Its been over 3 months since my last post........thats a very very long time to have not blogged, but circumstances were such.
My trip to India was a very busy one. Just before I left, my boss asked me what I had planned for my "holiday". When I told him the plans, he said "Looks like you will be more relaxed when you are back from your holiday". Yes it was a hectic trip made worse because of my health.
It is not good to be on a holiday in India and to fall sick, get dehydrated, lose 2 kgs in half a day and get on drips to be barely able to recover in time for a very important occassion - my ENGAGEMENT.
Well, well...... Yes that is right. I was in India for my engagement. i am now engaged to my sweetheart of 3 years (actually a little more than that now) Gayathri :) For those of you who are wondering, she is the amusing_musing Gayathri, whom I first met via my blog on indiatimes :) I dont lie when I say that Blogging has given me a lot :). I will put up some pics when I find the time.
My parents were scheduled to fly to Melbourne with me. We were supposed to spend 3 days in Bangkok on our way in. Because of my health and because of the Civil war situation in Bangkok at the time, we cancelled that trip and flew straight in to Melbourne.
The last month and a bit in Melbourne have been hectic and stressful. My health has not been the best, still only recovering. My Dad fell sick and spent 10 days in hospital in Melbourne (not the best way to spend a holiday). And now that hes back home and recuperating, the Insurance company wont let me sleep, with all the documents that they want to settle the claims.
And then theres work, where my project was in Deployment phase and I was spending extra hours at work. And then theres the weather in Melbourne which has been like winter, though it is supposed to be peak summer.
Phew!!!!!! Enough of whining, i guess. I suppose, if I have found the time to blog, after all of the above, its a positive sign. I am looking fwd to more of this.
Stay tuned for more!!!!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Thursday, October 02, 2008
The Home stretch for the Big 5
Talk about the exit of the "Big 5" (I will add Kumble to the list) of Indian Test cricket has been the talking point for the last year. This now seems to be in the home stretch, where some definitive action can be expected. It only bodes well that there has been a change in guard not just in the BCCI Managing committee, but also with the selectors.
For starters, it is wonderful to see that the various powers of the BCCI are now professional appointments and no longer Honarary posts. This, hopefully, will bring some accountability into the running of cricket in India.
India is now faced with 2 home series, the first against Australia starting Oct 9th and followed by a series against England in December. This seems like a perfect set of series to effect a change of guard in the team as well. The Big 5 have done enough in their careers to warrant a pompous farewell and where better to have that than at home. It is time to Phase their exit from cricket and ensure that a smooth transition happens. Heres how I would do it, if I were in Krish Srikkanths shoes.
The Australia series will be the swan song for Saurav Ganguly. For a man who kick-started Indias resurgence with a wonderful 141 in Adelaide aginst the very same Australians, it would be apt that he signs off after a series against the World Champs. This wil motivate him to play a good series and go out on a high and in teh minds of the public as a champion cricketer, one which he surely is, despite the controversies.
Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid will play their last series against England. For two men who made their debuts against England in England, it will be fitting that them to sign off in style against the resurgent English team.
Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar seem to have a bit more in their tank and will help the transition be gradual and not sudden. With overseas series in Pakistan and New Zealand to follow, their experience will augur well for the youngsters in the side.
Talking about replacements, it is always difficult to fill the huge gaps that these contemporary greats will leave behind. Good news though is that the bench strength looks promising and ready to take on the reigns. Subramanium Badrinath, is the front runner in my opinion and with Akash Chopra, Rohit Sharma, Mohd Kaif, Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli in the wings, there is definitely good choice for the selectors. MS Dhoni has done enough to prove his effective captaincy and with 2 more series at home under the guidance of Anil Kumble will see him ready to take on the toughest job in Indian cricket. The huge boots of Anil Kumble as a bowler will be difficult to fill, but with Piyush Chawla, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha knocking on the doors, Indian spin seems in safe hands.
Sachin Tendulkar should play his last One Day series against England at home and then focus only on Tests, thereby enabling him to elongate his Test career. The ODi team is now gelling well into a good side.
Time will tell if any of this happens. In the end I mean well for all of these seniors and I think that they deserve a grand farewell and I hope the players do not leave it until too late and get dropped from the side.
For starters, it is wonderful to see that the various powers of the BCCI are now professional appointments and no longer Honarary posts. This, hopefully, will bring some accountability into the running of cricket in India.
India is now faced with 2 home series, the first against Australia starting Oct 9th and followed by a series against England in December. This seems like a perfect set of series to effect a change of guard in the team as well. The Big 5 have done enough in their careers to warrant a pompous farewell and where better to have that than at home. It is time to Phase their exit from cricket and ensure that a smooth transition happens. Heres how I would do it, if I were in Krish Srikkanths shoes.
The Australia series will be the swan song for Saurav Ganguly. For a man who kick-started Indias resurgence with a wonderful 141 in Adelaide aginst the very same Australians, it would be apt that he signs off after a series against the World Champs. This wil motivate him to play a good series and go out on a high and in teh minds of the public as a champion cricketer, one which he surely is, despite the controversies.
Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid will play their last series against England. For two men who made their debuts against England in England, it will be fitting that them to sign off in style against the resurgent English team.
Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar seem to have a bit more in their tank and will help the transition be gradual and not sudden. With overseas series in Pakistan and New Zealand to follow, their experience will augur well for the youngsters in the side.
Talking about replacements, it is always difficult to fill the huge gaps that these contemporary greats will leave behind. Good news though is that the bench strength looks promising and ready to take on the reigns. Subramanium Badrinath, is the front runner in my opinion and with Akash Chopra, Rohit Sharma, Mohd Kaif, Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli in the wings, there is definitely good choice for the selectors. MS Dhoni has done enough to prove his effective captaincy and with 2 more series at home under the guidance of Anil Kumble will see him ready to take on the toughest job in Indian cricket. The huge boots of Anil Kumble as a bowler will be difficult to fill, but with Piyush Chawla, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha knocking on the doors, Indian spin seems in safe hands.
Sachin Tendulkar should play his last One Day series against England at home and then focus only on Tests, thereby enabling him to elongate his Test career. The ODi team is now gelling well into a good side.
Time will tell if any of this happens. In the end I mean well for all of these seniors and I think that they deserve a grand farewell and I hope the players do not leave it until too late and get dropped from the side.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Indian Sports : A Torch Relay
I stumbled upon this video hosted on Youtube from a friends Orkut Profile and it took me back 10 years when I used to wait to see this video. I have already, now seen this video 3 times today. Wonderful!!!!!
It was one of my dreams as a sportsman to be part of a torch relay. It remained unfulfilled primarily because I changed school after 10th std. If I had continued, I would definitely have been the torch bearer for the school. In my new school I was not there long enough to stake claim to be the torch ot flag bearer.
Coming back to the video, i was trying to identify each sportsman and heres the ones that I have got. Correct me if I am wrong and help me name the rest :
- Krishnamachari Srikkanth, the dashing opening batsman and now Chief of Selectors
- PK Bannerjee, who is the Dhyan Chand of Indian Soccer.
- Shiny Wilson, multiple Asian Gold medallist and represented India in a distinguished Athletics career. Was part of a Golden era of Indian womens athletics.
- PT Usha, like the video rightly shows, shes the gazelle of Indian athletics and the heroine of the era I mentioned earlier.
- Ramanathan Krishnan, one of Indias Tennis greats
- Ramesh Krishnan, completes the father and son duo, another Tennis great
- Nawab Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, flamboyant cricketer and youngest captain of India. (Id s it Soha Ali running with him?)
- Kapil Dev Nikhanj, needs no introduction. Champion par excellence
- Milkha Singh (from one Pa'ji to another) . Indias Best Athletics Olympian
- Michael Ferreira, ace cueist
- Merwyn Fernandes, former Hockey captain and Olympian
- Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, first cricketer to 10K Test runs
- Erapalli Prasanna, one of the Indian champion spinning quartret
- Dilip Vengsarkar, distinguished cricketer, scored centuries at Lords in all of his innings there.
- Srinivas Venkatraghavan, another from the famous Spinning quartret (Bedi and Chandrashekar are the missing ones)
- Prakash Padukone, first Indian to win the All England Badminton Championship.
If I were to make a video like this currently, here are the people I would cast in it :
Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Bhaichung Bhutia, Dhanraj Pillay, Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Abhinav Bindra, Vijendra Kumar, Sushil Kumar, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Anju George, Pullela Gopichand, Vishwanathan Anand, Geet Sethi.
I have a feeling I am missing someone really special here.
With goosebumps, I sign off.
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