Of Grit and Guts

Take a bow Mr Ganguly, you deserve it!
A year or so ago, I would never have imagined this day. Saurav Ganguly being the pillar of Indian batting. There was so much happening behind the scenes. The most "successful" captain of India was having a torrid time with the bat. His relationship with Greg Chappell had fallen apart and that had cost him his place in the side and almost cost him his career, as most people had imagined then. He was out of favour with the board officials as well. I even thought that the Pepsi ad featuring him, talking about making a comeback as a bit of a joke, I really did at that point in time. And how well has this man silenced his critics - surely a fairy tale comeback. And that's why this tribute!

I remember when he was out of favour with the Indian selectors and most of the India supporters, which was quite inevitable for he had been going through a very bad form, every first class innings of his was scrutinized. Every small failure of his was reported to justify his exclusion from the side. Most people thought the board was right in dumping the "Prince of Calcutta" for Greg, the Guru and India cricket was ready to move on from their personal dual. But that wasn't the way it was destined to be. Greg was too much of an outsider for Indian cricket. The so called "new direction" that he was supposed to give to Indian cricket was non-existent. On the whole, the Greg episode turned into a retrograde step to Indian cricket. Perhaps we were being too ambitious in thinking he would take India to a new level because cricket just doesn't give such a scope to a coach and Greg always seemed to cross the line.

Coming back into the Indian team Ganguly was a quiet man, he gave no emotion away. He was only prepared to do the talking when the bat was in his hand, quite a departure from the no-frills attitude he had shown as captain. When he played that comeback innings in South Africa, he looked so determined. I was absolutely surprised with what I saw Ganguly doing. He had been in poor form for more than a year before being dumped. His technique, which was never perfect, seemed to have deserted him. He looked so susceptible playing the short-pitched stuff. And yet, making the comeback Ganguly looked so much at ease, getting his timing back and very decisive in his foot-work. The same continued in England. His footwork only seemed to get better. And his timing looked as good as it was when he made that famous debut in that very land. He's never looked back from there and has carried on with such panache. He's been one of the most prolific scorers in the last 12 months, specially in the longer version. The double-century today perhaps rounds off a complete comeback for the man from Kolkata. I think, more than anything it has been a victory to his personality - his attitude right from the point he was called back into the team to this date has been just spot on. He's stayed off controversies showing very well that he's learnt a thing or two about how to stay off them! Perhaps the best example of that was the way he handled poor umpiring decisions in England when he was given out dubiously on successive occasions.

He's been enjoying his cricket, looks very happy playing for and with the team. You could see how happy he was for Yuvraj when the latter brought up his century at Bangalore.
To sum it all up, it has been a display of grit, courage and character from Ganguly and he deserves all the plaudits that are coming his way. We can probably look forward to a memorable trip down under.

Keep it going Sachin

When was the last time you saw Sachin walking away victorious after a Test match with 50 or more runs to his name? Tough one that! In fact, even after being one of the most ardent of Sachin's fans, I can't gather one from my memory. Well, honestly that's one aspect of his game that I have not understood much about- finishing games. And try to remember how many times he's got out with a victory asking to be snatched away by his genius - plenty of them, sadly.
I wasn't an outright Sachin fan to start with. I was too young to appreciate what he had been achieving as a precocious youngster. Moreover I was too loyal to the likes of Srikkanth and Kambli while growing up. But ever since I started liking his batting, I have grown as a fan of the modern day "Little Master" to the point where, Sachin's feats with the bat are important to me than India's results.

There have never been any doubts about Sachin's temperament, his technique, his hunger for runs and success. To me he's the best of this era and I'm sure most people would have agreed with me even before this millennium dawned. But if he's been found wanting, it has to be with playing under the pressure of chasing. Even the statistics show (I'm restricting my discussion to Test cricket here!) that his second innings average isn't great, in fact chasing runs, his average is a modest 34.43. But I wouldn't be as foolishly critical as most others are when discussing this already much-debated topic. Lot of the critics are guilty of taking it too far.

Lets try and define what "playing under pressure" is. Pressure according to me is a very relative term. Most people wrongly assume that a bastsman is under pressure only in the fourth innings, while chasing a big score or in the second innings when half your team is back in the pavilion and you need to get the team to safety. Well, pressure will be on a batsman at all the time, because test matches are won and lost in sessions, much like tennis is played in sets. Obviously it is maximum when you're chasing as it leads to the climax, but the importance of other sessions should never be under-estimated. If you look at it that way, Sachin's always played when the team has lost quick wickets, specially because India has not even had a modest opening pair in tests during most of Sachin's tenure. But he's always delivered runs, specially abroad when he's been the mainstay of the team struggling under hostile conditions. And the pressure of a "billion expectations" is no mean pressure. Make no mistake, test matches can be won and lost as easily on the first day as much as on the last. Sachin's always come to the team's rescue when wickets have been tumbling. So do you think Sachin's never played under pressure?

Second innings averages of most players would be low, barring a few stubbornly resilient players like Steve Waugh and Dravid, and Sachin is no exception. And that's why average winning totals on all grounds around the world are very low compared to the first innings' averages. There is no denying that Sachin has failed on many occasions to take the team to victories, but and it isn't as bad as people make it look and certainly doesn't deserve to be termed as one that can't play under pressure.

To be continued...

Worldcup Mania

It's not for nothing that we say cricket is a religion in India. And if you think your are a typical die-hard cricket fanatic and you've been there and done that, think again you might not have seen all there is to it. Well that's what I discovered the other day, the day the world was to witness one of the biggest clashes in the history of the game - an India-Pakistan final in a World Cup, though it was in the experimental 20-20 format. A mouth-watering prospect of a grand finale, something no cricket fan would want to miss. The fever seemed to have caught on as early as the morning. Early morning traffic jams resulting from people rushing to their offices earlier than usual so they could get back to their homes well in time, for a 5.30 pm start. People everywhere seemed to ask just one question - "Will India win?" And the answers from most were in the affirmative. And they came with convincing explanations - "Young team, on a roll and without fear". We sure are a country of a billion cricket pundits!

As the day trudged on towards the evening, you could feel the excitement build. People were hurrying back to their homes. Trust me, people hate to even miss the toss when there's such a contest in the offing. On my mind though, when I gingerly stepped out of office, there was a fear - the fear of getting caught in the nasty Bangalore traffic. But the fears were to be allayed just as fast. I realized most people had chosen to pull their shutters down after lunch. I set out for home, happy to see roads free from traffic jams - a pretty sight for a traffic jam-hardened commuter like me! But on my way I figured out that I was in some danger after all. I suspected, the average speed of every vehicle on the road must have at least doubled compared to those on other days (I don't want to talk of average speeds on Bangalore's roads just because they're too abysmal to be talked about). Every person driving a car seemed to have none other than Michael Schumacher on his mind and every bike rider a Valentino Rossi. The overtaking manoeuvres would have put either of the great men to shame, for sure! They sure gave me some jitters. I still had to make some detours on my way home, courtesy of a few inevitable traffic jams.

Happy to be home, I was even more delighted to see India moving towards a healthy score.
As I watched the match with my family, we were joined by our "quiet" neighbors. Well, that impression of mine was going to change for ever. Watching cricket matches at home is kind of a stoic affair - no screaming, no jumping around, just making comments, if at all any. It wasn't going to be the same this time around. They cheered everything, with cheer meaning anything from a loud prayer to the top-of-the-voice scream. The lady especially wanted every ball India faced to be smashed for a SIX and wanted a WICKET off every ball the Indians bowled. Given that we were watching an absolute sea-saw battle, it only got more boisterous. With the match getting more and more closer, I who'd thought had nerves of steel as far as watching cricket was concerned began to realize they were more fragile than I'd believed. And I presume the same happened to Misbah Ul Haq who loooked like taking Pakistan home to an unlikely victory, when, out of nowhere, he lost his nerves and played a "stupid" shot only to gift the Cup to the "Men in Blue". That was greeted by the loudest screams and the most thundering jumps that I had witnessed at home. Outside, it seemed as though Diwali had arrived a good two months early! It was Team India's biggest victory we had witnessed. As they say, for a country that eats, sleeps and drinks cricket, it was just the day that was ample testimony to the fact that India is now the rightful home to the Englishman's Game.

Deal or No deal??

Every time the Indo-US nuke deal was quoted to be running into rough weather in the US senate, I was of the impression India had probably asked for too much, specially when the Bush Govt was in the lame duck session. Naturally, I was lead to believe all the while, that India would be a great beneficiary of the deal. Even after the deal was passed by the senate, it was seen to be a historic deal as far as India was concerned. We were told to be getting more than what another nation in the same shoes would have got. Now what is more and what is less? We'll be able to buy nuclear fuel and technology for our civil nuclear programme, for producing electricity. Right now, only about 3% of our electricity comes from nuclear reactors. Through this deal, we would be aiming to get 10% and later 20% of our electricity from the nuclear technology. Cost-wise, it doesn't make too much of a difference, as most of our energy needs are satisfied by imported crude. More importantly, it would be 100% carbon-free.

If it's all about energy, then what's the big fuss about? Obviously, deals are never one-sided. There are said to be things related to US trade prospects improving because of the deal. It would be able to make inroads into our markets. Essentially I believe, the caps on investments would come down. But the opposition is busy fussing over nation's security. And that, I think isn't the real issue as far as they are concerned. That the BJP is just trying to get political mileage can be proved by the fact that Mr Vajpayee was the one who had initiated the deal and that they were happy to accept a deal half as good in their time. And as for the Left, who's the chief tormentor as far as the Govt is concerned, they're just making excuses by pointing at the so called objectionable content in the deal. While the fact of the matter is they do not want a deal as big as this with their ideological enemy, the US. They are the same party which is has been organising protest rallies against joint military operations involving Indian and US forces in the Bay of Bengal. They are nervous about India getting closer to the US and align ourselves with their foreign policy, like voting against Iran at the IAEA. I wonder how the left would have reacted had India had a similar deal with China!

To me, they're just coming out with justifications to oppose the deal by raising opposition to clauses in the deal which can cause ambiguity, most of which have been comfortbaly justified by the Govt so far. Like the scenario of India going for another test. The initial fear was that we feared if the deal would forbid India from going for further tests. But as we see it now, it doesn't really precondition us from not doing it. And additionally, the deal has given India the right to take care of reactors which could be dedicated for military purposes and these won't come under any safeguards. But, before even talking about tests, does India have to go for further tests at all? Is going for further nuclear tests more important than our economic development. Are we going to plan how bigger nuclear bombs we're going to make or plan to uplift the country by leveraging the tremendous position we find ourselves right now? For us, sustaining the present growth levels will only happen if we can drastically improve our infrastructure and prepare to meet our huge energy needs in the coming years. India has always been having problems trying to live up to her energy needs. And with most industries growing as fast as they are now, the needs will only burgeon on. I'm glad our present leaders have addressed it with the seriousness it rightly deserves.

The best thing about this deal is that through it, we'd be eligible to obtain fuel from the NSG, which I doubt we were so far able to obtain because of post-Pokhran sanctions. Even the best of our business leaders have given their thumbs-up to the deal. Nandan Nilekani said this deal would do to our energy future what the 1991 reforms did to our business ambitions. About 95% of our knowledgeable public thinks the deal is for our own good. Our PM has taken a great amount his personal interest in the shaping of this deal. And after having gone through so many deliberations and negotiations, specially at the US end, I don't think he'd be willing to go back on the deal. In fact, it would be a great embarrassment for us if we do take any retrograde step at this moment.

I would say, go for the deal. It's not time for thinking about bombs and worry about hazy security conerns. It's time to think double-digit growth. I just hope that someway this forward-looking deal goes through and we don't miss any stone unturned in realizing our country's potential.

The "Catherine Zeta Jones of Tennis"

When even Ian Chappell was silly!

Ian Chappell must have been out of his mind! Consider this.
Sourav Ganguly is given out off Paul a Colligwood's dibly-dobler for an lbw decision. Ganguly instinctively gives the umpire Howell and the celebrating players a rye, sarcastic smile . You would wonder why. Replay and you see it's a massive inside edge off the bat! Ganguly had just come off a bad Simon Tauffel decision at Trent Bridge. And you'd wonder why Ganguly was just smiling. I thought I would have thrown my bat at the umpire had I been in his shoes! Think about it. You have just made a confident come back into the Indian team after a long lay-off. And after that, you are playing in your favourite part of the world, with a form reminiscent of your debut-century scoring season. One decision is understandable, but then second in a row! A few seconds later as I was ruing about the decision, Alan Wilkins, the ever sensible sounding Welshman, makes this comment: "May be the third umpire should have played a Tauffel here. The whole world watching TV knows it's not out. Why not tell the umpire to bring the batsman back?"(like it had happened with Keven Pieterson at Lord's). And the wily former Australian captain Ian Chappel, whose commentary we've over the years come to enjoy for the sheer technicality, seemed to disagree. His explanation (was something like this) : Bringing technology that way makes it unfair for the other batsmen. It's after all a game. Leave it the way it is.
Oh come on Mr Chappel! A prestigious series is being hijacked by bad umpiring and this is what you have to say? You are making yourself sound sillier than the umpire! Then why allow third umpire have his say in run-outs? why refer to him when there are dubious catches? You're in an era where most sports utilize technology in some way or the other, specially when there is enough scope to do so.
It's really sad we keep hearing the commentators saying a certain batsman X was "unfortunate" to be given out while he was not at all out. And 9 out of 10 times it will be an lbw decision. It's becoming a cliched cliche! How much more longer into the 21st century would it take for the ICC to consider introducing technology to assist umpires in adjudicating lbws? Understandable that it's not an easy decision to make. But how much longer are you going to make even the best of umpires look stupid? It's time to look for alternatives. Hawk-eye is one technology to consider. It's something that is being used in tennis pretty successfully, even with it's limitations. It can very well be used in cricket too by giving the benefit of the doubt to the batsmen on marginal decisions. Even if implementing Hawk-eye like technology is difficult, it has to direct third umpires to act when they see a clear decision being adjudicated wrongly. Such steps can make all the people involved have a better feeling about the way the game is being played - the players, umpires and the audience. Untill then, people would only have one reaction to bad decisions - scoffing! And it would just not be cricket no more!

Is Sania all hype?

Is Sania all hype? well, you'll have to define "hype" for me before you ask me that question.
Do you mean to say she was expected to do better? (than being ranked under-30 in the world)
If that is the case, it's downright harsh on your part to expect so much. Simply because there hasn't been a precedent to this. That is, there hasn't been an Indian women who has achieved this feat ever before. Had she been born in US, which at any point in time, dominates world tennis by the sheer number of talented players it produces, and been given the same amount of importance by the media then there would have been a case with all the fuss. Just because, we as a country are starved of sportsmen who can compete at the world level, we tend to focus our attention on the handful we have. And when it just happened to be girl with glam looks playing a glam game like tennis, the media is all over her. Mind you, a similar player with similar capabilities in the US could have just gone unnoticed. Just because, the media gives her that kind of attention, you can't say that Sania ought to perform better. It's not her who wants the attention. It's the host of channels who're always looking to create news-makers, who've created the expectation. If that is what you call hype, then you gotta be pointing fingers at the media for it's "hype" and leave the girl alone.
To put it plainly, nobody is being fair to her to even ask the dirty question. Not everybody can be a Sachin in handling pressure (and we know by now that he's human too!). Media hype shouldn't be equated to the expectations. You have to look at the sportsman's game. I hope Sania, and for that matter any of the upcoming youngsters are not bogged down by the pressure of expectations that is unduly mounted on them by the media. I for one am happy she's improved her game so much in the last few years (I honestly doubted she would come this far). Yet she has a mountain to climb in the progress she's got to make if she's got to be among the best in the world.
Let us just be a source of motivation by being an encouraging audience, than a demanding public/media. Hype being a deterrent to talent is the aberration of this century!

An FM to admire

"fascinating" is the word a BBC news reader chose to desribe the interview given by our Finance Minister, P Chidambaram. There's something about Chidambaram, that makes you stop and take notice. His speeches are articulate and unambigious in the truest sense of the words. You just cant take your ears off, so to speak. He's undoubtedly my favourite Indian politician. One of the few face savers of the Indian politics as far as I am concerned.
PC, as he's fondly known has credentials and achievements to talk of. A Harvard graduate, Chidambaram is regarded by financial gurus, investors, the financial press and people across India as a qualified and highly competent finance minister. There's enough proof to see he's the ablest man to take the Indian economy forward. One thing I absolutely admire in him is the clarity he exhibits in everything he says. I just love to listen to him, interviews or speeches. You need not be a finance expert to make sense out of things he says. You must have seen him answer those myriad questions after his budget speeches, with convincing ease. I wish he remains the FM for the next twenty years!

Freak News Channels

"Amitabh Bacchan vs Rajnikanth...who's better? who's greater?" That's what virtually all the news channels have been asking us viewers ever since Sivaji was a few days due to release. As if it was the next million dollar question! Last night as I was watching one such debate, I was tired. I couldn't take it any more. All I was interested was to know the amount of interest the new Rajani movie had been generating. And there I had news channel busy comparing Rajani with another hero belonging to another industry- Amitabh Bacchan. It talked about their hit movies, their movies together, their forays into other film industries and their political affiliations - everything outside the topic. I couldn't take it any more.
These news channels have really gotten on my nerves. Can they get any more stupid? How can you compare Amitabh Bacchan with RajaniKanth, it's like comparing Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne. Anybody asked about the latter, would surely point out that the comparison isn't valid for the people in question are into 2 different arts altogether. Same is the answer here.
Amitabh and Rajani cater to 2 different audiences altogether. Two sets of audiences which are different enough to render these same actors incompetent if they were to swap industries (read Hindi and Tamil movie industries). Ask this question to any average movie buff and he would put it down unequivocally. If that's the case, how is it that these so called news experts not realize it before they go public. Oh! I get it. You see, they are into the habit of "stirring" emotions and "capturing" people's imagination. But in doing so they are making fools out of themselves. Again and again and again. Just about every day!
If you give it a serious thought, I guess they can't help it either. They've got the job of being round the clock news channels. They've got to keep the "news" fresh. But you can't always have genuine news to broadcast. They can't be like the DD of the yesteryears which would cram news into a 30 minute program( and quite informatively so). They've got to do better! And in this quest they've actually turned into "news manufacturers". Most often they're busy exaggerating news items. Their modus-operandi - pick up a news item, flash it as "BREAKING NEWS". Then dedicate as much of time as possible. Create news features out of it, by looking at all the possible links you could possibly imagine. Most often their "breaking news" are laughable, not at all worth being considered breaking news. And their follow-up news are totally out of relevance. Funnily as I write this, I'm watching this program on a news channel whose focus is Father's Day and it's relevance. And guess what it's talking about right now? The famous fathers! And the famous fathers of the country are the Bollywood Actors of the yesteryears who have their star kids ruling the roost now! And I'm right now left to sigh with the usual "Oh come on guys!" feeling. It's just a sorry testimony to the Channels' obsession with Movie stars and more importantly their ability to digress from the core of a news item.
I have so much of scorn flowing out right now for these channels! I feel I'm only getting started on the topic. Could these guys change at all and realize what we viewers expect from them? I wonder how these guys could be so lousy in understanding the needs of their market.
To be continued....

Next President?

The other day I received this forwarded mail asking me to support the cause "Bring back Kalam" campaign. At the first instance, I thought why not? President Kalam has been a great inspiration to the people of India, specially the youth. He's instilled the confidence that any person can dream of getting to the top-most seat of power in India, by sheer virtue of being a successful person.
In the past, I was of the impression that only people with political experiences went on to become Presidents, which was wrong. But we've always had the impression that Presidents were made to be the puppets in ruling governments' hands. And that's why governments are so very serious about having the President of their choice - so their bills could be passed with no hassles. We've hardly seen any confrontations between the Govt and the President's office. The Office of profit Bill was one rare example where the President and the Govt were on a collision course.
I'm no political commentator, by any stretch, to write about political wisdom here.
All I want to say is - if the role of the President doesn't require one to be politically experienced, why not carry on with the Kalam experiment. Bring in somebody who can inspire the whole country. At this juncture while we Indians are ready to take on the world with new invigorated confidence, we need somebody on the same lines. Somebody like a Narayan Murthy who embodies the sheer brilliance of entrepreneurial brilliance and social righteousness. Considering that India is a land where more than 80% of the population is self-employed or works in the unorganised sector, a person like him would inspire people to try hard and believe in themselves to make it big. Not just that, a person who is as successful as he has been in the contemporary business world could more than make up for his inexperience in politics.
Not that I don't want Prof Kalam to continue. I've personally admired his immense contribution to the Indian defense and his efforts to motivate the youth through his speeches and writings. But I think he should make way for a similar role model because that would mean another person with a great charisma and lot of different ideas.

Tribute to the Red Devils

If you happen to be wondering who the "Red Devils" are, you must be really ignorant of the most followed game on this planet. In other words you could be one of those very few who don't watch the "Beautiful Game"- football. And for the others who do follow it, it would be obvious they know a thing or two about the most amazing club team to play football ever, Manchester United.

Man United has been the solitary reason I, till not so long ago a self-confessed devotee of cricket, have now turned into an ardent "fubbal fan". Even though I still am into 'serious' cricket, I can comfortably say that on any given day now I would prefer watching Man Utd play to even watching an Indo-Pak cricket fixture. That just goes to show how mermerised I am by their play.

United are a treat to watch. Commentators often find their dictionaries too thin to produce the superlatives to describe their flair. They say the Brazilian team played the best football, but I 'd beg to differ on that. Brazil have long lost their sheen while playing as a unit, even though they boast of the best players in the world. And Man Utd to me are the most enterprising team when it comes to entertaining football fans. The smoothest, free-flowing, attacking style of football you would come across and few teams could match. Specially when they play at Old Trafford in front of their home crowd. One of the most soothing spectacles you could witness. Considering that the English Premiere League is the best league right now and the fact that United are the winners this season, my claim is pretty much vindicated.

Flair is just one of the traits I admire in United. There are so many more things that makes them special. The best thing about United, according to me is their spirit to come from behind. Resilience is what United stands for. The 99 Champions League final is a true testimony to this fact. Trailing 0-1 and facing defeat, Utd won the match scoring two goals, both in the injury time. A performance known to be the best ever of come-backs of all time. I know just one performance doesn't make a team the best. If you consider the just concluded season, they have come back from behind many times to win, and win in style - like they did against Blackburn(0-1 to 4-1) and Everton(0-2 to 4-2). These are just the ones I can remember right now. Their securing this season's league after 3 years, and that by pipping the star-studded Chelsea to the title isn't any mean come back in itself. As Sir Alex rightly puts it so many times, the team really stands for it, the character of resilience.

Another thing that makes United extraordinary is their ability to find success through faith in the youth and talent. They are not a Chelsea who, with big bucks go after all the big names to make up their team. Utd just believes in identifying the young and talented, however less known the players are and grooming them into match-winners. Scholes, Giggs, Neville are the best examples for it ( Ofcourse being the richest club, they do buy big players paying big bucks but they don't completely rely on that strategy). Imagine how inspired a young football crazy kid would be to know that he could make it straight into the biggest club in the world, just through his talent and not by making a name and then hopping in.

This season has been a treat if you've been a Utd fan. They've lead the league table from the word go, something they knew was crucial to keep their title hopes. All through the season, they've gone for the goals, show-casing the best of attacking football and in the end winning the title pretty comfortably. Their Champions League form was stupendous too. The 7-0 win against Roma and 3-2 win against Milan in the first leg are matches I'll cherish for a long time to come. In the end, as it happened, only a storm could stop them from making it to the yet to be played finals. The FA Cup final will surely have it's stamping on it, whichever way the trophy is going to go.

I could just go on writing about this team all night, about Sir Alex and his extraordinary success, about the Rooney and Ronaldo magic, about the electrifying atmosphere Old Trafford presents, about their numerous stunning displays this season and about so many other things the club is known for. I'm really struggling to keep this as short as possible.
United are just a treat to watch. My weekends are so very thoroughly entertained now. Praying for their success to continue all along, I bow to the Champions.
GLORY GLORY UNITED!