George Carlin on God & Religion

I am an atheist and frequently get into heated conversations with others regarding God and religion. I came across this video of George Carlin, the celebrated American stand up comic, where he talks about his views on the subject. I can't imagine a better articulation of my own views.

Grow up Virat

It has not taken Virat Kohli very long to transition from a world cup winning U-19 captain to a regular for India in all forms of the game. He has established himself with grit, determination, and a demonstration of unusual cricketing maturity in one so young. At the international level he has played stunning innings in the shorter formats, and he has ground out important runs in the longer format after some initial struggles.

However Virat Kohli has a lot of growing up to do. And he must do that quickly if he is to play for his country's cricket team with dignity.

Virat got into a needless confrontation with his India teammate Gautam Gambhir in an IPL game a few days ago. Apparently Gambhir said something after Kohli was dismissed, and it irked Kohli enough that he got into an ugly brawl with Gambhir. It took a timely intervention from Rajat Bhatia to separate Kohli and Gambhir.

A few days later the Mumbai crowd tore into Kohli for what they saw as unsportsman like conduct from the Royal Challengers captain. Kohli responded with incredulity. He could not understand why he, an India star, got such treatment in an IPL game being played at an Indian venue. After all, wouldn't the crowd cheer for him if he were playing for India at the same venue? "The IPL is not the end of the world", Kohli went on to say.

I have a simple question for Kohli. If he were playing for India, would he have blown up in similar fashion at a teammate like Gambhir? And if IPL is not the end of the world, why did he make a fool of himself by reacting like he did when Gambhir had something to say to him in the heat of the moment? I suppose all is fair when Kohli is dishing it out, but those giving him grief must be villains, even if it happens in the IPL, which is "not the end of the world".

Virat must realize that he is a very good cricketer, not the conscience keeper of everyone around him. He needs to look at seniors like Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, and Kumble, and realize that what makes these gentlemen who they are is not just cricketing brilliance. These men have played the game with such dignity, grace, and humility that everyone would want their kids to follow them as role models.

Over the last one week I have gone from being a great admirer of Virat Kohli to one who doesn't care very much for him. Even if Kohli goes on to become the best Indian batsman ever, I certainly don't want my kids to grow up to be arrogant like him. I will be a bigger fan of a humble and less successful cricketer than a haughty and wildly successful Virat Kohli any day.

Grow up Virat. The Bangalore brawl perhaps cost you a friendship. The Mumbai outburst certainly cost you a lot of fan following. If you carry on like this, it might jeopardize something bigger - your legacy. Cricket has given you a lot. Stop taking it for granted.

The worst captain in 50 years - an Aussie cricket fan's view of Michael Clarke

Yesterday I wrote a blog post titled "Bravo Michael Clarke". My Aussie friend Adam Davenport read this post, and sent me his perspective, which couldn't be more different than mine! That is what makes life so interesting. Same situation, the same set of facts, but a diametrically opposite view point!

Adam runs his own IT security firm and is based out of Sydney. He is a typical Aussie - funny, warm, fun loving, and candid. His birthday wish to me last year was like no other - "Happy birthday you old bastard". All in all he is a wonderful bloke. Here's Adam's take.
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Sitting in airport lounge on way to Brisbane.

Read your blog. Interesting perspective but not shared by many in Australia including me. Clarke looks after his mates. The best opening pair for 20 years was Watson and Katich. Katich doesn't get on with Clarke so he has never played test cricket again despite his average in first class cricket of 52 and a test average of 45. Cowan, Clarke's mate, is a no hoper with an average in the 30s. Watson and Clarke don't get on. Watson prefers to open, we need an opener. His best average is as an opener but Clarke insist he plays down the order.

The team travel to the 3rd test together, Clarke goes on a private side trip to see the Taj Mahal!

He's a great batsman, made to look even better as he is surrounded by a poor team but he is the worst captain we have had for 50 years.

Despite this I can't blame him too much for the decision to stand down the 4 players and send Watson home. He didn't make it.  It was made by Dovey the manager, a 31 year old former administrator of ASDA the drug admin body whose sporting experience is as a junior at Menai High School! He has no cricket credentials. The decision is appalling. Supported by Pat Howard who has similarly no cricket credentials. Apparently Clarke just went along with what Dovey wanted to do. Dovey used to manage the English rugby team. Apparently wearing the right uniform is pretty important stuff for the rugby boys.

These guys are a joke and should be thrown out. What they need over there is some mentors from the past and some tough team leadership. Deal with dissent internally, sit them down, talk to them. Not evict them without any discussion and in the glare of the world media. This guy Dovey thinks he is Barrack Obama. He loves the spotlight. I saw him giving a press conference like he was discussing invading Afghanistan. They didn't hand in their homework!

Tough team players like Border, Chappelli or Steve Waugh would have dealt with discipline issues internally. The Captain needs to get the team focussed on trying to solve some problems. Like footwork to spinners and how to build an opening partnership. Clarke is more concerned about his media profile and showboating with wifey like Lady Diana at the Taj.

There is a lot more to this story to come out. I think your praise of Clarke is unfounded. He is a great player but a sensitive soul when it comes to his team-mates, if they don't support him or criticize him in any way he gets them canned.

The actions of Howard and Dovey will set Australian cricket back 10 years in this country. I guess Clarke read about what was happening in the paper from his hotel room at the Taj Mahal.

Lets hope some of the great players from he past stand up and do something. There is certainly little support for the way Clarke has behaved down here and Dovey or Howard will do well to make it out of Sydney airport without being lynched.

The English are salivating. An Ashes tour against a leaderless rabble will be easy pickings. Bookies have them at short odds for a clean sweep. A similar result is inevitable in India now.

Just an unemotional early morning viewpoint!

Bravo Michael Clarke

Michael Clarke has been one of  international cricket's premier batsmen over the last two years. Now he has shown that he is also the best leader in the cricket world.

Clarke's action in suspending 4 of his key players for one Test Match has caused a huge uproar. It has polarized opinions both for and against his decision. The general argument against his decision is that it is too harsh, and will not help matters as far as the morale of the team is concerned. I agree with both of these arguments, and that is the reason I think Clarke is a phenomenal leader.

Clarke has made a decision that will invite a lot of criticism, and perhaps hurt his side in the short term. However he has made it crystal clear that interests of the team come first. The rules apply equally to every member of the team, and the bottom line is to help the team win. Michael Clarke could have chosen the easy way out and let things slide. He didn't.

For me the point is not whether Clarke's decision is correct or not. The point is that he made a very tough decision at a very tough time for the team, and he made it for the right reasons. Opinions about the decision may vary, but Clarke is in charge, and he carries responsibility for results - short and long term. And he chose to act in the interest of the team at great personal risk. I wish we had candor like this in Indian cricket.

Bravo Michael Clarke!

Why India have never been able to dominate Test cricket

After watching Vernon Philander decimate the New Zealand top order in the Cape Town test, I wondered where Philander stood in the career strike rate rankings among bowlers. A strike rate represents the number of balls a bowler has to bowl on average to capture a wicket. It represents the true wicket taking efficiency of a bowler. Philander has been a revelation since his debut and already has 67 Test wickets in 12 matches. Sure enough Philander is second only to the legendary Englishman GA Lohmann on this list.

As I browsed through this list of 126 bowlers, I started looking for Indians and was astonished not to find an Indian in the top 50. All the usual suspects from the great Test teams are on this list - the Windies of the 80s, the Aussies from the 90s and 2000s, the great Pakistani pace bowlers of the 80s & 90s. Marshall, Holding, Roberts, Garner, Walsh, Thomson, Lillee, McGrath, Gillespie, Clark, Willis, Botham, Waqar, Akram, Imran are all in there.

The full list is here...Best career bowling strike rates

The first Indian to appear on this list is at number 87, and that name is the much maligned Chetan Sharma! Chetan Sharma has the best strike rate ever for an Indian bowler in Test match history! The only other Indians in this list are Irfan Pathan, and Zaheer Khan. Amazingly spinners like Warne, McGill, Murali, and Swann are in this list, but no India spinner is in the top 126!

No wonder India has never been a dominant force in Test cricket. A great batting line up without strike bowlers will give you a lot of draws, but not regular wins. Spinners usually bowl a lot of overs for their wickets, and are seldom match winners outside the sub-continent. However what you need to win consistently world wide are aggressive wicket taking pace bowlers. And we have hardly ever had them except for Zaheer Khan recently. That is why India rose to the number one ranking in Tests briefly. India's decline has coincided neatly with Zaheer's decline in wicket taking ability.

So what do we need to do to become a force in Test cricket? Cultivate a culture of fast bowling, nurture these bowlers, and make them feel like heroes. To win consistently we don't need as many Dravids, Tendulkars, Laxmans, and Gavaskars. We need more Zaheers. We need to create conditions favourable for fast bowlers all over the country, particularly in the North where we have more of the athletic and aggressive bowlers. And then take care of them.

Otherwise we will keep wondering where the next Dravid or Tendulkar is going to come from instead of worrying about the next Zaheer Khan or Chetan Sharma. We will continue to throw our occasional wicket taking fast bowler into ODI and T20 cricket and burn them out. And always remain an average Test side that is unable to live up to its potential.