In the name of the Holy Spirit of Cricket !

Murali Kartik is the man most hated today in Somerset and England and even more than the Pakistani trio accused of spot-fixing. We know his crime, he Mankaded Alex Barrow after warning him earlier in the over for backing up too far. Somerset Captain Trescothick lost no time in admonishing the "despicable" act of the former Indian spinner. The crowd too booed this act.

I strongly suspect "Spirit of Cricket" is a strange slimy liquid with a mind of its own. It flows in one direction. Wherever an Indian is involved, it flows against  ! So much so, often we get flooded by this spirit.

Unmukt Chand and the Recalcitrant System !

Where is India ?

What we see is the Final Medals Tally of  London Olympics 2012. India's place in the list was a glorious 55th out of 204 nations that participated. If we take out the No. 2 placed China, India's population is larger than the total of all the other nations in this list put together.

The other 149 nations below India don't even count when it comes to economic and political muscle power India is capable of wielding. But we were happy and celebrating an all time best medals tally. India is the ONLY country that believes in the "Spirit of Olympics". Participation and not winning is important !

Suresh Kalmadis, All India Lawn Tennis Association, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati and all the corruption have played their role to perfection in undermining India on the international sports arena.

Just fizz not enough!!!

Indian cricket experienced a super Sunday yesterday (26 Aug, 2012). Winning a test and the U-19 world cup on the same day adds more fizz to the drink. Indian batting, for the next quarter of a century, looks in safe hands. Pujara and Kohli, who respectively replaced themselves in the spots left vacant by Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman, came out trumps by helping the team win a test match. In the same fashion, Unmukt Chand, holding the position previously held by Virat Kohli, as captain of the U-19 team, led from the front to lift the trophy. In the bowling department too, there was a great show to witness. India’s perennial concern for the lack of aggressive bowlers has been assuaged today, albeit temporarily. Ashwin spun a web around the Kiwi batsmen and Ojha tightened the noose. Harmeet Singh, Baba Aparajith and Sandeep Sharma too showed glimpses of a better future for Indian bowling. And on a day like this, when victories are at hand to celebrate, it does add more excitement among players, public and administrators.

What I learned from the Hyderabad Test

• MS Dhoni’s improved luck with winning the toss continues.
• Sehwag ‘s role in the Test team has been modified to be a pinch hitter at the top, and to take the occasional sharp catch, which he can boast about to the press after the game.

• Tendulkar’s strike rate in the only innings indicated that he was trying his best to ensure that the Indian team did not miss Dravid’s absence.

“…but, how did you know??”

• Raina has devised a new solution to deal with his perceived weakness against short balls: – Get out to spinners.

Che, Virat and the Essence of Life !

Are they talking about next generation ?

An old quotable quote goes like, "Those worried about what would happen to next generation should stop worrying. The next generation will grow up and start worrying about next generation". Quite right !

In 1987, when Sunil Gavaskar retired, everyone was asking, "After Sunny, who ?" This was the worry on the minds of every Indian Cricket fan. We had Mohammed Azaruddin followed by Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Virendar Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. An entire golden generation of batting stalwarts.

Today, Dada Ganguly is long gone. The Wall retired before the season began and VVS has hung his wrists at the beginning of the ongoing series. A lot of people would love to see Sachin Tendulkar bat till he is 100. But he has to go sooner than later. For all the doubters, there have always been people like me, who believed everyone including Tendulkar will some day be replaced.

VVS Laxman: The batsman who confused sport with art!

Just a week ago, Yuvraj's return to international cricket grabbed headlines and he was welcomed all over. Today, Laxman leaves the international stage and he deserves an equally emphatic farewell. The announcement has come just a few days ahead of the India-New Zealand test series. He said he did not want to be in the way of youngsters getting a chance to play at the highest level. And that shows his great care and commitment to the Indian cricket team. Laxman has been an integral part of the Indian test team that peaked to the number one position. He was part of a formidable batting line up that gave many a headache to rival bowlers. In fact, Laxman is more feared by Australians than any other batsman. He has, time and again, proved to be a thorn in their flesh.