And I am back!

So after a rather long break, I am back.
With all the post-IPL hooplah and all the KKR-mania, I decided to pen down my thoughts again, and this time it's not for a project.

This year's IPL was rather lukewarm for me personally. I don't know why, but I was only excited for a very few matches; and when my Challengers bowed out, I really stopped watching. IPL seemed and felt different. The chutzpah of astonishing performances just fizzled out. The element of surprises just went amiss!

Well i'll be back with more about it soon! Till then
C'est  la vie :D

Rahul Dravid: Person behind the persona

(This was a post i had written in 2009 in the RCB website,. With Rahul Dravid calling it a day, I could not find a more apt occasion to publish this.)

 Rahul Dravid, as seen from the eyes of one of their favourite nieces, Subiksha Raman. 

Subiksha is the daughter of former India Cricketer Mr. W. V. Raman who currently coaches the Bengal Ranji team after having successfully coached the Tamil Nadu Team to new heights. She grew up with the BIG 5 of the Indian cricket and has the sweetest and fondest of memories about and with them. While talking over the phone and via e-mails she showed me the person behind these personas, something that left me warm in the heart and something that I had to share with all of you.

After talking about her Anil Mama, Subiksha now tells me about her Jam Uncle- The one and the only- Rahul Dravid.

This time Subiksha and I had a conversation about the Wall. Her Jam Uncle, and a much loved person both on and off the field. Rahul Dravid over the years has not only captured millions of hearts because of his superb cricketing skills but also because of the gentleman he is.
Having grown up with the BIG 5 of the Indian cricket, Subiksha insists that she had always been OVER-fond of the wall because he was the first guy who gave her a rose; and we girls always have a soft corner for the first rose (and coming from Rahul Dravid it must be SOMETHING else).

She says after a while "he's such a sweetheart, always smiling and calm. Never loses his chill and he always made it a point to visit my place whenever he was in Chennai." The smile itself told me how deep her affection goes for the Wall.

Such is the greatness of the person, Subiksha points out while explaining how he took her friend to sit beside him on a flight just because he happened to be her friend. Though he has reached unsalable heights our wall remains well grounded

I was very curious to know why JAM UNCLE? To this Subiksha gave me a sheepish smile and said "Loved the kissan ad he came in so started calling him Jammy Uncle which got shortened to Jam uncle...”

Speaking of Rahul Dravid, I would never forget how smitten I was to meet him during the Royal Challengers Bangalore Fanatic Fans Challenge 3 finals. His appreciation for my poetry was all I needed to hear. And even though I did not win, those words of appreciation made my day. I would never forget his words "Keep up your poetry. It was really impressive" when I went to take his autograph.

Jam Uncle, Jammy, The Wall... Call him whatever you like the greatness of his personality always shines through.

Lights. Camera. Action... IPL 5 is almost here!

It’s THAT time of the year again!

Don’t be surprised (or shocked) if:

·        The roads seem eerily deserted 4 p.m. onwards

·        Everybody seems to have the same trumpet beat as their ringtone

·        You see Firangi cheerleaders dancing to the local hits

·        Your car window is mysteriously broken  and you find a ball sitting comfortably inside

·        Suddenly the sports page of the newspaper seems to have more drama than the saas-bahu serials

·        Karbonn Kamaal Catch, Super Overs and Maxx Mobile time-out become a part of your daily vocabulary.

YES! IT’S TIME FOR THE BIGGEST CRICKETING CARNIVAL OF THE YEAR!
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for Indian Premier League 2012!

The highly anticipated fifth edition of the IPL is almost here, and boy are we looking forward to it. The tournament has already generated a lot of hype and controversy to follow its tradition of doing the same over the last four years.

Be it Sahara’s tiff with BCCI or Ravindra Jadeja’s million dollar sale, all have added to the build-up towards the exciting tournament which is all set to keep us hooked to our television screens over the next 2 months.

While many debate about the long duration of the tourney and the fatigue factor it brings along with it, one cannot possibly deny the entertainment that is associated with the IPL.

Though the wait is almost over, it’s not completely over yet.

We are waiting for the likes of Chris Gayle and Paul Valthaty hitting the ball far and away.

We are waiting to hear Malingas and Arvinds to break those stumps.

We are waiting to see Billy Bowden do his stuff.

We are waiting to listen to the trumpet again.

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE! We are waiting for you.

The HOME factor

(Note: This article was written a day after the England series got over. The facts might not be up-to-date) 

Let's me talk about the HOME factor. I have been following the team for sometime now and I just do not understand how does India look a completely different side at home and an another outfit when they go abroad. They are mostly the same men, but their body language is strikingly different when they go to some other country. I cannot understand stats, so I will not refer to them. The whole setup seems so different. Not only the recent England tour, but also, if you take a look at the tour of West Indies too you would know what I mean. We did struggle, even if a little, but we did.

The change is obtrusive enough to catch anybody's eye. The facial expressions of the men change, their attitude change and most of all the winning spirit gets blurred. I am sure other sides face something similar too, but with India it is more noticeable. If you look closely, that is precisely the reason why the selectors avoid testing new talents abroad.

The reasons for change may be many, but the most obvious one would be the change in pitches, In India, we have pitches that assist the spinners while in abroad they are more pace-friendly. England played the chin-music a little too loud for our liking and now, with the likes of Ashwin and Jadeja in prime form, the tables have 'turned'.

The home factor has worked for us most of the times in the past decade but we cannot bank upon it always. If there has to be a change in the lion-cat syndrome of the team (Lions at home, cats abroad), it has to be here and now

The journey that was...

This poem was written for my favourite team Royal Challengers Bangalore. It was for a contest called 'Memoirs of IPL' and I won the first prize for it. Do have a read. (Note: It was written before Champions League, Sept- Oct 2011)

It started with a win like we knew it would

With the next game also in the bag the journey got almost as good as it could.

But then we lost our way along the path with losses on the trot

We needed a whiff of joy that the City of Joy had brought.

There Gayle announced his arrival with 6s and 4s

Where began our streak of wins, opening doors after doors.

Not only did Gayle blow away the teams

Our bowling came good with Arvind rightly tackling the seams.

Red, Blue and Gold turned to a natural green

And from Bangalore, we sent Kochi back to their land serene.

Our juggernaut of wins came to a halt in the hills

Where dear old Gilly and his Punjab gave us the shocks and thrills.

We sailed to the final 4 with a easy victory

How we started and where we reached seemed nothing less than a history.

At the top of the league table, that’s where we belonged

With wishes, accolades and love our RCB stars were thronged.

It was a bit of a juggle as we lost the easy way to the final stage

But a second chance was all we needed and Mumbai Indians came under our carnage.

All came down to the finals where we faced the Yellow crew

It was the spicy sambhar against the enticing coffee brew.

The day was not ours and outplayed were we,

The loss was disheartening for us to see.

Things go wrong only to remind us to try harder for the next time to come

And lets not deny the RCB men gave us many highs and not rarely but often and a sizable some.

The Champions League is where we’ll stamp our authority

We in our Red, Blue and Gold will, for sure this time, establish our superiority.

Girls and Cricket: Howzzat!!

Gone are the days when a girl used to complain about cricket being a dampener to a date with her boyfriend; now with the overhaul of cricket, that same girl, instead of complaining, sits next to her boyfriend watching the match, cheering and charging. Yes, cricket has become an appealing sport to the fairer sex as well.

For some girls, like me, nothing matches up to the thrill of Dhoni’s helicopter shot or the anticipation of the Master Blaster’s 100^th ton. While some men still think that it’s only the masculinity of the players that catch the eve’s eye, there are girls who not only understand the sport but make sure that they get their facts right every time they engage in a conversation.

“Earlier I used to get very irritated by girls, who did not know a word of cricket, comment on Sachin Tendulkar’s batting skills whenever they saw him get out. But now things have changed, with IPL I see girls watching a lot more cricket and understanding a thing or two about it.” says Agnihotra Roy, a student and a cricket enthusiast. In a country where cricket is a religion, for many girls like Shireen S. Dastagir, aka Sista Sherrie, podcaster at pitch-invasion .com, the enthusiasm about cricket grew out of a need to fit in. From there cricket went on to be a obsession and finally a sport which they loved and understood just like, and maybe even better than most of their male friends. “I love the sport for so many reasons. On one hand it gives me a high to watch a T20 game and on the other, I can’t imagine a better way to spend a relaxed sunny day than watching a Ranji match. The fact that,

We girls don’t deny that the men of the game are one of the reasons that we love cricket, but then we also understand and enjoy the way these men play. 

From anklets to arm-guards, we girls have it all covered.

Indeed a fighter

He is an epitome of flamboyance both on and off the field.
A strong hitter of ball
A hard worker
An inspiration
But most of all, a FIGHTER.


Yuvraj Singh's illness has affected the billions of cricket lovers around the world. The dashing southpaw, who was also the man of the tournament in this edition of the world cup, has been diagnosed with lung cancer and this has come as a rude shock to everyone around the world.
Who can forget Stuart Broad's face when Yuvi hit the poor chap for 6 consecutive sixes; and who can forget the jubilation each of those hits brought. Yuvi had indeed made his presence felt on the field. He was a man of style, be it with the bat in his hands or with a babe on his arms.
Though his flamboyance cost him his position in the team a while back, he made sure he came back and with a bang.But destiny had other plans.
Soon after making a comeback Yuvi's fitness took an ugly turn. A finger injury is what began a string of unfortunate health-related events, and instead of on the field, he was seen more often in the physical rehabilitation centre.
When he was diagnosed with a tumor in his lung, nobody had thought it would be this bad; but the fact remains that he is suffering from cancer, he is battling for his life.
We as a nation are praying and more often than not prayers work more than medicines. With a billion hearts praying for Yuvi, recovery is just a while away. Before we know it he will be back on the field, hitting those sixes that he is best known for.

Cricket. My take on it

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150093881253374&saved

Surrender down-under

Termed as the 'Agneepath' series, the Border-Gavaskar series between India and Australia was nothing more than a heartbreak for us. Be it the famed Indian batting line-up or Mahi's composure, everything failed, and miserably at that. The series was a whitewash and we were hammered. But this series managed to put many critical questions before the great Indian test team, which not so long ago was the best in the world.

QUESTION 1
Is it time VVS Laxman calls it quits?
VVS Laxman was one of the biggest failures during the test series. With a average of less than 20 and a failing body language, the very very special Laxman looked anything but special. Being one of the stalwarts of the team, his failure to adapt to the Aussie batting condition drew him a lot of flack form the fans and the critics alike. Understandably his position in the team came under the scanner and the writing was on the wall "TIME TO CALL IT QUITS".
No, no body is questioning his greatness; after all he's been our crisis man for long now. But he's played his share of great knocks and now with age leaving his side, he should quit before the rubble of his bad innings completely overshadow the glory of his past records. If he does not quit he will be sacked, and that's something we don't want to watch. We want our very very special Laxman to bid a goodbye with his head held high.

QUESTION 2
Is it finally time to look ahead?

"The superstars are fading, the youngsters are a raggedy bunch. India's selectors need to take tough calls"- Sharada Ugra

So, have we finally decided to look beyond Laxman  and Dravid? This future looks bright but the epoch of the past and future, very messy. The idea is not to let the legends go just because they are aging, but to find young blood to fill in their great shoes.
Though the test had little to offer for the Indian fans, the gallant stunts of Umesh yadav stood out. He showed a lot of heart and potential trying to make most out of the unfavorable conditions, both on and off the pitch. He showed in him, a lot of promise and hope that there is indeed a future for the pace department of the Indian team.
Virat Kohli, the agressive Delhi-ite proved his mettle yet again. though his century contributed nothing to the cause, his will to play spoke a lot about his character. Though his off-field (and on-field) antics were  not well-received, he made sure that he gave the spectators something to talk about, beyond his middle finger.
With a clear indication that the seniors are perhaps closer to their end, it's time to look at the Kohlis and the Rohit Sharmas and groom them.

QUESTION 3
The curious case of Ishant Sharma.
One sentence: Not the same person!
Where is that fiery young lad from Delhi? It seems, with the mane, his aggression and skill have gone into the barber's bin as well. He was our star some years back and now he looks a pale shadow of his former self. He's lost pace and his lines have become as wiry and wayward as his hair used to be, before he decided to straighten it. Being hammered all across the park, he gave away far more runs than he was supposed to.
So where is the Ishant Sharma who made Ponting his favourite bunny? Nobody knows

QUESTION 4
Why so much kolaveri?
Talk about the need for aggression, we Indians were at it. Provoked by the notorious Aussies known for playing mind-games, the angry gestures from our team way too often. The middle-finger caught the eye more often than not, and Virat's finger got the lion's share of the spotlight. Ishant and Sehwag also had their tryst wit the media when they made their displeasure clear over all the comments and boos.
I only wish all that anger had found their call on the field, in terms of performance.

Though there were many more questions which arose, these were the ones that caught my eye. I really do not want to comment on the Dravid issue, as it's still unfolding.

Until next time
Happy voicing your opinion