tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83488422025-12-15T21:23:54.969-08:00This is a site about drinking beer, eating chips and thinking cricket. I am not a former player, a television commentaror or a journalist; my qualification to being worthy of hearing is that I drink a lot of beer, eat a lot of chips and think a lot about cricket. The thoughts need not be politically correct and often include colourful language but there will be no deliberate bias towards any player, community or state. I don't care about popular opinion or perceptions and I speak it as I see it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-35195325431887539372008-08-12T13:38:00.001-07:002014-08-13T05:18:52.270-07:00

All those who think the blog is dead ... well, u r almost right!!!A lot happened in my life since my last posts, and yeah I know those weren't exactly very regular.I shifted my location to outside India, I became a dad, and I have even less time than usual for blogging. However, I am still blogging for the www.aol.in website since of course, they pay me. To check out that blog, check out http://

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-52203229049222148402008-01-08T02:05:00.001-08:002008-01-08T02:05:58.938-08:00

It is always fun selecting a team, and this being the Indian cricket team, it is funnier still because you know that each selection is probably going to get mud on your face the next time the selected player goes onto the field. However, since that is life for a sports blogger, here goes nothing!Click here to read the complete post

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-32202051742110166182008-01-08T02:03:00.000-08:002008-01-08T02:04:53.461-08:00

When India took the big hit it did in the first test at Melbourne, inevitably one of the reasons trotted out was the "need more time to acclimatise" thingy that we all knew would come up sooner or later. It is so convenient; lose and shout "we need more time", win and say "Rahul played great, Sachin is a genius etc".Click here to read the complete post

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-37410729341367185012008-01-08T02:02:00.000-08:002008-01-08T02:03:38.253-08:00

It was a strange experience watching Tendulkar bat today, on the second day of the 1st test against Australia in Melbourne. He didn't play amazingly as he played in his prime; he didn't play shuffle-poke-prod cricket as he has in his recent past; what he did was back his skills as they exist today and take the attack to the opposition. More than the 65 odd runs he made, it was the way he made

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-50765860768046837512008-01-08T02:01:00.000-08:002008-01-08T02:02:29.120-08:00

If the Indians have to learn something from the second day of the Melbourne test, let it be this! Being a team man to the core is admirable but when the team man bats as Rahul Dravid did while donning the unfamiliar role of opener on the 2nd day of the test, it is better to be slightly selfish and say "Sorry mate, I don't think I can". The team might fare better for that piece of selfish

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-51744366120714955802008-01-08T02:00:00.000-08:002008-01-08T02:01:22.457-08:00

A toast to Ganguly seems to be the order of the day with all news channels carrying quotes from his teammates, past and present, his family, and his friends. I don't go much for accolades for momentous occasions like 100th test, etc.. because they are filled with a lot of sugar and sweetness, some of it false, but this Is definitely a nice time to look back at the various phases of Ganguly, see

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-12141383469945560682008-01-08T01:58:00.000-08:002008-01-08T02:00:01.636-08:00

I talked earlier about Sehwag's inclusion in the Test squad for Australia being a good move on the part of the selectors. However, after seeing him sit out the practice game against Victoria, I wondered if it was just to be a matter of a good pick and nothing else. However, the stars seem to be in his favour, and with some luck, he might be walking out to open in Melbourne.Click here to read

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-57965394268211110952008-01-08T01:54:00.000-08:002008-01-08T01:58:44.240-08:00

It's a weird title for the post but I tried to be optimistic about things! Four days to go before the Boxing Day Test, and India have managed a grand total of less than one day's practice on Australian pitches, with the bowlers getting none at all. Frankly, there is no reason for optimism here, but looking at the current bowling attack, I can see a slight silver lining (but only if I peer hard

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-81906303828999057892007-12-24T00:03:00.000-08:002007-12-24T00:08:05.630-08:00

A matter of priority - As I watched the "national flag dishonor at the Eden" controversy on Times Now TV for the thousandth time, I wondered as I often have before as to why we insist on spending valuable time and money over arbitrary issues that arise out of random acts of ignorance, frustration or even arrogance, and forget the significance of the word "random" in it.Here is to Guru Gary - Gary

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-89797556196044117932007-10-29T13:45:00.000-07:002007-10-29T13:46:25.522-07:00

To hear the hullabaloo that the Australian media is creating about how the Australian public is going to give it back to the Indians when they tour there later his winter, it might seem that poetic justice is being meted out for a grave sin committed against the Australians.Click here to read the complete article

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-66322868380452905482007-10-29T13:43:00.000-07:002007-10-29T13:45:20.862-07:00

I knew that when it came down to it, showing Dravid the door would be a hundred times easier than doing it to either of the other two golden oldies, Tendulkar and Ganguly.Click here to read complete article

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-24690433655591959272007-10-19T15:27:00.000-07:002007-10-19T15:29:29.145-07:00

There is a lot of discussion happening over whether Andrew Symonds had been racially abused or not. I have read so many articles on this that I feel compelled to put in my two cents on something I felt would blow over on its own, simply because it was too small. Don't get me wrong here; racism by itself is not a small matter to be dismissed lightly. But everything has to be seen on a case-to-case

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-76215813661696763862007-10-01T02:53:00.000-07:002007-10-01T02:59:11.463-07:00

India has been awesome - Everyone has his own biases, little or big, and I am no exception. If I write this post tomorrow or after the Twenty20 final gets over, definitely the bias of the happenings in that match will reflect in my assessment. So based on the Indian team's performance at the Twenty20 World Cup, up to and including the semi-final against Australia, here goes nothing! Click here to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-47987023407255867782007-09-24T10:15:00.000-07:002007-09-24T10:20:29.010-07:00

Captain Different - Maybe this was destiny's way of getting India its next good captain. It probably said - "Oh heck, the BCCI can't do it in a million years; I gotta take a hand myself." Out of the blue, the big three decide not to participate, Yuvraj gets into the bad books of the BCCI, the players start playing like demons and India under Mahender Singh Dhoni absolutely smash their way into

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-32470074001702829292007-09-24T01:42:00.000-07:002007-09-24T02:02:44.939-07:00

To those who missed me - thanks! To those who don't - Hmm, why don't u?Anyways, blogging going strong at AOL.in and I won't say I don't regret stopping my own blogpage here, but frankly it is not possible for me to spend more time in addition to what I am spending at AOL.in.So I came up with a good idea (heh heh, this is my blog and I get to decide which ideas r good). Everytime I post there, I

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-55225742216521733632007-05-20T21:23:00.000-07:002007-05-20T21:27:53.796-07:00

Hoi guysRecently I got offered a chance to blog for a new blogsite coming up at AOL, India. The blog is not 100% active yet but the bloggers contacted by AOL (including self) have started blogging there. The site is - http://cricketblog.aol.in/ ... You should be finding the link to this site from the main page www.aol.in soon but it isn't available right now.Anyways, hope this is the start of

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-36393122218668952642007-04-21T11:04:00.000-07:002007-04-21T11:06:53.272-07:00

click hereI think Sunny's main problem is - pyaara tendu beta didn't get the opening slot and hence missed out a couple of centuries against bermuda and bangladesh.CheersThe Chuckster

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-66276636799176057732007-04-20T02:41:00.000-07:002007-04-20T02:45:50.032-07:00

I am getting bugged of these two names. In case u didn't know these are the names of Amitabh Bacchan's houses (or bunglows ... whatever) at Mumbai. Since his son is marrying Rai babe, the news channels talk about Prateeksha and Jalsaa as if they were the houses of their aunts and uncles.U can almost see the reporters drooling as they talk about the arrangements for the weddings or the place where

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-34588318085705351922007-04-10T08:22:00.000-07:002007-04-10T08:27:45.076-07:00

This one is delicious ... not just coz of the cake. LMAO @ what we think of as news. Funnier still is how the BCCI guys blame the High Commission who then blames the guy who baked the cake.Read hereI know it is nitpicking but hey, technically it is right u know.As I once pointed out in my blog before (yes I acknowledge it as nitpicking) - Click here -, his helmet has the tri-color and there is

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-45308497874089595192007-04-09T21:50:00.000-07:002007-04-09T22:25:23.985-07:00

This article talks about what I feel would be the natural feelings of the players, who I have always maintained play for money and not for the pride or whatever nonsense everyone keeps talking about. Remember to take all articles in the media with a pinch of salt ... as something that might be the truth or that might just be a figment of someone's imagination.Click hereCheersThe Chuckster

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-91780399817833465372007-04-08T21:15:00.000-07:002007-04-08T21:37:48.095-07:00

Over the past two-three days, there have been scores of guys in suits (and a lady too ... some top agent of Percept D Mark or some agency like that) who have been appearing on TV and giving their views on why to accuse the players of spending too much time on commercials is not correct."Oh, some of these shoots hardly take 3-4 hours" ... one said ... and another went - "in a complete year, the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-39996193485198914242007-04-08T21:03:00.000-07:002007-04-08T21:07:46.954-07:00

This article is self-explanatory .... and if someone is telling me that the players are too desh-bhakt for small things like this to affect their service towards the nation, then I ask that person to go for a mental check up.Wouldn't it be simpler for the player to say - I play for India ... u take me coz I play well. How long I play depends on the situation on the field ... and thus a clause

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-5249959995237970202007-04-07T11:53:00.000-07:002007-04-07T11:54:37.028-07:00

Saw this story on star news a while back ... was too good not to share.So there is Mahender Singh Dhoni, apna puttar from backward Jharkhand who became a star. He got alloted land by the govt and decided to make this huge house there (they showed the plot of land and believe me u, five of us could make our hosues there ... of course, i don't know the size in square yards etc but it looked bloody

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-55171679501234812102007-04-07T11:52:00.000-07:002007-04-07T11:53:28.983-07:00

Note - I cannot vouch for these numbers ... just reporting what I heard on TV. the news channels r freaking out with all the steps announced by the BCCI today. I too have many comments but it is too much to be written now. Now will just try to put up a couple of short items I got from news channels and bring up something big a bit later.I think it was headlines today that gave this statistic.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8348842.post-10823182865678248162007-04-07T11:50:00.000-07:002007-04-07T11:51:33.415-07:00

For me, I am all for most of the steps taken by the BCCI ... I know the BCCI comes out of this smelling of roses and it doesn't deserve that coz it stinks as much as the players do ... but I have one belief ... nothing works perfectly ... to have the players get their butts kicked for treating the Indian team like their personal playground and to get the BCCI's ass kicked for treating Indian

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0