Back....

You can’t revive a blog whenever you want to. It either happens or it doesn’t. And right now, I am having one of those moments when you have stuff to say and you think it would be great if you could post a.k.a. vomit it on to your blog. I know it’s been ages since I last posted, but I haven’t been that busy really. Life has been interesting in the past year and a half or so when I’ve been away from the blog. So that means the only reason I haven’t posted is b’coz I am a lazy bum. We all are lazy bums, no? Now that I am home with almost nothing to do and I have stuff to say, I think it’s a good time to bring the blog back to life.


So you drag yourself out of bed at 5 am hoping to see New Zealand like 380/8 and you switch on the TV and you see 410/4 and you realise the difference between dreams and reality is as wide as it can ever be. There has been some criticism of Sehwag’s captaincy when it comes to field placements and bowling changes. It’s unfair to the guy, b’coz he never uses his brain when he bats and he cant be expected to use it when he fields. And when Yuvraj drops a dolly and someone as boring as Franklin hits 52 and a number of edges go thru the slip and gully region, its not really Sehwag’s fault. The real blame should be on Dhoni and Dhoni alone because if he was playing, things may have been different. The best part of the day’s cricket (if you are a sadist) is watching Charu Sharma and Arun Lal discuss the day’s play after stumps. I pity them. Poor guys have no clue what is happening and they are expected to discuss it for I think, like an hour, or maybe more. It’s like Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh discussing Salsa and Tango. Watching it for like 5 minutes proved to be too much for me, and I am glad someone invented the remote control and I am glad we have other TV Channels.


I finished the book ‘You are here’. It’s a funny name for a book. You are here. I’m sure the sequel will be called ‘You are there’ or ‘You have moved’ or better still ‘You are now here’. The author’s name is Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan. Seriously, that is the name. From the name, it sounds like she is either a Kathak danseuse or the author of some research paper titled ‘The study of the effects of algae on water purity in Lake Chihuamuhua’. I just realised that the book title “You are here” has 10 letters and the authors name has 22 letters. The book has Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan on all the pages. I do hope she has a shorter version of that name in real life. Imagine saying “Are you okay, Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan?” or “Would you like coffee or tea, Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan?” or hearing “Hello, Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan here”. But seriously, what’s in a name? I just found it funny that a book called You Are Here would have Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan on all its pages.The book is cool. It is not about all the women liberation and all the feminist gasbag talk. The best part about the book is that it is honest. There are parts of it I can identify with and a lot of it makes sense to me. Now if I can identify with something, it really must be something no? It’s not autobiographical or anything of that sort, and it’s not some story that goes on and on and ultimately ends, sometimes very abruptly. I used to read her blog once upon a time, back in the days when I would religiously read everything in my Google reader, and the book is just an extension of her blog. Her blog is a great read, and the book although a toned down and fictionalised version, is also easy reading. It does get boring at times, but then everything does. Happy I finished the book. It’s one of the few books I have started and finished lately. The same goes for movies. I have never been a movie person. I start to watch a movie at home and I always end up not finishing it either because something more interesting comes up, or its gets so boring that I have to make something more interesting to please come up. The only movies I finish are ones that are watched in the movie hall.


I saw this band called Faridkot on Channel V Launchpad and I loved them. Check them out, the lead singer Inderpreet Singh is cool ...


P.S. As I type this, Arun Lal and Charu Sharma are back on TV. What happened to superheroes? Paging for Superman or Batman or Spiderman, someone needs to be rescued guys... help!!

20-20 Cricket?

Photo - Getty Images/Cricinfo

Greedy me

In about nine hours from now, India take on hosts Australia at the Adelaide Oval.

The last time they were there 4 years ago, I was in the fifth semester of my computer engineering and had an exam in Computer Hardware Design that coincided with India's successful chase in the 4th innings. I decided to watch the match instead of studying. If i flunked the exam, i could take it again in 6 months. If India won the test match, i was not sure if i would ever get to see them win another test match in Australia. I got 9 marks out of 100 in the exam in a subject where i had scored 22 out of 25 in internal tests. It was worth the gamble. India won. I cleared the paper later.

India won in Australia again last week, this time in Perth. No exams this time. No bunking them either.

For the next 5 days i will pray for another win. Greedy me.

Change the music....

This was the moment when a billion hearts stopped.
So did the music.

But about one second later, the music resumed.

Please stop playing that awful "Chak de India" song each time an India win is in sight. Please.

The tune of the song reminds me of some of those 'golden oldies' - randomly composed songs with the choicest expletives for lyrics - that served as the anthems to be sung aloud by a bunch of croaking guys, to assert their supremacy and intimidate opponents at inter-school competitions.

Yuvraj Singh hitting Stuart Broad for 6 sixes in an over

Yuvraj Singh hits 6 sixes in an over off Stuart Broad in the Twenty 20 World Cup match between India and England on 24th Sept 2007 in Durban, South Africa



Previous instances of 6 sixes in an over in cricket
- Gary Sobers of Northamptonshire off left arm pacer Malcolm Nash of Glamorgan in 1968
- Ravi Shastri of Bombay off left arm spinner Tilak Raj of Baroda in 1984
- Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa off leg spinner Daan van Bunge of Netherlands in the 2007 ODI World Cup.

Mandira Bedi and the pioneers of cricket commentary

According to Mandira Bedi,

The likes of Gavaskar, Shastri, Wilkins are all pioneers in cricket commentary

Indeed. They did not ask her about batting. Else we would know who the pioneers of batting are. Tendulkar and Dravid and Ponting, of course.

Link on TellyChakkar via Kartik

Peter Jimmy Carter Ongondo

To the one who reached my blog searching for Kenyan bowler having two middle names of american president

The answer is Peter Jimmy Carter Ongondo - Link

"destructive, there is nothing positive"

Bishen Singh Bedi's take on Sunil Gavaskar

"He wants the glamour, the position and if there are any financial gains so much the better...but he does not want any accountability. He's always liked power without accountability - You tell me what his contribution has been. He is destructive, there is nothing positive"
Link

Indian Cricket Team needs Rajan Bala as coach

Here is a last ditch effort on my part, to pitch in for a rising star on the horizon of Indian cricket. From the looks of it, Dave Whatmore is set to take over the ruins (or reins?) of the Indian cricket team.

I have said what i am saying now in an earlier post. But this stupid blogger software keeps shoving it behind and further behind for some strange reason (behind in the archives i mean). We must not let Google and Blogger shove matters of national importance up Blogspot's behind.

Hence this post again for a man who needs no introduction. Because a mere introduction alone would not suffice. A man who has set precedents with his demeanour and class. A man who rightly deserves the Indian cricket team coach post but is not yet because as you all know, the forces of darkness are prevailing at the moment. The great Rajan Bala.

I strongly recommend Rajan Bala for the post of the coach of the Indian cricket team. Not without reason. But these are not the only reasons. There are countless unspeakable, inexpressible reasons that just are there deep in the trenches of every cricket lover's heart and butt. Here are a few obvious ones.

- He looks focussed. Our cricketers focus hard only at the crease, but Bala's gaze appears focussed all the time, as though he is expecting a Lasith Malinga bouncer from behind the curtains every minute of his life.

- His cricketing knowledge is better than anyone else living on planet earth in this century. Ask him any question, and he will reply with a good old Aussie anecdote.

- He heard it all when Vic Richardson took on Don Bradman, Trevor Hohns told Steve Waugh its time to pack up, Wally Hammond and Neville Cardus discussed eggs, and other instances like these. He may deny it, but i strongly feel his presence was the major motivating factor and source of strength and courage for conversation between them all.

- Greg Chappell text messages him at times. Batting tips will come from Greg, Under-arm bowling tips from Trevor, retirement tips from Ian, baseball glove buying tips from Greg's son Jon. So an all-round coach.

- His name is dangerous enough to scare the Indian players off any match-fixing aspirations.

- His bald dome poses less resistance to the absorption of new ideas and enhances the concept of an open mind.

- His pointed lips resemble those of Greg Chappell. Memories of sharp words for the Indian cricketers. The lips are the source of the tips and flips.

- His stare is very very unsettling, strong enough to unsettle any rival fielders fielding near the pavilion.

Some will argue that Bala has no cricketing experience. But he makes up for it with his sharp ears, his pointed lips, his bald dome, his clear voice, his steady gaze, his unsettling stare and his very underworld-don type name.

Its time to get behind him as one nation. As one body of one billion. Painted blue.

Cricket Quiz - All the trivia buffs come on over

Send me an email with the answers.
Email Id in my profile.

• Educated in Lahore and Oxford, this multi-faceted cricketer scored a hundred at the SCG on his Ashes debut for England and later was employed in the Indian Foreign Service. Name him.
  

• Name the only Test cricketer to have won a Olympic hockey gold medal.
  

• Name any one Test Cricketer born in each of the following non-Test playing countries

1) Italy
2) Portugal
3) Hong Kong
4) Afghanistan
5) Malaysia
6) Mozambique
7) Swaziland
8) Peru
9) Egypt
10) Papua New Guinea
11) USA
12) Panama
13) Kenya
14) Zambia
15) Germany

• Name the only player to have appeared in Test matches in both rugby and cricket for New Zealand.
  

• He represented the West Indies in cricket and lawn-tennis, and also won the Trinidad & Tobago table-tennis singles title in 1949. Further to this, he also made it to the Trinidad & Tobago team in basketball and soccer. Name him.
  

• India has been served by two players both in hockey and Test cricket. Name them.
  

• Which Test cricketer has played soccer for both New Zealand and Australia?
  

• The son of which cricketer represented his country in Rugby U-17 and Test cricket?
  

• Which fast bowler was given the middle names Alexei and McNamara (after the Soviet and American politicians) by his father whose name was Kissinger? His sister is named Golda.
  

• Which Indian cricketer is also a fingerprint expert?
  

• The 1996 Wisden records say that "fried calamari stopped play" during a South African domestic match at Paarl in February 1995. What happened?
  

• Which country other than Australia did both Mark and Steve Waugh both represent?
  

• Who played against Brian Lara when he scored his 501 not out, and was West Indies' 12th man when he scored his 375?
  

• After having found a place in the Australin team as a wicketkeeper for the 1890 tour of England, this cricketer tells the management that he has never kept wickets before once the team had safely embarked on their voyage. Name him.
  

• Find a relation between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Indian cricket team with respect to the members.
  

• An accomplished cricketer and coach, he devised Zimbabwe's car registration system and his sister captained the Zimbabwe women's field hockey team which won the gold medal in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Name him.
  

• Born two months prematurely and afflicted with meningitis when he was a few months old, he was given only a one in four chance of survival, but survive he did. However, although it was not realised for some time, he was left totally deaf by the disease. When he was four, he had an operation to regain his hearing. The operation was successful, but left him with terrible coordination difficulties. He was consequently some way behind his age group when he went to school. He worked as a installer of refrigeration and air conditioning units during this period of his career. He is related to a famous golfer. Name him.
  

• Which big hitting all rounder has the name of an island country for a middle name?
  

• She played 7 tests for Australia. Her brother played 41 Tests. Her husband has stood in 10 ODIs. Name her.
  

• When he took the wicket of Michael Vaughan in his debut test, he became the first bowler for his country to take a wicket in his first international over. He died in a motor accident and is now the youngest Test cricketer to have died. Who is he?
  

• Besides Graeme Hick, name the only other Test cricketer who was born in Zimbabwe but represented another country in tests.
  

• Dave Whatmore and Jehan Mubarak are related in some unique manner to Sri Lankan cricket. How?
  

• She was born in Canada, and played for Netherlands and New Zealand. Name her.
  

• He played football at under-18 level for Scotland, and cricket for three countries. Name him.
  

• Who is the the only known Test cricketer to have been executed?
  

• Clayton Lambert and Faoud Bacchus have played international cricket for the West Indies and also played for the USA. Name another West Indian ODI cricketer who now plays for the USA.
  

• Name the West Indies cricketer who has served as the Speaker of the House of Assembly and the President of the Board of Education in his country.

Rajan Bala for the Indian cricket coach

Say NDTV conjures up a 'special' programme on domestic violence. Not BDSM. Cruelty to kids and wives and husbands. With the focus on the movie 'Provoked', the story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia is explained, and facts and figures furnished about the rising instances of wife-beating cases among Indian families both in India and abroad. After all the startling, blood-chilling facts are presented, they conduct an interview and ask the interviewee more about the incidence of domestic violence. Whom do they interview - Not the Southall Black Sisters or some PETS (People for the Ethical Treatment of Spouses) - They interview the intellectual and strong social thinker that is Aishwarya Rai.

Along similiar lines but a change of subject. Lets talk about our battered cricket team. Serious issue, and a posse of intellectuals with just the right mixture of cricketing experince and no cricketing experience. Some depressants are less agonizing than others. NDTV had their INDIAN CRICKET OPINION POLL or some similar name of that sort on Good Friday. I have been watching NDTV for a while and if you are a NDTV novice, you must understand that they take their opinion polls real seriously. Their recent opinion poll on the UP Assembly Elections and the subsequent predictions of a hung assembly, combined with the constant prodding by head honcho Prannoy Roy about the sample size employed and the accuracy of the poll left both Mayawati and Mulayam no maya to cling to and nothing mulayam to lean on.

Coming back to the topic of the GREAT INDIAN CRICKET OPINION POLL (or was it GREATEST?), the panelists were NKP Salve, Kishore Bhimani, Rajan Bala, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Ajay Jadeja. Whether the one hour long discussion threw something new in the fray, discovered some hidden secrets, or zeroed down on the cause of the Indian team's fall at the World Cup depends on each person's perspective. If you are like my 51 year old aunt who has never watched a single cricket game in her life, i'm sure you will find the discussion very enlightening.

But the point is not about NDTV. Its about a rising star on the horizon of Indian cricket. It about a man who needs no introduction. Because a mere introduction alone would not suffice. A man who has set precedents with his demeanour and class. A man who should be the Indian cricket team coach but is not yet because as you all know, the forces of darkness are prevailing at the moment. The great Rajan Bala.

I strongly recommend Rajan Bala for the post of the coach of the Indian cricket team. Not without reason. But these are not the only reasons. There are countless unspeakable, inexpressible reasons that just are there deep in the trenches of every cricket lover's heart.

- He looks focussed. Our cricketers focus hard only at the crease, but Bala's gaze appears focussed all the time, as though he is expecting a Lasith Malinga bouncer from behind the curtain every minute of his life.

- His cricketing knowledge is better than anyone else living on planet earth in this century. Ask him any question, and he will reply with a good old Aussie anecdote.

- He heard it all when Vic Richardson took on Don Bradman, Trevor Hohns told Steve Waugh its time to pack up, Wally Hammond and Neville Cardus discussed eggs, and other instances like these. He may deny it, but i strongly feel his presence was the major motivating factor and source of strength and courage for conversation between them all.

- Greg Chappell text messages him at times. Batting tips will come from Greg, Under-arm bowling tips from Trevor, retirement tips from Ian, Baseball tips from Greg's son Jon(of the Toronto Blue Jays). So an all-round coach.

- His name is dangerous enough to scare the Indian players off any match-fixing aspirations.

- His bald dome poses less resistance to the absorption of new ideas and enhances the concept of an open mind.

- His pointed lips resemble those of Greg Chappell. Memories of sharp words for the Indian cricketers. The lips are the source of the tips and flips.

- His stare is very very unsettling, strong enough to unsettle any rival fielders fielding near the pavilion.

Some will argue that Bala has no cricketing experience. But he makes up for it with his sharp ears, his pointed lips, his bald dome, his clear voice, his steady gaze, his unsettling stare and his very underworld-don type name.

Its time to get behind him as one nation. As one body of one billion. Painted blue. With Pepsi bottles in our hands. Its time to say "BERMUDA ke saath khelega toh jeetega"!!!!

Bye Bye Chappell - We dont want you back

=============================

Saurav Ganguly - I get knocked down, but i get up again, they are never gonna keep me down. Wah - wah

Greg Chappell - I get knocked down, so i make a mess, and get the next flight out of town. Wah - Wah



=============================

Cricket World Cup 2007 - Oooh aaah ouuch

India's exit at the World Cup has given me 4 reasons to smile. To look back and say, it feels so good its over. 4 No-mores i am thankful for:

1) No More Illusions -
That we are the world's best team or can be one. We have a great Test team. Why? Because Test cricket is not about running hard between the wickets and diving in the field. Test cricket does not make every dot ball count as much as One-Day cricket does. In Test cricket, technique is still king. We need batsmen and we need bowlers. We dont need athletes. One-day cricket on the other hand is becoming more exciting and appealing than ever. The future belongs to the team that has players who can do three things really well ( besides batting and bowling, which are the obvious pre-requisites) One, dive on the field and stop the extra run, two, convert the twos into threes through excellent running between the wickets and three, hit a ball into the stands at will. This means, future one-day cricketers must be quick, athletic and strong. If India has to be a powerhouse in one-day cricket, this is the direction to mould the players into.

2) No more stupid fake advertisements -
Sunfeast's 'har ghar mein Sachin', Samsung's 'hamare team ka kaptaan banoge?', Pepsi's 'ooh aah India Aaya India' and needless more.. Finally they have realised the Indian cricket team is human. The dumbest thing though, is how infinitely stupid our cricketers are. If a cricketer gets paid to say "I am the god who never fails because i drink susu-cola" he will say it little realising that susu-cola is drawing the profits and he is raising the expectations of a population that seeks relief and an escape from the reality show called survival in cricket victories, cinematic illusions and copulation. Raising 1 billion hopes with some stupid 'Ladega toh Jeetega' wont help at all. 1 billion hopes can go to the dogs, but please don't let down the sponsors! Just try to hang in there. Money talks and rocks and walks. And also socks. India is 136/6. Sehwag, Sachin, Dhoni all back in the pavilion, and you have a Ooh-Aaa-India ad... WOW!! Timing is everything....

3) No more Greg Chappell (Hopefully) -
Never liked this guy. Not a single batsman specific strategy against Sri Lanka. No gameplan. Nothing. Just excuses. He started off with the whole big bad experimentation histrionics. Nothing came off. The whole gaffe flopped so badly, that the selectors had to send a team to the World Cup based on popular choice and least risk options. In Indian Summers, John Wright mentions the words of a South African who said something like "In India, if you win they will name a street after you but you lose and the same guys will chase you down the same street". Greg Chappell cant get away with a under-arm delivery this time. Face the music.

4) No more Mandira Bedi -
Is she in a cricket analysis show for what? her beauty? her fashion bloopers? her cricketing knowledge? her patriotic enthusiasm? Mandira Bedi could have been excused the last time at the 2003 World Cup, not now though, because you expect 4 years to be a long enough time to pick up on a little bit of cricketing jargon and atleast have the tendency to ask decent questions to the former cricketers. Mandira Bedi is a very good actress. I am not so sure about cricket though, just wonder if the money is really so much good, that she is so willing to make a complete fool of herself in a show about a sport she understands a fair bit but knows nothing of beyond the surface to be anchoring a cricket analysis programme. I had decided to sit through an entire session of Extraaaaa Innninnngggsss and note down all the questions and comments coming from Mandira before the match, during the break and after the match and post them here. But then figured its just not worth the effort. But i leave you with a gem that can only come from Mandira - After the first innings of the India v/s Bermuda match, India posted a total 413 for 5. Mandira came up with a question for Dean Jones "Was there any excuse for Ganguly for playing out a maiden over?" Is there no other good-looking and popular actress who follows cricket with genuine passion?

====================

There is hope for India though. Get Manoj Tiwary, Rohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Cheteshwar Pujara, Gaurav Dhiman and Suresh Raina please! Its a great time to throw the youngster into the ring. Adversity is a good mother, because the real champions are born out of her womb..

A 13 year old dream ..

Almost 13 years ago, Brian Lara received a clamorous welcome when he returned to Trinidad after making a then-record Test score of 375 against England in Antigua. He was showered with gifts and walked a crimson carpet as crowds flocked to the airport to glimpse West Indies' new cricketing messiah. Fans held children aloft to see the man with the golden bat who embodied the Caribbean islands' hopes of a new era of domination. One of those kids was a 10-year-old boy from the valley town of Santa Cruz who recounts 'I was at the airport when Lara came back home. Someone lifted me up to see as I was too small. People were saying to me, "In 10 years' time we hope it is you that we are coming to see." A couple of weeks later I actually met him in person, in our village [Cantaro] in Santa Cruz. Talk was going around that I was going to be "the next Lara", so he asked me about that and I just smiled. I was just happy to be around him. Knowing that he was the best player in the world and that I could actually be so close and talk to him was something I admired.'

More here

Bob Woolmer murder suspect

Bob Woolmer has been murdered. He was the coach of the Pakistan team who died of asphyxiation caused by manual strangulation less than 24 hours after Pakistan lost to Ireland in a first round match on Saturday. He was found unconscious at 10.45 am local time in his hotel room in Kingston, Jamaica by a chambermaid. His last known form of communication was an email he sent out to his wife at 3.12 am local time.

Never before has a murder scandal of this proportion hit world cricket.

Sickeningly, the amount of speculation and rumours surrounding the murder are rife. Who might be responsible? Why was he murdered? Hindi news channels in India have an amazing tendency to jump the gun to grab eyeballs (read TRPs). If they receive an anonymous call from a prankster who divulges false information and implicates a famous person in the murder, will they run it as "BREAKING NEWS" first and then bother about figuring out who was on the line? I wonder...

Foreign-born players at the ICC World Cup

Anthropology experts after having carefully examined and analysed hundreds of doctoral dissertations have concluded that there are two types of people in this world. One, who love cricketing trivia, and the other, who don't.

If you are a cricketing trivia buff, you will relish this with glee. However, if you belong to the second category of people, please do me a favour before you proceed further : Please keep all hard and easy to fling objects away from you, I repeat, please keep all hard and easy to fling objects away from you, as you might just be tempted to throw the flower pot or something of the sort on my nose (with glee?) for making your day a little more miserable!

Here we go...

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 is underway. Among the 16 teams in the tournament, there are 5 who have qualified by virtue of their performance in the qualification tournament, the ICC Trophy.

Interestingly, a majority of the cricketers in associate and affiliate countries, the ones that need to qualify, are expatriates from or born in Test playing countries.

Here is a list of all the countries at this year's tournament with the players in their ranks who were born in a country, other than the one they are representing at the moment.

Canada has 12 players -> Geoff Barnett in New Zealand, Umar Bhatti & Qaiser Ali in Pakistan, Anderson Cummins & George Codrington in Barbados, Ashish Bagai & Ashif Mulla in India, Sunil Dhaniram & Abdool Samad in Guyana Desmond Chumney in St Kitts, Austin Codrington in Jamaica, and Henry Osinde in Uganda.

The Netherlands has 8 players -> Billy Stelling, Ryan ten Doeschate & Eric Szwarczynski in South Africa, Adeel Raja & Mohammad Kashif in Pakistan, Peter Borren & Darron Reekers in New Zealand and Alexei Kervezee in Namibia.

Scotland has 5 players -> Ryan Watson in Zimbabwe, Paul Hoffmann & Glenn Rogers in Australia, Fraser Watts in England and Dewald Nel in South Africa.

Ireland has 4 players -> Trent Johnston, Dave Langford-Smith & Jeremy Bray in Australia, and Andre Botha in South Africa.

England has 4 players -> Kevin Pieterson and Andrew Strauss in South Africa, Jamie Dalrymple in Kenya, and Ed Joyce in Ireland

Kenya has 2 players -> Rajesh Bhudia and Tanmay Mishra in India

New Zealand has 1 player -> Scott Styris in Australia

Australia has 1 player -> Andrew Symonds in England

Bermuda has 1 player -> Saleem Mukuddem in South Africa

India, Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Zimbabwe have no foreign born players within their ranks.

Information all taken from good old Cricinfo Incase you are wondering who the hell is Cricinfo, he is another cricket buff, but much worse than me!

Now was that not enlightening information!

Its time to rush and vanish at a speed faster than the time it takes for you to get to that flower pot!

The Gavaskar Ponting spat

Sunil Gavaskar made the following comment -

Australia's come-uppance at the hands of England and New Zealand has gladdened the hearts of not just the other aspirants for the World Cup but also the followers of the game. There is not the slightest doubt that in the last decade or so the Aussies have been awesome in batting, bowling and fielding which has taken them to the top of the cricketing ladder in both Test and limited overs cricket. But they have also been awful in the way they have sometimes behaved on the field much to the chagrin of the traditional fans of the game. Unlike the West Indian teams of the 1970s and 1980s which dominated world cricket in much the same way as the Australians are doing now, the Australians are not popular winners. The Windies were feared for the ferocity of their attack and the aggression of their batsmen but at the end of the playing day the West Indian player was not only admired but also liked. They went about their job in a no fuss manner and hardly had anything to say to the opponents, unlike the Aussies who have plenty to say and seldom in a humorous way. Banter works, abuse doesn't. (Link)

Ricky Ponting's response

"We all know the way he played his cricket, don't we? If he is talking about us, what about the way India have played their cricket over the last few years? I know who I would rather be going to watch. Have a look at how many Test matches they have won. He [Gavaskar] has been a big part of that, he has been a selector and he has been on the coaching committee. They might want to start to look at the way they play their own cricket rather than looking at us. For him to go on about behaviour, not too many captains have dragged their teams off the field, either. I don't mind if 'Mr Perfect' comes out and goes on about our team, I know we are all not perfect. We are not going to keep everyone happy 100% of the time. But for some of these guys that have done it all themselves, it's pretty high and mighty for them to say that."

Ponting admitted he had been reported "more than anybody" since becoming captain - he was found guilty of dissent twice in 2006 - but returned to Gavaskar and recalled his attempted walk-off at the MCG in 1980-81. (Link)

Ponting has two arguments here.
1) He believes Gavaskar, who has been on the coaching committee and a selector, has had a major role to play in India's dismal performance in the last 12 tests, of which India won only 3.
2) Gavaskar threatened to walk off the field in a test match once. So he is no Mr Perfect and should not be lecturing others on behaviour.

Gavaskar has given a reply. But before we go into that, here are a few FACTS to ponder over.

Can a selector or a person on the coaching committee make the team win? I think Ponting should ask Greg Chappell if he has been the reason for India's dismal performance. The only thing i fear, if India does well at the ongoing World Cup, is this Chappell dude, a renowned specialist in crappy tactics to win games(video), taking the credit. He has had no notable coaching achievements, and the guys at BCCI were perhaps impressed by the smooth talk and authoritative tone of voice, and with his playing achievements to boot, they figured he was the best guy for the job of Indian coach. Paul Wilson, a South Australian test cricketer, believes "he was a poor coach when it came to looking after a group of people."

Gavaskar has had good things to say about Ponting before. In his comments, he was not targeting Ponting, but the entire Australian team as a whole. Ponting could not resist taking a personal cheapshot. Ponting is No Mr. Perfect. When was Gavaskar fined for dissent? I checked here and here and here and here and here but the star of the show is Ricky Ponting in each case. How many cricketers have had alcohol problems and pub-fights and illegal bat issues with the ICC, besides being fined for dissent?

India have been at the receiving end for far too long. The Australians say they will get over it. Will they? Ever?

Now getting back to Gavaskar. His retort

Some day, some other hot-head guy might actually get down and you know whack somebody who abuses him. There's the example of the late David Hookes. Would the Australians who use that kind of language on the field, and not all of them do, in a bar and would they get away with it? Would they have a fist coming at their face or not? The reason the walk off took place was simply because I was abused by the Australians. Let me also come back to what he [Ponting] said about the way I played my cricket and I do not know what he's looking at. When he talks about the Indian team not having won matches, we are not talking about winning matches here, we are talking about behavior on the field. The West Indians were popular winners, there was an affection about the West Indians players in spite of the fact that they were beating you in three days, they [West Indies] did not abuse the opponents. They did not have anything to say to the opponents. When they were dominating world cricket the West Indians did not resort to personal abuse on the field, they just played the game hard, they were very tough competitors but there was nothing untoward in their behaviour towards their opponents. West Indian players always had a smile on their face when they came in at the end of day's play to talk with you and to commiserate when you lost, you could see that there was no arrogance there. Cricket lovers all over the world wanted the West Indies teams to get back on their feet and start winning again. (Link)

Here is what Cricinfo has to say about the Gavaskar walk-off which Ponting pointed out so well..

In February 1981, Australia met India at Melbourne in the final game of a three-match series which Australia led 1-0. Gavaskar, India's captain, had struggled from the off, dismissed for a duck by Lillee in the opening Test at Sydney and following that with scores of 10, 23 and 5. At the MCG that poor run continued - he made 10 as India conceded a first-innings deficit of 182.

The series had been dogged by some inconsistent umpiring which the Indians felt had largely gone against them. The inexperienced Rex Whitehead, who made his debut in the first Test and stood in all three matches, was singled out for blame. In the aftermath of the Lillee-Gavaskar incident, Shahid Durrani, India's manager, cited seven decisions made by Whitehead which had gone against India and, he said, caused them to become angry.

Second time around at the MCG, India put up a much better fist of things. Opening with Chetan Chauhan, Gavaskar had finally begun to find his form and was enjoying a feeling of "confidence and optimism" as they put on 165 for the first wicket.

But then came the fireworks. Lillee jagged one back into Gavaskar, who was on 70, and appealed for leg-before. That the ball was hitting was not in doubt, but Gavaskar was adamant that he had edged it. Whitehead disagreed, and gave him out. "We were sure," Lillee recalled. "The only one who had a problem with it was Sunny who, until that day, had never scored runs against me."

Gavaskar stood his ground long enough for his anger to be apparent, slapping his bat into his pad for good measure. "He spat the dummy right out of the pram," Lillee explained. He further antagonised the fuming Gavaskar by advancing down the pitch, pointing at the pad and offering a few choice words of advice.

As Gavaskar reluctantly started to leave, Lillee made one comment too many and Gavaskar snapped, returning to the crease and instructing Chauhan to walk off the pitch with him. A bemused Chauhan did as he was told, but at the boundary edge the batsmen were met by Durrani and Bapu Nadkarni, the assistant manager. Chauhan was persuaded to return to resume his innings, while Gavaskar was ushered into the pavilion. But Chauhan's concentration was wrecked, and he added only a few more runs before holing out to Bruce Yardley in the covers for 85, to give Lillee his second wicket of the innings.

Durrani's quick intervention saved the incident from becoming far more serious. Had Gavaskar succeeded in his walkoff then it was not inconceivable that India could have forfeited the Test.

"I was infuriated by the injustice of it all," Gavaskar told reporters. "Whitehead has stood in all three Tests, and many bad decisions by him have gone against us."

Lillee was in no doubt what was behind Gavaskar's histrionics. "I know from what his team-mates told me that he was desperate to score a hundred against me. It was frustration at getting so close to his goal which made him blow up."(Link)

We have verbal abuse, also termed as sledging. We have woofing. Maybe the Aussies can introduce a form of kick-boxing on the cricket field, and give it a fancy name, and say its just part of being aggressive. The Aussies have been known to mentally disintegrate opponents on the field and off the field with mind games. Sometimes even resorting to racial abuse. So when a blow comes your way, and you cant duck out, you must be brave enough to take it.

Just to put things in perspective, Gavaskar is no Ganguly. When Ganguly gives back, its payback time in full measure. Gavaskar's views on sledging can be known for a speech of his here. But Ganguly belongs to a more aggressive, in-your-face school of thought. Gavaskar is the gentlemanly character, the one who is seen, as the more sedate and patient guy in the pack. His comments are balanced comments where he affirms that in the last decade or so the Aussies have been awesome in batting, bowling and fielding which has taken them to the top of the cricketing ladder in both Test and limited overs cricket. There can be no two ways about it. Just like there are no two ways about the Aussie behaviour on and off the field.

Cricket Crazy!!

Amit Varma has a great piece on India's obsession with cricket

People who are cynical about long-distance relationships know nothing of cricket and Indians. Non-resident Indians around the world pine for cricket as if their lover is an ocean away, and go to insane lengths to stay in touch. Prem Panicker, a legend among NRIs for his cricket writing for Rediff, once told me about a bunch of US-based Indians who, visiting India, dropped in to his office to chat with his team. This was a decade ago, and Rediff had just finished doing ball-by-ball commentary of the 1996 World Cup, and were wondering if such effort was worth it. “We wrote more than 60,000 words over eight hours during a day’s play,” Panicker told me. “We were wondering if anyone actually read that much.”

These kids did. They described to him how six of them would gather at one of their places, and they would follow the game in batches of three. One batch would sleep while the other half would ‘watch’ the game via the ball-by-ball commentary, refreshing the screen ferociously. Then, at the innings break, they’d wake the other batch up, brief them on what had happened, and go off to sleep. The other three would then take over. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. All night.

Panicker said that this story was an eye-opener for him, as he realised how much cricket meant to these kids. “All of us like the game,” he said to me, “but this was like an obsession.”

Read the full piece

Sunil Gavaskar describing nose-picking

If we go by the way he describes the cover drive, here is how the metaphysician in Sunil Gavaskar would describe nose-picking ->

The head held high, the chin pointing up, and the finger slowly transferred on to the nostril with the eyes wandering surreptitiously around to check if anyone is watching. The finger goes in and lucidly and beautifully rotates within the nostril with the elbow pointing downwards to get the correct elevation as the ball is fluently flung away to the floorwith precision. You can see the look of delight on his face as he watches it fly to the floor. It is not just about the timing, its also about the placement and he got both right. He knew exactly what he wanted and he did it with elan. An artist at work.

The Wedding In March

The wedding is due to take place in the exotic Carribean Islands over a period of 16 days in March. The bride has many suitors. But we have our personal favourite. Mr Indian Cricket Team.

Mr Indian Cricket Team is getting ready for the challenge of wooing the bride amidst so many others who will look to do the same this March.

All the relatives and neighbours, just about everyone wants to have a say on how Mr Indian Cricket Team must prepare.

There are two categories of people who have decided to appoint themselves as official advisors to Mr Indian Cricket Team. Those who know him and those who dont.

They believe that Mr Indian Cricket Team will falter miserably at his attempts to win the bride over, if he does not heed their advice. Suggestions, advice, criticism and opinions float everywhere.

Most people giving advice have never even come close to getting involved with a bride of this sort. However, boldened by pseudo-self confidence and concern for Mr Indian Cricket Team, they are not letting their inexperience with this sort of thing block the rivers of advice they have and are freely showering it! They are never ever confused and never ever in a predicament. Their confidence stems from the innumerable times they have analyzed past attempts to woo similiar brides by Mr. Indian Cricket Team.

Indian Cricket Team!! Wonder what he feels like!! He knows that if he wins the bride over, everyone in his hometown will rejoice, give him cash and gifts and advertising contracts and name streets after him. If he loses, they will throw stones at his house, draw their knives and chase him down the same streets!!

Mr Indian Cricket Team has been well fed and so well cared for. He has been fussed over, and countless hours have been spent in discussing what's best for him. A small fall here and a scratch there and all hearts are in the mouth.

So Mr. Indian Cricket Team , you hen pecked son of a million mothers, we wish you well!!

Here is a picture of the bride



FANTASY ERASER RULE -> Even though the amount of fussing over and debate is directly proportional to hype-without-substance factor and hence directly proportional to sales of products endorsed by Mr Indian Cricket Team, it has no relation to, direct or indirect, inverse or perverse, to the performance of Mr Indian Cricket Team at the wedding.

This rule is also called the 'Reality-bit-my-butt-off Rule'.