More details to follow..but not often do you (I!!) get to meet a former president of the US.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Dad's new place in Plainsboro!!!
Here they are!! Latest and greatest pictures from Mom and Dad's new place in Plainsboro!!
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Indian Cricket and (Lack of) Professionalism
Lets take a look at what has transpired in the past 4 weeks to get a sense for how screwed up things really are from a professionalism standpoint
a) The world cup team gets selected and shortly thereafter the chief selector Vengsarkar goes and tells the media that he didn't want Sehwag on the team but Dravid insisted. To be honest..he should have been fired on the spot there and then.
b) during the world cup..first Gavaskar tries to trash talk the Australians and goes way overboard by citing a horrible homicide, then Chappell [i guess he has been drinking too much of the Indian kool aid] sends SMS messages to journalists BEFORE a key game indicating that he didn't get the team he wanted and Yuvraj acts like a star even though he is only a rising star!
c) then we go blow it..and what does BCCI do? they pull together the same tired ole bunch of ex captains [gavaskar, shastri, kapil dev, srikanth]..on that note why don't we try someone new just for giggles since the above bunch hasn't done squat with all their advice in recent times.. and decide to wait for 2 weeks to pull together a meeting. In the meantime, Chappell leaks his assessment, Tendulkar voices his angst and displeasure at the coach, the *seniors* leak their displeasure and srikkanth ..one of the above ..writes in his syndicated column his true views on the topic.. wow..i'd like to be a fly in the wall of that discussion.
Truth be told..the only guy who seems to have any credibility and professionalism left is Rahul Dravid. I have been underwhelmed a bit by his captaincy of late but then again not clear how much of this has been this brain dead execution element and if only for his commitment/professionalism [not to mention the fact that there is noone else!] i would keep him there as captain for atleast one or two more series while they groom the youngsters.
On that latter topic..sure Sourav did well re: the averages, and it may seem unfair but i think its time to move on.. Sourav/Harbhajan/Sehwag [tho he did look v good in last two games] need to have a strong message delivered to them. To be fair..Tendulkar probably needs a fire lit underneath him..and its time to herald in some of the new blood. Imagine Yuvraj, Karthik, Raina and Uthappa in the field..now theres a fun fielding side to watch..at this stage..i'd rather have them batting than the others listed above..not to mention Powar both w the ball (and hopefully stepping up w the bat) in place of Harbhajan.
The talents there..alas the big prize is gone..but if done right..could be a very exciting time for Indian cricket.
a) The world cup team gets selected and shortly thereafter the chief selector Vengsarkar goes and tells the media that he didn't want Sehwag on the team but Dravid insisted. To be honest..he should have been fired on the spot there and then.
b) during the world cup..first Gavaskar tries to trash talk the Australians and goes way overboard by citing a horrible homicide, then Chappell [i guess he has been drinking too much of the Indian kool aid] sends SMS messages to journalists BEFORE a key game indicating that he didn't get the team he wanted and Yuvraj acts like a star even though he is only a rising star!
c) then we go blow it..and what does BCCI do? they pull together the same tired ole bunch of ex captains [gavaskar, shastri, kapil dev, srikanth]..on that note why don't we try someone new just for giggles since the above bunch hasn't done squat with all their advice in recent times.. and decide to wait for 2 weeks to pull together a meeting. In the meantime, Chappell leaks his assessment, Tendulkar voices his angst and displeasure at the coach, the *seniors* leak their displeasure and srikkanth ..one of the above ..writes in his syndicated column his true views on the topic.. wow..i'd like to be a fly in the wall of that discussion.
Truth be told..the only guy who seems to have any credibility and professionalism left is Rahul Dravid. I have been underwhelmed a bit by his captaincy of late but then again not clear how much of this has been this brain dead execution element and if only for his commitment/professionalism [not to mention the fact that there is noone else!] i would keep him there as captain for atleast one or two more series while they groom the youngsters.
On that latter topic..sure Sourav did well re: the averages, and it may seem unfair but i think its time to move on.. Sourav/Harbhajan/Sehwag [tho he did look v good in last two games] need to have a strong message delivered to them. To be fair..Tendulkar probably needs a fire lit underneath him..and its time to herald in some of the new blood. Imagine Yuvraj, Karthik, Raina and Uthappa in the field..now theres a fun fielding side to watch..at this stage..i'd rather have them batting than the others listed above..not to mention Powar both w the ball (and hopefully stepping up w the bat) in place of Harbhajan.
The talents there..alas the big prize is gone..but if done right..could be a very exciting time for Indian cricket.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Its (almost...) over
Another terrible performance by Team India..a pattern of batting that has been plaguing them for 18 months now where the team just lost the plot completely. It was one thing to see people like Tendulkar and Dhoni get out for ducks..but then to see even the tail show zero application [surely Agarkar and Zaheer Khan w some more responsibility could have stayed there to get 25-40 more runs to make this a game].. a lousy mixup of a run out..Certainly can't blame the bowlers for this one. 250 should have been gettable and given what a batting beauty it was its just shame on the batsmen.
In any case, it was sad to see the look on Dravid/Tendulkars faces. I'm sure plenty of stones will get thrown their way but one certainly doesn't get the sense that they don't care or aren't working their rear ends off. Don't really understand what is missing in this lineup but clearly something is because despite being such a *powerful* lineup on paper..for 18 months now we have consistently faltered on the batting side.
In any case, will try and root for Bermuda on Sunday..though its clear that India doesn't deserve to move on. What the heck..can always dream :-)
Probably the last post from me on this world cup barring a miracle!
In any case, it was sad to see the look on Dravid/Tendulkars faces. I'm sure plenty of stones will get thrown their way but one certainly doesn't get the sense that they don't care or aren't working their rear ends off. Don't really understand what is missing in this lineup but clearly something is because despite being such a *powerful* lineup on paper..for 18 months now we have consistently faltered on the batting side.
In any case, will try and root for Bermuda on Sunday..though its clear that India doesn't deserve to move on. What the heck..can always dream :-)
Probably the last post from me on this world cup barring a miracle!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
The three most scintillating passages of play
1) Television:
Watching Tendulkar and Sehwag dismantle the Pakistan opening attack in the 2003 world cup. The 15 minutes of play was the most exhilirating passage of play i have ever seen. Chasing 281 ..never an easy target, Sachin started off with a fantastic backfoot cover drive to a perfectly good ball from Akram..but that was nothing compared to what happened in the next over. After a few lazy deliveries from Shoaib in his first over (after a lot of thrash talking about targeting Sachin), the final three balls of his over were amazing. First a widish delivery slashed over point for a 6, the second one a classic wristy flick to square leg but the last one was just incredible. A VERY quick delivery short of a length which Sachin punched back. For a second it looked like a classic back foot defensive shot till you saw mid on chasing the ball to the boundary.. It was just unbelievable stuff.
2) Radio
India vs Zimbabwe in 1983 cup..Keep in mind Zimbabwe then was like Bermuda today and i'm listening to commentary on the radio..and before we know it we are 17 for 5.. yes 17 for 5 batting first and Kapil Dev walks in. Hearing his feats that day (i think something like 178 not out) was just unbelievable..it wasnt a plodded/defensive knock..it was a counter attack that must have been glorious to watch but was great to hear.
3) Print
An inning i would pay lots of money to have watched. GR Vishwanath (my favorite player growing up) ..whom i never had the pleasure of watching in his hey days..scoring 97 no against the west indies and Andy Roberts on a wicket pitch. I only read about this in a brilliant piece of writing by Partab Ramchand. Like the Zimbabwe game, India had lost 3-4 wickets for minimal runs when Partab describes three shots by GRV. The first a hook, the second an on drive that had reached the boundary before Roberts could follow through and the third a square cut that hit the fence before Lloyd could turn from Gully and the fact that at that point 'lloyd and richards decided that they might as well forget getting him out and focused on the rest of the batsmen'. He was supposedly on 22 when the 7th wicket fell and then proceeded to add 100+ runs with *gasp* bedi and chandrashekar for company. The final comment on the innings 'the fact that he missed a century by just 3 did not in anyway diminish the quality of the performance..it infact gave it heroic stature'.. It was a brilliant piece of writing of probably one of the most brilliant innings noone ever saw.
Watching Tendulkar and Sehwag dismantle the Pakistan opening attack in the 2003 world cup. The 15 minutes of play was the most exhilirating passage of play i have ever seen. Chasing 281 ..never an easy target, Sachin started off with a fantastic backfoot cover drive to a perfectly good ball from Akram..but that was nothing compared to what happened in the next over. After a few lazy deliveries from Shoaib in his first over (after a lot of thrash talking about targeting Sachin), the final three balls of his over were amazing. First a widish delivery slashed over point for a 6, the second one a classic wristy flick to square leg but the last one was just incredible. A VERY quick delivery short of a length which Sachin punched back. For a second it looked like a classic back foot defensive shot till you saw mid on chasing the ball to the boundary.. It was just unbelievable stuff.
2) Radio
India vs Zimbabwe in 1983 cup..Keep in mind Zimbabwe then was like Bermuda today and i'm listening to commentary on the radio..and before we know it we are 17 for 5.. yes 17 for 5 batting first and Kapil Dev walks in. Hearing his feats that day (i think something like 178 not out) was just unbelievable..it wasnt a plodded/defensive knock..it was a counter attack that must have been glorious to watch but was great to hear.
3) Print
An inning i would pay lots of money to have watched. GR Vishwanath (my favorite player growing up) ..whom i never had the pleasure of watching in his hey days..scoring 97 no against the west indies and Andy Roberts on a wicket pitch. I only read about this in a brilliant piece of writing by Partab Ramchand. Like the Zimbabwe game, India had lost 3-4 wickets for minimal runs when Partab describes three shots by GRV. The first a hook, the second an on drive that had reached the boundary before Roberts could follow through and the third a square cut that hit the fence before Lloyd could turn from Gully and the fact that at that point 'lloyd and richards decided that they might as well forget getting him out and focused on the rest of the batsmen'. He was supposedly on 22 when the 7th wicket fell and then proceeded to add 100+ runs with *gasp* bedi and chandrashekar for company. The final comment on the innings 'the fact that he missed a century by just 3 did not in anyway diminish the quality of the performance..it infact gave it heroic stature'.. It was a brilliant piece of writing of probably one of the most brilliant innings noone ever saw.
Technology and its implications on following cricket over the years!
Was thinking this am about the three most scintillating passages of cricket to my recollection and interestingly enough the three that came to mind were ones that i was exposed to across three different forms of media: live television, radio and reading! It goes to show you in a way how much technology has advanced over the past 20 years.
To digress a bit, when i first started getting into cricket (age 6, 1974), the first series i heard about was India vs. West Indies and it was the famous bodyline game. At that time I was quite confused why the West Indians were hurting the rest of the Indians [ :-) ].. Two day old highlights were the best we got on a neighbours television and live commentary was spotty at best. Since then we got into an era where most games started being broadcast via live commentary and i recall staying up the middle of the night when India toured West Indies..not to mention sneaking a transistor into school and getting caught a few times. Live matches on TV started much later and that too only the local game (at Wankhade Stadium). Even the 1993 worldcup wasnt broadcast live (other than the semis and finals).
I left India soon after that and while i tried to get a short wave radio to catch highlights..it was impossible and i lost track of cricket for 15 years. Players I knew retired (Gavaskar, Kapil Dev), others came and went (Azhar, Jadeja, Robin Singh)..and glorious careers were started (Sachin, Rahul...).
Finally 4 years ago..thanks to the world of the Internet..was actually able to get same day scores of matches and it was truly amazing..but nothing compared to what followed. willow.tv!! My first series was watching India v. New Zealand and while the performance was pathetic..it ushered a new era of keeping in touch with Cricket.
Now i watch games on a wireless broadand connection on a train to New York and it is truly amazing how much technology has transformed communications.
More on my 3 most scintillating moments in my next post!
To digress a bit, when i first started getting into cricket (age 6, 1974), the first series i heard about was India vs. West Indies and it was the famous bodyline game. At that time I was quite confused why the West Indians were hurting the rest of the Indians [ :-) ].. Two day old highlights were the best we got on a neighbours television and live commentary was spotty at best. Since then we got into an era where most games started being broadcast via live commentary and i recall staying up the middle of the night when India toured West Indies..not to mention sneaking a transistor into school and getting caught a few times. Live matches on TV started much later and that too only the local game (at Wankhade Stadium). Even the 1993 worldcup wasnt broadcast live (other than the semis and finals).
I left India soon after that and while i tried to get a short wave radio to catch highlights..it was impossible and i lost track of cricket for 15 years. Players I knew retired (Gavaskar, Kapil Dev), others came and went (Azhar, Jadeja, Robin Singh)..and glorious careers were started (Sachin, Rahul...).
Finally 4 years ago..thanks to the world of the Internet..was actually able to get same day scores of matches and it was truly amazing..but nothing compared to what followed. willow.tv!! My first series was watching India v. New Zealand and while the performance was pathetic..it ushered a new era of keeping in touch with Cricket.
Now i watch games on a wireless broadand connection on a train to New York and it is truly amazing how much technology has transformed communications.
More on my 3 most scintillating moments in my next post!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Thoughts on upcoming India/SL game
So..things have gone VERY well for India since the horrific start..reason for saying that is..thanks to their huge win against Bermuda and SL's huge win against Bangladesh..pretty much *all* we have to do is beat Sri Lanka and we are into the Super 8s. Not just that ..we go into it with extra points given that we would have beaten the other team in the division that made it as well! and all our sins against Bangladesh would be forgotten. Ofcourse..if we lose, we are out! I guess at the end of the day all you can ask for is having control of your own destiny and we now have it.
With regards to the team makeup against SL, i think we need to go in with 5 bowlers and 7 batsmen..and since that adds up to 12..that means we need Pathan in there. I think we need to take Pathan in for Uthappa [now that Sehwag may have lit it up a bit] and Harbhajan in for Agarkar. Further i would send Pathan in one down to bat as a pinch hitter much as he did in the heighty days of our success against SL and England last year. I think this gives us a chance of a pretty impressive batting line up [Sehwag, Ganguly, Pathan, Tendulkar, Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni] and 5 bowlers. IMO that is probably the ideal combination for the rest of the tour. Agarkar has been extremely underwhelming tho i suspect there will be those that feel he ought to be there since he does have the potential to show up on his day.
All in all, the stage is set for a great game. I am feeling good about it and look forward to launching into the Super 8's shortly with a 1 game advantage!!
With regards to the team makeup against SL, i think we need to go in with 5 bowlers and 7 batsmen..and since that adds up to 12..that means we need Pathan in there. I think we need to take Pathan in for Uthappa [now that Sehwag may have lit it up a bit] and Harbhajan in for Agarkar. Further i would send Pathan in one down to bat as a pinch hitter much as he did in the heighty days of our success against SL and England last year. I think this gives us a chance of a pretty impressive batting line up [Sehwag, Ganguly, Pathan, Tendulkar, Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni] and 5 bowlers. IMO that is probably the ideal combination for the rest of the tour. Agarkar has been extremely underwhelming tho i suspect there will be those that feel he ought to be there since he does have the potential to show up on his day.
All in all, the stage is set for a great game. I am feeling good about it and look forward to launching into the Super 8's shortly with a 1 game advantage!!
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