At the mercy of...

Lo and behold.

The World Champions are being smashed all over. They have been battered, bruised and have been made to bite the dust. Whether it was England, Australia and now minnows Bangladesh, which have made a mockery of the World cup winning squad.

If I can re-collect correctly, the world champions, for example, West Indies, Australia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, all did justice to their crown by dominating the game over their oponents atleast for a few years. World Cup is held every 4 years, and the above-mentioned world champs did rule the roost for a few years before loosing the sheen.

Indian victory in 2011 was celebrated across the nation as MSD did hand-over the most cherished prize to frenzy nation after a gap of 24 years. The victory was celebrated probably in the remotest village inIndia. Dhoni had become the messiah of the cricket followers in the nation. However, much to the dismay of every Indian fan, the hype and hooplah of being world champs, has been very very short-lived.

West Indies tour was an eyewash. We were playing against a decimated side which didn't have much to offer to themselves. They still managed to put up a good show in ODIs with a 2-3 loss. Suresh Raina got his first overseas win as a captain under his belt. England tour turned just forgettable and Oz tour was a disaster waiting to happen. Likes of Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman all failed Down Under, in what was their last tour to the country.

ODI series in Australia was a up-down affair. Kohli came good. And India were at the mercy of SL, to reach the finals.

Asia cup. Sachin did score his 100th ton, though I still believe that maestro has been in poor form for over a year now. A century against Bangladesh in the sub-continent, doesn't prove his credentials. Infact, the new born hero is Kohli, who is having a roller-coster ride with every game being played. Unbelievable loss to Bangladesh, thanks to awful bowling, and we were still at the mercy of Bangladesh, to reach the finals.

Is this the same World Cup winning team led by Mahi which had outplayed every team, just a year back. The Indian cricket fan would be hugely disappointed, but to say that this would happen so soon, within a few months of the glorious victory, has been very very shameful.

IPL begins, only to add further woes to the remaining tours/ series this year. Injuries, fitness issues will surely crop-up post IPL.

And Indian team...will be...

At the mercy of...

Whitewash...

Humiliating defeats...India tamed by England and Australia 4-0, Pakistan hammer England 3-0. Just that Sri Lanka managed a win in South Africa, else that series would also have been a whitewash.

Are the ICC and other cricket ratings farce. Or the hosts are too clever for the visitors, thereby giving a thumbs down to the well-above ranked Test side.

Probably, the pitch and the conditions are becoming too much of a decisive factor. But then, what's the meaning of #1 or #2 Test side. Ideally, the #1 team should have championed the turn and bounce being offered by any pitch anywhere and their bowlers should be capable enough to outclass the opposition batting, whatsoever.

It seems that the golden era of a champion team a.k.a Steve Waugh's side, is almost over. That team had the true stalwarts, who could make the opposition look like minnows, irrespective of the venue, pitch, conditions.

It's proven that English side can be spinned out in Indian sub-continent, easily. There are chinks in Clarke's armour as well. Let's see what his side is capable of doing on a topsy-turvy track.

IPL is being blamed for India's debacle, and rightly so. Too much of stroke-play, not really meant for Test cricket. The longer format, instead would require a different and a tougher mindset altogether.

Time to be champions at home and to be tamed abroad.

Nasty cricket.

The Dirty Picture

Hmm.....Undoubtedly,Vidya Balan's histrionics haved wow-ed the audiences all over, the same isn't true for the bleaguered Indian cricket team. The team has performed horribly, and MSD's men are down and out. It's the same Indian team which had shot to No 1 slot in Test rankings sometime back. With the current series lost tamely, the team still edges out Oz side, just on paper. If records are anything to go by, Sachin, Dravid and VVS should have made the current OZ team, bite the dust. All seems to be going down the drain and it wouldn't be surprising if the result of series is 4-0. Australian side is oozing with confidence, are full of momentum. A couple of quick breaks in Indian top order in the 4th test, would certainly be a nail in the coffin. Alas, the tour could just have been a lot better for the Indian side.

It's very very difficult to say what's going wrong with the Indian side. To me, it just looks like a rough patch at the wrong time. VVS, Dravid, Sachin have been true champions of Test cricket. Their records speak for themselves and they have all proved time and again, just for current and the last English series. With the openers not able to perform well, it has just added to the woes. Probably, India's batting was being considered as the true strength and that has proved to be the Achilles' heel.

Australian's, on the other hand, have bowled a superb line and length. Irrespective of their batting, it's the bowling which has outclassed the Indian side. They have toppled the Indian side in all the 3 test matches and the same should hold true in Adelaide as well. Couple of quick fires from Warner, Clarke and Ponting have just been right in time for the Oz team.

With the triangular one-day series up next, it looks as though this just would be a forgettable tour of Australia. I don't see any miracles from the Indian side, even in one-days. They just might get over Sri Lankans, who are struggling again in South Africa.

Wish it was much brighter and sunnier for VVS, Dravid and Tendulkar. For sure, these three won't be touring Aus next time.

Time for a few members a.k.a. 'seniors' to go under the knife

Curtains. The Dirty Picture.

Down @ Down Under

Difficult for me to start this one. It's been a heart-breaking series so far. Much hyped, much frenzied...how can it go all wrong for the star-studded Indian team. Losing 2 matches on the trot, and within 4 days...all seems like a nightmare.

Millions of indian cricket fans...had expected this to be a lot better....infact this was THE mouth-watering, tantalizing series (post the English debacle). There were quite a lot of excuses for the England's tour, fitness and injuries being the major one (post the victorious World Cup). This tour should have been a lot different with Sehwag, Gambhir, Zaheer all fit and relaxed.

I strongly feel that this should be the last of Australia for the greats aka Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman. And the entire team should have put in their best so as to wish the above-mentioned a most rememberable farewell. Alas, the tour is proving to be a forgettable experience so far.

My analysis for the tour so far

1. Need other bowlers to support ZAK. He has been India's mainstay bowler for a long time. Someone has to fill-in his shoes. Youngster like Umesh Yadav looked very promising in the 1st test, but others need to take wickets as well. Australians managed to take 20 wickets in both the tests, all their bowlers performed quite well (same did hold true for the English team when they beat India 4-0). Australian bowling was being termed as weak and bleak, though Siddle, Pattison and Hilfenhaus have all done their job. Indians, on the other hand, have had bowlers Ishant, Ashwin, who toiled and still looked clueless.

2. A great team is infact a team. If couple of big guns don't fire, it really shouldn't matter. The rest of the team should stand up to the task. Indian batting have so much relied on Dravid, Tendulkar, VVS. They have put up a show, but mostly in patches. These guns need to score and score big. But most importantly, the rest including Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, MSD, need to perform.

If MCG and SCG were won within 4 days, WACA can assure the result in 3 days. The way Australians are bowling and the way Indian team is showing up with the bat, the result can be expected within 3 days, for sure. The chances look very very bleak for Indian team to make a comeback in the next 2 tests. It looks all over as of now.

Australian team should be oozing with confidence. For Michael Clarke, this is the best opportunity to seal the series and establish himself as a great captain for the next couple of years. Underfire Pointing, has for sure retained his place, with great performance in SCG.

Alarm bells for a couple of Indian players (Gambhir, Kohli, Ashwin, Laxman (though Oz has been his favorite hunting ground, until the last tour). If it's a whitewash, few of these mentioned players, can cool-off their heels for atleast a year or so.

As a true and ardent fan of Indian cricket, I still hold the faith of a strong comeback. Though, it looks Michael Clarke all the way.

Good luck, MSD.

Played with the game

Unbelievable, yet true that cricket’s image was tarnished beyond imagination with the sentence being handed out to Pakistan trio, Butt, Asif and Amir along with the bookie Majeed. It would have been a rude shock for millions of ardent fans of cricket to see cricketers being put behind bars, for the first time, ever. It’s been a great loss to the whole cricket fraternity, who can just pray that the ghost of match-fixing never ever returns. Kudos to Scotland Yard for carrying out the investigation and thereby living upto it’s own reputation. ICC, on it’s part had done well by suspending the trio even before the investigation was started and thus saving the game.

However, few questions remain un-answered
1. Will this sentence mean that the match-fixing/ spot fixing has been laid to rest ?
2. Is the sentence good enough to deter the cricketers from getting lured into fixing ? Whatwould be the stance of cricket boards/ ICC and the respective governments to further curb match-fixing ?
3. Will the bookies cease to exist. If yes, what would be their next job ?

And the BIG one,
Is cricket now really a gentleman’s game ?

First and foremost, I strongly believe that match-fixing is here to stay. It has become very much part of the system and will continue to exist , just the form may change. The game took a beating almost a decade back when the monster named match-fixing had surfaced, putting some of the greats of that time, under intense scrutiny. Few of those under question were convicted and banned, few had walked away scot-free. Hansie Cronje, the MAN who had the courage to accept being unfair to the game and to his country, was killed in a plane crash, as a part of plot (this may invite a lot of arguments which may not be defendable, but I still believe that Cronje’s death was planned and plotted). A decade later, the fixing stays and comes back with a bang. Food for thought : if a bookie is not doing match-fixing, then what else is his job. The bookies have thrived and just won’t be wiped out. They are like the reptiles who will hibernate during unfavorable conditions and will surface whenever the time is ripe.

The sentence handed out to the tainted trio may well be a deterrent to the new breed of cricketers. However, there have to be much more stringent laws to make players realize that they are playing at the supreme level and hence any devious maneuvers will invite strictest of punishment . Let me analyze this a bit further . Why do cricketers do match-fixing
a. Money
b. Money
c. Money

That’s the root cause. Cricketers who have learnt to play the game in the dusty by-lanes of the sub-continent, get bamboozled when they see the quantum of money, swankiest cars, awesome girls. Pretty sure that a few cricket boards, do pay their cricketers well. But it’s time to pay them even better. A quenched person would be pretty relaxed and would be less likely lured by any form of juices offered. It would be very difficult to pay equivalent to what a bookie can pay. Still, if efforts can be made to pay the cricketers better, probably, lesser would be the fixing. Sentences, are good enough to set an example. However, bans have been there in the past, but that hasn’t been a stronger deterrent for the players. My argument is, even if a players is sentenced or banned, he has made the buck, to be enjoyed later or by his family and generation. Just that the player has to be shameless when put behind bars a.k.a. Mohammed Azharuddin (as I write this post, Azharuddin, is Member of Parliament, India; one of the highest designation held by a citizen).

For the cricket boards, ICC and the governments of cricket-playing nations, it is imperative to address the issue at the earliest. A few suggestions
a. Make very stringent laws with no scope for neo-nepotism and punish the guilty
b. Educate the youngsters. Show them the right way at the very first instance.
c. Inculcate the best-practices to say NO to any form of fixing right at the cricket academy level.

The bookies will NOT cease to exist, infact they will continue to prosper. As the game becomes more rich, it’s reach expands to more nations, brings in unprecedented MOOLAH in the form of T20 leagues a.k.a IPL, bookies will continue to rule the roost. As match-fixing can never be fool-proof, there would always be some window for a bookie to sneak in and do the job. My argument is, if a bookie will not fix the matches, what will he do ? The only answer I can fathom is he can stop match-fixing. Probably, ICC can do a Catch-me-if-you-can. Yeah, let ICC hire the culprit Majeed and he can not only open Pandora’s box, but also can be very helpful to plug the loopholes in the system, which may help to make the system near foolproof.

Lastly, is the game really for a gentleman now ? NAY. The game had started in England, in the purest of it’s form. It was played, practiced and enjoyed by a race which has been fair-minded for ages and ages. They had the true love and devotion for the game. For English, yes this was a religion. Indian sub-continent has been a land of crooks. I think the British made some gargantuan efforts to improve the shady nerds, but just couldn’t. The result speaks the volumes : Maximum number of players involved in fixing were and will always be from the sub-continent. And so would be the bookies. The English can just pity themselves for the game to be harassed and raped right in front of them. Wish they could have kept cricket just a gentleman’s game.

Phew...Dhoni!!!

Huh...I get back to writing my heart out after almost 2 years...has been quite sometime....and yes I have forgotten and forgiven my stupid manager...

Coming back to my heart-touching topic...Cricket...what a year this has been for India. Winning the World Cup, that too in the Home country. MSD. The man with Midas touch. Probably, the greatest Indian captain ever. Captain cool, calm, focussed, strategic, team-man, winner. Over the past few months MSD has clearly become the messiah for thores of Indian fans. T20, World Cup, IPL, Championship Trophy, and the list can go on and on. Not just Dhoni, but the Indian fan can just pinch themselves if all this glory is for real. Congrats Man, many milestones achieved.

Enter post IPL. Half of the Indian team is either injured or is rugged-out due to over-exhaustive schedule. Indian team for Windies tour is picked sans MSD, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Zak, Gambhir, Yuvraj et al. Suresh Raina, leads the pack of young legs on the field and wins the One-day series 3-2, just keep the reputation of India as World Champions. Tests, MSD takes the charge again and delivers 1-0 in a 3 test series. Kudos. Ishant Sharma deserves a mention, for his comeback to the Indian side, with an outstanding performance.

England tour beckons. Lots of hype. Lots of credibility, reputation at stake. Can India sustain No 1 ranking. Probably, the best possible squad with Tendulkar, VVS, Dravid, MSD, Zak is selected to give jitters to the English camp. The first 3-day game against Somerset and there comes the cat out of the bag. Oh dear, is something amiss. What happened to the sharpened Indian pace attack. Where are the batsmen. A young rookie pacemen makes Indian team bite the dust.

Lords Test : This was sure to set the tone for the rest of the tour. India just didn't have the right record at this Mecca, and they kept that reputation. Injury to Zak was enough to leave the Indian pace attack in tatters. Though PK, Ishant did their bit, but they never enjoyed the support from the other end. Fabulous 200 by KP, quick-fire century by Prior made the Indian team go down tamely. Never like a roaring TIGER, never like a Dhoni. Phew Dhoni :( Harbhajan, very honestly, you disappointed. Special ovation to the WALL a.k.a Rahul Dravid,for being the centurion and a true Test player.

Nottimgham Test : India miss Gambhir, Zak. Come back very strong at England on Day 1. Broad saved the day for England, making it past 200. Poor start to Indian innings, Mukund out on the very 1st ball. Dravid and VVS, look really special, giving there-after a decent start to the Indian innings. Couple of wickets fall, though India edge past English total. Dravid, the man again, scores the century. Broad, the man for England, takes the hat-trick and phew again. Ishant, Sree and PK who had looked lethal in the first innings, don't give a flyer to India. English batsmen, make India toil. Century by Bell, quick-fire runs by Bresnan, Morgan were the highlight. India were set a mamoth total for evening the series. And phew again. What a show. What a side this has been. I had the feeling, that India will make England take the ground on Day 5. Very honestly, I had pinned the hopes, though absolutely unrealistic, that India would win the Test. Phew, do I need to mention the scores.

Alas, like any ardent fan of Indian cricket, it was a heart-breaking day. The strategist MSD failed, all tricks gone and a lot is at stake now.

The English side would win the series for sure. Anderson, Broad are in top form. KP, Prior, Trott, Bell have done very well with the bat to boost their confidence. They all are playing like a cohesive unit, exploiting the conditions very well and should do very well in the coming tests. Return of Sehwag does give some potency to the Indian squad, but please note that Sehwag is returning from a long injury. He would take some time to get used to the conditions and that makes his form a bit questionable. Harbhajan is out of the squad now and that may make place for Mishra to step in. The issue that seems is that the pitches aren't too supportive for spinners. Probably, that is the reason why offie Swann has done comparative well in the first two tests. So not sure how much Mishra can have his chance.

Though MSD has vowed for a comeback into the series, it all looks iffy. England have the best chance of getting to No 1 position and they would leave no room for complacency. It's probably a gargantuan task for MSD to wow the Indian fans. If and only if, Indian team, can level series, which looks highly unlikely, then as a fan of MSD, it would be a big salute to this iron-strong man.

My 2 cents, the series belongs to England 3-0.

Congrats, England, you are No 1.

Phew...Dhoni !!!

Why-my-manager-is-always-stupid

I am quite sure that this post will certainly draw some interest, unlike my previous posts. My apologies to all THE MANAGERS, who would find the title of this post a bit insulting. However, if you have spare 10-15 minutes, please read on and I request you to please share your comments as well. For all those who are reporting to their respective managers, the topic would be of great interest, but there lies a flip side to all your thoughts and actions towards the manager. I just hope that irrespective of your role you enjoy this post.

It turns out to be the easiest and meatiest of topics for me to pen and pin down the insane, wily, scornful, dumb creature. Thousands of thoughts (though definitely de-meaning to my manager) come rushing to my mind. Alas, I am a human being and have the canny trait of cursing, criticizing and looking down-upon anything or anybody which does not suit my taste, my style, my thought-process and many-a-times my existence itself. Always and always my SIXTH SENSE points to something sinister about this UGLY MONSTER who is incapable, inefficient, dumbest of all but is smart enough to tame MEEEE, and scornfully. DISGUSTING. At the very beginning of the day (mind you, not at the end), I hate him to the core, want every bit of him to be decimated and finally unshackle myself from all his beliefs and perceptions that he has towards ME. Gosh, I feel like getting out of this stinking place which seems to be doomed just by the presence of this heartless and brainless human being. I pray earnestly every day, every hour and every minute "Oh Lord, please forgive me of all the sins which I did (intentionally) in my previous life and provide me with some succour from this bull-shit piece of flesh. All of a sudden I find my prayers are answered and dream comes true. Does that sound like GREAT ESCAPE. Momentarily yes. BUT HEY. I am trapped again. I find myself under a similar boss (in my new job) who unfortunately possesses more or less the same qualities as described above.

Ok...enough of being a true critic. It's time to do a bit of dissection and analysis as to why this situation always arises. Why does a team member many-a-times feels insulted and tormented. The equation between the manager and the team does infact gets worse over the time. Team wants to quit and sometimes so wants the manager. So what is the basic underlying which governs all this and leads to an embarrassing situation at least for one party (the team-member). Probably it's about the three letter word (hey, you dirty mind, it's not that), EGO. Yes, this little word makes all the difference. It's difficult for a boss to really digest that "ye kal ke launde (kind of new born babies)" are un-willing to accept his instructions (rational or irrational), are ready to confront him with any damn situation and also do question his existence all-together. At the same time, the team member questions the mundane, irrational tasks, yes they seem to be just the last thing on earth and many-a-times questions the rationale of questions posted by the BOSS. So this logic, illogic, rational, irrational keeps on going with great amount of energy (obviously not positive) from both the parties, until a day when of them decides to opt for some other avenues (and it's always the pathetic team member) and probably break this vicious-cycle forever. But alas, somehow or the other, this Pandora’s Box opens up again in the new job.

Let me attempt a kind of volte-face here. Why shouldn’t a manager be stupid. He is stupid because his boss is stupid and the boss is stupid because the boss’s boss is stupid. Probably, the top management of the company is stupid. And the stupidest of all of them is the CEO of the company. Gosh, it’s a mad-mad world. But, why this stupidity altogether. Why can’t it be just a plain simple company with simple thinking, simple vision, simple values and with NO ABSOLUTE STUPIDITY. Huh. Does it really require a few Einstein’s to be put together to really a rational answer as to why this STUPIDITY altogether. Nope, not all. The answer is pretty simple, infact. We are all human beings, who were barbaric till just a few thousand years back. We claim to have improved over the ages in a lot many areas (physically, mentally etc etc) yet, we continue to be irrational and insatiable species. We want MORE, and MORE, and MORE…probably try and defy all possible gravities on this planet. Hell, who wants to stick to a company which does not show double-digit compounded profits every quarter. Who wants to have a management of the company which “simply” says that exorbitant growth and results are not sustainable? Who wants to have a team which is complacent enough to sit and relax and not make things happen. NOBODY. So what does an individual (atleast a shareholder) want from the company. I guess STUPIDITY. Let me try an explain this. The top boss has to be stupid or unreasonable in order to make the company thrive, irrespective of conditions, challenges or whatever. The management of the company has to turn threats or risks into opportunities. And this cannot be achieved by having an attitude which is reasonable, relaxed and easy-going. Mind you, for every success there is a price to be paid, and it can be an individual or a team or a company as a whole which will ultimately pay the price for being successful. There are times and situations which really demand individuals or teams to leap out of their respective comfort zones and stretch themselves beyond limits so as to deliver the results. Every organization has a mix of people wherein there are out performers, mediocre and laggards. Typically, laggards who cannot cope up with the challenges and with the pressure and really the complainant lot. They can just crib and brag for any damn reason and curse their manager. A true champion in the team will not just outperform but will also attempt to lead the team and deliver the results, come what may. And these out performers will continue to be the cynosure of all eyes.

All in all, a manager will continue to be STUPID in order to deliver the results and make the ends meet. For a team member, getting frustrated and just cursing the manager will be of no possible help as this frustration will lead to further dis-alignment from the manager’s objectives. In this new age economy, where there are abundant companies and opportunities (surely, not at the moment), switchover is another proposition which is being regularly exercised. There are pros and cons of a switchover (I’ll not discuss them here). But my dear team-member, aren’t you going to report to a manager again in your new job. And where lies the credence that the next manager is not going to be STUPID anymore. I strongly feel that till the individual is enjoying the growth, there are no reasons to complain. Even tolerating and getting along with a STUPID boss can give some lessons which are worth to be referred to in future.

So all my fellow team-members (I am not a manager yet), let’s get serious, serious about our growth and value-addition which will be the only thing to boast about in future. After all, aren’t you smart enough to separate wheat from hay (and leave out hay). You have the only option to say “YES” to life. Just FORGET and FORGIVE the STUPID MANAGER.