The Wall

Today’s match would be the last ODI for Dravid….. Most of the followers of cricket loved to hate this guy but he went on to score more than 10K runs in ODIs.

Undoubtedly, His one the most remarkable ODI inning for me is against Pakistan in 2003 world cup. After Tendulkar got out, we still needed 100 more runs, Yuvi and Dravid made sure India’s win in that amazing match. That victory is second only to 2011 World cup victory for me.

Though it was never easy to watch him score runs, I never lost hope until he is on crease.

He wasn’t in team for last 2 years, to say the truth, India didn’t feel like missing him even for one match but the fact is others (his replacements) also failed to fill in his shoes.

Match of Equals

One of the most awaited test series is starting today. It’s a game between one of the strongest test sides in the world cricket.

The way India – South Africa contest turned out to be a worthy watch, and final result proved India’s mettle in the world cricket, upcoming India – England series will be almost there, in fact for me it will be few notches above that.

It is English weather which is going to test Indians. World knows Indians are not good players of Rising deliveries but they also know that swinging conditions can cause equal damage to Indian stronghold. It will be a great to see Indians performing against the likes of Tremmlets and Andersons.

This is a landmark series for Indian maestros, surely the last for them to leave their mark on Englishmen. Dravid and Tendulkar have already proved their class in those conditions. But that one last mark on the honor list at Lords is yet to be seen (To everybody’s pity Agarkar is the last Indian to have his name over there), name on that honor list can be compared with the name on Wimbledon Championship Wall only. Laxman was never as great as he is in those conditions, might he is waiting for that right opportunity.

In a way it will also be important for Gambhir also to perform. He has been one consistent performer for India. With Sehwag, Indian opening always looked very strong. But Gambhir wont have that support this time around. He is a senior pro now and Mukund will surely need Gambhir’s help to wither very much potent English pace attack.

This series, Indian will miss Sehwag sourly. It really doesn’t bother him whether there are swinging conditions or seaming conditions… He is one tormentor, who will unsettle the whole opposition camp and can turn the result in one session. His blows just impact the moral of the opposition.

Our bowling strength will be tested in English conditions. It was English County Cricket which has given us revitalized Zaheer Khan, whom almost every world class batsman recognizes as one of the most lethal bowler of world cricket. The best thing to come out from West Indies tour was Ishant Sharma. That’s the only positive from the tour and I am sure that he will extract lot of help from English weather, though he doesn’t seem to have enough experience of swinging conditions. It will be tantalizing to use Praveen Kumar in English weather but I would still say Srisanth is a better choice. He has pace, He has aggression and he can bowl much better with older ball.

It will also be a test of MSD’s leadership. Post world cup victory, he hasn’t been tested at International levels. Almost everybody says, he has been lucky, but this series would decide whether he is plain lucky or he does know cricketing tactics.

English camp is very much upbeat about their performance. It’s their home turf; they got to be very confidant. But for me important thing is their batting line up. It never looked so strong before. Strauss, Cook and Trot are world class performers and that wonder boy KP can turn results on his own. He is surely in the leagues of legends of the game. Though Indians are better players of Spin, playing Swan will be tough. He knows his strengths and surely will be dangerous for lower middle order.

Though Indians are top ranked and Englishmen are at third position in latest ICC Test rankings, It’s match of equals for me. It will be pretty interesting to see whether Indian batting (though on the wrong side of 30) lives upto its name or its lively, youthful English bowling attack.  

Billion March Required

I would like to clarify right in the beginning that I am Pro-Telangana. Though born in Maharashtra, my native is hardly 10 km away from Telangana border. I have many more relatives living in Nizamabad, Adilabad and Hyderabad districts than districts in Maharashtra. I would like to see Telangana as a separate state carved out of existing Andhra Pradesh. Undoubtedly it would immensely help in development of people living in that region.

‘Million March’ on Thursday, Mar 10th has irked me like never before. I don’t remember last time when I was so critical of my countrymen and I do not understand how exactly I should express my displeasure towards that march. The vandalism done by Pro-Telangana activists at Tank Bund in Hyderabad is an unforgivable offense.

We all be it Telangana activists or Raj Thakare supporters need to understand that we are Indians first and then comes our regional identity.

I felt terribly bad on watching that rubble on TV. Necklace road in Secunderabad is the jewel of the city. It is as important for the city as Charminar is. There must be thousands amongst those millions who have wandered on the same road numerous times.

Here, I would like to ask everyone very basic question, why do we put up statues? Or it is like, Mayawati’s Statue building activity has adulterated the whole meaning of erecting statues. I believe it is always with the intention that these statues would inspire people to think on the similar lines as those great people have thought. It is with the intention to follow the path shown by the legends thus developing society in all. Have you ever seen Hitler’s statue being erected anywhere? No it is not possible, we don’t want our society to go his way. Looking at what has happened in Hyderabad, for a moment I forgot that these are my people, I suddenly remembered the most infamous person of Telangana, Razakar. Nobody else but he would have only thought such a Talibani destruction.

I would like every Telangana activist to remember that, their mother tongue is Telugu, respect Telugu language and Telugu culture, otherwise it won’t be late to see another Nizam coming out of Telangana who is ready to align himself with Pakistan.

Amongst those whose statues were demolished was a King who supported enrichment of Telugu culture, language and in all the people of the region. There was an Engineer, British, who devoted his life to irrigation in India, thus making the Andhra region Rice-full moreover what is more surprising is statues of purely religious figures like Annamacharya, Vemana and Kshetrayya were desecrated. Protesters had desecrated the statues giving warning that one of their leaders Kondaraman (don’t know the exact name) has to be released from jail, every individual who took part in this rally must ask this question to himself, whether Kondaraman’s contribution to society is bigger than of those whose statues were there. We Indians take pride in our history, in our forefathers, that’s our culture we should not be supporting such a destructive mind.

For the destruction, there isn’t any repentance. We all Indians need to condemn such kind of activity. I don’t want government to rebuild all statues over there; it would pacify the purpose of having statues. What I want? If a million march has dismantled Indian history then a billion march required to reinstate the same.

Why It cannot happen in India...

The protests in Egypt and subsequent resignation by Hosni Mubarak have really made me look into my own country. With due reference to Dipankar Gupta's article in ToI The tenacity of hope where he basically uncovered the reasons behind the unrest in Egypt and comparing those with Indian republic, he clearly singles out 'Indian democracy'; howsoever ineffective and non-performing it might be, people of India recognizes power in their hand to choose the government.

The public outcry in Egypt was due to rampant unemployment in the country along with corruption and autocratic governance of Hosni Mubarak. The only factor differing India is democracy but situation in India doesn't look as revolutionary as it should be. This shows that world's largest democracy and second largest populous country's lack of sensitivity towards corruption and unemployment. Though this insensitivity infuriates almost everyone, It doesn't bring out people on road protesting against the government.

So what exactly has prompted people of India to come on road and protest against the government?

Looking into the post-independence India, we can see that there are only three instances when India has come on road. The first one was against Emergency in 1975. When we look into the details the important cause behind the anger was the rejection of basic democratic rights. In 1975, we were pretty young nation enjoying fruits of freedom. By then we had just 5 general elections; though Congress had been 'The One' party across breadth and width of India, people started understanding power of democracy through new governments in Tamilnadu and Kerala, who had different ideologies. Its little far-fetched but one must not forget role of British-Raj here. Though we used to call it 'Raj', British Parliamentary was also one of the main reasons behind instilling appreciation for democracy in Indian DNA.

The second time Indians fought collectively against the government was during Mandal commission protests in 1990. It was fight against the reservation. My understanding is 80's was a kind of tough time for majority of Indian populace. Youth in late 70's and early 80's had grown up seeing a secured life with government job after graduation but suddenly youth realized that there are no government jobs on offer for them and as India was still reeling under 'license raj' there were not many industries to accommodate them. There was very high rate of unemployment across the graduate youth and during such torrid time a big jolt came in the form of reservations. For majority of the youth it was denial of opportunity as reservations were basically securing job for less-deserving candidates and providing much required security in life.

Many might argue on third instance but the third time Indians got angry and came agitating against government was during Ayodhya dispute. There was anger in Hindus as well as Muslims  against the government after Babri demolition. We, Indians are religious people and thats how we have grown up in our society. We always look for spiritual - devotional gateway through-out our life. When Ayodhya happened, it basically shook this sentimental side of individual and unfortunately we fought against each other because their basic right of practicing religion was denied. 

These three incidences show that we Indians revolt against rejection of rights. Post economic reforms, employment opportunities have surely increased. There have been significant growth in employment in non-agriculture units changing the nature of Indian society. There is hope in every individual's mind that he can surely find a job in cities and can survive on that. Through numerous government initiatives also lot of job opportunities have been created reducing dependence on agriculture.

Though the demons of unemployment have been won by India (considerably), corruption is still present in society. I might sound pessimistic but I don't think that Indians will come on roads against corruption in India. Just try to remember last two years and you will see that almost every  month some scam had been unearthed showing loot by politicians but even after so much theft by politicians, I don't remember seeing any agitation by common man. There have been agitations by political parties but those could not catch the imagination of general public. On this particular issue what I feel is, as employment in private sector has increased, our exposure to corruption has reduced. We, the youth of this country come across corruption only when we are caught by traffic police in our day-to-day life whereas it was very different for our parent's generation. They were exposed to corruption in their every day life much more than a mere traffic police incidence. Even in offices, if they have to withdraw their GPF, they have to pay bribe to their colleagues, such was the pathetic state of people. Though we see that in 2G scam or in CWG scam, enormous amount of public money has been stolen, it has not directly affected an individual and thus his anger remains limited to a short burst on social media only. Thats why I think a revolt against corruption could have happened in last generation, but with our generation, Its just impossible.

World Cup: Batsmen to watch out for

No! this list won’t include Sachin or Ponting, they are the stalwarts. This is about the less-known guys who can make it big during world cup; who have capability to perform at the biggest stage.

1)       Kane Williamson: He has just one century in 11 ODI matches until now but the kind of patience and strokes he has showed during his debut test century against India proves his mettle.

2)       Adrian Barath: He caught the eye of Brian Lara as a 11-year old when batting in the nets and has developed to become one of the most exciting batsmen from West Indies. He has just played five ODIs but has already become the youngest West Indian to score a Test-match century. Much is expected from this attacking opener (From Cricinfo)

3)       Chamara Kapugedra: It’s a surprise entry, isnt it? But this highly talented batsman is one of the most under-rated batsmen. He is one guy, who can clear the rope easily as well as play a patient knock. Playing in home conditions would surely help him perform better.

4)       Umar Akmal: In very short span of time, he has turned out to be one of the pillars of Pakistani batting. His exploits in the world cup would be very keenly followed. I won’t be over-estimating if I say that Pakistan’s chances of reaching semi-finals depend heavily on how Umar Akmal performs at the matches.

5)       Johan Botha: I have intentionally included Botha as batsman in this list. Everybody will be looking forward to him to lead South African spin bowling attack but one must not forget his batting credentials. There is every possibility that South African will remain loyal to their ‘Chokers’ tag. Their top-order do fail under pressure but this is the guy who has capability to build South African inning from there on and salvage South Africans from further agony in world cups.  

6)       Yusuf Pathan: I must include his name in this list. He has been off-late batting wonderfully but I strongly believe that he is yet to receive due recognition from his countrymen. His brother received lot of adulation from people but same is not the case about Yusuf and almost everybody counts him as one strong hitter who is perfect for T-20 cricket. I will include him in Indian cricket team for his bowling abilities also. On Indian wickets, he will ball much better than Yuvi or Raina.

7)       Tamim Iqbal: In Bangladesh Squad everybody recognizes Shakib and truly he is one of the best all-rounders around but explosive batsman Tamim Iqbal has capability to turn games on his own. I would love to call him Sehwag of Bangladeshi squad. At very young age of 21 years, he has been made the vice-captain of Bangladeshi squad.

8)       Steven Smith: This Australian if comes out of his hip injury can play very constructive role in Aussie challenge. A very stable batsman down the order and good googly bowler is a potent combination on sub-continental wickets.

9)       Eoin Morgan: The man in form. He has been performing consistently for England. Very under-estimated cricketer. He is capable of building English inning in case of top order failure. With his medium pace bowling, he brings in good option for English think-tank.

Aussie Selection

Australia declared their team for World Cup. Being reigning champions, Its important to have a look that Aussie armory. Their selection panel is already under attack due to heavy losses in Ashes and I think attacks will continue after looking at the selection;

Australia squad Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Cameron White, Tim Paine (wk), Steven Smith, John Hastings, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger

Its really surprising that Aussies are bringing just one specialist spinner to play in subcontinent. Anyways, Hauritz is surely better bet than Dohorty or Beer whom they have selected in Ashes campaign. Another part-timer they would be using in almost all the matches is Smith but he is an average bowler; his googly is pretty easy to pick up for most of the sub-continental players.

Aussie Bowling looks very weak on paper. Brett Lee is a wicket taker but he leaks lot of runs and same is the case with Mitchell Johnson.Doug Bollinger is one bowler they rely a lot on in subcontinent.

Their batting is looks decent on paper though, Ponting and Clarke are completely out of form but one must not forget that they can easily rise to occasion and make merry of subcontinent conditions, at least Clarke can surely use these conditions where ball is not rising above his chest-height.

I think Aussie experience in IPL will come very handy and if they play to their full potential I do see them in semifinals.

My Aussie Playing 11:

1) Shane Watson,

2) Brad Haddin (wk),

3) Ricky Ponting (capt),

4) Michael Clarke,

5) Michael Hussey

6) Steven Smith

7) Mitchell Johnson,

8) Nathan Hauritz,

9) Brett Lee

10) Doug Bollinger

11) David Hussey

My 15

Its been long time since we have played two spinners. In this world cup, I think we need to think abt such ploy. Ojha is a wonderful spinner, I strongly feel that he shud be in the playing eleven with Bhajji. But looking at current team playing in SA, opportunity to Ojha looks very difficult and we might opt for three pacers in the playing eleven and that would be Munaf for sure, just due to his strength in keeping it simple and not trying too much.

So the 5 Bowlers who would figure in this list are

1)       Zaheer

2)       Praveen Kumar

3)       Bhajji

4)       Munaf

5)       Ojha

Openers;

6)       Tendulkar

7)       Sehwag

Followed By

8)       Gambhir

Looking at the current form though I don’t like but Kohli would easily make into the team at Position 4

9)       Kohli

Position 7 should be Dhoni.

10)   Dhoni

So it leaves us with two of the most important positions of the line up which are gonna be the deciding factors. Position 5 and 6; My first choice would be Yuvi and Raina (again I don’t like this guy but cant help it).

11)   Raina

12)   Yuvi

And these are the two position for which there are another two contenders; Yusuf and Rohit; I think here we need to go for a better bowler which tilts the selection in favor of Yusuf in place of Yuvi but just a presence of Yuvi can keep opposition on their toes even if he is not in the form.

Comparing Raina and Rohit will not result in anything. Both of them are decent players on Indian pitches with more or less similar batting/bowling and fielding capabilities. I guess whosoever plays the initial rounds will remain in the team as a lucky mascot as Dinesh Mongia played in 2003

13)   Rohit

14)   Yusuf

And that leaves us with the last 15^th player who could make it to team and it’s a tough call between extra batsman or extra bowler. Extra batsman under consideration could be Vijay whereas extra bowler under consideration could be Nehra. I think Nehra would make a cut here based on a sheer data that he is the only one who has consistently played ODIs in last 2 years with decent bowling performance.

15)   Nehra

And That’s my 15 for the cup

Season Starts 'morrow

Its time for three pointers, point guards, rebounds and time-outs

The grueling NBA season starts tomorrow after unbelievable off-season activity.

Wade - James - Bosh is surely the most potent force available with 'Heat', though the legendary Pat Riley is no more the coach of the team, he wll surely be active in guiding Miami Heat.
I am a big big Wade fan, Wade and Shaqueel's game in 2005-6 season is the reason I have started following this game. They wil always be closer to my heart.

Reigning champions LA Lakers are surely the favorites this time again. When u have Kobe, u r favorite. With Gasol coming very strong last season and 5 times champion Derek Fisher still hanging around, u can blindly count them in Western Conference finals.

One of the most important transfers during off-season is of Shaqueel's. He has moved to Celtics. Just add his name to already star-studded Celtics lineup of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo and u will realise they are stronger than earlier. Surely, one cant ever take them out of contention.

Another of my favorites, Dwight Howard has got an able shooting guard Vince Carter and a three pointer master Rashard Lewis. The most striking thing about Magic is their coach Stan Van Gundy. I bet this guy can motivate a dumb to play a winning performance.

I am keeping fingers crossed for Heat's victory, its gonna be helluva of a time tomorrow onwards.

One Year In Canada

Its been one year for me in Canada. Never before I have lived away from my family and friends for so long.

During this time, I got to see my parents for a week and I really feel fortunate for that.

I dont know why but I like India little too much, waha ki mitti mein kuch alag hee khushbu hai.

During last one year, I got good professional experiences. Its not as if I didnt come across a$$h0les but there were many good guys also. Got lot of new friends.

Talking about work, see I am not developing controls for satellites, But almost at the end of every day, I felt like I learned something new, and I am happy in that.

On a lighter note, the most important thing with this project was realization of great saying by Maharashtrian Saint

"Prayatne waluche kan ragadita Telahi Gale"

So what I am doing or what this whole Shell project is, they are crushing the oil sands to separate bitumen from sand/clay and this bitumen is further processed to get heavy crude oil. these sand deposits are so big that, It can surely support the oil requirement of whole world even if gulf denies to do so. U will get mroe details about it @http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sand s

I salute our saints who had knowledge of oil sands ;-) without a single deposit being present across Indian subcontinent.

I wanted to see Vancouver, as it is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world but I think I need to come sometime later for that, this time it just didnt happen.

I visited almost all the recommended places in 'One Day' perimeter of Calgary and each location was worth visiting. I still cherish memories of Lake Moraine and its serene surrounding. Banff and Lake Louise were equ ally beautiful. The Hoodoos were just awesome and so were the Drumheller Dinosaurs.

Believe me guys, Canada lives on Tim Hortons. And this Coffee/Donut place do serve one of the best coffees. Taste of French Vanilla or Double Double will stay with me forever.

IPL-3 and me

This is third season of the latest revolution in Cricket, T-20 cricket. But even in its third season, IPL has not been able to create enough interest in Cricket's traditional fan base(I am counting myself as one amongst them).

Its really surprising but what interests me in IPL's 2010 season is its deferred live (By 5 mins) broadcast on Youtube and few more garbage from FakeIPLPlayer. FakeIPLPlayer has been the toast of second season. Though it has lost its shine over one year, people still anticipates lot of new names and so called insider information as they have never been exposed to something like that.

I dont feel attached to either Mumbai Indians or Kolkatta KnightRiders. IPL's every match is just like one of the thousand bollywood movies releasing every year, hardly one amongst them deserves time to watch. Last year also, they showed these matches in multiplexes, I question myself are these matches really worth of spending such money. Till now I treat this whole thing as "Nautanki" only, yet to figure out real mass in it.

One thing which bothers me a lot is players dedication towards these matches. It does hurt me but I have to start this scrutiny with my favourite, Sachin himself.

Sachin, he takes pride in playing for India and thats seen even from his helmet but what would be the case when he is playing for Mumbai Indians. Does he take same pride in playing for them?

Ok, let me consider them as employees of respective team owners but in that case also I am not able to correlate these guys to usual engineers who are slogging their asses for respective owners.

Other thing is, correlating these guys to so called club culture in Europe or Americas. But what everybody will see is these players hardly play for their countries. International Soccer matches or Basketball games are as rare as Halley's comet. In case of cricket, this is very different. Cricket enthusiasts would always want to see Inda-Pakistan game or Aus-Eng game. The history these games carry, the kind of rivalry on field is unmatchable in these club games.

Anyways new season of F1 holds lot of interest for me with Schumacher's return and lot of new rules. Will write about it soon.

Cool Runnings!!

Vancouver Winter Olympics ended yesterday with the fitting finale. Canadian Hockey fans wouldn't have expected anything better than this. This victory has immortalized their Demigod 'Sydney Crosby'. He handed over the most cherishable gold medal to Canadians.

Truly, Superstars rise to the occasion. Till that moment Sydney had nothing mentionable in the game. To say about the whole tournament, he had decider goal against Switzerland only. He was so average throughout but you just can't contain excellence. It has that knack for Big games.

For the first time I was following Winter Olympics. To start with Indian presence, we had three participants. Full stop. I cant give any more information about our performance.

I liked overall concept of Winter Olympics, but many of them would find place in X-games category rather than Olympic games category. I have to mention two sports, Skeleton and Luge. I just don't understand how can these two sports be considered as Olympic sports. They are too risky for participants and in fact one athlete from Georgia lost his life during Luge training run.

Apart from Ice Hockey, Curling and Bobsledding fetched my attention. They are kind of team sports and require full dedication from each member. Interest in Bobsledding directed me in watching this amazing movie 'Cool Runnings'. Part true and part fictional movie shows the adventures of 4 Jamaican guys in 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. While watching Winter Olympics, my experiences were none the different. For a person from Tropical conditions, even watching winter sports would always remain one heck of an adventure.

निसर्गराजा!

माझा मित्रा पश्या हे एक महान व्यक्तिमत्व आहे पण ते एक जगा-वेगळ रसायन आहे. तो खरा खुलतो ते निसर्गाच्या सान्निध्यात. ते म्हणतात ना, मनाची शांति वगैरे काय ते, ते मिळत त्याला जेव्हा तो दर्या-खोर्‍यातून फिरत असतो तेव्हा. गेल्या ३-४ वर्षं मध्ये त्यान मुंबई पुण्याच्या आस-पासच्या बहुतांश सगळ्याच गड-किल्ल्यांना भेटी दिल्या असतील. खरतर भेट दिली असेल असा म्हणन चुक ठरेल, त्यानी त्या गड-किल्ल्यांचा अभ्यास केला असेल (बरोबर आहे अभ्यास करण आणि खूप मार्क्स मिळवणा हा देखील त्याचा एक छंद) मला अस वाटत की आयुष्यात काय करायचा हे जानन तितकाच महत्वाच आहे जितक की पृथ्वीतलावर जन्म घेण (ही गोष्ट इतकी महत्वाची असूनही हजारात एखादाच जाणतो). बहुतेक ही अनुभूती व्हायला जीवनाच सर्वांगी दर्शन होणा गरजेचा आहे. पश्यान खूप काही पाहिलाय आन तेच कारण असणार की त्याला काय हव आहे, काय करायाच आहे ते तो जाणतो. मोजक्या शब्दात जर त्याच वर्णन करायचा झाल तर 'एक अष्टपैलू व्यक्तिमत्व' हे अतिशय चपखल बसत मी पाहिलेला एकमेवाद्वितीय अष्टपैलू व्यक्ती. तुम्हा असा यूनिवर्सिटी टॉपर शोधून सापडणार नाही जो दर्या-खोर्‍यांनी, गड-किल्ल्यानी फिरतो, जो उत्तम रेखचित्रे काढतो. ह्यास शाडूची माती द्या, तो एखादी सुंदर मूर्ती बनवेल, ह्याच्या हातात कॅमेरा द्या, तुम्ही पाहत राहाल असे फोटोस मिळतील, पक्षी विषयकही तेवढीच माहिती. खेळ आणि खेळाडूंच्या बाबतीत तसेच सिनेमाच्या बाबतीतही एग्ज़ॅक्ट इन्फर्मेशन असते. एकंदर असा प्राणी पुन्हा घडणे नाही. जे ह्याच्या सहवासात आले ते पावन झाले, अन् त्यातलाच मी एक. लवकरच पुढचा भाग.....

2010; Get hooked up to the television set

So the twenty-ten has arrived. It would be one heck of an year for sports followers. Be it Soccer, Cricket, Tennis or Formula1, there will be lot of action.

Sports biggest event, FIFA world cup is ther this year. June-July, whole world would be keenly following the first world cup in African continent. It must be one of the most eagerly awaited event as it will define who is better player between Kaka, Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi. It would be interesting to see whether the methodical european football has what it takes to overturn the magic of Samba kings. After a long time English team is looking good, they have good combination of youth and experience but coming July will only tell whether that is enough or it requires much more than that to be the champions. Though Argentina struggled in qualifiers, they are my personal favorites, They wil be playing under the guidance of Maradona with Lionell Messi and Carlos Tavez at their disposal, they can change result of any match within last gasping seconds also.

Another mega event of 2010 is T20 Worldcup. 2009 Champions League shows that tournament hosts West Indies are the team to look for in this format. Their performance is always unpredictable but T20 is also equally unpredictable format. Indians will surely go as one formidable team in the tournament, they would like to reclaim their lost title but for that to happen they have to win against South Africans first. This year will also show more or less revolving test championship mace. Three test matches series between India and South Africa would be the deciding point for this mace in 2010.

Fedex achieved career grandslam last year, broke Samprass's record for maximum grandslams but memory of last year's Australian final still haunts his fans, they want the rematch and that would be the first major sporting event of the year. Though the US open and year ending tournament showed the advent of new champion (Del Porto), Federer-Nadal is stil regarded as the game to watch out for. Every Nadal fan is awaiting for his return to usual. He has been one great champion of this game and deserves to win couple of more grandslams in this year.

Last year Cavaliers could not reach NBA finals and in a way we missed on watching Kobe Bryant versus Brain James dual. This year with Shaqueel moving to Cavaliers and Lakers as good as last year, we will surely get to see most awaited dual between NBA MVPs. Though Astana won Tour De France last year, legendary Lance Armstrong failed to win Yellow Jersey. This year his Team Radioshack can turn the tables on current champions Alberto Contador and Team Astana.

Last but not the least, December 2009 brought the best news for Formula-1 followers. Return of Schumacher-Brawn pairing ought to create tougher competition for Mclaren and Ferrari. It is clear now that we will be missing Iceman this year, but you never know F-1 is very dynamic sport. With sleek front tires, ban on refuelling during race and new point system It would be an interesting competition.

Lets hope that this year will bring lots of joy to all the followers of sports making their every experience cherishable.

विनाशकाले विपरीत बुद्धी

संजय राउत यांना माझा एक प्रश्न, त्यांना त्यांच्या रडवेल्या मुलाच्या चेहर्यावर तरी हसू आणता येत का? सचिन तेंडुलकरबद्दल तुम्ही काही बोलावा इतकी तुमची लायकी तरी आहे का? अहो त्या माणसाच जेवढ़ कर्तृत्व आहे, तेवढ ना ही तुमच्या लेखनिच अन ना ही तुमच्या राजकारणाच. त्याचा एक फटकार (षटकारही नाही) रडनारया पोराला शांत करतो अन भांडनारया शेजारयाला चुप करतो.

गेली ४-५ वर्षे भारतात अन भारताबाहेर फिरण्याचा काही वेळा योग आला. मग तो भारतीय असो, बांगलादेशी असो वा पाकिस्तानी असो, तो केवळ दोनच गोष्टीबद्दल विचारतो. एक ती लता आणि दुसरा सचिन. आपण कृपया समजून घ्यावे ह्यांच्यात दुभगलेली मना जोडण्याचे सामर्थ्या आहे अन्यथा आपले इस्राएल- पॅलेस्टाईन व्हायला जास्त वेळ नाही लागणार.

तुम्ही सध्या जी सचिनवर चिखलफेक चालवली आहे ना त्यात तुम्हीच घाण होताय हे तुम्ही बहुधा जाणत नाही. बर्‍याचश्या मराठी माणसांत एक दुर्गुन आढळून येतो, दुसर्याला कुणी चांगल म्हणाला तर ह्याला पोटात दुखत अन् ह्या समजाला मांजरेकर, कांबळी अन् तुमच्यासारखे लोक खात-पाणीच घालतात.

मला खरच तुम्हा सांगाव वाटत की राष्ट्र-भावना फार महत्वाची आहे, अन्यथा एकसंध भारत आणि तुकड्या-तुकड्यातला युरोप ह्यात फारसा फरक नाही. तुमच्यासारखे मनानी आणि विचाराणी कोडगे लोक कधीच राष्ट्रभक्त असु शकत नाहीत. तुम्ही म्हणता की तेलुगू असे करतात, तमिळ तसे करतात तर मग आपण मराठीच का बर तसे वागू नये, अहो एक समजून घ्या की हा सर्व भारतवर्ष 'हिंदू' ह्या एका नाळेन जोडलेला आहे. तुम्हाला जर राजकारणच करायचा असेल तर समस्त हिंदूंना एकटरा बांधण्याच करा, ना की त्यात भेदभाव अन् दुरावा निर्माण करण्याच.

पण मला असा वाटत की, सचिन हे एक निमित्त्य आहे. राज ठाकरेंनी तुमच्या धनुष्या-बाणाचा प्रत्यन्चा पळवलाय अन् तुम्ही सर्वेतोपरि प्रयत्न करताय की प्रत्यन्चा नाही तर नाही सुतळी तरी लावता येईल काय. तुम्ही जाणता की सचिन हा राज चा मित्र, त्याला छेडल्यास राज डीवचेल अन् काही तरी प्रतिक्रिया देईल. मग काय करा भांडवल त्याच. मी काय बोलतोय ते समजून घ्या, तुम्ही निवडलेला मार्ग चुकीचा आहे किंबहूना असे म्हणणे सयुक्तिक ठरेल की तुम्ही पायावर कुरहाड मारुन घेतली आहे अन् ह्याचा परिणाम तुम्हाला मुंबई महानगरपालिकेच्या निवडणुकीमध्ये दिसेलच. हे सांगण्यास कुणा ज्योतिषाची वा राजकीय विश्लेषकाची गरज नाही.

एक मात्र समजलय, शिव-सेने वरुन आता ठाकरेंचा कंट्रोल संपलाय अन् तुमचा सुरू झालाय.
..... एक सच्चा भारतीय
..... एक अभिमानी महाराष्ट्रिय
..... एक कडवा हिंदू

Those were privileged

Those were privileged, who watched todays Sachin's inning. It was a real massacre of Aussie bowling.
It wasnt one of the best bowing attacks but looking at that mammoth total, anybody would surrender meekly. Tendulkar played undoubtedly one of the best innings of his life and agin in loosing cause.
asa waatata ki he has been cursed for such an outcome of his efforts.
Look at his dedication guys... Aussie total was already 350, it was last ball of the match, and there was an almost impossible opportunity of catch. He didnt let it go, dived fullheartedly to take it and restrict them.
He came on to bat, took some 15-16 balls to take a good look at pitch, bowlers and everything. By that time Kookaburra already stopped swinging and he sensed the opportunity to free his arms. Whereas other three stalwarts of Indian batting line up were in mood to start hitting right from the word go.
There was lot of pain in Sachin's eyes today. I felt like those words "I care about playing for India" were directed towards all these young guns who threw their prized wicket in a mad manner. I still could not understand what Jadeja was thinking while getting himself runout, I havnt seen such a reckless shot from Gambhir in recent past. I can understand that Dhoni was out to a superb catch but Yuvraj... Its better we dont say anything abt him.
I couldnt get to watch Aussie middle overs, but our bowling attack was experienced so they shud hav atleast tried to contain Aussies by slowing down the pace of the game. At least they shud have tried Joginder Bowling (pitching every ball inches inside the crease)
Anyways, It was sad end.. almost repetition of Chennai Test...Ind- Aus match (Benson & Hedges worldcup) and .....

One match immortals

Its a weird title but very true. I observed that, there are handful of cricket players who have literally become immortal just because of their performances, good or bad, in just one match. Those were surely innings of their lives.
The first one who comes to my mind is Douglas Marrilier. In these T20 times, we see paddle scoop (shot over wicketkeeper's head) very frequently, particularly by Dilshan but nobody at least Indian fans will forget the hammering at the hands of this Zimbabwean. He was the one who introduced this shot to world cricket by scoring fifty of some twenty deliveries against formidable Indian bowling attack, and in turn giving Zimbabwe rare ODI victory on Indian soil.
From the time I am watching cricket, there have been many players who came in, promised a lot but just got vanished within few months. First one is Ricardo Powell, this guy made mockery of Indian bowling attack.One another player is Phillo Wallace, this guy hit Srinath for first over sixer, truly amazing stuff but nobody knows when they went offline :-)
There have been few Indians also. Though Venkatesh Prasad went on to play for quite long time, he will always be remembered for that magic ball to Aamir Sohail. We all know him just for that one wicket as it turned the game in India's favour. Same is the story of Hrishikesh Kanitkar. Ask any Indian cricket fan, he knows him for match winning last over boundary to Saqlain Mushtaq's 'Dooosara'.
You might not agree with me, even laugh at me but I must include Joginder Sharma's name in this list. He is still trying but I dont see him coming back in Indian team. He became immortal with that match winning last over bowling against Pakistan in T20 World cup.
There are few players who regained this immortality just because of the connection with Sachin Tendulkar. Henry Olonga, Andrew Caddik to name the few. Aquib Javed, Ata-Ur-Rehman would be remembered more for their wicket of Tendulkar than their involvement in match fixing.
As they say, history of winners would be written. Most of these immortals have scripted victories for their respective sides but there have been instances when guys on the other side have also earned place. The first one should be Chetan Sharma, he has been haunted with that last ball six against Pakistan throughout his life. It was such a blemish on his career that, even a hattrick in worldcup could not wash it away. But, there is this one rare case, this one lefty, Atul Bedade has remained in fans' hearts for his heroics against Wasim Akram, world's greatest one day bowler. Call up any Indian cricket fan, and he will surely tell you how Bedade has hit Wasim Akram for three sixes in one over.

विजयादशमीचा विजय

Vijayadashami 1997, Its been more than a decade, I was in 9th standard and we all friends were out on our bicycles visiting teachers' homes to give Sona and take their blessings. I remember even though Sachin was on ground, after Azhar's dismissal and subsequent interruption by crowd almost everybody had given up hopes of winning (It was supposed to be a repeat of Eden Garden) or even resumption of match and were wandering, enjoying festival.
But that was not to happen, match resumed, I dont think anybody has watched how Tendulkar and Jadeja played that evening. After seeing 100 on the scorecard, everybody sensed that Tendulkar is playing a captain's knock and almost immediately everybody was back at home, watching the proceedings.
Very soon Jadeja fell and slight tension creeped amongst the viewers. Next batsman was Nayan Mongia, he had test century against Aussies to his credit and so people had belief in him. He indeed supported Tendulkar with double digit score. But Mongia, Sunil Joshi, Tendulkar went back in quick succession and almost everybody switched off the television sets.
Tendulkar played a patient knock but went back at very key moment. And then came the historic moment of the match. Two of the local players (to everybody's surprise there were 6 players from Karnataka in that Team... Anybody remembers Sujith Somsundar) started hitting ball around. Whosoever watching that game after Sachin's dismissal, were shell-shocked as nobody has ever seen a wagging Indian tail and that too against the likes of Mcgraths, Flemings and Gillespis. Thereon, It was one great experience to cherish for lifetime.
From that match every cricket fan will always remember one face from crowd, It was Kumble's mother. Every run that was taken brought forward a brilliant new expression from Anil Kumble’s mother. Suddenly, this wasn’t merely a contest between two teams, it was a mother willing her son on towards victory. She was really enjoying her son's heroics. It wasnt just that one mother, with every expression and anxiety on her face, all other India mothers were praying for victory. With last run scored there was kind of jubilation in households. At my home, my mother, my Mavashi, my Maami, everybody was as happy as never before.
Already it was a festival day, and such a memorable victory made my day.

World's greatest tennis player, Roger Federer!!!!

Congratulations to Roger Federer. A-Rod, you were truly unbelievable thoughout the match. you showed that numbers are misleading. It might be 18-2 against u and now 19-2 but every tennis fan would be proud of your fight. I am a proud fan of Roger Federer but A-Rod u surely deserves a standing ovation for the fight.

This years final was way different than last year. This year I had a sense of watching Pete Sampras versus Goran Ivansevich match. It was all about brute power, booming serves, Aces, little less vollyes. I remember watching Sampras and Goran hitting more than 40 aces each. I havent seen anybody hitting 50 Aces, Roger did that. It was just unbelievable.

I have surely started feeling like, rest of the top players are reaching to the level of Roger and Rafa and in coming years we are gonna see better tennis.

But surely, today's game showed that Roger is the greatest player (I have seen) of this generation. For consecutive second year, he played one of the longest and must be most followed games in tennis history. At first he walked as runners up but this year when it seemed that same thing would happen, he came out winning. Roger was just not able to understand Rodic's serve. He could not break his serve till the winning point. But during this 5 setter, Roger hit 100 winners. The last set 16-14 was a real test of character. I wish next year I will get to watch similar score-line with Nadal on the other side. I have seen Sampras and I am a big fan of Sampras also but I would like to say that Federer's game gives more pleasure to eyes than Sampras's. Undoubtedly Federer is world's best tennis player. He has won all four grandslams. Total tally goes beyond 14 and moreover he is amongst the rare players who have won French and Wimbledon is the same year.

Thanks Roger for making me happy.

Elections'09:

Elections '09 are over with the best possible results. Its been a long time India has seen such a clear verdict in favour of any party (I don't see BJP's count in 1999 as very much clear ). Indian voters have got habit to deceive seasoned politicians and political analysts. When India was shining and there were exit polls suggesting re-election of NDA to center, Indian voters have thrown them out and this time around when they were saying that Mayawati will play Kingmaker's role or Queen herself, they have bitten her the dust. UP people have completely discarded her social engineering within two years of its inception.
It will be important to see results of Metros in this election as those were the cities marred with petrifying mujaheddin bomb attacks and those are the cities where global recession has deep impact. Surprisingly two of the metros Mumbai and Delhi have been won hands down by Congress, I don't think they were expecting it even in their dreams. And for such stupendous performance they cant deny credit to two of the astute politicians. Delhi, India's capital city is being served by Sheila aunty for long. She has served Delhi well and surely congress is eating fruits of that. Its renovated Delhi which hopes for better with Sheila and just because of her they have voted for Congress otherwise I don't see any reason any politician winning in Delhi after acquittal of Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler. If Sheila Dikshit continues her good work, I don't see congress loosing any of the Delhi seats even in 2014 elections. Another person who has made his mark in Metros is Raj Thakare. Literally he handed over victory to Congress-NCP in Maharashtra. His party is literally infant compared to many others but number of votes he has received makes it clear that Raj Thakare is there to stay. MNS ended up counting more than one Lakh votes in almost every Mumbai constituency, way more than the victory margin of Congress-NCP candidates. Most surprising thing which cant go unnoticed is, in two constituency they pushed Shivsena candidate to third spot. It will be important to follow him in coming days as he will start spreading his wings beyond Mumbai-Nashik-Pune.
One important thing to understand from election is that, Indian elections be it Parliamentary or Legislative are fought on local issues. Indian voters have completely decoupled their voting from national issues. If bomb attacks on Metros, recession or Taliban insurgency in Pakistan are national issues for India, then It has to be understood that Indian voters don't pay any importance to them while voting. Particularly for rural India, their daily bread and farming loans are the deciding factors. NREGA and farming loan waiver has helped congress win rural votes. Another important thing to be seen is typical voting pattern seen till now in India. Almost always incumbency creates quantifiable impact on government but it is not at all seen in this voting. Its not seen even in Andhra or Orissa assembly voting either. I don't know whom to credit for that as I don't think local governments are working any better and voters are happy with them. I think Indian voters are maturing and have decided to give more time to incumbent government.
I was thinking about the factors which helped congress won allover the India handsomely. And I could figure out hardly few. One important factor is triangular race. Almost everywhere (excluding Red dominated Bengal and Kerala) out of 543 seats we have seen triangular race and usual congress voters have remained loyal to them. the second factor is Rahul Gandhi. He understood that road to Delhi goes through UP. He concentrated on UP, decided to go on his own. That was one tactical but risky decision and surely that one decision has made it clear that another Gandhi scion will be India's prime minister sooner or later. Third and important factor is farming loan waiver and NREGA. You just cant deny that rural India, at least Congress ruled states have benefited largely due to it.
This election has also given couple of more things to follow in coming years. 1) Varun Gandhi; He has made a mark for himself, though it is through the hate speech, India will surely follow this firebrand "non-Hindu" Hindu extremist. 2) Narendra Modi, you can hate him but you cant neglect him. He is the only person in BJP who has nationwide acceptance from majority Hindu voters and who can create turn around in almost dead BJP 3) Ruling governments be it national or local have to understand that, if people of India are not heard then they need to be ready for Shoe-side attacks. It can happen anytime, anywhere. I don't think India believes in Satyagrah and March to hell as way of protest anymore. 4) And the last and most important thing is performance of young congress politicians. It is said that all the young congress politicians Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Jitin Prasad, Jyotiraditya Scindhia etc etc will be given cabinet portfolios, Young Indian blood will be keeping an eye on their performance and I am sure that their performance will be scrutinized to the minute levels.
Last words about election should be saved for one of the most prominent figures in Indian politics who is about to go in retirement, one person who has changed Indian politics upside down during mid 80's and 90's, Mr Lalkrishna Advani. He was undoubtedly deserving candidate for the post of Indian PM, but has to accept the truth. Thanks Advaniji for reinventing Hindu feeling amongst almost dead Hindus of India. Every Hindu will remember you for your contribution.
Jai Hind!!

Oh Finally!!!!
Its been a tough season for Ferrari so far. From the time I am following, I havent seen them in such worst situations. It took them 4 races to debut on points table. Though it wasnt a good display from Ferrari by first loosing race position and then with tighter fuel conditions,
being an ardent Ferrari fan, I just wish that they will capitalise on these 3 points and will continue as I have seen till now.