Sachin's Milestone

I am not a big fan of records and milestones. Therefore Sachin Tendulkar getting to his 50th Test century was not that big a deal for me. Not because it is not an unbelievable feat, but precisely for the opposite reason. Would Sachin have been a lesser batsman if he had finished his career with 49 hundreds? Not for me. Sachin has nothing left to prove to anyone. He has been the best batsman of this generation, and one of the very best in the game's history, and very few would argue with that. He has also been one of the classiest gentlemen of the game during this time. I can't think of anyone else who has handled so much fame and adulation with so much dignity and humility.

In all this hoopla about Sachin's milestone, Graeme Smith stirred up some controversy by criticizing the great man for not farming the strike on the 5th morning, and letting South Africa dismiss the Indian tail enders rather easily to complete the formality of an innings victory. Was Smith wrong in his criticism? Did he have a point?

Many of Sachin's fans are angry that Smith dared to criticize Sachin in his hour of glory. A good friend of mine, who is a huge Sachin fan, wrote to me asking me about my opinion on the "incident".

Well my opinion is that Smith had a point. We need to separate Sachin the all time great from the specific comment made by Smith. Could Sachin have made an attempt to farm the strike and delay the inevitable South African win? Yes he could have. Would that have changed the result of the game? Extremely unlikely.

When Laxman and Ishant came together at Mohali against Australia earlier this year, things looked pretty bleak for India. I don't think anyone in their right minds gave India any chance of getting anywhere close to Australia's score. However the two added 80+ and India went on to win the match. Strange things happen. Not very often, but they do.

I am sure Sachin had a good reason to take the approach he did. Perhaps there was no hope, and it was best to get Sreesanth and Unadkat to toughen up by facing a little bit of the music. However Smith thought different, and many would agree with him. It is a matter of how you evaluate a situation and determine the best course of action.

Breaking down the bully

The Big Bully of world cricket is breaking down, and it is not a pretty sight.

At the end of day one of the second Ashes Test at Adelaide, Ricky Ponting had a long animated chat with Andrew Strauss, ostensibly to protest about the "sledging" carried out by the fiery English bowler James Anderson when the Aussies were batting. If that is what Ponting was really complaining about, a very loud "Yesssssss!!!" is in order. For a long time now the Aussies have been the big bullies of world cricket. Their dominance over the last 10 years was as much due to their skills and cricketing ability as due to their systematic bullying of their opponents with their on field behaviour. Who can forget Michael Slater's disgusting protest against Rahul Dravid, and the constant shenanigans of Mssrs McGrath, Hayden, and Warne. Over the years the Aussies have perfected the art of sledging to a point where it has become an accepted part of the game. Until they started getting it back with interest!

The first ones to give it back to the Aussies were the Indians on the famous "Monkey-gate" tour of Australia. As soon as Bhajji stood up to these bullies, the two big guys - Symonds and Hayden - ran straight to the authorities to complain! Then Gambhir took it a step further by sticking out his elbow at Watson during the series in India a couple of years ago. He didn't get away with it, but it sent out a strong signal to the Aussies - expect to get shit in return when you dish it out!

I am rooting for England in the Ashes series. I hope they win the cricket contest. And I also hope they win the bullying war. When the contest is over, I will happily applaud if the big bully ends up with a bloody nose!

Oh Australia!

I long for the metronomic precision of Glenn McGrath. I long for the explosive arrogance of Matt Hayden. I long for the amazing wizardry of Shane Warne. I long for the sheer steel of Steve Waugh. And I long for the brilliance of the gentleman assassin Adam Gilchrist. But most of all I long for the winning attitude of the dominant Aussie cricket team. Just like I long for the mighty Viv Richards, and Gordon Greenidge, and the ferocious West Indies fast bowlers from the seventies and eighties.

One may rejoice in the decline of the great teams and the resulting parity in world cricket, but the cricket world is much poorer without them. These once-in-a-generation teams set the standards that others hope to reach, and they bring in innovations that change how the game is played. Watching the first Ashes Test over the last 5 days, it was sad to see the Aussies struggle to win key moments in the match. Other than the Laxman-Dravid classic, I can't remember an Aussie Test match bowling attack getting systematically ground into the dust, the way Strauss, Cook, and Trott did yesterday. Certainly never in  Australian conditions.

In some ways India aspire to be the new Australia - aggressive, skilled, and a team that will fight to the finish. However they are at least two top-class wicket-taking bowlers away from being right up there.

The Ashes are underway: what's with the moustaches?

The Ashes got underway at Brisbane yesterday, and we have already seen two gripping days of Test Cricket. But what's with the moustaches? Three key guys - Kevin Pietersen, Mitchell Johnson, and Ben Hilfenhaus are all sporting new moustaches. I suppose that is part of putting the game face on for these guys.

From a spectator's point of view, Australia is one of the most exciting places to watch Test Cricket. The wickets are always sporting with something in them for everyone. There is something exciting happening in every session - be it the fall of wickets, great strokeplay, or just a spell of hostile fast bowling. There is decent pace, bounce and occasional swing for the seam bowlers, and the bounce helps quality spinners as well. With the ball coming on to the bat, good batsmen can play strokes and score at a good pace. With extremely good outfields, fielding is also a delight to watch.

The first two days have provided a glimpse of how closely fought this series is likely to be. Hopefully we will see a close series with some great performances.

The Sticky Tail

India has now been the top-ranked Test Cricket nation for almost two years. A dream batting line-up is the most obvious reason for India's ascent to the top, but there are a few less obvious reasons that I believe are equally important.

First of all, an in-your-face attitude that came with Sourav Ganguly. The Indian team is now fearless, and is perhaps the team that provides the best demonstration of controlled aggression in the cricket world. Our frontline bowlers - Zaheer, Sreesanth, and Harbhajan are not just fearless. They are capable of flustering the world's best batsmen with their stares, the occassional spoken word, and the aggressive body language. Move over Australia, Indian bowlers are setting the new standard in aggression.

Then there is the sticky tail. All great teams fight till the finish, hate to lose, and keep their opponents honest. Last time I remember India's tailenders putting up a fight was during Syed Kirmani's time. However the exploits of our 8, 9, 10, 11 over the last two years are unparalleled. Harbhajan Singh has been fabulous with the bat, Zaheer, Ishant, and Ojha have played match winning or match saving roles, and Laxman has been unbelievable in developing partnerships with these guys. Ultimately it is about the attitude to not give up, and the in-your-face approach that is the key.

I think the most frustrating thing in cricket is when ten and jack get together, smash the ball around, and put together an irritating partnership. At Hyderabad Harbhajan and Sreesanth put on 105 for the last wicket, and it could well have been a match winning effort, had our bowling unit been a little more productive.

India's sticky tail has been one of the most defining characteristics of their rise to the top.

God's soft white underbelly

This is the name of an article I read recently. The original article is at:

http://old.richarddawkins.net/articles/529232-god-s-soft-white-underbelly

I have been an atheist for most of my life, and have been a huge fan of Richard Dawkins for the last 5 years. Reading this article made me wonder (again) why people continue to believe in God. Here I refer to God as the all knowing, omnipresent, super-being, who watches our every move, dishes out goodies and punishment as he sees appropriate, and in general, is responsible for everything that goes on in the universe. Most of my life I have believed that there is no such being.

Almost everyday I read newspaper reports about bad things happening in the world. What really drives me insane are daily reports of sexual assaults on children. Can anyone in their right minds rationalize these assaults with the existence of a superbeing who has the ability to stop them? And for most of humanity to spend time praying to such a being is something that is beyond my understanding. People who believe in God need to ask some uncomfortable questions of themselves. There are thousands of things we do not understand - how the world around us works, why we exist, how did life begin, and so on. Not knowing should not push us into believing in a hyper being with absolutely no evidence. Not knowing should only make us humble and curious to try and figure things out. 

I have had arguments with believers, including my 15 year old niece. The most common response is: "Believing in God gives me peace of mind, and make me happier".

I don't believe blind faith is a good thing, even if it does not cause any visible harm in the short term.

Preventing an itunes recovery disaster

My friend Tushar gave me a pretty shocking piece of information a couple of days ago. I am an iphone user, and have loaded up the device with lots of music, golf and tennis instructional videos, and several interesting applications. The iphone is now a pretty important part of my life, and I keep it synched with itunes regularly and sleep easy with the knowledge that all is well since I have everything backed up on itunes.

Well Tushar told me that his computer hard drive crashed a few months ago, and as a result he lost the itunes library. Once he recovered his disk, he re-installed itunes, and figured that synching with the iphone would restore the itunes library. Dead wrong! This process erases the entire library from the iphone, since the synch is not a true two-way process!

It is therefore very important for an iphone/ipod user to be able to back up the itunes library and restore it if required. Fortunately there is a way this can be done. with itunes 8.0 and later. You will find it at:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1382

I was able to back up my library to two DVD's, but have not had a chance to do the restore. Given that I am using Apple products, I believe I will be OK.

Ian Chappell - the Super Commentator

Ian Chappell was a very good international cricketer - one of the premier Australian batsmen of his era, and a very astute captain. He was also a typically brash Aussie.

Chappell's no-nonsense style and his deep understanding of the game typify his cricket commentary as well. Chappell and Barry Richards are perhaps the best cricket commentators in the world today. For some reason Richards has disappeared from the scene, but thankfully Chappell continues to do commentary. Chappell is such a great commentator because he shares insights that are not obvious to even the serious cricket fan. When Chappell is doing commentary, I am as interested in listening to his insights as watching the game. In contrast, there are many other "experts" who make me reach for the remote to hit the mute button. Ranjit Fernando is perhaps the worst of the lot, with Navjot Singh Sidhu a close runner up in that department.

Chappell has never been known to be diplomatic or to shun controversy. Thankfully he brings the same insigts and candor to his columns. He writes an opinion piece regularly on Cricinfo and it is always a great read.

Here's his latest piece: http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/485846.html

Keep writing Ian - you are a gift for the serious cricket fan. And if you are listening, please track down Barry Richards, and get him into that commentary box with you!

Golden Girls

Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose, Ashwini Chidananda Akkunji and Mandeep Kaur were not exactly household names in India until recently. Neither were Krishna Punia, Harwant Kaur, and Seema Antil. But their performances in the just concluded Commonwealth Games have changed that.

For many people like me, the CWG were not that big a deal. The sporting super powers of the world are not present in these games, and some of the superstars from the Commonwealth countries decided to stay away due to well publicised reasons. Therefore the competition was somewhat limited, and therefore my interest in the games was fairly lukewarm. Until a friend sent me this video clip of the 4x400 women's relay that Manjeet and team won in fabulous fashion.

I watched the video, and ended up with tears in my eyes. I wondered why.

The fact that we had not won a track and field gold medal even in the Commonwealth Games since Milkha Singh in the 60's shows how far behind we are in these sports. Lack of infrastructure, incompetent sports federations, lack of good coaches & trainers, and many other factors contribute to us being so far behind in this area. Even limited success at the highest level is the result of incredible tenacity and personal sacrifice. And the challenges are multiplied many-fold if you are a young girl from a middle class family trying to excel in a sport.

As I watched the video, I could not take my eyes off the screen and at the back of my mind were all the challenges these girls must have overcome to be where they are today. Even though I knew the result I could feel an adrenalin rush inside me, to egg them on to cross the finish line first.

I hope these Golden Girls are harbingers of change in Indian sport and society.

Kohli comes of age

After two washouts and a solitary win, India completed the first ODI series win over Australia on Indian soil in more than 20 years. Although the series win was less than emphatic due to the washouts, there were some positives that emerged for India from the win in Kochi.

Virat Kohli burst on the scene after he captained a very talented India Under-19 team to a world cup victory a few years ago. The Under-19 team included a number of very promising youngsters, but Kohli was the first one to graduate to the next level, playing ODI cricket for India. I was never a great fan of Kohli in spite of his allround skills. His batting lacks a certain elegance that one associates with successful Indian batsman, his medium pace bowling looks pretty pedestrian, and he seems to have a questionable attitude. He did well for India in the initial period before slipping into mediocrity for a brief period of time.

However his match winning innings in the Kochi ODI has made me a believer in his ability. He played a very mature innings, and pretty much guided India to victory in a tough chase, after they were in early trouble. It was an innings of substance, perfectly paced, and played in a difficult situation. I like fighters, and I saw fight in this young man. He also brings to the table that rare ability - an Indian batsman who can bowl seam-up, which can be quite handy in England and New Zealand. We have not had this luxury since Ganguly retired. I think this young man will do well for India in the limited overs game.

The other huge positive was the affirmation of Raina's class. Raina has truly arrived as a finisher for India in the limited overs format. He is fearless, and he has the ability to scare the opposition. The Aussies have had a lot of trouble with him lately, and his confidence bodes well for India.

Of course, death-bowling continues to be an achilles heel for the Indian side, and for some reason our bowlers are unable to bowl the yorker consistently. This problem requires urgent attention, and has the potential to be the chink in our armour that could cost us the world cup.

Told you so!

It is always a good feeling to say "Told you so"!

India's 2-0 win in the Test series against Australia was as much a result of Australia's decline, as due to the selection of the best available Indian test players for the series. I have been arguing for the inclusion of Pujara, Ishant, and Sreesanth for a long time now. Pujara and Ishant made match winning contributions, and I think Sreesanth is moving in the right direction after the long layoff.

The biggest surprise of the series in my opinion was Pragyan Ojha. He bowled tight, got turn right through, and troubled almost all Australian batsman. Ojha's emergence was all the more welcome given Harbhajan's drop in form. Big kudos to the selectors for retaining their faith in this young man.

However the job is only half done. To remain a champion side, India needs another solid batsman for the middle order, a quality spinner and a fourth seamer. I really believe that Suresh Raina will struggle in England, New Zealand, and South Africa. Obviously he is a prodigiously talented batsman, and could prove me wrong, but I believe that his game is better suited for the shorter versions. Therefore another solid batsman in the middle order would be handy in the long run; particularly with Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman in the twilight of their careers.

We need a quality attacking leg-spinner. Mishra and Chawla have shown promise, but both have been extremely inconsistent. Perhaps hiring Kumble or Shane Warne for a year to work excusively with these two leggies would not be a bad investment. A crore or two should do it. Mishra and Chawla are also extremely handy lower order batsmen, and good fielders. And yes, while they are being groomed for Test cricket, keep them out of T-20.

Finding a good attacking Test match seam bowler may be harder - but this is perhaps most important for our team to win consistently overseas.

I am encouraged by recent happenings and will keep my fingers crossed that we are moving in the right direction in Test Cricket. However the moment I see Ishant or Sreesanth in the ODI team, or Pujara playing T-20, or even Yuvraj making a comeback to the Test side, I will know that my optimism was misplaced!

Two Nail-biters in two days!

Graeme McDowell is short for an Irishman. He is strongly built with a full head of hair, and facial hair somewhere in-between a stubble and a full beard. He also happens to be one of the best professional golfers in the world.

McDowell methodically won his singles match against the American Hunter Mahan to complete one of the closest ever Ryder Cup wins for Europe against the USA. Those who think of golf as an individual sport would surely have changed their mind after watching this absolutely fabulous tournament.

After almost 4 days of competition Europe and America were tied with 13.5 points each. And it all came down to McDowell's match. He was calm, he was focused, and he was relentless. The putt he nailed to win the 16th hole will become part of Ryder Cup folklore. In all this euphoria, it was important to remember that it was the European team that won the cup, not McDowell the individual. McDowell was the finisher, the final blow. But it was equally important that the Molinari brothers salvaged the half point on the 18th in their four-ball match. The 46-year old Jiminez won his singles game, Luke Donald scored 3 points overall, and Colin Montgomerie marshalled his troops well.

6,500 miles away in Mohali, another nail-biter unfolded less than 24 hours later. This time it was two very good cricket teams battling it out to win a Test Match. In a match that had fluctuated like the Sensex, India were down and out on the last day at 124 for 8, with 92 more runs required for an almost impossible win. At the crease were two injured men, both on pain-killers. VVS Laxman was struggling with back-spasms, and Ishant Sharma had a bum knee. What unfolded in the next few hours will be remembered for a long, long time. Laxman and Sharma battled hard, and played smartly. They fashioned an unlikely 81 run partnership that turned the tables on Australia, and enabled India to win by one wicket. Laxman was absolutely relentless till the very end. What a match!

Again, in this hoopla, it is important to remember that the team won. Without Zaheer and Ojha's bowling and the four Indian half centuries in the first innings, Ishant Sharma's three wicket burst in the Aussie second innings, Raina's run out of Ponting, and many other such small things, India may not have won.

For me, it once again reinforces the notion that winning is not an event, it is a process. Winning is about being relentless. Someone once told me on the golf course: Never give up, and never let up.

These two nail-biting finishes in the last couple of days have only reinforced that principle.

Brains Anyone?

A recent email conversation among friends really got me thinking about some of our flawed assumptions regarding "intelligence" and "braininess".

The IITs and IIMs are widely believed to be among the best educational institutes in India. However the scope of teaching in these institutes is essentially limited to Engineering and Business Management. Entry into IITs and IIMs requires scoring high in a tough and very competitive exam. For the IITs it is the JEE, and for the IIMs it is CAT. Passing these tests requires a certain type of ability, and if you have that ability in abundance, you are more likely than others to get into one of these "elite" institutions. For example, the JEE requires you to be good in solving certain types of problems in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.

A lot of people assume that the ability to score high on these entrance tests is the definitive measure of intelligence or braininess. I studied in one of the IITs, and used to carry the same impression. Until I got into the workforce and experienced real life!

My brother-in-law Sunil is in the Indian Army. Since the time he was a little boy Sunil wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and join the Armed Forces. I have spent many hours with him discussing the Army and many other subjects. Sunil is an extremely organized person, a deep thinker, and great communicator. His approach to real life problems always impresses me, and I am not surprised that he has been very successful. He did not go to IIT or IIM, but he is a lot more intelligent than me in certain ways. I have met hundreds of people like Sunil who have great abilities that are perhaps different from mine, and I have learnt a lot from all these people.

Many of my friends are wonderful doctors, journalists, government officers, teachers, and business persons. These are very intelligent people who did not need a label to be successful in their professions. Last time I checked P. Chidambaram, APJ Abdul Kalam or Montek Singh Ahluwalia did not go to IIT or IIM. Neither did Dhirubhai Ambani, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Karsenbhai Patel, or Tulsi Tanti. Or for that matter Sachin Tendulkar, Saina Nehwal, or Naseeruddin Shah.

In the last few months I have had the privilege of meeting several young Indians who have impressed me enormously. Naman Bhandula is a confident 19 year old studying for a degree in engineering. He knows what he wants, carries himself confidently, and just seems to have those qualities that will make him very successful at what he does. Charu Singh is an 18 year old young lady, who wants to be a lawyer. I met Charu for the first time a few months ago, and was mightily impressed by her confidence, the ready smile, and also how much potential she has.

My niece Ashima Arora is pursuing a graduate degree in IT, and I can definitely bet a large sum of money that she will be much more successful than me. And finally Kirat Singh, an 18 year old from Delhi, has just gone to Cornell University to pursue a degree in Liberal Arts. The amazing Kirat has been a very active participant of the "Save Tiger" movement in India, writes his own blog, and worked his way towards an admission at Cornell. If he had not gone to Cornell, he would have pursued a degree in Delhi University. I know for sure, as much as it is possible to "know" these things in advance, that Kirat will create a huge impact in the world.

None of these kids is going to IIT, and they may or may not go to the IIMs. However it does not matter. The ability to pass a specific test is not what these kids are about. They have the kind of all round "intelligence" that I can only dream about, and I am really excited to see them move on and become tomorrow's leaders.

I am happy that Charu, Naman, Ashima, and Kirat's generation has moved on beyond labels like IIT/IIM as a measure of intelligence.

A Great Opportunity to Learn

By all accounts, the opening ceremony of the Common Wealth Games in Delhi provided a successful launching pad for the games. There was widespread euphoria over the ceremony, and a lot of praise was showered on the participants and organizing committee. And rightly so.

However what amused me was some emails I received, talking about moving beyond the media sensationalism regarding the preparation for the games. One email said after the opening ceremony "Atleast this shutup [sic] the various news channels which had been sensationalising the shortcomings of our preparations." Is that really so?

In theory, good planning and solid execution of large projects is more likely to lead to success in terms of the project finishing in time, to the required quality, and WITHIN BUDGET. It also provides a better basis for repeatability. For instance, if India were to conduct the Olympic Games, how confident are we that we will pull it off? I am not sure - we will probably bumble our way through the preparations, throw tons of money and people at it during the last few months, and hopefully conduct a successful games.

Which brings us back to the comments about the opening ceremony. I think the media did a great job of exposing the shoddy execution and rampant corruption in the preparation for the games. In the process some may have gone overboard, but I did not see evidence of that on the channels I usually watch. I think the coverage was good, and it made the nation aware of the shortcomings of our planning and execution.

My sincere hope is that a successful conduct of the games does not end just with a pat on the back for the OC and Mr. Kalmadi, and a resounding criticism of the media for sensationalizing the preparation. I know that good software project companies do a "lessons learnt" session at the end of every software project. An honest assessment of this kind provides an invaluable opportunity to learn, and to do better next time around.

I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that we do not fritter away this opportunity.

Well done Sunil!

In a recent move, the BCCI made significant changes to the IPL Governing council. In essence, they slashed its size, removed some of the people close to Lalit Modi, reduced its tenure, and slashed the salary of the cricket members from Rs. 1 crore to zero!

One of my all time favourite sports heroes Sunil Gavaskar was a member of the IPL Governing council until last year. Gavaskar is known to be fearless, and always speaks his mind. He should have been contacted well before the IPL changes were announced, and his views taken into account before the decisions were taken. However it was quite a shame that Gavaskar found out about the changes from a TV News channel.

For me, Gavaskar is one of the three best Indian cricketers to ever play the game. He opened the Indian batting in an era when at least four other Test playing nations had their best fast bowling attacks in their history - all at the same time. Pakistan had Imran and Sarfraz, Australia had Lillee, Thomson, Pascoe and Walker, New Zealand had Richard Hadlee, and of course the West Indies had Roberts, Holding, Garner, and Marshall. Gavaskar stood firm against all these attacks, and just piled on the runs. Not just the volume of runs - his versatility was unbelievable. And he just looked incredibly good doing it! Every time Gavaskar came out to bat, I felt goose bumps. I don't think I have ever seen a better player of short bowling - the only other player who comes close is Viv Richards. I don't think it is a coincidence that neither of these players ever used a helmet.

The BCCI should have been proud that this giant of Indian cricket was part of the IPL. However I am not surprised that the bumbling board has managed to lose Gavaskar.

Gavaskar pointed out, quite rightly, that the IPL is a commercial organization, and therefore it is wrong to expect the cricket members of the Governing Council to work in an honorary capacity. Everyone - the franchises, the players, the sponsors, and the BCCI are making huge sums of money from this event. To expect the cricket members of the IPL Governing council to work pro bono is just plain stupid.

Well done Sunil in calling out the BCCI on this issue, and doing the right thing by refusing to play their game. I only wish Ravi Shastri had done the same.

Leave your crap at home, Mr. Bhanot!

The New Delhi Commonwealth Games (CWG) mess is starting to get really filthy, and an Indian official shocked the world with his reckless comments yesterday.

A couple of days ago Mike Hooper, the CWG Federation Chief Executive, made some observations about the state of the residential towers at the games village just a few days before the arrival of the athletes. Hooper called the condition of the rooms "filthy". There were human faeces in the rooms, dog shit on the beds, and all kinds of stains on the floors and ceilings. "Filthy" is not an inappropriate description of the state of the rooms by any standards.

Responding to Hooper's comments in front of live cameras, Bhanot came up with this gem - "They want a certain standard of hygiene which may differ in standard from my standard...". I am glad he said "my standard" and not "our standard". Human and dog shit all over, including on the beds - an acceptable standard of hygiene? This Einstein certainly does not speak for the country.

Dear Mr. Bhanot, it is highly unlikely, but if you ever invite me for a meal to your house, consider the invitation politely declined. Given your personal standards of hygiene, I shudder at the thought of what I might encounter.

What a shame!

I could not believe my eyes when I saw this headline in the newspaper a few days ago: "Sufficient evidence to prove Sajjan Kumar role in 1984 riots: CBI".

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_sufficient-evidence-to-prove-sajjan-kumar-role-in-84-riots-cbi_1438946

The anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi in 1984 constituted one of the worst genocides seen in modern India. The carnage took the lives of thousands of innocent, law-abiding citizens, and raised questions about India being a nation of civilized people. I had the misfortune of living in Delhi at that time, and as an Indian I still hang my head in shame at what happened.

All along it has been common knowledge that many politicians from the Congress party played an active role in the riots. We have also "known" who these politician are.  Over the years numerous investigations have been conducted, and not one of these alleged criminals have been brought to book. They have merrily carried on with their political careers, while the nation has just about forgotten the events from 26 years ago.

And after all these years, the premier investigating body of the Government of India has now proclaimed that "We have sufficient evidence...".  What were the nation's criminal investigators doing for the last 26 years? Perhaps looking for novel ways to find these jokers innocent...

What a shame. It makes me sick.

Sanity Prevails

Some sanity has been restored to India's cricket selection with the announcement of the side picked for the Test series with Australia in October.

Cheteshwar Pujara is perhaps the most promising Test batsman to have emerged on the scene in a long while, and I believe that he is destined for greatness if he stays fit. I expect that he will be the mainstay of the Indian Test batting line up after the departure of the likes of Dravid and Tendulkar. It is ironic that Pujara won selection after some decent performances in the IPL last year. He is a batsman in the classical Test cricket mould - he is willing to stay at the wicket for long periods of time, has excellent technique and a good range of scoring shots all around the wicket. It is astonishing that Yuvraj Singh was persisted with for so long, while Puraja cooled his heels.

Zaheer, Ishant and Sreesanth are our best pace bowling options in Test cricket. Ishant and Sreesanth are aggressive, wicket taking bowlers who will risk occassional punishment in chasing wickets. Sreesanth is not afraid to pitch the ball up, and is willing to be driven straight or through the covers, a huge virtue for a swing bowler. The Indian selectors frequently pick Sreesanth and Ishant for the 50-over format, and these guys promptly lose their confidence after one or two 0-for-55 or 2-for-65 performances. Please, please give these two guys some stability in the Test team, while keeping them away from the shorter formats. Zaheer Khan, if fit, is a perfect foil for either one of these guys, with his hit-the-deck, left-arm style.

Unfortunately our spin bowling department is the weakest we have seen in decades. We are no longer producing attacking, wicket-taking spinners due to an overdose of the shorter forms of the game. The name of the game is to keep runs down. It is quite sad that England and New Zealand have better spinners than India! Under the circumstances we seem to have picked the best available talent for the Test side.

Shocked but not surprised...

For the last several weeks I have been watching the Test matches in England - first Pakistan versus Australia and then Pakistan versus England. Honestly, I have not had so much fun watching Test Cricket since the days of the great West Indian fast bowlers and Gavaskar and Viswanath.

To me, the essense of a Test match is a battle between bat and ball. Subcontinental wickets that assist spin on the last two days, but are the fast bowler's graveyard do not count! I like watching Test matches played in bowler friendly conditions where the batsmen have to use all their skill and experience to build an innings and stick it to the opposition. A 5 or 10 over scoring burst does not win a Test match. That is why watching these matches in England has been so much fun.

Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer have been an incredible pair, bowling for a team with little else to show for. Their bowling has had audiences mesmerized. They have been devastating with the new ball, and equally effective with the old one. Saeed Ajmal has added good variety with a doosra that no one has been able to pick. All in all it has been a gripping summer of Test cricket. Until last night.

The spot-fixing (or match-fixing or what-the-bloody-hell-you-want-to-call-it) revelations made sure that the final session of the England-Pakistan Test series was like a funeral service. Sombre, understated, and a gathering to mourn the dead. Only the dead in this instance was Pakistan cricket. However it does make me wonder what the other teams are up to. Cricket adminstrators in India are busy counting the cash and blaming each other for the IPL fiasco. However I have a sick feeling in my stomach that cricket administration in India is only marginally better than in Pakistan. People like Sharad Pawar, Shashank Manohar, N. Srinivasan, Jagmohan Dalmiya, and Arun Jetli managing the affairs of the game do not inspire much confidence.

I only hope that international cricketers in India and other countries are much better at handling these temptations and have not succumbed to these enourmous pressures. However if some other teams get caught up in this match fixing mess, my reaction will be the same it was looking at India's recent ODI performance in Sri Lanka - shocked but not surprised...

Keep up the good work Rahul!

We have a lot of "Young Turks" in the Indian Parliament now - Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Akhilesh Yadav, to name a few. Most of them are children of career politicians and have got entries into Parliament without too much work at the grassroots or party level. By and large I have been pretty disappointed with the performance of these young guns so far. With the exception of Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul's father Rajiv was a reluctant politician.  He had the Gandhi family legacy thrust down his throat after the death of his brother Sanjay in an air-crash in 1980. Rajiv was a pilot with a commercial airline at that time, and was "persuaded" by his mother Indira Gandhi to join politics full time. Almost immediately, he became Prime Minister of India when Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. Rajiv had almost no grassroots political experience or track record when he became PM.

Rahul Gandhi has had a less tumultuous entry into politics. He has had his mother Sonia, and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to look up to, and has quietly worked his way into a situation where he has built his own credibility as a moderate leader. He has not sought high office, and has instead chosen to work for the party and the "masses".

Rahul's latest initiative, where he took up the battle on behalf of tribal groups in Orissa, has drawn a lot of attention in the press. A group of tribals declared victory yesterday when the mining company Vedanta was refused permission to expand into their territory. One may or may not agree with Rajiv's causes. However there is no doubt that he has demonstrated leadership qualities, and has shown remarkable maturity in dealing with people and issues.

Rajiv Gandhi started his political career with a huge mandate and a lot of promise. However his promise fizzled out quickly as he became another run-of-the-mill politician, and frittered away some huge opportunities to demonstrate his leadership - the Shah Bano case comes to mind immediately. Rahul has started his career with a lot of promise, and he will definitely be the leader of our country one day. I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that he will convert the promise into long term performance.

George W Bush's whoppers!

I just started reading Michael Moore's "Dude Where's My Country" again. It is a fascinating book - and absolutely hilarious. I laugh out aloud at least once while reading every page of this book.

Moore became famous for his documentary "Roger and Me" when General Motors shut down their plant in Flint (Michigan) and moved the production overseas to reduce costs. His subsequent work - films and books - has been quite widely read, if not acclaimed, due to its controversial nature.

"Dude Where's My Country" takes off on Moore's favourite target - George W. Bush. Moore questions Bush's motivations, his relationship with the extended Bin Laden family, and his propensity to lie. There is an absolutely hilarious chapter on the Bush administration's lies, called the "Home of the Whopper". He lists 10 whoppers (lies) propagated by the Bush team, and every one of them had me in splits. One of them is about how the Republicans went after the French for their "treachery" in not supporting the Iraq war.

I found this funny video from the American comedian Bill Maher about the same topic - hatred for the French among the American political class.

We miss you Adam

I am watching a gripping day of Test cricket on TV. Pakistan versus Australia at Headingly.

Pakistan have dominated most of this Test Match, almost entirely due to their wonderful fast bowling resources. Australia's fightback in the second innings was rudely halted on the third morning by a wonderful spell from the young Pakistani sensation Mohammed Aamer. Australia 164 for 5, still 6 runs away from making Pakistan bat again, with their backs to the wall. 3 years ago this would have been the perfect setting for Adam Gilchrist to come in and turn the game on its head.

What a player Gilchrist was. I remember the Mumbai Test in the 2000-01 India-Australia series. After having dismissed India for 176, Australia were reeling at 99/5 when Gilchrist walked in. The Indian bowlers were on top. The counterattack Gilchrist launched was typically brutal. He scored a blistering hundred that took the game completely away from India.

We miss you Adam!

How important is fielding ability in cricket?

I have a theory to improve Indian cricket. It is based on my experience while playing for my hostel team in IIT Delhi almost 27 years ago.

Our hostel captain was a guy called Sanjay Savur. Sanjay was a wicketkeeper batsman from Bombay, studied in the Bombay Scottish School and played a lot of his cricket at Shivaji Park. Sanjay's theory was very simple - you played for Kumaon hostel if you were totally committed. And it was fairly easy to assess your commitment to the cause when you were fielding. Therefore Sanjay made sure that he did not pick people who were not totally committed in the field. Sanjay's theory was just fine by me. Fielding was my favourite discipline in cricket, and I loved throwing myself around to save any runs I could. However Sanjay's selection method meant that one or two really good batsmen or bowlers did not make it into the playing eleven due to their fielding. These were not popular decisions, but the message came through loud and clear. We won the inter hostel championship two years running - I do not think it was a coincidence!

I really think that Sanjay was way ahead of his time - he was almost a visionary. If Sanjay's yardstick were to be applied to Indian cricket today, Munaf Patel would never make the team. And judging by what I saw today, Abhimanyu Mithun would not have made his Test debut for India in the Galle Test match.

Selection Madness

The brainlessness of our cricket selection is coming home to roost in the Sri Lanka Test series that has just started. As I said in one of my earlier posts, our cricketers are playing an awful lot of international and IPL cricket these days. Therefore some sort of intelligent partitioning is required to keep our lads fresh and motivated. There is also the difference in approach required for limited overs and Test cricket. All this cries out for creating specialist teams for different forms of the game.

We seem to understand quite well that increasingly attacking forms of batsmanship are required as we move from Test cricket to ODI to T20. For batsmen, we seem to have a reasonably clear understanding of who the specialists for different forms fo the game are. Other than occasional howlers like sticking with Yuvraj in Tests. However we are completely confused when it comes to bowlers.

Once upon a time, Sreesanth and Ishant were wonderful attacking bowlers who were capable of bowling long testing spells in search of wickets. They were occasionally expensive, but would not give up their aggression just because they got carted around for a few boundaries. Whenever these guys bowled well in Tests, we threw them at batsman in ODIs. And very often they got hammered. And lost confidence.

Our current selection committee chairman Krishnamachari Srikkanth was an entertaining batsman. He played the signature innings for India in the finals of the 1983 world cup - fearlessly hooking Andy Roberts for a six, and imperiously smashing him through the covers on his knees. However one thing Srikkanth will never be accused of is thinking and planning. I remember him smashing Dipak Patel straight down the throat of deep-midwicket in the initial overs of a world cup match in 1992. Patel was a Newzealand off-spinner who opened the bowling in that match. The only man outside the circle was deep midwicket, and Srikkanth hit the ball right down his throat.

That brings us right back to the current Test match in Galle. It should come as no surprise to anyone that our bowlers are struggling. The second day getting rained off came as a welcome relief.

The Unflappable South African

Watching Louis Oosthuizen play the last round of the British Open Golf tournament yesterday reminded me of the original unflappable South African - Retief Goosen.

I never saw the great South African Gary Player play golf. He is probably the greatest South African golfer ever - certainly the most famous. However the first South African golfer I became a fan of was Ernie Els. To this day, I cannot fathom how he advances the ball with that silky smooth "easy" swing.

But it was Retief who really captured my imagination in 2004. It was the US Open at Shinnecock Hills. Retief had already won the open a few years ago, and he was leading at the start of the fourth round. I have never seen such clutch golf - until yesterday.

Retief was absolutely sensational during that last round at Shinnecock Hills. He nailed approach shots when he had to. He drained putts when he had to. And not once did he show any emotion, until he won it all. To this day, I try to copy him as far as my demeanour on the golf course is concerned. Even keel. You miss a 2 footer or drain a 50 footer - same expression, same body language, same attitude. Take it in your stride. I wish I could do it half as well as the great man.

Oosthuizen was absolutely clutch yesterday. The toothy grin was on right through the day, and so were the clutch shots. As Paul Casey said, he didn't flinch at all. Louis was mentored by Ernie Els, but I am glad he has a little bit of Retief in him. The unflappable South African.

Horses for Courses

Lately our cricket selectors have been a really confused bunch. They have had trouble picking the right teams for the different formats of the game and have cause a lot of grief to the players and the followers of the sport.

Yuvraj Singh is a good example. Yuvraj is a good limited overs player, thanks to his attacking batting, great fielding, and useful bowling. However he does not belong in our Test side. Never has. Test cricket is about technique and tenacity, not flair and flash alone. For the life of me, I do not understand why we keep selecting him again and again for Test matches.

Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma are good attacking fast bowlers. They are the kind of bowlers who will take wickets when they bowl with attacking fields and pitch the ball up. However limited overs cricket demands accuracy, and these bowlers are not going to be accurate enough over 10 overs from match to match. The moment they show some results in Test cricket, we automatically assume that as in-form bowlers we need to pick them for ODI and T20 cricket as well. Wrong. Limited overs cricket places a different set of demands on bowlers, and these guys end up getting punished, and then dropped from Test cricket as well!

The latest guy to become a victim of this selection circus is Cheteshwar Pujara. Pujara is a technically correct batsman in the classical mould. He should be a certainty in our Test side, but cannot play because the selectors do not have the courage to drop Yuvraj Singh. When Yuvraj is hurt, these jokers pick Dinesh Karthik, a talented batsman, who is neither here not there - certainly not a patch on Pujara in terms of technique and staying power. However Pujara is playing plenty of T20 cricket in the IPL! If we do not put him in our Test side soon, we are likely to lose one of our most promising Test players in a long long time.

Tomas Berdych

I had picked the big Czech Tomas Berdych to win the French Open this year, but he lost a close 5-setter to Robin Soderling in the semi-finals.

For Wimbledon this year, I had picked Soderling or Berdych to win. Soderling is out, dismissed by Rafa, but I think Berdych has a real chance against Rafa in the finals. When Rafa is free from injury, he is extremely difficult to beat. To beat him, his opponent has to be HOT for 3 sets, and hope that Rafa will make some crucial mistakes. Berdych is playing extremely well, and it wouldn't surprise me if he is hot in the finals. The only question is whether Rafa will make some mistakes - all I can say is that he is due.

It promises to be a gripping final - Go Thunder Berd!

Virender Sehwag - The Mystery

Why on earth does Virender Sehwag make runs by the truckload in Test cricket, and play such ordinary cricket in the limited overs formats? Obviously he plays the occassional brilliant innings in the limited overs formats as well - with his incredible talent he is bound to. However his impact in Test cricket is clearly an order of magnitude higher than in the limited overs formats. The way he plays his cricket would suggest that he is likely to be more successful in the shorter formats. What the hell is going on?

In the answer to this enigma is perhaps the clue for Test teams to get this modern day Bradman under control.

Sehwag seldom gets out playing a defensive shot. In fact he seldom plays a defensive shot! Therefore conventional Test match fields are generally ineffective for him. Three slips, a gulley, and a short leg are not the areas that Sehwag is likely to be caught at, unless the conditions are overcast and aiding swing. Typically he will play the ball high over point or third man, drive it through the vacant extra cover or mid-off region, or flick it between square leg and midwicket. His edges are likely to fly high over the slips or gulley and go to the boundary.

Sehwag scores so quickly in Test matches that by the time the opposing captain considers a more defensive approach, he is already approaching a double hundred. No wonder he crosses 150 with such ease, and so often.

Sehwag's performances in the limited overs formats provides a clue on how to deal with him in Test cricket. As an opposing captain, you have to think as if you are playing a 50-over game when Sehwag is on strike. Only five men inside the circle, only one slip, an attacking third-man, two points (one short, and one deep), and a short square leg. Curtail the boundaries, invite him to pierce the field, and he is likely to give his wicket away going for his shots.

However there is one problem the fielding captain needs to deal with while following this approach. He will need to make wholesale field changes for the batsman at the other end. I believe this can be done, by following a strictly limited overs approach with Sehwag, and a semi-attacking approach with the batsman at the other end.

Obviously this is a nice theory, which may or may not work. Given Sehwag's genius, he will perhaps find another way. However his less than stellar record in the limited overs formats over a period of time suggests that there is a better than even chance of getting him under control with a different mindset.

Triple Bagels

I was watching a very one-sided match on the first day of the French Open tennis tournament yesterday. Robin Soderling was thrashing a French qualifier and was up 6-0, 3-0. The thought crossed my mind if I was watching a triple-bagel in the making. Soderling eventually dropped four games before walking away with a convincing win, but the triple-bagel stayed in my mind.

Being bageled in a tennis match is to lose a set 6-0. I first heard the term being used several years ago by one of the famous Bryan brothers while he was a commentator during a US open. A double bagel is a 6-0, 6-0 win while a triple bagel is used to describe a 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 result. I remember watching a French open final a couple of decades ago, where Steffi Graf had blanked Natalia Zvereva 6-0, 6-0.

In the fiercely competitive world of men's professional tennis, a triple-bagel has to be an extremely rare result, particularly at a Grand Slam event. Sure enough, when I googled for instances of triple bagels at a Grand Slam event, I found that there have been only 5 such instances in the open era. The list can be found at http://www.tennis28.com/slams/shortest_matches.html. Nikola Spear, Karel Novacek, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl, and Sergi Bruguera are the men to have finished on the winning side of these remarkable performances.

While the Steffi Graf double-bagel over Natalia Zvereva in the French Open final is well documented, the closest a man has come to a triple bagel in a Grand Slam final is Jimmy Connors, who won 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 in the 1974 US Open final. Even more amazing is who he beat in that match - Ken Rosewall!

Who cares for the cricket fan in India?

When the Pune franchise for the Indian Premier League was announced recently, I felt a chill go up my spine. The chill was a result of the memories of my visit to the Nehru Stadium in Pune several years ago to watch a one day international cricket match between India and Australia. The bad feeling had nothing to do with the result of the match, which was won by Australia in a canter, thanks to a magnificient Mark Waugh hundred. The chill originated from how shabbily the paying cricket public was treated at the stadium that day.

Cricket is big in India, which is without any doubt the commercial hub of world cricket. At the root of this tremendous commercial success of cricket in India is the huge fan following enjoyed by the sport. Over the years this fan following has been exploited brilliantly by the BCCI and the media and they have managed to squeeze just about every rupee from the sport. And then the IPL came along and made this money-making machine an order of magnitude bigger. However somewhere the paying cricket fan at the stadiums has been forgotten. Which brings me back to my experience at the Nehru Stadium in Pune.

I had purchased an expensive ticket that day, and fully expected to have a great view of proceedings. When I entered the enclosure in the stadium it was a shock. Makeshift chairs were lined up in the enclosure. We were going to watch the game from the point/straight midwicket area - not the greatest of views. I was told that most of the prime seats were given away to MCA/BCCI and other officials. Our enclosure had one small entrance only which allowed maybe 2-3 people to pass through at one time. I shuddered to think what would happen if there was an emergency and people had to be evacuated - a stampede at the narrow gate was the most likely scenario.

And here is the clincher. At some point in time during the match I needed to go to the washroom. When I made my way outside, and found a run down part of the building that housed the washrooms, to my horror the place had a big padlock on the door. The washrooms were under maintenance! When I asked one of the stadium guards where the other washrooms were, he told me that my only option was to go to the street outside to relieve myself! This was the state of affairs at an international match being played in a country that is the commercial hub of the sport. Even though we now have some modern stadia like the one at Mohali, I suspect that the above state of affairs still exists at most cricket venues in the country.

I promised myself that winter morning that I will never again go to a venue to watch a cricket match in India again.

And that brings me back to the new Pune IPL franchise. There is a new cricket stadium being built outside Pune that is likely to be used for the home games of the franchise. I know it may be too much to ask, but do hope that the paying public is at the top of the stakeholder list for the stadium.

The Power of Dreams

I am not much of a movie watcher, but thanks to my children I watched two outstanding movies during the past week. Both these movies are well made, have powerful scripts, and have a wonderful message, delivered with amazing clarity.

The first one is a Hollywood movie called "Rudy". It is based on a true story of an American boy called Rudy, who by all accounts, was a complete misfit for the sport of American Football. He was small, with limited athletic ability. Size, strength, and great athletic ability are almost mandatory to be able to play this brutal sport at any level. However what no one saw was the size of Rudy's heart. He was determined to play college football for Notre Dame - a college reverred for its football program, and a household name in all of the US. His dream was laughable, and almost everyone around him did laugh at him.

Rudy's story is absolutely unbelievable. So much so that I searched the Internet after watching the movie to verify if it was indeed a true story. It is, and it almost made my cry. And it taught me a great deal.

The second outstanding movie I watched with my kids was "Rock On!". Bollywood movies are usually nothing to write home about. However "Rock On!" is different. A touching story, told well, and with a great deal of sensitivity, backed by superb performances. It is the story of a young rock band that breaks up, and then comes together again after the four young men had gone their own separate ways. Again, the key message of the movie is - Follow your dreams, it is never easy, but can be extremely rewarding.

Great movies to watch with your kids. I highly recommend them.

I am innocent because I was Ignorant and Incompetent

The sordid off the field IPL saga came to a head yesterday, and resulted in the suspension of the high flying IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, ostensibly to ensure a fair investigation into his alleged misdeeds.

While I don't have a view on whether Modi is guilty or not, and whether his suspension was fair or not, I am quite amused by the complete abdication of responsibility by the entire IPL governing council. The IPL governing council is obviously a body that has the responsibility to oversee, question, facilitate, and approve major decisions of the organization. It is composed of many senior BCCI officials, high profile cricketers, and politicians. A group of this caliber is obviously capable of, and empowered to keep things on track. For 3 years they turned a blind eye to proceedings, and when the shit hit the fan, their best defence turned out to be ignorance! And of course incompetence by implication.

I would have been delighted if a few of the governing council members had also put in their resignations, owning some of the responsibility for the serious charges levelled against the league. I do not expect the BCCI officers or the politicians to take this high moral ground. However people like Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, and MAK Pataudi lost a great opportunity to demonstrate their strength of character because of their public silence and continuance on the council. I am a huge fan of Gavaskar and Pataudi, and would have put them on a pedestal had they taken responsibility publicly and resigned.

No one is perfect I suppose, and great cricketers are not necessarily great leaders.

Go Girl!

Neha Ghare is a fiesty little 8 year old girl who loves to play tennis. I first heard about Neha when my 9 year old daughter Sachi was playing a local tennis tournament in Pune. In the second or third round, she was drawn to play against Neha.

Neha is short for her age, a little plump, and walks with a nice, confident swagger. Off the tennis court she is a regular, sweet, 8-year old. However on the tennis court, she becomes a fist-pumping, fiesty competitor! I was not present at my daughter's match with Neha, but I got a report from my wife Suniti. Though she is a year younger than Sachi, Neha thumped Sachi with her powerful ground-strokes and fist-pumping aggression.

I had forgotten about Neha, until, many months later I met her father Ramesh Ghare at the Deccan Gymkhana Tennis Academy. I had just moved Sachi to the Deccan Academy and Neha was already playing there. Ramesh Ghare is a dark, heavy-set man, with a head full of jet black hair, and a thick moustache. He is a very pleasant, confident, and friendly person, and quickly struck up a conversation with me about our plans for our daughters' tennis. The rest of my conversation with the humble, hard-working Ramesh Ghare made my day, and gave me some hope about the future of our country.

Ramesh Ghare comes from a very humble background and is entirely a self-made man. For a living, he used to distribute newspapers door-to-door for almost 10 years. Then he started a small business to fabricate metal-grills for various residential applications. Now he has also started a small men's clothing store in his neighbourhood.

Ramesh really believes in his daughter. He has not played tennis himself, but he saw a spark in his daughter early, and has made a decision to invest in her tennis. Neha plays 6 days a week, two hours every day. She plays one hour in a group lesson, and one hour one-on-one with a coach every weekday. She also spends 45 minutes every other day on physical fitness. The results are showing. Neha has been finishing first or second in most local tournaments she participates in. She has also started making a move in the next higher age-group competition.

Although our society has made some progress in valuing the female child, it is very common for many Indian families to still hold back on encouraging the girl child the same way they encourage their boys. I am impressed with Ramesh Ghare for what he said about his commitment to Neha's tennis. He said "What I spend on Neha's tennis is an investment. Neha is my treasure, and eveything I do to help her get better is the best investment I can make.". I am following Neha's tennis quite keenly and rooting for her almost as much as I do for Sachi!

The magnificient Gundappa Viswanath

The match referee at tonight's IPL game between Deccan Chargers and King's XI Punjab was none other than Gundappa Viswanath. As I watched the toss, it was incredible how diminutive Viswanath looked standing beside Adam Gilchrist and Kumar Sangakkara! It was amazing how this little giant of Indian cricket took on the likes of Andy Roberts successfully time and again in the 70's.

I started following international cricket seriously immediately after India's landmark tours of West Indies and England in 1971. Tony Lewis's England were visiting in 1972-73 and their team included one Tony Greig, who happened to be 6'6" tall! Viswanath was barely 5'3"! The sight of Greig fielding at silly point when Viswanath was batting was positively hilarious. Vishy got into some form towards the end of the series with a hundred and a 75, but for me the innings of the series was a 97 not out by Keith Fletcher in a losing cause at Madras.

It was however in the 1975 home series against the West Indies that Vishy really came into his own. He was always known for his artistic shots, particularly the square and late cuts, and the flick through the on-side. But the remarkable thing about Vishwanath was that he was at his very best when the chips were down. Aside from the debut of Gordon Greenidge and Vivian Richards, that series came to be known as the battle between Andy Roberts and Gundappa Viswanath. After losing the first two test matches, India won the next two at Calcutta and Madras to level the series. Vishy got 52 & 139 at Calcutta and 97 not out & 46 at Madras. Vishy waged an epic battle with Roberts and Vanburn Holder, and his 97* at Madras was one of the best innings I have seen. He was at his artistic and fighting best.

Looking at Gundappa Viswanath tonight transported me back to the days of Gavaskar, Viswanath and the four great spinners. Thanks Vishy for those incredible memories!

Tendulkar, you beauty!!!

It has been 3 weeks since THE INNINGS in One Day International cricket. It was one of those events that people will remember for the rest of their lives. Almost like "I had just sat down to have my scrambled eggs and toast when the first airplane crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower".

Well, I was at home watching the game on TV when THE INNINGS happened!

The magnitude of Tendulkar's achievement is hard to describe. Saeed Anwar's 194 in a ODI was just about as famous an achievement as Jim Laker's 19 for 90 in a Test Match. Admittedly Laker's 19 has never been threatened, although many have gotten close to Anwar's 194. However SA 194 had become almost a magical number for a ODI.

Tendulkar's conquest of the record was not the real story on February 24th. In fact records do not really excite me the way they capture public imagination. The real story for me was the ease with which he reached 200, his supreme shot making and fitness after more than 20 years of top level international cricket. The real story has been Tendulkar re-inventing himself over the last 24 months. How does this man, who has nothing to prove anymore, find the motivation and drive to play at this level, and even reinvent himself when required? Only He knows the answer. There has never been one like him, and there probably will never be one like him again.

I have been a strong proponent of top sportsment walking away when they are close to their peak and have wondered for a while if it is time for the Master Blaster to walk away. Obviously only the individual knows when the time is right based on their own assessment and aspirations. My reasoning for that will be the subject of another blog post I have been planning to write for quite some time.

Meanwhile, let us put our feet up, and enjoy watching this genius at work. I am glad to be alive during Sachin's time!

Hum Ko Man Ki Shakti Dena...

"Hum Ko Man Ki Shakti Dena" is a prayer song from the hindi film "Guddi". This morning my keyboards teacher started playing this song during my class, and my 7-year old son Siddharth walked in and promptly announced that he sings this song as the morning prayer in their school.

I usually do not pay a lot of attention to lyrics of songs, but Siddharth's announcement intrigued me. What about this song made it appropriate to be a school prayer? Thanks to youtube, I was able to listen to the full song immediately and was moved immensely by the lyrics.

This song is not the usual religious prayer. It makes no mention of God, and the only reference to anything religious is the word "Dharma". However the word is used to describe the "right path", rather than anything else. The message in the song is incredibly powerful and timeless. It talks about the importance of victory over self before any public victories, the quest for integrity, forgiveness, and staying on the right path through difficult times. The short and melodious song really packs a punch.

I intend to listen to this song at least once a week for inspiration. The youtube link is:

Lazy or Smart?

When I played my cricket as a youngster, there were some things we were taught that made perfect sense and we followed them every time we played the game.

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One of these cardinal rules was for the wicket keeper or the bowler to be behind the stumps to take a throw from the fielder for a runout. The logic for this guideline is very simple. First, being behind the stumps creates the opportunity for a direct hit, which is the best way to get a runout. Second, it is much easier to collect the ball behind the stumps, and push your hand forward to remove the bails than to collect the ball in front of the stumps and then turn around to remove the bails.

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I have watched a lot of top level cricket on TV lately, and it amazes me that this simple sensible rule is no longer followed by even the best wicketkeepers in the world, and most bowlers. Even someone like Dhoni consistently collects throws IN FRONT of the stumps and then turns around 180 degrees to remove the bails. I believe that these guys are missing a lot of runout opportunities by choosing the lazy option. Is this a result of too much cricket, and the players conserving energy? In other words are these guys choosing the lazy option? I think so, unless I am missing something...

The 33% conundrum...

The Indian parliament is busy debating a bill that will reserve 33% of the parliament seats for women. I know that we have been discriminating against women for ages now, and that our gender ratio has become lopsided over the years due to problems like female infanticide and a bias for male progeny. However I had not realized that our gender ratio is down to 67 men for 33 women!

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We are a country that loves reservations in education and employment for oppressed social groups. We started with about 27% reservations for SC/ST communities in education and public sector employment. Then we introduced additional reservations for OBC communities based on the Mandal commission recommendations. All along the quantum of reservation has been based on the overall size of the community in relation to our total population.

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That is why I am unable to understand the figure of 33%. Our lawmakers are pretty good about implementing reservations based on actual population proportions when it comes to matters that do not directly affect them. However when it comes to things like seats in the parliament, the yardstick changes all of a sudden. I don't know what the logic is for reducing the percentage from 50 (maybe 48 to be precise) to 33. However I am quite sure that the same logic can be applied to other areas of reservation as well. But who cares as long as the shoe that pinches is on the other foot?

Hockey Anyone?

For the last two weeks I have been watching the hockey world cup on Ten Sports. I just finished watching the final, which was a nail-biting contest between the two best teams in the world - Germany with an almost inpenetrable defence, and Australia with a breathtaking offense. I am a big sports fan, but hockey has never ever been on my radar before this world cup. However these two weeks of hockey have captured my imagination like never before.

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The tournament had the best teams in the world competing for the ultimate prize in world hockey. The facilities were excellent. The pre-tournament promotion for the tournament was quite impressive. The TV coverage and live commentary teams were quite magnificient. And most surprising of all, the pre and post game studio shows during the TV coverage were quite outstanding.

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The pre and post game show for every match was anchored by Mayanti Langer. Mayanti is not just a pretty face - she is articulate, and understands her role perfectly. She puts some of her cricket peers to shame! Really. Mayanti's questions and interventions are timely, and appropriate. She has a great ability to extract the best from the experts on the show. However the stars on the show were Cedric D'Souza and Jagbir Singh - former Indian international players. Cedric and Jagbir were absolutely outstanding. They provided original insights, did a lot of homework for every game, and were generally right on the money with their observations. I must say that I learnt a lot about hockey listening to these guys.

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In contrast the first two IPL cricket games had Navjyot Singh Sidhu as the studio "expert". What a bloody joke! I prefer to watch NDTV News while the IPL Studio show is on. If we can get such great, articulate experts on hockey shows, why can't we get some halfway decent guys on the cricket shows? Instead we settle for jokers like Sidhu, Srinath, and Prasad. Really beats me. Where are you Sanjay Manjarekar?

There you go - another gem from Neo Cricket

Neo Cricket have managed to drop another gem on us through their pre and post game shows during live cricket telecasts. This time it is the hapless Venkatesh Prasad.

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Prasad had earned a lot of respect for his stint as the bowling coach of the Indian Test Cricket team, and rightly so. It was during his tenure that Zaheer Khan became the bowler he is now, and Ishant Sharma came through as a potent weapon. Prasad got a fair amount of sympathy for his unceremonious sacking as the bowling coach of the team. Some of that sympathy has faded away during his current stint as an expert on the TV show, and I for one, have begun to wonder if he really has the intellectual capacity to be an effective coach of an international team.

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His partner on the program - Lance Klusener - is no great shakes either, but looks pretty good since he has Prasad sitting alongside him. As a serious cricket viewer, my expectation from an expert who has played at the highest level is very simple - provide some insights into the game and situation, that many of us are likely to miss. I have not heard a single such insight from Prasad.

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I have said this before and will say it again - does the TV channel have a screening process to bring on these experts on their shows? Or do they just check them out for basic English language skills, and drop them on an unsuspecting viewing public?

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Neo Cricket, seriously, you need to get your act together. You have found a wonderful anchor for these pre and post game shows - do not spoil the show with these sub-standard "experts".

A good Ad is a good thing!

A second-tier Indian public sector bank has been running a fascinating advertising campaign on some TV channels recently. I noticed the ads during the telecast of the recent international cricket matches being played by the Indian team.
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The key message being delivered by Bank of India through this campaign is their understanding and respect for different types of relationships. I can't remember an advertisement ever giving me goose-bumps, but two of the ads in this campaign did. In one of the ads, two old men go through a ritual of drinking tea at a roadside "dhaba", sharing a newspaper, and not a word is spoken between them. The relationship between these two retired gentlemen jumps out at you, and touches your heart.

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Am I going to run to Bank of India tomorrow, and start an account with them? Not really. Even though this campaign has done wonders to the recall value of the bank's brand, it will not sweep away the baggage of inferior service associated with the public sector anytime soon. It will take a lot more for me to take my business to them. Perhaps a recommendation from someone I trust might be a good start.

Why is the rain delay in the Eden Garden Test Match a good thing?

With India pushing for a very likely victory, almost 50 overs of play was lost on the fourth day of the second cricket test match against South Africa. While there was tremendous frustration in the air, I felt that the loss of play was a good thing for Indian cricket. I must be crazy, right?

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Well, India are battling not only to win the match and square the test series, but they are also fighting to retain the No. 1 Test Match ranking in world cricket. What kind of a No. 1 team do we want to be? The kind Australia was, dominating everyone, winning in just about all conditions, and coming up with plans and personnel for every situation? Or the kind that will get in and out of the No. 1 spot with patchy performances - brilliant in one game, and ordinary in the next? I don't think we are in the former category at the moment.

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I am happy because the loss of play in the current match gives India the opportunity to raise their game on a fourth day track, and dismiss 7 South African wickets in about 70-80 overs to win the match. This is a much more challenging proposition than having to take 3-4 tailend wickets on the last day in 70-80 overs.

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There is a lot on the line, and it remains to be seen if this talented squad can raise their game to force a win. I believe they can and will.