Sunday, February 17, 2008
Get Dravid back !
Meek capitulation by India at Adelaide. Chasing a non too imposing 203, India crumbled with a mere 153 on the board. With close to 10 overs to spare. Lackluster performance indeed. This was seen in the previous game against Australia too- making a hash of a 150 odd chase.
What was missing was . Someone who can hold one end up and make a dour 50 of 80 balls. Somebody who can cut out the adventure, put his head down and fight. And is there a better someone than Rahul Dravid in the Indian cricketing landscape who fits the bill here ?
Ware the arguments against Dravid's inclusion in the ODI team ? Fielding ? Dravid has been excellent on the field and he's arguably the best contemporary Indian slip fielder. He has taken the highest number of catches by an Indian non-wicketkeeper in test cricket. Lately, there have been numerous instances of him turning on the pace when required, so the argument of him being a slow scorer has also been rendered null and void.
Look at his ODI record - stellar. Excess of 10000 runs at a wonderful average of 39.49, a very reasonable strike rate of 72. Third highest ODI run getter in Indian cricket. We have a winner here !
And surprisingly, he was dumped very quitely- no big hue and cry. A player of his class..left in the lurch in such a manner...very sad indeed. It would be great for the team and for David the person if he's recalled.
However, one argument I accede to - the team wants to start afresh. Dravid might automatically imply Ganguly, and Ganguly is miserable on he field. But whatever man, I have a midsem tomorrow, I can't beat this argument to death like I have done with the others. I stick to my guns, get Dravid back !
What was missing was . Someone who can hold one end up and make a dour 50 of 80 balls. Somebody who can cut out the adventure, put his head down and fight. And is there a better someone than Rahul Dravid in the Indian cricketing landscape who fits the bill here ?
Ware the arguments against Dravid's inclusion in the ODI team ? Fielding ? Dravid has been excellent on the field and he's arguably the best contemporary Indian slip fielder. He has taken the highest number of catches by an Indian non-wicketkeeper in test cricket. Lately, there have been numerous instances of him turning on the pace when required, so the argument of him being a slow scorer has also been rendered null and void.
Look at his ODI record - stellar. Excess of 10000 runs at a wonderful average of 39.49, a very reasonable strike rate of 72. Third highest ODI run getter in Indian cricket. We have a winner here !
And surprisingly, he was dumped very quitely- no big hue and cry. A player of his class..left in the lurch in such a manner...very sad indeed. It would be great for the team and for David the person if he's recalled.
However, one argument I accede to - the team wants to start afresh. Dravid might automatically imply Ganguly, and Ganguly is miserable on he field. But whatever man, I have a midsem tomorrow, I can't beat this argument to death like I have done with the others. I stick to my guns, get Dravid back !
Labels: Esprit de sports
Monday, February 11, 2008
Idol Worship and Idol Sculpting
I will begin with an amusing digression
q- What do you say when a party, which caters to the communist, religious hardliner and the liberal voters, gets whipped in the elections ?
Answer at the end of the post. However, if you directly scroll down to the answer, without attending to the main body...umm...you will lead an unhappy afterlife. And right now you will develop respiratory problems. Yeah..NOW...when you reach this full stop.
Getting to the point, I am faced with a task- I have to choose an idol for myself. You see, at the IIM- interview (yipee!) , a favorite question of theirs is - 'Who is your idol ? ' Now this question is befuddling indeed. For there has never been this one person who can stake the claim to being my idol. Coming to think of it, the people who have come closest to being my idols are all fictitious. Starting from Ace Mc Cloud of 'Centurions' fame, moving on to the happy-go-lucky and smart-ass kid Joe Hardy, then the brilliant and egocentric Hercule Poirot, interspersed with periods of idolatry towards Arnold Schwaznegger and James Bond....he-who-must-be-named..who shall it be ?
Two likely candidates are Salman Rushdie and Lance Armstrong. But I also face the onerous task of justifying for my idol worship. Salman Rushdie- plenty of reasons other than his literary genius- his numerous liaisons including the likes of Kylie and Dani Minogue, Padma Lakshmi..now Riya Sen. That's five reasons (including literary genius). Lance Armstrong, too, obvious reasons- anyone who has read 'It's not about the Bike' would never say 'Why?'
Also, one more idol is being sculpted - Lee Iacocca- Ford and Chrysler's trend setting iconoclast boss. I'm reading his autobiography (pun intended, it really is an AUTObiography). Hopefully, it will go off well and will turn out to be the best among the rest- one idol I can proudly unveil to the world.
However, it seems to be an arduous journey- choosing the person who shall be my guiding angel, the luminary whose luminescent figure will be a beacon during dark times...here's hoping for a successful quest !
a- They got thrashed left, right and center.
q- What do you say when a party, which caters to the communist, religious hardliner and the liberal voters, gets whipped in the elections ?
Answer at the end of the post. However, if you directly scroll down to the answer, without attending to the main body...umm...you will lead an unhappy afterlife. And right now you will develop respiratory problems. Yeah..NOW...when you reach this full stop.
Getting to the point, I am faced with a task- I have to choose an idol for myself. You see, at the IIM- interview (yipee!) , a favorite question of theirs is - 'Who is your idol ? ' Now this question is befuddling indeed. For there has never been this one person who can stake the claim to being my idol. Coming to think of it, the people who have come closest to being my idols are all fictitious. Starting from Ace Mc Cloud of 'Centurions' fame, moving on to the happy-go-lucky and smart-ass kid Joe Hardy, then the brilliant and egocentric Hercule Poirot, interspersed with periods of idolatry towards Arnold Schwaznegger and James Bond....he-who-must-be-named..who shall it be ?
Two likely candidates are Salman Rushdie and Lance Armstrong. But I also face the onerous task of justifying for my idol worship. Salman Rushdie- plenty of reasons other than his literary genius- his numerous liaisons including the likes of Kylie and Dani Minogue, Padma Lakshmi..now Riya Sen. That's five reasons (including literary genius). Lance Armstrong, too, obvious reasons- anyone who has read 'It's not about the Bike' would never say 'Why?'
Also, one more idol is being sculpted - Lee Iacocca- Ford and Chrysler's trend setting iconoclast boss. I'm reading his autobiography (pun intended, it really is an AUTObiography). Hopefully, it will go off well and will turn out to be the best among the rest- one idol I can proudly unveil to the world.
However, it seems to be an arduous journey- choosing the person who shall be my guiding angel, the luminary whose luminescent figure will be a beacon during dark times...here's hoping for a successful quest !
a- They got thrashed left, right and center.
Labels: Musings
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
