In another part of the world

I know, the IPL has kept us all occupied. With the last few games going down the wire till the very last ball, the excitement is sure to make us glued to our seats. But quietly at the mecca of tennis, was an event that seem to be rarity these days. In fact the probably it was the first time I saw a sporting couple play lawn tennis. It was the inauguration of the newly constructed roof of the center court in Wimbledon and the inauguration had bought some of the worlds best all time heavyweights of tennis. The exhibition match saw Mrs & Mr Agassi for one last time on Wimbledon center court take on Kim Clijsters and Tim Henmen.

It was a visual treat for all the Steffi and Andre fans and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. The powerful baseline strokes of Andre and the still lethal forehand of the Steffi made me nostalgic. Why did they even retire? The backhand slice which Steffi made popular got Henmen in trouble in more than one occasion. Still

At 25, Kim Clijsters still could return to the circuit and give the serbs a run for the money. 

Overall it was a fun filled and an animated session of good tennis that I believe many would have missed only to not get another chance to see them play. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them play.

Of Cricket and Cattle Trade

When I was kid my Uncle used to take me the Sunday Market and Friday Bazar that used to happen in our town. There I used to see people buying and selling Cows, goats etc.My uncle used to explain to me as to how a Cow is bought and what is the kind of breed that one should buy etc.  Here is some information that one needs to know before buying a cow

1. As a cow becomes older it produce also reduces and also its value – “The older a Player in IPL the lesser he would cost”
2. The first ones that are culled from the herd are the ones that produce less – “It is surprising not to see Rahul go under the hammer in IPL season 2″
3. While buying an Ox, don’t just look for its age, but also for the build – “A Player in IPL is not just bought for his batting talent but also for the amount of crowd he brings in”
4. Popularity of a breed results in more money – “Peterson and Flintoff commanded more money than their teammate Collingwood. Same was the case with Symonds getting more money than Ponting”
5. Cows that produce less that 30 pounds a day are reasonable good for family but not for a dairy – “Ricky Ponting in IPL season 1 would have been good for Rajasthan Royals but than Knight Riders. Hard luck Shah Rukh”
6. A young cow would cost more than an older cow, because of the assumption that it would produce more over the years – “JP Duminy was sold 3 times more than Paul Collingwood”
7. Certain breeds of cow do not produce much. They need to be strickly avoided – “In the IPL Season 2, there were no takers for Australians”

Some striking similarities with IPL.

Phe(lezak)ps

It is said that whenever he enters the pool for a race, its a gold in a world record time, at least that’s what has happened in this Olympics. He already has 5 golds and with 3 more races to go, anything can happen. He could even take home 8 golds. But all of this would not have been possible without the fastest split ever swan in the history by teammate Jason Lezak. Jason was chasing french anchor swimmer Alian Bernard, who was ahead of him by amlost a second and ensured that Phelps was still in contention for 8 golds in the olympics.

By far the best race I had seen till date.

Time to Think

“We can’t stop the inevitable from happening, we can just prolong it”

I was away from my laptop for a couple of days, that why I am blogging on this topic that would have been discussed, thrashed out and forgotten for the past two days.

I was one of the few gifted men, who didn’t get the oppurtunity to watch India submit to Sri Lanka in the World Cup group stages. “Rubbish Cricket” these were the very words that were uttered by one of the fans who had travelled to Port of Spain to watch this match.

After the 1979 World Cup, this is the second World Cup where India has crashed out at the group stages. Finally, the much talked about worlds best batting line up, has to introspect and find out as to how they way hyped so much and try to atleast become one. The batting line up that crumbled to Sri Lanka, had 3 batsman who had scored more than 10,000 runs in ODI and still what we get is nothing but a meek 75 runs from them. I think its time, the indian team take up their full time job serious – Advertising.

The blame game had started right after the match. Greg Chappel mentions, Indias poor record overseas for the early exit from the world cup. Is this the kind of statement that a coach makes about his team. He is a big time LOSER.

Anyways now india needs to rely on; the team that they THRASHED, Bermuda to beat Bangladesh, to get into the Super 8 stages. Its time to come back home boys. We all really miss you.

India resurrects

On monday, India faced a side that was just 20 ODI’s old, Bermuda. Indians were hoping for a victory by a big margin and thats exactly what happened on Monday. Finally our top order clicked with 3 of the top 4 batsman making merry of the placid attack of Bermuda. Sehwag finally got it going and reached his first ODI hundered since the early 2006. On the other end, Ganguly made sure to every one that he is not in by chance.

I would be doing injustice to
Leverock, if I don’t mention him. What the …. !!!!! . Those were the words that I uttered, when I saw Leverock take a blinder of a catch to dismiss Utthappa. Amazing. And the way the Bermuda team was celebrating after the catch, I felt that the trap had been set for India to fail.

All the pieces of the Indian team had fallen in one place; the batting, bowling and fielding. With a century under his belt, everyone says Sehwag is back in form. But mind you, it was against a team that was just 20 ODI’s old. The real test for Sehwag is when India takes on Sri Lanka. And IF Sehwag fails and I hope its a BIG IF, what will Team India do?