Lessons from Hyderabad : Part 2

When Ashish Nehra bowled the last over at Rajkot, with Lanka needing 11 runs, every Indian fan would have been praying for an Indian victory, except Sehwag. Or so he said during the post match presentation. In the end ,India clinched the game by a mere 3 runs, the margin of victory perhaps underlining the manner of the win.

The end result definitely resembled the high scoring Hyderabad horror. Yes, the Sachin marathon of 175. Whilst it is very easy to get carried away by yesterday's result, it would be suicidal to forget the shabbiness of the victory.

1. I think people will most probably remember the Indian catching , or rather the lack of it. Against the Lankan team , three drop catches did not prove costly , but it would be foolish to assume similar against teams outside the subcontinent.

2. Barring perhaps the final over , Ashish Nehra and the rest of the Indian bowling was literally all over the place , with only Bhajji managing an economy rate that would have been ok with Dr. Manmohan Singh. While it is easy to blame the surface and the size of the ground, the approach from the bowling unit could have been better. Hardly did we get to see change in pace, if there were they were off Dilshan's bat and of course Sanga's.

3. Probably the best thing the Lankans can do at this point of time would be to fetch the video tape of the Hyderabad horror only to console themselves.

.

The shot that shook the country!

A billion hearts stopped twice that day. Once when the man was on the brink of surpassing a mere numerical milestone. The second and the most painful :

47.1 Tendulkar tries to paddle-scoop it over short fine-leg but alas for him it goes straight up and the fielder takes a dolly.

One of the most singlehanded efforts of the modern game came to end and with it , the frailties of a team which statistically hasn't changed for the last decade. One of the most tragic ends to a game , second only to the maestro's effort on the losing side against Pakistan in 1999. Interestingly Sachin has numerous centuries that have ended up on the losing side ( http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/current/records/284237.html).

Scratch Scratch at the Kotla!

The manner in which the winning runs were scored did allude to the kind of game that it was. On a scratchy dusty 22yard strip at the Kotla Australia posted a respectable 230 in 50 overs. Contributions from the southpaw so perfectly named Mr.Cricket took Australia through, but it proved just a little short as Yuvi and Dhoni took India to a victory. The pitch in question , well , it was no pitch after all.

Life in the time of Swine Flew!

Health and hygiene seem to have hit a new high (or is it low?) in the country since a certain virus took over almost half the planet. Well, this might seem like Resident Evil or some of those SciFi movies, but it is true. What started not more than two months ago in Mexico is officially a global pandemic. Thanks to globalisation and reduced international air travel fares, Swine flu has officially taken the lives of almost 50 people in this country. Just the last week , TV channels began to put up numbers indicating the no of victims of the deadly disease. It was quite an ugly site with some of 'em putting nos at their own choice.

As a matter of fact, our country (atleast the majority of it) does not subscribe to even the basic diktats of hygiene. We are in essence a soft candidate to the disease which some are even frightened to say out loud. It could even become a cult one day such as you-know-who disease and I am not referring to Lord Voldemort here. As to when this disease would subside in this country remains more illusive than the everyday crossword. Every day contrasting reports come out making people even more anxious. And it is quite terrifying to find people wearing masks. It does give a kind of spooky horror movie feeling. And Mr. Swine seems to be very cunning indeed as it seems to have broken barriers of Language, caste, race , age and gender to infect almost every indian in sight. It is truly an Indian disease so to speak , since it has (as we have read in our civics text books) found unity in diversity. Whatever that means. So to say, there will be more masks seen is no consolation for me. Lets hope we can put up till turkey flu strikes.

P.S Chilean scientists have found H1N1 in turkeys. I don't seem to understand why the virus has taken a particular liking to the culinary delights of the Carnivorous!

Wembley goes blue as United see red in penalties!

“Revenge for Moscow”, I texted.

“Revenge for 0-3”, texted my friend.

These were my predictions before the start of the community shield match. This game was billed as a build up to the Prem League season. It was going to be a test for both the teams. It was Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti’s first competitive game in the country and the newspapers were predicting an early exit for the Italian, considering 5 different coaches at the Stamford Bridge in the last 2 years. Manchester United, on the other hand, was keen to shrug off the CR07 absence tag. Not that the burly Argentinian would be missed. There was much talk ahead of the game as Carlo’s “Diamond” was being thrown around.

After a round of applause for the Late Bobby Robson, the game kicked off. United fans would have to wait for the summer signings as Alex Ferguson chose to bench his new signings (Owen and Valencia). Plagued by injuries, United’s defense read – Evra, Jonathan E vans, Rio Ferdinand and John O’Shea. Carlo Ancelotti’s much touted “diamond” saw Florent Malouda starting at left , Michael Essien at Right , Mikel at Centre Defence and Lampard at the top. Chelsea’s signing Zhirkov had to pull out. As the game kicked off, Wembley saw a spell of United’s dominance for about half an hour within which Manchester United took the lead from a trademark Nani strike at the 10^th minute. His shot from just outside the box could not be kept out by Cech, though John Terry seemed to have been in an awkward position for the Czech goalkeeper to have a decent stretch. Chelsea seemed to be giving away possession far too easily as Rooney seemed to be everywhere on the pitch. Petr Cech had a tough time keeping out the shots from Park, Fletcher . The Chelsea goal never seemed coming as a shot from Ivanovic were kept out by a precarious Evra clearance that just bounced off the crossbar. Towards the end of the first half, Chelsea seemed to get a bite back in to the game. Ben Foster was given constant problems by Drogba up front. The Englishman, who Ferguson calls the number one in England, seemed quite wayward in the goal, was not in his form.

Whatever Carlo’s half time team-talk was about, it seemed to work. Chelsea brought in Bosingwa for Ivanovic (who never seemed to get going in the first half) at half time. And a Chelsea goal came in the 52^nd minute. Foster was only able to punch a cross and lost his footing, the ball fell to Carvalho who played a diving header into the net. It was a great moment for the Portuguese international who was constantly rumored to leave to join Ex-Boss Mourinho at Inter. Minutes later Nani, who had a great game injured his left shoulder in a fall and had to be subbed out. He was replaced by “Not Ronaldo Replacement” Valencia. Chelsea brought in Michael Ballack to replace an off color Mikel. A Chelsea goal came in controversial circumstances as Evra went down but Chelsea continued with the play. Man Utd were two men down as Berbatov was receiving treatment at the touchline. Lampard hit the ball into the hands of Foster who could not stop it from entering the goal. Ferguson was fuming at the Referee’s gaffe. He unleashed the quartet of Giggs, Scholes, Fabio and Owen. Nothing seemed to happen. With all things indicating a Chelsea win, ‘Wazza’ slotted in a Giggs through ball in the stoppage time to take it to penalties.

The penalty shootout was not as dramatic as the Champions League final 08. Giggs couldn’t score as Cech’s legs kept out the shot and Evra’s bad tuck was no problem for the Czech goalkeeper. But for Chelsea Lampard, Ballack, Drogba and Kalou scored. I was happy that Terry didn’t have to step up. The match was not the kind of start for the season that Sir Alex would have hoped for, but it has kicked off the season nevertheless. Maybe Man Utd can do with a Penalty coach – Roberto Baggio perhaps!

Kaatsilla....

In economic meltdown times, every government can do with money from tourism. Having seen umpteeen sci-fi flicks where aliens, predators, predators and aliens, godzilas etc take over New York(Yaaawn), one cannot wait the same happen here out in India. Think about it, all these elements in an Indian city would be a great sight right?


Probably not, well just to say a Godzilla enters (singara)Chennai. Just a proposition, may never happen. But a Godzilla(Kaaatu-Jilla in tamil) may have tough time wading through the crowd at T.Nagar. Probably no one would notice the poor thing mistaking it for just another Mega Building until it opens it's mouth. The other thing that a prospective invading alien may face in Chennai would be parking space. Where would it land that big a mother ship. In all english movies Aliens either get wiped down(with a small herd still lurking in the depths to pounce at the time of the sequel) or wipe the planet down, here CommercialCinemaDiktats would have them waiting till the climax(which comes after the Incredible Gaaana(song) song). Most aliens cannot wait for the 2 and a half hours and walk off(like many of the theater-goers). So this is why the next big film will not have an 80ft monster or 1000s of space ships invading the country.!!!

What it takes to be BeauCanon?

What a week for australian cricket! They let Monty (not the python) save the day for England. Well the real action started much earlier with one BeauCanon releasing a book on cricket and going by the number of times his book has been mentioned (in the indian media) it looks like he has made a clever move. This clever move should not be confused with those he made at a club where a fake player made more news than the real ones.

Coming back to the commercial tactics undertaken by BeauCanon, he took a dig (or more) at the indians he adores so much. Some of the recipients were ,little master one, little master two(not to be confused with reality show sequels), Turbanator and the Princes (of Kolkata and Patiala). One shouldn't forget that he had also showered praises at his former (what a relief it is to say so) employer King Khan. Actually he also went out to praise PoK(Prince of Kolkata- Wat else were u thinking) and downplayed the Patiala prince's ability to emulate or even better the prince of kolkata. Surely this would've been music to PoK's ears but he ,being the southpaw that he is, attacked Beau. What Beau (purportedly) says about LittleMaster I is supposedly based on LittleMaster's bias (against the Aussies?). He goes on to attack another Mumbaikar who became LittleMaster II, by questioning his effectiveness in the shortest form of the game( to this minute, bcos the ICC might attempt to reduce t20 into a five over affairs with StrategicBreaks).

The Turbanator was named the best disguised villain , so to speak. Now BeauCanon's multiple captaincy theory might ve been rejected he showered praise at KingKhan. Beau was couple of weeks late as he had already lost his job at the club. So to speak Beau would ve hopefully sold a couple of copies in Australia, but his has been a bestseller(!) in india ,with thousands vying for a copy. Unlike other big sellers Beau's copies will hit the street soon.

P.S -
The deliberate misspelling (BeauCanon) was deliberate in order to aid regional newsreaders who have for long launched a scathing attack on his name (ranging from ButchNaan to Bhoothnath! Even FIP did justice to the australian by keeping Beau's identity secret )

StrategicBreaks are a far cry from the I.Pee.Yell. They can be taken between the overs, during the press conferences etc.