Cricket in New York

This is a photograph that appeared in an otherwise well written article in The Economist.

Question: Is this how they play cricket in US? All the slip players are on the other side!!!! Unless the batsman is gifted and is a switch hitter.

The Sachin Tendulkar Factor

Everyone who has once held a bat in hand seems to have an opinion on the Indian cricket team. So here's my two bit:

The reason why Indian batting order collapse after a great start involving Tendulkar is because Tendulkar is so good. This may seem to be a cock-eyed logic but hear me out ... Because Tendulkar is so good, and because he bats so effortlessly when he is in full flow, the rest of the batsmen in the dressing room think that the pitch is playing true and that it is a batsman's pitch. They ust be going, "Arrreee! Sachin has hit 3 sixes. Wow! I will go and smash the ball all over the place." Unfortunately, they get it wrong and they fall flat on their respective faces. The sad part is that there is no lessons learnt.

I think it was Rahul Dravid who got it right. In one of the interviews, given quite some time ago, he said something to this effect: Watching Sachin at the other end is a great experience. Of course, you need to be careful. You cannot play like him. So, you play your game.

So, here is my advise to the Indian batsmen: Recognise your strength and play to it. Let Sachin play his game. You play yours.

By the way, this applies to daily life too.

Are Cricketers Sissies?

Am I the only one seeing it this way, or there others with similar opinion?

Here's a list of equipment that a batsman has for protection against fast bowlers:

a) Helmet often with a visor - to protect the head, the temple, and the face.

b) Gloves - to protect the fingers

c) Pads - to protect the knee and the shin

d) Abdomen Guard - to protect the family jewels

e) Thigh Guard, Elbow Guard, Arm Guard, Chest Guard - to protect, well, thigh, elbow, arm, and chest.

Is there any part of the body that is exposed that could be damaged by a fast ball?

Oh yes! The foot.

So, the batsmen wear some pretty heavy duty shoes.

So why was yesterday's ODI between India and Srilanka canceled?

Was the pitch that bad?

Or was it because the Srilankan team were scared of beaten hollow having scored very few runs on the board?

Or is it that cricketers are now used to only flat pitches and they have forgotten how to duck and weave and hook and pull? (Hey! We make 300+ runs on flat pitches. We must be great!)

Or was it because it was a dead rubber and Srilankan and Indian players just wanted to go home and relax?

Or are the Cricketers plain sissies?

I think they should switch to playing with tennis balls.

Cricket? Yeah! Hockey? What?

India is Team No. 1 in cricket. It has been a long, hard journey and the end result is certainly sweet. We all rejoice. I really hope we maintain this position for a long, long time to come. And we are the team that all other countries look to beat.

But spare a thought for Hockey too, which was once the pride of India.
How many of us knew that the Champions Trophy is being played right now, as I type?
We did not even qualify for the Champions Trophy being played in Australia.

We will play in the 2010 Hockey World Cup though.
By virtue of being the host nation. Not because we won any qualifying tournaments (see here)
But this is a chance. If India wins the World Cup, hockey will regain it position in India.
I hope the Indian Hockey team is hard at work.
They do not have much time.
The World Cup Hockey will be played in N. Delhi from 28th Feb to 13th March, 2010.

Ok one more question: how many of you knew that the World Cup Hockey will be played in India in 2010?

Waiting For Indians

I am waiting for ...

the first Indian to break the 10s barrier in 100m
the next Indian to get a Nobel prize in science
the first Indian to get the Fields Medal
the next Indian to become the world chess champion
the first Indian to walk on the Moon
the next Indian to swim the English channel
the first Indian team to win the World Cup Football
the next Indian team to win the Olympic Gold in hockey

Don't tell me all have become software engineers! Like me!

Feel free to add to the list.

Saina Nehwal wins Indonesian Open

I was wondering what my 400th blog would be.
Couldn't have been better.

While India kept plugging for the cricket team and Sania - who is a human yo-yo as far as her performance goes, this girl, Saina Nehwal, has slowly but surely powered her way to the top of the world badminton stage. More success to her.

Good job girl!

More details here.

Shane Warne, The Poet

When we talk of cricket, we always visualize the graceful strides of a bowler, the exquisite stroke play of the batsman, quick as a flash stumping by the wicketkeeper and the horizontal-in-the-air dives of the fielders. To the cricket fan, these are instances of poetry in motion.

But there are some that go unnoticed. The captain's role in the game. Oh yes, we praise it, but it is not quite in the same league as the poetry-in-motion stuff that I described above. The current edition of IPL T20 has taught me otherwise.

I refer, of course, to Shane Warne's captaincy. In last night's match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, the man of the match was shared by two batsmen but the true man of the match was Shane Warne. The way he marshalled his men, the bowling changes, the encouragements, the pat on a bowler's back, his own bowling, his choice of men ... I could go on ... were a sight to behold. He is perhaps the only captain who I have seen to be visibly involved in the game. He binds the team. And if someone wishes to learn leadership qualities (more on my views on leadership, here) s/he just needs to sit watching Warne in action.

Shane Warne is the greatest captain Australia never had.

The IPL Date drama

I am not sure what message are what message are we sending out by this Indian Premier League T-20 Cricket date drama:

(a) India is as unsafe as Pakistan
(b) When there are elections in India, the police and the armed forces cannot protect anyone else
(c) To obtain protection you need to allow political advertisements
(d) All of the above

Kapil Dev da jawab nahi!

Among all the reactions I saw on TV last night on the Lahore day light terror attack, the one by Kapil Dev made sense the most. He talks the way he used to play. Neat and from the guts.

We should help Pakistan to become a peaceful country, but we can help them only if they want to help themselves.

These are not his exact words, but you get the idea.

It was obviously a recorded interview, spliced in between live news. You could see the interview excerpts rolling past even before Kapil actually spoke. The text "Kapil still wants to play in Pakistan" irritated me no end. That's not what he was saying. He said something to this effect:

If the Government of India asks me to play I will play in Pakistan. If the government says don't play, I will not. The politicians should take wise decisions. We are like soldiers in uniform. Once we wear Indian colours we do what is told to us.

Or something similar. TRP ratings. It does strange things to people.