KARIKADAIBOY

ROGER FEDERER: MENTAL STRENGTH & ΚΆΘΑΡΣΙΣ

2017-11-22T17:32:00.003+05:30

Positive emotion trumps negative emotion every time. We yearn for people to be reconciled, for catharsis. We need positive emotional logic.
-Dom Cobb

Sports lovers adore two kinds of stories. There's the Cinderella story, where teams or individuals outperform and exceed all expectations. Leicester City's dream run to the title in 2016 immediately comes to mind. On April 11th 2015, the Foxes were bottom of the table. 387 days later, a 2-2 draw between Chelsea & Tottenham made Leicester City only the sixth team to win the English top division in the Premier League era. Leicester City did not fit any known model of champions. Premier League title winners were either built (Arsenal) or bought (Chelsea, Manchester City, Blackburn) or both (Manchester United). Epic does not even begin to describe the Foxes' title tilt. Not even sahadeva could have prognosticated such a set of events.

The second is the Catharsis story. κάθαρσις "is a metaphor originally used by Aristotle in the Poetics, comparing the effects of tragedy on the mind of a spectator to the effect of a cathartic on the body" according to Wikipedia. Goran Ivanišević completely lost his form and was ranked 125th before the 2001 Wimbledon championships. He was not guaranteed an automatic place. Only his past record as a 3 time finalist got him a wild card entry into the main draw. He defeated a murderer's row (Moya, Safin, Roddick, Rafter) of past and future grand slam champions and very good grass court players (Henman, Rusedski) and finally won the trophy he coveted in barely believable fashion. It was Cinderella and Catharsis (Catherella?) at the same time. Even the most stone-hearted person would have found it difficult to hold back the tears on seeing the big Croat do a Cash.

One of greatest moments in tennis history

Ivanišević had a reputation of, with some justification, being mentally flaky. His most powerful (some would say only) weapon, the serve, would fail him at crucial moments. In big matches second serve aces would inexplicably turn into second faults. He was the Anti-Sampras that way. From advantageous positions, he would get the yips. He had trouble, mentally, in landing the killer blow. Having said that he had his moments. He was one of only two men to hand Sampras a defeat at SW19 from 1992 to 2000. Barring the 1994 final, his two other Wimbledon matches against Sampras went the distance. In fact, he had the second most wins (33) at Wimbledon in the said period after Sampras (58). If someone puts it this way, that ain't half-bad for a mental midget now, is it?

EXPECTATION

In probability, Expectation or Expected value is defined, intuitively, as the long-run mean value of the reiterations of an experiment. Peyton Manning was highly recruited by multiple college football powerhouses. He had the most wins as a starting quarterback in the NCAA when he finished college. He was the No. 1 draft pick in the 1998 NFL draft. In short, Peyton Manning was the anointed one. His future NFL rival Tom Brady, on the other hand, was not recruited heavily. He was the backup quarterback for the first 2 years of his college career. One hundred and ninety eight players were selected in the 2000 NFL draft before the future Mr. Gisele Bundchen was called up by the Patriots. To summarize, Tom Brady was the "un-anointed" one.

Uncle Ben said, "With great powers must also come great responsibility" but he never told his nephew that together with great powers comes great Expectation. As powers and abilities increase the people's expectation of the talent to fulfill it increases, often exponentially. The Expected minimum output can be so high and unreasonable that it can be crippling. Many talented karnātik singers and musicians fell prey to alcohol because they could not withstand the pressures of singing in a sabhā as bitter critics, with harked ears and drawn swords (pens), scoured for the minutest of flaws. Brian Lara wanted to quit cricket in his late 20s when many batsmen are at their peak. Mardy Fish talks about suffering from panic attacks when he became the No. 1 American tennis player. Expectation can be that bad for some.

Expectation also makes people judge different people in the same situations differently. Peyton Manning was killed in the press for his inability to inspire the Colts in the post-season. A season, where he threw 49 touchdowns in the regular season, ended with a zero touchdown meltdown at Foxborough. Every failure of his was magnified and every success met with a "He's Peyton Manning" shrug. After winning 3 Super Bowls in 4 years, Patriots went into a period of lull. Brady led offense sputtered in the 2nd half of the 2007 AFC championship game and lost a 21-3 lead to Manning's Colts. After 50 touchdowns and 18-0, Brady was destroyed by the Giants' D-line. They lost to Ravens and Jets. They lost to the Giants again in the Super Bowl. Manning, as a Bronco, dumped the Patriots twice in AFC Champion games. Was Brady ever called a choker? Hardly. Even before the preternatural comeback in Super Bowl 51, his reputation as a clutch performer was rarely questioned. Peyton Manning, despite being the leader in 4th quarter comebacks and game-winning drives hardly registers notice when great comeback quarterbacks are discussed like Brady, Roger Staubach or Joe Cool do.

Roger Federer suffers from such sky high expectations. A commentator during one of Pete Sampras's great matches at Wimbledon said, "When Sampras was born, God just touched his right shoulder." after one of his patented aces under pressure. Like gāndhārī's divine vision granted duryodhana's body, bar his thighs and loins, unbreakable immunity, Federer was seemingly granted immunity from any sort weakness, but for a certain Majorcan southpaw, by the Tennis Gods. He doesn't have Sampras's naturally powerful and swerving service but his is right up there. He may not have the silky touch of Johnny Mac but it's right up there. He may not have Edberg's volleys but it's right up there. He may not have Agassi's honed-from-childhood hitting on the rise groundstrokes from the baseline but it's right up there. All in all, Roger Federer is the Golden Mean of talent with no ostensible deficiencies.

A Roger Federer backhand down the line is a thing of indescribable pulchritude.

This causes fans to judge him differently than others. In his own words:

For me, it's always a fine line between winning and losing and trying and not trying. Because I don't sweat as much as others, or grunt as much as others, or make faces when I hit the ball, and it's easier on the eye, it's harder for people to see that I’m actually really trying. Australia gave me a chance to show my fighting spirit.

When Federer wins it's the talent that did it. Every. Single. Time. Two sets to love down against Tommy Haas. Talent. Withstanding a barrage of bazookas and howitzers from Del Po. Talent. Coming back from two sets to love down against Benneteau, with a bad back no less. Talent. Saving four set points in the second set tiebreaker and later on holding serve 15 times in a row in the deciding set against Roddick. Talent. Defeating Agassi, one of the great wind players, on one of the windiest days at Ashe. Talent. It is always the talent that did it in each case. It's never the fighting spirit or the never say die attitude. That is, for Federer, the Expectation.

When he loses it's always because he gave up. He's mentally weak. He's a quitter. His balls shrink when facing Nadal. He's not a fighter. He self-destructs unlike Djokovic, Nadal or Sampras. From a six set losing streak against Nadal in his best ever career form, he clearly quit after saving match points to lose 7-9 in the 5th set. 33 year old Federer gave up and found an inexistent gear to win 5 games in row to take the game into another deciding set. After being pulverized 6-1 6-2 in the first two sets, Quitterer very nearly pushed the 2016 Australian open semifinal into a 5th set. Of his 10 losses in slam finals, 4 were in 5 sets and 5 were in 4 sets. All signs point to - choker, quitter, ball-shrinker, giver-upper. Expectation.

The biggest criticism bandied around is that Nadal solved Federer on grass but Federer never solved Nadal on clay. This is justified but only to a certain extent. Nadal strengthened his confidence by repeatedly defeating Federer on clay. Federer never could face Nadal on the relatively fast courts of Cincinnati & Flushing Meadows circa 2004-2007. Nadal's level was competitive to very good enough on hard courts in this period. A time in which he won 3 hard court Masters titles, one of them even indoors. In fact, until 2017 Federer and Nadal had never met three times in a row on any surface other than clay. Add the 5 year age difference to all this, it is, at the very least, understandable that Federer's inability to solve Nadal on clay is not that unreasonable. It took Djokovic, conquerer of Nadal 7 times in a row in his physical prime, four attempts to defeat Nadal at Roland Garros. Yet, Federer, despite turning 30, should have somehow "solved" the yama kiṅkara of clay. Expectation.

Federer made the French Open final when he was nearly 30. He won a (blue clay) Madrid Masters 4 months from his 31st birthday. He made Monte Carlo and Roma finals when he was running 33 and 34 respectively. All this when his natural game is unsuited for clay. Who else can can go from losing their first 11 matches on clay to making 5 French Open finals and winning it once? And what is the reward for all this? Criticism that he skipped clay in 2017. He should have taken on Nadal in debilitating clay. Nadal's only grass final after the 2011 Wimbledon final was Stuttgart 2015. From ages 26 to 31, Nadal has made one final on grass. He has gone 2nd round, 1st round, 4th round, 2nd round, absent, 4th round. Four of those losses were to players ranked 100 or worse. He gets a free pass for it because he's not a natural grass courter but unnatural clay courter Federer is expected, at nearly 36, to play energy sapping clay and win Wimbledon three weeks later. Would one require anybody else to win a channel slam at 36? "No......but......it's Federer!". Expectation.

Table I: Record In Grand Slam Finals

	After 10 Finals	After 15 Finals	After 20 Finals	After 21 Finals	After 23 Finals	5 Set Finals	After Winning 1st set	After Losing 1st set
Federer	9-1	12-3	15-5	15-6	16-7	3-4	15-3	4-7
Nadal	8-2	10-5	14-6	14-7	16-7	2-3	13-1	3-6
Djokovic	6-4	8-7	12-8	12-9	N/A	2-1	7-3	5-6

In the biggest matches of the biggest tournaments, mental midget Federer seems to be doing quite OK compared to the toughest never-giver-uppers Nadal and Djokovic. Detractors will immediately point to the competition. That has been quite sufficiently dealt with here. If that is still unconvincing, here's another set of arguments: It's not Federer's fault that he never lost slam finals to the Murrays and Wawrinkas of his era. It's not Federer's fault that Nadal missed an easy backhand put away pass to make it 40-15 and failed to consolidate the break in the fifth set. It's not Federer's fault that Nadal didn't serve the match out in the 4th set and promptly got broken. It's not Federer's fault that Djokovic touched the net and lost the plot from up a break in the fifth set. It's not Federer's fault that Nadal couldn't withstand the assault of a 35 year old and surrendered 5 games in a row. When it comes to Nadal or Djokovic, somehow these don't count as chokes but Federer crying after the Australian Open final or losing the US Open final after arguing with the chair amounts to the greatest ever mental fragility. Expectation.

Nadal and Djokovic have the biggest advantage that Federer never had: A lack of, you guessed it, Expectation. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Federer, still two matches away from just his 4th ever slam final, was the purported GOAT. It was reiterated again a year later after his 6th grand slam title. Nadal and Djokovic have never dealt with that sort of pressure. Every time they got anywhere near the production level of Federer from 2004 to 2007, they have invariably broken down. Nadal has never had two seasons in a row when he won multiple slams. Every great season of Nadal bar 2010 resulted in injury layoff(s) the following year. Every time he earned the number 1 ranking he has given it up the following year. Djokovic, briefly, in 2012 lost his number 1 ranking to a 31 year old Federer! The Serb was so mentally spent after completing his career grand slam that he sleepwalked through the ATP circuit for more than year and shutdown his season before the 2017 US Open. Win or lose, Iron Man Federer never took an extended break like the others until his 19th season on tour. Does that not take great reserves of strength to continually push one's physical and mental self to cope with the younger men who are in their physical prime? Or do we chalk this to talent again?

ΚΆΘΑΡΣΙΣ (Catharsis)

The stronger the issues, the more powerful the catharsis.
-Dom Cobb

Roger Federer's 2014, 2015 & 2016 seasons had been very frustrating for his fans. He had been knocking on the door for his record extending 18th Slam but it never opened. Fans had been running the #BEL18VE hashtag for this entire time. Either Djokovic stopped him or a 90s style In-The-Zone player did. The #BEL18F was slowly fading. After Djokovic put that beat down of a lifetime, it almost ended. Djokovic's early exit in Wimbledon caused it to start shining again and then came the slip. He took the rest of the year off, preferring to avoid further risk to his career. Federer has always played the long game better than anyone. He went on hikes and recharged his batteries after nearly 2 decades of the non-stop grind that is the ATP tour.

Federer played himself into form in Melbourne in the first two rounds. Denis Istomin defeated Djokovic in 5 sets. It felt like a sign. His first test was the big Czech, Tomáš Berdych and he aced it in spectacular fashion. Mischa Zverev, channelling his inner Johnny Mac, dumped the latest World No. 1 and newly knighted Sir Andrew Barron Murray. This was followed by the old man outlasting Nishikori in 5 sets. It felt like the stars were beginning to align. After a light workout against the elder Zverev brother, Federer was through to his 13th semifinal in 14 years at Melbourne Park. He withstood the barrage of his compatriot and friend Stanimal to enter his 6th final in Australia and the 1st for 7 years. On the opposite side of the net, stood his long time nemesis. The man who had defeated Federer three times in Australia, each defeat getting progressively worse for the once mighty South Afro-Swiss.

The Ultimate "Un-Warrior-Like" Warrior

Three hours and thirty eight minutes after Nadal served to begin FEDAL XXXV, a Hawkeye line call put #BEL18VE to pasture and it was time for #BEL19VE. Federer slew multiple demons in the match. It was his first slam win over Nadal or Djokovic in nearly 5 years. He defeated Nadal in slam for the first time in nearly 10 years. He showed terrific ~~mental strength, balls, guts and spirit~~ talent to comeback from a break down in the 5th set to win his first slam in nearly 5 years. It would not be an exaggeration to call this the sweetest victory given the circumstances of his return and the mental edge Nadal had built up over the years. The victory gave him the belief to defeat Nadal 3 further times, two of them utter thrashings, twice in finals, twice on slow, high bouncing outdoor courts which, at least in theory, favour Nadal. κάθαρσις at its purest, most unadulterated form.

After putting his fans through the wringer for almost three years, Federer delivered a season for the ages. Two slams, three masters, seven titles in all, at the age of thirty six. It is so outrageous that it is mythical. Even fantasy writers wouldn't dream of such ineffable fairy tales. Yet it leaves Fednatics slightly disappointed. In India, we have a practice of placing a small dot, usually from an eyeliner, on the cheek of a newborn to avoid dṛṣṭi (literally eyesight). It is supposed to draw attention away from the child to ward off the evil eye. Federer fans are similar. Instead of looking at the child (18 & 19), we look at the dot (US Open & Tour Finals). Thirty six, throwing his back out in Montreal, fatigue despite skipping clay, these matter not to the mad Fednatic. In ~~their~~ our minds it registers only as another opportunity missed. It only confirmed that the greed of the Federer fan is as legendary as the great man's career. Like a true artist, Federer left the stage leaving his fans wanting more. That is the level of, one last time, Expectation.

#BEL20VE

ரோஜர் ஃபெடெரெர்: ஒரு ஆன்மீக அனுபவம்

2017-11-12T10:11:00.000+05:30

காலங்களில் அவள் வசந்தம்
கலைகளிலே அவள் ஓவியம்
மாதங்களில் அவள் மார்கழி
மலர்களிலே அவள் மல்லிகை

2017இன் மிகவும் கண்கவர்ந்த புகைப்படம்

கவிஞர் கண்ணதாசனின் வரிகளுக்கு மிகவும் இனிமையாக விஸ்வாநாதன்-ராமமூர்த்தி மெட்டமைத்து கொடுத்தனர். P. B. ஸ்ரீநிவாஸின் குரல் பாடலை விண்வெளிக்கே கொண்டு சென்றது. இப்பாடலை கேட்காதோர் இப்பூவுலகில் இருக்க முடியுமா? இனி பிறந்து தான் வர வேண்டும். காலங்களில் வசந்தக் காலமா சிறந்தது என்றரிய பட்டிமன்றம் தான் நடத்த வேண்டும். ஆனால் நம்மிடம் ஒருவர் "உங்களுக்கு பிடித்த பருவம் எது" என்று கேட்டால் சட்டென்று நம்மில் பலர் கூறும் பதில் வசந்தமாகத்தான் இருக்கும். அதுவே இப்பாடலின் எளிமை, அந்த எளிமையே அதன் மேன்மை. இதுபோல் டென்னிஸ் என்று சொன்னால் நம் நினைவுக்கு வருபவர் ரோஜர் ஃபெடெரெர் தான்.

இந்த ஆண்டிற்கு முன்பு யாருக்காவது, ஃபெடெரெர் தான் G.O.A.T, அதாவது டென்னிஸ் விளையாட்டு வரலாற்றிலேயே மிகச் சிறந்த டென்னிஸ் வீரரா என்று சற்றே சந்தேகம் இருந்திருந்தால், அந்தச் சந்தேகத்தை முற்றிலும் நீக்கும்படி தன் திறனை வெளிப்படித்தியுள்ளார். சுமார் ஒன்றரையாண்டிற்கு முன்பு விம்பில்டன் மைய மைதானத்தில் வழுக்கி விழுந்து தனது முட்டியை காயப் படுத்திக்கொண்டார். அப்பொழுது அவரது 35வது பிறந்தநாளிற்கு சரியாக ஒரு மாதமே இருந்தது.

கிரிகெட்டில் 35 வயதில் சிறப்பாக ஆடுவது, சாதனை புரிவது அவ்வளவு அசாதாரணமில்லை. நம் சச்சினிற்கு 33-34 வயதில், டென்னிஸ் எல்போவிலிருந்து குணமடைந்து வரும்போழுது, அவரை எண்டுல்கர் என்று கூரி பரிகாசம் செய்தவர்கள் பலர். ஆனால் அவர் முழு உடற்பயிற்சி பெற்றவுடன், 2010இல் 37 வயதில் 1562 ஓட்டங்களுடன் 7 சதங்களையும் குவித்தார். கிட்டத்தட்ட 38 வயதில், 2011 உலகக் கோப்பையில் 482 ஓட்டங்கள் குவித்து பேட்ஸ்மென் பட்டியலில் இரண்டாம் இடத்தில் இருந்தார். இதில் சச்சின் தனிப்பட்டவருமல்ல. கிலைவ் லாயட், இம்ரான் கான், கிராஹம் கூச், பிரயன் லாரா, கோர்ட்னீ வால்ஷ் போல் பல ஆட்டக்காரர்கள் தனது 40வது பிறந்தநாள் அருகில் சர்வதேச அளவில் சாதனை புரிந்தது வரலாறு.

ஆனால் டென்னிஸ், கால்பந்து போல் மனிதரின் அதிகபட்ச திண்மை எல்லையை தொடுகிற விளையாட்டுப் போட்டிகளில் 30 வயதிலேயே பலரின் திறன் வீழ்ச்சியடைய துவங்கிவிடும். தவிர இந்நிலையில் ஒரு சிறு உடலூறு கூட ஒரு முதுபெரும் வீரரின் உத்தியோக வாழ்க்கைக்கு முற்றுப்புள்ளி வைத்துவிடும். 1970களில் கென் ரோஸ்வாலும், 2000களில் ஆன்ட்ரே அகஸ்ஸியும் தான் இந்த வயதில் (35-37) இறுதி/அரையிறுதி போட்டிகளுக்கு வழக்கமாக ஆடினர். இந்தக் கட்டத்திலிருந்து ஃபெடெரெர் திரும்பி விளையாட வருவதே சாதனை. திரும்பியபின் ஒன்றல்ல, இரண்டு கிராண்ட் ஸ்லேம் கோப்பைகளை, ஒன்றில் 3 ஐந்து ஸெட்டர்களை தாண்டி, மற்றொன்றில் ஒரு ஸெட்டைக்கூட விடாமல், ஜெயிப்பத்து ஆஸ்சர்யமான பிரம்மாண்ட சாதனை.

ஃபெடெரெரின் சிறப்பு கோப்பைகளும், பரிசுகளும், சாதனைகளும் அல்ல. லேவர், போர்க், ஸேம்ப்ரஸ் போன்ற டென்னிஸ் வீரர்கள் அவர் அவர் காலகட்டங்களில் தன்னையே தனது போட்டியாளர்களுடன் பிரித்து கொண்டார்கள். இந்த டென்னிஸ் உலக ஜாம்பவான்களை விட ஏன் பெடெரெர் சிறந்தவர்? பதில்: ஃபெடெரெரின் நகல்படுத்த முயலாத பாணியும் நளினமும். திறன், வலிமை, திண்மை, ஆற்றல் எல்லாவற்றையும் பயிற்சியால் அதிகரிக்கலாம். ஆனால் எவ்வித பயிற்சியும் பாணியோ, நளினமோ, நேர்த்தியையோ கற்றுக் கொடுக்காது. அது இயல்பான ஒரு விஷயம். கடவுள் பக்தியுள்ளோர் அதை மேலேயிருப்பவனால் தான் அளிக்க முடியுமென்று அடித்துக் கூருவர்.

ஃபெடெரெரை ஒரு டென்னிஸ் வீரரை விட டென்னிஸ் கலைஞர் என்று சொல்வது தான் பொருக்கத்தக்கது. ஒரு கலைஞனின் மிகப்பெரிய பலம் அவன் கற்பனை. ஒரு சாமான்யன் ஏன் ஒரு திறமையான தொழில் நிபுணன் கண்ணிற்கு தென்படாதது ஒரு கலைஞனுக்கு மட்டுமே தெரியும். விம்பில்டன்னில் தாமஸ் பெர்டிச்சுடன் ஆடிய புள்ளி நினைவுக்கு வருகிறது. ஒரு சற்றே மெதுவான இரண்டாம் ஸர்வை சரியா பெர்டிச் யூகித்து, ஆழமாக தனது இரட்டை பின்கையால் குறுக்கே தாக்கினார். அது சரியாக கோட்டின் மீது விழுந்தது. ஃபெடெரெரின் பதில் குறுகியது. பெர்டிச்சிற்கு இது மிக எளிமையான முன்கை வின்னர் அடிக்க வாய்ப்பு. ஃபெடெரெரின் இடப்புறம் குறுக்கே அடித்து முன்சென்றார். வேறு ஒரு வீரர் மருபடியும் கோர்டிற்கு நடுவே பந்தை திரிப்பி எதிராளி தவறு செய்வாரோ என நம்புவர். ஆனால் ஃபெடெரெர் முழுசாக தன் பின்கையை நீட்டி நேரே ஒரு ஃப்லிக் செய்தார். பெர்டிச் திரிசங்கு சுவர்கத்தில் மாட்டிக்கொண்டார். புள்ளி மாமேதை ஃபெடெரெருக்கு!

அடியேன் போல் பலர் இந்த ஆண்டு ஃபெடெரெர் ஆடாமல் ஓய்வு பெற்றிருந்தாலும், அவரைவிட ஒரு உயர்ந்த டென்னிஸ் கலைஞன் இது வரை எவருமில்லை, இனி பிறந்து வரக் கூட வரமுடியாது என எரிகிற கற்பூரத்தை அடித்து சத்தியம் செய்வர். ஃபெடெரெரின் விளையாட்டு பாணியுடன் அவர் தனது ரசிகர்களின் உணர்ச்சிகளையும் எதிர்ப்பார்பையும் 36 வயதிலும் குறைக்க அனுமதிப்பதில்லை. தையில் ஆடினால் போதும் என்று கோவில் கோவிலா சென்று அங்கப்பிரதக்ஷிணம் செய்த நிலை போய் கார்த்தியில் அய்யகோ ATP பட்டியலில் முதலிடம் நழுவியதே என்ற வருத்த நிலைக்கு வேறு யாரால் நம்மை கொண்டு செல்ல முடியும்?

வலைதளத்தில் காணப்படும் ஒரு வரியால் இக்கட்டுரையை முடித்துகொள்கிறேன்.

இந்த பூலோகம் சுமார் 400 கோடி வருடம் பழமையானது, நாம் ஃபெடெரெர் டென்னிஸ் விளையாடும்பொழுது பிறந்திரிக்கிரோம் என ~~திருப்தி~~ புலகாங்கிதம் அடையுங்கள்!

பின்குறிப்பு - இக்கட்டுரையின் தலைப்பு டேவிட் ஃபோஸ்டர் வாலஸின் 2006ம் ஆண்டின் "Roger Federer As Religious Experience" பதிவு தலைப்பின் தளிர்வான மொழிபெயர்ப்பு. அதை படிப்பது ஒவ்வொரு ஃபெடெரெர் ஃபெனாடிக்கின் கடமை.

MAVERICK: THE MOST UNDERRATED MOVIE EVER!!!!

2017-11-07T20:31:00.001+05:30

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

My old pappy always used to say, "There is no more deeply moving religious experience, than cheatin' on a cheater".

In an earlier post, I had comprehensively and irrefutably proved (😜) that 1994 was the greatest year in Hollywood spanning genres. I had also fleetingly mentioned the movie Maverick, as my most favourite comedy of the year calling it "the most enjoyable 127 minutes you'll spend staring at a screen" and that it "probably deserves a post of its own".

Maverick was released on the twentieth day of May in the ninety-fifth year of the twentieth century. It was based on the 50s-60s Western TV Series of the same name. The cast included Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, James Garner, James Coburn, Alfred Molina rounded off with cameos by Graham Greene, Margot "Lois Lane" Kidder, country music stars Reba McEntire, Waylon Jennings, Clint Black and Danny Glover (probably) playing the great great grandfather of Roger Murtaugh. It was directed by the man who directed the first film to feature the great(est?) American superhero, very creatively named Superman: Richard Donner. James Garner was the original Brett Maverick in the TV show.

The plot of the movie is very simple. ~~Brent~~Brett Maverick is an expert poker player, who wants to enter a $25000 entry All-Rivers Poker tournament. He is $3000 shy off the entry fee and has an adventure in attempting to beg/borrow/steal the money to enter the tournament which he does.....barely. There is a mysterious man who wants to stop him from entering it and hires a few goons, led by Alfred Molina, to do his bidding. He survives, wins the tournament by "magic", gets his money stolen again, finds it again and stolen again....well....half of it because "you don't ever put your eggs in one basket" and decides "it's gonna be whole lotta fun gettin' it back" indicating a sequel in the works.

I've just noticed something.
What?
You can't help it, can you? You are irresistible.

Kids today would find it surprising but Mel Gibson, before he became the wife-beating, kike-hating, fag-bashing alcoholic today, was a fine actor who could effortlessly pull off any action, drama and comedic roles. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jodie Foster! Woof! Boy, was she a sight for sore eyes! Jodie has never looked prettier in any movie before or after Maverick. The Victorian era corset, girdle & gown oozed a femininity that would make any red-blooded, hard-as-nails heterosexual male weak-kneed. Forget hetero, a photo of Mrs. Annabelle Bransford will go a long way in praying the gay away than any sort of Conversion Therapy. She really just couldn't help it! She really was irresistible!

A Kiss That Would Make Even Freddie Mercury Quit His "Team"

A word, very casually one might add, thrown around in any movie is "chemistry". The way Brett looks at Mrs. Bransford and says, "You are irresistible" was at least ten times as romantic as a gondola ride in full moonlit Venice night. That is what made me realize what chemistry in a movie truly was. It wasn't just Brett and Annabelle. Brett & Coop bantering, Coop & Mrs. Bransford flirting, heck even a serious scene where Angel tortures Brett forced you to ignore the tension and just made you chuckle. The jokes were mostly cheesy and yet somehow they work and work they do brilliantly!

So, are you gonna miss me?
Are you gonna miss me?
You are gonna miss me!
How do you know?
You were holding your breath.
I was not.......maybe I was.

The exchange simply warms the cockles of one's heart. Yours truly considers himself a cynic yet I cannot help but say "awwww" whenever I see this scene. If you have to see the movie to understand the in-joke. This is followed by Mrs. Bransford leaving the ship and Brett looking at her with love-filled longing blue eyes. He weaves his "magic" (watch the movie to understand) to pick a card and turns out to be.....you guessed it....

She Really Is!

Isn't it cheesy? Sure.

Isn't it predictable? Yup.

Isn't it delightfully adorable? Awww.

It somehow works, don't it? YOU BETCHA!!!

Rotten Tomatoes summary is apposite.

It isn't terribly deep, but it's witty and undeniably charming, and the cast is obviously having fun.

Isn't that what a movie is supposed to? Make you feel good and happy at the end of the 120 odd minutes you spend watching it? Nary a movie that will make you feel better or happier than Maverick!

So what are you waiting for? Stop looking for mīnam/mēśam and go watch Maverick immediately!

ANIL & ABDUL: A MICROCOSM OF THE HINDU & MUSLIM PSYCHE

2017-11-06T19:51:00.000+05:30

He never turns the ball.

He is useless away from home.

How can he call himself spinner when even a ramrod will have more bends & turns?

Once batsmen realized he had to be a played like a pace bowler he was d-o-n-e.

These are some of the criticisms of Anil "Jumbo" Kumble, the highest wicket-taker for India in tests. The first spinner, from the Land of Spinners & Dust Bowls, to actually pass 300 wickets. For all his heroics in India, his inability to land the killer blow in tests away from the comfy climes of uneven bounces hurt him. There are many instances where Kumble, being the premier strike bowler of his team, failed from positions of strength.

The Wellington test of 98 immediately comes to mind. As usual, India put up a sub par total in the first innings of the first test but fought back through SRT's brilliant 113 and set the Kiwis a fighting target of 213. India had them reeling at 73/4 at the end of day 4. With Astle retired hurt, it was was effectively 73/5. It could not have been set up more comfortably for Jumbo after a night's rest. India just managed to take 2 wickets the next day, one of them was the nightwatchman and the other was when the target was 2 runs away.

Other examples include the Edgbaston test of 96, Wanderers test of 97, Sydney test of 2004, Newlands test of 2007 where India let slip multiple opportunities from positions of strength. A Shane Warne or Murali would have very likely won those tests had they been playing for India. Forget those away tests, in the Chennai test of 2004, Kumble (& Bhajji) let Damien Martyn add 101 runs with nightwatchman Dizzie. More than the runs, they ate up nearly 2 sessions of the day. Australia managed just 85 runs after Martyn was dismissed. A potential 100-120 run target was converted to 229 and the last day was washed out. India could have gone to Nagpur with all of the momentum, completely turning the tables after the disastrous loss in Bengaluru. Even in a test where Kumble took THIRTEEN wickets, we (by we I mean I) can find fault (with a teensy-weensy bit of justification) in his performance, a microcosm of the gentle Bengaluru magā's career.

Despite is his pedestrian away record (37.73 in Australia, 41.41 in England, 42.41 in Pakistan, 44.63 in Sri Lanka), Kumble had a huge hand some of India's most famous away wins. He took 7 wickets in the Leeds test of 2002, a Michelle Fifer, albeit an expensive one, in the Adelaide test of 2003, 6 wickets in the Trent Bridge test of 2007, a six-fer in Sabina Park test of 2006, another six-fer in the flat wicket of Multan in 2004. Hell even in Sreesanth's match, it was Jumbo who quickly polished the tail off, an eternal Indian infirmity, and took a quarter of the 20 Proteas wickets to help India win her first ever test in Sathafrika. He might not have been the man of the match but his contributions weren't insignificant. He wasn't Sunny G in the 1983 World Cup (59 runs @ 9.83) so to speak.

A decade earlier and across the border, there existed a leg-spinner. A leg-spinner so idolized, deified and venerated by Pakistanis (and the English) that if you were cricket-illiterate, you would have thought Abdul Qadir invented leg-spin bowling. His record (236 wickets @ 32.8) is more than acceptable for a leg-spinner. A leggie, after all, goes for more runs than his offie-cousin because there is less control when you wrist-spin.

Scratch the surface and Qadir's record becomes as bad as Kumble's. He took 12 wickets at 61 in Australia in his only tour down under. In two tours to England managed to procure 21 costly wickets at 40.76. In New Zealand (in 2 tours 10 wickets) he averaged a whopping 52. In the only time he toured West Indies, Qadir did well to take 14 wickets but it (again) came at a not-so-cheap 38.42 runs per wicket. In the land of the eternal enemy, the so-called saviour of leg-spin averaged a staggering 69 runs for each of his minuscule 6 wickets. He was played so comfortably by the Indian batsmen in the 1987 series that Miandad convinced Imran to drop him for the fifth and final test in Bangalore. His replacement Iqbal Qasim and Lionel Richie's long lost Pakistani twin, shared 18 of the 20 Indian wickets equally to give Pakistan her first win in India after 35 years and with that her first ever series win in India.

Scratch even deeper and Qadir's case becomes even more laughable. Kumble's support ranged between ~~good~~ decent (geriatric Kapil, Srinath and for a brief period Prasad) and awful (Dodda Ganesh, Paras Mhambrey, Salil Ankola) whereas Qadir, over various times, had Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Iqbal Qasim (171 wickets @ 28.11) and even a very young, raw & exciting Waqar Younis in the series against India. Adjusting for their relative bowling strengths, Qadir, despite the very conservative and home team aiding umpiring of the 80s, should have done much better. He should have averaged, at the very least, under 30, the bowler's equivalent of the Anti-Mendoza Line.

Despite such holes in the resume, Qadir is worshipped by the average Pakistani fan. If you didn't know better, they would tell you Qadir was the first ever leg-spin bowler in test history. Clarie Grimmett, Tiger O'Reilly, Richie Benaud, Fergie Gupte, Chandra et al were fast bowlers. Shane Warne would have never even played first-class cricket had the Aussies not seen Qadir's effectiveness. Qadir saved leg-spin bowling that was destroyed by pace, pace, pace of Lillee, Thommo, Michael, Malcolm, Joel etc. Qadir was this. Qadir was that.

I exaggerate but only just. Even the biggest Anil Kumble fan can NEVER, in good conscience, write, "Shane was good but Anil was better" like this puff piece by a Pakistani writer. I am almost sure that the writer truly believes what he wrote. Even if he wasn't being serious, an Indian writer/fan will never make such a claim even in jest. The first instinct of the Indian cricket fan is "Yeah but".

"Yeah but has he scored runs away?"
"Yeah but has he taken wickets away?"
"Yeah but in that series there was no McGrath"
"Yeah but there was no Garner. Only Marshall & Holding."
"Yeah but Border was out of form."

The Pakistani fan isn't so. Miandad is god despite averaging just 29.78 against the premier side of his era, West Indies. Sarfraz Nawaz, Aaqib Javed are fine bowlers despite their averages being north of 32. Waqar Younis is best destroyer of batting lineups despite averaging 40.50 in Australia. The creme de la creme is Shahid Afridi. Afridi's resume is one of the most pedestrian resumes you will ever find. Most of his fame comes from his white-ball exploits (ironic given his test batting record is decent 1716 runs @ 36.51, 5 100s) where he is so average that it's not even funny. If Afridi was Indian, he would hear the filthiest of abuses for keeping his place for nearly 400 ODIs. Pakistan adores Afridi. There was even a movie on Afridi. A country boy yearned to become.............an average cricketer. Poor Rohit Sharma, scorer of 6000+ runs at 44 with 2 double hundreds in ODIs, gets called Nohit and, with extreme prejudice and condescension, Talent.

Why do peoples of the same genetic stock behave so differently? Why can't we Indians take pride in the achievements of our cricketers like our inimical cousins do? Why is it so difficult for us to relish Rohit like Pakistanis adore Afridi?

Has it possibly got to do with religion?

Typically, a Muslim had a higher political awareness than a Hindu of national and particularly of international politics. A Muslim abdul going to madrassa will know about Turkey, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Rome, Mecca-Medina, Egypt, Baghdad and related stories. The phrase of Room-Shaam (from Rome to Siam) is made popular in Indian languages after the influence of Islam. A Hindu showed lesser awareness of international and national situation (at least places) except for popular pilgrimage places. The Polity is inherent part of Islam. In Indic religions, Artha is segregated from Dharma and Moksha (which is what pilgrimage is about).

The above is an extract from this post by the very knowledgeable Kaal-Chiron. Despite multiple reverses, the average Muslim quickly forgets them. He retains a great ability to make that one victory count and even if that one victory later fails, he still remembers the just success and overlooks the failure. Another example is Spain. Spain was entirely subjugated by Muslims. A few struggles later, the entire Muslim population was wiped out but for the mango Abdul, only the memory of Al-Andalus remains and in his mind, Inshallah, one day they shall conquer Spain again.

The average Hindu, on the other hand, has the remarkable ability for masochism. He only remembers the huge defeats. For him, it is irrelevant that a mere mention of Krishnadeva Raya made the Bahmani Sultanate shake in fear. All he remembers is the devastating defeat in Talikota. Rama Raya and his army held firm against the collective might FIVE Sultanates and would have survived but for the betrayal of their own two Muslim divisions of 1,40,000 soldiers. The mango Anil simply ignores this level of chicanery. For him only the defeat counts. Despite the fact the Hindus recovered much of the territory post-Talikota.

Malik Kafur, the eunuch lover of Alauddin Khilji, sacked Srirangam and wrecked much devastation. It is etched in memory but how many educated Hindus remember the heroics of Kumara Kampana and Gopanarya in repelling the Islamic onslaught? How many feel pride at the naval marvel of the Cholas who conquered the seas and the entire South-East Asia? The Marathas lost in Panipat but they inflicted such a devastation and raised hell on the Afghans that they dared not to cross Indus for decades. How many mango Anils know that power was transferred to the British from the Marathas and not the Mughals?

Correlation may or may not mean causation but I personally feel this correlation between Pakistanis adoring even their most average cricketers and Indians finding faults with even their best has got to do with loving thyself and thy culture. Despite their millions of problems with poverty, terrorism, economy, Pakistanis feel proud of their country and rarely let negative news affect them. Here in India, despite great developments, rare random incidents are overblown and made to seem regular.

Hindus, collectively, have forgotten the great chivalry, valour and strength of our past. We are currently like Hanuman, unaware of our own greatness. We have accepted self-loathing and inferiority complex as the norm. When oh when will a Jambavan come to remind us of our strength and make us Carpe Futurae?

FORGOTTEN STORY OF THE ALMOST CHAMPIONS: SEVILLA 2006-07

2017-11-05T11:08:00.003+05:30

A lot can happen in a minute goes the aphorism. About 10 years ago, a lot happened in less than a minute. 18 seconds to be precise. Four braces from four strikers ensured that the two matches ended 2-2 leaving the two warring giants of Spain level on 73 points with just one more round of matches to go. The Castillan side were on top all thanks to the pulsating 3-3 draw in Catalonia which ensured they were ahead on head to head.

What few remember is that had the Rojiblancos of sunny Andalusia, who faced Mallorca in the Balearic archipelago, won the match they would have gone level with the Big Two of Spain on 73 points. This would have resulted in a three way tie and a rock, paper, scissors situation. Barcelona led Sevilla (3-1,1-2), Real Madrid led Barcelona (2-0,3-3) and Sevilla led Real Madrid (2-1,2-3) on head to head. The next differentiator was goal difference which would have given the advantage to the Blaugrana but alas Los Nervionenses could manage only a goalless draw virtually ending their hopes of a first league title in 61 years.

A free-flowing side built around their right back and managed by Juande Ramos, the squad was put together by their director Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo aka Monchi. The core of side: Alves (€500,000), Jesus Navas (cantera), Antonio Puerta (cantera), Javi Navarro (free), Christian Poulsen (free), Renato (free), Andres Palop (free), Julien Escude (€1,500,000), Dragutinovic (€2,100,000), Adriano Correa (€2,100,000), Luis Fabiano (€1,200,000) and Freddie Kanoute for an exceptionally profligate €6,500,000. It made Billy Beane look positively Florentinoesque.

SHOTS FIRED IN MONACO

Sevilla qualified for the UEFA Super Cup by crushing Steve McClaren’s Middlesbrough 4-0 in Eindhoven. They faced their compatriots: Ronaldinho led Barcelona who had won their first Champions League/European Cup in 14 years. Dani Alves put in a powerful shift at right back by first stifling reigning European player of the year and combining powerfully with the pacy Jesus Navas as the Andalusians bulldozed the Catalans 3-0. Los Cules were unable to match the pace and intensity of Sevilla and surrendered meekly.

TACTICS & FORMATION

2006 UEFA Super Cup Starting Lineups

Sevilla played a 4-4-2 with heavy emphasis on wing play. They had the classical target man in Kanoute and Fabiano as his smaller partner. Speedy quicksilver wingers in Jesus Navas & Adriano and the centre of the pitch anchored by Poulsen and Renato, with the Brazilian having the creative duties. Undoubtedly, the engine of the side was Dani Alves from right full back position. Alves provided 21 assists, exactly as many as the next 3 providers (Navas (8), Fabiano (7) & Kerzhakov (6)) put together, and 7 goals! All from right back. Not for nothing did Sid Lowe call him a footballing Sonic the Hedgehog.

THE SEASON

Sevilla went on to win their first 5 matches in all competitions and sat on top of La Liga with 3 wins out of 3. They lost their first two big away matches at the Calderon & Camp Nou. The 3-1 loss to Barcelona left them at 4th place after 6 rounds. This would be the last time they would stay outside the top 3. Of their next 10 matches in the league before the winter break Los Rojiblancos won 8, lost 1 and drew 1 including big wins over Real Madrid and Valencia at home to stay on top at the winter break. Progress on the European front also went with few hassles as Sevilla finished 2nd to AZ in their group and qualified for the round of 32 in the UEFA Cup.

They went through a slump post the winter break winning just 2 out of 8 matches and drew 4 before Barcelona’s visit to Sanchez Pizjuan. Sevilla won a tempestuous affair that saw 3 red cards & 4 further yellow cards 2-1 after Ronaldinho gave a 13th minute lead to the Catalans. Dani Alves picked up the pieces and scored the winner himself in the 60th minute and the Rojiblancos went to the summit of La Liga for the 8th time in the season. Alas, that would be the last time Sevilla would be at the top.

In the midst of this league slump progress in the Copa Del Rey and UEFA Cup went with little trouble. Barring the Seville Derby quarterfinal of the Copa Del Rey in which the 2nd leg had to be suspended and continued in Getafe due to crowd trouble, Los Rojiblancos comfortably made the final and Kanoute’s 11th minute goal vs Getafe in Santiago Bernabeu gave Sevilla their 4th Copa Del Rey title.

The UEFA Cup saw Sevilla a huge scare in the round of 16 against Shakhtar Donetsk. A 2-2 draw in Seville gave a huge advantage to the Ukrainians and it looked as though Elano’s 83rd minute goal would see them through to the quarterfinals but goalkeeper Andres Palop’s 94th minute equalizer saw the match go to extra time in which Chevanton scored the winner. After beating the Spurs & fellow Spaniards Osasuna, Sevilla successfully defended their UEFA Cup on penalties after a 2-2 draw in Hampden Park.

Sevilla still had an outside chance of winning the league on Jornada 38. Beat El Submarino Amarillo and the Big Two lose, Sevilla would be Campeones after 61 years. Sevilla could not keep their end of the bargain and lost to Villarreal 0-1. Madrid & Barcelona won their final matches that saw Los Merengues crowned Campeones for the 30th time. Just like Il Fenomeno had led them to the title over Real Sociedad 4 years ago, Ruud Van Nistelrooy powered Madrid over the line when it seemed they were dead and buried for most of the season.

Despite the two losses at home in the league, the Sanchez Pizjuan was a fortress where all the big sides were felled. They picked up 47 out of the maximum 57 points which was as much as Barcelona and 7 more than eventual champions Real Madrid. Their away form in the league would be their undoing. The won only 6 matches and lost 7 with the 0-1 loss to eventual bottom placed side Gimnastic being the most devastating of them all. Their 24 points away from home was just 3 more than relegated Celta Vigo.

AFTERMATH

As with any big fish in a small pond, Alves was soon snapped up by Barcelona and Juande Ramos swapped Sanchez Pizjuan for White Hart Lane but Monchi’s wizardry of the transfer market ensured that Sevilla continued to remain competitive after losing Keita, Fabiano, Kanoute, Alves, Rakitic, Reyes, Jesus Navas et al over the years, culminating in a hat-trick of UEFA Europa League titles in the last 3 seasons but never did Los Nervionenses come close to the elusive La Liga title in that Dani Alves led season 10 years ago.

FORGOTTEN STORY OF THE ALMOST CHAMPIONS: REAL SOCIEDAD 2002-03

2017-11-05T11:08:00.000+05:30

Liverpool FC are a famous club in England. Before the 2010–11 football season, they were the joint most winners of the English top flight football. They last won a league title when India was in an economic crisis. In 1990 to be precise. After that closest they came to winning the league was in 2014. They had their destiny in their own hands and faced another title contender. All they had to do was not lose and they would have virtually sealed the title and ……. this happened. Depending on your loyalties it was either cruel or poetic. There really is many a slip between the cup and the lip.

Something eerily similar happened 12 years before in Spain. Wanna know how?

One surprising contender capturing the imagination – Real Sociedad and Liverpool.
One strong team occasionally slipping but always within striking distance – Real Madrid and Manchester City
Another strong team in the hunt but ultimately fading albeit slightly in the end – Deportivo La Coruna and Chelsea
One traditional team floundering through out the season – Barcelona and Manchester United

Real Sociedad are a Basque football club based in San Sebastian, Spain. They have a famous rivalry with Athletic Bilbao. Athletic Bilbao are famous for their Basque only policy, a policy that has seen multiple re-definitions and relaxations. Real Sociedad also had a Basque only policy till 1989 when they signed Liverpool’s John Aldridge.

The 2002-03 La Liga season is a watershed in the history of football. Yours truly was a hardcore Liverpool and English football fan till that point. The EPL season that year ended on 11th May 2003. Liverpool and Chelsea were in a direct shootout for a place in the lucrative UEFA Champions league. Liverpool briefly ignited hope but ultimately lost to a Jesper Gronkjaer winner. Karikadaiboy’s university exams also ended around the same time. Serie A had a haphazard coverage in India but La Liga had decent coverage. During the holiday season, Karikadaiboy had nothing to do at night than to watch whatever football was on the idiot box. Since there were no summer tournaments that year, the Liga was extended to end on June 22nd nearly a month after the all Italian Champions League final.

This broke Karikadaiboy's attraction to kick and rush bluster of English football. It was when Karikadaiboy awoke to the truth that is quality technical football. It was slower and deliberate. It showed him the importance of possession. It showed how highlights reels can be used to show that Heskey is better than Ronaldo …. or maybe not. Tooting my own horn aside, this was a season where Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s adamance and belligerence grabbed the EPL trophy from Arsenal in exciting fashion. That was only second to the chase in La Liga. There were 3 genuine contenders fighting tooth and nail and 5-6 other sides who gave hell to top sides.

PRE-SEASON

My then second soon to be first team was Barcelona. Louis Van Gaal returned for a second spell and was sacked mid-way through the season. Radomir Antic was made the interim manager. There were awful in the league but were superb in the Champions League. The league form was so poor that the only way for Champions League football next season was to win it but they lost at home to the eventual runners-up Juventus at the first hurdle. Naturally, I didn't want Madrid to win the league so I supported La Real.

Real Sociedad had finished 13th for 3 seasons in a row before the start of the 2002-03 season. There were no great transfer activity too. The only notable transfer was the addition of the winger Valeri Karpin. It was Karpin’s second spell at the Anoeta. Also, hired was the French manager Raynald Denoueix, a former manager of the year and ligue 1 winner in France with Nantes. The only notable player was a young inexperienced Xabi Alonso. I wasn't really familiar with tactics and formation back then but from what I can gather, rather lazily, is that they played a conventional 4-4-2 lined-up like this:

The Txuri-urdin started the season in spectacular fashion winning 4 and drawing 1. This included an opening day thrashing of their arch-rivals Athletic 4-2, a thrilling 3-3 draw with Betis and another 3-2 win in a thriller away at Osasuna. This would prove no fluke as no team manage to beat them in the first half of the season. The closest they came to losing in was in the tough Mestalla when they were losing 2-0 with a quarter of the match to go but they would show their resilience to draw 2-2. They won 13 and drew 6 matches. They had a lot of substance.

THE SQUAD

La Real also had a helluva lot of style. Nihat and Kovacevic, dubbed “Little and Large” by Phil Ball, regularly tore apart league defences. They scored 43 goals between them. Kovacevic was the classic centre forward who would bully defenders. He was great in the air and had a powerful shot. Nihat was quick and a good finisher. The duo had a terrific understanding, regularly providing assists for each other. The chemistry shared between the Turk & the Serb (Turb? Serk?) has rarely been surpassed this century.

Real Sociedad also had the best in-form midfield that season. Valeri Karpin, in his early 30s, ran defences ragged. He scored 8 goals. Not a bad at all for a winger. Many goals by Karpin came from pinpoint crosses by Javi de Pedro. A cantera product, de Pedro had what was called a cultured left foot. His early balls almost invariably ended up in the net, put in usually by Nihat or Kovacevic.

The centre of the pitch was manned by a young Xabi Alonso. Another cantera product and El Capitan. He covered the defence and provided his trademark long balls. His outlets to Karpin and de Pedro more often than not ended up creating goal scoring opportunities. Substitutes like Kwarme and Gabilondo provided crucial goals.

MATCH OF THE SEASON

La Real had multiple great performances throughout the season. The aforementioned opening day thrashing of their arch-rivals, the 3-3 draw with Betis, a La Manita (5-0) vs Rayo, the hard fought 2-2 draw with Valencia to save their unbeaten record but without a doubt their coupe de grace was the 4-2 win over the eventual champions Real Madrid. Do not let the scoreline fool you. Madrid were never in the game. La Real were relentless. Kovacevic opened the score inside 2 minutes. He got another after a neat finish inside 20 minutes. Not to be left behind, Nihat made it 3-0 just after the half hour mark. Just as they were showing the replays of Nihat’s neat goal, Ronaldo pulled one back for Madrid. Xabi Alonso scored the goal of the match just 2 minutes after Ronaldo scored to make it 4-1 inside 33 minutes. Javier Portillo made it 4-2 after 84 minutes to bring some respectability.

After flying high for most of the first half of the season, Real Sociedad had lost their way a bit but after crushing Madrid, they were just 3 points behind Los Blancos. Madrid took some time to recover from that thrashing. They could only draw 1-1 in the Clasico at home against a poor Barcelona side and were thrashed by Samuel Eto’o’s Mallorca 5-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu. It was Real Madrid’s first league defeat at home in more than 2 years. They also let a 2-1 first leg lead slip at Juventus in what would be Nedved’s match.

THE TITLE CHASE

With 4 games to go, Real Sociedad led by just 1 point. Valencia and Celta Vigo would play spoilsport. Madrid travelled to the Mestalla and La Real went to Malaga. Valencia would lose to a Ronaldo brace in a game where they should have had at least a point. Sociedad neatly beat a stubborn Malaga by 2 goals in the last 12 minutes. The following week Valencia held Sociedad at Mestalla but La Real had a lucky break when Raul saved Madrid’s blushes after El Zar Alexandr Mostovoi, who had a habit of scoring against Real Madrid, opened the score at the Bernabeu. 2 games to go still Madrid trailed by 1 point. Celta should have won at the Bernabeu.

Celta Vigo were chasing a Champions League spot and chase they would by beating Real Sociedad 3-2 at home. Atletico Madrid, in their return to the top flight and with nothing to play for, meekly surrendered at home to Real Madrid 0-4. Unfortunately for Real Sociedad their destiny was out of their hands. The last week saw Real Sociedad facing Madrid’s rivals Atletico and Madrid facing Real’s arch-rivals Athletic. Thanks to their thrashing at the Anoeta, La Real would win the title if Madrid didn't win. Real Sociedad went on to comfortably win 3-0. Things were really interesting at the Bernabeu as Athletic equalized after Ronaldo gave Madrid the lead. Unfortunately for La Real, the Brazilian duo of Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo scored 1 goal each as Madrid comfortably won 3-1 to take the title.

THE AFTERMATH

Real Sociedad would qualify for the prestigious and lucrative UEFA champions league the following season. Their squad couldn't manage the strain of fighting on two fronts. They managed to qualify for the 2nd round from a tough group that had Juventus, Galatasaray and Olympiakos but were knocked out by Lyon 2-0 in the 2nd round. Their travails in the champions league meant the league form suffered and they barely managed to avoid relegation finishing 15th. Xabi Alonso left the Basque country for the wetter pastures of Merseyside. The manager Denoueix was gone too. Couple of relegation dogfights later, Real Sociedad were finally relegated in the 2006-07 season.

For one season, a mid-table team with barely any resources managed to lead for most of the season but ultimately failed to cross the line because of their inexperience. It was fun while it lasted but it seems almost unimaginable today what with Real Madrid and Barcelona stockpiling players like USA and USSR kept stockpiling nuclear weapons. It was also a time when the same 4 EPL/Serie A sides were repeatedly entering the Champions League, Spain sent such varied teams like Villarreal, Real Betis, Sevilla, Celta Vigo and Osasuna. Oh how we wish those days were back!!

INDIAN CRICKET: THE NOSTALGIC 90s.........WITH A BIT OF 80s THROWN IN

2017-10-29T16:29:00.002+05:30

FIRST HUGGER CHEEKA

Krishnamachari Srikkanth was India's opener for most of the 80s. He was generally in & out of the test team but a regular in ODIs. He had many tics when batting. He would scratch his nose, walk to square leg, twirl his bat and snort regularly. He would also do then unconventional things like going over the infield in the first few overs. His ODI strike rate was 71.74 which seems very low today but it was really good back then. Gordon Greenidge's was just 64.92 for example. For a few years, his 4091 runs & 4 100s were most by an Indian in ODIs. Seems so comical today what with SRT having scored 18000+ runs & 49 100s.

A less known thing about Srikkanth, well known to TN cricket fans, is that wherever he might field, he would be the first person to go and hug the bowler who got the wicket or the fielder who caught the ball. You can look it up on Youtube or whenever any old India cricket match is on TV and verify this. He'll be in deep backward square leg or deep third man and Kapil Dev will have the batsman nicking the ball to Kirmani. Before Gavaskar, at first slip, could hug Kirmani, Cheeka will run faster than Usain Bolt & beat Gavaskar to the hug. Hence, the name First Hugger Cheeka.

THE KUMBLE DIVE

Anil Kumble, the leg straighter. Straighter because he never spun the ball. Kumble was called accurate, unerring, relentless and every other synonymous adjective which are usually euphemisms for sports people who are really boringly painful to watch. If the pitches weren't koththi-uttufied (dug up with cracks), Kumble was automatically neutralized. The accuracy bit becomes even more tragicomic when you realize that flamboyant Shane Warne's career economy rate (2.65) was a shade lower than Anil "Mostus Accuratus" Kumble (2.69) for similar number (~40K) of balls bowled.

Anyway, we'll discuss the merits and demerits of Jumbo another day. Today, we remember his athletic ability to dive when he fielded. Kumble was a masterful diver who had the best timing. Best timing here means to dive after the ball goes past you and you aren't fast enough to catch it but still dive anyway to show "commitment". It was uncanny. He would crouch, walk forward, anticipate and with the un-cat like reflexes he possessed, watch the ball go past him. He would immediately dive instead of chasing it and turn a potentially 1-run saving situation into a guaranteed boundary.

JOY-SUREE-YUH & VENKY BABU

Venkatesh Prasad was probably the first Indian bowler who had a consistently good slower ball with a very good disguise. At times, dare I say, it was in the Wasim Akram league. Calling him medium fast was almost pushing the limit but it was juuuuuuuuuuuuuuust fast enough to fool most batsmen. Then, he lost pace. The "fast" ball and "slower" ball became indistinguishable and batsmen just started playing him like a spinner.

I still like Venky Babu. He always brought the goods against eternal enemies Baagisthaan Theeviravaadhees. Unfortunately, he was as bad against the guy Tony Greig used to call Joy-suree-yuh as he was good against the old enemy. This was the script followed to the T:

India will win the toss and bat
Vaas will account for Tendulkar within the first 5 overs and India will collapse
Jadeja-Robin Singh will bat for 25 overs as though they're trying to save a test match
Robin Singh will swing a couple of sixers in the slog overs to get a competitive score going
India will begin bowling with much hope
Jayasuriya will eviscerate the 0.5% chance India had in the 1st spell of Venky Babu

There are (un)confirmed rumours that the Joy-Suree-yuh-Venky Babu (one-sided) contest almost single-handedly powered the Indian Psychiatry Industry with so many 90s Indian cricket fans suffering from PTSD: Post-Traumatic-Sanath-Disorder.

JADEJA-ROBIN SINGH SYNDROME

Benoni happened exactly once. India needed 83 runs to win in around 11 overs to pip former Rhodeeshaa on net run rate and face Sathafrika in the final. SRT scored a brilliant 100 but as usual exited with the job half-done. Ajay Jadeja was joined by Robin Singh. The two men together hit just 2 fours & 2 sixes but got the job done with old school cricket: finding the gaps and making Sunil Gavaskar proud by converting the 1s into 2s and the 2s into 3s.

Unfortunately, barring a rare few instances (like Kochi for example), Benoni was as good as it got for the infamous duo. Like Joy-suree-yuh & Venky Babu above, Jadeja-Robin Singh also followed a script with the same exact (repeated) script of a Roadrunner-Wile E. Coyote cartoon sans the enjoyable animation.

It will be a crunch, must win match
India will invariably bat second, more often than after winning the toss!
Bowlers will give up a total at least 20 runs in excess of the par score on the pitch
SRT will either fail inside the 1st 12 balls
Other "stalwarts" will follow him quickly
Robin Singh will join Jadeja
They will go at a painfully slow run rate until the asking rate becomes insurmountable for even an amalgamated version of ABdV, MSD & Viv Richards
Jadeja will get out trying to hit out
Robin Singh will stay not out

The uncanny capability to convert a potential 200 run defeat into 100 run defeat was the speciality of our great duo Jadeja-Robin Singh. It was like Russell Peter's "Somebody Gonna Get Hurt Real Bad" routine. You knew we would lose but they'd always give you this hope. In many ways the smaller margin of defeat was much, much worse than losing the match inside 20 overs and moving on earlier.

EPILOGUE

Until the disastrous 2011 tour of England, India had lost only 1 test match where The Wall had scored a 100: 118 in the 1998 Harare test. Kids these days, having grown up on MSD's finishing abilities & regular wins and competitiveness in our away tours, have absolutely no idea what a nightmare the 90s were for Indian cricket fans. India were one of only two teams that did not win a test match in England, officially rated the worst team at the end of the 90s. The other team (Zimbabwe) did not play a test in England until 2000. Speaking of Zimbabwe, we didn't win a test in Zimbabwe until 2001, played two, lost 1 drawn 1 in the 90s.

This century, the occasional setbacks notwithstanding, has been good for the Indian team. We won both the World Cups (F50 & T20) once and made one additional final in each format. We were the number 1 ranked test team for almost 3 years. 2018-19 is one crucial period for Indian cricket. We are touring South Africa, England & Australia and culminate in the 2019 World Cup. We might struggle but remember that things could be worse. We could be back in the 90s!

FOUR DAY TESTS OR FIVE?

2017-10-06T10:03:00.001+05:30

Sathafrika (how a Sathafrikan would pronounce South Africa) have proposed to play a 4 day test against cricket's whipping boys Zimbabwe as a Boxing Day test filler before they take on India in January. India were scheduled to play a 4 test series against the Proteas but Sri Lanka's 70th year of Independence threw a spanner in the works.

kubera's island have decided to host a 4 nation ODI tournament as part of the celebrations thereby "preponing" (advancing to non-Indians, to Indians: that's not a word STOP USING IT) their arranged return series in India to November. As BCCI cannot give up on the too-big-to-fail-and-utterly-useless-and-pointless (not one team is close to turning a profit in 10 years) cash cow IPL, a potential classic 4 test series in the Rainbow Nation has turned into a run-of-the-mill 3 test series. Reason #9128459125719475947591475199451451045123 why tonti tonti is destroying real cricket.

Coming back to the original point, Sathafrika since they're presumably much stronger than former Rhodeesha (how a Sathafrikan would pronounce Rhodesia) want a shorter 4 day test to have some recovery period before taking on the big boys. This has reignited the debate of shortening tests to 4 days because test attendance is failing everywhere but Australia & England. As always the brilliant Andy Bull of grauniad makes a convincing argument why test cricket should be of at least 5 days.

One of the repeated suggestions has been having an extra hour's play each day and reduce the number of days to four. This means we have a minimum of 105 overs per day for 4 days. We lose 30 overs from the current possible 450 overs per test which is not much. Mathematically it amounts to losing 1 session. The idea is that teams will adjust their plans & tactics to finish tests in 14 sessions instead of 15.

This idea is currently impossible to implement. Whilst test matches in the subcontinent rarely exceed 6 hours of play because bulk of the overs are bowled by spinners, matches in England & Australia rarely finish in 6 hours because most of the overs are bowled by pacemen. For many years now, a 3rd session in excess of 35 overs isn't uncommon in England. The over rates are so poor that bowlers barely finish the allotted 90 overs even after extending the post-tea session by 1 hour. ICC has rules about over rates with heavy fines and suspensions but they are very rarely enforced. In addition to this, the Indian subcontinent is not blessed with the long hours of sunlight. Eight hour days (7 hours play plus 1 hour lunch & tea) are highly impractical in this setting.

We must increase the expected over rate to around 18 overs an hour in the subcontinent and we must strictly enforce the current 15 overs elsewhere. Neither is happening any time soon.

So do we have 4 day tests of 105 overs or continue with the 5 days tests of 90 overs?

How about neither and we go with SIX day tests?

What?!?!?

Yup, you heard me. SIX day tests!

- SIX days

- 75 overs per day

- 2 sessions of 150 minutes

- 30 minute lunch

What are the advantages you ask?

Day is just 5.5+ hours long instead of the current 7+ hours.
Shorter day is good both for the spectator and the TV companies.
The bad light issues at the end of the day for all intents & purposes: GONE.
A day/night test can begin at 4 pm and end at 9.30 pm. Excellent again for both stadium spectators and TV audience.

There will be issues but of course.

When will the new ball be due?
How many DRS?
What if rain wipes out a session, do we still play 38 over single session or 50 overs over two sessions?

Etcetera, etcetera. Teething problems in any new venture are inevitable. T20 began in 2003 and for four long years was considered nothing more than a gimmick. Ten years later the mandarins of ICC are reconsidering the future of the 50 over game in order to have a standard T20 season in a very busy calendar.

Dale Steyn's career has been managed, either by design or by coincidence, excellently by South Africa. Since his debut, the Proteas have played 123 tests, 247 ODIs & 88 T20Is. Steyn has missed 131 ODIs & 46 T20Is. Despite princess like mollycoddling, Steyn's body has been crushed by the rigours of test cricket. He has not played a single test out of the 10 played by Sathafrika in 2017 and has missed 19 since January 2015. Mitchell Starc has stress-related issues every 5 tests. Pat Cummins didn't play a test for 5 years after his dream debut against Sathafrika. As Rob Moody observes, James Pattinson's injuries are as certain as death & taxes.

The beauty of test cricket is essentially its long drawn out character. Three sessions per day for five days gives the men who essentially win matches, the bowlers, enough time for recuperation. Extending the day puts a heavy toll on the rock stars, the fast men, who are already on the precipice of what is humanly possible. 6 days of 2 (slightly extended) sessions per day could possibly preserve their bodies for much longer.

So what do you think? Four, Five or Six?

Si3: A REEBYOO

2017-09-23T17:30:00.000+05:30

WARNING: Spoilers 😂😂😂😂

I was fortunate to catch this instant classic in Zee Cinema HD (SD is for plebs 😜) while channel hopping. Missed the first 30 odd minutes but thanks to Hari's multiple flashbacks (from both the previous movies) to fill time, I didn't miss anything.

First a recap. Singam is the mythical haanast, kadamai, kanniyam, kattuppadu ulla oru Tamizhnattu Police. He has this need to keep repeating that he's an "Indian Police". It is clear from the language (Tamizh - Indian.....for now, sorry poraalis) he speaks and the Khaki uniform he wears that he is a police officer but he nevertheless continues to keep informing the audience.

In part 2 of the trilogy he showed the variations of how the exclamation "Hey" can be used to emote and convey various deeply personal situations. A recap from big bro Prabhu Ferrari's all time classic review of Singam 2:

Surya doing romance: Imagine you are lifting a heavy sofa along with your spouse or relative. How do you say ‘hey’ at that time. Very softly right? That voice modulation is to show Surya is romantic.

Surya mildly annoyed: Imagine eating pani puri. Just when you have broken the puri, poured the special liquid after stuffing the puri and are about to consume it, the entire puri crumbles. Imagine how annoyed and frustrated you will be. Try saying Hey at that time.

Surya very annoyed: The worst thing traveling by bus for an overnight journey is the lack of toilet options. Imagine you waking up with a full bladder just after the bus has completed its scheduled stop and is rejoining the highway from the roadside dhaba. HEY. Yes exactly. Not everyone will be like panchathanthiram jayaram to say ‘enakku innum aagalai’.

Surya completely annoyed: Imagine you booking a ticket for a good movie but by mistake the movie operator plays bharathiraja’s annakodi instead of the movie you booked. HEYYYY!

Now in part 3, he is liaised with CeeBee (CBI in colloquial Tamizh) and so he can be in mufti. Ah now I get it. That's why he has to keep repeating he's an Indian Police. Otherwise people will forget he is. Genius from Hari.

The villain is a bodybuilder in real life. So there are only two types of clothes he wears: in a dapper suit or topless like indhee nadigan salmaan gaan.

Plot of the movie is very very simple. Phone call, meeting, phone call, car chase, phone call, meeting, phone call, gun fight, phone call......well you get the point.

Three standout scenes in the movie.

1. The Great Car Chase

Take the best car chase you have seen. Bullitt, French Connection, Terminator, Heat, hell even Death Proof. Put them all together. Raise it to infinity. Now imagine it. How is it? Awesome innit? Now multiply this raised to infinity concoction by 100 and still you wouldn't be close to the awesome car chase of Si3.

The adiyaal villain overturns an auto, our Singam sir gets down, checks on the accident victims and calls an ambulance. The villain is going at 120 km/hr speed and should have presumably put quite some distance between himself and the policemen but cut to the chase the distance between the two cars is still 5 feet.

That's how an ordinary car chase will play out in Tamizh cinema. Hari is a genius director. He believes in naturalness. Anticipating this sort of smartassery from the audience, Hari has not one, not two but THREE police cars chasing the adiyaal villain. He overturns an auto Singam sir with his bluetooth headphone checks up on his subordinate in car 1. The subordinate says "dontree aapisar I will take care" and calls the ambulance. The villains makes a motorcycle fly, Singam sir calls car 2 and continues his kadamai in catching the adiyaal villain.

Hari 1, Audience 0.

2. The Great Hero-Villain Sandippu (Meeting)

There are iconic scenes where two powerful characters meet. Rajini and Mammotty's meeting in Thalapathy. Rajini & Raghuvaran's meeting in Baasha. In recent times, there is Jayam Ravi and Arvindsamy meeting in Thani Oruvan. But all of those are jujubee. The most iconic scene of them all is probably Al Pacino & Robert De Niro's 10 minute chat in Heat. Two of the greatest Hollywood actors of all time sharing the screen for the first time ever. Playing cat and mouse.

Singam & bodybuilder villain meeting blows that scene away. It was like a verbal joust version of Ali-Foreman Thrilla-in-Manila. The acting from Suriya and the bodybuilder villain made even Vietnam Veedu Sivaji Ganesan seem like underacting. Unreal intensity.

3. Singam Meets Airport Security In Kingsford Smith

To protect his oif from the bodybuilder villain Singam sir first sends her to the airport at 10AM itself for a 6PM flight. The flight was already there in terminal and it was full! The only empty seat in the flight was of Singam sir's.

Anyway this picknitting and, once again, jujubee. The bodybuilder villain has the entire city of Sydney in his payroll apparently. He sends hitmen, vellaikkaara adiyaals, policemen etc etc but Singam sir evades them all and just as he's about to clear security check he's trapped by the airport security men. He's apparently wanted for a previous drug deal gone awry.

Singam sir calmly explains that he was on a mission then and he's on a mission now. He tells he killed the dog drug dealer Danny and saved Australia from a drug epidemic. The head of airport security then asks a laajikkal qozin "How do we know that's you?". Singam sir says "Gokul it" and immediately there are 100s of links of Singam sir as an Indian Police. Airport people immediately salute him. A proudest moment for an Indian Police.

Then of course, there's the climax fight. The bodybuilder winner is chased by Singam sir where every two seconds there was CGI to morph/remorph a lion (singam geddid?) and Suriya. The villain was surprisingly not in a suit but he's a bodybuilder so he tears his skin tight tee-shirt off to show his pecs/lats/biceps/triceps. He lifts a huge log like a weightlifter and throws it toward Singam Sir.

Singam sir shows some Dennis Bergkampesque silky first touch abilities and traps the tree log under his foot like Dennis used to trap a bouncing football on uneven, soggy English football pitches. Singam sir then reminds us of Steven Gerrard's winner against Olympiakos by thrashing the dropping bodybuilder villain in a stunning half-volley. Perfect technique from Singam sir. I think Indian football missed out on a talented football player. We could have easily won the World Cup with a player of Singam sir's caliber.

Last but not least, the movie was 100X more enjoyable because I didn't see it in Tamizh. I saw the indhee dubbed version. I thank Nehru that I didn't see it in Sun TV on a vidumurai naal. Must be some last birth punyam that I randomly landed on a channel that I rarely see.

Rating: 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁 out of 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁

P.S: Special award must be given for the cinematographer(s) of the entire trilogy. They made an Amazonian aaradi Anushka (5'10" - 178 cm) seem shorter than the midget Suriya (5'5" - 165 cm) for almost 9 hours. Something that's not possible even by a supercomputer coded CGI.

INDIAN MEN'S BADMINTON: MAKE OR BREAK TIME

2017-09-19T17:49:00.000+05:30

Quiz:

Which nation has the most number of players in the Men's top 100 of badminton?

China? 不 (Bu).

Indonesia? Nggak.

Malaysia? Tidak.

Denmark? Nix.

Who then? India?

सहि उत्तर!!

சரியான பதில்!!

సరైన సమాధానము!!

ಸರಿಯಾದ ಉತ್ತರ!!

ശരിയായ ഉത്തരം!!

સાચો જવાબ!!

योग्य उत्तर!!

সঠিক উত্তর!!

Believe it or not, Indian men's shuttlers occupy THIRTEEN (13) places in the top 100 as of September 14th 2017! Five more than Malaysia & Denmark, SIX more than CHINA(!!), Indonesia & Japan. What a sea of change from the time when we had just 2 real world class players for the entirety of the previous millennium, one of whom is now more famous for being the father of a Bollywood actress instead of his special achievements on court.

WE'RE COMING FOR YOU CHINA!

2017 has been one mighty fine year for Indian men. Other than a slightly disappointing outing at the World Championships in Glasgow, Indian men have won 3 out of the 7 Super Series Opens held so far. Sai Praneeth and Srikanth Kidambi created history in Singapore by playing the first ever All-India men's Super Series final. They became just the 4th pair* from the same country to contest a Super Series (or their predecessors) finals after China, Malaysia & Indonesia in the last 25 years.

H. S. Prannoy & Srikanth scored their first wins over reigning Olympic champion Chen "Little Dan" Long in Indonesia & Australia respectively. Prannoy was also hugely impressive in defeating Malaysian superstar Lee Chong Wei. Unfortunately, he couldn't make it a second All-India final in a row, losing to Kazumasa Sakai in 3 tight games dropping 5 match points.

Srikanth Kidambi is by far the most talented and successful of the lot. After his earth shattering defeat of (5 time winner) Super Dan in the 2014 China Open, Srikanth has struggled a bit with injuries. He was ranked no 3 in 2015. He seems to have put his injury woes behind and has won a tour leading 2 Super Series titles. He also leads the tour with 3 overall finals appearances losing to his compatriot Sai Praneeth in Singapore. He has wins over all the top players (Lin Dan, Chen Long, Axelsen, Jorgensen, Son Wan Ho etc) bar Lee Chong Wei. He seems to possess that extra gear, the X-factor most champion players do. Given how Lin Dan (34) & Lee Chong Wei (35) are still at the top of the game, let's hope Sri, about four and a half months from his 25th birthday, has his best decade ahead of him. Currently ranked 8th, he is the only Indian in the top 10. Srikanth also leads in the Destination Dubai Rankings (to qualify for the BWF Masters Super Series finals) by about 4000 points ahead of number 2 Chen Tien Chou.

Sai Praneeth (16), Ajay Jayaram (17), H.S. Prannoy (18) are the 3 of the 4 players ranked in the top 20. Ajay turned 30 this year so he's probably in the final stages of his career. Sai Praneeth & Prannoy are both 25 and in their prime. Prannoy seems to have put his injury struggles behind this year. He most impressed in Indonesia defeating Lee Chong Wei & Chen Long back to back. As mentioned earlier Sai Praneeth won his 1st Super Series title this year.

Sameer Verma (25) is the youngest (22 years old) player in the top 25. He reached his first Super Series final in Hong Kong last year. He was one game away from reaching the semis of the Korea Open but lost to world no 1 Son Wan Ho. He lacks the size (5'7") of the others but makes it up with tremendous speed and agility. A real Boris Becker on the badminton court. His elder brother, by 2 years, Sourabh Verma is another professional badminton player who is ranked 37 currently but was ranked as high as 30.

The forgotten man today in Indian badminton is Parupalli Kashyap. He became the first Indian male shuttler to reach the Olympic quarterfinal in London. Unfortunately, he has been plagued by injuries in the last 5 years. Currently ranked 45, Kashyap is slowly working his way back into the game. He must draw inspiration from fellow veteran 30+ year olds Lee Chong Wei & Lin Dan to turn the clock back.

That summarizes our contenders in world badminton. Clearly, the depth has never been greater but our shuttlers are yet to become ruthless like great champions. The boys are going deeper & further than ever but lack that killer instinct to land the final blow. Having said that it is great that we are getting there. It is imperative to learn from this. This is why the next 2-3 years ending at Tokyo 2020 are absolutely crucial in the development of the sport. There are 2 world championships and the Olympic golds for the taking. As the sport grows so should the aspirations. We must aim for at least 5 medals out of the 11 available in these 3 premier tournaments. Of the 36 Super Series titles, we must aim to win at least 15 titles. The higher we aim the better. It's okay to land in the sky aiming for the stars! Such a successful era can have a positive effect in not only badminton but also other Olympic sports. Nothing begets success like success.

A True Guru

Finally a word to the silent hand behind all this: Pullela Gopichand, one of two Indians to win the prestigious All-England championships. As is the characteristic of all gurus, he has dispelled much of the darkness that spread over Indian badminton. The academy has produced great results in both singles disciplines. The academy is also not without flaws. There is not much success in the 3 doubles disciplines. There is room for improvement everywhere.

A most crucial 1000 days for Indian badminton. It can be the difference between being a David Ferrer and Roger Federer. Let's hope the foursome, with a little help from Sindhu, push the boundaries so far that Badminton displaces Cricket as the nation's biggest religion!

*- Unable to find source to confirm this. Going by the hazy memory of what the commentator said during Singapore Open final.

A HATE ONCE HATED CANNOT BE RE-HATED TO THE SAME DEGREE

2017-09-13T14:49:00.001+05:30

Justin Timberlake brought sexy back and NEET brought the 60s back. Brahmin hating is cool again in TN thanks to NEET. The far sighted vision of Thanthai Periyar and the great social justice and wealth redistribution schemes of Dravidam, brought back after 5000 years, had near completely eliminated the much hated Brahmin-Doctor. But NEET allows them to get in through the back door and this must be resisted tooth & nail. This hatred tends to spill over to other Brahmins. Since hatred is a very limited quantity item and mustn't be wasted on the wrong group or community, I have decided to categorize various Brahmins so that your hate is utilized to the fullest extent.

1. Vaidika Brahmins

These Broms simply sit far away from power centres, chant vedas & shlokas and stay under the radar. They're generally dependent on their ancestral properties and some quasi-govt job as professors in Arts colleges that offer Sanskrit courses. Hating these folk is a total waste of your energy. They don't compete for medicine or engineer seats or govt jobs. Even EVR didn't hate these folk.

2. Vadhyar Brahmins

These Broms are ones who do various karmas like ayush homam, gruhapravesam, vivaham, upanayanam, devasam etc. Even though "gold-bracelet wearing pulsar riding" mamas exist, on average they're another fairly harmless group. Even though we're highly rational, we still do some rituals to placate our parents. So hating these Broms can be counterproductive.

3. Bhattar/Archarkar/Gurukal Brahmins

These are temple priests. People see rich temples like Tirupati or Samayapuram and think these jobs must be social justice warriored but in general barring literally a handful of temples most temples are heavily dependent on donors. It's a hard job standing inside a sanctum with an iffy power connection and nearly no visitors during weekdays and slightly crowded weekends during season. Even if you social justice warriorfy these jobs you are looking at just a handful of power positions. So if you want to expend energy hating these poor folk it's up to you. The better thing is to control these temples through HRCE board which is thankfully far away from Brahmins. All praise to Thanthai Periyar's social justice paradigm.

4. Gumastha Brahmins

General kanakkupullai Brahmins who work in clerical level jobs at banks, post offices, railways and typically women. If you want to hate these silent hardworking mamis then I just pity you.

5. Rationalist Mamas

These mamas aren't strong enough to completely abandon tradition but continue to dis them anyway. Typically get their gyaan from Hindu whilst drinking filter kaapi sitting on an "ease chair". They show quasi-lemur tendencies when non-Tamils get involved thinking Lemurs will accept them. One thing though: If Hindu religion or Tamil language is not involved, these mamas can be very profound or smart. They deserve to be hated.........but only to an extent. If you want to then enjaai jamaai enjamaai.

6. Parpana Paradesis

Teenage brings a lot of problems. Hormonal changes, mood swings, horniness, pimples, acne etc etc. Teenage also brings another disease: SJWism. Generally as one ages all those problems go away with maturity but for these Brahmins the SJWism continues to stay in them till their 30s & 40s.

They will use what they call "privilege" to get ahead in life but they will also "accept they used privilege" to do so hence they are better than other Broms because no hypocrisy duh!
They think of eating meat & marrying outside caste as some revolutionary thing when things like that have been happening for 1000s of years.
They will write blogposts on how every ritual is a waste of ghee, milk etc whilst sipping 250 roobees Starbucks dishwater called some Cafepunakku Latte without a hint of irony.
They'll cry & cry in a circle jerk of their own about stopping rituals but will never have a registered marriage. A vaidika brahmana may not do ayushhomam for his 1st born due to poverty but these hypocrites will never fail to do it for their first born.
They will buy 2 3BHK houses with centralized AC but god-forbid a vadhyar should buy a small Maruti 800 car.
Paying 700 roobees for Pizza or 600 roobees for 50 ml beer at Bikes n Barrels is money well-spent but 5000 roobees for annual devasam is very costly & these scheming Brahmins are fleecing them.
They will cry for hours together for 4.1% raise instead of a 4.11% raise but will write angry blogposts that a privileged bracelet pulsar vadhyar mama is asking for ₹100 extra.
They have this deep-seated need to be loved by their haters so they start hating their own thinking the haters will love them.

In my not so humble opinion these brahmins must be hated without mercy. Even if you are a Lemur, don't you agree that this category alone deserves all your hate instead of the others?

So there you go. Broad category of Brahmins to hate. Divide & categorize your hate among the groups in the right doses. Remember: A hate once hated cannot be re-hated to the same degree. Happy Hating!

P.S: Parpana Paradesi is not my coinage. I first saw @hawkeyeview use it. So that credit should go to him.

ROGER FEDERER WILL NOT WIN THE 2017 US OPEN

2017-08-31T15:11:00.001+05:30

WHAT THE !#%!?

HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?

THIS BETRAYAL SHALL NOT BE PARDONED!!!

GO DIE!

ARE YOU A NADAL FAN PRETENDING TO BE A FEDERER FAN?

I HEREBY REMOVE YOUR PRIVILEGES OF BEING A FEDERER FANATIC!

Are some of the possible responses after reading the title of the post. My answer to all of those questions: Calm down people. It is to just get your attention.

Let me refresh your memory. Four hundred and nineteen days ago this happened.

About a month and a half before that he missed his first ever slam in a million years. When he last missed a slam (1998), Tendulkar could still play the straight drive, Lara was depressed and wanted to quit cricket, MJ retired for the 2nd time after a 2nd three-peat. Nick Kyrgios was 3 years old, Sascha Zverev was 1 year old, Denis Shapovalov wasn't even born. Iron Man Fed was on the verge of being Glass Man Fed. A few days later he shut down his season.

Do you remember those dark days? Do you remember how difficult it was every Friday before a big tournament not to see Federer's name in draw? Do you remember those withdrawal symptoms? The inability to see that thing of indescribable pulchritude? The pain? The suffering?

"What did I ever do to you? Why are you reminding me of such gut-wrenching memories that I've worked hard to suppress?" one might be inclined to ask. I'll give you an answer similar to what George gave Kurt.

"ENJOY DAMMIT! ENJOY EVERY PRECIOUS MOMENT AS IF IT WERE THE LAST TIME FEDERER IS GOING TO PLAY A POINT!"

I am fully aware that the Federer greed is one of the hardest vices to give up but just remember how magical this season has been. Federer himself just expected to be in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and wanted to get enough match practice and fitness for Wimbledon. That he is in a position to complete a FOURTH treble season is in itself a medical miracle. A 3-slam season at 36 is beyond even an amalgamation of Chuck Norris & Rajinikanth.

So my dear Fedtards, there is no doubt in my mind that Federer is going to win the 137th edition of the US Open. I am just asking you to enjoy the man in one of the best outfits he's worn in his career.

WHAT A MAN!!!!!

Savour the grand old man of tennis:

One match at a time.

One set at a time.

One game at a time.

One point at a time.

FEAR THE FINGER WAG & CHUM JETZE!!!!!!!

#USO6EN #FE20RER

PROJECT SIX PACK AMBI AT NEXT BRAHMŌTSAVA GŌṢṬI

2017-08-29T20:28:00.001+05:30

Aim:
To be one and only six pack ambi at the next brahmōtsava gōṣṭi.

Apparatus Required:
Mind and only mind. Nothing else.

Theory:

Walking with bouts of pseudo-jogging (very very very........∞ slow jogging so basically walking) to be converted to full fledged jogging within 6 weeks (and additional exercises) will lead to loss of excess weight and forming of six pack abs. From a guy who could do 60-70 kg squats in his undergrad days and holding his own against very athletic black & white guys playing half-court basketball, I have gone to having paresthesia if I play Temple Run 2 for more than 100 seconds in a stationary position in 10 years. Target is to be the centre of attention as the only six pack ambi in the next vēda/prabandha gōṣṭi at tirukkuruṅguḍi kaisika ēkādasi utsavam at the earliest or the tirunāṅgūr 11 garuḍa sēvai brahmōtsavam on tai amāvāsai at the latest.

P.S: Knowledge of vēdam/prabandham is optional. The older māmās can be easily impressed (read placated) by the impeccable application of dvādasa nāmam (pannaṇḍu tirumaṇ) on the body.

P.P.S: Other ancillary procedures like drinking of green tea with sugar-free sweetener and honey in hot water in the morning will also be attempted & proved to be failures.

Procedure:

1. Start by walking for 5-6 km.

2. Convert the walking:running ratio from 100:0 to 75:25 to 50:50 to 25:75 to 0:100 within 6 weeks.

3. ēkādasi will be off cos it is a day of upavāsam (fast).

4. Slowly add various exercises for abs, chin ups, push ups (I cannot do even 1 push up currently).

5. Become six pack ambi within 3 6 months & yell CHUM JETZE after it happens.

Result:

KKB became the only six pack ambi at the gōṣṭi (wait for 6 months).

P.S: If you have got here, please go to the top and re-read the post with "Eye of the tiger" playing in your mind voice.

THE SECOND MASSACRE AT ANTIGUA RECREATION GROUND: PART III OF BRIAN LARA'S CARIBBEAN TRILOGY

2017-08-29T16:44:00.001+05:30

"Brian Lara is in the mood then on 95 he'll try to bring up a 100 with a six....................he started on 77 and six balls later finished on 99."

So went David Hookes as the Prince swatted Adam Dale across the line to mid-wicket for four. The man, who on debut thrashed Tony Greig for 5 fours in a row and knew a thing or two about aggressive batting, was almost disappointed that it was just a four and not a six. It was the 79th ball the Trinidian & Tobagian had faced. The indiscriminate bloodbath in the preceding 67 balls, almost made the succeeding two scoreless deliveries feel like Ken Barrington's 131 ball scoreless blockathon of Bapu Nadkarni. He then bent down on one knee and swept Shane Warne's replacement, Colin "Funky" Miller. The Second Massacre At Antigua Recreation Ground meant that the field was spread out, so the top-edge fell safe in no-man's land and Brian Lara had breached three digits. He had gone 26 innings without a 100 and like London buses, 3 had come along in the last 4.

TUGGA DROPS ANCHOR

Shane Warne, months after his shoulder surgery (which caused him to miss 4 Ashes tests in 1998-99), had bowled 503 balls in the first three tests and taken just 2 wickets. His ineffectiveness on a crumbling 5th day track in Kensington Oval, had forced Steve Waugh to over-bowl Gillespie and McGrath. Warne bowled 144 wicket-less deliveries on days 4 and 5. McGrath, a fast bowler, had bowled 20 more overs than the lead spinner in the last innings. Sachin Nadal had denuded Warne a year earlier and Brian Federer had no option but to step up and step up he did. He single-handedly batted the Victorian out of the series. Warnie was replaced by fellow Victorian, Colin Miller. The then injury-prone Gillespie was crocked and replaced by Adam Dale.

Waugh won the toss for the 4th straight time and decided to bat, again aiming to use his spinners in the fourth innings of the test. It was the 12th straight time Australia won the toss, 8 of them by Waugh's predecessor Mark "Tubby" Taylor. Ambrose and Walsh continued their probing attack as the home side never let the Aussies out of sight. After a 60 run opening partnership, the visiting side wobbled to 96/3. The Aussie captain replaced his twin at the crease and dropped anchor. He shared 50 plus run partnerships with Langer and Ponting and propped Australia to 221/5 at stumps on the opening day.

A good night's rest did wonders for Ambrose as he quickly picked up 3 wickets in his opening spell to reduce Australia to 242/8 in his home ground. Some lusty hitting from the comeback kid Funky Miller quickly pushed the visiting side close to the 300 mark. He fell 7 runs short of a well-deserved 50 to the part time spin of Jimmy Adams. Ambrose returned to have McGrath caught behind to complete his 1st 5 wicket haul in 10 innings. It ultimately turned out to be the 22nd and final 5 wicket haul of his legendary career. Waugh batted for more than 5 hours for his unbeaten 72 and Australia ended up with 303 runs in their first innings.

THE PRINCE CHANNELS HIS INNER KING

Eleven days before the 13th anniversary of the First Massacre At Antigua Recreation Ground, West Indies began their first innings aiming to bat Australia out of the test and the series to regain the Frank Worrell trophy after 4 years. McGrath, in his usual miserly avatar, and Dale, also picked for his parsimony, bowled 12 tight overs, 5 of them maidens. Griffith & Campbell managed to add 19 runs in those 12 overs. Waugh removed McGrath and introduced the medium-pace of Miller. He almost immediately broke the opening partnership and in his 2nd over removed the other half of the starting pair. The number 3 batsman, Dave Joseph was on 1.

In walked the man of the hour, the Prodigal Son turned Messiah, having scripted a 468 minute epic in Jamaica and an even more epic 355 minute saga in Barbados. The energy spent in concentrating and focusing against the relentlessly accurate McGrath for almost 14 hours and the additional pressures of a viciously demanding press would have broken any other man. Understandably, not much was expected from Brian Lara. He began in circumspect fashion and remained scoreless for 12 balls, all against the precise Dale. The 13th ball of the innings was clipped off his pads for 2 runs to square leg. His nemesis returned for a second spell. Lara mistimed his pull off the 3rd ball of the over straight to the man of the moment, Miller.

Flawless until then, Funky dropped an absolute sitter at midwicket. Joseph was batting on 5. It seemed to shock Lara into coherence and like an engineer taking a vacation after a tough assignment, the Prince began to decompress. In the next over from Miller, Lara hit 3 boundaries, each more gorgeous than the last. It was uncharacteristically aggressive. Lara was a firm believer in the maxim "give the first hour to the bowlers" but that day he ignored his own advice and went medieval on the Aussie behinds. Minutes before tea, Tugga introduced MacGill and Lara danced down the track to lift him over Dale for his 6th four of the session. West Indies went to tea at 58/2. Lara was on 31 off 44 balls. Joseph was on 7.

After playing out a maiden off MacGill as if to just reset, Lara began his carnage. He took 11 balls to score 23 runs with a 6 & two 4s to bring up his 4th 50 of the series off just 61 balls. The last 48 balls had produced 51 runs. Joseph was on 11. The 6 overs after the New South Welshman's maiden went for 4, 11, 7, 9, 9 and 14 runs as Brian Lara, the Prince, channeled his inner Viv Richards, the King, to give the raucous crowd a sequel to Richards' whirlwind 56 ball 100, 13 years previously. West Indies were 112/2 in the space of 42 balls. Lara moved from 31 to 77 in just 23 balls but this was nothing. The best was yet to come. David Rolston Emmanuel Joseph was batting on 15.

MacGill was taken off after conceding 38 runs in his spell. The niggardly Adam Dale was brought back to stem the tide. He had bowled impeccably to concede just 25 runs in his 10 overs before tea.

10.1: Slightly short and Lara nonchalantly pulls it to midwicket for 4. 81 (74), 12x4, 2x6

10.2: Another short ball of almost a spinner's pace and Lara deposits a thigh high ball slightly in front of square and into the crowd for his 3rd six. 87(75) 12x4, 3x6

10.3: Dot ball. Why does Lara want to bore the crowd with such defensiveness? SMH. 87(76) 12x4, 3x6

10.4: Dale bowls a length ball, Lara's rapier comes down with force of indra's vajra and goes through the line sending the cherry over the head of the ducking Joseph. David Hookes in the comm box "That is the.....absolute backing up batsman killer." Had Joseph not ducked the ball would have taken his head along with it not unlike arjuna's arrows depositing jayadratha's head in vṛddhakśatra's lap. 91 (77) 13x4, 3x6

10.5: Dale goes round the wicket and bowls a full toss. To a batsman who has scored 60 runs of his previous 25 balls. LAWL. Lara, now seeing the ball like a wrecking ball, thrashes it over mid-off. "So what can Adam Dale do now?" laments Hookesy. 95 (78), 14x4, 3x6

10.6: Back off a length incoming delivery, Lara swats it across the line splitting the two men at short midwicket and short mid-on for his fourth 4 of the over. Adam Dale is a broken man. Joseph is batting on 15. 99 (79) 15x4, 3x6.

Six balls of pure mayhem as Lara moved to 99 in a flash. Joseph played out a maiden from McGrath. Waugh takes out Dale and re-introduces, Miller, who switches to off-spin from medium pace. Lara defends two balls. It was as if he was letting his fellow Caribbean countrymen, gasping for the eight element in the periodic table, catch their collective breaths. After the top-edge landed safely, Lara removed his helmet and raised his bat for the 3rd time in 3 tests. 100 off 82 balls against McGrath (13 off 19), Dale (35 off 22), Miller (14 off 13), & MacGill (38 off 28). He walked in at 20/2. The total when he scored his 100th run was 136. 100 runs off the 116 scored during his liquidation of the best bowling attack in the world. Joseph was batting on 15.

The short break allowed McGrath to regroup. He bowled a dot ball, a huge achievement given the situation. He drew in all his experience and energy to produce a rising short ball into the ribs of the centurion. Lara skipped, his feet off the ground and fended it off his glove. The ball was millimetres away from hitting the ground before the agile and alert Healy took a brilliant one-handed catch to dismiss the man in the finest form of his career. Lara was the third man out. Joseph was batting on 15.

The remaining 7 wickets managed just 86 runs thanks largely to the 47 runs scored by Carl Hooper. Either side of one of the most scintillating passages of test cricket, the Windies managed 106 runs giving Australia a priceless 81 run lead. Langer dropped anchor to score his 3rd test hundred. It helped Australia pile a 387 run lead. This was beyond an extremely fatigued Lara and the match was over when McGrath trapped him in front of the stumps late on day 4. Australia completed the last rites on the fifth day to share the series 2-2 and more importantly continued to keep the Frank Worrell trophy. It stays with them even today after 18 years. West Indies have never come close to owning it after being so close in April 1999.

The last part of Lara's Caribbean trilogy ended in disappointment. It was keeping in line with most trilogies. The third part almost never manages to match the expectation and the excitement built up by the first two parts. It is only natural. Godfather III is a fine movie on its own but when juxtaposed with parts I & II, it pales in comparison. Lara's breathtaking assault in comparison to his 213 & 153 is anti-climactic but viewed separately and purely as entertainment, there are few passages of play better than the 101 destructive minutes on the 4th day of April in 1999. The articulate Michael Atherton's summary of Brian Lara's batsmanship is almost a perfect encapsulation of the Second Massacre At Antigua Recreation Ground.

Lara stands for batsmanship at its purest, at its most instinctive. The image of him with his backlift so high...recalls the unfettered batting of a golden age, when attacking instincts dominated and when wristiness and placement mattered more than the size of the muscles and weight of bat.

SAINA NEHWAL: AN INSPIRATION

2017-08-27T15:36:00.001+05:30

It is the sixteenth day of the tenth month of 1978. The venue is Iqbal Park, Faisalabad. It is the first test between the two sides in 6454 days. The period saw the countries fight two wars. A dictator dethroned and another enthroned, a quasi-dictatorship enforced and then deposed on both sides of the border. The home country lost 15% of territory and 55% of population. That things were a lot different is an understatement. A skinny kid, 82 days before his 20th birthday, has the ball. The boy, who was chided by Indian cricket authorities citing "There are no fast bowlers in India" and refused food, runs in to bowl his first ball in test cricket. Facing him is the debonair Majid Khan and the youngest of the Mohammed brothers, Sadiq. Pakistan had played Australia & West Indies away in the preceding two years. They drew 1-1 against Lillee, Walker & Gilmour and lost an exceptionally tough series against Roberts, Garner and Croft 2-1. A battle-hardened side, very acclimatized to pace bowling.

Sadiq faces a couple of balls from the boy who would soon become more famous as the Haryana Express. He had come to bat in a cap. He assumed what anyone typically assumed about Indian folk: What can a kid who eats dal and chawal bhaji do? What can he do that Lillee, Roberts & Garner could not? Wrong assumption. Sadiq turns to the dressing room and signals for a helmet. Indian cricket would not be the same again. A team that used those express pace bowlers, Gavaskar and Solkar to take the shine off the ball so that the spin quartet can go to work was changed for the better. Safe to say that India would not have the pace bowling pool of Zaheer, Irfan, RP Singh, Nehra etc in the early to mid 00s and the current crop of Ishant, Umesh, Bhuvi, Shami et al without the success of Kapil Dev Ram Lal Nikhanj. His numbers (compared to Imran, Hadlee & Botham) are merely good but he showed India can do short pitched stuff. He showed we can also produce sultans of swing. He showed a country so used to spin that even a new ball can be used to produce wickets.

A Haryanvi dude showed India can also play chin music and take the battle to West Indies. Likewise a Haryanvi dudette showed India can go toe to toe with the Chinese speedsters who had dominated the shuttle world for the best part of three decades. Saina Nehwal is a national treasure and deserves more appreciation just for making badminton a viable sport in a cricket mad nation. As a 16 year old she won silver in the junior world championship losing to her future rival (and nemesis) Wang Yihan. She did one better two years later becoming the first Indian shuttler to become a junior world champion. As an 18 year old, she became the first Indian shuttler to reach the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympics. She went one better at London Olympics giving India her first ever medal in Badminton. Days after turning 25, she became the first ever and so far the only Indian woman shuttler to be ranked world number 1.

First Individual Medal in Badminton

No 1 Ranked Badminton Players in Saina's Era

	Titles (W-F)	Olympics (W-F)	BWF WC (W-F)	BWF SS Finals (W-F)	SS Premier (W-F)	SS (W-F)	W-L
Wang Yihan	28-40	0-1	1-0	1-1	6-6	11-2	368-91
Li Xuerui	21-35	1-0	0-2	2-0	9-3	3-7	287-59
Saina Nehwal	20-27	0-0 (Bronze)	0-1	0-1	3-3	7-1	361-152
Wang Shixian	15-26	0-0	0-0	1-1	3-3	8-6	284-87
Tai-Tzu Ying	13-20	0-0	0-0	2-3	3-5	5-3	259-122
Carolina Marin	10-17	1-0	2-2	0-0	2-3	3-3	281-87

BWF WC: BWF World Championships
BWF SS Finals: BWF Superseries Year-End Finals
SS Premier: Superseries Premier
SS: Superseries
W-F:Won-Final
W-L:Win-Loss

From the table it is clearly evident that Saina Nehwal has been one of the best players in the world for the best part of 10 years. Like Captain Kirk, she has gone where no (Indian) woman had gone before. The only big Superseries Premier title missing from her kitty is the All-England championships. She has won Denmark, Indonesia and China. From 1986-2015, Saina was one of only two non-Chinese women to have won the China open. Sindhu has since joined this exclusive club. Her list of firsts as an Indian shuttler deserves a Wikipedia page of its own.

First Indian badminton player to win an Olympic medal
First Indian badminton player to win Junior World Championships
First Indian badminton player to win Silver at the World Championships
First Indian badminton player to win Silver at the Year-End Championships
First Indian women's badminton player to win a Superseries title
First Indian women's badminton player to be ranked no 1

This is not to say she is without flaws. Her inability to close-out, especially in the big games against top opponents is slightly sub par but it is not like she is blessed with much natural ability. For example, she lacks the effortless power of her fellow citizen Sindhu and the natural racquet skills of Wang Yihan or Li Xuerui but her dedication and effort made her an opponent no one liked to face. This despite being undersized (5'5") compared to her peers, Wang Yihan (5'10"), Li Xuerui (5'9"), Carolina Marin (5'8"), Sindhu (5'11"). Also, with the lack of advanced coaching her Oriental counterparts get, she held her own against rivals with many advantages. Compared to her "acronymical" tennis compatriot, Saina has almost single-handedly put Indian badminton on the map in a sport usually dominated by Sino-Scandinavians. But she hasn't received even a fraction of the accolades Sania Mirza gets from the Indian populace.

Robert Johnson was a blues guitarist who apparently sold his soul to the devil to achieve success. His guitar playing might sound pedestrian today to the average listener but he was one of the pioneers of blues music. He was a huge influence on Eric Claption, who is indubitably a fantastic guitar player. If Robert Johnson hadn't played the blues, Slowhand mightn't have even picked a guitar. Likewise without Saina, we may not have had Sindhu!

The recent rise and rise of Sindhu has almost made us forget how good Saina was. It seems more and more likely that Sindhu will end her career as the greater player but it is also undeniable that Saina paved the way and made it much easier for her by making the world respect and even fear Indian shuttle players. As her career winds down, let us hope she can sign off on a high. Here's to Saina Nehwal, who overcame many odds to make the world take notice of Indian badminton, a true inspiration in a sport that did not have much of it.

FIVE GREAT CHEPAUK TESTS

2017-08-23T12:23:00.000+05:30

Mid-January comes the harvest festival of Pongal. Apparently, BCCI used to schedule a test match in Chennai/Madras to coincide with this holiday week. What better way to celebrate Pongal & cricket than a post on great Tests in Chepauk? This is going to be a loooooooooooooooooong post. So without further ado, here are five of the best tests at Chepauk in chronological order:

I. India Vs. West Indies: 11th Jan 1975

Ah!!!! The GRV Pongal test of 1975! India vs West Indies! Vishy vs Roberts! My father apparently saw this match live. I say live because I have no idea whether it was telecast on DD and I am not bothered to check. This innings is in the top of my wishlist of innings that I want to see live in the stadium. As usual some history. India were walloped in the first two tests. That great opener Gordon Greenidge and the "only" Master Blaster Viv Richards made their debuts in the 1st test at Bangalore. Greenidge was hurriedly off the blocks scoring 93 and 107 on debut as Windies thrashed India by 267 runs. Richards, having managed only 4 & 3, falling to Chandra twice in Bangalore, soon found his range in Delhi, scoring an unbeaten 192 that included 6 sixes as Windies won by an innings.

Talks of a "blackwash" began. India were down 0-2 with star batsman Gavaskar out due to injury. There was only one world class batsman in the side, Gundappa Viswanath. He took it upon himself to save the series. In the third test at the Garden of Eden, Kolkata, he scored 52 & 139 as India spun the visitors out to win by 85 runs. As the 4th test began, Bernard Julien sent both openers back with the score on 24. Vishy walked in. Andy Roberts began to spit fire as 24/2 became 41/4 which then became 76/6 which in turn became 117/8. Roberts took all of the 6 subsequent wickets to fall. That graceful sardarji Bishen Singh Bedi walked in. He hung around for 40 odd minutes as Vishy, with uncharacteristic violence, counterattacked. They added 52 runs out of which Bedi contributed an invaluable 14. At 169/9, one-handed Chandra came to the crease. Chandra vs Chris Martin would probably be the ultimate contest for the history’s worst batsman. He took 242 wickets but scored only 167 runs in his test career! Realizing that there is no time, Vishy farmed the strike and took the score to 190 when Chandra fell to Roberts to give him his first 7fer (7/64). Vishy remained cruelly not out on 97. It ultimately ended up being one of the 2 sub-100 innings in the Wisden 100.

The spinners first spun the Windies out for a narrow 2 run lead. Vishy scored 46 and Gaekwad top scored in the second innings with 80 as India set the visitors a target of 255, Roberts took another 5fer and ended up with 12 wickets in the match. On a wearing track with three terrifying spinners in Pras, Bedi and Chandra, the 255 was probably as good as 552. India comfortably won a memorable test to level the series 2-2. West Indies ultimately won the 6 day 5th test aided by a rambunctious 242* from El Capitan Clive Lloyd. Nevertheless, a memorable series where India gave a much superior West Indies hell all thanks to Gundappa Rangnath Viswanath.

II. India Vs. Pakistan: 15th January 1980

The ol’ enemy. In the winter of ’78, India toured Pakistan for the first time in nearly 24 years. India’s original and most durable fast bowler Kapil Dev made his test debut in the drawn 1st test at Faisalabad. With a little bit of common sense and defensiveness, India could have and should have drawn the subsequent tests in Lahore and Karachi. In Lahore, Pakistan had to get 126 in 28 overs. With a bowling of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandra and Kapil Dev, India should have drawn the test with some negative bowling. The final test in Karachi was even worse. Pakistan had to get 164 in 25 overs. There is no way India could have bowled out a batting lineup of Majid Khan, Miandad, Zaheer and budding all-rounder Imran Khan in that many overs. Gavaskar’s twin 100s were in vain. I have a lot of respect for Bedi the spinner but Bedi the captain lost the plot here. He kept tossing the ball up to Imran as Pakistan won a maghrib chase with a ball to spare. Bedi conceded 33 runs in his 4 overs. We ended up losing the series 2-0 when it should have ended 0-0.

Pakistan toured on a return series in the winter of 1979 for a long 6 test series. After a drawn first test, India nearly pulled off a chase of 390 anchored by a nearly 9 hour 146 by Colonel Vengsarkar. India comfortably won the 3rd test by 131 runs in Bombay followed by a rain affected draw in Kanpur. On the first day of the Pongal test (5th test), Kapil Dev took 4 and Karsan Ghavri took 3 and India bowled Pakistan out for 272 early on day 2. At the end of day 2 India were precariously placed at 161/4 with captain Gavaskar batting on 92. After a 100 run partnership with Yashpal Sharma, Gavaskar was joined by Kapil Dev at 279/6. The two added 60 runs, as Gavaskar after nearly 10 hours making 166. Kapil Dev was the 8th man out with the score on 412 having scored a rollicking 84 out of the 133 runs that were scored during his stay at the crease. It was scored off just 98 balls with 13 fours and a six. India were bowled out for 430 with a lead of 158. Kapil was probably mad at missing out on his second test 100 and Pakistan felt his fury. He took 4 out of 5 to reduced Pakistan to 58/5. 50s from Miandad and Wasim Raja propped up Pakistan to 233 as Kapil returned on the 5th day to clean up the tail to finish with 7/56. India had to get 76 in close to 4 hours. Gavaskar and Chauhan polished those runs off in just 18 overs and India took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Kapil’s first 10 wickets in a match came in his 24th match but boy was it worth the wait. The 6th test was drawn giving India its first series win against Pakistan since the sides' first meeting in 1952/53.

III. India Vs. Australia 18th September 1986

Tied Test II. Only the 2nd tie in the history of test cricket but not a perfect tie (only 32 of 40 wickets fell). It is hard to believe now but Australia were the worst team in the world in the mid-80s. Even Sri Lanka had managed to draw a series against Pakistan and beat India at home. Australia had lost 5 and drawn 1 of their last 6 series. The drawn series was against India at home. Only combination of rain, some poor tactics by India and the usual dubious Aussie umpiring prevented India from winning their first series in down under.

This was the background before the 1st test began in Madras. Australia won the toss and elected to bat in the sweltering September heat of Madras. Marsh went with the score on 48. Boon scored 122 as he and Dean Jones shared a 158 run stand for the 2nd wicket. Jones, after completing his 150 on the following day, started vomiting in the heat. When he was batting at around 170, Dean Jones wanted to retire. Border infamously called him the weak Victorian. Jones completed a determined double hundred and fell for 210. Border also got a hundred and declared early on day 3 at 574/7.

Srikkanth, in his inimitable style, scored 53 off 62 balls as India rolled to 62/0. There was mini-collapse to 65/3. Shastri and Azharuddin scored 50s as India struggled to 206/5 when captain Kapil Dev walked in. With a longish tail and India still 168 runs adrift of the follow-on, Kapil scored one of the all time great counterattacking 100s. He was the last man out for 119 as India made 397 on day 4. At the end of day 4, Australia had score 170/5. Border declared at the start of day 5, setting India 348 to win in 87 overs. I feel if Gavaskar had captained he would have played for the draw but Kapil went for the win. Srikkanth, once again, scored a brisk 39 off 49 and he fell with the score on 55. Gavaskar played anchor brilliantly scoring 90. Amarnath made 51, Azhar 42, Chandrakant Pandit a quickfire 39 off 37. Kapil failed and wickets kept falling regularly. People kept losing their cool. I remember Shivlal Yadav waving his bat at Boon after a loud appeal. Ravi Shastri kept the pace, ultimately ending with 48 off 40. When the last over began, India needed 4 runs to win with a wicket in hand. Shastri took 2 off the 2nd ball and a single off the 3rd leaving Maninder Singh to score the winning runs off 3 balls. Maninder was out in the penultimate ball, a decision on par with Graham Thorpe leg before at Edgbaston, giving Greg Matthews his 2nd 5fer of the match and more importantly, the 2nd ever tie in the history of test cricket.

IV. India Vs. Pakistan 28th January 1999

The ol’ enemy part deux. Pakistan toured India for the first time in 12 years. It was also the first meeting between the two sides since a certain S R Tendulkar made his test debut. It was a short two test series. The first test was originally scheduled to be played in New Delhi. Shiva Sena, who were against Pakistan touring India, dug up the Kotla pitch so the venues were swapped. Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat. India started really well as they sent half the Pakistan side before the score reached three figures. The classic Indian inability to mop up the tail began to rear its ugly head. Moin Khan with the then Yousuf Youhana added 63 runs for the 6th wicket and another 61 runs with captain Wasim Akram to take Pakistan past 200. Kumble came back with a tremendous spell. He picked up the last 4 wickets to fall as Pakistan went from 214/6 to 238 all out. Overall a fantastic performance from the bowlers.

Sadagopan Ramesh, making his test debut, was off to a great start. On his home ground, he cut and flicked the Sultan of swing Akram, as India rolled to 48/0 in 8 overs at the day’s end. The next day, Pakistan roared back. At one point India were 188/7, 50 runs behind. Ganguly and Sunil Joshi took India close to visitor's total as India ended up with a slender 16 run lead. Shahid Afridi scored his first ODI 100 in his second match. He chose to score his first test 100 also in his second match. He scored 141 as Pakistan rolled to 275/4 at a run rate greater than 4 rpo. Then, came a bizarre sequence of events. First, Sunil Joshi removed the dangerous Salim Malik for 32. Venkatesh Prasad, who always did well against Pakistan, took 5/0 in 18 balls as Pakistan were shot out for 286. Whodathunk it? India did a Pakistan to Pakistan. The target was 271. India had to improve their highest successful 4th innings chase at home by 15 runs to win the match. The most successful chase in India had only been 276 by West Indies paced by a superb 109* off 111 balls by Master Blaster Viv Richards in Delhi. The most successful chase in Chennai – 125/7 in 1978. With a bowling lineup that read: Akram, Younis and Saqlain that we were up against it was an understatement.

Waqar Younis sent both openers back with the score in single digits. Without any further damage, India reached 40 at the end of day 3. Early on day 4, Wasim Akram bowled one of the greatest overs in test history to Rahul Dravid. Dravid was out lbw at least twice before he was bowled with last ball of the over. Please take a look at that video. That dismissal makes Shane Warne’s ball of the century look like a long hop. In my personal opinion, that is the 2nd greatest over in the history of cricket so far. Saqlain further reduced India to 82/5. Ganguly was hard done by a bump catch. Mongia and Tendulkar shared one of the all time great rearguard actions in test history. They slowly chipped away against Akram and Saqlain. Tendulkar was starting to get affected by back cramps but he bravely marched on. Mongia, rashly trying to hit out against Akram, was caught by Younis. Joshi and Tendulkar added 36 runs in 34 balls and India were now just 17 runs short of victory. By now, Tendulkar’s back pain was unbearable. He had tried to finish the game off quickly and hit Saqlain for 2 fours in the over but the wily off-spinner held his nerve. He had SRT caught at mid off. It was fitting that Pakistan’s safest catcher Akram was underneath it. That was the end. An all time great innings, in the 4th innings, on a crumbling pitch, against a fearsome attack was over. The poignant story of Tendulkar’s life. He never could finish the job in his career. The injury also meant that he was never the same player he was in the 90s.

V. India Vs. England 11th December 2008

The most recent test in this list. The tour was originally scheduled for 7 ODIs and 2 tests. It also included a first class match. India were leading 5-0 in the ODIs as the horrific attacks by Pakistani terrorists began on the day the 5th ODI took place. The two remaining ODIs and the first class match were cancelled. The tests scheduled in Mumbai and Ahmedabad were shifted to Chennai and Mohali. The first test began barely 10 days after the attacks ended. The Poms won the toss and decided to bat. Strauss scored 123 as England made a competitive 316 in their first innings. India were given a taste of their own medicine as spin twins Swann, making his debut, and Panesar shared 5 wickets helping England to a big lead of 75 runs. Strauss scored his second 100 of match, Collingwood scored his 2nd 100 in India as England declared at 311/9. 387 was 111 runs more than the highest successful chase in India and 232 runs more than the most successful chase in Chennai. On a 5th day wicket with two good spinners, England must have felt really confident. Somebody forgot to tell all this to Sehwag.

He started the innings as though he was Viv Richards on steroids and Richards usually batted as though he was on them. One Harmison over went for 14 runs as the 50 came in 6 overs. Sehwag brought up his 50 in 32 balls. He was ultimately out for 83 in 68 balls. India ended the day at 131/1. Imran Khan repeatedly tells this about Viv Richards. Richards' occasional quickfire 30s and 40s more than his 100s demoralized attacks to completely give up. Confidence is a strange thing. Once you lose it, it's hard to get it back. When the 5th day began, India needed 256 runs and England 9 wickets. If you are a betting man, odds of an England victory were much better but England’s psyche was destroyed by Sehwag. India, guided by an uncharacteristically steady Tendulkar, were coolly chipping away at the target. After tea, India were 83 runs short with 6 wickets in hand. Tendulkar, probably for the first time in his life, and Yuvraj Singh, a good ODI finisher, clinically got the job done with enough time left. It was Tendulkar’s 3rd 4th innings test 100. The first one, also his 1st test 100, saved the Old Trafford test. His second ended in an absolute heartbreak at this very venue but his 3rd was probably cathartic as he gave India something to lift their spirits up after the ghastly terror attacks. It was also one of the fewest times he finished the job in his career. Poor Strauss, his twin 100s went in vain.

There you go. Five memorable tests at a most memorable venue. Chepauk is also Tendulkar’s favourite and most successful venue in India. He has scored 970 runs at nearly 90 with 5 hundreds. I really hope BCCI scraps this stupid rotation policy for tests and always plays tests only in Wankhede, Chepauk, Chinnaswamy, Eden Gardens, Mohali and Green Park. It is the morally, ethically and obviously the right thing to do.

RUINATION TO RESURRECTION: PART I OF BRIAN LARA'S CARIBBEAN TRILOGY

2017-08-15T16:30:00.000+05:30

"In its context, with due deliberations and apologies to George Headley, Sir Garry Sobers and a host of other greats, I cannot identify a single innings by any West Indian batsman in our 71 years of Test cricket of such significance." - Tony Cozier

Michael Holding called the decision to keep Lara as captain ranks with the, "worst the WICB have made, and they have made some big mistakes over the last year". Colin Croft thought Lara should have "stepped down from the captaincy after the embarrassment of South Africa". Trinidad & Tobago Express ran the line "From 501 to 51; what a difference a zero makes!!". Only King Richards gave a word of solace and felt "Removing him now would be more detrimental than remedial.".

Walsh & Ambrose did their jobs in the first test at Port of Spain. They took 12 of the 20 wickets to fall to restrict the powerful Aussie batting lineup to totals not in excess of 269. In response to a sub par first innings total, the home team were prettily placed at 149/3. Things were looking up after the the debacle in Mandela country. But West Indies completely fell apart. Even in South Africa, the first 3 days of the series were very competitive. The Proteas had a lead of just 7 runs on the 3rd day of the 1st ever test for West Indies in South Africa but went on rout the Caribbeans 5-0 in tests and 6-1 in ODIs. A repeat seemed imminent as WI lost their last 7 wickets for just 18 runs. In the 2nd innings Australia humiliated the home side by placing all 10 men in the slips and a 312 run evisceration followed.

Walsh & Ambrose continued their good work picking up 5 wickets and young Pedro Collins took 3, including the prize wicket of Tugga for an even 100. The visiting side were subdued for yet another low total of 256 but given the brittle batting of West Indies it seemed that each run was worth at least 5. It took just 27 balls for McGrath & Gillespie to bring the troubled captain, on probation, to the crease. From the moment, Lara was run out by Langer for a boundary laden (11 4s) 62 in Queen's Park Oval, West Indies had lost 19 wickets for 74 runs. 5/2 became 17/3 and 34/4. Lara spent a very scratchy hour at the crease but survived to close the day on 7 runs with the nightwatchman Pedro Collins for company.

REVIVAL

It was Lara's 27th innings since his last 100. He had scored just 7 50s in this run. His average plummeted from 53 to 49. It was a run that made god-awful form look like a purple patch. McGrath had sorted him out and nailed him 7 times in 20 innings. Expecting the pitch to turn Steve Waugh had picked a 2 pacemen, 2 spinners bowling lineup. A fully rested McGrath & Gillespie began in full flow. Lara always believed in giving the first hour to the bowler. He scored just 12 runs in the first hour. He picked up the pace after the drinks break to go into lunch on 44. Pedro Collins had retired earlier in the day and Jimmy Adams had joined his captain.

After surviving a tough chance to Junior at slip, he quickly brought up his 50. It had come off 140 balls and took 200 minutes. He was circumspect. He was scratchy. He struggled. But the time spent in the crease paid off. All the scratchiness and mistiming was quickly replaced by fluency, impeccable timing and that unteachable artistry to surgically pierce the field. Waugh's decision to pick MacGill & Warne was proving to be costly as Lara punished them without mercy. Eight 4s and a massive 6 over long on quickly took him to 99. Gillespie steamed in from around the wicket and cramped Lara with an incoming short ball. The Prince was deep in the crease but stood on his toes to turn the ball towards short midwicket. Blewett flew in and broke the stumps with unerring accuracy and Bucknor called for the 3rd umpire.

But the Jamaican crowd desperately yearning for success after the South African debacle impatiently broke through the security cordon to mob their Prince and all hell broke loose. The son of Jamaica, Walsh, the gentle 6'6" giant, had to step in to protect his captain from the crazy fans desperate to hug their treasure. The mob in its impatient avarice had run in to celebrate a 99. After the securitymen cleared the horde, Lara waited with bated breath for the TV umpire's signal. Bucknor was blocking the stumps from the only available camera and it was impossible to determine if Lara had made it. Two years of śani suddenly evaporated and it was śukra's time now, as the benefit of doubt went Lara's way. He had had his first 100 in 27 innings. He lifted his arms and hugged Walsh. The first 50 took 140 balls. The second just 55.

The job was a long away from being done. Lara & Adams were the last recognized pair and WI still trailed by 58 runs. In the previous test, Lara's run out saw WI capitulate. This time Lara would make no mistake. He scored 69 runs in the post-lunch session after scoring just 37 runs in the first session. West Indies went to tea just 29 runs behind and the light at the end of the tunnel was getting brighter by minute. With the obdurate Adams for company Lara broke free in the final session of the day. His four main bowlers were overworked and Tugga brought Blewett on for relief. Short ball pulled to midwicket, short and wide upper cut towards third man, length ball lofted over mid-off, another length ball and Lara hit the hardest shot in cricket, the on-drive for four 4s in a row to move from 183 to 199. He duly brought his 3rd and best double hundred off Warne and ran straight into the dressing room to avoid the crowd.

The last 150 runs came in just 177 balls studded with 22 4s and 3 huge 6s. 99 of those runs came in the post-tea session as Lara, having given the bowlers the first hour, took back runs with interest like an esurient loan shark extorts his victims. West Indies had scored 340 runs in the day as McGrath, Gillespie, Warne & MacGill, a combined then 620 wickets between them, went wicket-less the whole day. From the deepest pit of hell, Lara, with able assistance from Padams, soared to the skies like garuḍa to give his side a massive 121 lead at the end of day's play. It would be the first time he scored 200 runs in a day. He would do it a further 2 times in his career.

He was out early next day with the addition of just 1 run to his overnight score. Before Lara, WI had scored 5 runs. After Lara, WI scored 53 runs. 213 priceless ~~runs~~gems out of the 373 total runs scored during his 468 minute vigil at the crease. He had broken the Aussies like śrīrāma broke rudra's divine bow. The mighty Aussies were so dispirited that they subsided to the harmless of off-spin of debutant Nehemiah Perry. They narrowly avoided an innings defeat thanks to a 10th wicket partnership of 18 runs between MacGill & McGrath. The Caribbeans needed just 3 balls to score the 3 runs required for the win early on day 4. A turnaround of epic proportions inspired by "the deep concentration of a George Headley and the breathtaking flair of a Rohan Kanhai." said the Guyana's Stabroek News.

The Prince of Trinidad was once again the toast of the nations. Only a man whose "scale of talent was way outside of my understanding" according to Michael Atherton, could have gone from "This could be the last time I do this" during the toss to Trinidad's party leaders interrupting parliamentary affairs to say "Your leadership is refreshing and inspiring" in the space of 96 hours. He fought personal demons, excessive press & selectors pressure, a fractured dressing room and, above all, opponents of incalculable might to compose one of the most memorable triumphs in the history of West Indies cricket.

If it were any other cricketer, he could not have bettered an innings like this but phenomenal Brian Charles Lara bettered this rāmāyaṇa with an even more epic mahābhārata just 16 days later.

1994: GREATEST YEAR EVER OF HOLLYWOOD?

2017-08-13T13:43:00.000+05:30

Brian Lara broke a 36 year old record when he pulled Chris Lewis in Antigua Recreation Ground. Six weeks later he cover drove his 427th ball of the innings and the last ball of the day to break a 35 year old record.

Pete Sampras won the Australian Open for the first time in his career. He went to win the "Sunshine Double" few weeks later to become the first man to win the "Spring Treble" of Australian Open, Indian Wells Masters & Miami Masters.

Johan Cruijff calmly said, "Don't worry he'll miss it." as Miroslav Djukic stepped up to take the penalty that would give Deportivo La Coruña their first ever La Liga title. He duly missed and the Dream Team had won their fourth league title in a row. Barcelona would also inflict a La Manita on their eternal rivals.

Fabio Capello's Milan won their 3rd consecutive Scudetto scoring just 36 goals in 34 matches and absolutely annihilated Johan Cruijff's arrogant Dream Team in Athens 4-0.

Soccer, derided as a girl's game and a communist conspiracy, came to USA in the form of the first FIFA World Cup after the back pass rule was introduced. Brazil broke a 24 year drought to win the first ever penalty shoot-out final.

Hakeem Olajuwon's Rockets took full advantage of MJ's retirement to lift their 1st Larry O'Brien trophy. The Dream would become the first and only player to win league MVP, defensive player of the year and finals MVP in the same season.

The common factor throughout is: 1994. A fine year as any in sport but this post is not about sports. It's an historic event on KKB's blog: The first ever blog on movies, specifically Hollywood.

1994 was one fine year for Hollywood. So many movies across genres are classics today and haven't aged one bit.

The Oscars

Let's start with the Academy Awards. The five best picture nominees were:

Forrest Gump (won)
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Pulp Fiction
Quiz Show
The Shawshank Redemption

I haven't seen Four Weddings but it is, by many accounts, a rom-com classic. The remaining 4 had all time classic performances by Sam Jackson, Tom Hanks, John Turturro and the best of them all, Morgan Freeman.

Comedy

1994 was the year Jim Carrey became a superstar. He gave not 1, not 2 but 3 hit movies that year: The Mask, Ace Venture: Pet Detective and Dumb & Dumber. Coen Brothers' attempted their then biggest budget screwball comedy with The Hudsucker Proxy. There was the last installment of Naken Gun series. Probably the weakest of the trilogy but it sure had its moments.

My most favourite comedy of 1994 is actually not that famous: Maverick. I just love the movie. Mel Gibson, Jodi Foster, James Garner, Alfred Molina, James Coburn make one helluva of ensemble cast and the movie is charming as any movie can be. It even had a 2 minute cameo from Danny Glover, saying his most famous line "I'm getting too old for this shit.". If you haven't watched it yet, do it post-haste. It will be one of the most enjoyable 127 minutes you'll spend staring at a screen. This probably deserves a post of its own.

Action

Three...., okay, four words: Speed and True Lies. Speed was the first English movie I saw in a theatre. It was in Devi theatre. Ticket was ₹20 if memory is right. The drama, the tension, the technology was mind-blowing for a tween.

Arnie tried his hand at comedy many times, Kindergarten Cop, Twins, Junior, Jingle All The Way but it worked, ironically, only in True Lies. A classic James Cameron action movie with guns, fire, and crazy stunts. Arnie tried to jump from that a skyscraper to the swimming pool on a horse! Arnie flying a fighter jet. Was it awesome or was it awesome?

There were others too. 13 year old Natalie Portman's brilliant performance in Leon: The Professional. Jean Reno's laconic character. Gary Oldman as a corrupt cop. Pure brilliance. Then, there were other fine action movies like Clear and Present Danger, Blown Away. Hell, even Maverick had a superb stunt sequence when Mel Gibson tries to stop that driver-less stagecoach.

Drama

The Shawshank Redemption. Is there a movie scene that warms the cockles of one's heart better than when Red runs to embrace Andy in Zihuatanejo? If there is, please let me know. No wonder it is the top movie in the IMDB Top 250 for the best part of that website's existence. One of the handful of movies I have seen at least 20 times.

What is life but a big box of chocolates? The movie that won Oscar, Forrest Gump, was another ace in the sleeve in the drama department. I am not a fan of the movie but I can understand why it was successful. Tom Hanks was brilliant.

The year also saw my most favourite English movie of all time release: Pulp Fiction. One of my dreams is to see Rajinikanth do a cameo in a Tamil movie exactly like the one Mr. Winston Wolf. Can you imagine how supercalifragilisticexpialidocious it would be? "kaṇṇā I think fast and I talk fast". Ooooh goosebumps. Christopher Walken's brilliant cameo as the watch giver. So many spectacular quotatious quotes. Magnificent movie. Is the classification as drama wrong? Probably but I tried classifying it somewhere else Ringo, I tried real hard!

Other dramas include Ed Wood, Disclosure, Bullets Over Broadway, The Client, Little Women, Quiz Show. A who's who of good-to-great movies.

Others

Probably the most famous & popular animated movie for the last 50 years: The Lion King. I haven't seen it yet but even after 20 years children still like it. I have seen many of my nieces/nephews, friends'/acquaintances' children still love a Simba toy.

Flintstones was made on screen. The first installment of Santa Clause was released. The underrated It Could Happen to You. Norman Jewison's Marisa Tomei starrer Only You. Live action Richie Rich and much much more.

I am sure I have missed many other movies. As you can see it's a brilliant list. Possibly unmatched and given how Hollywood is so into Superhero movies & reboots these days, it is likely to be unsurpassed.

So my dear reader, I ask you this: Is 1994 the greatest ever year of Hollywood?

DON ANDRÉS INIESTA LUJÁN: THE BEST MIDFIELDER OF THIS YOUNG CENTURY

2017-08-10T18:07:00.000+05:30

The ball lands at Neymar's feet around 40 yards from his own goal and about 10 yards from the touchline. His primer toque is slightly heavy but he quickly brings it under control before Coquelin can steal it off him. He also attracts the roadrunner Bellerin on the outside and the Big F*cking German in front of him like honey attracts bear. He spots the Uruguayan masticator and passes to him, almost nutmegging the diving Mertesacker and continues his run. Suarez is closed down by Koscielny but when Luis can nutmeg even a mermaid, there's not much a human can do! The panna finds Neymar's run and the latest "New Pele" finds himself in acres of space.

He takes a look to his right, sees D10S and runs into the penalty area. Monreal is the last man and he has no choice but to close down the Brazilian and now La Pulga is all alone smack in the middle of the Pacific ocean. Neymar calmly passes it to Messi who opens his body to shoot and wrong foot the big Czech but it's a "Romario"esque fake touch and the scrambling Cech slips. D10S then nonchalantly slots the ball in the open goal. He breaks his duck against the Czech custodian. Eleven seconds of a breathtaking counterattack, patented by the MSN, settles a game that was on the knife's edge until then. An insurance goal 12 minutes later kills the tie in less than 2 halves out of 4.

This goal would not have been possible without the quick-thinking of the man from Fuentealbilla. A cross from the Gooners' right wing was headed out by Mr. Shakira. The closest Barça player in the vicinity was the former Albacete cantenero. Coquelin, the man who almost dispossessed Neymar, was bearing down on the man presciently described by Guardiola to Xavi as "You're going to retire me. This lad is going to retire us all.". As the ball was in the air, the Barça captain had already spotted Neymar and before Coquelin could press, dive-volleyed it to his Brazilian compadre and the floodgates were opened. Without this "hockey assist" Neymar could not have found Suarez for the give-and-go and the whole move fizzles out even before it began. This, in a nutshell, is the importance of Don Andrés Iniesta Luján in the tiki-taka machinery of Barcelona that dominated world football for the best part of the last decade.

As one of the twin pistons of Blaugrana & La Furia Roja engine, he would come to define tiki-taka with the master of La Pausa, Xavi. In addition to his passing, he could do the one thing that Xavi never could: dribble. No wonder Xavi himself called Iniesta, the most talented Spanish player of all time. Since 2007, Iniesta has just 64 assists and 41 goals for Barcelona. The goal count would have been even less had he not had to play upfront due to various injuries Barça forwards suffered earlier in this decade. The most goals he has ever scored in a season is just 9! Koke in nearly 100 less matches for Atletico has 68 assists. David Silva has 51 goals & 87 assists for Citeh in the same period. Özil had 58 assists for Madrid in just 3 seasons. Cesc Fàbregas has a whopping 122 assists for Arsenal, Barça and Chelsea in the same period. Yet Barça would not swap one midfielder for the brilliant Iniesta in the said period.

For a guy who doesn't score or assist enough, Iniesta has delivered in almost all of the biggest matches for Barcelona and Spain. It was his visionary through ball that Larsson flicked on to Eto'o which led to the equalizer in the 2006 Champions League final. It was his blistering shot at the Bridge in the 93rd minute that sent Los Culés to their 2nd European final in 3 years. It was his sudden burst and assist to Eto'o that completely turned the final after Man U were bossing Barcelona for the first 10 minutes. Six years later in Berlin, there was yet another intelligent run from the deep that resulted in yet another assist in a Champions League final. Last but not least the coup de grâce in Jo'burg which confirmed that Spain's Euro triumph in Vienna was no fluke 2 years earlier.

In the Camp Nou El Clásico of the season that just ended, Busquets was poor and overworked. Gomes was average, Rakitic was sub par. Things were haphazard for the best part of the hour. The moment Iniesta stepped on to the pitch in the 60th minute, a sense of calm returned. Barça midfield regained control. Messi was more involved. Busquets suddenly had much less ground to cover. Even Gomes started to look good. But for a late brain fade, Barcelona looked much better than they had in the weeks Iniesta had missed. If that dive-volley flick on to Neymar showed his ability to seize the (hidden) moment, this match showed his ability to organize and marshal the troops.

Iniesta: Through the years

When the Guardiola era began with a defeat and draw, it was Don Andrés who told him, "Don't worry, míster. We'll win it all. We're on the right path. Carry on like this, OK? We're playing brilliantly, we're enjoying training. Please, don’t change anything." and cleared any and all doubts Guardiola had. When Pep went to Munich, he was able to replace Xavi and Busquets through various combinations of Kroos, Schweinsteiger, Xabi Alonso, Arturo Vidal but he could not never gain the control, vision, flexibility and work rate provided by Iniesta. He tried various funky schemes like Philipp Lahm in midfield, tucking in the full backs but the X-factor of Don Andrés was almost impossible to replicate.

The upcoming season could be Iniesta's last for Barcelona. It will be his 22nd year at Barcelona. The last few seasons have seen him spend long times in the sidelines. Hopefully, he will remain fit this season to dazzle us at least one more time. From the moment he started in Bruges all the way back in 2002 through Paris, Vienna, Rome, Jo'burg, London, Kiev, Berlin to his last start at Vicente Calderon, it has been a fabulous career of great moments and greater inspiration.

Iniesta is probably the only man to have been man of the match in a Copa Del Rey final, a Champions League final, a Euro final and a World Cup final. Arguably the greatest pure midfielder of the last 30 years. Gràcies Don Andrés, the master of time and space.

CLIVE LLOYD'S WEST INDIES OR VIV RICHARDS'?

2017-08-09T15:43:00.000+05:30

Supercat or King?

From 1980 to 1995, West Indies had 3 full time captains (with the occasional stand-in like Haynes in 1989): Clive "Supercat" Lloyd, Viv "King" Richards & Richie Richardson. We can safely say, thanks to hindsight, that by the time Richardson took over West Indies were in trouble. Experts & commentators clearly separate the Richardson era from the 1980s but they generally club Richards’ & Lloyd’s teams together. They aren’t entirely unjustified given that the backbone of side: Richards, Haynes, Greenidge, Dujon & Marshall played for the best part of the decade.

The Records

A deeper look reveals that while Clive Lloyd’s West Indies were a spectacularly destructive near flawless machine, Viv Richards’ sides had chinks in their armours that were exploited by many sides especially away from their fortresses amidst the Caribbean Seas. In this post I intend to compare Lloyd’s record as captain from 1980 onward. This is because the 70s had a big break with Kerry Packer throwing a spanner in the establishment’s machine. Lloyd’s record wasn’t too shabby in the 70s. West Indies lost just the 1 series: that 1-5 drubbing to Lillee/Thommo. The series that sowed the "pace, pace, pace & more pace" idea in Lloyd’s mind. An idea that became implementation after India chased 403 runs in Port of Spain.

Captaincy by Matches

	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn
Clive Lloyd	45	23	3	19
Viv Richards	48	27	8	13

Captaincy by Series

	Series	Won	Lost	Drawn
Clive Lloyd	11	9	1	1
Viv Richards	12	7	0	5

Let me just get a few pesky details out of the way. Richards’ record excludes 2 test matches as stand-in for Lloyd. It also includes two series played in the 90s which should technically be excluded but I have included them anyway. I have also included series where Richards missed a few matches (for eg Haynes vs England in 1989) as under Richards. Likewise for Clive Lloyd.

There is hardly anything to chose between the two but even a cursory analysis shows that Lloyd’s W/L ratio is nearly 8 while Richards’ isn’t even 4. Although Supercat’s ratio is historically great, Richards’ sides never lost a test series. Potayto, potaato, eh?

Home Records

Captaincy by Matches: Home

	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn
Clive Lloyd	13	7	0	6
Viv Richards	23	15	2	6

Captaincy by Series: Home

	Series	Won	Lost	Drawn
Clive Lloyd	3	3	0	0
Viv Richards	6	5	0	1

Richards’ sides played twice as many series at home than Lloyd’s. Lloyd’s sample seems too small but Richards’ record isn’t as good as it seems as well. In all of Lloyd’s series West Indies were never in danger of losing. They beat England, India & Australia convincingly and comfortably. It wasn’t so in Richards’ case. West Indies fell behind to Pakistan in 1988 & England in 1990.

Viv Richards and Malcolm Marshall missed the 1st test vs Pakistan. Pakistan took full advantage and duly won it by 9 wickets. Pakistan barely clung on to draw the 2nd test by batting 129 overs after the aforementioned duo returned. West Indies barely won the 3rd test by 2 wickets. Dujon & Winston Benjamin added 61 runs for the 9th wicket to save face. Pakistan felt they were hard done by the umpiring.

England took a surprise lead in Jamaica. The 2nd test was rained off. West Indies were dealt a double blow as Richards & Marshall missed the 3rd test. England bossed the 3rd test and would have won if not for rain and blatant time wasting tactics by stand-in captain Haynes and lost Gooch to boot. West Indies boosted by the timely return of their captain won the remaining two tests to take the series. What if, indeed, for poor England.

The number of series played under Clive Lloyd seems too less but there is enough evidence that they were much superior than Richards’ sides. The pre-Packer West Indies won series against India & Pakistan by identical 2-1 margins. I haven’t included these ties for this post but I just want to present them as evidence to show that Clive Lloyd’s men probably would not have any difficulties in maintaining their excellent record on home soil.

Away Records

Any great side is defined by their victories away from home. Steve Waugh’s Australia won series after series but they could not conquer the final frontier: India. Likewise Ricky Ponting’s side conquered India but he could not lead his side to victory in an away Ashes. Clive Lloyd’s men come out on top again.

Captaincy by Matches: Away

	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn
Clive Lloyd	32	16	3	13
Viv Richards	26	12	6	8

Captaincy by Series: Away

	Series	Won	Lost	Drawn
Clive Lloyd	8	6	1	1
Viv Richards	6	3	0	3

Clive Lloyd’s men were the first side other than England to win a series in Australia. A feat that escaped Frank Worrell’s men. Their only loss away from home was the contentious New Zealand series where Holding notoriously kicked the stumps and the midget Colin Croft (6’6″) ran into the umpire. There is enough video evidence (Thank you @robelinda2) to infer that it was a series West Indies would have at least drawn if the umpiring was fair.

Speaking of Kiwi umpiring I want to include this anecdote on my blog. When India toured New Zealand in 1976, Chandrasekhar’s appeals for LBWs & caught behinds were repeatedly turned down by the umpires. Chandrasekhar bowled one batsman and made a loud appeal. The umpire said, “He’s bowled.” Without missing a beat Chandrasekhar quipped, “I know he’s bowled but is he out?”. No wonder Holding et al lost their collective heads.

The NZ tour was one of two times West Indies under Clive Lloyd trailed in a series. The second time was after that famous Kim Hughes’ 100*. After the drawn 2nd test, West Indies were in danger of losing the Frank Worrell trophy when Australia ended day 4 190 runs ahead with 6 wickets in hand. The Caribbeans showed tremendous resolve to pick up the remaining wickets for 24 runs and in chasing a tricky 4th innings target of 239 with 17 balls to spare.

Lloyd’s West Indies also beat England in England twice. The first time they took a 1-0 lead with a tight 2 wicket win in the 1st test and would draw the remaining tests comfortably. Their 2nd win in Blighty was the famous Blackwash in 1984. They would beat Pakistan in Pakistan 1-0 in a rain affected series. That would be only defeat Pakistan suffered at home between 1969 & 1995.

Undoubtedly, Lloyd’s high point was their terrific performance in India in 1983. Seeking revenge after India shocked them on June 25, 1983. Marshall & co destroyed India which is so eloquently described by Samir Chopra here. The batsman to suffer the most was poor Jimmy Amarnath. Jimmy, who had just the year before scored nearly 1200 runs vs WI in WI & Pakistan in Pakistan, made Chris Martin look like Don Bradman. He scored just 1 run in 6 innings.

Lloyd’s men also set the record of 11 consecutive test wins and 28 unbeaten matches both of which were ended by Australia in Supercat’s last ever test. A series West Indies would take 3-1 with 3 pulverizing victories in the 1st 3 tests before taking their foot off the gas pedal. Lloyd would sign off after converting the West Indies from an entertaining side to a professional relentless bulldozing juggernaut.

In comparison Viv Richards’ men, brilliant though they were, were just boys away from home. After inflicting a 2nd “Blackwash” on England, Viv Richards’ led his side to 4 straight 1-1 draws, 3 of them away from home. The first drawn series was vs Pakistan when West Indies were “Qadired” out for 53 chasing 240. They showed their characteristic resolve to win the next test by innings even though they scored just 201 runs in their only innings. West Indies almost pulled it off but Pakistan grimly held on to a draw with just 3 wickets in hand in the final test.

West Indies uncharacteristically dropped leads in New Zealand and India. After trailing by more than 100 runs, New Zealand batted out 177 overs vs Marshall, Garner, Holding & Walsh to draw the 1st test. West Indies won the 2nd test but Hadlee, as he so often did, hustled them to 100 all out in the 3rd test and NZ were in complete control of the test. They eventually limped over the line losing 5 wickets in the chase of a paltry 33.

West Indies took the lead in India thanks to a superb 109* from captain Richards. After low 1st innings totals & a near 7 hour 102 by Captain Vengsarkar, WI were set 276 to win. It was the then highest target successfully chased in India. WI were 111/4 at one point but won by 5 wickets in the end. Richards’ masterclass took just 111 balls. Two drawn tests and tons of brainfarts vs Hirwani meant that India drew the series with a 255 run win in Chennai.

West Indies had no trouble dispatching England (4-0) & Australia (3-1) in conditions conducive to their pacemen. That defeat in Australia was to that master spinner Allan Border’s 11 wickets. Border took nearly 30% (11/39) of his test wickets in that match at Sydney. That West Indies were susceptible to spin in this period is an understatement of epic proportions.

Richards’ last series as player/captain was against their whipping boys England away. West Indies’ last 4 series’ scoreline in England read 3-0, 1-0, 5-0, 4-0. West Indies trailed after the 1st test thanks to Gooch’s famous 154* at Headingley. The Windies showed their class by winning 2 out of next 3 tests to take a lead into the final test at the Oval. All Richards’ 60 in his last test innings could do was to keep his average above 50 as England squared the series 2-2.

Conclusion

After over 1600 words, we can clearly see the need to make a second demarcation on the West Indies timeline from 1980 to 1995. Clive Lloyd(’80-’85), Viv Richards (’85-’91) and Richie Richardson (’91-’95). The 15 years divide (almost) into 3 5 year periods under 3 full time skippers. The West Indies only really dominated from 1980-85 under Lloyd. The level under Richards was merely very very good and, to be honest, started to decline at the turn of the decade. The decline continued under Richardson when they were still competitive until Steve Waugh & McGrath delivered a knock out blow from which West Indies haven’t recovered and are discovering newer and newer and newer depths.

MIKE BREARLEY: THE MOST OVERRATED CAPTAIN EVER!

2017-08-09T14:37:00.000+05:30

There are lot of myths in a lot of sports, cricket is no exception. SRT haters always bring up the fact he is selfish. Takes just 20-30 balls to go from 0 to 90 but 200 balls to go from 90 to 100 (not true!!). SRT is horrible when chasing (average > 42) and so on. Myths are real useful especially among friends during mokkai sessions where guys spend hours and hours debating whether their favourite batsman should have not played the shot which got him out. These myths also give us a valuable lesson in life – rationalization and procrastination (Gracias Señor Calvin).

Like I said myths are useful but some of them really pisses us off. A friend of mine, a real SRT fanatic, became mad with people claiming SRT slows down after he reaches 90. He spent days going through cricinfo (espncricinfo these days) ball by ball commentary and found that SRT took a minimum of 6 balls and a maximum of 13 balls to go from 90 to 100. I remember he told me he checked for about 15 of his 100s.

One myth that pisses me off is Mike Brearley’s brilliant captaincy. I firmly believe his captaincy legend is built on Botham’s Ashes. He played 39 matches for England and captained them in 31 matches. His captaincy record reads:

Captaincy Record by Matches

Played	Won	Lost	Draw
31	18	4	9

Captaincy Record by Series

Played	Won	Lost	Draw
9	7	1	1

Impressive, innit? What about series records home and away?

Series Won At Home

Played	Won	Lost	Draw
5	5	0	0

Series Won Away

Played	Won	Lost	Draw
4	2	1	1

That is understandable. You expect good teams to do exceptionally well at home and do well away which is what Brearley’s teams have done.

The series breakdown is as follows:

Series Record by Opponent

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Draw
Australia	4	3	1	0
Pakistan	2	1	0	1
India	2*	2	0	0
New Zealand	1	1	0	0

*-Includes one-off BCCI Golden Jubilee test

Match Record by Opponent

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Draw
Australia	18	11	5	3
Pakistan	5	2	0	3
India	5	2	0	3
New Zealand	3	3	0	0

Beating "the great travellers" NZ & India does not require any special captaincy. Marimuthu of Somasundaram ground can captain England to victory at home against these juggernauts. Even against India, England barely scraped through after Sunil Gavaskar's resplendent 221 at the Oval took them to 389/3 for chasing 438. Beating Pakistan at home, that too late 70s/early 80s Pakistan, and drawing a series away is as impressive a feat as any but I seriously doubt if it adds to the "legend" of Brearley.

I believe the legend of Brearley, as with any Englishman, is built on the Ashes. For example, Dennis Amiss was a very good batsman. He averaged 70 against WI and 56 against Pakistan. He made two of the greatest innings against WI. Batting nearly 10 hours to make 262* save the Jamaica Test in 1974 and a superb 203 against Whispering Death at the Oval in 1976. He is hardly considered a great English batsman because he averaged only 15 against Australia.

Likewise, Brearley is great purely because of the Ashes. He captained against Australia in 4 series out of which 3 were considered the Ashes. A fourth series was played after the end of the Packer rebellion. This is not included in the Ashes canon. Unsurprisingly (in my opinion), this non-Ashes against a full strength Australian side, the English were drubbed 3-0 in a 3-test series.

Out of the remaining 3 series, 2 were played in England and 1 in Australia. The series in Australia was famous because of the Packer rebellion. None of the Chappells, Lillee, Marsh et al played. A weakened Australia were decimated by a full strength England side. Final result Australia 1 England 5! Verily I call upon Marimuthu to captain this side and dare anyone to predict a result any different from what had happened.

The legend of Brearley is ultimately bookended by 2 Ashes wins, both at home. The 1977 Ashes was one helluva win. Even though Lillee missed it through injury, the Australian attack still had Thomson, Walker & Pascoe. A handy attack. England won 3-0 in a 5 test series. This was the series where Boycott returned after his self-imposed exile and scored his 100th first-class hundred at his home, Headingley. He became the first player to do that in a test match. His last series as captain is the series where I believe the legend of Brearley really caught the imagination: Botham’s Ashes.

This was the Ashes where Ian Terrance Botham became as popular as a football player in England. He was actually the captain at the beginning of the 6 test series. England lost the 1st test and drew the 2nd. Botham resigned from captaincy only to be told by Sir Alec Bedser that he would have been fired from captaincy anyway. Brearley was brought in as a replacement. Free from the shackles of captaincy, Botham went into beast mode from then on.

The Ashes turned on its head. First was the 149* at Headingley when England won after following on. Then, he hustled and bustled at Edgbaston destroying Australia with a spell of 5 for 1. Chasing 151, from 105/4 Australia crumbled to lose by 29 runs. In the fifth test at Old Trafford, Botham showed his destructive ability with bat hooking and pulling, a bowler no less than Dennis !#@$ing Lillee, to score 118 from 102 balls (remember this was a test match), after England were struggling at 104/5. Ultimately, England won by a comfortable 103 runs. The 6th test was drawn and England had retained the Ashes with a 3-1 win.

I wonder what was the captain’s thought process during those 3 tests. Maybe he was thinking, “Hmmm my best player is on fire. Should I save him up for later or should I just let it ride?” I mean what is this? What sort of captaincy is this? Once again would Marimuthu from Somasundaram ground have done anything different? Hell you could have asked an American and he would have said, “I need a wicket, Ian get ready!”. So what was so different that Brearley did? The guy riding the coattails of Botham & Willis had the gall to publish a book “The Art of Captaincy” when all he did was zilch/nada/nothing.

Now nearly 30 years later, he is still a legendary captain. I agree, he is a legendarily overrated captain.

All the numbers are from the fantastically brilliant Statsguru of Cricinfo. If it wasn’t for Travis Bavesi, a lot of my student days would have been spent doing useful work! So thank God for Bavesi!

THE UNDERACHIEVER WHO OVERACHIEVED: VERY VERY SPECIAL LAXMAN

2017-08-09T14:00:00.001+05:30

Indian mythological names tended to be literal. Literal means that the person is named after how they appear or after their characteristics. aṣṭāvakra, the guru of the more famous yājñavalkya, was named so because he was born with 8 deformities/bends in his body. The two famous names of the author of mahābhārata were also literal: veda vyāsa (splitter of the vedas) and kṛṣṇa dvaipāyana (black guy born on an island). arjuna was also called savyasāci (ambidextrous) because he was ….well ambidextrous. draupadi was also called kṛṣṇā because she was dark skinned. Later on parents named their kids after those mythological characters except one set of parents.

On Andhra state formation day, a couple, who also happened to be doctors, gave birth to their only son. Intentional or not, they named their son Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman aka VVS aka Very Very Special Laxman. I am guessing they named him Very Very Special thinking he was going to be a special doctor like them but he chose cricket. I am sure he would have been a fine surgeon given how he surgically pierced well placed fields through impeccable timing. He became the third most famous Laxman that India produced after dasaratha’s youngest son and the creator of the epic Common Man.

Teething Troubles

VVS was the classic Hyderabadi batsman in the mould of ML Jaisimha, Asif Iqbal (yes Pakistan’s Asif Iqbal) and the Raja Ravi Varma of the onside, Mohammad Azharuddin. He broke into the Indian side on back of heavy run scoring in the 1995-96 Indian first class season. He was only one of two players who scored more than 1000 runs that season. He was part of a powerful South Zone batting line-up that included doyens like WV Raman, MV Sridhar, Robin Singh, S Sharath. South Zone comfortably won the Duleep Trophy as VVS topped the run scoring charts. A formidable double act with MV Sridhar, who scored more than 1600 runs together, took Hyderabad to the Ranji Trophy semi-finals where they lost to Rahul Dravid’s Karnataka, the eventual champions.

He made his test debut on a dog of an Ahmedabad pitch against Donald’s and De Villiers’ South Africa. The 22 year old debutant showed poise in batting with the tail and scored his 1st 50 (one of only 2 in the match) to give India a fighting total on a deteriorating pitch. A hat-trick of on-a-hat-tricks by Javagal Srinath gave India their first win over the Proteas. The powerful middle order of Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Azharuddin meant VVS was pigeonholed into opening the innings, a role in which he really struggled.

Too good for Ranji Trophy

In the midst of his on-again-off-again India career, VVS Laxman was on a Bradmanesque run in the Ranji Trophy. He scored 2780 runs at an average of 111 from 1997 to 2000. He played a total of only 11 games in 1997-98 and 1998-99 because of his India duty but still finished 11th and 7th in the scoring charts. After being dropped from India in 1999 and playing a full Ranji Trophy season VVS topscored with 1415 runs with 8 100s setting single season records in both categories. He took Hyderabad all the way to the Ranji Trophy final where they lost to Tendulkar’s Mumbai. In the midst of his purple patch, he became the first player in Ranji Trophy history to score two triple hundreds, a feat since matched by Wasim Jaffer and Cheteshwar Pujara and bettered by Sir Ravindra Jadeja.

The greatest ever innings by an Indian batsman

Azharuddin’s involvement in the match-fixing controversy meant that there was one spot up for grabs in the famed Indian middle order. Steve Waugh’s great Australian side visited a year removed from the aforementioned scandal. They had arrived after winning 15 tests on the bounce. A run that included India’s 0-3 thrashing down under. A Kumble-less India struggled in Mumbai and were thrashed inside 3 days. Aussie domination continued for the first 3 days of the 2nd test as India were made to follow on. A VVS 50 in the first innings helped India reach 171 after they were in danger being bowled out for a two digit score.

Australia enforced the follow on as Ramesh and Das put on 52 for the first wicket. Laxman’s confident 50 in the first innings and the Wall seemingly with slight cracks made Ganguly send VVS at number 3. A smooth 109 runs during the day left India effectively at -20/4 with the Wall batting on 7. VVS & Wall batted all day on day 4 as India were ahead by 315 runs. VVS broke a 28 year old record of the highest score by an Indian batsman and looked to become first ever Indian triple centurion. A backs to wall rearguard followed by an improbable 7 wicket post tea session meant that India leveled the series and ended Australia’s 16 game winning streak for the 1st time.

Match winning 50s

A slightly below average run and the Wall’s tremendous rise over the next few months meant they swapped the number 3 and 6 positions and VVS became an expert in batting with the tail. Although he scored some of the finest 100s (Adelaide 148, Sydney 178) by Indian batsmen, Laxman’s specialty was scoring the invaluable match winning 50. He showed this inclination on his debut when he helped India recover from 82/4 to 190. His twin 50s (69* & 74) in Port of Spain helped India to their first win the Caribbean in 26 years. His man of the match award was overshadowed by Tendulkar’s Bradman equaling 29th 100. His 2nd innings 74 came after India were 54/4 and India lost their last 5 wickets for 13 runs after he added 149 with Ganguly.

Another classic fifty by VVS was in the dust bowl of Wankhede in 2004 and gave India 104 runs to defend which they did through Murali Karthik. A 100 & a 50 that saved India from defeat against the Kiwis after India were made to follow on and fell to 18/3. Pick any great Indian test win from 2001 to 2012 and you’ll see invariably that VVS had a significant contribution to the victory. He scored 54 in India’s win at Nottingham, a 73 in the 2nd innings at Wanderers for India’s first ever win in SA, 76 & 124* in Napier to save the test.

From August to December 2010, an unfit VVS Laxman played 3 of his finest test innings to help India hold on to the number 1 test ranking. After losing Murali’s farewell test by 10 wickets and a high scoring draw in the 2nd test India needed to win and maintain their number 1 test ranking since 2008. A fourth innings (his only one) 103* in Colombo after India fell to 62/4 chasing 258 on a 5th day pitch to level the series. VVS was struggling with back spasms but took India comfortably past the finish line with Sehwag as runner.

Part 2 of the trilogy took place in Mohali as India chased 216 to take the lead. Laxman walked in at 76/5 which soon became 124/8. Struggling with back spasms, Laxman scored at a brisk pace ably aided by Ishant Sharma to take India home in a thriller. One of the greatest innings in a chase that consolidated India’s position atop the ICC Test rankings. This time it was Raina’s turn to do the running for Laxman.

Third part of the Laxman trilogy came in Durban. India were crushed by an innings in the 1st test for the loss of only 4 wickets as Zaheer Khan missed the Centurion test. Spurred by his return, India started their 2nd innings 74 runs ahead and soon went from 42/0 to 48/3. VVS walked in and carefully nudged India’s lead to over 300 on a juicy Kingsmead pitch. The seamers, led by Zak, finished the job to level the series and with it maintained their top ranking once again.

The Underachiever Overachieving

Laxman’s test record is barely above average. He has played 134 tests and 225 innings but has scored only 8781 runs and just 17 100s. He is number 11 on the list of players with most test appearances but stands way behind on the list of highest rungetters. Players like Tendulkar, Ponting, Kallis, Dravid all had at least 10300 runs after 225 innings. Even if you give VVS some leeway as a mostly no 6 batsman, other lower middle order stalwarts like Waugh, Border and Chanderpaul had scored 500 more runs than VVS at the same stage.

All of the above mentioned players had at least 22 100s by that point. Laxman has only 17. For a player of Laxman’s immense talent these are, without any doubt, very poor returns. He averages just 45.97 even though he mostly played in the era of inflated averages. When guys like Samaraweera, Misbah, Du Plessis, Angelo Matthews and even Michael Clarke all average more than VVS with not even a fraction of his talent it somehow feels very very wrong. It is very clear from these numbers that VVS Laxman has incredibly underachieved relative to his talent.

Having said all that, it is also clear from Laxman’s heroics that he is indeed deserving of a place in India’s pantheon of great batsmen. He has as many, if not more, match winning/saving innings as Tendulkar and Dravid. The fact that most of them turned out to be 50s should not obstruct the fact that they were crucial. It is a paradoxical situation that an underachiever has as many crucial innings as the two best batsmen, Tendulkar & Dravid, have for their nations. By this measure the underachiever has surely overachieved and India will forever be thankful for the services of the legendary Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman.

ALEX FERGUSON IN EUROPE

2017-08-09T13:20:00.001+05:30

Alex Ferguson became manager of Manchester United on 6th November 1986. He was already a very successful manager with Aberdeen. Fergie’s Aberdeen broke the hegemony of the Old Firm in Scotland. For the uninformed, the Rangers-Celtics stranglehold in Scotland isn’t too dissimilar to the Madrid-Barça hegemony in Spain. Just like how Diego "Cholo" Simeone’s Atletico Madrid broke the Madrid-Barça duopoly of 9 years by winning the La Liga title in 2013-14, Fergie’s Aberdeen won the 1979-80 Scottish First Division and became the first non-Old Firm side to win it in 15 years. Unlike Atletico so far, Aberdeen went to on win two more league titles in 1984 & 1985. They also did well in Europe by winning the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983 beating mighty Real Madrid in the final.

Suffice to say Fergie was in heavy demand in England rejecting among others, Arsenal & Liverpool, to manage the red half of Manchester. He wanted to knock Liverpool off their fucking perch and boy did he do that. Liverpool are yet to win the English league title since P V Narasimha Rao opened up the Indian economy and Manchester United went from the strength to strength in the next quarter century. When Fergie joined United, Liverpool had 15 league titles and United 7. When he retired Liverpool had 18 league titles and United 20!

Fergie is without a doubt the greatest manager in the history of British football. He was rarely great in Europe. Things were hunky dory when Manchester United returned to Europe for the first time in 6 years in 1990 after English teams served a ban in Europe for the Heysel disaster. United defeated Cruijff’s Barcelona to win the Cup Winners’ cup for the first time in their history.

After two years in the lesser European competitions, Manchester United returned to newly formed UEFA Champions league for the first time in 25 years in 1993. They were outsmarted by a street smart Galatasaray on away goals after drawing 3-3 at Old Trafford. This would be a story of Ferguson in Europe. From 1993 to 2006, barring one glorious campaign in 1998-99 where they would famously win the Cup with Big Ears in injury time, Manchester United were repeatedly outclassed and outsmarted in Europe.

Their domestic dominance in those 13 years never translated into Europe. Fergie’s United could not overturn a single unfavourable result in the first leg. My definition of an unfavourable result is: home score draw or away defeat. They even flamed out a few times even after favourable away results. A favourable away result being a 0-0 draw.

Manchester United in European Knock-out Rounds from 1997-2005

Season	Opponent	1^st Leg	2^nd Leg
1996-97	Borussia Dortmund	0-1 (A)	0-1 (H)
1997-98	Monaco	0-0 (A)	1-1 (H)
1999-00	Real Madrid	0-0 (A)	2-3 (H)
2000-01	Bayern Munich	0-1 (H)	1-2 (A)
2001-02	Bayer Leverkusen	2-2 (H)	1-1 (A)
2002-03	Real Madrid	1-3 (A)	4-3 (H)
2003-04	Porto	1-2 (A)	1-1 (H)
2004-05	AC Milan	0-1 (H)	0-1 (A)

That is 6 unfavourable results (5 1st leg defeats, 1 score draw at home) and 2 favourable results (2 0-0 draws away) that Fergie let slip out of 10 two legged ties excluding the 2 ties (vs Inter & Juve) in their title winning season. The ties United won were vs Porto in 1997 and a damn good Deportivo La Coruna in 2002. In fact, the only unfavourable result that Manchester United overturned in that whole period from 1993 to 2006 was the 1-1 draw at home to Juventus in 1999. It was also the only season they (barely) won the Champions league.

My personal opinion: in this period (93 to 06) was the Fergie was extremely overrated as his results in Europe reflect. Fergietards regularly rationalize that he never had the budget that the Italians in the 90s and Madrid-Barça this century had. This despite Manchester United being the richest club in England for nearly his entire career and in the world this century.

I have changed my opinion about Fergie since then. I now think he is one of the greatest managers of all time but not the greatest. His response to the challenge thrown by Mourinho & Abramovich’s endless purse is nothing short of miraculous. He built probably his most sophisticated United side under Ronaldo & Rooney. They won 3 consecutive league titles.

United’s European performances were vastly improved in this period. The tie against Roma in 2007 was the only time in Fergie’s entire career that his team overturned a first leg defeat. They absolutely thrashed Roma 7-1 in Old Trafford. This was followed by a familiar failure: a loss to Milan after leading 3-2 from the 1st leg. The next season Fergie would win his 2nd Champions league with a win against Chelsea on penalties. Lucky once again thanks to one John Terry slip.

In 2008-09, Manchester United would overturn an unfavourable 1st leg result (2-2 home draw vs Porto) only for the 3rd time under Fergie to reach the final in Rome. They became the 1st team since Juventus in 1997 to reach the final as defending champions. They were taught a lesson by an undermanned Barcelona under a rookie Pep Guardiola.

After United’s talisman in those 3 seasons, Cristiano Ronaldo, left for Real Madrid, they reverted to type in Europe blowing a 3-0 lead in the 2nd leg (4-2 overall lead) to eventual finalists Bayern Munich. A lucky draw (Marseille, Chelsea, Schalke) enabled Fergie to reach another final in search for his 3rd Champions league medal and 4th overall European medal. They were taught a 2nd lesson by Guardiola’s Barcelona at Wembley in a 3-1 thrashing.

His subsequent raids in Europe ended in bitter disappointment but his domestic dominance never waned. From 2006-07 to 2012-13, Manchester United were prevented from winning 7 straight league titles by just 1 point (2009-10 Chelsea) and on goal difference (2011-12 Manchester City).

This is Fergie’s record vs the 5 teams that have been multiple Champions League winners/finalists in his career spanning 1993-2013

Alex Ferguson vs Europe's Top Teams

Team	Win	Loss	Draw
AC Milan	3	3	0
Barcelona	2	3	4
Bayern Munich	2	3	4
Juventus	4	3	1
Real Madrid	1	3	2
Total	12	15	11

Not a bad record by any means but not good enough for a guy claiming to be the greatest manager in the history of the beautiful game so far. When Manchester United were knocked out of the Champions league this season under Louis Van Gaal, many said that Moyes won his group ignoring the Dutchman’s extensive CV. Fergie ended his whole United career with as many first leg deficits overturned as David Moyes did in his United career. 😛

ZLATAN: AN IBRANIGMA

2017-08-09T11:32:00.001+05:30

My first memories of Zlatan are from Korea/Japan 2002. He came on as a late substitute in the 2nd round match vs the memorable underdogs of the tournament: Senegal. I thought he could pass for Henrik Larsson’s taller & leaner long-haired twin.

(Twin) Brothers From Other Mothers

The next time I got to watch him was in the 2002-03 UEFA Champions league quarterfinals vs AC Milan. The player that most impressed me in that game was one Andy Van Der Meyde. A classic Ajax inverted winger, he was wrecking Milan’s right flank. Both the goals that Ajax scored were from the pandemonium created by his crosses. First was turned in by the elegant Finn Jari Litmanen. The second was headed down by the 196 cm Swedish beanpole and bundled over by Everton’s Steven Pienaar.

Later highlights include the bust up with Van Der Vaart, the Kung-fu kick goal to eliminate Italy in Portugal, the move to Juventus, then to Inter after Calciopoli, Eto’o-Ibra swap, his garrulous relationship with “philosopher” Guardiola, return to the Rossonero half of San Siro, and the current stint in the City of Love. From the 2002 to 2016, Zlatan has failed to win the league just twice: 2002-03 with Ajax & 2011-12 with Milan. His success in the league is diametrically opposite to his failures in Europe.

He is repeatedly criticized, quite bitterly in England, for failing to inspire his teams during European nights especially during the knockout rounds. A much inferior Liverpool kept a star studded Juventus quiet in Delle Alpi when just a single goal would have sent La Vecchia Signora through to the next round. It was the same against the Gooners the following year when Fabregas & Henry dumped Juve out again. The song remained the same even in at Giuseppe Meazza (the name preferred by Inter to call San Siro). He moved to Camp Nou to win the most elusive of prizes but in a cruel twist of fate, Los Culés were dumped by his former club with their only notable addition being Sam Eto’o.

The excellent Michael Cox of Zonal Marking tried to rationalize his European struggles. As mentioned in the linked article, that Zlatan struggles in big matches is a big load of bollocks. He’s scored in every big derby (El Clasico, Milan derby etc) he’s been involved in. In the stretch run of the 2007-08 Serie A, he scored goal after goal on half a leg to lead Inter to their 2nd title of 5 (1 awarded) in a row. Cox reasons that European football, especially of the knockout kind, is played on the counter. and the 6’5″ nearly 100 kilo Zlatan simply isn’t the type of player who breezes in to finish a smooth counterattack. Therefore, his 38 goals in 79 group stage matches, an excellent return, drops to just 10 in 40 in knockout stages.

My question is simply this: Why should Zlatan’s European failures come into consideration for his greatness? The last player that I can think of who won so many leagues being a fulcrum of the side is Real Madrid’s Paco Gento. Why is Zlatan labelled a choker whereas Thierry Henry and Eric Cantona are all time greats? Henry’s record (50 goals, 38 in group stages, 12 in knockouts) is just as good (or bad) as Zlatan (48, 38, 10). Barring that one odd season when he led Arsenal to the final, Henry’s European career is replete with choke jobs similar to Zlatan. Cantona doesn’t even come close to Ibracadabra. UEFA had a maximum 3 foreigner rule in the 90s where countries of the British Isles were considered separate. Fergie didn’t trust Cantona enough to even play him in Europe, picking Giggs, Irwin & Schmeichel over him.

I would even consider Zidane in the same boat. After winning the Scudetto in his 1st two seasons with Juve, Zizou massively underachieved relative to the heavily loaded sides he played in. His achievements in Europe weren’t so spectacular either. People remember his fantastic goal in Hampden Park but forget that in the previous season he couldn’t inspire Juve to qualify from a group that contained Panathinaikos, Hamburg and SuperDepor. They also forget that after the high of Hampden, Real Madrid kept regressing in Europe.

These blots never stopped the Zidane/Henry/Cantona from being loved or celebrated. Why disparage the big Slav-Swede? He gets another chance to help Les Parisiens reach the semifinals in Mancunia. All 4 Champions league ties on the knife’s edge but PSG are the side in arguably the worst position. A dose of Ibracadabra against Citeh can go some way in redressing the choker label. Win or lose he’ll continue to be an enigma, better yet an Ibranigma, as the man would, surely, prefer to call it.

KAPIL DEV: A FEW BATTING GEMS

2017-08-09T11:19:00.000+05:30

Despite a billion opinions to the contrary, yours truly believes Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj is still the greatest and most important cricketer in Indian cricket history. Arguments of 100 100s, 33000 runs, top scorer in world cup blah blah will be summarily expunged by Karikadaiboy. India has never failed to produce test quality batsmen. N. E. V. E. R. F. A. I. L. E. D.

There is the famous Ranjitsinhji who played for England as early as 1896 averaging almost 45 in tests (when the pitches were awful) and more than 56 over 300+ first class matches. As soon as India were awarded test status, we had the brilliant Vijay Merchant whose first class average is second to only Sir Don Bradman. Merchant averaged nearly 48 (all vs England) in his 10 tests. In India’s tour to England in 1936, he scored 1639 runs at 49.66. Sportsman/politician/diplomat/academic/teacher/writer/polymath C.B. Fry was so impressed with Merchant that he wrote, “Let us paint him white and take him with us to Australia as an opener.” When India returned to tour England 10 years later, Merchant scored 2385 runs at 74.53 to prove that the first time was no fluke. Vijay Merchant is generally considered to be one of the defining pillars of the Bombay school of batsmanship.

Then there was another Vijay, Hazare who lost his best years to the war and made a belated test debut at the age of 31. Prior to his test debut Hazare once scored 309 runs out of a total of 387. Against Lindwall & Miller, Hazare famously scored twin 100s at the Adelaide Oval in India’s first ever tour to Australia. Hazare passed the mantle to another Bombay cricketer called Pahlan Ratanji Umrigar better known as Polly Umrigar. Umrigar set records of most runs and most 100s by an Indian.

After Umrigar’s retirement in 1962 there was a period there weren’t any standout batsmen but a set of solid but not spectacular line up of Engineer, Manjrekar, Kunderan, Borde until Gundappa Ranganath Viswanath made his debut in 1969. He was soon joined by his future brother-in-law Sunil Manohar Gavaskar just two series later in 1971. Gavaskar would become the first batsman to score 30 test 100s and the first batsman to breach the 5 digit barrier of runs. Along the way there were others like Vengsarkar, Amarnath, Azharuddin and Shastri. Then came the glorious 1990s and 2000s of the fab 5 where India had their most powerful batting line up of Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman. Even today India have solid batting in Vijay, Kohli, Pujara and Rahane. As I have mentioned before India have produced outstanding batsmen always throughout our history.

India is, of course, the land of spinners. Starting from Subhash “Fergie” Gupte, who is held in high regard (better than Warne apparently) by some guy called Garry Sobers, Mankad, the quartet (Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar, Venkataraghavan), Dilip Doshi, Jumbo, Bhajji to the current record breaking Ashwin, India have had no dearth of quality spinners. In fact there was such heavy competition that guys like Shivalkar, Rajinder Goel, V V Kumar who had more than 1900 first class wickets between them hardly got an opportunity to represent India. Of the trio, only Kumar got to play for India.

India had no real history of fast bowlers. Apparently there were two terror inducing bowlers who played in India’s first ever test: Amar Singh and Mohammad Nissar. Amar Singh was described by an authority no less than Wally Hammond as “he came off the pitch like the crack of doom.” After the duo it would be another two decades before we had a regular new ball bowler: Ramakant “Tiny” Desai. It would take another decade and half for India to unearth bowlers who ran more than 5 paces to bowl. The man who bowled the first ever ball in a world cup match: Madan Lal and the rarest of the rare breeds of fast bowlers: a left-armer Karsan Ghavri.

Here is guy who comes from the cricketing backwaters of Chandigarh. A place from where cricketers were rarely picked for India. Indian cricket is still dominated by the 3 regions of Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore. A 15 year old Kapil Dev, at a training camp in Bombay, was rebuffed with “there are no fast bowlers in India” when he went all Oliver Twist on them. Five years later Kapil made his test debut in Faisalabad. Sadiq Mohammad, the youngest of the Mohammad brothers, sporting a cap opened along with Majid Khan. The man had played Australia in Australia (where Pakistan drew 1-1) and West Indies in West Indies (Pakistan lost an extremely tight series 2-1) just a year and a half earlier. Within minutes of facing the young Haryanvi, he asked for a helmet.

There are numerous highlights in Kapil’s career. The 11 wickets in Chennai vs Pakistan, that Melbourne spell on half a leg, the lone hand against mighty West Indies in 1983, the catch, another lone had against Australia (25 wickets @ 25.8) in 1991 on his last legs. All this came in a period where Kapil’s support was slim and none. In any case almost everyone knows how good Kapil the bowler was. This post aims to highlight how good Kapil the batsman was. In terms of talent, technique and pure flamboyance, Kapil Dev was streets ahead of every Indian batsman (including Gavaskar) of his era. He had no real weakness against any kind of bowling. Azhar could not face the short ball. Gavaskar had his troubles against spin. The only thing he lacked was Gavaskar’s application. In fact Gavaskar himself said that Kapil should have scored at least 10000 runs given his talent.

900+ words later here are a few gems of Kapil that I think are underrated and under-appreciated by the general Indian cricketing loving populace.

Appetizer: 23*(10) at Lord’s 1986

India’s first ever win at the home of cricket. The most infamous six conceder Chetan Sharma’s 5 wicket haul restricted England to a sub par 294. Colonel Dilip’s 3rd consecutive 100 at Lord’s and some lower order biffing by Kiran More gave India a slender 47 run lead. Kapil Dev first reduced England to 35/3 and Maninder Singh’s 3 shot England out for 180. India needed just 134 runs to win their first ever test at Lord’s. India made heavy weather of it losing wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 110/5. 24 runs to win 5 wickets in hand. Those who are even juuuuuuuuuuust a bit familiar with India would say, “Advantage England.”

In walks the skipper and in the space of just 10 balls turns the game on its head. Ignoring the conditions and the match situation, Kapil hit 3 fours and 1 six in one Phil Edmonds over. He turned a tight finish into a cakewalk with his tremendous hitting ability and range. It was India’s first ever test win in 21 matches under Kapil’s captaincy. Only fitting that he was named man of the match for his hustling 2nd innings new ball spell (3/1 in 19 balls) and the blistering 23* off 10 to finish things off in style.

Main Course: 119 (138) vs Australia at Chepauk 1986

A test more famous for being only the 2nd (and so far last) tie in the history of test cricket. I have already touched upon this test in an earlier post on great tests at Chepauk. After making India toil in the sweltering Madras heat for more than 2 days, Border declared early on day 3, a mammoth 574. Three of the top 6 batsmen made 50s and when Ravi Shastri fell after a well made 62, India were 206/5 still needing 169 runs to make Australia bat again. Kapil joined Chandrakant Pandit (playing as a batsman) as the last recognized pair with Kiran More and the bowlers to come. Pandit & More left quickly and India ended day 3 on 270/7 still needing 105 runs to avoid the follow on.

Kapil, overnight on 33, counterattacked on day 4. With just the bowlers for company he hit boundary after boundary. Chetan Sharma & Shivlal Yadav gave him solid support as the captain added 143 runs for the 8th & 9th wickets. Kapil hit 21 fours in all and completed his 100 off only 109 balls. His 2nd 50 contained 11 fours. He was last man out with the score on 397. Kapil’s belligerent innings helped India score 191 runs for the last 5 wickets. He helped India avoid a huge embarrassment and helped the home team to live and fight another day. Kapil’s humongous effort is usually forgotten in the din of Dean Jones, Greg Matthews & most importantly umpire Vikram Raju.

Dessert: 109 (124) vs West Indies at Chepauk 1988

Kapil loved batting against West Indies. He scored his first 100 (before he took his first 5fer) vs West Indies. He scored 3 of his 8 100s vs the Caribbeans. When India toured West Indies in 1982, he scored a 95 ball 100 vs Marshall/Garner/Holding/Roberts and a 97 ball 98 vs Marshall/Holding/Roberts/Davis albeit on flat decks. His 3rd and last 100 vs West Indies came against an inferior Patterson/Walsh/Davis in Hirwani’s match, the Pongal test of 1988.

As was the story of Kapil’s career, it was yet another counterattack after yet another top order misfire. This time India collapsed to 156/5 with only Arun Lal (69) and Azhar (47) making any real contributions. Kapil walked in to join debutant Arun Sharma needing to stem the tide. Fighting fire with fire, he added 113 with Sharma who contributed just 30 runs in the partnership. Kapil was the 7th man out with the score on 313. He scored 109 off just 124 balls in the 157 runs added during his stay at the crease. His innings was studded with 18 boundaries. Another diamond in the rough forgotten thanks to Hirwani’s record breaking 16 wickets on debut.

Post Lunch snack: 54* (37) vs New Zealand at SCG 1985

My followers on twitter (its @karikadaiboy FYI) would know my disdain for the limited overs format especially the shortest kind. Yet I wanted to show that Kapil’s genius wasn't limited to test cricket alone. India’s biggest triumph outside the two world cups was in Australia 1985. India comfortably won their group (Pakistan, England, Australia) and faced New Zealand in the semifinals. Siva & Shastri put on a chokehold to restrict New Zealand to 151/7 in 43 overs before Chris Cairns' dad biffed a 29 ball 39 to give the Kiwis a respectable total of 206.

The total was below par but led by the irresistible Richard Hadlee, the Kiwis put a chokehold of their own to reduce India to 46/1 in 20 overs. Shastri, Azhar & Colonel steadily upped the run rate but when Hadlee removed Shastri, India were 102/3 in the 31st over. 104 runs required in around 19 overs. Not an easy task in those days. Gavaskar was ready to go when he spotted a restless Kapil and promoted him up the order. He straightaway got into the groove hitting Hadlee for 4 fours in the 34th over. In the same over Hadlee deceived Kapil with a slower ball and John Reid dropped a hard low chance at mid-on. Kapil hit the next ball for 4 through cover past Reid which the inimitable Richie Benaud described as “adding a little bit of insult to a lot of injury”. India overhauled the total with more than 6 overs to spare. A tricky chase became a canter in just over 12 overs all thanks to powerful hitting of the Haryana Express.

Four gems from that underachieving batsman Kapil Dev which aren’t as popular as I think they should really be.