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A Series to Savour - Part II

And here I am again, trying to put together my euphoria of seeing Team India triumph in Australia against the oddest of odds. If you are here reading this, I assume you might have read the first part which covered the Adelaide debacle and the Melbourne revival. If not, you may read it now!

Coming back to where I left in the previous post, 2020 ended with an absolute bonkers of a turn around from India and guess what – 2021 started with 2 outstanding test matches, totally unexpected and other-worldly stuff, each of them classics in their own way. This would be long, but I hope you read on till the end - watching this series was an extraordinary experience!

Chapter 3: Grit and Survival

Alarm Time: 4:58AM. The cold January mornings cannot win against me now. Body and mind are in sync. Got to wake up and catch all the action, that is it! No two thoughts about not waking up! Series is level 1-1.

Toss: Another toss gone in favor of Australia. But the good news is, Rohit Sharma is available now to help Rahane. But wait, Umesh Yadav limped off in Melbourne. So, Saini is in too. And India have to deal with David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith in SCG. Tough work ahead?

We started by sending back Warner early, rain stopped play, then resumed and the day ended with Labuschagne and Smith all set to torment us on day 2. But, almost shockingly, Labuschagne played a wrong shot and Jadeja got a wicket and that was what was required. Wickets kept falling at one end, Smith kept batting at the other end. He got to his century, and now, after 8-9 down, he started his ODI mode of batting. There is no way he is getting out, and then, a moment of magic! Out of nowhere, Jadeja swooped in from square leg, shot a bullet throw with one stump in sight, hit it and caught Smith short while attempting a 2nd run. Whoa! Mind blown! That throw there felt like an antidote to Guptill’s throw in WC2019 (if you remember!).

Alright, we have to bat now. Not an easy total to overcome, but India have started well. 50+ with no loss. A little drowsiness crept in due to lack of sleep, but Rohit didn’t allow me to doze off. He was out, and Gill was gone too! On Day 3, many impactful things happen. Rahane chops on, Hazlewood had an extraordinary fielding moment to runout Vihari, Pant was smashed on his elbow, Pujara got to his slowest 50 ever, Jadeja was smashed on his thumb – his bowling hand! Oh God! The list is never ending. That day just spelt doom for India. Pant wouldn’t keep and Jadeja wouldn’t bowl in the 3rd innings. There was no way India was going to come back into this test. Australia piled on the runs pretty quickly with Green going berserk and they declared with a 400+ target. Most importantly, India would have to bat out 132 overs.

Dream: India bat out the 132 overs. Pujara gets a fine hundred and India some how manage a draw!

34 Overs were done with on Day 4, Gill and Rohit gave a decent start again, but both were gone before end of the day. On Day 5, Rahane was done with in the 2nd over itself. Now, 96 overs to play and 7 wickets in hand. Out strode Rishabh Pant, who did not keep all through the 3rd innings, with no protection to his hurt elbow. Now, Rishabh Pant is Rishabh Pant. I don’t know what goes in his mind. I am very clear what goes through Pujara’s though - just bat! But Pant, after a slow start, begins to target Lyon. Heart is pounding too quick to his hoicks down the ground. In between, Paine was dropping catches. But Pant would continue. The new ball is due in 2 overs. India needed close to 150 now with almost 50 overs to play. Pant in the 90s. Till then I was counting balls to bat out. But now, I started counting the runs to get. And then, all the luck Pant had, suddenly deserted him and Lyon’s ball flew off his edge and was caught in gully.

Switch modes! Count the balls again. Without Pant, India is not chasing this down. Suddenly Pujara smashes 3 4s off Cummins. Whoa! Has Pant rubbed his intent into Pujara now? No! Hazlewood cleans up Pujara. Vihari and Ashwin somehow manage things until Tea – Vihari already tore a hamstring and Ashwin had a horrible back pain. 36 overs to bat out!

Last session started with Ashwin being given out only to be overturned by DRS and Australia continued their short-ball barrage! Ashwin found it tough but hung on. Jadeja was padded up – I am not sure he can hold a bat with his left hand. I was standing close to the TV, watching every over – just the 6 balls – closely, take a walk during ad breaks, again come back to stand in front of the TV. Over by over, Vihari and Ashwin were continuing to block. 25 overs to go, 15 overs to go, 10 overs to go, 6 overs to go. God! This is nerve wracking stuff. One wicket here, and everything will cut loose. Vihari edges one off Starc, but Paine drops it again. I am dying! 1 over to go. And finally, the Aussies decide to shake hands.

Yes! India’s grit allowed them to grind it out on a Day 5 pitch in Australia against their best attack, survived 130+ overs with a one-legged no.6, a bad-back no.7 and a one-handed no.8 waiting. The most satisfying and heartwarming draw I have ever seen. I had a smile imagining the guy who was assigned the job of compiling the highlights package of that last session! We are going to Brisbane with the series level. Who would have expected that after that 36/9?

Chapter 4: Heroes & Hysteria

Alarm Time(s): Brisbane has a 5:30AM start but weather forced 5:00AM starts from Day 2 onwards. So the wake up time switched between 4:50AM and 5:20AM. Decider guys! Bring it on!!

Toss: Australia haven’t lost in Brisbane for 32 years, and they had the best start. Win the toss, and start batting. What about India? No Vihari & Jadeja (obviously!), no Ashwin (hmm, okay!), no Bumrah also (shocker!) and India play 3 debutants (yes, I’d call Thakur a debutant) and recall Agarwal.

India get Warner and Harris cheaply, but as a sweet surprise, Sundar, on his debut, gets Smith out cheaply as well. But Labuschagne bats on with Wade and he gets a 100, scores moves past 200. Looks like a routine Aussie dominated day, and again, India fight back. Natarajan, on his debut, sends back both Wade and Labuschagne. Another wicket and India would be in the driver’s seat but Paine and Green bat it out. Thakur has an excellent spell on Day 2 to get Paine and Cummins which was preceded by Sundar cleaning up Green. 4 runs and 3 wickets. Woohoo… an Australian collapse I thought. But the tail wagged. 50+ runs for the last 2 wickets. India start by losing Gill early and Rohit got out in an outrageous manner – as per Sunil Gavaskar – but he was done in by Lyon I felt. Again, it is up to Rahane and Pujara to bail us out on Day 3. Some excellent balls, some rash shots, some terrific catching and 2-point-something sessions later, India were 188/6. About 180 runs behind. The average experience of the remaining batsmen – 1.8 Tests!!

And then comes the partnership I enjoyed the most all through the series - Sundar & Thakur! Thakur pulls over square leg for a 6 to open his account, he plays some delectable drives, hardly plays a loose shot against the spinner – very controlled in his defense. Sundar on the other end was playing as if it was a net session – casually blocking, some wristy flicks and neat driving down the ground. Slowly the lead was coming down, and I was dancing inside. Is this for real? This has probably never happened before – a debutant no.7 and a 0.1-test experienced no.8 defying Australian fast bowlers in Gabba. Such assured was Thakur’s defense against Lyon, it was an extraordinary moment of triumph when he danced down the track and lofted him for 6 and he reached 50 – my hands automatically clapped, almost involuntarily. Sundar hits a no-look 6 over long on and he too reaches 50 a little later. His half-century celebration was, I felt, cute! What-a-knock young man! The score crosses 300 and India slowly cutting down the deficit. And then the Australian pace attack, in a space of 10 overs and 20-something runs, take all the 4 remaining wickets. The lead, what could’ve been 100-something is now a meagre 33. Relief!!!

Day 4, with Australia having 10 wickets, is supposedly going to be a long day for Indian bowlers. Warner and Harris are scoring briskly, 80-something for no-loss and again, India fight back! How many times are we turning it around – just WOW! In a span of 6 overs, Australia lost 4 wickets. But Smith was still there, with Green and the lead was over 200 in no time. The first instance of the pitch misbehaving – Smith gets a shooter, fends at it, Rahane grabs it. Siraj is ecstatic, so am I. An Indian fast bowler feasting at the Gabba! India in here with a chance to have a less-than 300 target. Lots of discussion about the weather – Australia is not declaring. They are batting on! Lead is now above 300. I am a little towards the rain gods now – this pitch is too much for India to bat out a draw. With 328 as target, after a magnificent 5-for from Siraj and Thakur’s 4-for, India to bat now. Just 2 overs and rain stops play, over to Day 5 now – 324 runs, 98.1 overs and 10 wickets!

Dream: India, instead of playing out for a draw, play positive cricket and conjure up a win. We win the series 2-1 and yes, India breach the Gabba Fortress.

Surprisingly, the weather is clear. So back to counting overs now. 98 to go! Rohit goes early but Gill and Pujara (that man again!) somehow manage until lunch. Especially Pujara, is he really human? Kept taking blow after blow on his body but kept soldiering on! It didn’t feel like he was going to move, whatever is thrown at him. After lunch, Gill smashed a 6-4-4 in a Starc over and Pujara finished that over with another 4 – 20 runs in 1 over. Is India going for the win? This is really a dream chase! Lyon gets one to edge, and Gill is gone. Another batsman gone in the 90s in the 4th innings. The captain walks in! What is his plan here? Block, wait and then decide? No! Rahane was in super attacking mode – he hit a 6 of Lyon which was the peak Rahane I know. But the attacking intent costs him his wicket. India 3 down. 161 runs away. 43 overs to play. Pujara at one end! Surely India can draw this. I was really glued now. Tension!!

Out walks Rishabh Pant again, at no. 5. This is the same Pant who hit 97 in Sydney in almost similar situation. But, the same Pant who attacked Lyon at will in Sydney was very cautious and calm this time. He did try one or two big hits, one was a stumping chance missed, the other was a huge 6. But Pant did not want to get carried away. He wanted to probably take it into the last few overs. May be, turn it into a T20 chase? What composure - is he just 23? While Pant was grabbing all the attention, at the other end, Pujara got to 50 (this is now slower than his SCG 50). The new ball was taken. 22 overs remaining. 100 runs to get. India can actually win this. I can’t take it anymore! It has come to a zone where watching this game was dangerous for the weak hearted.

2nd ball with the new ball, Pujara is gone. Is that it? Is the new ball going to be the Australian ally? No! Pant reached his 50 of 100 balls with Agarwal at the other end, but Agarwal throws it away. 63 to get. 80 balls remaining. Sundar joins Pant. It is soon 50 to get of 48 balls. Sundar, out of nowhere, smashes a 6 and a 4 of Cummins. I am on my feet. I don’t know where I am. I have lost note of everything around me. I am only watching, I am just clapping, I am shouting as if the players can hear me, I can hear my heart pounding. 39 of 42. Pant cheekily sweeps one for 4, then smashes another 4, and then a ball hits the rough and runs for 4 byes. 15 of the over. 24 of 36. I am jumping. I am speechless. It is like I am in Gabba.

Another 9 run over now. And I am actually shivering (even typing these last few lines). 15 of 30 balls. Victory up for grabs! Pant on 76. In that 96th over, Sundar reverse sweeps and is bowled. What have you done boy? Why? Tension! Thakur walks in. 10 of 24. Pant pulls one for 4, I want to shout. I want to cry. Wait wait! Pant wants to hit a 6 and win it, flies of the edge, luckily in no man’s land. Heart is probably beating the fastest ever. Thakur is out. But they have crossed. Pant on strike, 3 to get. He drives, they run 2, are they coming back for 3, no the ball has run down and touched the ropes, India have won! India win!! I am out of of my mind. I was alone in the room. No one to hug. No one to share with. I wanted to run on the streets. I shot myself a selfie video with TV in the background. I have never experienced this, even after that Dhoni 6 in 2011. This is something else. My heart was swelling with pride, my mood was really high! I had patted myself on the back for putting aside every other thing and watch this incredible moment.

Wow! That was the highest high I have experienced watching the end of a test match. Few things will stay with me for a lifetime – the 20 run over which was orchestrated by Gill, the resilience of Pujara all through the series (that hit on his finger when he immediately left the bat, ouch!), that hook for 6 by Sundar off Cummins and that last punch down the ground by Pant – and along with these special moments, just trying to gather myself that India did all of this without a lot of their regulars. Take a bow Team India!! What is the life lesson learnt here – “Life will give you opportunities, you’ve got to grab them and turn them in your favor, deal with the obstacles and ultimately relish the challenge and achieve the unthinkable!”

A Series to Savour - Part I

I keep asking myself this question – Can I stay away from watching live sport? And I keep getting a resounding answer, NO! There are very few things in this world which give you the highest level of adrenaline rush that a live sport can give. And I have been experiencing this for almost 25 years now. But due to all that was happening across the globe, live sport went missing. Events got cancelled or postponed and work was also happening from home. I was desperately waiting for live sport action to kick-off and it did sooner than I thought. There was the US Open which Dominic Thiem won, it was an excellent tournament and had a fitting finale. There was the IPL – Mumbai Indians dominated the tournament in an almost never-seen-before manner. But 2 things which I was waiting for were Team India playing a full length cricket tour and Roger Federer playing a Grandslam. The 2nd one seems to be a little too far away right now (might not even happen at all, yikes!), but India playing a cricket tour was on the calendar – we would go on to tour Australia for ODIs, T20Is and Tests.

The ODIs and T20Is were played on batting paradises. No major contest between bat and ball. The team which batted better won. It was a very routine and bland stretch of 6 matches, except for some moments, here and there, involving Steve Smith, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya.

When would the test matches start? When would the ebbs and flows play with our senses? Who will be the hero (or who will be the villain?). It is a possibility that the test series can go in a singular direction, and as has been the norm in the last few years, the home team dominates the away team! But the excitement is sky high because India now has the bowling to excel in overseas test matches. And competing against a world class Australian bowling attack – 3 of them are in the World’s Top 10 and the other is their best finger spinner ever – in their conditions is the mountain to climb for the Indian batsmen.

Chapter 1: Bruised and Battered

Alarm Time: Not required. It is a Day-Night test which follows the same schedule as a Day test in India.

Toss: These days, the all-important aspect in Test matches is the toss, especially in away tests. And India win the toss, and by default, choose to bat! Teams rarely choose to bat 4th in away Test Matches.

A good first day was on the cards with a very satisfactory feeling filling the heart, and suddenly Kohli is runout because of a mishap, and there is a shift in the feeling now, it is slowly sinking. It is more of a oh-what-an-opportunity-missed kind of a feeling. But India bowl their hearts out on the 2nd day and we grab a lead which could have been a lot more had the catches been taken but a lead is a lead, and that too in the 1st test of a long away series. India has the chance to stamp their authority here. No complicated thoughts here – just bat and bat and bat!

Dream: India bats out the whole of 3rd day to set Australia a daunting task on Day 4.

Dec 19th, I woke up lazily expecting to see our batsmen grind it out against a tough bowling attack, but I had to rub my eyes to reread the score. It was 23/6. I was not sure if I was watching the right game, I had to switch channels and media to see that this was correct. India were 23/6 and the lead was close to 80 runs. All the high experienced in the previous 2 days is at an all-time low now. The next 3 hours was a blur. India got bowled out, Shami was injured, Australia chased it down, match was done before the 2nd break. What could have been a superb weekend turned into a glum Saturday and an even more bizarre Sunday – with all thoughts around a whitewash (no kidding!). I wanted to put a brave face and say India would come back strong, and I did say that, but it was out of some mad optimism, out of unrealistic favoritism. Such comebacks were expected aplenty in the past decade or so, but none of them became a reality. Would there be a turn around? Come on, India!

Chapter 2: A Leader Rises!

Alarm Time(s): 4:58 AM, 5:00 AM, 5:02 AM. There is no way I am missing this test match. It is very important to see how India respond – there is no Kohli, no Shami. As many as 4 changes – Gill, Pant, Jadeja, Siraj. Uff!

Toss: Hey Rahane, win it please! Alas, we lose the toss and again, by default, Australia bat first and we have to bat last. It could not have started worse than this.

Around 5:30 AM, Burns, Australia’s weak link, goes early but it isn’t enough for us to go from half-asleep to paying-full-attention mode. Surprisingly, Ashwin is thrown the ball in the 1st hour itself. Rahane gets it spot on – Wade is gone, and we all sprang up from the sofa when Steve Smith was done in as well. Wow! What a morning! My brother came running down into the living room as soon as Smith was gone. Excitement is high again! We were all glued to the television. India bowl out Australia for less than 200. But, we are now going to bat with 36/9 at the back of our minds. Agarwal gone for 0 in the 1st over – and those six balls from Starc were like India could have been 0/6. Fierce, accurate and full of venom – one of the most extraordinary first overs I have seen.

Dream: India bats out the whole of 2nd day and get a handy lead!

Dec 27th, a week after the horrid Saturday, Ajinkya Rahane bats like he is unaware of where he is batting, against whom he is batting and what is happening at the other end. He just bats and he gets a boxing-day-test hundred and India bat out the whole day (YES!), thanks to support from Jadeja. India is already in the lead, not too high, but yes! After the 36/9 episode, we are leading Australia again. And we want to keep batting to be more secure. In 2014, we had a lead of close to 250 runs against New Zealand and then they scored close to 700 in the 3rd innings. Yes, I’ve been through that horror too! So, a big lead is necessary, it is an insurance. But, we add another 50-something runs and close shop. Now, is Australia going to bat like New Zealand of 2014?

NO! In fact, in no time, I was almost dreaming about an innings win! Seriously! 6 out of the top 7 Australian batsmen were out before the score read 100. This is INDIA! “The” INDIA which is strong on bowling than batting, especially when playing overseas. Without any major hiccups, and the usually irritating experiences – like the tail wagging (happens a lot with us!), India bowled out Australia on Day 4 and we had to chase a meagre 70 to post yet another boxing-day-test win in Australia. Again, a BUT! 36/9 is half of 70. Jitters! Shivers! Agarwal gone, Pujara gone. Heart is in the mouth. Thankfully, Gill and Rahane play positive cricket and who would have thought that we would be going into 2021 with the series level at 1-1. Come on, India!!!!

#ind vs aus #Test Cricket #ajinkya rahane #rishabh pant

AGNYAATHAVAASI - How it could have been!

Govindha Bhargav a.k.a Vindha (Boman Irani) is the CEO of AB Group of Companies. On a rainy night in Paris, after being felicitated for his entrepreneurial skills, Vindha is brutally killed. Shocked with the sudden death of their CEO, the board of directors of AB Group call for a meeting. With discussions happening in full swing at the meeting regarding the next CEO election, Indrani (Khushboo), a loyal friend to Vindha and a highly respected lady, announces to the board that Vindha has a secret son who has always been in the scheme of things related to the company affairs, but his identity has been hidden due to security concerns. SeethaRam (Aadi Pinisetty), one of the board directors, immediately interferes terming all such things as trash. He demands that any such hidden person should immediately be brought to the board meeting within a week.

Varma (Rao Ramesh), who is another board member, who is also aware about the existence of this secret person, goes to Guwahati, Assam; where Vindha’s secret son is supposedly living. There he meets an old man Appaaji (Tanikella Bharani), from whom he understands that Vindha’s son – Abhi – is currently arrested and is in police custody after being accused of drug peddling. Varma visits the prison and meets Abhi (Pawan Kalyan) and tries to understand from him how he landed up in prison.

Abhi narrates what he remembers – Abhi is leading a life in the highlands of Guwahati, with his uncle Appaaji and both of them are actively involved in Tea cultivation and terrace farming. We are also shown glimpses of Vindha coming to meet Abhi and he informs he has been awarded for his entrepreneurial skills, for which he shall be travelling to Paris. Vindha also recollects that his company is built on trust of millions of people who have invested in it via public share offerings. The treacherous and greedy nature of few board members have resulted in his wife getting killed in an accident, in which Abhi - who was 2 yrs old then - escapes. Vindha then decides to bring up Abhi secretly - while claiming to public that both his wife and son are dead.

One misty evening, Abhi watches a group of hooligans harassing a news reporter and saves her from them. She introduces herself as SuryaKantham (Anu Emanuel), a TV news reporter who has come to Assam to cover the natural landscapes. Having spent most of his life in Assam, Abhi agrees to help Kantham in covering the most beautiful locales for her travelogue. As time passes, they both start liking each other. On the night when Kantham is supposed to be travelling back, they decide to celebrate – and the next morning he finds himself handcuffed and being driven to police station.

Varma calls upon Sharma (Murali Sharma), who is part of AB Group Legal Team, to arrange for parole to Abhi. After coming out of prison, Abhi and Varma are immediately attacked by a group and huge fight ensues in which both of them survive but have no clue who attacked them. Finally, Abhi is presented to the AB Group Board of Directors and is introduced as Abhishikth Bhargav. Seetharam, still skeptical about Abhi’s credibility and identity starts asking him very confidential and undisclosed company related information. Not only does Abhi answer all of these questions, he also puts forward a lot of information related to each of the directors present in the room, throwing everyone into a state of shock. Just when the Directors are about to approve Abhi’s credentials, everyone is shocked looking at a TV News Channel – where in, JP Group of Companies Head JayaPrakash (JayaPrakash) announces that he is planning to buy AB Group of Companies very soon. To Abhi’s shock, he sees Kantham, whom he met in Assam, beside JP and she is also part of the press meet.

*************INTERVAL***************

Indrani and other board members decide that the only way JP can be stopped by buying majority shares of AB Group is by offering him a huge purchase deal from an external person. They decide Abhi can be that external person as his identity is not yet disclosed. But, few of the board members believe the money should also come from outside sources and not through AB Group’s accounts. Abhi discloses to the board that he is aware of secret shares that his father, Vindha, had purchased which have been hidden, only to be used when there is utmost need for the company. Abhi sets out on journey to bring in these secret shares.

Abhi, along with Appaaji, travels to Bulgaria, where there is a locker for which he has the password. He gets hold of the locker and is very happy to find the shares, which do amount to a lot of money which would be enough to lure JP. While Abhi and Appaaji are travelling back to the airport, they are attacked. After a long chase and fight, Appaaji is killed and Abhi is badly injured. Upon reaching a bridge top, where Abhi has no way to escape, he decides jump into the river. The attackers get hold of the shares and return. A badly wounded Abhi is found unconscious by Sukumari (Keerthy Suresh). She is shocked seeing him. Sukumari is the daughter of Varma, who is practicing medicine in Bulgaria, and she knows about Abhi and his identity. She treats Abhi, and brings him back into decent health. He tells Sukumari that he needs to travel back to India immediately.

Abhi recollects that the attackers were led by Parag (Parag Tyagi), who is the security head of AB Group. He is not able to understand why his own company person would try to attack him. He calls Indrani and informs that he lost the shares but he is returning any time soon and warns that someone inside the company is doing all this. On knowing from Indrani that Abhi is returning, Seetharam discloses to her that it is he who organized the killing of Vindha. He also confesses that he arranged for the press meet of JP announcing buying of AB Group at the same time Abhi is introduced, so that there will be chance for Abhi to go and bring the secret shares. Seetharam also says that it is he who arranged Kantham in Assam, and planned to get Abhi arrested. He also had Varma and Abhi attacked outside Assam prison, and Parag is his ally in all these crimes. He thought that the only person who knew about the secret son of Vindha was Varma, but was shocked that Indrani was aware of it as well. He takes Indrani and Varma as hostages and locks them up.

On reaching India, Abhi and Sukumari hunt down Kantham and ask about her association with JP. She informs them that she was responsible for his arrest in Assam and she has done everything as per Sharma’s instructions and Sharma is Seetharam’s bunny. She begs for Abhi’s mercy and in return informs him about Indrani and Varma’s kidnap and that she has some video proof of the kidnapping.

A huge conference of all AB Group members is arranged for, so that Seetharam could announce that he has bought the JP Group and also found the secret shares of AB Group. Abhi who is trying to enter the conference building is stopped by Parag and a huge fight ensues. Kantham enters the scene and to Parag’s shock, she saves Abhi. Abhi enters the building, hacks the machine which is being used in the conference and plays the video footage provided to him by Kantham. The board is shocked to see the truth about Seetharam. Police arrest Seetharam and Abhi occupies the stage of the conference. He announces with authority – AB Group is a company built on trust of people and those who have garnered people’s trust will not fall!

************THE END***************

#agnyaathavaasi #pspk25 #pawan kalyan #trivikram #telugu cinema

Baahubali - The Beginning Movie Experience

Baahubali - the movie is all over us. It is ringing the box office registers like no other movie has ever managed in Indian Cinema. Such a movie coming from the Telugu Film Industry is definitely something which we can find pride in. Like everyone, I was very excited to watch the movie and luckily, I managed to watch it twice on the first day itself, amongst fully frenzied fans.

After experiencing India's biggest motion picture on the silver screen twice, there were many things to like in the movie. Unfortunately, there were as many things to dislike as well. I, as a normal movie viewer, cannot hide my comparisons while watching any movie. Irrespective where the movie is inspired from or, in some cases, copied from; I want the movie to give enough moments to remember. There should be something in it which I should be able to take back with me. For that, I wanted an emotional connect with a few of the proceedings but, it wasn't happening.

I am not an expert at screen writing. I compare with what I have watched before. That is all. Now, considering Baahubali is coming in 2 parts, I went back to a few movies which were made in multiple parts. Let us not go to Hollywood. And also, not going to go the franchise way like Dhoom or Munnabhai. Take Gangs of Wasseypur and Raktha Charitra. Both were well made movie series. One thing which you can straight away observe in these movies, which is definitely not there in Baahubali, is the linearity in storytelling. The chronology of events is in the right order in GoW and RC. But Baahubali - The Beginning, probably having been considered by Rajamouli as a first half of a full movie and not as a full movie, started telling the story in his patented flashback model.

Even before a few characters are introduced, there are people venting their anger and planning their revenge. For example, Tamannah's rebel group leader tries to motivate his comrades by shouting out against someone called Bhallala Deva (Rana) and his cruelty. Till then, we don't even know who he is, and even by the end of the movie, we only know who he is but nothing about his cruelty. In what is probably the scene of the movie, Kattappa's (Satya Raj) character bows down to Shiva (Prabhas) and during this scene, there are few cuts shown where Kattappa is shown kissing an infant Shiva with blood all over his body. Now, if these cuts shown were something which we could refer to, there would have been even more emotion involved but those scenes are reserved for the 2nd part. Incompleteness completely dominates in many such moments, which I thought could have easily avoided had the linearity in story telling was considered.

Then, there is this seriously cringe worthy track where there is a confidentiality breach in Mahishmathi kingdom and the princes are out looking for the culprit. Here, Rajamouli touches the deepest trough of telugu commercial cinema and makes a special appearance to pave way for an item song. This is right out of Puri Jagan's Business Man where he appears as a taxi driver and forces a song from nowhere. Even the editing immediately after the item song was totally hurried in order to start proceedings for THE WAR SCENE. Why I write it in capitals is, this must be the scene which must have forced Rajamouli to divide this movie in to two parts. The war scene is good in many ways - the CGI, the strategy, the devilish villains, the weapons and the pace - and bad in few ways - unnecessary hype scenes for Prabhas to portray him as good guy and absolutely dampening Rana's heroics.

What I liked in the movie, first and foremost, even more than the CGI, were Ramya Krishna and Satya Raj. In what could be the most wonderfully written supporting character, Satya Raj does a stupendous job in playing the loyal servant. Every scene he was involved in stayed with me even after the movie. I could remember his dialogues, his swirl of the sword, his bow down to the prince, everything. Ramya Krishna was very good too, in playing the queen of Mahishmathi kingdom and her expressions were absolutely awesome. These two roles are a blessing for the movie. To some extent, Prabhas and Rana were good too mostly because they got to do what they are good at and are not subjected to enter any uncomfortable zone, like Tamannah and Anushka.

The technical aspects about Baahubali stand tall, definitely. The kingdom, the water falls, the war scenes are all made to look wonderful on the big screen with very good detailing. To me, the scenes that come in the first half hour after the intermission stand out. There are few scenes were we see that the finish was not on expected levels but those can be excused considering the scenes' triviality - take dheevara song and avalanche escapade scenes for example. MM Keeravani tried to breathe life in to some routine scenes with loud engaging background score and was successful to the most extent. Mamathala Thalli song and Sivuni Aana song induce goose bumps - half due to the music and half due to the presentation on screen.

I liked Baahubali, for sure, but did not enjoy sitting through the full movie. There were more than tolerable boring moments, especially in first half, and also too many unresolved questions. A tad TOO MANY! Baahubali is "paisa vasool" entertainment, but being touted as India's biggest motion picture, it had to be more than just a value for money movie. I am damn sure that Baahubali - The Conclusion is going to be hell a lot better than the movie we have seen considering there is so much potential for a lot of drama. And hopefully, the feedback for this first part, if received positively, will help the makers in delivering an even better product.

#baahubali #SS Rajamouli #prabhas #baahubali the beginning #telugu cinema #movie review #indian cinema

Climbing Beyond Everest!

Novak Djokovic was on the cusp of achieving tennis nirvana. Just then, a steely resolved Swiss, the one whose name is not Roger Federer, rose to the occasion and played some of the most exhilarating and exciting tennis to deny him the chance to glorify his tennis credentials.

Stan Wawrinka, the man who has always been in the shadow of the great Roger Federer, even after winning Australian Open in 2014 has not shown signs of being considered the title favorite at the majors. He had the game - a very flat and powerful serve, a useful forehand and a bullet like backhand - and it was always about his temperament. How he carried himself into the matches against the top guys determined the outcome. And, out the top guys, he took a special liking to Djokovic pushing him to limits in the last four grandslam encounters.

This time, in Paris, on a sunny afternoon, Wawrinka found his range and how! There was a way in which Djokovic was defeating Nadal repeatedly in 2011. Pushing Nadal out of the court lines on his forehand side, which is his stronger side, and then hitting the ultimate shots of rallies into the backhand corner, which though might not end the point but will give an opportunity to finish it there. Djokovic, being stronger on the backhand side, faced similar barrage. Wawrinka kept hitting into Djokovic's backhand corner, trying to push him as much as possible, and then hitting his clutch shot, the backhand down the line. That Wawrinka could hit so many winners past the best mover we have in the sport speaks about his depth and precision.

Djokovic, who has thrived in situations where he has to bring himself back from the brink of defeat, was shockingly out of answers. He has been touted by one and all as the man that’d be standing with the trophy, and that chorus took more amplification after his straight sets demolition of clay king Rafael Nadal. If defeating Nadal in Roland Garros, one of the toughest tasks in the sport, is equivalent to climbing the Everest, here Djokovic had to climb beyond it. To claim that one elusive trophy, defeating Nadal was not enough. He still needed to defeat two very dangerous players on the tour and it did prove to be taxing on his part.

The semifinal against Andy Murray might have given Djokovic immense self belief for the final, had he won in straight sets, and did not have it postponed to an unexpected Saturday finish. Stan Wawrinka, more refreshed and more relaxed, made it even more tougher come Sunday. Djokovic started off well, but the finish line was too far away. After taking a detour from reaching the finish line in sets 2 and 3, Djokovic stormed to a 3-0 lead in the 4th, which was, surely, Djokovic Time! He has finished off matches from this situation number of times in the last 5 years. Unfortunately, his game did not come when it mattered the most, especially when he needed it to win Roland Garros, after having been felled by Nadal for the last three years. What we can be assured of is, Djokovic will work his best to get his hands on the Coupe des Mousquetaires. And, what I will pray is, French Open should not be to Djokovic what Wimbledon was to Lendl.

#Novak Djokovic #stan wawrinka #rafael nadal #roger federer #Tennis #french open #roland garros #Djokovic #wawrinka

The Inevitable Grand Finale

Unpredictability - it is the main USP of Sport. We thrive to see thrilling finishes, unbelievable reflexes, calculated perfection, spontaneous brilliance - all in sport. And then, there are exceptions. When we do know what will happen and yet end up enjoying. Few champion players and teams bring such rare, but exciting, predictability to sport. A Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal final was a customary culmination act in Paris and London. In the early part of the last decade, the Australian Test Cricket team won test series without any fuss. Michael Schumacher finished Formula1 races beyond any one else’s reach. MS Dhoni hits a six in the last over of almost every innings. Tennis, these days, has entered, once again, into such predictability.

One thing which needs mention here is - this predictability is something we enjoy despite we being aware about the outcome. It is like you are listening to your favorite song on loop. It is like watching your favorite movie for the umpteenth time. You still find it comforting your senses. You tend to enjoy it even more. If you take theatre, it is like you are watching your favorite performer do the same moves again and again and it will always wow you.

Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic has now made headlines for 41 times on the ATP World Tour and will make it for the 42nd time this Sunday. Tennis on red clay in Paris.. when someone starts on these lines, he is most probably talking about Rafael Nadal. Rafa has been THE Emperor in Paris. In 10 years, he has lost ONE match. That too, because his knees let him down. Considering his red hot form in Paris this fortnight, one can easily count on him to claim an unprecedented Ninth Roland Garros title. But, if there is one man who can stop him, he is Novak Djokovic. And, there is more to this. Djokovic, if he wins, will become the eighth man to claim all four grand slam titles. History beckons both of them and the finale is all set up for some extraordinary shot making and never-ending rallies.

Djokovic and Nadal have played 5 times in Roland Garros and Nadal has won all of them. You’d think that the odds favor the Mallorcan. But the Serb has won four on the trott since last year’s US Open. And to top it all, he dismantled Nadal on clay two weeks back in Rome. This is definitely Djokovic’s best chance considering his mental stronghold over Nadal’s defence and should he start dictating the rallies from the start, he might pull it off. But Rafa, known for his unrelenting attitude, never paves way for any errors. He will grit it out until the last shot. I’d say, it will be Melbourne 2012 again!

Somehow, the pre-mood to this final is like Wimbledon 2008. Rafa was trying hard to topple Roger on grass. 2006, he lost in four sets. 2007, he came closer, lost in 5. 2008, he finally did it in one of the greatest grand slam title matches of all time. This time it is Novak trying to defeat Rafa in Paris. 2012, he lost in four sets. If not for the rain break, it’d have gone to the decider - for sure! 2013, though in a semifinal which can be termed as a virtual final, he lost in 5 sets. He let slip a 4-2 lead in the decider. 2014, expect the match to go 5 sets and yes, for a change, expect Novak to lift the French Open trophy. Rafa is supposed to win this one, by default. But this year, lets hope for Novak to join the greats who have completed their Career Grand Slams!!

PS: This post was written for www.nimblefootwork.com.

#Rafael Nadal #Novak Djokovic #Roger Federer #ATP World Tour #French Open #Tennis #Grand Slam

Thank you, Sachin!

Mohammed Shami was charging in, in search of that last wicket. He was bowling fast inswingers to uproot the stumps, looking for that gap between bat and pad. I am not sure he realized, if he had got what he was aiming for, he would end a great career of India’s most profound cricketer.

Sachin Tendulkar was standing at square leg position. Not knowing when it would all end. Probably rehearsing his thank you speech. For sure, he would have known that the end was near. Shami clean bowled the last West Indies batsman and Tendulkar, like he has celebrated every win during his career, jumped into the air – hands raised – and came running to collect a stump as a souvenir, for one last time. It was all over. Sachin Tendulkar would not return to a cricket ground in India colors again.

It was hard for me to digest the happenings. India had won a test match. The commentators were going gaga over the great man’s career. Team India was giving a guard of honor. And I was sitting in my drawing room watching live, shedding tears. Cricket has made me emotional even before. That six which Dhoni hit to cap off that memorable night in the same ground had driven me crazy and I cried out of joy. But this was different. This was a sudden smack. This felt like a break up. It hardly gave me time to think. I felt emptied. That straight drive. That upper cut. That backfoot punch. That raising of the bat on reaching a milestone. All gone together. Forever!

I gathered myself. Sat in front of the television waiting to hear the great man talk. He spoke. He thanked everyone he could. He said his last words as a professional cricketer. He cried. He went around the ground waving to the thousands who stayed back, until he took his last step into the dressing room. He was carried on the shoulders of the captain and his heir while the police were parrying away any obstructions. And that was that. Sachin Tendulkar had finished playing cricket for India.

His last innings as the greatest two-down batsman in test cricket history ended with the opposition captain holding on to a tough chance in the slips. Darren Sammy, the catcher, felt as if he had committed a crime cutting short Sachin’s fairy tale final innings as he was on his way towards a 101st international hundred. Dinesh Ramdin, the wicket keeper consoled Sammy that it is okay. That gesture felt like consoling me as well. That it is okay. It has ended. Everything has an end. And after all, it was not a Bradman-like or a Ganguy-like anti-climax. But, Tendulkar, unlike any other batsman in the sport, is expected to depart only after reaching the magical three-figure mark. Even a match winning eightly-plus score would be termed injustice on Tendulkar’s part. And that is why, a well compiled 74 runs was just good but not magnificent for many who turned up to watch his last innings.

To recap where all this sinking feeling had actually started – Tendulkar started walking down the stairs after having waited for Vijay to be termed out. The cameraman followed him all the way until he reached the pitch. It was not the modern-age spider cam. It was a cameraman who walked all along in to the middle of the ground. The cameraman was not blocked. Neither by the umpires, nor by the security guards on the boundary ropes. The opposition also waited. No cameraman ever accompanied a middle order batsman to the pitch. Only the openers get such coverage. But even while Tendulkar was leveling the pitch, the cameraman was there – covering as much as he could, from the closest possible view, so that we TV viewers get what we wanted. It was Tendulkar’s moment. Nothing mattered.

And then, what followed was the last performance of the artist. The most elegant batsman started wielding his willow like only he can and his composure while batting did not display any hint of nervousness and his feet moved in a lilting fashion putting a doubt into our minds – why is he even retiring!! I am not sure if he felt it was his responsibility to entertain us with all his moves for one last time. But, Tendulkar tried every shot in the book. His multiple wafts attempting an upper cut of Tino Best made me realize that Tendulkar was desperate to give his fans as much as he could. His straight driving was sublime. His trademark flick to the square leg was at its most beautiful. But, to me, the stand out stroke was the backfoot punch, standing tall on his toes, through the cover region. The ball sped to the fence as if it was hit with immense power but Tendulkar hardly gave it a push. That Tendulkar backfoot punch, I say!

Tendulkar looked good for a 100. A hundred in Mumbai in his last innings. What-an-end it would have been. And then, he decided to prod a half turning delivery to edge the ball into Sammy’s reliable hands. To add to that list of quiz questions on Tendulkar – add this one as well: Who was the bowler who dismissed Sachin Tendulkar in his last international innings. Because, not even a wild guess would land you anywhere near to the answer. It is Narsingh Deonarine. Throughout his career, Tendulkar has gifted his wicket to little-known bowlers. May be, he was too good for the best bowlers around and was tentative against these part timers.

After enduring the unending pressures of being the most important batsman in the Indian line up for almost 20 years, Tendulkar finally decided that he could pave way for the next generation. He might have been assured that the once famous Indian batting line up would go into the hands of the very capable and talented youngsters like Pujara, Kohli, Dhawan and Rohit. People called for his retirement after Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman announced their retirements but may be, he felt there was a need for him to stay until India found some stability and consistency. As I have always said, only Tendulkar would have known the best time for him to retire.

To say Thank You would be an understatement. Tendulkar has not just given us countless moments of glory and pride. He has taught us the way we can lead life by committing ourselves to our passion. You can learn a lot from Tendulkar’s career. After having lost his beloved father mid-way through the world cup, he returned back to his team’s duties after attending to his father’s rituals, and scored a hundred. That just shows how much serving the country’s cricket team meant to him. After witnessing hundreds of Mumbai inmates killed via an act of terrorism, he provided India with an opportunity to rejoice – chasing down 380+ against England with an unbeaten hundred. Even after announcing his retirement, though he didn’t had to, he chose to represent his Mumbai ranji team for one last time, and made sure that he got his team to winning shores. He brought sanctity to the 22-yard strip by keeping it close to his heart - after all, the artist respects the stage that provided him the opportunity to showcase his talent. And more importantly, his thank you speech told us that we shouldn’t forget our well wishers and people who have encouraged us. Every step in his journey can be carved into a moral science lesson and as Dhoni asserted – he is the most ideal role model. You cannot ask for a better source of inspiration. Tendulkar has been awarded India’s highest civilian honor but I guess, he was awarded the best honor when people said – “If cricket is a religion, Sachin is God!”.

I personally have had multiple Sachin moments. The 200* in Gwalior, the 175 in Hyderabad, The 103* in Chennai, the 98 in Centurion, the twin hundreds in Sharjah, the 5/32 against Australia with the ball, the countless straight drives, the perfect square cuts, the measured pull shots, the 100 hundreds and that boyish charm which Tendulkar has carried on his face even in the late thirties. I can never imagine another batsman as elegant as him, another player as committed as him and another celebrity as modest as him. Thank you Sachin for having entertained us for over 24 years. It has been a pleasure – more a privilege – watching you play for India. Thank you!!

#Sachin #Sachin tendulkar #thankyousachin #retirement #farewellpost

2013 – The Year End Party is over!

It was no big surprise. The two best players of 2013 were expected to be a part of the culmination act. With no defeat against their names during the tournament, here they were, in the bright blue colored O2 Arena, in an attempt to re-establish their already historic rivalry.

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic came across as opponents for a mind-boggling 39th time. Nadal never won the year-end championships and Djokovic made sure that, even this year, the title had eluded Nadal's already decorated trophy cabinet. Which is fine, right? One player had to win, and today it was Djokovic. Even during that famous 5hr 53min tussle, one player had to win. But today, the problem was how the win was achieved and how the submission happened.

Nadal was playing catch up all through the match. He gave away a 3-0 lead in the first set. Gathered himself and then levelled up at 3-3 and then again lost out towards the first set climax. Again in the second, Djokovic was flaying Nadal's attempts to comeback by moving him into the most impossible corners. We all knew, if it was Djokovic vs Nadal, it is Djokovic's double fisted murderous backhand vs Nadal's villainously topspun astute forehand. Alas! Nadal’s forehand was beaten by his own dismal serve today. Djokovic managed to win almost 45% of return points and created 11-break points out of which one was a championship point. Nadal managed to save 8 of them with his never-say-die and untiring attitude but the three he couldn’t save were the game changers. On the other hand, Djokovic served well enough to allow Nadal only 3-break opportunities out of which Nadal converted just one. If not for Nadal’s resilience in the 7th game of the second set, the match would have ended even earlier.

After having what Nadal himself describes as a terrific year, he is still on the wrong side of the results after the US Open. History suggests that Nadal managed to win very few titles in the post US Open tournaments and even in the stellar year he has had in 2013, managed only two finals, losing both to Djokovic. He has always asserted his desire to win the World Tour Finals tournament which is the epitome of high quality tennis. After reaching the finals for a 2nd time, undefeated, he finds himself on the losing end.

For Djokovic, after having relinquished his no.1 ranking to Nadal in Beijing, it was time to play his own brand of fearless tennis – unleashing those tramline touching brutal ground strokes deep into the opponents court. Mentally, Djokovic has been a rock for the last 3 years and he has rarely blinked when finishing off matches. You will remember Djokovic saving match points and coming back to win matches. But, rarely would you recollect him losing matches from match point situations. Although, he looked jaded in his round-robin matches at times, losing the 2nd set in each of the 3 matches, he brought his A-game against Wawrinka in the semis and outgunned Nadal today with ease.

The two-horse race for the no.1 ranking will be going on and on until Nadal’s body gives up and considering Djokovic’s brute force of a game and his rock solid mental strength, the no.1 ranking will be switching sides very often. Eagerly waiting for the curtains to open in Melbourne, 2014!

PS: I just hope Andy Murray recovers well enough from his surgery and adds more spice to the race. It is not that he can become the no.1 player but, at least he is capable enough to spoil the wannabe no.1’s results. And yes, I hope Juan Martin Del Potro gets better and better (again, until his body helps him) and pushes the top guys to the limit. I hope David Ferrer has learnt his lesson – never play seven tournaments in seven weeks. Lastly, not leaving him away, I wish Roger Federer all the very best for a better 2014 – he can definitely not make it worse than 2013. Can he? :-O

#Novak Djokovic #rafael nadal #Tennis #roger federer #juan martin del potro #andy murray #david ferrer #ATP World Tour #ATP World Tour Finals

Roger Federer - His Mojo - His Fan (Me)

Roger Federer is one reason why I wanted to write. I wanted some space to archive few of his memorable shots and how I was thrilled watching them on television. Thanks to tumblr, I found the space. Roger’s last match of 2012 was the last I wrote about him. 2013 has not given me the Roger Federer I wanted to relish watching. At least, not yet. Just one title, one final and a few very early exits - can never forget Wimbledon - a win there, a loss here, very blurry. Everything was not just like Federer. I knew a Federer who would thrash all his critics by winning Wimbledon and reclaim the no.1 spot for a breath taking 287th week - an all time record! I knew a Federer who would fight 5 sets to win a tight Quarter Final against Tsonga in Melbourne which he followed up with an intense semifinal against Andy Murray. I knew a Federer who would reach the semifinals in Melbourne for 10 years, straight. That was it. There ended his sparkling tennis show and started some horrifying results. His physical condition asked him some unanswerable questions. It - the sore back - overcame his desire to cheer his home fans in Gstaad by driving him out in the first match itself. He has even been tempted to try out a new racquet to improve his results. The fan inside me was asking whether this was the time I make my shift to becoming a lifetime devotee to the God of Tennis and admire his techinque or should the fan inside me still persist and believe that Roger Federer is here to win against the top guys. After all, he has had just one top-10 win this year. I wanted to see Federer rise, rise from the lower than the lowest point- two consecutive losses against players outside the top 100. And that rise, I wanted to see in the twin masters in North America out of which he chose to take part in only his Cincy defence. Right from the first match, against Kohlschreiber, he was tentative. He was back with his normal racquet, and seemed like he was back with his typical fed-errors. Somehow, he managed to win over Kohlschreiber who is no doubt a challenging player - beating all the other top 4 guys barring Fed. Enter Tommy Haas, Federer’s rival long ago, who is, sort of, having a revival in his own style. Federer comfortably lost the first set 1-6 and down a break 0-2 in the second. I was staring at the skies asking for the unthinkable - felt like that after Federer’s dismal display all through the match until then. All of a sudden, Federer started finding his range and at the same time, Haas started losing his. As it has been with Haas, he grew more and more irritated with himself and committed error after error. Federer went through to the quarters where he’d meet his arch-rival Nadal. Let me tell you…. I was expecting a 6-2 6-2 kind of a result in favor of Nadal. Frankly, I wanted Federer to fight. Thats it. But!!!!! Federer, like only he can, chose to go on attack, blunt Nadal’s top spin forehands with some sharp backhands and bingo — first set was done 7-5 Federer!! Out of nowhere, Federer produces his best tennis of 2013 against his nemesis and raises hopes in fans like me that he is going to win it. Alas, Nadal’s current form and his hard court dominance would not allow a Federer win. But Federer did more than expected, he even had opportunities to go ahead in the 2nd set. He saved 4 match points in the final game of the match with some fearless tennis and scarily unbelievable shots. He could have extended the match further had he challenged on that last shot which Nadal hit. It was just wide. He lost. And then, we are into the US Open. All eyes on the second week blockbuster Federer - Nadal Quarter Final. Federer breezes through his first three matches and is pitted against Tommy Robredo, who has managed 2 sets in 10 meetings, so far against Federer. But, after some shambolic tennis from the legend, Robredo would open his account in the head-to-head with Federer. No one would have expected Robredo to overturn 0-10 record, or even if the most insane did, it was never going to be in 3 straight sets. Federer is famous for his 5-set match winning potential. He has had more than 250 wins in grand slam matches alone. But still, he managed to lose in straight sets twice this year. Remember the quarters in Roland Garros. One thing is for sure. Not everything is right with Roger. But his love for the game is still there. I mean, you’d easily realize how devastated he was after his most recent loss if you saw the post match interview. So what should he target next?? ONE - If I am Roger, I would not want to end up as a year end top-20 player. I’d rather try to stay in the top-10, if possible top-8 and play in London. TWO - play five weeks straight to end the season which means Shanghai, Stockholm, Basel, Paris and London (if qualified). THREE - Roger should not be forgetting that he is still a player who worries his opponents. If a Stakhovsky can beat Federer, so can Federer beat a Nadal or a Djokovic on his day. The confidence drop should be NIL. Here is wishing Roger all the very best for a good season end.

#rogerfederer #federer #tennis #fedex #nadal #djokovic

2012 Highlights - Cricket, Tennis and Movies!!!

#Sachin tendulkar #Roger Federer #English Vinglish #The Dark Knight Rises #Christopher Nolan #Eega #SS Rajamouli #Sudeep #VVS Laxman #Rahul Dravid #The Wall #Ricky Ponting #Punter

SACHIN Out-a??

When Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement from the ODI format of the game, for a minute, the mind went blank. Then I said to myself that even he is human and this was expected now or later. After that, I started asking all my friends - what was your SACHIN moment? Each one gave their own version. Then, I started to recollect all his marvels, that I have seen, heard, followed and then, suddenly, it struck me. Nobody would ask nobody, from now, when an India ODI is going on, "SACHIN OUT-A??" (south-indian accented version for "is Sachin out?")

According to the Hindu mythology, there were ten avatars of Lord Vishnu - each with a specific purpose. If ever he thought of an avatar to propel Cricket - the sport, then that avatar is SACHIN TENDULKAR. Hence, that famous phrase - Cricket is our religion. Sachin is our God!

I read this brilliant piece by Siddhartha (@sidvee on twitter). How we have grown watching Sachin Tendulkar and how we have been drenched in the raining runs, was articulated in the most poetic manner. He instilled some nostalgia in me and hence this rewinding post.

Let us go to World Cup 2011.

24 March 2011 - India vs Australia

I had to go to office. I could not watch a single ball in the Australia innings. Ricky Ponting made a very good hundred to give his team a chance to challenge the Indian batting line up. I was following the match on espncricinfo. Sachin Tendulkar was on song, going by the commentary feed. One of the comments on the feed was - Sachin entered into God Mode. I was very tentative. I couldn't work any more. I started. I was now following things on mobile. He went past his fifty and what I see next is that he is out - caught keeper. The website hanged for a moment. My senses stopped working for a minute. I could not resist. I called my friend.

"SACHIN OUT-A???" I ask. He says no. I repeated "SACHIN OUT-A??" He said "aa aa OUT!" There was this irritating check by the umpire for a noball it seems. Boss! The umpire was playing with me there. You can't ask Sachin to wait because you are asking everyone watching to wait as well, irrespective of what they are doing.

30 March 2011 - India vs Pakistan

The semi final. Big match. I and my friend were watching the match in a shopping mall. People were going bonkers. Sehwag was smashing Umar Gul as if he were an amateur. Sachin Tendulkar was calm and composed. I don't remember exactly when, but all of a sudden, there was pin-drop silence. Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged out LBW to Saeed Ajmal. Oh my God! What have you done - this was what was quite evidently visible on every face in the hall. But wait! Sachin Tendulkar was not out! He, against all the hype around his reluctance to test UDRS's usefulness, opted for it. It showed that the ball spun a mile and bounced decently high to negate the umpire's decision. You would need a ton of cotton to stuff into your ears in case you wanted to escape the roar that followed. SACHIN OUT-A?? No, not out! He went on to make 85 crucial runs for us and even took the Man of the Match award.

Rewind to two World Cups ago.

1 March 2003 - India vs Pakistan

I was preparing for my 11th standard exams. There was no cable TV in my home. This was to keep me away from watching GOD bat - mind it!! So that I can concentrate on my studies. But, this was world cup. Opponent was Pakistan. There were no mobile phones. We had a radio in our house. The hindi commentary in a hurried fashion was fun. But the match was real tense. Pakistan posted a formidable total. I only heard the commentary twice, for about 10 minutes, during Pakistan's innings, just to make sure I studied enough to make some time during our innings.

A few balls into our innings, the commentator said something like this - "Shoaib Akhtar ka yeh gend, aur yeh third man ke ore se chakka" (Shoaib Akhtar is bowling, and it is a six through third man). WTF! A six through third man? I did not have the chance to watch a replay. There was no youtube also. The commentator would not remind any thing about that shot. I was just swishing my arms imagining how Sachin would have hit that shot. The bad part was, Sachin Tendulkar was motoring on for a considerably long time and I had to go back to my books. And then, my mom screeches "SACHIN OUT!" I run out of my room. Ask her - "SACHIN OUT-A??" She says yes. There would be no replay to see how it happened. I only knew through the papers the next day that he was out caught to Shoaib Akhtar for 98. 98? I forgot India won and was completely depressed Sachin was out for 98.

Now let us go back further.

18 January 1998 - India vs Pakistan

That famous Dhaka final. I know, for almost everyone of us, the most defining moment of the match was Hrishikesh Kanitkar hitting the ball over mid-wicket for a four. As expected, this match takes special memory space.

I was studying for some exam. Some slip test, may be. 7th standard mathematics. Toss done. Pakistan to bat first. I took permission from Dad that I will not watch a single ball in Pakistan innings and will watch complete India innings. He obliged. I went into my room. 4 hours later, I returned. The target was a humongous 315. No team ever chased something that huge. I was already fascinated by records by then. Every second, I'd pray some how India achieve the target. Enter Sachin Tendulkar, with his able ally Saurav Ganguly. I remember Sachin Tendulkar smashing Azhar Mahmood to every corner of the ground. Sachin was in real GOD mode. 35 of 24. 7 fours. Enter Shahid Afridi in the 9th over itself. Sachin shashays down he track and smashes him straight for a six. I am on the edge of the chair. And then, from nowhere, he mishits and is caught. Me, bro and Dad yell "Oh no!" My mom runs out from the kitchen shocked and shouting "SACHIN OUT-A??"

22 April 1998 - India vs Australia

I finished my 7th standard exams. Was on a vacation. My mom's sister's place. Tha cable TV was not of a very good quality there. The sound was clear but not the image. It is still half okay, right? This was a match India can lose, but they have to make sure they get to a score which will confirm their final berth. I don't remember exactly how much, but it was somewhere close to 240. Sachin Tendulkar walked into the famous Arab Stadium. Determined. Target set. Unwavered.

He saw his companions leaving the job to him. Wickets were being gifted. Sachin was pulling, driving, sometimes smashing. He was accompanied by VVS Laxman when the score read 138-4. What I remember later was just Tony Grieg bursting. "Biggieee... thats gone" "Huge hit that" "Oh thats a magnificent hit" - he was going ballistic on air. Such was Sachin's dominance. Whenever the image was stable on TV, there was a moment of brilliance from Sachin. If ever there was something you can call Single-handedly done, take this innings. He got India over the line. India were through to the final. But, there was no stopping Sachin. He was driving India to an unbelievable victory.

He pulled a Fleming bouncer. I am not sure he nicked it. But he was sure. He walked. If I remember, Robinson was the umpire and even he was flummoxed. May be, Sachin thought he did what he had to, and there is no point standing there looking like a guilty winner. But those were 143 golden runs. I have treasured them, and I am sure you all have. Again, "SACHIN OUT-A??" Nobody knew, except him.

Now, fast forward to 2010.

24 February 2010 - India vs South Africa

Half past one in the afternoon. I was tentative. Not fully ready to go to office. Wanted to wait for the toss. India won the toss and chose to bat. I thought I will watch the powerplay overs and then go to office. What happened later was incredibly insane.

I was constantly on phone, talking to my fellow Sachin-tard, my friend, for the last five overs. Because, Sachin Tendulkar was batting in the 190s. Yes, you read that right. He was in the 190s.

Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to score a double century in ODI cricket history and this, he did when you thought he wouldn't last 50 overs at 37. Some where through the innings, my manager called me and asked "SACHIN OUT-A??" Because, he knew that I will be in office only if Sachin was out. But, not that day.

I went to office after India innings, treated my team members to some yummy icecream. Not sure why, but I felt I had to treat them celebrating Sachin's double ton.

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I can go on like this for any number of innings. Nothing, let me repeat, Nothing is more beautiful in cricket than watching Sachin Tendulkar bat. His effortlessness, his poise, his elegance, his composure, his mastery - everything is just perfect when he is batting in full flow.

Sachin Tendulkar has done to the sport what noone else might even dream of doing. This, he has done with his sole and simple responsibility of scoring runs for India.

Tomorrow, I will not be surprised when someone comes to me during an India ODI asking me "SACHIN OUT-A??" because it is like an involuntary question. I would say "YES. He is OUT! Forever." with a sad tone.

#Sachin tendulkar #Cricket #Sachin #Tendulkar #ODI Cricket #Retirement

Why Sachin Tendulkar should...

Accept it. Team India is passing through dire straits. The unconquerable giants in Indian conditions have been tamed by the English who have been recently marred by their tentativeness against quality spin bowling. That very trait has been highlighted in the prelude to the current series but there is ample proof now, that they’ve easily answered the questions posed by the Indian spin duo. There is outrage from all corners of the cricket loving world over the consistent failures of the Indian batsmen, the tactical astuteness of the captain, and the mentoring ability of the coach and rather less unexpectedly, as it has always been the case, the bowlers’ efficiency has also been drawing a lot of flak.

Suggestions have been pouring in to ring in the changes which, hopefully, will turn the tide in our favour. All the suggestions are easily explainable in one line – drop the non-performing players. One of the non-performing players, without a doubt, has been the grand daddy of Indian Cricket, one Mr. Sachin Tendulkar.

Let me remind you that there has been a non-existent no.6 in our batting line up post VVS Laxman. Once reliable, now fallible, Gautam Gambhir is doing very poorly at the top, apart from claiming that he is part of India’s most prolific opening pair. Virat Kohli is still learning the art of middle order batting in test cricket, which he seems to have already mastered in the limited overs format. The captain, who hasn’t been as good a batsman in Test cricket as he has been in ODIs, has been another serious under-performer in recent times (yeah, but his triple role as a batsman-captain-keeper in three formats is definitely taking a toll on him). Sehwag has been his usual self in not converting brisk starts into big hundreds. The less I speak about the bowling department, the better it would be. Finding some solace in Pujara, who has made us miss Rahul Dravid a little less, has been the only silver lining. Despite all these frailties, Sachin Tendulkar seems to be the guy chosen, who has to make way, for a better tomorrow.

Experts, critics, fans and some fellow cricketers have been forecasting Tendulkar’s retirement for a long time now. Some have even suggested that Tendulkar has been unreasonably extending his career, thereby making his replacement(?), who is supposed to be Test Cricket ready, wait for agonizingly long time. Is his case for retirement that strong?

Sachin Tendulkar, the only player in test cricket history to score more than fifty centuries, uncharacteristically, has not reached three digits since his masterful innings in the Capetown New Year test two years ago. Since that match, India has had the most centuries by the now retired Rahul Dravid and the next in that list is his potential replacement, Cheteshwar Pujara. Virat Kohli has scored two, one of which was a very impressive innings in a losing cause in Adelaide. Virender Sehwag had one in the first innings of this ongoing series, against an English attack still adapting to the Indian conditions. This suggests that Tendulkar has been out-tonned by three Indian batsmen who are still part of our plans, out of whom only Pujara has shown promise in the current series and the other two are not performing to their potential.

If you consider the performance of our top order batsmen, batting at nos. 1 to 7 (yes, Ravichandran Ashwin has been excluded), from last year’s England tour onwards, Tendulkar hasn't been at his best. But, he has definitely performed better than Gambhir, Dhoni and the no.6 batsman (Laxman/Raina/Yuvraj). He might not have scored 100s. But, if you consider 75 runs a valuable contribution, which has to be definitely handy, if not crucial, for a team averaging less than 300 runs per innings, Sachin Tendulkar has provided such innings in the highest number. And please note, Gambhir, Sehwag, Laxman, Dhoni have had just one such innings. Just one!

Every batsman goes through a low confidence phase. Tendulkar, after having played cricket at the highest level for more than 23 years now, has had more than a few such phases, and is going through one now. We have seen him come out of such phases in incredibly impressive manner.

A few years ago, against Australia, he just switched off driving through the covers to produce one hell of an innings and to get him out of a slump. If you have seen his last test century, against a hostile South Africa bowling attack, you would know how much he loves being challenged and how much he cherishes winning.

Yes, he is 39. Yes, he is being dismissed bowled more often these days. Yes, he isn’t reading the late reverse swing. Yes, he isn’t anticipating an arm ball. Yes, you can show him the door. But, before you force him through it, think. Is he the only player failing miserably? Let me write it in bold – NO.

Next. Have you seen Tendulkar show any traces of casualness towards Cricket – the sport? Have you seen Tendulkar sit out of practice drills? Despite being the eldest player in the team, have you ever, EVER, seen him withdraw half way through a possible boundary saving opportunity? Have you seen Tendulkar deflated and uninterested with the proceedings in the ground, even in the worst of situations –something like India fielding with score reading 400/1? Again, the answer would be a resounding NO.

It is not just runs that Sachin Tendulkar adds to the team. He provides unparalleled enthusiasm. He provides insight into a lot of tactical aspects. He is often standing at mid-off when India’s senior most fast bowler is bowling, continuously encouraging him and giving him that extra push to go for more. More than anything, he draws the crowd’s attention towards the team.

Some have suggested that Tendulkar could learn from Ponting’s retirement gesture. If you observe more carefully, you would agree that Ponting had left the team only after the team was decently stabilized under Michael Clarke. Ponting struggled for more than two years (please do not take India’s shambolic bowlers into consideration). But, he hung in there. Only after realizing that Australia can cope up with his absence, he retired. Does Sachin Tendulkar find himself in a similar position?

Tendulkar has seen two of his colleagues retire, both, who are legends in the game with tons of runs and bucket loads of experience, leaving a huge vacuum in the batting line up. His team, which was blessed with a tremendous record at home, especially in the batting department, are staring down the barrel at a possible series defeat. With so much going against his team, he can choose to sit out, retire and relax in his mansion. But, watching Tendulkar all these years, I know, and I am sure you all know, he isn’t someone to give up. If you watched his 76 on Day1 of the Kolkata test, you would have known how much he is yearning for contributing to the team. Only after he sees India through this difficult phase, he should be, and he will be, I am sure, thinking about leaving the game.

And, lastly, it is foolish of you to think that Tendulkar doesn’t know when to retire.

Also, please do remember, you don’t take numbers into consideration to decide when to retire.

#Sachin Tendulkar #MS Dhoni #Team India #Cricket #India vs England #Retirement #Rahul Dravid #Ricky Ponting

A Battle Half Won

At the end of Day1 in the Eden Gardens test, India are looking at another below par first innings total, and might have to employ all the weapons in their bowling arsenal to find themselves in a better position midway through the test match. On another unexpected lowly day for India, on a routine first day batting surface, wickets were being gifted and bowling – as an art form – was on terrific display by James Anderson. Amongst all this, there was a small battle going on – a battle waged by an ageing cricketer against his own aura and image. A question he was trying to answer, which he did - partly, may be not in the way he would have liked to, but at least the answer was there.

On a day which saw Virat Kohli fail miserably for the fourth time in the ongoing series, which saw Monty Panesar find a way through the assured defence of our most in form batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar was, not very prettily though, piling on some runs against his name. He crossed 34,000 international runs with his second single of the day, which is not what we are talking about. We are talking about how Sachin Tendulkar – the Tendulkar of today, the Tendulkar who is being asked to call it a day by someone or the other almost every day – tried to hang in there when India needed him the most.

The superstar that he is, Tendulkar would have liked to dominate every bowler he faced today. In his prime, Tendulkar would have majestically driven half volleys from James Anderson through the covers, he would have wanted to loft Panesar over midwicket against the spin, he would have loved to open up his stance and lift Swann over extra cover. But like Sanjay Manjrekar mentioned in his tweet, Sachin Tendulkar is a unique superstar. Today, the star put his superstar image aside, put his routine work ethic into play, willing to hang in there with none of his artistry on display, wait eons for that odd bad ball and then surgically nudge it away for that occasional boundary.

Initially, especially against Steve Finn, Tendulkar was at his recent tentative best. He had quite a few balls going past his outside edge, he even misread the bounce when Finn was trying for the short of good length range, and the strokes were not flying off his bat. But the most important aspect was, he hung in there. He wouldn’t allow the impatient superstar inside him to overpower his serenity. After waiting for nearly 20 balls, his first boundary arrived, not in a very authoritative manner though. It seemed like an edge past the slip. When you see the scoreboard, and it says Tendulkar is scoring at less than 25 runs per 100 balls, you are a little bit tensed how he would go on from there. Slowly he reached double figures, and then, the rate at which he was scoring increased. In fact, it increased by an enormous rate as Mohandas Menon, on twitter, points out that Tendulkar scored his first 28 runs in 82 balls and the next 22 in 17 balls to complete his fifty. His first fifty in eleven months. His first fifty after 10 innings.

When things are going well, and if you are Sachin Tendulkar batting on 76, you’d want the game to go on without a break. But, the umpires had other ideas. They called for a drinks break. Match resumes. James Anderson to Sachin Tendulkar. A neat length ball just moving away a tad, a nice kiss to the outside edge, and nicely pouched by Matt Prior. The end. Everything happened in a matter of a few seconds, and Tendulkar was walking back, with his bat under his arm, eyes staring at the sky.

The innings Tendulkar played today - neatly compiled 76 runs - is definitely a very important contribution to the paltry 273 runs India have managed. But, if you see it in a more Tendulkar perspective, he half won a battle against his superstar image by hanging in there, piling on the runs, oozing some confidence and portraying his natural brilliance. Why I say he half won is because, Tendulkar can only win over his superstar image by scoring a ton. Nothing in this world matches a Supreme Tendulkar Ton, and that was the only thing which was left unachieved today by the great man.

#Sachin Tendulkar #India vs England #Test Cricket #Eden Gardens #India vs England 3rd Test #Virat Kohli #James Anderson #Monty Panesar #Steve Finn

The Fitting Finale

It had to end that way. The world no.1 crunching an otherworldly winner past the world no.2 to wind up what has been a pulsating season of tennis. In the end, grit defeated genius. Muscle defeated marvel. The best player defeated the fan favourite. Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer.

The ATP World Tour Finals has generally been contested by fatigued and exhausted top eight players. It isn't something like the slams, where 3 out of the BIG4 making it into the last four is routine. The format is also not like win-all-matches-to-win-tournament type. But, it is considered prestigious and also, sometimes, as the 5th major of the year. This year, the two best players of the season, without a doubt, made it into the last match of the year. A fitting finale to an extremely satisfying tennis season.

Both, Djokovic and Federer, took to court as if they were writing their last examination just before the holidays commence. I think they were ready to give it all for one last time in2012. After all, they have been the frontrunners in the list of players who have provided countless jaw dropping moments this year and have wowed every audience on this planet.

Twice, Djokovic came from behind. Twice, a player was serving for the set. Twice, the player serving for the set was broken. Break points were earned. Break points were saved. Set points were there for the taking, but they’d be gone unutilised. But, there was only “ONE” match point for the day and Djokovic chose that particular point to hit, what I can call, the Shot-of-the-year. Federer serving, at 5-6 30-40. A long rally ensues. Both the players are hitting the ball perfectly. Suddenly Federer sees an opening, hits an off forehand and rushes into the net, but even he wouldn’t have imagined that it would be his last touch for the year. Djokovic ran into his backhand corner, skidding through, and managed to run the ball past Federer and there you go, the Shot-of-the-year. May be, there are many other shots which make their appearances on youtube which fall under the same category. But, this shot, which Djokovic hit on match point, from an extremely impossible position, in the last match of the year, which would qualify as one of the best finals played in the World Tour Finals, has to be the best shot because it was the finishing shot which asserted the credentials of Djokovic as the best player in the world, because there wouldn’t be another shot from these two legends, atleast for the next 6-7 weeks, and because it was hit against Roger Federer. Just watch how Djokovic reacts to the shot, and the result. He is roaring – I AM THE WORLD NO.1.

If Djokovic hit his best shot of the day on match point, Federer wasn’t bad either in choosing the best situation to hit his best shot. After having broken Djokovic at 5-4 and successfully extending the first set into a tie-break, Federer had to stave off a set point at 5-6 down in the breaker. Federer served to the forehand of Djokovic, which Djokovic returned with a regulation block, Federer lunged on to the return moving forward but hit the ball straight at Djokovic, who countered with a very powerful crosscourt forehand. Federer then stretched as much as he could without going off balance and put the ball back in play. Djokovic, insanely quick on his heels, came running into the net to return the ball. By then Federer had positioned himself back in the centre and had to run back to his forehand side, took three steps and whipped a forehand crosscourt. It was the turn of Djokovic, and the crowd, to enter into a state of madness. His expression was something like – “What did I just see!” I am sure the majority of the crowd would have pinched themselves to assure it wasn’t a dream. What made the shot even more special was Federer’s reaction. I can say that he was close to his animated best on a tennis court. It just shows that playing tennis at the highest level is business for Roger Federer.

The match, played over two hours, decided in two sets, decorated with two fantabulous shots, contested by two Legends, will definitely be remembered for the sheer quality of tennis played, for a long time. The sport has arrived leaps and bounds in 2012, with four different major champions, and with such a finale, it truly has.

#Roger Federer #Novak Djokovic #ATP World Tour Finals #ATP World Tour #Tennis #Best Tennis Shot #World No.1

ARGO – Movie Experience

ARGO. Nice name, no? Especially, for a fake movie, it is even better, right? No no, wait. I think I am confusing you. ARGO is a real movie, a really good movie. It is titled ARGO because there is a fake movie in it, titled ARGO, which is used as a ploy by a CIA agent for an exfiltration operation. Okay, now forget that there is a fake movie titled ARGO. From this point onwards, ARGO refers to the real ARGO – the real movie, playing in a theatre near you, which has been directed by Ben Affleck.

ARGO is about a plan. A plan to get six Americans out of Tehran, who are taking shelter in a Canadian officer’s house after escaping from the US Embassy, which has been hijacked by the Iran public. The plan is initially disapproved by the United States and it is trashed. Later, they realize they only have bad plans in their hand and choose the best bad plan. Yes, in the end, the plan succeeds and the feeling of triumph is very palpable.

What stands out in ARGO is the impeccable detailing. Everything is so much eighties here. The infrastructure in the airports, the equipment with the American intelligence department, the makeup – especially the large framed spectacles, untidy beards and bushy moustaches – all have a vintage feel to them. The production design department does an amazing job.

Next in line for the accolades is Ben Affleck’s superb direction. He gets every scene in the movie in the right mood. Be it the rebellion, be it the humour, be it the tension – everything is just flawlessly presented. The episodes right at the start of the movie are excellent. They take you right into the middle of the Iranian outrage and you can feel the tension. Every performance is noteworthy. Please excuse me for not taking the pain to take the names of each and every actor. In fact, there is no way I can single out an actor/actress. Every emotion on the screen carries to us brilliantly. Special mention must go to the two guys, who played the Hollywood makeup man and the fake producer. They induce humour in almost every frame they are seen. Ben Affleck is terrific as the exfil-expert. The scene in which he asks rapid fire questions to the six Americans to test their preparation for passing the immigration check is fantastic. And, the scene in which one of the escaping guys explains the whole fake movie concept to the airport authorities to convince them that they are really making a movie is fab.

ARGO gets a lot of things right. Probably, the only thing which is missing is the surprise element as we know that the mission is going to be successful. The scenes shift with good pace, the setup is intriguing and the end is triumphant. That the movie is based on a true story becomes even more unbelievable when the end credits are shown. Every character in the movie is shown beside the corresponding real life character and you’ll just not believe how perfectly the casting and makeup was envisioned. People, who were walking towards the exit doors ignoring the end credits had paused, saw the complete comparison part between reel and real life, and then left the hall.

If you are reading this line, it means you’ve spent some time reading my experience watching ARGO. What you can do next is, if you haven’t watched ARGO yet, please open up an online booking site in the next tab and book your tickets right away.

#ARGO #Movie Review #Ben Affleck #Hollywood #Must Watch #ARGO (2012)#Movie Experience

Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu – Movie Experience

Once again, there is an idea (manipulative media and current day politics), and then there is an attempt at trying to weave a story around it, by using one single central character and the presentation turns out to be too much over-the-top and sleep inducing as well. With 2 or 3 good scenes, and some good dialogue thrown here and there, you cannot be in a position to compel the audience to watch a two and half hour long movie.

When talking about the experience watching “Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu”, I would be in the safest position if I choose not to dig into the logic behind how the movie unfurled. But, at the same time, the happenings in the movie did not allow me to settle down with a peace of mind either. One moment, the hero is asking questions to a lady about her gender bias. The other moment, he is fighting goons in a politician’s guest house. Meanwhile, he dances to some very below average music numbers. And, all of a sudden, he is in confrontation with the main villain, faces his wrath, and there is a mutual exchange of challenges. Oh yeah, there was a heroine too among this entire ruckus. And, this is only one half of the movie.

In the second half, there is another heroine (who the hell was that?) and there is a song with her (what the hell was that?). Only after all this, Puri Jagannath tries to do some justice to his writing skills. There are, to be precise, three episodes which catch your attention – the Jana gana mana dialogue, the Ordinary women dialogue and the 4-minute pre climax scene – and that is about it. And in the end, Puri again chooses to close the film in an even more baffling manner.

The two good things about the film are Pawan Kalyan’s intensity in a few scenes and Kota Srinivasa Rao’s portrayal of the opposition party leader. All the other actors hardly have any opportunity to bring more credibility to the film as the writer-cum-director does not leave any chance. Prakash Raj, Brahmanandam, Ali and Tanikella Bharani – all of them barely get a chance to do justice to their talent. And, the less we speak about Tamannah and her character, the better it would be.

It is some achievement to make a movie in less than 6 months on such a large scale, with so many high profile actors. And it is also, in my opinion, good for those who depend on the film industry to have two Pawan Kalyan releases in the span of 5 months. But, in order to accomplish that, Puri Jagannath takes a lot of things for granted and throws his atrocity upon us. One wouldn’t want to see such poor quality visual effects in a Pawan Kalyan movie which opens to such huge crowds, but I am not sure that was even considered for improvement before the release.

The overall experience watching CGR is not good and it is even more annoying when a very capable director continues to make bad films. I hope Puri Jagannath comes up with something convincing very soon, and until then, I will endure his works.

#CGR #Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu #Cameraman Ganga tho Rambabu #CGTR #Tollywood #Telugu Cinema

T20 Cricket baffles me

First things first. T20 is cricket. A very good format where the players are really tested. It is as much about hitting the ball hard as it is applying yourself to the plans and adapting to the robust nature of the format. An over can change the complexion of the match. A drop catch can cost you the match. And T20 is a format, which I think, favours the teams with a better bowling attack rather than better batting depth. If you have good all-rounders, you are blessed. In the end, whatever the format, there is some cricketing common sense which applies and sometimes it baffles me why teams just ignore that and go with some mind numbing strategies and team selections.

Who is your best batsman?

We all know there are only 20 overs to play for. The simple rule is that you have to give your best batsmen as many overs as possible. Australia have been very good in this regard by having their 3 best batsmen on the top, and Sri Lanka have also been doing the same. On the other side, there is New Zealand and there is South Africa. I just don’t get it why players like Ross Taylor and AB DeVilliers bat so much down the order. And to top this, they are both captains which means they themselves are hurting their teams chances. On more than one occasion in the super8 stage, these two players have arrived at the crease in very tricky situations for their teams and it wouldn’t help their positive batting attitude which they generally possess. When you are thrown into self guarding, you are losing your natural footwork and attempting untimely and unnecessary heaves which have generally left your team in shambles.

And now, coming to Team India. Sehwag, Gambhir and Kohli are definitely the top 3. You can’t change that (no, you cannot drop Sehwag!). Who should be coming in at no.4 and who should be following thereafter is the decisive part. We all know how effective Suresh Raina is in the limited overs format. He is a regular at no.3 for his IPL franchise, and he has been extremely successful and he is captained by MS Dhoni in the IPL too. When it comes to the Indian team, I don’t understand why Dhoni doesn’t trust his fellow Chennai Super King. He keeps persisting with the woefully out of form Rohit Sharma. Yes, it is good to provide some opportunity for a player to try and get him back to some kind of form. But how long would you keep giving him the chances? And, you drop Virender Sehwag and persist with Rohit Sharma? God save you Dhoni! Another biggest concern I have with MS Dhoni in T20 cricket is, why doesn’t he promote himself up the order? He comes in at no.7? We all know, he is someone who likes to get into the thick of things and then slowly tees off with his helicopters. On a particular day, he promoted himself ahead of a Yuvraj Singh who was in the form of his life, and the rest is history. I don’t understand why he does not do that often in T20 cricket. So, cricketing common sense goes for a toss in sorting the batting order.

What are you targeting?

Every team will have a target in their mind while a particular match is going on. In general, these targets don’t change through the course of the match. And, generally, these targets are pretty easy to choose once the match is half done. New Zealand had to score 140 in 20 overs. England and Pakistan had to win their matches. Australia had to make 112 to ensure a semi final berth. And, India had to defend 121 to stay alive in the tournament. These are pretty simple and straight forward targets and there is definitely no other target you have to aim for. You choose to go for something else, you are doomed. New Zealand, may be, tried to chase down the required 140 asap so that they get their win, and also help their net run rate. But, they ended up hastening their chase at unnecessary times and put themselves under serious pressure. Brendon McCullum is naturally aggressive. But, he would want to see how he got out in that match against the Windies. If New Zealand had chased that target down, which was definitely gettable, they would have indeed qualified for the semifinals as England did not manage to put up a good show against the hosts.

Yesterday, in the first match, Australia were favourites. No doubt! And Pakistan had to win the match. 150 is a good score to defend with the kind of bowling attack Pakistan has. Initially Australia might have aimed for 150. But, once your most inform batsmen are in the pavilion with hardly any runs on the board, there is definitely a change in the strategy. 112 is what they should get to make sure they end up top of the group and they targeted that. Pakistan, on the other hand, with their spin arsenal, proved to be really very difficult for them to fiddle with. After 12 overs were done, a thought would have definitely crossed Mohammed Hafeez’s mind that if they restrict Australia to below 112, they’ll top the group and would have not had the need to rely on the result of the match to follow. He persisted with spin, but the ever reliable Mr. Cricket Michael Hussey knew he had to get his team that 112 runs and did with great poise (I don’t understand some silly Team India followers saying that Australia lost on purpose by a huge margin to deny India a fair chance). The way he punched the air, and the way he roared looking at his team dug out shows why he is one of the most dedicated team player. Pakistan won, they stayed alive, and the important thing was, they won BIG.

Now, it is India’s turn. Again, toss is something you can hardly rely on and yes, it did go against Team India who would have, may be, fancied their chances chasing but I think batting first was the best option because achieving a target in 16-17 overs is not very easy in T20 cricket, especially when the opponents have the batting to score around 150 runs consistently. So, team India batted first. Scored 152 runs (again, Rohit Sharma at no.4 was a mind boggling decision!) and they had 121 to defend to progress further. It is simple. Defend 121 and progress. India started off brilliantly, until the 4th over. All of a sudden, Zaheer Khan turns over ambitious, and Dhoni turns into over attacking mode. Dhoni chooses to stand up to the stumps against Irfan Pathan in the 6th over, after realizing that Faf du Plessis was trying to dominate by walking down the pitch. But, by standing up, you are asking Pathan not to bowl fast and not to opt for his inswinging option, and he was cartered for 14 runs, mostly through the covers. I am not too sure what Dhoni was trying to do, but you wouldn’t want to have your prime spinner hidden until the 9th over. And just to show off his uncanny captaincy attitude, Dhoni tried – again – Rohit Sharma in the 8th. And again, he chooses Rohit over Raina, over whom he has relied on, all through the 5 IPL seasons. The decision to bowl a part timer ahead of Ashwin is itself baffling and when I saw Rohit, I felt like banging my head on the TV set.

The other issue was field placement. 121 in 120 balls is not very easy defence. Easy singles, and a boundary every 10-12 balls will easily get you close to the target. What Dhoni does, after the powerplay overs, is completely confusing. He chooses to have only 4 players in the circle. He chooses to have a slip for Yuvraj’s left arm spin against left handed JP Duminy. Surprisingly, he chooses not to have a slip to carrom-ball specialist Ashwin when he is bowling to right handers. Both Yuvraj and Ashwin choose to go around the wicket, which means there is a probability they might stray on to the pads of the batsmen, and still Dhoni persists with deep square leg, deep mid-wicket and a long on. We know the agility of our Indian fielders, and also, the agility of the South African batsmen. They easily ran two, on multiple occasions, by just nudging the ball towards mid wicket.

Also, once South Africa hit the 122nd run of their innings, suddenly, Dhoni turned a little more enthusiastic and excited as if he was in switch off mode until then. India finally managed to win by a run. Again, simple cricketing common sense is ignored. Instincts are given more priority. I just don’t know why!

What is this? A World Cup?

One thing which stood out throughout the World Cup so far, has been the “Cricket Extra” show on Star Cricket. The experts were brilliant, and almost everyone has questioned the way the tournament was being scheduled and played. Saurav Ganguly is absolutely spot on when he asks what importance has the 90-run win by India over England got in this World Cup? Why are the 2 matches played ahead of the Super 8 just dead rubbers? Yes, the ICC might defend saying that one of the top 8 teams has always been defeated in the group stage in the previous World Cup editions. But, whatever be the case, the win over a team which is a part of the Super8s has to mean something, no? No points are carried. There is no influence over the net run rate. And there is no meaning in scheduling the better teams to have their match last in the group. Sri Lanka vs South Africa and India vs England were practise sessions before the super8s. Nothing more! It slightly annoys me, as a Team India supporter, that the 90-run defeat which was inflicted on the world’s best T20 team at that time, and the defending World T20 champions, was just to please the fans and it would do no good to the team’s fortunes. T20 might be a crowd puller. It might give the financial gains to the ICC. But, I don’t think it should be used as a marketing tool for the sport.

#MS DHONI #TEAM INDIA #MICHAEL HUSSEY #MOHAMMED HAFEEZ #ROSS TAYLOR #ABD #ROHIT SHARMA #SURESH RAINA #T20 WORLD CUP

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