Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Parthiv Patel deserves a place in the Indian Team

Parthiv Patel scores a century against Bengal at Eden Gardens Dec'2006

I might be biased. But I admire this guy. Look at his temperament and maturity at such a young age. He is the captain of the Ranji Trophy team of Gujarat.
I like his batting style. He opens in style. Look at his exploits in Australia and Pakistan. I think he has a very dependable technique. He is also hard hitting. He pulls, drives and cuts with so much passion.
If I go by the challenger series and the ranjis, his keeping has also improved. He is more of a gymnast the way he go for the ball.
And you know his appeals behind the stumps. He was fined once.
So why he should not be in the Indian squad. Pat Symcox said Indians lack a left hander. He is the one. I would invite your contention and why he should not be in the team?
Few pics of the future little master..............

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Riots - Need to get to the real cause

Just a thought that I had when I saw the pictures of burning trains which followed the desecration of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's statue in Kanpur. I do not want to argue whether these riots are justified or if they are necessary evils of democracy.

The point that came to my mind is that RIOTS COST MONEY.

All the news clips and articles that I read said something to the effect "DALITs in several parts of Maharashtra went on a rampage on Thursday, setting three trains on fire, damaging over 100 buses and clashing with police in violent protests........"

Now the point is "Have we ever given a thought as to how many litres of petrol and kerosene it would require to burn a train... sorry three trains and over 100 buses....". Several hundreds of litres at least... costing thousands and perhaps lakhs of rupees.

Where does the money come from... Dalits are the so called poorer section of society and even if they are rich... would someone spend their own money to buy petrol to burn trains?...... I can fathom such jingoism... and refuse to believe that riots are well planned that rioters pool in money a day before and then attack the roads... !!!

I have spoken to many people. Some completely condemn riots, some are disillusioned, some support it but I have not found a single common person saying that I want to burn a train to prove my support.

Durlovspeath: Someone else plans and budgets the riots and the common people just implements the riots. And it is a organised crime of sorts.

I urge the media to dig deep into this and instead of just blaberring about how many people died and how many buses got burnt, the media should find out the real culprits of riots, the real financer of riots, the mastermind of riots...

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar Should Quit Or At Least Have a Chat with his Wife !!

I fear that Sachin Tendulkar might also get an unceremoniously exit from cricket. The fate that azhar had to face, the fate that Dada had to face.

I have always felt that performers should bid adeau when the going is good. And as for Sachin, he should quit immediately when the going is still not that bad.

He should realise and admit that age and injuries are catching up to him. It needs great maturity and wisdom to understand his mental and physical capabilities. Just because Lara can make a century at the age of 37 does not mean that Tendulkar also can.

It is not how much run is one making; more importantly it is how is one is getting out. A good batsman might get out cheaply continuously for a couple of innings. If he is getting out for good deliveries, yorkers and googlies, it is completely acceptable. But if he is throwing his wicket for average bowling and bad bowling continuously for a series of innings, then there is a big problem. If we take the last year into perspective and analyse how Sachin has thrown away his wicket most of the time, you feel like agreeing to what Sanjay Manjrekar has wrote about him. It makes me pretty adamanant in saying that Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar should quit.

Lets take the last one dayer with South Africa and understand how Sachin threw his wicket. He was going for the ball and then at the last moment tried to leave the ball; touching the ball in the process and giving a easy catch. The ball was not a greatly swinging ball. It was an average delivery.

This throws up many questions. Why was he trying to leave the harmless ball? We dont remember Tendulkar leaving harmless deliveries. Is he not confident of hitting them? Is he trying to be safe because he knows that he has been getting out cheaply lately. Is he scared of bouncy pitches? Has he lost his sense of timing because of persistent injuries?

Whatever the reason is things are not looking very positive for our little master. Sometimes I feel he needs councelling. Perhaps, Gavaskar should spent some time with him. Perhaps he should speak to his wife. She is the one who knows him the closest. It is not essential to understand cricket to the core for the wife to know the husband about his cricket and his cricketing attitude (left in him).

It is high time that Tenduldar decides the future course of his career. I have great regards for him and I pray that he is able to quit the game with respect.