I was going through the South Zone team for the Duleep trophy. I saw the name of Arjun Yadav. The name sounds illustrious and the lineage regal! Only the second great to don the name after the mythical Pandu's brave son! Coming back to 2009 and the Yadavpautra, I looked at his feats in domestic cricket. In his first-class career, he has scored 3146 runs in 66 matches at a grand average of 29.12. Obviously, his dad, the greatest offie after Prasanna, will testify that he is a much better batsman than his fiugres tell. I dug deep like a leggie trying to prise out a batsman on a flat track. His scores in the Ranji Super League were 9, 41, 9, 54*, 18, 118*, 6, 29, 22, 0, and 0. This stupendous performance was better than Ravi Teja (456 runs) and T S Suman (426 runs), S A Quadri (387 runs), who failed to make it to the South Zone team. They say, statistics is an ass, and the Pandu of Hyderabad cricket will tell you how his son's 118 n.o. was probably the best he'd seen after Tendulkar's knock at WACA in 1991-92! But like my grandpa used to say, "If your dad can't do this for you, will an outsider do it for you?"
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Let's Make an Example............
I don't know economics, and neither do I understand politics. Probably, some bit of commonsense and morality, I can understand with my limited intellect.
I was watching with amazement, the news of the Satyam imbroglio and its aftermath. I am sure Raju will probably go to jail. But my prescription is that the entire board, the PwC local brass, the SEBI Chief, and probably the BSE Chief should also go to jail. One may argue that some of the above may have nothing to do. Possibly, yes, but I have an argument. Raju is a businessman, and his primary job is to make money—he will go at any length to maximize his returns. That's where the regulators come in and they didn't do their job. They must pay for this. So must the board members. The biggest crime in this land is negligence and oversight. This is not to absolve Raju of the crime. He has cheated his stakeholders—he must be punished. What will probably come out is people at responsible positions will act out of fear of ending up in jails for gross negligence.
This is not the first time. After the terror strikes happened, there was a clamor for the CM's exit. "RR Patil must go." "Down with politicians." There were morchas, candlelight marches, Facebook groups, all saying the same thing—"The CM/ Dy CM must go." They went. Then what? Has the threat gone away to Latur and Sangli? No. I went about looking for people who are responsible for Mumbai's security—the Navy, the Coast Guard, and the Police. Why didn't anybody ask for the head of the Naval Chief? The Coast Guard Chief? The Police Chief? My logic is simple—had these guys done their job of protecting the city, those 10 idiots wouldn't have held the city to ransom and killed 200 innocents! Even today, these 'Chiefs' are pretty secure in their seats! When I suggested this to someone, he said, "Why are you holding the chiefs responsible? They don't have enough weaponry and manpower, besides a host of other problems?" My point—Only when heads roll, will the new incumbents take up issues of inadequate staffing, archaic training, and rampant politicization. Maybe then, will we as citizens feel more secure!
Moot point—People at responsible positions must pay for their acts of negligence! They are as responsible for the crimes as much as the perpetrators! Raju, Deshmukh, and Patil must be punished, but they aren’t the only guys, if you want to stem the rot! They are soft targets, there are others in the system who need a kick on their softside!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Oye Lucky.......
I watched Oye Lucky......3 days after the terror strikes. In fact I wanted to get away from the horrific images—I wanted to laugh, probably a release!
The theatre had around 50-60 viewers, not more.
Oye Lucky...... worked for me on two fronts.
Because of Abhay Deol. Abhay Deol is a terrific actor in the making. He and Irfan Khan will most probably anchor the middle-of-the-road Hindi cinema for the next few years. Why middle-of-the-road? Because Yash Raj and Karan Johar will never need him and he is too good to be ignored! I heard of Abhay Deol when Socha Na Tha was released. My wife had seen the movie and she kept raving about this guy. I must admit that when I watched the movie, I liked what I saw. Coming to this movie, Abhay Deol plays Lucky, a boy from a lower-middle-class Delhi Sikh family, who joins the world of petty crime to essentially keep up with the Joneses! It is almost like Leo DiCaprio in the Spielberg caper, Catch Me If You Can but Deol allows no comparison because of a splendid performance. My pick is the scene where Deol is cornered and he has to surrender finally—the emotions he displays is outstanding.
Because of Dibakar Banerjee. Dibakar Banerjee is a young film director, who I thought made a brilliant first film, Khosla Ka Ghosla. To follow up with an equally well-made second film, Oye Lucky............must be a commendable effort. There are moments in the film that belong to Dibakar. Especially, the scene when young Lucky (played brilliantly) takes his girlfriend to a restaurant and how the waiter quickly seizes up the situation that the kid has no money and cracks jokes at the kid's expense. Or the whole scene when Lucky executes a heist at the house of the TV anchor, who ironically has made a name for covering such crimes on the television! Even the attention to detail is spot on-a look at Lucky's house is a case in point. My pick is the superb casting of Paresh Rawal, who plays the roles of three father figures at different phases of Lucky's life and who end up hoodwinking him. Like Imtiaz Ali (of Socha Na Tha and Jab We Met), Dibakar captures the Delhi of the lower-middle class very well.
I saw the movie three weeks back. I still have a smile. I am pretty convinced that the hall was empty that evening not because of the film, but people were too scared to step out of their homes!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Well batted, Sir!
I am writing this post on a day when Saurav Ganguly completed a wonderful knock in his farewell Test. Ever since he announced his retirement a fortnight ago, cricket writers and many others have been making a beeline on what he has achieved in his 12 years of international cricket. Let me also join the Bongwagon!
How would I want to remember Dada? It is not the shirt waving incident at Lords. I think he deserves credit for more substantial contributions he made to Indian cricket.
He went to Australia in 1991-92 and went straight into wilderness after the tour. He resurfaced in 1996 as a 23-year-old with a super century at Lords and followed it up with another one in the next one at Trent Bridge. Very few players would have survived a debacle like the one he experienced in 1991-92. That he came back in 1996 and hit a century on debut showed his self-belief.
The Port of Spain test in 2002 was in my view a watershed in Indian cricket. For the first time, a fast bowling trio, Srinath, Nehra, and Zaheer bowled India to a win over West Indies. Huge credit must be due to Saurav because he believed that we could win overseas only if we had three (not two) quick bowlers. With this formula in place and into action, we began to win overseas Test matches pretty regularly. Case in point would be our victories at Port of Spain and Headingly in 2002, Adelaide, Multan, and Rawalpindi in 2004, Johannesburg in 2006, Trent Bridge in 2007, and Perth in 2008.
Few months later, India was playing a Test match at Headingly. Saurav was aware of the halo surrounding the ground - England's own ground where their record was awesome and visitors often struggled to come to terms with the swing and seam conditions that were on offer on this ground. Dravid and Bangar had provided a platform for the Tendulkars and Gangulys to take over. On the second evening, Ganguly was in his eighties and in fading light, the wily English captain, Nasser Hussein took the new ball anticipating that the Indian batsman would appeal for bad light and his new ball bowlers would be fresh the next morning. Instead, Ganguly and Tendulkar went berserk and added some 60-odd runs in no time. I cannot think of any Indian batsman who would have risked a century, particularly at Headingly. The next morning the declaration happened and two days later, India won by an innings.
In the off-season of 2003-04, he made a quiet trip to Australia and spent few days with the Australian legend, Greg Chappell. He was tired of the constant criticism of his inability to play quick bowling and that he wanted to correct this 'feeling.' India was to tour Down Under and this was an ideal opportunity to silence those doubters. The Brisbane Test happened, and Saurav in true dramatic fashion scored a magnificent 144. What a knock!
For the first time, there was a captain who believed in Team India. This could be because he came from a weak zone. I am not insinuating but people in stronger zones have a larger pool of players to look at and therefore develop a myopic vision!
How would I want to remember Dada? It is not the shirt waving incident at Lords. I think he deserves credit for more substantial contributions he made to Indian cricket.
He went to Australia in 1991-92 and went straight into wilderness after the tour. He resurfaced in 1996 as a 23-year-old with a super century at Lords and followed it up with another one in the next one at Trent Bridge. Very few players would have survived a debacle like the one he experienced in 1991-92. That he came back in 1996 and hit a century on debut showed his self-belief.
The Port of Spain test in 2002 was in my view a watershed in Indian cricket. For the first time, a fast bowling trio, Srinath, Nehra, and Zaheer bowled India to a win over West Indies. Huge credit must be due to Saurav because he believed that we could win overseas only if we had three (not two) quick bowlers. With this formula in place and into action, we began to win overseas Test matches pretty regularly. Case in point would be our victories at Port of Spain and Headingly in 2002, Adelaide, Multan, and Rawalpindi in 2004, Johannesburg in 2006, Trent Bridge in 2007, and Perth in 2008.
Few months later, India was playing a Test match at Headingly. Saurav was aware of the halo surrounding the ground - England's own ground where their record was awesome and visitors often struggled to come to terms with the swing and seam conditions that were on offer on this ground. Dravid and Bangar had provided a platform for the Tendulkars and Gangulys to take over. On the second evening, Ganguly was in his eighties and in fading light, the wily English captain, Nasser Hussein took the new ball anticipating that the Indian batsman would appeal for bad light and his new ball bowlers would be fresh the next morning. Instead, Ganguly and Tendulkar went berserk and added some 60-odd runs in no time. I cannot think of any Indian batsman who would have risked a century, particularly at Headingly. The next morning the declaration happened and two days later, India won by an innings.
In the off-season of 2003-04, he made a quiet trip to Australia and spent few days with the Australian legend, Greg Chappell. He was tired of the constant criticism of his inability to play quick bowling and that he wanted to correct this 'feeling.' India was to tour Down Under and this was an ideal opportunity to silence those doubters. The Brisbane Test happened, and Saurav in true dramatic fashion scored a magnificent 144. What a knock!
For the first time, there was a captain who believed in Team India. This could be because he came from a weak zone. I am not insinuating but people in stronger zones have a larger pool of players to look at and therefore develop a myopic vision!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The empty cupboard
Over the last few days, I read articles by two outstanding cricket writers in the land, Mukul Kesavan and Sambit Bal. Though each one had an interesting take on what will happen after the Fab Four's exit, they concurred that the road ahead is tricky, if not painful for the Test team.
My memories go back to the Indian tour of Pakistan in 1989, when a young boy, barely 16, was selected to tour with the Indian team on the back of record-making feats in the Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy, and Ranji Trophy. I remember following the boy's debut on radio. Nineteen years on, the boy has now become a legend and is on the verge of retirement.
Another vivid memory is that of Lord's 1996, when two 23-year-olds launched their international careers in such a stupendous fashion that their feats on that Lord's day is talked as benchmarks for Test debutants. I remember looking at Saurav Ganguly and Rahul and telling myself that these guys look international class - no nervousness, no tension, just pure solidity. Both had come through the ranks, albeit differently. Saurav had gone to Australia as a 19-year-old and left out in the wilderness after just a solitary one-dayer. To come back home and score tons of runs in the domestic cricket and then make a transition into the internal scene is a rare Indian feat. Rahul, on the other hand, had done well at all levels and the Test cap was just another 'hat.' It was only logical that he did well at the internation level.
When India was touring Australia in 1999-2000, VVS Laxman was recalled to the side after a string of tall scores in the domestic season. I remember the first tour match at Gabba when he hit a wonderful hundred. A month later, the cricketing world was talking about his marvellous hundred at the SCG.
That brings to the point, everyone is talking about! Who will replace them? Are they worthy replacements? Let's examine the pretenders!
Rohit Sharma - Everybody talks about his talent. He scores those good-looking thirties in the shorter format. I have yet to hear about a big knock in the longer version. He needs a good season with some big scores if he can be a serious contender.
Yuvraj Singh - Everybody talks about his obvious talent, but look at what he achieved in Australia. I think the selectors are not done with him - they still want to try him out in the longer version. Obviously, the five wise men hope and pray that he occupies one slot.
Suresh Raina - Same as Rohit Sharma
Manoj Tiwari - He showed his inadequacy against genuine pace at the Gabba. He needs to work at his game and score runs in buckets in domestic cricket. Not surprising, that he is off the radar!
Mohd Kaif - I don't know why his name keeps cropping up like his peer Yuvraj, even though he is a very limited player. Like Yuvraj, the wise men hope that he occupies another slot.
S Badrinath - He has the runs in the domestic scene, but fails in crunch matches. Case in point was the recent Irani Cup. It was a God-sent opurtunity to come good. He failed in both the innings. He should consider himself lucky to be part of the Test squad.
The list ends! None of the above are good enough! That's a worry! The cupboard is barren! The bench strength is not as good as our administrators would like us to believe! If the above replacements were good enough, they would have had performances to force their way into the side. That they are unable to do so reveals their obvious class and that's a shame!
My memories go back to the Indian tour of Pakistan in 1989, when a young boy, barely 16, was selected to tour with the Indian team on the back of record-making feats in the Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy, and Ranji Trophy. I remember following the boy's debut on radio. Nineteen years on, the boy has now become a legend and is on the verge of retirement.
Another vivid memory is that of Lord's 1996, when two 23-year-olds launched their international careers in such a stupendous fashion that their feats on that Lord's day is talked as benchmarks for Test debutants. I remember looking at Saurav Ganguly and Rahul and telling myself that these guys look international class - no nervousness, no tension, just pure solidity. Both had come through the ranks, albeit differently. Saurav had gone to Australia as a 19-year-old and left out in the wilderness after just a solitary one-dayer. To come back home and score tons of runs in the domestic cricket and then make a transition into the internal scene is a rare Indian feat. Rahul, on the other hand, had done well at all levels and the Test cap was just another 'hat.' It was only logical that he did well at the internation level.
When India was touring Australia in 1999-2000, VVS Laxman was recalled to the side after a string of tall scores in the domestic season. I remember the first tour match at Gabba when he hit a wonderful hundred. A month later, the cricketing world was talking about his marvellous hundred at the SCG.
That brings to the point, everyone is talking about! Who will replace them? Are they worthy replacements? Let's examine the pretenders!
Rohit Sharma - Everybody talks about his talent. He scores those good-looking thirties in the shorter format. I have yet to hear about a big knock in the longer version. He needs a good season with some big scores if he can be a serious contender.
Yuvraj Singh - Everybody talks about his obvious talent, but look at what he achieved in Australia. I think the selectors are not done with him - they still want to try him out in the longer version. Obviously, the five wise men hope and pray that he occupies one slot.
Suresh Raina - Same as Rohit Sharma
Manoj Tiwari - He showed his inadequacy against genuine pace at the Gabba. He needs to work at his game and score runs in buckets in domestic cricket. Not surprising, that he is off the radar!
Mohd Kaif - I don't know why his name keeps cropping up like his peer Yuvraj, even though he is a very limited player. Like Yuvraj, the wise men hope that he occupies another slot.
S Badrinath - He has the runs in the domestic scene, but fails in crunch matches. Case in point was the recent Irani Cup. It was a God-sent opurtunity to come good. He failed in both the innings. He should consider himself lucky to be part of the Test squad.
The list ends! None of the above are good enough! That's a worry! The cupboard is barren! The bench strength is not as good as our administrators would like us to believe! If the above replacements were good enough, they would have had performances to force their way into the side. That they are unable to do so reveals their obvious class and that's a shame!
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