Indian cricket's talisman

In the last 5 years India has won more Test matches abroad (13) than in any other 5 (or even 10) year period. To put it into perspective, in the 15 years prior to 2000-2001, India won just ONE Test match on foreign soil. The backbone of the Indian batting order has become Rahul Dravid, whose effort in the most recent victory, the crashing of the West Indian citadel at Sabina Park, will be remembered for a long, long time.

They say the proof is in the pudding. Rahul Dravid's career average currently stands at over 58 runs per innings. Yet, in Indian victories abroad, the number bulges to a Bradman-esque 94.93, with over 1500 runs, inclusive of 4 centuries and 7 fifties in 13 Tests. Almost every major Indian win abroad has featured the calm presence of Dravid for long periods of time at the crease. The epochal wins at Headingly in 2002, Adelaide in 2003-4, Rawalpinidi in 2003-4, and Kingston in 2006 would not have been possible without his contributions and, fittingly, he was the man of the match in ALL four of them. In fact, the only major abroad victory that has not featured Dravid prominently (I am excluding Bangladesh and Zimbabwe from this) is Multan in 2003-04 when Virender Sehwag (309) and Sachin Tendulkar (194*) led India to a famous victory.

As a parting shot, ponder this - if you thought Dravid's average is mind-boggling, Sachin Tendulkar averages 108.70 in Indian victories abroad!

Maggi Noodle Review: Superman Returns

I give unto thee, my only son...

In a time of turmoil, when the world order is disintegrating and mankind is in dire need of a saviour, a father sends his son to Earth. In spite of his special powers, the son grows up amongst men, slowly revealing his special talents and saving many lives as he discovers his purpose in life. In return, power-hungry citizens loathe him for what he means to the people and do anything they can to destroy him and what he stands for. Eventually they even succeed in killing him. Yet, a few days later, he is resurrected and comes back to life, once more ready to don the mantle of saviour and fight for "truth, justice and...all of that stuff".

The above paragraph is not a simplistic synopsis of the best-selling book in history. It is, in fact, the story outline of the highest grossing movie at the US box office this July 4th weekend. "Superman Returns" is a pleasing visual spectacle and, at times, is worth the money paid to watch it on the big screen.

I do not think that the biblical similarities are entirely accidental either.

Once more unto the breach

Andre Agassi, one of my favourite tennis players of all-time (Ivan Lendl is still numero uno, Stefan Edberg, Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes round up my top 5) is going to end his tennis career at the US Open this year.

The only man to have won all 4 Grand Slam events and an Olympic gold medal (incidentally his wife, Steffi Graf, is the only person on the distaff side to have done so) Andre has fought hard against the power-serving brigade for almost two decades and done it (for the most part) with grace and class. I will miss watching him very much when he retires.

I hope he has a couple of deep runs left in his legs at the two remaining Grand Slams.

A spherical world

My good friend, SM (the elder), recently spoke to me about the ongoing football World Cup in Germany. He made an impassioned plea to me about the beauty of the game and the greatness of the event. It is the only global event that non-participating countries seem to follow as much as the participating ones. The Olympics involve more nations but people do not watch it with as much enthusiasm.

Everyday I hear about the games being played from people around me. I am in the US of A, and while football (soccer to Americans) is not even close to being in their mind most of the time, the extensive coverage of the game has gained considerable audience, fueled mostly by expatriate followers of the sport.

The fact that the games are played during the daytime is an added bonus. Sadly, I have not been able to watch much. During the weekdays I am at work and every Sunday I have been playing cricket in Pittsburgh. I did get to watch some matches last week and I was enthralled by the spectacle.

I wanted to catch some of it this weekend, but then the Indian cricket team is locked in a run-scoring battle with the Windies and that beckons. I shall catch the World Cup as the teams get fewer and the battles gets tighter.

The strength of a bond

I recently got into an argument with a close friend. Being of similar personalities, we have butted heads and neither of us is budging from our stance. I was in the wrong, but not totally. She was in the wrong, but not totally. Somewhere in between is the issue and neither is willing to step forward and admit our fault.

The strength of a bond is tested only during periods of duress. How strong is our bond? We shall see.....

Flames finally flickering

Continuing on my previous post, it appears now that Graeme Hick has hit a rich vein of good fortune and form. He scored his second consecutive century and jumped up the list of all-time century makers. At 40 (yes DSC, another person for your 40 brigade), Hick is showing that he is not totally washed up and me-saah is pleased!

Final flickers or finally flickering?

Graeme Hick has been having a very poor English County season so far and I am not the only one worried about an ignominous exit from cricket for him. However, at the site of his greatest first class innings, Hick turned back the years and gave himself some wiggle room for the next few games with a thunderous 182.

Hopefully, this will spur him onto some more big scores the rest of the year.

Are you geeky or gawky?

PC World recently announced "The 100 Best Products of the Year". I use 4 (yes, just 4) out of the 100. And since some of you will be curious, the four I use are: 6, 17, 33, and 81

How many do you use?

Sadly, I have used 4 products on the "The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time" list, too!!

Absorbing the punches

So, India came extremely close to toppling the Windies in Antigua. Two days ago, very few gave them a chance. That is the beauty of a Test match. You get a second chance to redeem yourself, if at first you fail.

Of course, the glass half-emptyers shall moan and groan about lacking the killer punch to take the last wicket. And that Rahul Dravid did not give himself enough time to bowl the Windies out. I wanted to write about that aspect until I read Prem Panicker's match report. He said it best at the very end. I quote:

An interesting point that has cropped up repeatedly in email exchanges with friends is the possibility that India could have looked to have pushed on a bit quicker, and gotten a few more overs at the West Indies batsmen. 450 runs ahead in 20 overs less was more or less the consensus suggestion - that is to say, India should have been around 580 runs in around 130 overs.

The good bit about hindsight is it is always 20/20. But then what? A target for the West Indies of 4 an over, with 110 overs to get there? On the ground where, in May 2003, the West Indies successfully got 418 for seven in 128.5 overs to win a Test - against the world champion side boasting an attack that read Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee, Stuart McGill and Andy Bichel?

To set that target, India would have had to make 580 runs in 130 overs, India would have had - coming into the second innings 130 runs behind, with the consequent risk that losing wickets in the push for quick runs would toss the game, gift-wrapped, into the opposition's lap - to have scored at 4.46 per over throughout its innings. Assume that was possible for the Indians, then by what logic is a run rate of 4 not possible, on the same pitch, for the opposition?

A team that after being 130 behind in the first innings lost the game setting that sort of gettable target on a pitch that has played placid throughout would have been incarcerated in an asylum for the criminally insane - and quite rightly too.

Diamond cuts

This past weekend I put my paper shredder to good use. Over the years, due to my magpie-like tendency to hoard every little thing I deem to be even remotely important, I built up a sizable collection of boxes containing all kinds of paraphernalia. Letters, memos, books, papers, articles, gradesheets, photographs that had not been good enough to make it to my photo albums, and other knick-knacks that covered the last 13 years of my life (and a few incidents beyond) were all in there.

A task that should have taken a few hours extended for over a day and a half as I read every word, re-lived every episode, and revived long-forgotten memories from the deep recesses of my mind. Going through those boxes was like taking a ride in a time machine, albeit one that stopped and started randomly through my past. People I had not thought about in years showed up in old photographs. Names I could not place any more showed up in notes I had written to myself. Events that I had displaced from my heart came back to me. To paraphrase a famous dialogue from the Spider-Man movies - With great purging comes great remembrances.

It was quite a poignant weekend. I feel like I have met my past and am now ready for the rest of my life to begin. Ten years from now, when I have the inevitable urge to purge again, I hope to have as rich a store of memories as I did this time.

Test-ing cricket

The 2nd and 3rd days play of the first Indo-Windies Test match were perfect examples of why I love the longer version of the game. On a pitch that is starting to ease up, the game has become a test of skill and patience. In the first innings, the Indians reached the 30's and 40's and got out. In their first innings, the Windies reached 50's and 60's and got out. In the third innings, Wasim Jaffer hung in there and was rewarded with an unbeaten century against his name.

The two batsmen out - Sehwag and Laxman - looked good for the long haul until the ball they got out. Laxman's dismissal was the shocking one. One ball after a vintage inside-out cover drive, Laxman tried a pre-determined slog-sweep over midwicket and lost more than just his wicket. (Steve Waugh made tons of runs with that shot but should have taken it with him into retirement oblivion. In fact, he got out (fittingly caught by Tendulkar off the bowling of Kumble) in his last Test innings trying that very same shot).

The match is interestingly poised with India, in effect, 85 for 2 in the second innings, with 2 full days to go. Too bad I will only be able to follow it fleetingly while at work.

Lara's Tsavo

The Antigua Recreation Ground (in St John's, Antigua) is a place filled with fond memories for Brian Lara.

At this ground Lara has played 13 Tests and scored 1632 runs at an average of 85.89 (with 4 centuries and 6 fifties). Of those runs, he scored 775 in just two innings. Yes, this is the very same ground at which Lara scored 375 and 400* against the Englishmen, ten years apart.

Tomorrow, he will stride to the ground for his last Test at this ground. (I am not suggesting that Lara will retire before playing there again. In fact it is the stadium that is hosting its last ever Test). Dravid and his merry men must hope that they can stop him before he shatters any more records here.

Quick to deify, quicker to condemn

Knives will be sharpened and brickbats merrily hurled in wake of the Indian teams batting performance at the end of the first day of the First Test match against West Indies.

231 for 9 in 88 overs does not look good. But then most of us appear to assume that the opposition has nothing to do with how the Indian team performs. So, if you read any report of the days proceedings, I can guarantee that the writers will talk about the batsmen "throwing their wicket away", "playing loose shots", "feet not moving", "tailenders showing how it is done"...etc. Very few will focus on the fact that the West Indian bowlers induced these moments of indecision from the batsmen with a brilliant display in the field.

I thought the day's play was engrossing and the pitch curator deserves some credit for making an even-steven pitch. No matter how long a batsman was at the crease, he was never really set. All day there was swing, seam, and spin for the bowlers who knew where to pitch the ball. Like a spider that sets a trap, Lara set his ring of fielders and waited. Give credit to the bowlers, too. No matter how good a batsman is, he is only as good as the bowler lets him be (with the occasional exception). Bradshaw had an awful day and, not surprisingly, he was hit around the park. The others had a great day and they reaped the rewards.

We need to ease up a little bit and enjoy the tightness of the match, something that ODI's fail to evoke except on the rare occasion.

A little perspective will not hurt. For example, in 1999 Australia toured West Indies for a 4 Test series with a new captain - Steve Waugh. At the end of the first day the Australians, after winning the toss and electing to bat, were 174 for 6 in 90 overs. Yes, the Aussie team that would go on to be called one of the greatest Test teams ever was 174 for 6 in 90 overs. They went on to make 269 in 121.3 overs. No great shakes and not too dissimilar to India's current position, either.

The point I am trying to make is that we (Indian fans) tend to behave as if the Indian team is plunging to great depths everytime they fail to post a 400+ score. Things are not always hunky-dory, even for the best of teams, so why should our performance be any different. The Aussies eventually went on to win the Test match.

Most of the West Indian bowlers showed how to do it. Can the Indians duplicate it? Either way, I shall be very engrossed in tomorrow's proceedings.

To always be someplace else

I have been very restless for a few days now, not sure what to do with the little free time I have. Deep down, I want to just be able to jaunt from place to place. No, I do not mean that want to take a short trip. I want to be able to emulate Gulliver Foyle.

Confused? One of my favourite sci-fi stories is "The Stars My Destination", by Alfred Bester. The book introduced a mode of transportation known as jaunting (named for the scientist Charles Fort Jaunte who discovered/invented it) whereby humans travel from place to place on earth simply by teleporting (akin to apparating in the Harry Potter series).

Gulliver "Gully" Foyle, the main protagonist, is described as "A man of physical strength and intellectual potential stunted by lack of ambition.....He had reached a dead end. He had been content to drift from moment to moment of existence for thrity years like some heavily armoured creature, sluggish and indifferent.....but now he was adrift in space for one hundred and seventy days, and the key to his awakening was in the lock."

The story is about this man and what he does when he realizes what he is fully capable of. Gully Foyle's moment of awakening is a paragraph that always raises the hair on the back of my neck when I read the story. Here is the description.....

After thirty years of existence and six months of torture, Gully Foyle, the stereotype Common Man, was no more. The key turned in the lock of his soul and the door opened. What emerged expunged the Common Man forever.....The acid of fury ran through him, eating away at the brute patience and sluggishness that had made a cipher of Gully Foyle, precipitating a chain of reactions that would make an infernal machine of Gully Foyle. He was dedicated.

Eye on the ball

Changing a habit of a lifetime can be a daunting task. For most of the 3 decades that I have been playing cricket I have been batting with a particular grip, stance and foot movement. With time I have noticed that my reflexes are not what they used to be. Consequently I cannot work the ball around with as much ease as I used to.

This season I made a conscious decision to change the way I played. I religiously watched all the cricket I could, all the while focusing on what the batsmen were doing to be able to hit the shots they did. Laxman, Sehwag and Pietersen are exciting to watch but difficult to emulate. Tendulkar is almost always in balance but has not been at the crease long enough for me to pick up tips from. So I have been studying the two batsmen who are leading from the front these days - Dravid and Ponting.

Surprisingly, these two are not that dissimilar in their technique. But their mental make-up separates them. Ponting looks to attack and take the battle to the other camp. Dravid looks to play himself him and then expand his repertoire. In the end, a long innings by both of them invariably ensures a victory for the team.

So armed with the knowledge I have gained, I have been changing my batting style. It has been a slow process but it is not the first time I have revamped my style of play. A few years ago, while golfing, I decided to change from an overlapping grip to an interlocking one and during the transition my golf scores shot way up. But now I am a much better player and shoot lower scores. This memory is what I fall back upon everytime I get my feet into a tangle and get out in practice.

My teammates have been trashtalking and ridiculing my batting these past few weeks but they do not know that I am going through these changes. My captain, SC, knows what I am doing and the two of us (along with AV) have been putting in extra time working on the position of my feet when I drive the ball.

This evening for a couple of hours SC, AV and I batted while one of us threw the ball at the batsman. My muscles are starting to memorize the new style of play and it is starting to come. Towards the end of the throwdown session, for the first time that I can recall, I did not have to remind myself how to move my bat and feet when the ball came my way - I just moved on my own! Our season starts this coming weekend and I cannot wait to see how effective my new technique is going to be in a real match.

I will not have to wait long - after all I am the team's opening batsman!

Cricket fever is at hand

Tomorrow India begins another series against the West Indies. First up are 5 ODI's. My interest in them is ho-hum. I am waiting for the 4 Test series to begin in June.

A friend in the Windies (SM) and I have exchanged a few emails in anticipation of this series, though his interest has waned a little since Sachin Tendulkar is still not fit to play. We both hope that the Master will be back in time for the real deal and put some distance between himself and Ricky Ponting in the centuries column. Should he do so, India is bound to have done well in the series, too.

Falling from the sky

Books rarely get made into good movies. There have been many successful adaptations, too numerous to recount here, but most of them shared one common trait - the director took liberties with the stories to make a better pictorial account of the happenings. (Read the Godfather and then see the movie and you'll know what I mean - the book's legendary status owes more to the fine work by Francis Ford Coppola, than vice versa).

Ron Howard's predicament is that "The Da Vinci Code" has been read by too many people and that has tied his hands. I have not seen the movie, but I can tell you that it will not be received well by most movie-goers (and critics). Those that have read the book will nitpick the stuff he left out or changed. Those that have not read the book will not understand all the things simply because Howard does not have the time to lecture the audience the way Robert Langdon does in the book. In the end, what we will get is a movie that tries to hit the main points and relies heavily on the star power of the actors on the screen (Hanks, Tautou, McKellen, Reno, Bettany, Molina - to name a few) to pull it through.

I read JRR Tolkein's "The Lord of the Rings" during my trip to India a few years ago. If the book was a Test match, then the trilogy of movies were the highlight packages. JRR Tolkein famously said about his work - "The tale grew in the telling". The movies actually managed to squeeze it back into its skeletal form. An impressive and breath-taking skeleton, but a skeleton of the story, nevertheless.

Unfortunately for Howard, The Da Vinci Code is not a magnum opus for him to make the bones interesting enough. He will be skewered for making the movie. I just hope the huge paycheque he receives will compensate for it.

And yes, I look forward to watching it at the first available opportunity. I just wish the producers had hired Harrison Ford to portray Robert Langdon, especially since Dan Brown himself describes Landon as "Harrison Ford in...tweeds".

For richer or poorer

Akash Chopra's latest posting dispels the myth that playing cricket is a very profitable venture for Indians.

Four years ago, on Rediff.com a guest columninst (Subodh S. Chitre) did an interesting analysis to see who the most "consistent scoring" modern-day batsman was. Read on and enjoy. It is interesting to see how we view the same batsman today!

A close encounter

On Sunday morning I had a very close look at a fine specimen of Odocoileus virginianus.

Last Sunday I was driving on the highway at my cusomary 65 mph, on my way back from the airport. A car in the faster lane was hugging my blindspot and tagging along for a fair bit. About half a mile down the road I noticed a solitary deer ambling across the highway. At first it seemed like the deer would cross the road easily, but then for some unfathomable reason, it took an about turn and wandered back into my lane!

I braked harder than I ever have before. Eventually I squealed to a complete stop, sliding the last few feet, ending up at a 45 degree angle to the road. I looked out of the windshield and the deer held my gaze. She nonchalantly walked back across my lane and nodded at me before disappearing into the adjacent forest. I nodded back, took a deep breath, and continued driving.

The driver in the next lane did not overtake me during the remaining 40-odd mile drive, and kept a safe distance between the two of us. I wonder why...

The air is tingling in Touchdown City

It is not often that the WVU gridiron football team finds itself in a position of strength. Aided by what appears to be an easy schedule, a weak conference, and a very well-coached team, the Mountaineers are being picked by some people to be the leading college football team in Division I-A this year.

The spotlight is falling squarely on the shoulders of the coach, Rich Rodriguez, profiled here by Pat Forde. Last year the team began with low expectations and stormed its way to a #5 ranking, on the basis of its win in the Sugar Bowl. What will this year have in store for us fans?

The season begins in a few short weeks...

An instant response (on a plate tectonic timescale)

On Monday, December 26, 2005, in a post titled "The clock stops" I had mentioned that I was going to stop following up on two promises made by the BCCI:

(a) finding out who leaked the Greg Chappell email (September 27, 2005)
(b) Organizing a charity match to aid earthquake victims (October 18, 2005)

On April 18th, 2006, exactly 6 months after the promise was made, the BCCI and PCB conducted the promised Indo-Pak match, raising Rs 12.28 crores.

Unsurprisingly, there is no news yet on the leaked email front.

A cricket-writer returns from hibernation

Of all the current cricketers who are supplimenting their playing income by writing a column, Aakash Chopra, in my opinion, is the best. Here is his first column of the year discussing the oddly disturbing case of Marcus Trescothick's "mystery bug".

Atlas sighed

My favourite non-Indian cricketer ever (there...I have said it!) is now entering what could possibly be his final season. On the eve of the English domestic season, the man who had greatness in sight is the subject of a fairly personal interview. I shall follow Graeme Hick's scores, as I have been for decades now, and hope that he goes out with a bang.

Who knows, there may even be a phoenix-like resurrection in time for the next World Cup, what with England struggling to put together a decent batting line-up in ODI's these days. The odds of it happening are very, very remote, but I am an optimist by nature. Eternally so.

Maggi Noodle Review: Rang De Basanti

The colour of freedom

Last night I saw "Rang De Basanti". It had been recommended to me by many friends but, having missed its theatrical release, I consciously avoided reading about the movie and wanted to wait till I got an original DVD to see it. At EC-SB's house, I got the opportunity to decide for myself whether the hype was worth the wait.

It was!

By combining a "coming-of-age" movie with a strident message at its heart, the director, Rakeysh Mehra, has made a movie that should resonate for a while yet. Visually, the movie is breathtaking. And here I am talking about the colours that are used, not just the sceneries or sets. A sepia tone is employed to show events of the early 20th century, while a colourful canvas symbolizes the 21st century. Seamlessly transitioning between two parallel storylines, the story juggles between the past that the characters will be influenced by, and the aimless present that they currently inhabit.

The change in the characters occurs over a period of time and is quite convincingly written in. And even after they realize their calling, they do not do anything that belies their abilities or positions. From start to finish, the dynamics of the group are kept consistent and every character is given enough room and screen time for us to be able to distinguish between them. A fear I had was that Aamir Khan would take over the movie post-interval, a la "Dil Chahta Hai", breaking the dynamics of the story. He does not. Instead, the director makes the character with the most to lose, portrayed by Siddharth, the public voice of the group. Aamir, in keeping within the defined framework of his character, remains the physical heart and soul of the group without trying to become the emotional leader.

In a movie filled with symbolism, the most subtle one made the deepest impression. The mother is in a deep coma and finally shows signs of awakening from it. When she does, the movie intercuts this with scenes showing the main characters finally fulfilling their date with destiny, symbolizing the metaphorical awakening of Mother India from a long slumber.

Another masterstroke was to use two different narrators - a sympathetic English jailor for the 20th century and his documentary film-making granddaughter for the 21st century. By employing a British narrator, the director managed to suggest an outside view that somehow seems to emphasize even further how impressive the protagonist's actions were.

A final word on the acting. My simple test for an actors performance is whether I am seeing the character or the actor on the screen. Initially I could not help but think that I was watching the actors. After a while when I saw them on screen I was associating them with their movie names.

I would strongly recommend watching this movie, and would suggest that you give yourself entirely to the experience. So do not get up to go to the bathroom, do not answer the phone and do not talk to anyone else in the room. Otherwise the connection between you and the characters will be broken and it will become a less impressive celluloid experience.

Victim of expectations?

On CricInfo's blog - Wicket to Wicket - a group of writers have been discussing the apparent dichotomy in performance of the the Indian Test and ODI teams. The question being addressed is - why does the Indian Test team have trouble winning series while the ODI juggernaut rolls on, albeit in subcontinental conditions?

I will let you discover what the consensus opinion of the writers is. The wrap-up of the discussion by Anand Vasu is linked here. (By the way, I agree with most of what 3 of the 4 writers have written).

The List - per Jaunty

In a continuation of my previous post, I now present the top 10 Test innings by an Indian batsman (post-1980), according to me.

10. VVS Laxman's 75 in Brisbane against Australia in 2003. This was more important than his two centuries in the series. He not only stayed in there but calmed Ganguly down in the early part of the captain's innings. When he got out playing a cut shot to point off MacGill, it taught him a lesson that held him in good stead for the rest of the series and helped India hold its ground against the Australians - every time he crossed 50 after that, he scored a century, 5 in all (2 in Tests and 3 in one-dayers).

9. Mohinder Amarnath's 91 at Bridgetown against the West Indies in 1982 (out of a team score of 209). Of all his innings I remember this one the most. He got hit on the face, spat out blood, stayed in, and kept batting bravely. The bowling attack in the Test….Roberts, Holding, Marshall, and Garner represent, arguably, the greatest collection of 4 fast bowlers in one Test side!!

8. Mohammad Azharuddin 109 at Faisalabad against Pakistan in 1989. This changed the face of Indian cricket for the next decade. Why? Because he was dropped for the Test and made it in only because Raman Lamba was sick and could not play. He was out first ball in the first innings and appeared headed for obscurity. In the second innings he gloriously counter-attacked and, amazingly, two Tests later he was captaining the Indian team in New Zealand, and then resurrected India’s home fortunes with an unlikely troika of Kumble, Chauhan and Raju!

7. Sachin Tendulkar 122 in Birmingham against England in 1996. Important because the next highest score was 18, and it was in the 2nd innings of the Test match. Unfortunately, the others did not support him and we lost the match. Much more significantly, because of this batting debacle the selectors decided that Tendulkar desperately needed help from other batsmen. Their solution would alter the course of Indian cricket history. Two new batsmen made their debuts in the next Test at Lords – Ganguly and Dravid.

6. Sachin Tendulkar 114 at Perth against Australia in 1992. He was just 19 years old, playing on the bounciest pitch in Australia against a team determined to crush him. He had scored a century in an earlier Test in the series at Sydney, too, but this is the one that Richie Benaud often brings up when he reminisces about Tendulkar. Coming in at 69 for 2 he was 9th out at 240.

5. Sachin Tendulkar's 241 at Sydney against Australia in 2003. He was in the worst TEST slump of his career, and responded by grinding out an innings that Geoff Bocott would have been proud to claim as his own. He wore down the Aussies, and did so without hitting a SINGLE cover drive in the whole innings. Amazing restraint for him, and later on when historians try to figure out the innings that changed the master blaster into the master accumulator, they will point to this one. His Test hunger has changed colours – now he no longer looks to dominate attacks but rather to simply score off them, and this one showed even Tendulkar that he could do it sucessfully.

4. Rahul Dravid's 180 at Kolkotta against Australia in 2001. Not many people give it the credit it deserves. Laxman’s innings would have ended up being like his 167, a desperately brilliant one. It reached epic proportions because of Dravid’s stay at the crease with him. Also, Dravid continued on after Laxman was out, scoring some more runs that proved vital in the end.

3. Rahul Dravid's 233 at Adelaide against Australia in 2003 set up a monumental win by sheer will and perseverance, combined with a great technique against the Aussie bowling (which in hindsight, barring Gillespie, was not-so-great).

2. Gundappa Viswanath's 114 at Melbourne against Australia 1981. Set the stage for Kapil’s heroics with the ball and an away win in Australia. And also, the only century of Vishwanath’s that I can recall vividly, though I was at school when he scored the runs and my elder brother holds me responsible for him getting out.

1. VVS Laxman's 281 at Kolkatta against Australia in 2001. This is the innings by which his whole career will probably been defined, but it also represents a “turning point” innings not only for him, but also for Indian cricket. It is a testament to his drive that the 281 will be remembered by me as ONE of his great innings. I may be biased because he is from my home town but I think we have not heard the last of this Hyderabadi's exploits in the Test arena.

The List - per Buck

A couple of years ago, Buck and I decided to come up with our top 10 Test innings by an Indian batsman (individual). The criteria were simple - they had to be innings that were more than just numbers; they had to be innings that were enhanced by the context and their influence on the fortunes of the Indian team (and its future) and, a final caveat, these would have to be innings that we either heard/watched/read about by us as they occurred (therefore, innings played pre-1980 were not included).

We each came up with a list of 10 innings and did not know of the other's choices till we had both made ours. I went through my list recently and realized that my feelings were still the same and the many Indian innings that have followed since then have not (as of yet) displaced any on that list (some by Sehwag and Dravid have come close but did not quite displace the ones I picked).

Here are Buck's top 10 with his views on some of them (I have linked to the Tests should you wish to see the scorecard for those innings).

10. Sachin Tendulkar's 169 for a lost cause in South Africa in 1997 (when he did one of the important things required of a good innings - he was the last man out after adding 19 for the last wicket with a tailender who made 2).

9. Mohammad Azharuddin's breathtaking 109 of 70-odd ball s at Eden Gardens against South Africa in 1996 in a lost cause - barely makes it to this list because he did not adjust his batting once it became apparent he had a worthwhile partner in Kumble who was last out at 88.

8. VVS Laxman's 75 in Brisbane - prefer it to the pair of centuries he had later in this series and the 167 in the prior series (in terms of breathtaking innings for a lost cause, the 167 ranks behind Azhar's knock above and also his crazy 115 of 110 balls in S Africa in 1997 when he overshadowed skipper Tendulkar completely before being run out of all things ).

7. Gundappa Viswanath's 114 at Melbourne against Australia 1981.

6. Dilip Vengsarkar's 102 at Headingley (Leeds), vs England 1986 - I remember this as a superior innings to a century he made at Lords in the same series, but of course Lords being Lords, that one has received more play over the years...

5. Sachin Tendulkar's 241 at Sydney in 2003 v/s Australia - especially like the fact that he did not get out finally.

4. Sachin Tendulkar's 114 at Perth in 1992 v/s Australia (India lost this game but this is, in my opinion, his greatest test innings to date - even more than his double century) - fastest wicket in the world, young Sachin, etc...

3. Mohammad Azharuddin's 163 at Kanpur in December 1996 gainst South Africa.

2. Rahul Dravid's 233 at Adelaide v/s Australia - long innings that won a test - also his greatest test double century in my opinion (poor guy - so many of his great knocks ended up with him playing second fiddle that it detracts from him a bit. I was tempted to include the 91* in a later Test in the series but this is a greater innings).

1. VVS Laxman's 281 - enough said.

My list shall follow in the next post. As always, I will be interested in your opinions (and maybe your top 10, too. You will find that these lists are harder to make than you'd think).

Turning 40

"Mad Dog" turned 40 on Friday (14th April), joining a fairly eclectic bunch of personalities who have turned 40 this year (as a fellow blogger pointed out). Not surprisingly, there were many articles in the media written in praise of Greg Maddux. The one I liked most was this one by Tim Kurkjian of ESPN.com.

And then there were none...

David Quammen is a noted writer of essays in science (and other topics) and is the author of a well-written book "The Song of the Dodo", on applying the lessons learned from studies on island biogeographies, to understand species extinction and evolution.

In this book there is one particular paragraph that is quite haunting. David takes the reader along a hypothetical scenario where he describes what the final days of the Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) may have been like, reproduced here:

Raphus cucullatus had become rare unto death. But this one flesh-and-blood individual still lived. Imagine that she was thirty years old, or thirty-five...In the dark of an early morning in 1667, say, during a rainstorm, she took cover beneath a cold stone ledge at the base of one of the Black River cliffs. She drew her head down against her body, fluffed her feathers for warmth, squinted in patient misery. She waited. She didn't know it, nor did anyone else, but she was the only dodo on Earth. When the storm passed, she never opened her eyes. This is extinction.

"Inspired" movie-making

With each passing day comes an announcement that an Indian director is going to be "remaking" another old classic. The most recent example is of Amitabh Bachchan reportedly signing on to act in the Bollywood version of Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita".

I am surprised that another movie - "L.A. Confidential" - has not been made into a Hindi movie yet (or if it has, I am unaware of it). To save a potential producer the trouble of figuring out who to cast, here are my suggestions:

Ed Exley - Hrithik Roshan (with the "Lakshya" look and performance)
Bud White - Abhishek Bachchan (the "Yuva" look and performance)
Jack Vincennes - Ajay Devgan (must be clean shaven and suave)
Capt. Dudley Smith - Amitabh Bachchan (a tailor-made role for him)
Lynn Bracken - Sushmita Sen (perfect with the "Main Hoon Na" look)
Sid Hudgens - Boman Irani (ONLY if he does not make it a caricature)

I would also recommend that Farhan Akhtar be the director.

I think the movie would do very well, but getting this star cast will be the issue.

Fab Five to the fore

After three rounds of play, Woods, Els, Mickelson, Singh and Goosen are within 4 shots of each other at the Masters. A mouth-watering Sunday is in store today, and I am going to be glued to the TV watching it unfold.

My pick is still a man named Eldrick. He is the best under-pressure player I have ever seen (along with Michael Jordan) and this situation is tailor-made for him.

A Somerset man's view

Peter Roebuck puts forward his thoughts on the current Indian ODI team. I have been a fan of his writing style for some time now and this article reinforces why.

To sleep, perchance to dream

I have had an unusual night so far. I was dog-tired when I came home, and was glad to lie down on my bed. But after tossing and turning for what seemed like hours (more like 15 minutes) I gave up and began blogging.

Now (finally!) my eylids are drooping, and my fingers are getting lethargic. Sleep beckons. This time I hope the trip to neverland is swift.

Good night, dear reader.

Update: The not-so-manic Punisher

In the first 4 games of the ongoing series against England, the Indian team has twice chased a target and won an ODI , taking their tally to a world-record 15 consecutive successful chases. In an earlier post I had alluded to the role played by MS Dhoni in this amazing streak. In the two chases since my post he has contributed:

230/6, Dhoni: 39 (off 55 balls)
238/6, Dhoni: 10* (off 13 balls)

In the course of this streak his aggregate is now at 624 runs in 11 innings, dismissed just 3 times (average: 208.00).

Trring, trring

My office phone rings. It is KK at the other end.

KK: Knock, knock.
Me: Who's there?
KK: Interrupting cow.
Me: Interru...
KK: Moo!

Yes, I have friends like that!

Our own Telestra Dome

One of the perks of being at a University where college sports is a huge deal is that they have many huge gymnasiums (gymnasia?). And when the University teams are not using them, other folks can "book" the space and use it to play their preferred sports.

In the winter, when the temperature drops, cricket becomes an indoor sport - with tennis balls. A few days ago I played for the first time and was shocked at how fast some of the fielders could return the ball to the wicket. Consequently, in true Inzamam-style, I managed to get 3 other batsman run out, before justice was finally served, and I ran myself out to end the innings.

Not surprisingly, the match ended in a tie!!

By the way, before you start looking for me in there, I took these pictures.

Silent whispers

Tomorrow, the Wimbledon of golf begins. It has been 10 years since my favorite golfer won the tournament on a day that is more famous for a Shark's meltdown. I do not know who will win it this year, but I do know this - my productivity over the weekend will decline to a near-flatline status.

And if I can convince CB to let me watch it on HDTV at his place, flatline status will definitely be attained.

A switch in time

After a gap of 30 years, the state of Indiana decided to adjust the clock to follow Daylight Savings Time.

In a perfect example of creating one's own market, an Indiana teenager found a way to make a profit out of this (and get visibly profiled by CNN, to boot).

The Fresh Prince

Yuvraj Singh has long been thought of as a flashy guy with enormous potential, but lacking the drive to buckle down and fulfill it. A few months under the new regime appears to have made a world of a difference, as evidenced by the mature responses in this interview.

Lotur Rotak

A few words for my regular readers (MJ style) -

I'm back!

The hiatus

For the past few week or so I have been extremely tied up and have neglected this blog. All I can think of when I come home is to measure the length of my bed.

In a day or two, I shall get back to my normal schedule. Until then, I apologize if your visits to my sphere have been in vain.

As Jack Bauer would rasp, " I promise you...."

Seeing is believing

A few days ago, EC-SB invited a few of us over to their house to celebrate PS's birthday (27 in case you were wondering). Since her husband (UK) is working elsewhere and could not be there, PS called him up just before she cut the cake to talk him through the proceedings.

And then we had a collective brainwave! So, I held a webcam, the others took turns holding a light and PS cut the cake. UK got to see it all on his computer and further, on speakerphone, joined in the chorus as we sang one of the most popular songs of all-time!

Viva technology!

Mad Dog once more!

My favourite non-cricketer is back for his 21st season!

A few of our cricketers would do well to learn from his longevity and also the way he conducts himself on and off the field.

Two sides of the coin

Amit Verma (who helms the award-winning blog - India Uncut) also writes for newspapers and was part of a discussion in the Pioneer on the pros and cons of having Greg Chappell as the coach. Here is his side of the debate/discussion.

Contrast that with the other side, all innuendo and intrigue-speak, provided by Debraj Mookerjee.

I am obviously biased towards Amit Verma, as I frequently read his work, but I feel that he did a much better job of supporting his side of the equation. I would like to know what an unbiased reader (if there is one on this topic) feels about the merit/demerits of both the articles. (I am talking just about the articles, not the issue itself).

Object in the rearview mirror

Ricky Ponting is on a tear and Sachin Tendulkar better watch his back! When November (2005) rolled around, Sachin had scored 34 centuries and had a healthy lead on Ponting, who had 23.

Since then Sachin has played 13 Test innings and added to his tally by 1.
Since then Ricky has played 16 test innings, and added to his tally by 7! In his last 7 innings, the Aussie captain has scored an incredible 5 centuries (all against South Africa who appear helpless to stop him).

Ponting is just 5 centuries from Tendulkar and in my mind it is inevitable (considering how many more Tests Australia plays, and how many more years Ponting has at the top) that he will cross Sachin.

I hope Sachin can keep Ricky at bay for a few more years.

Just in case you were wondering:

• Australia is scheduled to play 8 more Tests this year - one more against SA, two against Bangladesh, and 5 against Australia this year (at home).
• India is scheduled to play between 4-10 more Tests this year - 4 against West Indies, and a series against Bangladesh and South Africa, all away from home.

(In typical fashion, the Bangladesh and SA series have not been confirmed by the Indian Board, while the venues and dates for all of Australia's matches and first-class fixtures have already been confirmed).

Post script: As of March 27th, Sachin has been ruled out of the tour of the Caribbean after undergoing shoulder surgery. So strike those 4 Tests off, too. Now, it seems even more inevitable that Ponting will cross him within a calendar year or so.

AR goes to Hollywood

Last night I saw a Spike Lee directed movie, Inside Man. The movie has an enviable list of actors - Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Clive Owen, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Plummer - and it gripped me with the very first scene. And not because of what was on the screen but was playing in the soundtrack.

The movie starts with Swapna Awasthi singing the first two lines of a song, and then Sukhwinder Singh happily joins her. I never saw "Dil Se" in a theatre, but now I have heard the song "Chaiyya Chaiyya" in a movie hall over a Dolby sound system. And it is not just a token cameo. The whole song is played and then a remix version of it is played over the end credits.

Even more reason to go see the movie about a "perfect" bank robbery in NY, which is reminiscent of other heist movies but has some intriguing elements all of its own, bolstered by the excellent acting.

The day the Sphinx squints

Today marks the Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring.

So how do you view this date? Is it 12 hours of daylight or 12 hours of darkness?

Is your glass half-full or half-empty?

Paradigm shift

A fellow blogger, Buck, made a very pertinent comment on Tendulkar recently. His suggestion was:

Sachin Tendulkar (should be) batting at #5 so that some of the early pressure is off him and he can afford to play grave-digger for a while if the pressure is still on.

When you think about it, it is not that bad an option. Here are some reasons why I believe that playing at #5 may be the way to go:

• Obviously he suffers now because he is usually batting with Dravid and, lately, seems inclined to follow Dravid's lead on how to play the bowling. Most of the time Dravid is defensive and Tendulkar joins him in the same rut. Dravid knows hows to get out of it, Sachin does not. An Arjun-Abhimanyu case, for want of a better analogy.
• By playing at #5 Chappell-Dravid will have their alternating accelerator-anchor lineup in Tests, too. (Jaffer-Sehwag-Dravid-Yuvraj-Tendulkar-Dhoni). (If Laxman/Kaif come into the team, I'd play them at #6 for now. The tail wags long enough these days for them to feel secure about playing their own game).
• If the need is for quick runs, Sachin has the ODI experience to shift it into high gear from the start. If there is a collapse, he can revert to his anchor-role, and not get booed for it, because the situation demands a little stickiness.
• I think he needs a little jolt. A "demotion" in the batting order may be the catalyst needed to jump-start him for the next 5 years.

Personally, I think the second innings of the Bombay Test is going to be one for the ages. Premonition or hope,we shall find out in a few hours.

The girl from Leon

On Saturday night, I saw "V for Vendetta", which is about a man whose goal is to incite a revolution within one year. Set in London in the near future, it was surprisingly heavy on words and light on action (I had anticipated the opposite since it was written by the directors of the Matrix trilogy). Apart from having some memorable visual images, the dialogues were quite witty and fun to follow along, too.

This movie once again demonstrates that Natalie Portman is a fine actress. (Impressively, she speaks five languages fluently - Hebrew, English, French, German, and Japanese).

Now, if she could do something about that British accent which seemed to come and go at times - the only jarring note in her performance in the movie - she'd be set for good.

A slave by any other name

Sometime yesterday my cell phone service died on me. A little while later my cable internet service provider had a meltdown. Suddenly, I was without the services of both.

What was disconcerting was not that I lost both services but that I was felt helpless and unable to do anything without them. I could no longer talk to anyone or look up cricket scores or send emails or update my blog.

Order has now been restored in my galaxy and Jaunty-dom heaves a huge sigh of relief.

Yin and Yang

Michael Atherton interviews the "only real competition that Sachin Tendulkar ever had."

Dead rubber alert - part deux

A couple of months ago, I compared Sachin Tendulkar to Brian Lara, particularly with regard to Lara's tendency to hit big scores in the last Test of a series when the series was already decided.

In the current series against New Zealand, which the Windies are on their way to losing handily, Lara has failed in both innings of both Tests (with egg on his face after his remarks on Chanderpaul). The stage is now set for Lara to post a humongous score in the 3rd Test and end his tour on a high, making people partially forget the failures that came before that.

And when that happens, remember this - you first heard it here.

The big Little Master

In my list of top 5 all-time favourite batsmen, there is one outlier - a player whose career was (almost) over by the time I began avidly following cricket (1982 Indo-Pak series). Most of what I know about G.R. Viswanath is anectodal, mainly from my grandfather and my brother. The rest has been gleaned over the years by reading articles in print, and lately, on the Internet.

I watched him score the last 50 of his career and was once was held responsible for him getting out in Melbourne. I remember rushing home from school to find out the score (my brother was listening to the commentary). As I opened the gate he ran onto the roof and told me to hurry; Vishy was batting on 110. By the time I went upstairs, he had scored another four. I sat down and Vishy got out! Naturally I was to blame. He probably still hasn't forgiven me for that! It happened to be the last century of his career and was enough for India to win a Test match at Melbourne. (That incident had another long-lasting consequence - it gave birth to my supersitious nature when it comes to watching my favourite players!).

Here is an article that talks about Indian batting greats and has a good breakdown of the roles played by them in India's cricketing fortunes. I particularly like the way he deems that Vishy's career marks a defining period of change in the role of Indian batsmen.

Thus spake...

Rahul Dravid speaks about himself and other related topics on the eve of the 100th Test of his career. He continues to set a fine example for any kid aspiring to play for India.

His career average has crept past Tendulkar's and, as Amit Varma mentions, the fact that it does not seem to be an aberration is a measure of his greatness.

Sweet child of thine

My friends, KDK and MK, recently added a new kid to their family. An avid bird-watcher and fitness freak, Mikey is simply adorable. And I haven't met him yet! So, how do I know? Take a look at this photograph. I dare you to disagree with me.

A change in fortune

The recent West Indies-New Zealand Test match may have "swung" in the Kiwis favour because of a monstorous hit by Chris Gayle.

When I read the story I was reminded of a ploy adopted by the English bowlers in both Test matches. I noticed that the English bowlers were having a tough time getting the ball to reverse swing. Soon, Flintoff was repeatedly showing the ball to the umpires, supposedly complaining that the ball was out of shape. Twice (in both second innings, if I recall correctly) the umpires agreed and changed the ball to a newer one.

When the balls were later shown on camera, they did not seem to be unduly out of shape. (No matter how perfect a sphere a ball may be at the start of the innings, eventually the repeated contact with the ground and bat will cause a little bit of unevenness). I am convinced that this is a tactic adopted by them to change the ball if it is not helping the fast bowlers. I will be curious to see if they complain about the ball in the third Test match, especially if the Indian batsmen are on top.

It's a bat, bat, bat, world

The Australia-South Africa run-fest is being hailed as the "greatest ODI of all time". On Prem Panicker's blog, one of the other "posters", Manish Verma, has a very valid point to make. His post on this issue has this little nugget, which reiterates what I had touched touched upon earlier:

How can this game be the best ever, if the bowlers literally had nothing to do? Would anyone have given a similar title to a game where a top ODI team got out for 110+ and then got the opponent out for under 100? Even if it meant scintillating bowling from both sides?

He makes a fantastic point. All the people who have announted this game with the GOAT tag may have a hard time answering Manish's question.

Casting the first stone

Before the ongoing West Indies-New Zealand Test series, Brian Lara challenged Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the current WI captain, to score more runs as befits a senior player on a team that is struggling to be competitive, let alone win games.

Lara himself stood up to be counted, scoring 5 and 0, while lasting a total of 13 balls and falling victim to Shane Bond both times with a golden duck in the second innings when his team came up short by just 27 runs.

Methinks the title of this Saul Bellow book best describes Lara's verbal faux pas?

A matter of perspective

A few days ago when I suggested that India chase down 360+ runs in 90 overs (plus half hour, if necessary) in a Test match, I was in the minority. On various websites I read that this was not possible and would be a foolhardy attempt on the part of the Indians.

After hearing/seeing South Africa chase down 400+ in just 50 overs, I wonder how many of them have converted to my point of view? There's nothing more useful than an epochal incident to put the past into a different perspective.

R.I.P bowlers

In 1984, India beat Pakistan in an astonishing match at Sharjah. After Imran Khan bowled unchanged at the start to register scarcely believable figures of 10-2-14-6, India were in dire straits. But with every bowler chipping in, India won by a huge margin of 38 runs.

That day the Indian team scored 125 runs. The entire match produced 212 runs in about 76 overs. If that represented the mother of all low-scoring ODI's, the grandmother of all high-scoring ODI's was played today between Australia and South Africa. The match has left grown men flabbergasted, unable to put words to the mayhem they watched. In exactly 99.5 overs, 872 runs were scored. Eight hundred and seventy-two runs in 599 balls!

In 2003, I watched Ricky Ponting lace the Indian attack in the World Cup final to the tune of 140 imperious runs, an innings I thought was a once-in-a lifetime feat. On the very same ground, the next innings played by Ponting was a brutal 164 off just 105 balls. And he was overshadowed by Herschelle Gibbs, who scored 175 off 111 balls.

If 434 is not a safe ODI total any more, what is? I know this is probably one of those freak occurances that may never happen again (like a bowler taking 10 wickets in an innings twice in a single season against the same team as Laker did, or a batsman batting 60 overs in an ODI and scoring 36 runs as Sunny did) but an unhealthy precedent has been set. All across the globe ODI's are becoming a one-dimensional event. Batsmen come and plunder; then mercifully, due to an over limit, they make way only for other batsmen to come and plunder even more. It is boring, boring cricket.

With each passing year the pitches become more and more batsmen friendly. A pitch that has grass must be mowed, a pitch that is crumbly must be pounded into a concrete-like state. Any hint of moisture on the pitch is room for a "weather delay". I prefer the nuances of Test cricket as it gives more time for plotting and testing the concentration and other skills that are being robbed from cricket. Everytime a captain complains about a pitch being difficut to bat on, I get mad at the wimpiness of these players, whose cricketing ego's cannot stand to be tested by the fact that a pitch may be aiding a bowler more than them.

Dig up the pitch at the Wanderers. Let teams win games at the famed Bullring because of their bowling, fielding and batting, and not only because batsmen can launch balls into the stratosphere. But from the reaction of most people who I spoke to today, this was just the tip of the iceberg. Suddenly scoring 500 in an ODI seems doable. And an inordinately large number of people want to be there or see it when it happens. Incredible.

I personally want to once again watch a match where a low total is defended (the recent Under-19 World Cup final was one such match). I fear that my wait for a repeat match of this nature shall be a very, very long one.

Trifecta

Today is my friend, RP's, birthday. Not even she would have imagined that the week culminating in her birthday would witness so many cricketing feats worthy of books by themselves. Murali crossed 600, Kumble crossed 500, and my favourite pacer who is also the fastest bowler in the world - Shane Bond - is back!! (Yes, I know Lee and Akhtar are faster but I hope you get my point).

All three of them are men of a different breed. Murali has been abused and vilified for his bowling action and yet the man keeps chugging away. He bowls an inordinately large number of overs almost as if he is hell-bent on bowling his arm out before bowing down to the naysayers.

Kumble went through a phase where he was not the first choice of the former captain and even now, in a perverse way, Dravid ensures that Bajji gets the ball first, almost as if to prove to his detractors that he is not partial to his fellow Kannadiga. In spite of all that the leg-spinner, whose bowling arm injury was the catalyst that paved the way for player contracts from the BCCI, keeps attacking only as he knows best. He is still fit enough to play for a few years, and judging from the way he batted yesterday, his resolve to put up his hand when the team is in trouble has not left him.

Shane Bond is a rarity - a fast bowler that Australian batsmen fear. In the 2003 World Cup he produced spell after spell of devastating fast bowling, almost single-handedly leading New Zealand onwards. If a 10 over restriction had not existed in ODI's I believe that he would have blown away India in the Super Six encounter where he ripped through our batting order. By his own admission he is one more injury away from quitting cricket. His remodeled action looks quite good and, hopefully, those stress fractures of the back are a thing of the past for the Kiwi cop.

But all of their feats paled in front of an event that I did not even watch (more on that in another post).

For the want of a nail

The IKEA furniture instruction sheet, which I had (prematurely) ripped here, was not in 4 languages. In fact, it wasn't even in any language. The entire sheet had instructions in pictoral forms. The diagrams were clear and easy to follow. Now, if only they had provided a Phillips head screw driver, I would have been done last night itself.

Anyway, I have to finish one last thing and I shall have my writing desk and chair. Tonight. So I have said, so it shall be done.

Spice Girls hit - sort of

I once met a man from an ancient land. We spoke. He said,
"What I want, what I want, what I really, really, want.
Is to live life on my own terms."

Easier said than done.
Which is why it is called Life, I guess.
Hmmmm...but if you could, wouldn't you?
I know I would.

Midnight musings

The phone rings and wakes me up. The clock says it is 1:49am (at night). It takes me a few seconds to orient myself and pick up the phone.

Me: (in a sleepy, slurred voice) Hullllllllo??
SR: Hey, quick question.
Me: What?
SR: What was the name of that movie?
Me: Which one?
SR: The bounty hunter. "Jaaack...Jaaack".
Me: "Midnight Run".
SR: Yes! And who was the other guy?
ME: Charles Grodin.
SR: Right! Thanks. Now go back to sleep. Bye.
Me: Bye.

Yes, my close friends are like that!

Hammer and tongs

I went furniture shopping last night. To the IKEA, a good 75 miles away. I had seen a couple of computer/writing desks that I was interested in and wanted to see them first-hand, rather than purchasing it online and trusting the glossy photo that accompanied the description.

When I saw the two of them the same old question reared it ugly head. Style or simplicity? Should I buy the cheaper, nondescript one or the slightly more expensive, better-looking one? In the end, looks won (don't they always?!!). I also bought a simple looking chair to go with the table (maybe to assuage my guilt over having spent so much on a flat piece of wood with 4 legs). Naturally.

So this evening will be spent assembling the table, trying to make sense of instructions that are in 4 languages, but not really explicit or helpful in any one of them. We can send a man to the moon (or so they say) but we cannot write clear instructions on how to assemble pieces of wood into a table.

The 4th inning of the 4th inning

Yesterday I wrote about the Indians not showing the stomach for a fight. And I had suggested that the best way to wrest some initiative back from the English was by attacking the target.

The Indians adopted a different plan - a sort of a compromise between defense and attack. Until tea they were content to let the clock tick away, not taking any risks. At tea they re-assessed and decided to make one stunning assault at the target. They did not leave themselves enough time to really have a good shot at it, but they managed to rattle England. In the last hour Flintoff and Harmison, their two tearaway fast bowlers, were made to run hard and long, and their fielders were made to run around, while it was the non-regular batsmen - Pathan, Dhoni and Singh - who did most of the damage. The best innings of them all, however, was the one Tendulkar played. I hope this cameo convinces him that when he plays the ball and not the occasion or the bowler's reputation, he is still peerless.

Onto Mohali, where I hope they do not resort to completely shaving the grass on the pitch. I want to see a real contest and the Indian batting line-up against the English pace attack is a lip-smacking proposition! But I fear that the safety-first attitude shall win over.

Living up to my name

I am a batsman of limited skills - my best shot is a forward defensive push. I can recount to you ALL the fours I have hit since I began playing summer cricket in the Mid-West Cricket Tournament 8 years ago - and it will not take me too long to tell all the stories!

Until last summer I had never bowled in a match. Towards the later half of the season we were having a tough time getting 11 players to show-up for a game, let alone practice. So at practices I began bowling off-spinners (or rather straight balls with an off-spinning action). Eventually I progressed enough to be able to bowl them from a 15 step run-up. I bowled in the last two matches and even picked up a couple of wickets, much to my surprise.

The skill that I do possess is fielding. My reflexes and stamina are no longer what they used to be in my high school days, when I used to prowl the square-leg to long-on area all by myself, but I am still a decent fielder.

But that is not my best cricketing asset. My most valuable skill does not show up in the early part of the match and sometimes an entire game goes by without my team needing it. In the early part of the game everyone is enthusiastic and jumping about. Also, when wickets are falling, everyone is excited. Then, inevitably, comes a period in the game when the opposing batsmen begin to assert themselves. Shoulders begin to drop, hands start resting on waists, eyes start staring at the ground, feet start shuffling in the dust, and an eerie silence comes upon the ground. Ironically when the team really needs to be making some noise, nobody does. Which is when I begin to earn my place in the squad. When such times come upon us, our captain - SC, puts me at mid-wicket inside the circle and just smiles.

You see, I am a live-wire in the field, incessantly jabbering, clapping hands, jumping about, running around, calling everyone out by name, exhorting them to keep trying as hard as they can. After a while, slowly but surely, the smiles come back on their faces and even though the opposition has built up an unassailable position, our team does not look lost. Last year, we lost 6 of the 7 games we played but not once did our team go completely quiet and give up. I simply refused to let them do that. We may have lost badly, but we were never beaten!

Years ago, I watched Jonty Rhodes change the way fielders behaved and performed on a cricket field. He was the cricketing idol I felt I could emulate the most. (Not for nothing is Jaunty my Internet moniker. Get it?!)

Yesterday the Indian team descended towards a familiar going-through-the-motions stage and, shockingly, only let it get worse. They took an extra half-hour to bowl their overs as they were shuffling around waiting for the English batsmen to make mistakes. The fielding standards dipped, faces started resembling those commonly seen at a funeral, and all the players stood by themselves as if they had each contracted some contagious disease. I was appalled at that. How could they give up so easily?! Haven't they themselves collapsed when seemingly in charge? Why couldn't they expect the same from their counterparts? By allowing themselves to be lethargic, their energy levels decreased and England's attempt to dominate was made easier.

All the talk about the team spirit, heart of a champion, never-say-die attitudes, etc., doesn't mean a thing unless these attributes show up when the chips are down. It is very easy to be upbeat when the going is good. A true champion is one who does not lose before the game is over. I was disappointed with the Indian's on-field demeanor on the 4th day. If on the 5th day they compound it by defending their way towards a draw and still lose - I shall be disheartened, too.

I hope Dravid and his band of men do not let that happen. I really do.

Once more, unto the breach

But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood.
- William Shakespeare "Henry V"

The Indian team (assuming England declares overnight) has to score just over 360 runs in 90 overs to beat the Pommies in the first Test.

There are two ways to tackle this:
a) Play for a draw; bat slowly and surely, eschewing all risks
b) Play for a win; think of it as a one-day international, but with more overs and less fielding/bowler restrictions

Plan A just will not work (if you doubt this I present to you Karachi '06 and Bangalore '05 as the most recent examples). Once the Englishmen know that there is no risk of their target being attacked they will go all out, putting men around the batsmen, knowing fully well that their bad balls will not be hit to the fence and their good balls may well take some wickets. With each falling wicket they can exert even more pressure on the batsmen.

Plan B should work - the batting lineup (batsmen 1-7) is the same as the ODI lineup, with Laxman replacing Yuvraj. This situation it will not matter since Laxman's biggest problem in ODI's was that he could not accelerate as fast in the later overs as some others. Here, with an additional 40 overs in hand, that should not be a problem. Also, don't forget that he has (in the past) scored some very crucial 2nd innings knocks for the country when chasing a target, so for this time we will not miss Yuvraj as much as we may think. In addition to the 7, we also have Wasim Jaffer. So we have enough batting firepower to attack the target, utilizing the anchor-accelerator strategy that has been employed so successfully in the past few ODI wins. I suggest using Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dhoni and Pathan as the accelerators and Dravid, Jaffer, Laxman and Kaif as the anchors.

By attacking the target, they force the Englishmen to defend, thereby crating gaps in the infield, meaning that a mishit may go to a now-vacant 2nd slip, or a now-vacant short mid-off and so on.

If the Indians come out with a defensive mindset and show no inclination to go for the target I am going to be very disappointed. (Virender Sehwag will go for it, that I am sure of, I am talking about the rest of the batsmen). If that happens I shall not follow this time for a while. As it is their attitude in the field yesterday made me mad (more on that later) and this would be the last straw.

If I see Tendulkar go into that obdurate, stubborn, defensive shell that he has lately been adopting I may just blow my fuse!

Cleaning day

When I woke up I had no inkling that the day would involve a lot of cleaning.

It began with my weekly trip to the Laundromat. While my clothes were spinning around in the washer, I looked out and since it was nice and sunny (but a bit chilly due to the strong wind gusts) I took my car to the car wash. After throwing my clothes in my dryer I then went to work and took care of my needy research plants (did some "cleaning" there, too). Then I picked up my clothes and, rather than go home, swung by the department. I moved back into the building late last year but never got around to unpacking all my 18 (yes 18!) boxes of books and office knick-knacks.

My office mate took one look at all the stuff I had and promptly went home, clearly realizing that the office was going to be a maelstrom of activity. Three hours later here I am, sitting at my desk and admiring my shelves that are no longer barren (photographs shall follow in a few days; keep watching this space).

And lest you think I am done for the day, I still have to go home and finish cleaning my apartment. So dear reader, the vacuum cleaner and scrubs beckon. And after all that I look forward to a long, relaxing shower.

What a way to herald a new week. Or is it the end of the last one?

Raising the roof

The Coliseum at WVU is one of the loudest college basketball arenas in the US and I experienced it first-hand a few times this year. The last time I was at the game, I glanced up and saw the roof. Maybe the pattern on the roof has something to do with the reverberations of the screaming voices. Either way, if you stare at it too long you get disoriented and dizzy. Trust me, I know from experience!

The scoreboard at most basketball arenas is a huge box-like contraption that hangs over the court (see below). From my perch in the stands, the whole thing did not instill much confidence. Imagine running around like ants on the floor, knowing that above your head is this huge gravity-defying monstrosity that is held in place by just a few cables that stretch up to the roof.

A room with a view

I live on a hillside, about 1/4th of the way down from the top of the hill. The view from my bedroom window is one of the reasons I took this place. And when it snows, the hillside is draped in a white blanket that is very soothing to the eye.

The view from my department is not too shabby either. Here is a photo of me looking out towards Woodburn Hall, one of the most majestic buildings on campus.

A brief hiatus from cricket

Okay, okay...a few of my readers (the only readers?) have told me that there is an overdose of cricket in my blog. So to ensure that I do not lose them, I shall not write about cricket for a few days.

However, England is in India for a Test/ODI series so do not expect this break to be a long one!

Little drops of water

MS Dhoni gave us a glimpse into the way the Indian team approaches a target. Chasing 286 to win, Dhoni revealed in a post-game interview that "...the coach told me the score should be around 206 at the end of the 40th over, so I focused on that and then we went on from there.”

So the huge target was broken down into simpler, easier-to-chew-on pieces. With 60 balls to go, 80 runs to get was considered reasonable (they did it with 19 balls to spare!). By giving the players smaller targets to achieve, the bigger picture is de-mystified. This may explain why the players do not appear to be fazed by a rising required run-rate and speaks volumes about the behind-the-scenes contribution of the think-tank.

Oh, by the way, after 40 overs the score was 205 for 2. Strategic planning gets another notch in it's belt.

The not-so-manic punisher

The last 13 times that India have had to chase a target in an ODI, they have emerged victors. One of the reasons for this hot streak is the cool play of the wicket-keeper/batsman - Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Quickly targeted as a basher in the mould of Shahid "boom-boom" Afridi, Dhoni has shown that he is much more than a manic pulverizer of the cricket ball.

While he can smash the ball a fair bit (and does it very frequently) he is also adept at running quick singles and twos and possesses a cool head during tense moments. Consequently, it is no surprise that he usually stays till the end to ensure that the job is not left for others to finish.

In this 13 game streak, here are the teams' score and Dhoni's contributions (DNB - did not bat; * indicates he was not out):

279/4, Dhoni: 37*(off 26 balls)
255/6, Dhoni: 67*(off 63 balls)
123/2, Dhoni: DNB
303/4, Dhoni: 183*(off 145 balls)
262/6, Dhoni: 45*(off 43 balls)
197/3, Dhoni: DNB
245/5, Dhoni: 80(off 73 balls)
171/4, Dhoni: DNB
224/5, Dhoni: 12(off 26 balls)
266/3, Dhoni: DNB
292/5. Dhoni: 72*(off 46 balls)
162/5, Dhoni: 2*(off 5 balls)
287/2, Dhoni: 77*(off 56 balls)

That is an aggregate of 575 runs in 9 innings (average: 287.5). He has been dismissed only twice - his solitary failure being when he scored 12 against South Africa; his other dismissal on 80 was caused by his attempt to end the game with a six.

May he continue to punish bowlers for years to come!!

The articulate Wall

Some cricket captains lead in an imperious manner (Imran Khan); some in an unobstrusive way (Inzamam-ul-Haq); some adopt an abrasive mode (Allan Border); some instill an us-against-the-world "siege" mentality (Ricky Ponting); some will their men into great deeds by wearing their heart on their sleeve (Sourav Ganguly).

And then there's that rare breed that leads with a steely eye and calm demeanor under duress. Rahul Dravid is turning out to be one such motivator. All his best qualities are highlighted in this very expansive interview of his. Articulate, thoughtful and smooth - Indian cricket has found its poster boy for the first decade of the 21st century.

The future is now

India have wrapped up the ODI series against Pakistan. Which means that the last ODI is a chance to find out more about our bench strength. With Sehwag and Singh having already returned to India, there are 14 players still in the squad.

In my opinion, we should "rest" Pathan, Tendulkar and Dravid. Dravid can stay on as the "Supersub", a concept that will be in play for the last time in an ODI involving India. That leaves us with the following 11 (in approximate batting order):
Gautam Gambhir
Mohammad Kaif
Yuvraj Singh (captain)
Suresh Raina
MS Dhoni
Ramesh Powar
Ajit Agarkar
Zaheer Khan
Murali Karthik
RP Singh
Sreesanth

Rahul Dravid (Supersub)

This will be a preview of the Indian team of the future, and will give everyone a chance to show their mettle. Yuvraj Singh, who was appointed the vice-captain when Sehwag returned to India, will get a chance to have the "first game as captain" jitters out of the way and will be better prepared should he be suddenly thrust into the action in the future. Yes, we are a batsman or two short, but who cares about the match? And I have a feeling that this team will be ready for whatever Pakistan throws at them. The hunger of the unproven masses should not be underestimated. Ideally, we bowl first and (should we so feel inclined) Dravid can always substitute for Sreesanth when it is our turn to bat.

What do you think?

Occam's razor

Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid have been experimenting with the ODI batting order, seemingly randomly, and have left not just the opposition but also the fans guessing as to who would bat where. In particular they have targeted the #3 spot as one of the most flexible ones.

The IndianOil Cup in Sri Lanka was the first time Rahul Dravid was made the captain for an entire series, under the aegis of Greg Chappell. Since that time the following players have batted at #3 - Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan, MS Dhoni, JP Yadav, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, SK Raina, and VVS Laxman.

The critics have been crying hoarse that such instability in the batting order is not good for the team's "chemistry". Chappell-Dravid repeatedly tell reporters that they are not experimenting but rather are indulging in "strategic planning". They insist that there is a rhyme and a reason for sending whomsoever they send in at #3 on a particular day. So, if indeed there is some method to who goes to bat where, what is the pattern? How do they decide whose turn it is to bat?

I searched for a pattern and I think I am beginning to see one. The Indian think-tank (Chappell, Dravid and Tendulkar) appear to have broken up the batsmen into two categories - the accelerators (Sehwag, Yuvraj, Pathan, Dhoni) and the anchors (Tendulkar, Dravid, Kaif). These 7 form the central core of their batting lineup.

The manipulation of the batting line-up is based on pairing an accelerator with an anchor as much as possible. Which role-players will go in to bat depends upon the state of the match:

The generic formula: Sehwag and Tendulkar will open. Sehwag's mandate is to accelerate, while Tendulkar's is to consolidate. If Sehwag gets out early - either Pathan or Yuvraj or Dhoni will go in. If Tendulkar gets out first - either Kaif or Dravid will go in.

Scenario 1: Batting first

• Corollary 1a: If India is batting first, and a wicket falls with a major portion of the PowerPlays still available to exploit, two accelerators will be paired up.
• Corollary 1b: If India is batting first, and a wicket falls with most of the PowerPlays having been consumed, the replacement batsmen shall be of the same category as the dismissed one.
  

Scenario 2: Batting second

• Corollary 2a: If India is batting second, and a wicket falls with a major portion of the PowerPlays still available to exploit, the replacement batsmen shall be of the same category as the dismissed one.
• Corollary 2b: If India is batting second, and a wicket falls with most of the PowerPlays having been consumed, the replacement batsmen shall be an accelerator if the asking rate is high or the replacement player will be an anchor if the asking rate is manageable.

(Naturally, the personnel will change due to injury/selectorial whims but I think the basic principles are in place. As time goes by, it will be interesting to see if I have correctly gauged the think-tank's intentions. I shall keep you posted on it.)

Now, the less obvious strategy appears to be in terms of marshalling the bowling resources. I admit that I have not really paid attention to that side of the equation. With the pitches being the way they are in most of the Indian subcontinent, I wonder if a strategy, other than to bowl a good line and bowl more slowly as the pitch wears down ,will even be necessary.

Menage e trois

I was talking to SM this morning when another friend, KK, called me. I switched lines and told KK that I'd get back to her in a few minutes. By the time I came back, SM had hung up. So I dialled her number, she picked up and said that she was on the phone and would call me back. So I hung up, called KK only to have her say that she was on the other line and would call me back. Turns out, the three of us had been calling each other with a phase difference of a few seconds, resulting in a comical call waiting scenario.

I decided to put an end to it when SM called me back again while I was on the phone with KK for the third time. I told SM to hang up and to not call KK anytime soon! Sigh! Isn't technology supposed to make things less confusing? In the good old days before call waiting (it was not too far back in the past in India) there would be none of this calling around in circles. You would get a monotonous beep-beep that told you the phone was 'engaged' indicating in a very straightforward manner that two people were conversing (so could you please hold onto your horses?) .

Back then, I could get lost in that idyllic two person island, where the only interruption I might encounter may be physical, such as siblings snatching the phone from you, impatient to travel to their own secluded islands....

The Broad sword of justice

Chris Broad had a chequered playing career, shining brightly during one glorious summer against the Aussies. Now he is a match refree seemingly on a mission to eradicate the menace of chucking from cricket. Everywhere he goes, a suspended bowler seems to follow in his wake.

Currently, he is the match refree for the Indo-Pak one day series. And Shoaib Akhtar and Harbhajan Singh have niggling injuries that just don't seem to be healing.

Coincidence? I wonder.