Musings

Interesting events. The great protector of Tamils announces reservation for Muslims and Christians in TN. I'm not sure if this is in addition to the already existing 69% reservation or would it be part of it. This is in spite the fact that a similar proposal was deemed unconstitutional in Andhra Pradesh. One thing is pretty much clear in Indian Politics, India doesn't need any external forces to destabilize it. It's a miracle that the country has survived for so long with such divide and rule tactics.

On the cricket front, Chappell has submitted his resignation. Two events are worthy of mentioning. One was an interview by Virendar Sehwag's father and the outburst from Sachin. Sehwag Sr. interview was very childish, juvenile and a typical Indian dad doting on his Son. His statement that his son shouldn't be blamed when Sachin Tendulkar failed was really, well, kind of confusing. I think it's the typical subcontinental shift the blame.

The next event is Sachin Tendulkar's outburst against an SMS from Greg Chappell about how Senior Indian players are not allowing younger players to bloom. I'm completely with Greg Chappell on this one. And it's not just in Cricket. In all spheres of life in the subcontinent the oldies try to garner as much as they can, even when they are way past the prime. Whether it is politics or movies or sports or your workplace examples of seniors ganging up and not allowing young performers to share the limelight is all well known. Sachin Tendulkar's burst only confirms this attitude.

Any coach would love to start with a good young team and nurture it. That's what they are tasked to do. When you have Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly in the team his task becomes demanding as there is nothing that these guys can be coached in. Not to mention that these guys are way past their prime. The look on Sachin's face when he was bowled in the Sri Lanka match speaks volume about his commitment. Sachin, please retire when u still have a lot of respect left.

27% Reservation in IITs, IIMs and AIIMS Stayed

by the Supreme Court and rightly so. They questioned the data which is 75 years old and have asked the center to define what OBC is. I hope they also squash the Schedule 9 under which states like TN implement 69% reservation.

Indian Cricket's next step

While many a bloggers have taken vows of not following Indian Cricket any more after their disastrous 2007 WC attempt, for me it is the most interesting moment. Yes it was disheartening to see the way the guys performed or rather underperformed but what is showed the BCCI administrators is that some drastic changes are needed. It's always interesting to see how organizations react to extreme situations. IMO this is really an extreme situation for India Cricket. Now rumors are swirling about the following changes.

1. Greg Chappell's contract will not be extended. Sandip Patil is rumored to be the next coach.
2. Dravid, Sachin and Sehwag will be dropped.
3. Yuvraj might be made the captain.
3. There will be 2 teams, India Blues (???) and India Jr. Based on performance the Indian team will be selected from these two list of players.

My thoughts are as follows.
1. I'm neutral on Greg Chappell. If he is changed I would rather prefer Tom Moody or Dave Whatmore. Sandip Patil has done a good job with the Kenyans so may be we can take a chance with him if he is available. Coaching while important is not going to win the matches.
2. Wholeheartedly agree with dropping the seniors. Given the ages of Dravid and Sachin, I don't even want them to have another chance. I would want players from 21 to 28 selected and lets stick with them.
3. Yuvraj is a good choice for captaincy. Let us give him a chance and a team of his choice.
4. I'm not sure about this arrangement though. How are they going to keep India Jr. engaged ? Will they keep India Blues and India Jr. play matches when there is not international engagement. Let us wait for the details on this one.

No No I'm not picking on Mumbaikars

but they seem to not know when to retire. From Lata Mangeshkar to Sachin Tendulkar they want to look like the Energizer bunnies even after their usefulness for the team was over long time ago. Heck why talk about usefulness when their presence is real harmful. I'm not belittling any of the personality mind you. I adore Lata's voice (of the 70's and early 80's) and I can sit and watch Sachin Tendulkar opening for India in Australia way back in 1995-1996 the entire day. But blessed are those who realize that they are way past their peak performance and allow others to take their place and limelight. It takes a special mindset to do it and I do think prominent Mumbaikars lack this basic etiquette.

Judiciary on fast track !!!

That too in India. I'm pleasantly surprised as to how the Manjunath case has progressed. Within 1.5 years of his murder, the case was solved, accused arrested, charges filed and a verdict has been reached. All the 8 accused have been found guilty and we should know the punishment by tomorrow. Its a very welcome development IMO.

Lasith Malinga - a Chucker ????

I think he is trying to model himself after Jeff Thompson but his actions clearly show that he chucks the ball. He literally throws the ball with his hand going sideways. Apart from this guy's dubious action Lanka deserved the win today. Did you watch Sachin getting rattled by the thick edge. I've lost count of the times he has done this to himself. Dhoni took longer to come to the crease than he stayed there. All in all a poor performance by India and a complete waste of $199 for me.

Changes I would like to see in the current lineup. I want the following players chucked out
1. Uthappa
2. Dhoni
3. Agarkar
4. Harbhajan
5. Sachin

The only players who have kept or redeemed their status as a good cricketers are Rahul, Saurav and Yuvraj. Zaheer and Munaf did do a good job of bowling. I know I'm forgetting one man but at this point it doesn't really matter.

Most annoying moment of the worldcup telecast

in US has gotto be the ads for Statefarm insurance.... Has a pathetic BGM and guy talking nasally the following words
"The world cup is great
Statefarm insurance is great too. Please call your nearest statefarm insurance agent...."

I think I have given much better ads during my college days (remember during the annuals most colleges will have tournaments where u create ads etc)...

2007 World Cup Cricket thoughts

If Pakistan's exit from the 2007 WC was shocking then the fate that befell their coach was even more shocking. May his soul rest in peace. He did a wonderful job with the Proteas, his tenure with Pak was kinda mixed but that was more due to the internal politics within Pak Cricket than Bob's coaching.

Someone had commented on another blog about India and Pak going home early and starting a one day series. That would be truly comical but the reality is that ICC's worldcup would lose half its viewership. The news is that if India also exits the worldcup corporates would stand to lose Rs.250 Cr. Now can we say that some fixing would indeed happen ? Or may be it might seem too obvious so it may not happen and India may indeed get out and the corporates have to eat up the loss.

I was really surprised that I could only see advts of Hero Honda and LG dominating the field. I'm pretty sure no one outside India or may be the subcontinent would know about Hero Honda, Honda may be but not Hero Honda.

Some bloggers had commented about irresponsible Indian youth damaging the stars property in India. I'm not sure I agree with the bloggers. Emotion is part and parcel of Indian society. Losing against Bangladesh is ignomity that ordinary people cannot digest. The cricketers think that they hit a century in a match and are fully deserving a plot of land and a palatial house on it. How many of the fans can really afford this ? But it is exactly these fans that make the BCCI and cricketers see money. We make heroes out of them when they perform and villify them when they don't. There's nothing wrong in it. If the cricketers know they are out of form why can't they step out of the team by themselves. I was aghast at seeing Ajit Agarkar in the team. I think may be the fans should be targetting the selectors home.

Now if the same had been a premeditated distruction then that constitutes crime. Not everyone can be Brutus and by the way Brutus never achieved anything. Those who have emotions are the ones who will strive and achieve things closer to heart. Unfortunately the way India played that emotion was utilized negatively. I will never blame the poor fan, after all he wanted India to win against Bangladesh. But what he did not realize was that the Banga Bandhus played for the country where as the Indian elephants have already had their Scorpios and BMWs and Plots and houses not to mention all the advts money and don't have a need for anything else.

And then there will be some who will point to the teams performance against Bermuda. Was it a blemishless performance ? Heck no. Sehwag started shakily was dropped a couple of times. This Uthappa guy is only good for eating oothappams I guess. I would like to see his Ranji records. Dada also struggled against the Bermudans initially. The amount of inspiration and enthusiasm I saw on Leverock's face was more than the collective inspiration of the Indian team. I'll leave my thoughts there. Ofcourse my position is that India should not be playing Cricket at all. That'll be a seperate discussion.

Wearing Chennai, Tamil on their sleeve

Of late some prominent bloggers just keep putting mundane posts about how Chennai is ignored or how Chennai is not given its due share or how some form of rating has rated Chennai the top Indian City etc etc. Am I the only one to find such posts irritating ? Is it real City patriotism or just insecurity or plain playing popularism ? Anyway I am quite sad to see these bloggers lose their prominency in my mind because of such single minded strawman pursuit.....