இன்னாப்பா இது !

இன்னாப்பா இது !

மாசம் பொறந்து ஒரு மாசம் கூட ஆவல !

அதுக்குள்ள FEBRUARYஆ?

Why not Tendulkar?

Why only Laxman and Dravid?   Why not Tendulkar?  

Most of the websites I have been reading the last few days don't talk about Tendulkar's retirement. 

These are the Desi websites and newspapers. Most of the cricket celebs in India (as expected) are afraid to come out against Tendulkar !

The Aussie/world press is quite strong in saying that everyone should be out.

Indian cricket needs these three to go now, for cricket to prosper.  Enough is enough.  

Indian press and the experts of the game must have the guts to get these guys to retire.

Cement Srini & Co - It's crunch time !

Why we lost 0 - 4 ?

Why did we lose to the Aussies  0 - 4?

Pic courtesy: WWW

When the team left India on Dec 14th,  Saturn was at 23 degree ascent directly opposite to Mars at an elevation of 250 miles.  Sun was eyeing the Moon with anger at 18.5 and Mercury was at 0. Uranus which is the ruling planet for the team was sleeping since it was early hours !  

The Indian Management did not listen to the BCCI astrologer and went ahead with the plans to fly the cricketers out.  What a blunder!

The team flew out of Bombay sorry Mumbai,  which was on Earth's lowest elevation on that day.  It's well known that starting anything at that point would result in failure.

The team flew Air-India.  If you add up the digits for Air-India ( minus Hypen which is called Uchishma in Astrology )  it comes to 5 which is odd and very BAD.  The odds also played a big role in this series.

It was widely reported that several cricketers sneezed when the plane too off.  This is real..real bad omen.  The BCCI should have asked the ATC to immediately ground the plane.  And we all know what happened due to this.

Agreed that most cricketers wore yellow, black, green and red threads ( to name a few ) around their necks and wrists.  Laxman even wore a pre-historic wrist guard in Perth to see if it will help ( ignoring the stink of the aged guard ) !  Sehwag was looking at the Sun..but nothing worked.  Reason -  no matter what, this is a bad year for Indian cricket.  The Houses of Sun and Moon are rotten now, clearly white due to the recent whitewashes.

Unless BCCI cleans up the houses, Indian cricket is doomed for more failures!

From

Our Astrologer's desk

Tomorrow - Astrological remedies for the One-days and T20s 

Bad Profession for me !

Bad Profession for me to be in -  Astrology / Psychic reading.  I failed miserably. I admit !

Silver lining though: One of my predictions - Ponting's performance, came out true.  What a series !   I wish him well !  I am a big fan of Ricky Ponting !

Same with Virat Kohli.  He did well, but he must learn to keep quiet and not care about what the crowd does or says.  He must worry about his game and always try 'Gandhi Karate'.  I mean..show the other cheek !

The weeds have to go - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.  They have done well ( Old Glory) , but it's time for them to go home and take care of other businesses .

I know VVS's resume has solid SAP skills along with Oracle, Teradata, DB2 etc. He can come over to US on a H1B.  Sachin can squeak in the commentary box and Dravid can be a charming talker and lecture kids about Walls, fences etc ! 

Dhoni must be fired.  Sehwag must be shifted to one day and 20 overs cricket.  Zaheer Khan for his stupid game in Adelaide Inning 1 must be dropped for a few games. 

BCCI has to be cleaned up - Srikkanth, Cement Srini and Co must be asked to leave !   A seasoned cricketer must be made the chief of BCCI.  Same with the selection panel.

The Indian team needs to clean the 'White Wash'.  We need young blood . We need quality young players in the team ..not 'Vinay Kumars'.  

Who will bell the cat?

The selectors and BCCI have no flesh on their butts and are a bunch of jokers !  

We need a Anna Hazare to try and cleanse Indian cricket.

Adelaide Test !

As I write this email -  Dravid and Tendulkar are playing in the middle.  I have a very strong feeling that both of them will score a 100  (at least!)

The test is headed for a draw or even a India Win.

Let's see!

Adelaide - Grandpa Paradise

Let me guess - It's going to be a draw.  Yes, I am predicting that  the Adelaide test is heading for a draw the way the pitch looks.

Gambhir-100, Sehwag 100,Sachin-200,VVS-100,Dravid-100,Kohli-100,Saha-100,Ashwin-100 !

On this kind pitch - even I can score a hundred.

Grandpas rule!

  They'll all play for another 10 years!

Adelaide Test

Indians go into Adelaide hoping to avoid the 4-0 whitewash.  The Aussies will be eager to whitewash the Indians.

History would probably repeat itself.  Grandpas in the brink of extinction would score and try to retain their places again !  I've seen this happen over and over again the last 20-30 years in Indian cricket.  

The press and the fans would say 'Look we told you...they still have stuff'.  

Somewhere, in some corner of India a deserving youngster would lose hope playing for the country !

I have a feeling Sachin would get his 100 here.

VIBRAM - KSO

Pic courtesy: WWW

After reading about it in a lot of magazines I decided to try the VIBRAM FiveFingers. Bought it from a local store a few weeks back and I am enjoying them !

Growing up in India in the 70's, shoes were a 'Rich Dad' item.  My dad couldn't afford to buy shoes for me for playing cricket.  So, it was all 'barefoot'.  Rain or shine, we played cricket barefoot.  We ran barefoot, we jumped barefoot !

The VIBRAM KSO shoes give me the same exact feel.  It's really light and I don't feel that I am wearing a shoe.  The comfort is also amazing.  With VIBRAM rubber soles, these shoes absorb shock quite well I must say.

Above all, whenever I use the VIBRAM KSO, my memories drift to the 70's !

Thank you VIBRAM !

Yesudas Rocks !

A nice Malayalam song from the movie 'Kunjaliyan'.

Year - 2012

Music Director - MG Sreekumar

Singers - KJ Yesudas, Swetha

BCCI President's Joke !

Indian cricket has gone to dogs I must say.  The players talk nonsense, the selectors talk nonsense and now the BCCI President Mr.N.Srinivasan.

The president of BCCI Mr. N.Srinivasan has said:

"Even now, this team is good enough to beat anybody. This is the best team we have. We definitely felt they would do well in Australia, and I think even if you take the first test, there were moments when I think we were on top, and for some reason or the other the Aussies got away," Srinivasan was quoted as saying by NDTV.

This tells it all.  The guy is only capable of running a profitable cement company!  ( FYI - NS is the Managing Director of India Cements, which is a leading cement producer in India )

His comments on 'Some reason or other' is ridiculous !  He doesn't know the simple fact ..which is the only reason..why the Aussies got away -  Poor performance by the Indian players with the bat and ball along with poor selection of players !

Let's ask ourselves:  Is this the best team we have?  How did Mr.NS come to this conclusion.  Several wonderful players have been overlooked.  Ranji trophy performers have been sidelined.  The team has ageing arthritic players who still continue to hold their positions thanks to OLD GLORY !

So, Mr.NS -  How could this be the best team we have?  You must be kidding sir !
 
Mr.NS -  Focus on cement please and refrain from talking about cricket. Would be the best you can do for Indian cricket.

AMERICA !

Pic courtesy: www

I am happy about several things in my life.  One of those is 'MIGRATING TO THE USA'.  

I attempted once to move back to my home country,  India, but didn't like it.   I moved back to the US  and never looked back.  I am extremely happy I made the right choice. 

I am happy that my girls are raised in the USA. I am happy that I am a permanent resident of the USA. I can go on and on about why I am happy about the USA.

In spite of the economic downturn, lack of jobs etc. I am surprised that most Desi movies  and Desi TV shows I watch, have something about migrating to the USA.

Recently I watched a Tamil movie NANBAN.  Voila, there is something about migrating to the USA.

I watched PONGAL programs on Tamil TV and noticed a Tamil actor Dhanush mentioning about how his kids would migrate to the USA.

Why do everyone talk about USA?  Why not the other countries ? 

Because -  AMERICA IS THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH !

Old Glory !

I've written quite a few posts on this subject : OLD GLORY

I was only laughing at Gautham Gambhir's comment today about Mr. Wheel Chair Laxman !

This is what is reported in Cricinfo: 

• He has been a legend of the game. He has served Indian cricket for a long, long time.
• Gambhir said it was not fair for anyone other than the player himself to talk of retirement, or for people to criticise just one man

This is a typical desi comment clearly on the lines of 'OLD GLORY'.

Mr.Gambhir - Mr. VVS Laxman has done well in the past, everyone agrees.  Doesn't mean that the world shouldn't criticize him ( also applies to Dravid and Tendulkar )and ask him to retire when he fails continuously. Would you agree?

Let me give you examples:

• You have dinner at a restaurant that has been traditionally serving wonderful food and you notice a worm in your soup.  Will you be angry?  Will you go there again ?  Won't you complain?

• Your sister gets married to a nice guy and they have a wonderful family. Suddenly he has an affair with another woman. Would you advise your sister to take it easy because your BIL was good in the past ?

So, give us a break and play your game.  I saw you wearing diapers the last innings you played.  Thankfully the diapers went back to the pavilion without damage !  You did play well.  


Please focus on your game and let the seniors take care of themselves.

BOYCOTT - IPL 2012 !

Wonderful piece in 'The Hindu' today about Billionaires Control Cricket in India.  

Thoroughly enjoyed the piece.  Lots of truth and grief in that article.

Indian Cricket - thanks to IPL has gone to dogs.  All the cricketers have been transformed into 'ITEM NUMBER' performers !  They don't care, as long as they see the $ !  

IPL is a wonderful platform setup cleverly by BCCI and the crooks to help convert Black to White masked with Glamour !

Who else to blame?  The fans of this format of cricket and the Glamour.  

If the cricket fans of India rise up to the occasion and don't patronize IPL-2012, BCCI and rest of the world will learn a lesson. 

Question is - Who will bell the cat?  Can we have a Anna Hazare for Indian cricket !

How am I going to contribute to this cause -  I won't buy the games on TV. I don't even want to patronize the websites that carry the details of IPL!

BCCI - Idiots !

Everything gets copied ! I mean everything from the West in particular.  Umbrellas to underwear. A-Z. Even the 'Middle finger' gets into the Indian culture !  But not the sacking of the captain, coach or revamping of a team when there are severe failures.

Most of the world would have dismantled the Indian team and their captain, after the pathetic show in England, but the idiots at BCCI didn't do that. Remember what happened to Ricky Ponting after the Ashes?

The Idiots at BCCI went with the ageing, arthritic Grandpa Gang...forgetting that they need wheelchairs  and not knowing that the grandpas also need Oxygen Masks to help them walk and run.

The Grandpas led by Sachin, Dravid & VVS Laxman even demanded that they leave early to practice in Aussie Wickets.

The end Result....almost a white Wash! A well deserved trashing ! 

At least now, cricket enthusiasts should send a strong message to BCCI.

The captain DHONI must be fired, the team must be dismantled and the entire group of selectors led by Srikkanth has to be let go.

Will that happen? I doubt it, knowing Indian Cricket. An example today is Sachin's inclusion in the ODIs.

What a shame when youngsters are overlooked even in the faster formats.

The ODI Squad:

MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Manoj Tiwary, Parthiv Patel (wk), Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan, R Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Rahul Sharma, R Ashwin

Happy Pongal !

Bhanwari Devi Case - Hollywood Thriller !

I have been following the 'Bhanwari Devi Murder case' for a few months now, just like every other high profile case from 'Desi Land' that finally gets dumped and closed with 'NO JUSTICE'.

TIMES OF INDIA's thoughts are right so far in equating this case with a HOLLYWOOD Thriller.  All the events that have unfolded so far looks like a OSCAR movie too, in my opinion. I won't be surprised to see a Bolly/Tolly/Kolly/Hollywood movie soon based on this case !

In the Hollywood movies, the ending would be 'PRISON' for the ones who committed the crime (99%).  

I hope this sad story also ends the 'HOLLYWOOD MOVIE' way.

Looking forward to Justice being served here.  We'll see !

Molachu Moonu - Wonderful song !

Another wonderful song by a favorite Music Director - Vijay Antony !

Not sure why South Indian Music Directors fall head over heels for non native Female singers.  Is there a shortage of Female singers in Tamil or does it have to do with something else?

Singers

Supriya Joshi

Prasanna

Film

Velayudham - Tamil - 2011

BCCI & Selectors - Show your guts !

The Indian selectors are going to stick to the seniors !  After all which selector has the guts to bring in changes?  Spineless aren't they ?


I feel that Virat Kohli will be axed and Rohit Sharma will be in  and Umesh Yadav will probably be rested and VinayKumar or Varun Aaron will play.  

I won't be surprised if Ashwin is dropped for Ojha!  

So, here is my guess of the eleven for tomorrow: 
(Note that I went for 2 spinners!) 

Probable XI	Preferable XI
Gambhir	Gambhir
Sehwag	Sehwag
Dravid	Rohit Sharma
Tendulkar	Tendulkar
Laxman	Kohli
Kohli	Dhoni
Dhoni	Ashwin
Ashwin	Zaheer
Zaheer	Ishant
Ishant	Varun/Vinay/Mithun
Umesh Yadav	Ojha

Moron-2012

Drop the Seniors !

It was nice to see Maninder Singh's comment in Cricinfo:

(Someone who shares my feelings):

"The pendulum has shifted. Indian cricket must be bold and be prepared to lose with younger players. Let them learn the ropes. There is no point losing with declining giants."

Maninder Singh, former India off-spinner

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've written about this in my blog for a few years now and I will do it again and again.

Drop all the Senior players.  So what ?  We keep losing even with these men in the team.  If this is affordable, we can also lose for a few years grooming youngsters.  Let's give the aspiring young cricketers unconditional chances.  Let's prepare them for the future.

So, here you go again:  

BCCI , Selectors and Indian cricket Lovers -  Let's say 'Bye Bye' to the seniors in the team.  Never mind if they are due for landmarks etc.

( See how Clarke declared... despite the records being so easy for breaking ).

Drop - Sachin, Dravid & VVS Laxman.

It's good for Indian Cricket. 

Restaurant food & Body Weight

How difficult is it to lose 20 pounds in a year without medications or any drastic moves!

One of my best friends who is a professor at a renowned University here,  did just that, by doing something along with a list of the regular things that we all do, to get a few pounds out of us.

He told me that he just stopped - I mean totally stopped - eating out in Restaurants !  Add that to regular exercise and good food and he dropped 20 pounds in a year.  That's really impressive.

I have been watching what I eat.  I even did a chart of my weight for 2011 along with my eating patterns ( I maintain an Excel Sheet which I update everyday). I also noticed that whenever, 'Eating out' went up, my average weight also went up.

My New Year's resolution -  

Cut down eating out in Restaurants.

That said, I found this interesting in 'The Hindu' today:

‘Only the patient will be served’ at Mani’s Cafe

Signature dish: The ‘keerai dosai’

What’s cooking: Sample dosas with a heavy health accent- Arukampul, Chirukurichan, mudakathan, thuthuvalai, karisalangankanni and vallarai- something your doctor and grandma would be happy about!

Trade Secret: The USP of this eatery is the medicinal value invested in every entry. The menu outlines health benefits of each item and also offers recommended items for diabetics and people with high Blood Pressure. These include ragi, corn and wheat dosas. All for Rs. 25

Where to find: Therku vassal, Srirrangam

Darshan time: Mornings and evenings

Sydney Test - Bad Cricket India !

I didn't expect this to happen !  

This shows how pathetic our batting and bowling department is.  Ravi Shastri was right when he pointed out the weakness in our fielding as well !

Ravi Shastri wants Rohit Sharma in.  He even favors  dropping someone senior and give Virat some more chances.  And he did mention that Rohit should be given at least five more chances, which I agree 100%.

I doubt that would happen, knowing the Indian selectors.  They'll again keep the seniors and drop Virat Kohli !

I also feel one of the quickies should be dropped.  I would rest Umesh Yadav and bring in Abhimanyu Mithun.

It's going to be a tough one for the selectors.  Would be interesting to see what happens.

Here is my best bet for Perth:

Rahane

Gambhir

Rohit Sharma

Tendulkar

Laxman

Virat Kohli

Dhoni

Ashwin

 Zaheer Khan

Abhimanyu Mithun

Ishant Sharma

Sydney Test - Draw maybe?

I have a gut feeling this test match is going end in a draw. 

There are a few reasons why I came to this conclusion :

• Quite a few players in the Indian team have a lot at stake here - about their future. 
• The track is getting easier to play.
• The seniors in the Indian team are masters of dead tracks.   
• VVS has to do something here to retain his place in the team.  A definite big score !
• ST - After everything that has been said and written about SCG and his outings here, I bet will hit a 100 today, if not more !  
• Gambhir - that way he is batting, I feel that he is definitely going to stay there long !  Hats off to his positive cricket yesterday ( Good to see him smile finally).
• Virat Kohli - Final call for this youngster ( I didn't like his Middle finger gesture though).  I am sure he will also do well in this track.
• Dhoni -  He is in decent form and he is also a master of dead tracks.
• Ashwin -  A recent 100 against WI gives me a feeling he might also get a big score, considering the track.
• The Tail - We know it can wag big time in good batting tracks !     

It was pathetic to see the body language of the Indians when they couldn't get anything going yesterday with Clarke and Hussey.  No conversations, no patting the back, nothing !   That's a shame.

Congratulations Ponting, Clarke and Hussey for some wonderful cricket the last few days !

Sydney Test - Day 1

Sachin bowled Pattinson
Pic courtesy:  Cricinfo

Gambhir and Laxman are on their way out, unless something happens in the second Innings.  Pathetic performance by the two.  Good batting by Dhoni helped the score look decent.

Sachin I thought would make 50 but dragged a ball to his stumps...bad luck ! He looked good though.

Pattinson, Hilfenhaus and Siddle did a wonderful job again. Mr H's bouncers to the tail did the trick.  Well done !

The total of 191 looks reasonable now, thanks to some good bowling by Zaheer Khan.  He was on fire initially. Ishant was unlucky and Umesh Yadav was just ok.  Ashwin bowled two overs in the end and looked good.

Fielding is again pathetic.  Especially Umesh Yadav, who has been poor on the field from the Melbourne test. A throw-in today was commented as ' He threw it to some other ground ', by Mr. Ravi Shastri !  Dhoni dropped a fairly easy catch from Ponting.  Let's hope it doesn't come back and bite us tomorrow.  

Clarke and Ponting saw the Aussies thru the end of day without further mishaps.  

Looks to me that the match might be over by the 3rd day!

--() ()--

சின்னச் சின்ன தூரல் என்ன?

One of my favorites:

Happened to watch this on TV today and thought I'd post it here.

Music - Ilayaraja, MS.Viswanathan

Singer - SP Balasubramaniam

Movie - Senthamizhppattu ( Tamil )

Happy New Year - 2012 !

Sydney Test - Indian Squad

Sydney test is a day away and the media is on fire with speculations and analyses.  

Here is mine:

With India showing weakness against fast bowling,  the Aussies will stick to their proven formula and rely on their pacemen.

So what kind of team will India go with ?

It's a tough choice for the Indian selectors, but I feel there will be changes.  India can't afford to lose another test.  At the same time, knowing the selectors -  they will again stick to their senior batsmen - Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman and Sachin. The bowlers can't be touched and that means Ojha won't get a chance at Sydney!  

That leaves two heads that can roll -  Gautham Gambhir and Virat Kohli !

I feel  (and also hope) that the selectors will retain Kohli and drop Gautham Gambhir.  

Ajinkya Rahane will probably make his test debut.

If Rahane is played, it would be very interesting to watch him deal with Pattinson and Co.

Here are Rahane's vitals from cricinfo.

Born June 5, 1988, Maharashtra

Current age 23 years 210 days

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
ODIs	11	11	0	340	91	30.90	453	75.05	0	2	33	3	3	0
T20Is	2	2	0	61	61	30.50	42	145.23	0	1	8	0	1	0
First-class	50	82	11	4862	265*	68.47	8047	60.42	18	18	635	36	39	0
List A	59	59	1	2155	187	37.15	2618	82.31	3	13	227	28	20	0
Twenty20	40	36	3	561	62*	17.00	509	110.21	0	5	59	7	9	0