The week was almost cruel. I was as exhausted as I could have been for a long while. My eyes refused to open this morning. ( Each one has a tiredness quotient and mine hit one of the all time highs last evening and continued this morning!). However, I was going to witness my first IPL match this season and I didn't want to miss that chance.
Cut straight to the stadium on a hot hot Sunday afternoon: The match was between RCB and Kochi Tuskers Kerala with the team from Kerala choosing to bat first. It was a mixed innings with no batsman getting going on to get a decent sized score and as a result , they ended up setting a target of just around 130 for the RCBians . Now ,RCB this season struggled at the started, losing 3 games in a row and they haven't looked back since Christopher Gayle joined them. Out walked the batsmen to massive roars from the crowd and Gayle took strike. The first 5 balls of the RP Singh over were on the money and Gayle respected the bowling. As the twilight approached, we saw the first six of the 6th ball of the innings . An unmistakable TONK from Gayle's bat deposited the ball into the standsd. What was the score ? 1 over - 8 runs.
2nd over - It was Dilshan's turn. He swept , charged and slogged his way to an impressive 20 runs off the 2nd over of Ramesh Powar. The crowd celebrated loudly with the waving of flags and dancing to the "Dhinka Chika" song in the background.The cheer girls were definitely kept busy during that over. But the one man who silently applauded from the non-striker's end was Mr Gayle himself.
What was the score then ? 2 overs - 28 runs. Amazing start you might say and so did we at that stage!
3rd over - Mahela Jayawardene made probably the biggest tactical move of the game to bring in the young Sreesanth crazy Prashanth Paramesvaran. Parameswaran was the man of the match in Kochi's previous game and was being touted as the next fast bowler to reckon with. But who was he bowling to today? Christopher Gayle.
1st ball - BANG - KABOOM - 6 runs . The Calypso man hammered the ball to the cover stands for a solid six. We did the Gayle Train dance and what did we want? We wanted more of that!!!
2nd ball - Parameswaran(PP for short) charged in and BOOM - this time a flatter SIX over covers and guess what ? This turned out to be a no-ball. I have no idea what went through PP's head. Several players ran to him to calm him down. The electronic score board flashed " SIX SIXES ??? " and there was tremendous amount of expectation from the crowd now!
Out came the 2nd ball (version 2 though) , which incidentally was a free hit. Gayle, of all people, doesn't miss the free hit does he ? Ofcourse he doesn't . BOOM - hammered but this time for a meager 4 runs through mid wicket. To a viewer, this almost seemed like a lollypop. Surely PP wasn't trying to bounce out Gayle with his pace!!!!
Time for the 3rd ball - The off side was packed but Gayle being Gayle, thrashed it across the offside between the umpteen fielders there for yet another 4! So we had 6 6 4 4 along with a no - ball . The crowd was delirious. My friends and I did done every dance we were aware of and shouted our guts out. I realised suddenly that in a matter of 3-4 balls, my voice completely disappeared. What was my next best "celebration move" ? JUMP and that I began!!! All this with still 3 balls remaining in that over.
4th ball - PP runs in for the 4th legal delivery. What's the result ? SIX !!! Gayle smashed it out of the ground . The Kochi fielders' were almost smiling. Even the cheer leaders were tired and they wanted a break . PP probably wanted to quit cricket at that moment! But he had 2 more balls to bowl in that over! There was absolute chaos and pandemonium in the stadium.
5th ball - By now everyone was sure that this was going to be a six. Most importantly Gayle knew it as well! No surprises then! He doesn't disappoint ,the Calypso man! The ball is yet again in the radar and he launched it ! Tonk ! Boom ! SIX!
Celebrations reached the limit with that shot. People began hugging strangers. There were more sore throats in the stadium than in any other place in Karnataka. Everyone was ready to adopt Chris Gayle as the next "Mannina maga"!!! Oh and by the way , 6th ball still remained!
6th ball - Kochi guys just wanted to get done with the over. PP ran in , results in an inside edge , results in another 4! Basically PP and Gayle together, did the unthinkable! The over went for 37 runs ! Can you believe that ??? Scoreboard read 3 overs 66 runs!
It was almost as if, Dilshan challenged Gayle with his 20 run histrionics over. Gayle, with his Calypso coolness , must have thought "Dude, now that was good, but let me show you what hitting is all about!" The 3rd over was the result of that. Absolute Mayhem . 37 runs in a single over!!!! Both of them will now go down in the annals of IPL history along with Mahela who made that move!
What happened next ? The original Mannina Maga but the new brother of Slinga Malinga castled Gayle and there was absolute silence in the ground. The match would have ended before the 10th over had Gayle stayed here! Kohli and Dilshan hit a few fours but the celebrations were muted. The crowd had seen something remarkable, out of the world and now , things had restored back to normalcy, with singles( Gayle would have said "What singles ma man when I can tonk them ova"!) and occasional boundaries. Dilshan completed a very well deserved half century but he would also know deep inside, very very deep inside, that his innings faded in comparison that Gayle brought with him.
RCB won in the 13th over. The crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium would have told you that they wanted to walk away after the InterGayleactic effect hit the stadium situated on MG road! What a player! What an innings! Holy mother of Jesus.
Monday, May 09, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
My Easter weekend!
Howdy on the Easter weekend ? I am back home this weekend and guess what ? I have just been part of a torrential downpour ! Getting soaked has become a signature. The Rain Gods have brought it on big time and the city's not-so-good drainage in many parts of the city has made life miserable for thousands of city folks.
Coming back to the topic, I recollect very fondly the Easter of 2007 that I spent in Sydney. Easter is an occasion that is very dear to Christians as they celebrate the resurrection of Christ.
So I was invited by my mentor(one guy who changed my work life in more ways than one!), super awesome colleague Ben to go to the church along with his family ( http://hillsong.com/ ). As we drove to that place, I could sense the excitement and the festivity all around. His son was very chirpy throughout and wanted to know each and every detail about what was going to happen in the church.( I think he was 5 years old then and kids I think enjoy these occasions the most!)
The Hillsong church near his house, is a beautifully built church with an extremely modern look and houses close to(if not more) a thousand people.
The hall was packed and there was visible excitement. Families after families walked in enthusiastically and occupied chairs and got ready for the celebration. What followed was a wonderful service, where the meaning of Easter and why it was such an important occasion for Christians, was spoken about. There was traditional scripture reading with a lot of singing and wishing. The general camaraderie that people shared with each other was great to see. The festival fervor was indeed very infectious! People all around exchanged very colorful and innovatively wrapped Easter Eggs. Followed by that , I remember having an awesome lunch at Ben's home. Since then, I have made it a point, to wish him every year on Christmas and Easter.
Travelling teaches you a lot and one of the things that I always like is to experience an important occasion/festival in a particular city or a country where it is celebrated with a lot of pomp and fervor . For example ,you better be in India to experience Diwali or in London, to experience Christmas. In other words , its called "Being in the right place at the right time!" I think i was lucky enough to experience that Easter celebration . A festival celebration brings you closer to people, their culture, their way of celebration, their food ( festival feasts are simply awesome!), and their happiness. Its a time to celebrate and experience the feeling of joy, happiness and positivity and when you see people all around you happy and excited , it automatically rubs off on you !
Happy Easter one and all! Have a great one with your family and friends!
Coming back to the topic, I recollect very fondly the Easter of 2007 that I spent in Sydney. Easter is an occasion that is very dear to Christians as they celebrate the resurrection of Christ.
So I was invited by my mentor(one guy who changed my work life in more ways than one!), super awesome colleague Ben to go to the church along with his family ( http://hillsong.com/ ). As we drove to that place, I could sense the excitement and the festivity all around. His son was very chirpy throughout and wanted to know each and every detail about what was going to happen in the church.( I think he was 5 years old then and kids I think enjoy these occasions the most!)
The Hillsong church near his house, is a beautifully built church with an extremely modern look and houses close to(if not more) a thousand people.
The hall was packed and there was visible excitement. Families after families walked in enthusiastically and occupied chairs and got ready for the celebration. What followed was a wonderful service, where the meaning of Easter and why it was such an important occasion for Christians, was spoken about. There was traditional scripture reading with a lot of singing and wishing. The general camaraderie that people shared with each other was great to see. The festival fervor was indeed very infectious! People all around exchanged very colorful and innovatively wrapped Easter Eggs. Followed by that , I remember having an awesome lunch at Ben's home. Since then, I have made it a point, to wish him every year on Christmas and Easter.
Travelling teaches you a lot and one of the things that I always like is to experience an important occasion/festival in a particular city or a country where it is celebrated with a lot of pomp and fervor . For example ,you better be in India to experience Diwali or in London, to experience Christmas. In other words , its called "Being in the right place at the right time!" I think i was lucky enough to experience that Easter celebration . A festival celebration brings you closer to people, their culture, their way of celebration, their food ( festival feasts are simply awesome!), and their happiness. Its a time to celebrate and experience the feeling of joy, happiness and positivity and when you see people all around you happy and excited , it automatically rubs off on you !
Happy Easter one and all! Have a great one with your family and friends!
Saturday, April 09, 2011
The German Shepherd fiasco
We are blessed with a good Darshini near office that serves pretty good coffee. So most evenings, the table people (people who sit around the table! Does it sound similar to Mango people or Aam janta ?) walk down to this place for a caffeine dose. One such eventful day this past week turned out to be highly embarrassing.
We had our cup of coffee and were walking back when we saw an Alsatian along with its owner. I suffer from "Dog fear" or a mild form of Cynophobia. As is my wont, I walked faster than usual to get away from the scene. Aneesh, my colleague, then started THE discussion and said that the dog was a German Shepherd. I immediately jumped and corrected him saying that it was an Alsatian,not a German Shepherd. Everyone knows and recognises an Alsatian right ? I grew up with 2 Alsatians and a Great Dane right opposite my house!!!
Aneesh, though seemed pretty confident. He had numerous Alsatian pics on his phone and all along he thought it was a German Shepherd. I told him confidently that it was an Alsatian. We reached office by then and people went back to what they were doing.
Roughly, an hour later(I wasn't at the table for sometime), they asked me what I thought was the difference between a German Shepherd and an Alsatian. I said :" The German Shepherd has more hair than an Alsatian etc etc." and ended it with "Lets say, that if I have to safeguard my house against robbers, I would go with an Alsatian rather than a German Shepherd". All these guys ( around 6-7 of them) burst into laughter. I wasn't sure why that last statement was so funny! I even remarked that generally, when I crack a joke expecting people to laugh, they don't but somehow this straightforward statement seemed extremely funny!! Just thought that I had found a new , second funny bone!
15 mins passed by and Aneesh , on chat, sent me this link -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_shepherd and asked me to take a look. In the meantime, all of them literally surrounded me (Thankfully there were only 3 or 4 then). I clicked the link and looked directly at the pic at the right side corner and exclaimed that it was an Alsatian. Aneesh asked me to read the first line and it said :
The German Shepherd Dog (GSD, also known as an Alsatian), (German: Deutscher Schäferhund) is a breed of . I didn't have to read further! Peels of laughter followed.
I joined in too coz' that was the least I could do. There are times when you feel a cake has been smashed on your face or an egg has been thrown on your head or that you have jumped into a pool of crap and this was one of them! It then dawned on me as to why they were laughing earlier when I told them about the house guarding rule!
Flashback : Apparently one of them told Aneesh to check Wikipedia as soon as they got back and when they got to know this, they decided to play on and obviously, they had a fantastic time! Later I found out that there were 2 Alsatians and a Golden Retriever opposite my house. Damn! What foolishness!
Moral of the story: Just because you are right , doesn't mean the other one is wrong! And that I haven't found a second funny bone as yet!
We had our cup of coffee and were walking back when we saw an Alsatian along with its owner. I suffer from "Dog fear" or a mild form of Cynophobia. As is my wont, I walked faster than usual to get away from the scene. Aneesh, my colleague, then started THE discussion and said that the dog was a German Shepherd. I immediately jumped and corrected him saying that it was an Alsatian,not a German Shepherd. Everyone knows and recognises an Alsatian right ? I grew up with 2 Alsatians and a Great Dane right opposite my house!!!
Aneesh, though seemed pretty confident. He had numerous Alsatian pics on his phone and all along he thought it was a German Shepherd. I told him confidently that it was an Alsatian. We reached office by then and people went back to what they were doing.
Roughly, an hour later(I wasn't at the table for sometime), they asked me what I thought was the difference between a German Shepherd and an Alsatian. I said :" The German Shepherd has more hair than an Alsatian etc etc." and ended it with "Lets say, that if I have to safeguard my house against robbers, I would go with an Alsatian rather than a German Shepherd". All these guys ( around 6-7 of them) burst into laughter. I wasn't sure why that last statement was so funny! I even remarked that generally, when I crack a joke expecting people to laugh, they don't but somehow this straightforward statement seemed extremely funny!! Just thought that I had found a new , second funny bone!
15 mins passed by and Aneesh , on chat, sent me this link -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_shepherd and asked me to take a look. In the meantime, all of them literally surrounded me (Thankfully there were only 3 or 4 then). I clicked the link and looked directly at the pic at the right side corner and exclaimed that it was an Alsatian. Aneesh asked me to read the first line and it said :
The German Shepherd Dog (GSD, also known as an Alsatian), (German: Deutscher Schäferhund) is a breed of . I didn't have to read further! Peels of laughter followed.
I joined in too coz' that was the least I could do. There are times when you feel a cake has been smashed on your face or an egg has been thrown on your head or that you have jumped into a pool of crap and this was one of them! It then dawned on me as to why they were laughing earlier when I told them about the house guarding rule!
Flashback : Apparently one of them told Aneesh to check Wikipedia as soon as they got back and when they got to know this, they decided to play on and obviously, they had a fantastic time! Later I found out that there were 2 Alsatians and a Golden Retriever opposite my house. Damn! What foolishness!
Moral of the story: Just because you are right , doesn't mean the other one is wrong! And that I haven't found a second funny bone as yet!
Sunday, April 03, 2011
We are the ICC World Cup Champions!!!
Euphoria ! Bliss! Unparalleled joy! Bonheur ! Felicidad! 11 people on the ground made 1.2 billion people in the country and 1.6 billion people around the world feel all this and more with their stupendous performance in the World cup and specially, in the final.
The final lived up to its billing of being a humdinger between 2 sub-continent teams on a pitch that was tailor made for both teams - a great batting track that took a bit of spin. The match started on a controversial note with no one sure what happened at the toss. If India had lost the game, many would have surely pointed fingers at the toss. Nevertheless, Sangakara won the toss and batted first. The start favored the Indians with Lanka tottering at 60/2 in the 18th over but what everyone witnessed after that was a thorough masterclass performance from probably the most elegant batsman in the World right now - Mahela Jayawardena. I couldn't but help but marvel at the way he caressed the bowl with delightful touch and wrist work on his way to what looked like a match winning century. Mahela's Mahila(his wife, bad joke but not mine!) asking him to stay at the crease after he reached his 50 was an endearing sight and he turned out to be an obedient husband, much to the chagrin of every Indian! As Ian Chappell pointed out, he batted as if he wanted to protect the cover of the ball. The Indian bowling , including the joint leading wicket taker,incomparable Zaheer Khan suffered at the hands of this master and his students. Sri Lanka set up a very very challenging total with 63 coming off the last 5 overs. 275 was the target. A target that had never been chased in any World cup final.The highest total that was successfully chased at the Wankhede under lights was 227. Add the pressure to that and 275 probably looked like a gargantuan 300. Any other match, any other final , this would have been a winning total but not today! 33,000 fans in the stadium prayed and a billion prayed outside the stadium for a Tendulkar century and an Indian win . The former didn't happen but the latter did!
Malinga looked fierce and snapped Sehwag and the God himself, Sachin. Nervousness reached its peak. No finger nail left on any finger. People shifting around nervously to find their "positions" to make sure that the stars were happy with the Indian chase. There were still 5 recognized batsmen. There was Rajni in the stadium that allayed fears of millions of Indians!Add Aamir to that and a cricket fan said you cannot lose when both of them are in the stadium!
Cometh the man, Cometh the hour. There were 2 of them in this case for India. First, the bicycle loving( my friend calls him a bicycle coz' he keeps jumping out of the crease and doesn't know when to stop running!) Gautam Gambhir, whose every over first ball charge worked along with Virat "goggle" Kohli. They ran very hard between the wickets and played with cool heads that belied their age and experience. The Lankan attack looked confused, even the ever reliable Murali struggling to bowl well, slightly aided by the dew. Second, was our very own charismatic, master strategist, the biggest gambler of the team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni who walked in after Kohli fell. People were surprised because they expected Yuvi, the man of the hour to walk in. Dhoni was short of runs, was criticized for his batting, was completely out of sorts with less than 160 runs in the tournament.
Not for nothing is he the most respected cricketer in the country after Tendulkar. He stamped his authority on the match with a fantastic, fabulous, brilliant, outstanding knock. Leading from the front just got a new meaning altogether! He ran fast, looked dehydrated, didn't give up, ran even faster, showed his emotion just once, hit the ball harder than anyone, had an offside helicopter shot and finally ended the game with a massive six.
Both Gambhir and Dhoni were fantastic and led India to a World Cup victory after 28 years. The scenes that followed were hysterical, fans went nuts, the players ran all around (except Munaf!) Insane SMSes followed - one being "Anhoni ko honi kar de, honi ko unhoni, ek jagah jab jama ho teeno, rajani, ghajani aur Dhoni!!" Sachin went around on the victory lap on his teammates' shoulders. Kohli said "Sachin carried the nation's hopes for 21 years, its time we carry him". Dhoni was as frank as ever at the post match conference even admonishing Gambhir for getting out on 97! As Dhoni lifted the World Cup and the champagne flowed, the heart of every Indian sang "Maa, Tujhe Salaam"! People flooded the streets with gay abandon, fireworks lit up the April sky, strangers celebrated wildly with each other, danced and shouted at traffic junctions high fiving one and all who went by. The celebrations continued and will continue(rightly so!) for ages to come. The pictures of the Indian cricket team holding aloft the cup that mattered the most will be etched forever in memory. Its also an Ugadi/Gudi Padwa gift to people celebrating these festivals.
Finally,Dhoni for President ????? I think he will be a super duper president if and when he becomes one!! Bharat mata ki jai!!! Celebrate India! Jai ho!
The final lived up to its billing of being a humdinger between 2 sub-continent teams on a pitch that was tailor made for both teams - a great batting track that took a bit of spin. The match started on a controversial note with no one sure what happened at the toss. If India had lost the game, many would have surely pointed fingers at the toss. Nevertheless, Sangakara won the toss and batted first. The start favored the Indians with Lanka tottering at 60/2 in the 18th over but what everyone witnessed after that was a thorough masterclass performance from probably the most elegant batsman in the World right now - Mahela Jayawardena. I couldn't but help but marvel at the way he caressed the bowl with delightful touch and wrist work on his way to what looked like a match winning century. Mahela's Mahila(his wife, bad joke but not mine!) asking him to stay at the crease after he reached his 50 was an endearing sight and he turned out to be an obedient husband, much to the chagrin of every Indian! As Ian Chappell pointed out, he batted as if he wanted to protect the cover of the ball. The Indian bowling , including the joint leading wicket taker,incomparable Zaheer Khan suffered at the hands of this master and his students. Sri Lanka set up a very very challenging total with 63 coming off the last 5 overs. 275 was the target. A target that had never been chased in any World cup final.The highest total that was successfully chased at the Wankhede under lights was 227. Add the pressure to that and 275 probably looked like a gargantuan 300. Any other match, any other final , this would have been a winning total but not today! 33,000 fans in the stadium prayed and a billion prayed outside the stadium for a Tendulkar century and an Indian win . The former didn't happen but the latter did!
Malinga looked fierce and snapped Sehwag and the God himself, Sachin. Nervousness reached its peak. No finger nail left on any finger. People shifting around nervously to find their "positions" to make sure that the stars were happy with the Indian chase. There were still 5 recognized batsmen. There was Rajni in the stadium that allayed fears of millions of Indians!Add Aamir to that and a cricket fan said you cannot lose when both of them are in the stadium!
Cometh the man, Cometh the hour. There were 2 of them in this case for India. First, the bicycle loving( my friend calls him a bicycle coz' he keeps jumping out of the crease and doesn't know when to stop running!) Gautam Gambhir, whose every over first ball charge worked along with Virat "goggle" Kohli. They ran very hard between the wickets and played with cool heads that belied their age and experience. The Lankan attack looked confused, even the ever reliable Murali struggling to bowl well, slightly aided by the dew. Second, was our very own charismatic, master strategist, the biggest gambler of the team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni who walked in after Kohli fell. People were surprised because they expected Yuvi, the man of the hour to walk in. Dhoni was short of runs, was criticized for his batting, was completely out of sorts with less than 160 runs in the tournament.
Not for nothing is he the most respected cricketer in the country after Tendulkar. He stamped his authority on the match with a fantastic, fabulous, brilliant, outstanding knock. Leading from the front just got a new meaning altogether! He ran fast, looked dehydrated, didn't give up, ran even faster, showed his emotion just once, hit the ball harder than anyone, had an offside helicopter shot and finally ended the game with a massive six.
Both Gambhir and Dhoni were fantastic and led India to a World Cup victory after 28 years. The scenes that followed were hysterical, fans went nuts, the players ran all around (except Munaf!) Insane SMSes followed - one being "Anhoni ko honi kar de, honi ko unhoni, ek jagah jab jama ho teeno, rajani, ghajani aur Dhoni!!" Sachin went around on the victory lap on his teammates' shoulders. Kohli said "Sachin carried the nation's hopes for 21 years, its time we carry him". Dhoni was as frank as ever at the post match conference even admonishing Gambhir for getting out on 97! As Dhoni lifted the World Cup and the champagne flowed, the heart of every Indian sang "Maa, Tujhe Salaam"! People flooded the streets with gay abandon, fireworks lit up the April sky, strangers celebrated wildly with each other, danced and shouted at traffic junctions high fiving one and all who went by. The celebrations continued and will continue(rightly so!) for ages to come. The pictures of the Indian cricket team holding aloft the cup that mattered the most will be etched forever in memory. Its also an Ugadi/Gudi Padwa gift to people celebrating these festivals.
Finally,Dhoni for President ????? I think he will be a super duper president if and when he becomes one!! Bharat mata ki jai!!! Celebrate India! Jai ho!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
B for Bhajji, C for Catch, D for Drop,G for Gul,M for Misbah, W for Wahab
Millions of fans were treated to a fantastic game of cricket that didn't go down to the wire but was a fabulous game nevertheless with its series of high blood pressure moments, high swearing moments and high fiving(this doesn't exist, so what!) moments!
The stadium and indeed, the city, resembled more of an old fort where the kings and queens, on their thrones, would keenly watch the warriors with daggers and spears on horseback fight it out for ultimate glory with the denizens of the kingdom supporting in the loudest possible manner . Today, the kings and queens were the Prime ministers of the two countries, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the respective cabinets. The warriors were 11 eager players from each country (India and Pakistan) fighting for glory and the denizens were billions of fans around the world watching the game via some technological innovation of the last century or the last decade.
India came out victorious but not before a fabulous fight from Pakistan.When India batted first after winning a crucial toss, things began at a frenetic pace. Sehwag played like he would in the Vasant Kunj ground against Delhi Division 3 cricketers, showing 0(Yes, ZERO) respect to the opposition bowlers ,specially Gul . So that brings us to G for Gul who contributed to the game and in this case, the victory, by getting swatted all over for just over 7 boundaries in his first spell. Even Sachin was a mute spectator till W for Wahab came by and got Sehwag first, then the sun-shades wearing Kohli and the Maharaja Yuvi, all in quick succession. He indeed was the Chupa Rustam because he wasn't supposed to be playing today! Akhtar out, Wahab in, meant a wonderful five-for for the talented south paw. In between these dismissals we had the most important moments represented by D for Drop and C for Catch. Pakistan provided unprecedented competition to Sri Lanka (they dropped Morgan 3 times) by dropping Sachin 4 times!Sachin ain't Morgan to not take advantage ! Add to that, Technology helped him twice with the result that he survived Six times before he made 85 when he was out finally. The Indians were in a bind when Ajmal , Afridi and Hafeez bowled ( and they did so brilliantly!) but somehow scratched around to 260 led by Dhoni's single game, Raina's impressive slog overs stint, Pakistani's friendly fielding and Gul's
At half time when the score read 260, many of us were firmly of the view that India had lost the plot, that they were one spinner short and that they can afford only one of Nehra or Munaf in the playing 11.(A leading newspaper has published a study that suggests India's athletic ability per minute or (AAM) goes down by 37% when both of them are on the field!!)Well, we were all proved wrong thanks to a fantastic team performance , imaginative and aggressive captaincy by Dhoni , some help from the dust bowl at Mohali and some help from the opposition !
M for Munaf( my friend calls him the bowling machine!) bowled a beautiful line to get Hafeez out and later Razzaq. B for Bhajji bowled a fantastic spell to get rid of the mighty dangerous Umar Akmal and Afridi and we thought we were well and truly through. Crucially enough, M for Misbah played a mysteriously scratchy, defensive, later converted to a partly aggressive innings that helped India seal the game! Before the team was reminded of what Misbah was capable of (remember Jo'burg in 20-20 final? ) , the door was shut on our neighbors thanks to an amazing knock where he consumed a lot more than he produced! It was a case of Misbah killing Misbah and for that alone, he deserved the man of the match award!
As the match ended, there was utter chaos and celebration around the Indian team and absolute gloom in the Pakistani camp , that promised so much but didn't deliver in crunch moments. Sonia Gandhi hurrayed, Aamir Khan smiled, Sreesanth jumped, the PMs clapped and an entire nation of one billion plus celebrated a wonderful victory that they will cherish for ages to come. As a result, we will know play Sri Lanka in the finals that promises poetic justice to the man they call the God of Cricket - Sachin Tendulkar - being played on his home ground , its the world cup final, a chance to go to his 100th century and a very good opposition . Now you know why the streets would be empty on Saturday!
Anyway, superbly played India, well played Pakistan , Thank you for the game of cricket. Now for the finals, Ladies and Gentlemen!!!!
The stadium and indeed, the city, resembled more of an old fort where the kings and queens, on their thrones, would keenly watch the warriors with daggers and spears on horseback fight it out for ultimate glory with the denizens of the kingdom supporting in the loudest possible manner . Today, the kings and queens were the Prime ministers of the two countries, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the respective cabinets. The warriors were 11 eager players from each country (India and Pakistan) fighting for glory and the denizens were billions of fans around the world watching the game via some technological innovation of the last century or the last decade.
India came out victorious but not before a fabulous fight from Pakistan.When India batted first after winning a crucial toss, things began at a frenetic pace. Sehwag played like he would in the Vasant Kunj ground against Delhi Division 3 cricketers, showing 0(Yes, ZERO) respect to the opposition bowlers ,specially Gul . So that brings us to G for Gul who contributed to the game and in this case, the victory, by getting swatted all over for just over 7 boundaries in his first spell. Even Sachin was a mute spectator till W for Wahab came by and got Sehwag first, then the sun-shades wearing Kohli and the Maharaja Yuvi, all in quick succession. He indeed was the Chupa Rustam because he wasn't supposed to be playing today! Akhtar out, Wahab in, meant a wonderful five-for for the talented south paw. In between these dismissals we had the most important moments represented by D for Drop and C for Catch. Pakistan provided unprecedented competition to Sri Lanka (they dropped Morgan 3 times) by dropping Sachin 4 times!Sachin ain't Morgan to not take advantage ! Add to that, Technology helped him twice with the result that he survived Six times before he made 85 when he was out finally. The Indians were in a bind when Ajmal , Afridi and Hafeez bowled ( and they did so brilliantly!) but somehow scratched around to 260 led by Dhoni's single game, Raina's impressive slog overs stint, Pakistani's friendly fielding and Gul's
At half time when the score read 260, many of us were firmly of the view that India had lost the plot, that they were one spinner short and that they can afford only one of Nehra or Munaf in the playing 11.(A leading newspaper has published a study that suggests India's athletic ability per minute or (AAM) goes down by 37% when both of them are on the field!!)Well, we were all proved wrong thanks to a fantastic team performance , imaginative and aggressive captaincy by Dhoni , some help from the dust bowl at Mohali and some help from the opposition !
M for Munaf( my friend calls him the bowling machine!) bowled a beautiful line to get Hafeez out and later Razzaq. B for Bhajji bowled a fantastic spell to get rid of the mighty dangerous Umar Akmal and Afridi and we thought we were well and truly through. Crucially enough, M for Misbah played a mysteriously scratchy, defensive, later converted to a partly aggressive innings that helped India seal the game! Before the team was reminded of what Misbah was capable of (remember Jo'burg in 20-20 final? ) , the door was shut on our neighbors thanks to an amazing knock where he consumed a lot more than he produced! It was a case of Misbah killing Misbah and for that alone, he deserved the man of the match award!
As the match ended, there was utter chaos and celebration around the Indian team and absolute gloom in the Pakistani camp , that promised so much but didn't deliver in crunch moments. Sonia Gandhi hurrayed, Aamir Khan smiled, Sreesanth jumped, the PMs clapped and an entire nation of one billion plus celebrated a wonderful victory that they will cherish for ages to come. As a result, we will know play Sri Lanka in the finals that promises poetic justice to the man they call the God of Cricket - Sachin Tendulkar - being played on his home ground , its the world cup final, a chance to go to his 100th century and a very good opposition . Now you know why the streets would be empty on Saturday!
Anyway, superbly played India, well played Pakistan , Thank you for the game of cricket. Now for the finals, Ladies and Gentlemen!!!!
The mother of all clashes !!!
Its the Day ... day everyone has been waiting for.... unbelievable hype, tickets being sold for more than a lakh of rupees and 2 very excited nations, PMs of both nations representing their nations at the stadium and billions of fans wanting to watch the match . Its India vs Pakistan in a World Cup semifinal and there hasn't been so much anticipation for a very long time (especially considering the fact that they were in different groups) .
Everything that needs to be said has been said .... everything that needs to be done has been done . Its time for the clash .... 90 mins to go ! Let the game begin!!!
Everything that needs to be said has been said .... everything that needs to be done has been done . Its time for the clash .... 90 mins to go ! Let the game begin!!!
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Signs of Four
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and surprise , surprise, New Zealand are the semi finalists. Its a celebration for the sub continent teams as all of them came through in conditions most favorable to them . Whereas India outclassed Australia in a close ,tense match, Pakistan and Sri Lanka demolished the West Indies and England respectively. Biggest upset though was caused by the Kiwis . The South Africans simply collapsed as is their forte. Apparently, its come to a stage where every time there is a knock out , SA just collapse. The media, their opponents, the crowd - no one allows them to forget the dreaded 'C' word. Lets not take anything away from the Kiwis though. Lets look at the first semi -final then, between the Lankans and Kiwis.By the way, its their 6th World Cup semifinal . Exceptional for a country with just 4 million people and cricket not being their primary sport! Its like having a cricket team comprised of players from Jayanagar, Basavangudi, Indiranagar, Malleshwaram and Koramangala!
The visitors face an extremely challenging task of playing at the dancing and partying Premadasa, which is also THE Lanka fort! Home pressure also counts for something as was evident when the Lankans dropped Morgan 3 times but their superior batting led them through .
From the Kiwis side, Ryder and Taylor hold the key. Brendon Mccullum has promised much but delivered so little. Their lower middle order with the young but extremely talented Williamson, the quarter final man of the match, Jacob Oram and the captain himself, Vettori is very much capable of piling up the runs but can the big question is whether they can do it against Lanka's spin. Sri Lanka like in the quarter finals , will surely field 3 spinners and tackling them might be really tough on a slow and low wicket tailor made for the home team. Add Malinga's slingas to the mix and the entire match might be decided by whether the Kiwis will be able to handle Lanka's bowling.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka's top order is in unbelievable form - Dilshan, Tharanga and the golden 2 - Sanga and Mahela - with the top 3 in the top 5 scorers' list of this World Cup but if the Kiwis are somehow able to get through to the middle order , then the game might turn out to be interesting. The Kiwis won't forget the 2007 World Cup when they started off excellently but were done in by a Mahela Jayawardene master class. As always, Mahela and their inspirational captain Kumara Sanagakara are the key predators in their line up. Much will also depend on the field placements off Vettori . Having atleast 6-7 extremely athletic and flexible fielders would surely save 10-20 runs for the Kiwis but field placements are the key. On the bowling front, the black caps will field 3 spinners in Vettori , the younger and currently more accomplished Mccullum and I forget the 3rd bloke. It is going to be a battle between spin of the 2 sides and Lanka's top order vs Kiwis' middle and lower middle order!
Best way for Kiwis to pull off an upset (again)? - Taylor/Mccullum tackle Lanka's spinners and the Kiwi bowlers get the top 4 of Lanka out before the half way mark.
Best way for Lanka to pull off a victory - Top order tears apart Kiwis' bowling . Mahela and Sanga milk their bowling with their spinners going on the prowl during their bowling stint and Malinga running through the lower order.
Key questions - Will Muralidaran play ? Can the Lankans soak in the home pressure and the Kiwis' dare devil attitude to conquer ? We will know in the next 24 hours but If I have to put my money on one of the teams, it has got to be Sri Lanka with a 64% chance . You ask me how ? Well, I ran a complex algorithm starting with the Diffie Hellman Algorithm followed by running the player's statistics against a complex statistical analyser. Do you want to know more ???
Anyway, the stage is set then for a very colorful 1st semi final ,which is almost a blessing in disguise especially because the entire world is probably looking at the 2nd one!
The visitors face an extremely challenging task of playing at the dancing and partying Premadasa, which is also THE Lanka fort! Home pressure also counts for something as was evident when the Lankans dropped Morgan 3 times but their superior batting led them through .
From the Kiwis side, Ryder and Taylor hold the key. Brendon Mccullum has promised much but delivered so little. Their lower middle order with the young but extremely talented Williamson, the quarter final man of the match, Jacob Oram and the captain himself, Vettori is very much capable of piling up the runs but can the big question is whether they can do it against Lanka's spin. Sri Lanka like in the quarter finals , will surely field 3 spinners and tackling them might be really tough on a slow and low wicket tailor made for the home team. Add Malinga's slingas to the mix and the entire match might be decided by whether the Kiwis will be able to handle Lanka's bowling.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka's top order is in unbelievable form - Dilshan, Tharanga and the golden 2 - Sanga and Mahela - with the top 3 in the top 5 scorers' list of this World Cup but if the Kiwis are somehow able to get through to the middle order , then the game might turn out to be interesting. The Kiwis won't forget the 2007 World Cup when they started off excellently but were done in by a Mahela Jayawardene master class. As always, Mahela and their inspirational captain Kumara Sanagakara are the key predators in their line up. Much will also depend on the field placements off Vettori . Having atleast 6-7 extremely athletic and flexible fielders would surely save 10-20 runs for the Kiwis but field placements are the key. On the bowling front, the black caps will field 3 spinners in Vettori , the younger and currently more accomplished Mccullum and I forget the 3rd bloke. It is going to be a battle between spin of the 2 sides and Lanka's top order vs Kiwis' middle and lower middle order!
Best way for Kiwis to pull off an upset (again)? - Taylor/Mccullum tackle Lanka's spinners and the Kiwi bowlers get the top 4 of Lanka out before the half way mark.
Best way for Lanka to pull off a victory - Top order tears apart Kiwis' bowling . Mahela and Sanga milk their bowling with their spinners going on the prowl during their bowling stint and Malinga running through the lower order.
Key questions - Will Muralidaran play ? Can the Lankans soak in the home pressure and the Kiwis' dare devil attitude to conquer ? We will know in the next 24 hours but If I have to put my money on one of the teams, it has got to be Sri Lanka with a 64% chance . You ask me how ? Well, I ran a complex algorithm starting with the Diffie Hellman Algorithm followed by running the player's statistics against a complex statistical analyser. Do you want to know more ???
Anyway, the stage is set then for a very colorful 1st semi final ,which is almost a blessing in disguise especially because the entire world is probably looking at the 2nd one!
Friday, March 25, 2011
An unforgettable screening of Nero's guests
This evening in office, a couple of people(Jive Matthew , one of them) organised a screening of Nero's guests - a Deepa Bhatia documentary dealing with suicides of farmers(http://www.nerosguests.com/). Nero's guests takes its name from a Roman incident where Nero had a party thrown to people and to illuminate the place he had his men literally burn people.
The documentary turned out to be an hour of creating awareness about a cancerous disease that has spread to every nook and corner of the country. Leading the crusade for the last couple of decades has been the well known Hindu journalist Palagummi Sainath (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palagummi_Sainath) . In the documentary, he speaks about the various causes and illnesses that hamper our farmers and explains what we all know really well - that in this country, the rich get richer and the poor end up penniless. He ridicules the Western countries and our system which is hell bent on bowing before them. A colleague of his, once apparently said "The dream of an average Indian farmer is to be reborn as a cow in Europe"(coz' atleast there, the Govt. mandates spending 2.7 pounds/dollars per day on each cow..
He highlights the inadequacies in our society where 500 reporters travel and cover the India fashion week( which by the way happens twice a year) but can't have a dedicated reporter to talk about abject poverty. He ridicules the political system in which a finance minister can fly down to Dalal street within 2 hours of a stock market crash to pacify the sensitive , tear-jerker billionaires but takes a Prime minister 10 years of continuous deaths in Vidharbha(that's where the documentary is shot) to visit that city. He points out, almost in a matter of fact way, that the power cuts in Vidharbha mortuary and Govt. hospitals had to be stopped because there were 6-8 post postmortems to be conducted at various times of the day and night, EVERY SINGLE DAY. Shocking isn't it?
This powerful yet painful, eye opening documentary was watched by around 40 people and as you can imagine, shook us all up. Followed by that, we had people from Bangalore highlight issues currently being faced by farmers in Karnataka. Did you know that many silk farmers in Karnataka( the destination for 60% of the silk of the country) are now contemplating suicide, because the interest rates were brought down to 5% from 30% in the recent budget ? Did you know that the so called micro finance companies lend out money to farmers at 50% interest rates ?? Yes, you read that correctly , bloody 50% when vehicle loans are offered to the IT crowd at less than 5% interest. What sort of Government policies are we talking about here ? The kind of policies that help kill people easily ? What happened to all those values we learnt as we grew up ? Here is a story that was covered in a couple of newspapers (after a lot of convincing) about one of the farmer's suicides that happened recently - http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/12/stories/2011031265991300.htm%20 . Farmers, for your information, go ahead and take that step for loans of Rs 25,000. Why can't we do anything about this ?
Many of us middle class citizens, after reading about farmer suicides, just say that its unfortunate, curse the Govt. for a minute and don't do anything about it(I definitely am part of this list, unfortunately) and the so-called responsible media has almost stopped covering these topics because its considered passe. Today 10 farmers , tomorrow 100 and the day after, 1000 . Who cares ?? To the Rajdeep Sardesais and Arnab Goswamis of India - why don't you cover these topics extensively on your channels ? The best was what one of the editors apparently told some of the protestors recently - We won't publish about suicides because this will encourage other farmers to take this path. . That means that we should not talk about those several thousands and lakhs of farmers around the country who die every year.
What sort of a society are we living in ? Have we all become so materialistic and absolutely emotionless that we don't care one bit about the deaths ? Does it take a Sainath to wake us up every now and then before we go back to our slumber ? Wake up and try to do something about these. As one of my colleagues pointed out, it needs a determined effort to go to the other side to even contribute in some manner and to take that leap in this system in many ways, would also mean spoiling a lot of things for yourself. Do we have the courage to do that ?
I would urge all of you to watch this documentary. A snippet of that can be seen in this video -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPa6AomH1Ao
The action task force group in Bangalore have started to raise their voice and there is an email group that I will publish on the blog as soon as I am a member of that group. I hope and trust that we can all make a difference in any which way, be it by attending protest marches or making a monetary contribution or just lending support to this cause.
FOLKS , BE THE DAMN CHANGE THAT OUR SYSTEM NEEDS.
The documentary turned out to be an hour of creating awareness about a cancerous disease that has spread to every nook and corner of the country. Leading the crusade for the last couple of decades has been the well known Hindu journalist Palagummi Sainath (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palagummi_Sainath) . In the documentary, he speaks about the various causes and illnesses that hamper our farmers and explains what we all know really well - that in this country, the rich get richer and the poor end up penniless. He ridicules the Western countries and our system which is hell bent on bowing before them. A colleague of his, once apparently said "The dream of an average Indian farmer is to be reborn as a cow in Europe"(coz' atleast there, the Govt. mandates spending 2.7 pounds/dollars per day on each cow..
He highlights the inadequacies in our society where 500 reporters travel and cover the India fashion week( which by the way happens twice a year) but can't have a dedicated reporter to talk about abject poverty. He ridicules the political system in which a finance minister can fly down to Dalal street within 2 hours of a stock market crash to pacify the sensitive , tear-jerker billionaires but takes a Prime minister 10 years of continuous deaths in Vidharbha(that's where the documentary is shot) to visit that city. He points out, almost in a matter of fact way, that the power cuts in Vidharbha mortuary and Govt. hospitals had to be stopped because there were 6-8 post postmortems to be conducted at various times of the day and night, EVERY SINGLE DAY. Shocking isn't it?
This powerful yet painful, eye opening documentary was watched by around 40 people and as you can imagine, shook us all up. Followed by that, we had people from Bangalore highlight issues currently being faced by farmers in Karnataka. Did you know that many silk farmers in Karnataka( the destination for 60% of the silk of the country) are now contemplating suicide, because the interest rates were brought down to 5% from 30% in the recent budget ? Did you know that the so called micro finance companies lend out money to farmers at 50% interest rates ?? Yes, you read that correctly , bloody 50% when vehicle loans are offered to the IT crowd at less than 5% interest. What sort of Government policies are we talking about here ? The kind of policies that help kill people easily ? What happened to all those values we learnt as we grew up ? Here is a story that was covered in a couple of newspapers (after a lot of convincing) about one of the farmer's suicides that happened recently - http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/12/stories/2011031265991300.htm%20 . Farmers, for your information, go ahead and take that step for loans of Rs 25,000. Why can't we do anything about this ?
Many of us middle class citizens, after reading about farmer suicides, just say that its unfortunate, curse the Govt. for a minute and don't do anything about it(I definitely am part of this list, unfortunately) and the so-called responsible media has almost stopped covering these topics because its considered passe. Today 10 farmers , tomorrow 100 and the day after, 1000 . Who cares ?? To the Rajdeep Sardesais and Arnab Goswamis of India - why don't you cover these topics extensively on your channels ? The best was what one of the editors apparently told some of the protestors recently - We won't publish about suicides because this will encourage other farmers to take this path. . That means that we should not talk about those several thousands and lakhs of farmers around the country who die every year.
What sort of a society are we living in ? Have we all become so materialistic and absolutely emotionless that we don't care one bit about the deaths ? Does it take a Sainath to wake us up every now and then before we go back to our slumber ? Wake up and try to do something about these. As one of my colleagues pointed out, it needs a determined effort to go to the other side to even contribute in some manner and to take that leap in this system in many ways, would also mean spoiling a lot of things for yourself. Do we have the courage to do that ?
I would urge all of you to watch this documentary. A snippet of that can be seen in this video -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPa6AomH1Ao
The action task force group in Bangalore have started to raise their voice and there is an email group that I will publish on the blog as soon as I am a member of that group. I hope and trust that we can all make a difference in any which way, be it by attending protest marches or making a monetary contribution or just lending support to this cause.
FOLKS , BE THE DAMN CHANGE THAT OUR SYSTEM NEEDS.
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