story! Do we have a single charge of corruption against him that is direct and accurate? Don’t give me stuff like ‘contracts were given to relatives’, ‘the people working in the team are all his aides’ and so on, how does it matter as far as the work is done? Give me one politician in the country who has people in his team that he hasn’t known for decades, why talk so broadly, take the example of how our country is being run, since independence our country has more or less been run by a single family generation after generation, isn’t that true? Then why point this as an issue against this chap? (Now don’t tell me that, the people of India wanted this family to. Crap!) I agree mostly on the accusations on him in terms of the delay as that led to a lot of last minute issues and fears, but is it totally fair to accuse him for this so seriously? Are we not the country where the court of law takes decades together to give a verdict on simple disputes? Are we not the country where Pizza gets delivered before an ambulance? Are we not the country where police always reaches after the criminals have done all they wanted to? Then why suddenly are we trying to act as if we were the second’s hand of a clock? Lets face it, we have never been able to complete projects on time, that’s not an excuse for Kalmadi but does that not remind you of the fact that the whole CWG organizing required  coordination between various bureaucratic ego’s and stakeholders, Do I need say more?

I hate the fact that people keep blaming ‘him’ for India having spent 17000 crores (or whatever the exact figure is) without even spending a single minute thinking about where and how that money was spent. Most of the money was spent on the city of Delhi and not on the sporting related things, and that’s not just for the games, the money spent on infrastructure of Delhi was much required keeping in mind the growing population of the city and the kinds of problems people face in commuting in Delhi. Is CWG responsible for the money spent on such endeavors? It’s the scapegoat cos because of it the projects were taken up much earlier than they ever would have been! Delhi otherwise wouldn’t have had a metro may be for another decade or so. If the money spent on the infrastructure of the games village and other stadiums is a waste of money then we should stop expecting our sports persons to perform and win! If Kalmadi has been a cause of overrun of cost then who does each household hold responsible for the increase in their monthly expenses than budgeted early in the year? Is there no inflation or change in costs/plans when we talk about the CWG related contracts and materials. Can something that was decided years or months ago remain as it was put down on paper? I heard sometime back from someone that a flyover or a road leading to the new airport in Bengaluru was proposed to be made for 67 crores rupees by a panel that included Mr. Narayana Murthy, later that committee was dissolved due to some political intervention and the state PWD went ahead to do it and completed the project for close to 300 crores. So if that is possible with just a road, is it not possible with a games village? Use some mind if not heart!

Everyone is talking about corruption and hanging of Kalmadi, as if he has pocketed the entire 17000 crores, come on, lets stop being silly, may be there are discrepancies here and there, may be he is corrupt, may be he gave all the contracts to his aides, name me one party or politician in the country that hasn’t done any of the above at least a dozen times. I am not trying to support Kalmadi, nor am I trying to say that it’s good that Indian politicians are corrupt or we should leave Kalmadi even if he is guilty cos everyone does this. I am just trying to bring some rationale to the madness that the media has inserted into our head; our accusations seem to be statements made in a hurry. What if the audit committee finds him to be honest and find no wrong doing? I know this is too much optimism but have we not already shown too much distrust on him already! Just take a moment and find answers for these people before you defame or ill treat Kalmadi any more. The names that I am listing down are just a small sample of people who have various criminal cases or so against them, but they still continue to enjoy complete freedom and power in various sectors even though their wrong doing might have been established or proved in ways and times more than one – Lalu Prasad Yadav, Shibhu Soren, A Raja, Madhu Koda, Mayawati and many more!! Now compare these people with Kalmadi if he is really guilty and see the difference in what he has created and what these power houses have! I rest his case here. Hang him if he is guilty, beat him to death by the law, but don’t beat him to death just by defaming him before finding out the facts. And for once, just for once, acknowledge the fact that he has played a gigantic role in the hosting and success of the CWG, no matter he might be corrupt or what so ever that might be proved, but until then respect the courage and the commitment! Stop treating him like Kasab at least, phew! May Kalmadi get what he deserves, post the probe that is!

Today’s Favorite Line – There are a lot of lies going around and half of them are true (Winston Churchill)

Today’s Favorite Song – The Gambler (Kenny Rogers)

P.S – I don’t mind if I sound like a desperate attention seeker by taking a view completely opposite to the rest of the world as if I was trying to support the deeds of Kalmadi, just trying to see things from the other side as well. Let’s not forget, we live in India and this was a public project, not a private one!

Cricket in the subcontinent lately

Cricket has been quite depressing lately both on and off the field.

Be it India losing to the Srilankan minnows playing without the mighty Murali but still being able to bundle out the long battling line up of India in no time (if the new kid in the block Mithun could hit a score close to 50, the batting line up could be called long I guess).

Or be it the most disappointing moment for a billion cricket followers (especially Sehwag followers), when Sehwag was denied of a century that he actually completed with all honesty (not to mention about the dishonest Suraj aka run and Dive into the sea bowler).

Or the spot fixing scam that has hit the already deep in trouble Pakistan cricket.

And of course I am not getting into the post IPL fights and controversies going on between the Governing council and the ‘main hoon Don’ Modi. Cos the moment one starts talking about the IPL fiasco the debate could go on for years (just like modi sent a 15000 page reply! that can’t be read in a decade I guess) without any result.

First things first, though India reached the finals of the tri series (with newzeland and srilanka), each one of us was very sure that India did not deserve the place in the finals but luck I shall call it, that it did make it to the final but as it was supposed to end, it did! India lost shamefully. The batting performance of the team was not just below par, it was plain simple pathetic. Except for ‘THE’ Sehwag who after quite some time has come into form in ODI’s, the rest of the team seemed to be playing cricket in their colonies, playing lousy shots trying to while away time with nothing else to do. There’s no doubt that we had the best team on field that we could have had (I know we can keep arguing on whom we could have included or excluded) as each member in the playing eleven had a considerable experience playing international cricket, so no doubt about their abilities but execution was something that looked alien to them. I don’t deem it important to comment much on the Indian bowling as that has never been something as interesting to talk about, it always has been the weakest area of the Indian team in the last few years (once a bowler does well in a series, the next thing that happens to him is injury and we don’t see him for months together or he just loses his natural good skill as he’s too flattered with the hype and money he gets to his share).

As I see it, cricket in India may soon lose its charm in the near future as team India continues to perform miserably, accusing the board of tight schedules at times and other things at other times, never getting to the core  problem which is inconsistency and lack of focus. With the world cup coming up, a first round exit would be the first of these shockers that we may have to face apart from the retirement of the Master Blaster and probably two other maestros of Indian batting The Wall and Mr. Elegance (VVS if u dint get it at once). The lesser I speak about the fall of Indian cricket at this moment; the better it would be for me! ;)

It’s not a bit exciting to even think of the condition Pakistan cricket is in today. They can’t play the game against any cricketing country on their own field (I doubt if they get to do it themselves at all?) That’s just the tiniest of the problems for them at this moment. Not to forget the recent banning of ‘a lot’ of senior players for various periods in different cases and then revoking the ban on some of them and getting them back to the team instantly and just to mention, the drug abuse of two leading bowlers a few years back was like just not enough. Pakistan cricket looks nothing more than a comedy show on the television, every day you switch the television on, it reaches a new high in getting into trouble. The spot fixing report is told to be just a mole in the mountain.

In the last one year or so they have had at least 4 captains representing the national team in different tournaments and formats, with infighting being one of the major reasons of the teams’ problems. No one now wants to play cricket with them, English players in someway or the other are showing their disinterest in playing any further cricket against them in the near future at least (not to forget the world cup is just a few months away!). And as a result of the recent spot fixing allegations, a few player sponsors have immediately indicated their fear of not being in a position to sponsor these players anymore keeping in mind their own brand values. A situation where all the major sponsors call off their sponsorship deals with Pakistan cricket is not a very callous prediction to make I believe. If that happens, I don’t see Pakistan cricket getting back on its feet on the cricket field, not to forget there might be much more that could still happen to Pakistan cricket in the coming days keeping in mind how PCB is dealing with ICC lately.

Nothing is exciting talking about cricket in the Indian subcontinent at the moment, just hoping that the Champions League brings some excitement back to the otherwise gloomy outlook towards cricket.

Today’s Favorite Line – Only those who seek shall find

Today’s Favorite Song – Man Lafanga (Lafangey Parindey)

Common Wealth Games – India bula liya

The most upsetting coverage on all forms of media in the last 6 months has been on the preparation levels of India for the Common Wealth Games (CWG). The negative marketing of the CWG has gone down to an extent that a huge chunk of the population has started to believe that India should never have taken up the responsibility of conducting such a gigantic event when we knew we don’t have any experience or expertise to do the same. In fact a lot of experts and amateurs have gone down to say that CWG is nothing but a quick way of wasting thousands of crores of public money, that would do no good to the population at large, in no ways except for may be a few desperately made unfit stadiums (called ‘world class’ by them selves to give it that feeling at least for name sake) and more damage of infrastructure and chaos in daily life for ‘delhiites’ for close to half a decade now in the name of development which is yet to be seen in shape.

Now I guess its time we did some damage control and focused on certain face saving events rather than reporting and promoting the other not so happening things about the games(though the fact would remain that a lot of things are not right, agreed!! But they will never be at least for these games). Now this is a genuinely concerned citizen’s appeal that instead of beating the trumpets against our own people and events, lets try and stick to the fact that this event is some thing that may either bring the country laurels or might shatter the chances of the country having any image with regard to conducting any major event (not specific to sports alone) ever again.

No matter how bad the progress of the infrastructure development projects is, no matter how ugly the organizing committee and other contractors have gotten in the process of making the CWG happen (both in terms of corruption and bureaucracy), no matter how much money has already been wasted, no matter how good or bad our own athletes are, no matter how miserable life for a delhiite has become, no matter how good you expected the theme song to be and how Rahman may have disappointed the country at that Cost. Let’s just understand one thing; this is an event that our country has promised the world that it would host & conduct to the best of its abilities by making available all kinds of world class facilities both for the athletes and for the spectators who’ll be visiting our country to witness the mega event.

So let’s just stick to this particular thought and support the cause for the country in whatever fair way that we can. If that requires us to be spectators on television or on field as per our convenience, or if that requires us to stop reporting/promoting all the shortcomings till the games are over and done with, let’s make sure we don’t do it till the closing ceremony. Now, when I say that we should not promote or report the shortcomings during the course of the preparation and conducting of events, I mean it to be paused for a while and not for ever. Do all the accusing and pinpointing the day after the games are over.

Once the games are done and completed successfully (at least to say so), open up all the files of shortcomings and corruption and catch each of the culprits by their collar and take them to task, no one is going to stop you or the care takers of law. But until that time, just keep a track of everything, so that you can open the Pandora of complaints when it won’t hurt the country’s image. It does not make sense to take them to task now, as these are the people who know the event and the plans of its conducting in and out, if they are taken to task now, the progress of the preparation for the event and its smooth conducting will fall in to jeopardy. So let the goons make merry while we worry about the country’s reputation. Once the country’s obligation is taken care of, then we can reward these goons aptly. Till then lets just follow the lyrics of the theme song of CWG ‘rukna rukna rukna nahi, harna harna harna harna, harna nahi’. Because, ‘O yaaron. Ye India bula liya!’

Today’s Favorite Line – Have faith, when you have nothing else!!

Today’s Favorite Song – Lehrein (Aisha)

Why blame the IPL

If players don't perform to their potential in under pressure situation on tracks that don't go with their comfort zone, is IPL responsible?

Who is to blame when you play only 2 seamers and rest slows bowlers on tracks that suit pace men more. But for Suresh Raina and to an extent Rohit Sharma (for a lost cause) all other batsmen failed in the World Cup. What happened to our Pathans and Yuvrajs and the captain cool himself? All of them failed miserably. Most of them were disappointments even in the IPL except for a couple of knocks here and there in a dozen plus games played by each of them. So did IPL sway them to continue their poor form? Not at all, it gave them a much required chance to have some match practice in fact, that too against the best bowlers from across the world. The same Mallingas, Mathews and the Pollards are the ones whom they played with and against.

If IPL is responsible at all, then have a look at Mahela Jayewardane, no one in their wildest dreams could have ever thought this guy could adapt so well to this format and win games for his team almost every time with brilliant knocks. Now you should also say IPL is responsible for giving him such a nice platform and opportunity to let him tune himself according to the games needs. There are many other players who continued their form from IPL or bettered it in the world cup. If Indians couldn't do it, it’s not for the IPL to take the blame. In fact the top 5 batsmen in this world cup at this moment are all who played in the IPL as well - M Jayewardene, KP Pietersen, C Gayle, J Kallis and S Raina.

But was it not known even before the start that Indians are miserable against short pitch bowling? So why select people who are not time tested with short pitch bowling even if it was the shortest version of the game? The team selection was not to be made based on IPL like conditions for heavens sake, the world cup is being played at the Caribbean land!

The team failed in several departments including poor captaincy by Dhoni, picking wrong sides, choosing to bowl when anyone on earth would have chose to bat, selecting more slow/spin bowlers in the team when the conditions are tailor made for pace men. It couldn’t have got any more worse.

Indians performed miserably on the days when they needed to fire all guns. The crucial thing for a team playing any tournament is its fitness level and the performance of every individual player on the match days, which in India’s case was lackluster and so it lost and that it rightly deserved to say the least.

Let’s stop using the IPL, its money and the late night parties as an excuse for a blunder which the players did on the field.

Today’s Favorite Line – ‘Patience is not much about waiting; it is more about how one behaves while waiting’.

Today’s Favorite Song – Aye Khuda (Paathshaala)

IPL – Intentionally Paki’s Left??

Let’s stop blowing it out of proportion!!

Few deserving candidates dint get an international job that would have earned them a fortune in case they got selected. But the companies were/ are more keen on their own profit maximization which while recruiting these candidates may become a little uncertain. That too when the companies have a lot of other good candidates to choose from, then why knock the doors of uncertainty?!

Does the above statement make things any simple? We are talking about IPL and it’s strictly business!! Be it the BCCI, the franchisees, the players, the sponsors or for that matter even the cheer leaders! Everyone’s there to make money and not for the sport as such, so when its business stop talking about emotions and relationships.. all that matters is the moolah!!

Why can’t someone concerned come forward and make such statement and shut the discussion and debate once for all? We all know the above statements are the exact reasons for why the things are the way they are. We all know that no one ever wanted to snub Pakistan or any other country for that matter. So why play this blame game?

Maybe Aussies coming to India would become uncertain if the franchisees seem to think so, Shiv Sena can’t be taken as lightly, though their nephew has been much more disastrous in the recent times. Everyone is aware of the kind of security threat that increases in India if the Pakistani players are around, specially after the Mumbai attacks. The threat is not internal alone; it could also be to the Pakistani players. Who is ready to take a risk that puts questions to lives?! No sane businessman would do that.

Agreed that the Pakistani hockey team is expected in India very soon for the hockey world cup that India is hosting, but don’t we know the kind of differences in attitude and money these 2 sports have. So its useless to argue and point fingers.. Let the businessmen stand up and say what they did and why instead of making this a political stunt.

I do feel bad for the Pakistani players, especially cos they were the ones who played exceptional cricket in the previous editions (am not as interested or convinced about their T20 world cup win to be a reason for the inclusion in IPL, both are 2 completely different set of events with a lot of difference in the stakes that they come with).

So lets just talk straight.. lets not go round in circles to each and every person concerned and then make an issue out of their statement (Yea, I do mean the statements from IPL chief, GOI, GOP, Franchise owners including Pretty oops Preity, sllipa… ouch Shilpa, and none other than the KKR top shot SRK and many more)

P.S – I know it’s a real tough kind of an attitude that I show while writing this, but I think its rather good to say what u feel than to play the blame game and create excuses. If someone would have taken such a stand long back all mouths would have been shut by now across the country and beyond!

Today’s Favorite Line – “Nothing is interesting, if u are not interested”

Today’s Favorite Song – Little moments like that (Brad Paisley)

Just like that on sports

For a change i ll start with a sport other than cricket...

I think we should seriously consider using the word "Boltning" instead of the word "lightning". This guy(Usain Bolt) is just amazing!!! he breaks his own record in 100 meters(by a big margin) and says he never thought he'll be able to do that on the day the race was conducted.

Then he takes part in the 200 meters race in which after having broken another world record he says i was not really prepared(fit) for the race, wasn't even sure of winning. Now am not sure if its his modesty or what?! but man this guy is just too too good!! breaking record after record when he says he isnt really fit!! then what if he was fit and prepared?!! I first noticed him during the last olympics and was eagerly waiting for the current games and there he is.. back to get the record writers busy changing details. its just Boltning!! like federer became fedex i guess lightning will slowly become boltning.. atleast for me...!! (more cos i am the one who coined this name :P)

Now lets talk a lil about cricket!!
As the decider of the ashes is on... i heard this game is one of the highest bet game of all time... Like many others even i wish Freddie ends his career on a winning note with a winning performace but i'd like Aussies to retain the ashes. though this aussie team doesnt have any of my favorites except Hussey who went back to the pavilion after scoring a beautiful duck. I miss watching Haydo and Gillu.
Anyways Aussies are on a backfoot now and its certain that this test is going to produce a result, sitting besides the tv am not sure whom to support, all i know is i wanna see Freddie firing all his guns in the second innings both by bat and ball. Its gonna be an action packed game for the rest of the 2 days... till then fingers crossed!!


Today's Favorite Line - 'You cheat me once, shame on you; you cheat me twice, shame on me'
Today's Favorite Song - Masakali (Delhi-6)