Nitya's

Team India – Is it or Isn’t it?

2007-09-25T23:37:00.000-07:00

Congratulation to Dhoni and his Dare Devils!!!

A team of young men with nothing to lose & no reputation to ruin - played their hearts out and won the WC. There were no Super Stars which the Indian team is so used to having. There were no expectations to keep up with. These guys were predicted to be out by the first round or Super 8. But throughout the tournament, they played with a refreshing energy and optimism which, on top of their natural flair, has endeared them to the fans. Not surprisingly, they have featured in the most exciting contests in the tournament. There is no taking away credit from these guys for what they have achieved -- Its Tremendous. But, is it not premature to call this a new dawn?

All of India is out on the roads, cheering for their new stars, calling them as the ones with team spirit in heart and not the individual record, saying that this is the team which should play the ODIs too, but this is a game. This very team will lose. This very captain will make mistakes. These youngsters will have a lean patch. How tolerant will we be then?

Do we have the perfect team in place for future matches? Can these players manage the Aussies for 50 overs in Home pitches forget doing it down under?? What I see is none of the players in the current team has the class (the kind of stroke play that Tendulkar has demonstrated time and again). They all have flair, but not class. Class is what matters in longer versions of cricket and when playing against good bowlers and with no field restrictions. Current Indian team has to have someone like Tendulkar who can take on any bowler in the world and score runs. We are not there yet.

Perhaps Dhoni's team has that rare and raw talent to become the world champions in all the other formats of the game; however I would say that we should give enough time to the boys to so they can rebuild themselves for test and ODI 50-50 format. They need to have consistency in test and ODI as well. They need to prove their mantle as test cricket would definitely test their character. A team India line up without Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly is still highly unimaginable. Twenty20 is a game where sporadic moments of brilliance outweigh concentration, temperament and co-ordinate effort. It is all a matter of swinging the bat with no effort towards preserving wickets. The real test would come when the same team plays against an Australian team in the one day or test format of the game and yet ends up on the winning side! Till then we cannot comment on whether this is the real Team India.

I don't think that because of the final match results we can conclude the real quality. It's always the consistency that matters. The fact is that the big three should be there in the team and at the same time the performance of the newcomers should not be ignored. Everything looks rosy in a shorter version of the game, if a batsman makes 20 runs in 12 balls he is a hero and if a bowler give 30 runs in 4 overs he has bowled well, but do you think the same would apply in the 50 overs game....70% of the team is same which toured England.. What was their performance if compared to big 3 or bowlers when compared to Zaheer Khan?

This is not the real team, T20 is fun game and not proper Cricket, in England Sachin, Rahul, Zaheer & Ganguly were the most successful player and not Dhoni or Yuvi, so we need younger players as well but we can't go further without exp. players. What needs to be done is have them always in the touring 16 and play them in a match or 2. With Sachin saying he will be choosy in ODIs, there will some matches he won’t play; those are the times to be used to groom a new comer. Not at the cost of the Big 3.

Words of caution for Dhoni as well; Because We have seen it all before. With Dravid as captain, did India not win a record number of matches batting second? Under Ganguly, did India not get into the finals of the 2003 World Cup? After reaching those heights, we still got beaten by Pakistan and Australia at home, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2007 World Cup, South Africa in S Africa! Our batsman played badly, bowled poorly and fielded miserably! It's good to see the youngsters doing well. Let us groom them to take on the footsteps of Sachin, Rahul, and Saurav. But let us not go overboard with this victory as we have in the past! There is still a lot to do and a hell of a lot to prove!!

A downbeat note, this, to end an upbeat round-up, but what the hell - it's a rare moment of triumph undiluted by background controversies, and it is ours to enjoy. Soon enough, the circus will start again - with Australia for opposition, and the new captain facing, for the first time, the pressure of playing at home, with a team studded, with three former captains.

Good Luck Team India.

Indian Fans & Indian Cricket

2007-03-26T05:16:00.000-07:00

Don't Buy products endorsed by cricketers..

Sachin should retire..

Indian Cricket is in Dumps

Players care about nothing but money...

Uff.... Can we give it a break people? Even i am a die-hard Cricket fan, i follow cricket as you all do, i am utterly disappointed with the dismal show by our cricketers in the World Cup but i still love my cricket team and i m not ditching them coz they had a bad tournament. Tell me something, does Sachin or Dravid come and tell ur PM to throw you out of your job when you make all those mistakes in your coding? Give them a break cricket is their profession and like any other profession they are absolutely allowed to have a bad day. Just that our guys had a couple of bad days at the wrong time.

All of us say that our guys concentrate on making money and in modelling and cricket is just their hobby. If you are so sure about such stuff prove it and stop using those products. Sachin has hundreds and hundreds of followers and that is teh reason he is being asked to endorse so many products. If you are not happy with Sachin you can stop using it,but dont make statements like advertisement is his primary motto. In all Software companies every team will have 1 or 2 people who would do the extra bit of arranging birthday parties or having fun and stuff, can you make a statement like these people don't work. You can't right? Because thats something they do extra, it will be ridiculous if you say i will not attend that party. Its the same. Thats something extra they do. You cannot expect cricketers practising 24*7 365 days, i dont think even you work like that.

I would rather say the players have to dump the fans, instead of we dumping them. We are the absolute reason for their horrid performance. Can we all feel what would have been on their mind when they took the field for Lanka's match. The first thought would have been, if i fail today what would the fans do to my family and properties. And there is nothing wrong with that thought too. The fear of the failure was gripping them so hard that they could hardly concentrate on the game. Did any cricketer ask us to treat them like GODs? No. Do they tell us leave all that you do and follow how we play? No. It is our mistake that we make GODs out of human beings and then blame them for failing.

Whole of India is crying for a change in the team, Okie a new team comes plays well for 3 series u make new GODs, then they fail and you again dump them is it? One of the National daily had today mentioned that Sachin's position in this team is under question and he needs to replaced by some player.They had mentioned a guy of abt 20 / 21 years of age. What are you all joking at? India fails if Sachin fails, this was yet again proved in this world cup. I am not saying sachin played great this world cup but still he cannot be replaced. That would be like having 100 sleeping tablets,when you already falling into a well.

Lets be logical friends, Cricket is just a game and not a war. And for the people playing it, its their profession. They will have their bad days like you or me can have in our professions. Stop acting as if they have lost a war and made the country go into dumps. They have just lost a tournament. All those Software Engineers, Politicians, Ex-Players and every other person look at urself first. You probably do more mistakes than the Cricket team collectively does. When the cricketers don't comes calling for your head, you also better behave professionally and sensibly.

If just sitting at home and watching the match, we are feeling all these disappointments think of the players, who have gone all the way there with the hope to win the cup. There were tears in their eyes that day. I didnt see any of them dancing happily because they lost. They are more than disappointed than all of our disappointments put together. If you can tell the team, its okie boys, we can do it next time else please go and do waht you are being paid to do! Else some other team mate of yours might tell you are not working and cost you your job. The perfect Indian Mentality!

To the Team:

Guys, i still believe you all tried your best but that just was not our day. We will take the lessons and work for the future.

All the Best!

1 Player and 10 Jokers???

2007-02-04T22:13:00.000-08:00

When many people say how many of Sachin's hundreds have come for a winning cause, check the Cricinfo stats and here are the results.

Out of the 41 hundreds, 11 hundreds have gone in vain.

Let us analyse each of them.

1. 137 off 137 balls Vs SriLanka at Delhi in 1996 World Cup.
India scored 271/3 in 50 overs. The only other 50 score was from Azhar. SL made 272 in 48.4 overs. Manoj Prabhakar had 4-0-47-0. He also opened in the innings with Sachin and scored 7 of 36 balls.

2. 100 of 111 Balls Vs Pak in Singapore- Apr 96.
India 226 all out in 47.1 overs, When Sachin was out score was 186/4. Pak had a reduced target of 187 from 33 overs.

3. 110 of 138 Balls vs Sri Lanka In Colombo - Aug 96.
Again India 226 for 5 in 50 overs, Only other 50 score from Azhar (58 of 99 balls).Sachin has also bowled 6-0-29-1, the second most economical bowler and the only wicket taker (SL were 230/1 in 44.2) of the match next to Srinath. 7 bowlers were used by Azhar.

4. 143 of 131 Balls Vs Aus at Sharjah, Apr 1998.
This was chasing under lights. The qualifying match before the final. The whole world knows about this match. Still one interesting point, when Sachin was out India were 242 at 5 at 43 overs. Target was 276 in 46. Still India finished at 250/5 scoring just 8 of the next 3 overs. Great performance by Laxman and Kanithkar indeed.

5. 101 of 140 Balls against SL at Sharjah in Oct 2000.
Indian score was 224/8 in 50 overs. (No other 50 score). SL got 225/5 in 43.5, Sachin also bowled 5-0-22-0, better economy rate than everyone except Srinath.

6. 146 of 153 Balls against Zimbabwe at Jodhpur - December 2000
India made 283 / 8 in 50 overs. Sachin was the last man to be dismissed, score was 235/8 at 46.3 overs when he was out. Agarkar and Zaheer Khan propelled India to 283 in the last 3.3 overs. When Sachin has scored 146 of 235 in 46.3 overs, you can guess what the other 8 great batsmen were doing against the World class Zimbabwe attack. Second Highest scorer was Zaheer Khan with 32.
Zim got 284/9 in 49.5 overs. Agarkar bowled the last over. Sachin also got 6-0-35-1

7. 101 of 129 Balls Vs SA at Johannesburg - Oct 2001
India got 279/5 in 50, Ganguly made 127 of 126 balls. When Ganguly got out, the score was 193-1 in 35.2 overs. Sachin was the last man to get out at 263. SA got 280 in 48.4 overs. Sachin bowled 9-0-51-0, second best in economy rate next only to Agarkar (10-0-45-1)

8. 141 of 135 balls Vs Pak at Rawalpindi, March 2004.
India were chasing 329 and were 317 all out in 48.4 overs, 8 balls to spare. No other batsman made even a 50 (when chasing 300 ) and when Sachin was out, India were 245-4 in 38.4 overs. They needed 85 from 68 balls with 6 wickets in hand.

9. 123 of 130 Balls vs Pak at Ahmedabad, April 2005.
India made 315/6 in 48 overs (48 over match), again no other 50 score. Second highest was Dhoni 47 of 64 balls, (third highest was extras - 39). Pak made 319 in 48 overs. The three quicks (Balaji, Nehra and Khan went for 188 runs from 26 overs between them taking only 2 wickets). Sachin bowled 6-0-36-1. No Harbhajan and no Kumble.

10. 100 of 113 Balls Vs Pak at Peshawar, Feb-2006.
India were 328 all out in 49.4 overs. Pathan and Dhoni got 60 each. When Sachin was out when India were 305-5 in 45 overs. Managed only 23 in the last 5 overs.

Pak scored 311/7 in 47 overs and won by D/L method. Could have been anybody's game. Sachin did not bowl.

11. 141* of 148 balls vs WI at Malaysia.
India made 309 /5 in 50 overs. Sachin was not out. Pathan was the only other 50 scorer. WI made 141/2 in 20 overs and won by D/L method. Again could have been anybody's game.

In the other 31 instances India has won 30 times and once there was no result.

Now, please think again when you say sachin's 100s were in the losing cause and that he is not a team player. It is a fact that for the entire 90's India played International cricket with 1 player and 10 jokers.

Who is that???

2006-11-26T20:15:00.000-08:00

The game of cricket has become more of a batsman oriented one, it is not because of lack of bowlers; It is because of the administrators, the supporters and obviously mind-boggling batsmen. The 90s and early 2000s has seen batsmen like Sachin, Lara, Ponting, Waugh, Inzamam, Kallis etc. But now the most debated topic is who is best Sachin or Lara, Ponting does not come into the league coz he has not played much cricket like these two and one more reason which makes it easy for Ponting to score is he does not have to face the most terrorizing attack in today's world Cricket.

Now for Lara and Tendulkar, who among them is the best? Me being just software professional and a scribbler (Don't think am good enough to be called a writer ;-)). I can't give a verdict on this but I seriously can make a study about these two greats to find the greatest of the greats. I am not going to restrict myself to batting lets see what these two legends are made up of.

Brian Charles Lara, the prince-of-port-of-Spain started with cricket at an early age of 6. After playing fist class cricket a Youth world ups he made his debut against Pakistan at the age of 21. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the Little Master started his cricket at an age of eleven but his persistence and sheer brilliance brought him into the national squad at the age of 16.

Both Lara and Sachin have had their shares of great moments, injuries, victories, bad patches and losses. Though Sachin is the longest serving in international player, Lara is just a year behind him. Both these players average more than 50 (55 and 53 respectively) in Tests. Having played more than 125 matches, Lara has 34 centuries to his name compared to Sachin's 35.

If we look at how their careers have progressed Sachin had a solid start and was in an awesome form between his 51st to 100th tests. The progress has been deterred by injuries after that and the tests 126-132, is not a record the master might want to look at. Whereas Lara's was a good start followed by some dip in form but after his 75th test Lara's charts are just showing a rise. Lara his 34 centuries to his credit out of which 9 are over 200. He has been known for his ability to play long innings and has also been time and again accused selfish for the same. Sachin does not have these many doubles centuries to his credit. Lara made his first double in his 5th match but Sachin's came very late in his career. If a batsman is to be adjudged as the greatest only by the amount of huge scores made then Lara wins it hands down. But will just huge scores help us win matches. Nopes most of them just end in a draw.

Test matches are all about innings and if we compare them both based on their various innings averages, they play equally well in the 1st match innings, Lara plays it better in second match innings, Sachin is way ahead in 3rd match innings and better by a whisker in 4th. If the second innings which team plays is more important then Sachin is a better player (I am saying this coz time and again I have read arguments as Sachin does not play well in the second innings of his team). Also Lara has been a part of a losing team in 62 tests when compared to Sachin's 37, this is given the fact that Indian team is accused of being big time losses. Sachin holds averages over 50 in tests played at home and away, whereas Lara's away test average is much below his home average and Sachin's away average.

Okie now if people ask me, is it just averages which define a batsman's greatness. The answer is big NO. In today's cricketing world a batsman can be called great for his runs (of course), skills, technique and his contribution to team's cause. This just need not be winning but it could also be saving from a loss. Both of these have amassed a lot of runs, their skill talent and techniques are time-tested. Their contribution to team's cause, well the stats suggests Lara has been a part of a team which has won 32 tests and drawn 35 (61 & 68 averages) compared to Sachin's 41 (64 & 72). Sachin can also help by bowling.

With one day's ruling the contemporary era of cricket lets look their performances here too, before we can think of a conclusion. Sachin has played more ODIs than Lara (nearly a 100). He has 14,479 runs and 142 wkts to his credit against 9948 runs and 4 wkts of Lara's.

Sachin has 40 centuries to his name out of which 15 are at home. Out of Lara's 19, 6 are at home. 1993 was the only year when Lara scored more than 1000 runs in a year where as Sachin has done it in 1994,1996,1997,1998,2000,2003. Though Lara has lost 134 out of his 283 matches (165 out of 371 for Sachin) he has better comparative average in the matches won for his team and in matches won while chasing.

But when it comes to the biggest of all, the world cup, Lara's figures stand way below Sachin's. Even after being accused of unable to deliver in finals time and again, Sachin seems to have performed better than Lara there. It can also be noted that Sachin has played about 36 finals compared to Lara's 19. Is this criterion to question the ability of the prince to bring his team to finals? With the recognition part of Match, Sachin holds the world record with 52 awards to Lara's 30.In this entire span of career Sachin has been captain and played under various captains but his name has not been a part of a lot of controversies whereas Lara has had his date with it all.

Now all these are just numbers though they are huge, both these are master craftsmen, both their team struggles when they lose they get out but I should say Sachin has had more pressure on his shoulders. Tendulkar has been burdened with the traditional comparison with Bradman — an analogy made by the "The Knight" himself, who likened the diminutive Indian to himself in his younger days and he ahs carried the hopes of the Indian Crowd, the most emotional of the Cricketing crowds.

Now let us think of a conclusion (difficult part) who amongst these two will use call as the greatest batsmen, If it is ODIs Sachin wins it heads up, if it is tests there is a stiff competition but can still be called as 60-40 to Lara due to the sheer amount of runs and massive sores. If the argument is taken for the greatest cricketer then Lara doesn't stand anywhere near Sachin because Sachin is an all-rounder (At least when compared to Lara), a team man and the best cricketing personality around. (This is the Sophi touch :-))

Mother of All Matches...Best of all Innings!!

2006-11-15T01:06:00.000-08:00

Long time back i was given a TAZ in my team...(For Non-Wiproites , TAZ means Thanks a Zillion), a voucher from landmark for 150 rupees. After too much of introspection and roaming about i decided on a CD. The CD of the India Vs Pak 2003 World Cup match. The match which saw a new face of Indian Cricket. I was in college during that WC and yeah we just enjoyed that Roller coaster ride of Indian team in that series. With Sachin being in prime form, we loved every match of it and every bit of it except the finals. Though all those matches can be written about and talked about as there was something special in each of them, like The Six in Caddick's ball by Sachin in the England match, the Straight drive which could have seriously hurt Aleem Dar in the Namibia match, this match is real real special and so a recap of it all.. Lots would be about Sachin and you have to bear it as you know you are reading the blogspot of Ms.Nitya!

The Build up:Okie, titled as the "Mother of all matches" , India met Arch-Rivals Pakistan in a group match on March 1st 2003. It was a Sunday and the whole of India was hooked on to the TV Set. The Indian line up for the match was Sourav(C),Dravid(VC),Sachin,Sehwag,Kaif,Yuvraj,Pathan,Zaheer,Nehra,Mongia and Kumble. Both the captains exchanged official ties before the start of the match. The toss was won by the Pak Captain Waqar Younis and they elected to bat.

Pak Innings:Pakistanis batted was pretty well i should say. Saeed Anwar(101) led the attack with a century.All the other batsmen played around him.taufeeq Umar(22),Youhana(25),Younis(32) all of them played their parts well.It was all down Rashid Latif and Wasim Akram in the last few overs and they literally stole runs at their pace. At the end of their 50 overs Pakis had scored 273 runs and looked all set to win against India for the first time in a World Cup match as India's highest successful WC run chase till then was 222.

Behind the Scenes: Once the Indian team went into their dressing room, Sachin did not speak to anyone. Was involved in any of the discussions about the chasing.He took a bowl of ice-cream, put his headphones on and went and sat in a corner.Got up from there and padded up just in time (This was shred by the master himself in the recent interview in NDTV). When Sachin and Sehwag started walking down the stairs, Sehwag told Sachin "Don't tell me anything other them Jao aur Lage Raho" and Sachin supposedly answered "I am going to take it to these guys".(Excerpt from John Wright's Indian Summers)

Indian Innings: The Pakistani players who weren't aware of all these, and who had a awesome bowling line up came into the field with all the confidence in the World. Sachin who generally prefers batting second faced the first ball. With Akram opening the bowling the first runs on the board came with Tendulkar flicking Akram to the on-side fence for a sweetly-timed boundary. The Second over is the one which set the tone for the match.Akthar came in at the speed of Rawalpindi Express (;-)) just to be hit all over the ground. The first hit was cut shot, inside out and over the top, sending the ball into the stands several rows back at point for a 6. This was followed by two boundaries in the same over. At the other end Sehwag joined the party very soon by playing a similar cut for 6 in the first ball of Waqar Younis.The Indians raced to the team 50 in 30 balls. When the score was 53, Sehwag got out playing a loose shot. The next ball up Sourav Ganguly was walking back to the pavilion.(One more reason for me to like this match!!! :-) )

Phase 2: Promoted up the order, Kaif started slowly playing around Sachin.The master ensured that the RR was no where affected. When he was in 32 , Razzaq dropped Sachin and by that probably the match. Akram was visibly vivid with Razzaq for that. There was no stopping from then on. Sachin presented a bouquet to shots to entertain the 20,000 + crowd there.India reached 100 in 12 overs. Sachin crossed 12,000 odi runs. With the huge pressure and heat Sachin started to cramp badly, he was given assistance between the overs. Mohd.Kaif got out when the score was 155, which brought Dravid to the crease.

Finally:When Sachin was on 98, the pain increasing he got his clone as his runner.Shoaib who came in for his third spell bowled a brute of a delivery, rearing from a length that got the better of Tendulkar. The master fell just two runs short of a most deserving ton. Tendulkar departed on 98 (75 balls, 12 fours, 1 six) in the 28th over.At that juncture we needed only a further 97 runs for victory in more than 20 overs. Yuvraj Singh(50*) and Dravid (44*) played as sensibly as they can and took India to 274 with about 4 overs to spare. The smiles in the Indian dressing room said it all. After being bashed up and let down by the nation after they had lost to Aussies 10 days back,they were National heroes again. Sachin without any doubt was declared the man of the match yet again. This was a day when every cricket fan would been happy. Yet again, one man had played the game as well as it could be.

Indian Summers - A Review

2006-11-09T22:05:00.000-08:00

John Wright's Indian Summers, for people who have not yet read it this books is something like an insight into John's memories. He has used a very simple language in his book and a very neat writing style. The best part being keeping to his topics, coz when you are talking about Indian Cricket its very easy that you dont stay with your topic at all. The book is racy and spicy at some points.The book gives details into the Wright and Ganguly led team which has Test wins overseas in less than five years than Indian cricket had achieved in the previous 70 while raising standards of fitness and professionalism within the team to unprecedented levels.

He has started the book with how life all of a sudden changed when he decided to quit cricket, some internals into his last series, then about working as a manager in a firm. Its after that John took up to coaching some of the local county teams and then how it all changed when he took his flight to India.It has its share of interesting anecdotes about various matches, places, and players. It also has some chapters, devoted to how team selection, the business of cricket and of how aspiring young cricketers in India are mercilessly winnowed down. These chapters are where Wright’s upright style and insider status is well utilized to give the fans an insight to the dressing room happenings.

The best thing about the book is the Wright’s obvious love for the game, for Indians and for Indian cricket, as well as his unpretentious honesty and his self-deprecatory humor. The thing that a serious fan of cricket and of the Indian team will find missing, almost painfully so, is the lack of any substantive information beyond a few platitudes here and there on what made the relationship between Ganguly and Wright so successful. It somehow looked as Wright is reluctant to reveal about his relationship with the then captain. Wright discusses a lot about his relationship with Leipus and Adrian Le Roux than his relationship with captain Ganguly or even vice captain Dravid for that matter. The one whole chapter has been dedicated for Jaggu, and that gives us some real insight to the Brains of the master tactitian.

Wright has also looked at himself critically ("I knew straight away that rather than ripping into Viru (Sehwag), I should have walked away, gone for a stroll around the ground or ducked into the nearest pub"), and admits to mistakes. Thankfully, he springs the odd "I told you so": more an acknowledgement that the joke was on him than any aspiration to righteousness. Also his notes on how he had to get it out of Sachin about where he wants to bat ( Sachin always replied as Wherever the team wants me to), what happened in SA following the loss to Aussies in the group match, the handling of the "HOT POTATO" problem during the Multan test ( Declaration when Sachin was on 194*).

On the whole this has come out as a neat autobiography style book but its only about 5 years of his life, when team India scaled real heights, but as far as my knowledge goes if at all Greg Chappel is going to come out with an Indian Winters, that might be even more interesting.

A Child's Dream

2006-10-13T03:03:00.000-07:00

This is the poem which got me the Runners up in GRAVITY 2 Poetry Competetion....

When i went to my couch,
It was around 10 in the night;
After 33 long years in my life
Is my achievement worth strife?

I slowly closed my eyes
Life rewinded year wise.
From 33 to 32 to 31
It came to a stop at 5.

I remember that day,
As if it was just yesterday!
The chubby kid, with curly hair,
Was posing cutely for a photograph.

Though, it was just a small step
It ahs become my life's best.
That day i started to grow,
From then things started to flow.

My brother realized my potential,
Helped me not to feel emotional,
Family support was sensational
That made my life fictional.

My father signed my first contract
From that day life has been on track!
I was a prodigy at sixteen,
And became a star at eighteen.

Tons and Tons of runs
Loads of scalps, helping wins.
As records kept me above the rest,
People started calling me the best.

All alone i couldn't have done this;
It was because of the 3 Fs;
My Family, friends and Fans
Helped me win life's wars.

Above all, the blessings of the Lord
Has helped me in being called Cricket's God.
At 5, I was just Sachin Tendulkar,
At 33, i am one of the best Cricketer.

Can people be changed??

2006-10-12T08:01:00.001-07:00

Do people change with time??? Is it easy to change the basic character of a person??If someone had asked me these questions a week or two back, i would have staright answered a big NO.... But today to me it looks as if its possible. Probably because of the change which came in me because of a friend. And i should probably say a BIIIIG THANKS to the person who taught me how to change.

A person can change, even the very basic character when we properly understand the need to change and are able to understnad the pros and cons of the change. As it happened with me, expecting people to behave in a particulatar way or jus expectations on everyone was my basic character. I have suffered a lot because of this, a lot of disappointments and mental pressures.

Thats when, this friend of mine told me a simple trick, simple but very powerful. The trick was be what you are, do what you can but dont expect. Only when you want them to do something and when they dont do it, you get disappointed, stop that and you will feel happy. It wasnt a easy thing to do but it made me think and i decided to try out and it did work. It couldn't find a reason to be upset or to cry. I just did my work and did my best and forgot it.Never bothered more about it.

Thats it Friends, every problem in life has a simple solution.You just need to find it or you need to have great friends like the ones i have to help you find it..

Be Happy and Keep Smiling :)

Defeats...

2006-09-26T03:59:00.000-07:00

The art of handling defeats, this is something which cannot be learnt easily and this is also something which most of us dont want to learn.It is being told that people who take their defeat lightly are true sportsperson, but isnt the true sportsman known for his thirst for victory.

Now how to handle it? As such i was very bad at handling defeats or failures.I am still afraid of failure but i have learnt that life goes on. Also its very simple to handle them.Here is what i learnt:

You can lose in two ways either because of you or because of others. If you are losing because of you, then it doesn't mean that you are not fit for it (as i used to say), it is just that you did not give your best or it just wasn't your day. Probably the person who beat had give his/her heart and soul into it. And when you lose because of others just take it light. See a one man army cannot succeed always. There could be great individual performances, but for a team to win we always need a good team performance. This is something which we always see with Sachin and India. When your team mates are not upto your class you cant do anything about it. You can just do your best.

Just remember that you cannot play for everyone in the team or work for everyone. If you have done your best and if you are satisfied with your performance just keep up the good work. Success will come and find you one day for sure!!!

As Masterful As Ever

2006-09-21T02:57:00.000-07:00

Sachin Tendulkar.....Its been 18 years and still India needs this one person to deliver it everytime he walks out. We speak of Dravids,Dhonis,Yuvarajs but Sachin is always a class apart. He is what he is and he is what he was and what he will be.

Before the DLF Series, people suggested its time for him to retire, he is old, rusted and they event went to the extent of calling him as ENDulkar.What a shame! Only we Indians can do such a thing to a person who has done all that he could from the age of 16 for his country. Here is some tribut which i could pay for the master.

Ten out of Ten(DULKAR)!!!

A lot has been said and a lot been written about his talent. One failure .... his form becomes the talk of the country. An injury .... whole of the country prays for a speedy recovery, every other doctor is asked for an opinion, even a layman wants to know all about the problem, such is the impact following the name Sachin Tendulkar . This man has an aura. He is such a class act, that no one can ignore him or stop wondering at him.

Born: April 24 1973, Bombay.A Right-hand bat and a part-time spinner.Came into limelight in his early teens.Started to represent his country in his late teens. Holds the records for most ODI appearances, runs, hundreds, man of the matches etc….More than 24,000 international runs nearly 75 centuries, more than 100 half centuries, nearly 200 wickets and above 100 catches. There doesn’t seem any need for someone to talk about what he is capable of.

17 years of serving Indian cricket, he has been awarded with Arjuna Award, PadmaShri, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (The Highest recognition for a sportsman in India).He was named the Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1997.Was compared to the Don by Don himself. The Ex-English Captain Naseer Hussain said, “There is no world XI without Sachin in it”. These events and comments reflect Sachin ....the definition of perfection in cricket.

For a budding Cricketer, Sachin is a great batsman, and has been proving over a long period;he is a tricky bowler, something he proves time and again. Over the years, Sachin has had to bear so much responsibility and yet has had to take the blame if the team lost. Tendulkar has done enough to be considered one of the all-time greats in either form of the game. The figures will add up, for he is only 32, after all.

But for a Layman, say a Software Engineer like me why would Sachin need to be the role model. He is so successful not merely because of the way he plays but his attitude. It’s no rocket science as to why he has played so long and has been so successful. Just look at the way he leads his life, the way he conducts himself both on and off the field, and you have got the recipe for success. There is no hidden side to Tendulkar the human being — what you see is what you get, and what you see is a simple, balanced, level-headed, super -successful young man who has charmed audiences worldwide with his awesome exploits on the cricket field and his impeccable behaviour off it.

Sachin, as his name stands has been more or less been a symbol of purity.17 years of public life we have not heard any scandal involving Sachin. He has always maintained his personal life clean and never got into any controversies, which somehow people seem to get into after an year or half of public life.When the whole cricketing fraternity was shook by the Betting scandal, so many of his own team mates caught in it; Sachin remain untouched. And the highest proof of his integrity is mirrored in the comment from the old Ali Irani in his statement to the police said, “We generally start the betting only after Sachin gets out”.

Talking about his qualities the Next thing following is his commitment, placing country before self. He has been accused time and again as to a person who plays for records; he never completes the matches and etc. But the master in his own way showed what he holds higher in his life when he flew back to England to play for India against Kenya after his father’s death. Though all of us knew he was in deep grief the whole of India expected him to come back; its quiet arguable as to from how many more people we would have expected the same.

The Competitive skills of this guy need not be questioned. In every match he makes his presence felt in some way or another. To quote a few examples, Pan to the Kolkata Test against Pakistan, having stared a huge lead in the face, India fought their way back through early strikes on the third morning. The momentum was with India, but Pakistan weren’t out of it, centurion Younis Khan and the never-say-die Asim Kamal at the crease. Younis played a cracking on-drive, and as skipper Sourav Ganguly from mid-off and Tendulkar from mid-on gave chase, the latter perceptibly slowed down mid-stride and muttered a word or two to the captain.Ganguly hauled the ball just inside the ropes, and flicked it back a little wide of Tendulkar, in tow. The little man took a fraction of a second to size up the situation, and rifled in a 90-yard throw to the wicket-keeper that caught Kamal, returning for a third run, totally unawares and well out. Tendulkar then set off on a war dance that showed just how much that dismissal meant to him. Arms raised high above his head after a clenched right fist had repeatedly punched skywards, Tendulkar sprinted the length of the field, high-fiving with every team-mate, a grin as broad as Rahul Dravid’s blade plastered across his face. It was similar to his reaction when he snaffled Inzamam-ul-Haq at the long-on fence in the final one-dayer in Lahore 2004 series.Also to quote the reaction after scalping the big Inzi for 7th time in the 4th one-dayer. Evidence enough to show that time has taken little of his competitive skills away.

A person who values his words a lot, can be hardly found speaking against a person or bad mouthing a person. Even if big mouths like Shoaib make umpteen statements before a match, he answers them only during the match through his bat. I sometimes secretly pray that a player says something about him before the match, it sort of kindles Sachin and the answer he gives eventually results in a Indian victory. Many bowlers have suffered this, to a name a few Shoaib Akthar, Caddick, Muralitharan. Even on the field sledging just provokes Sachin to play better, ask McGrath for an analysis on this and he would remember things as if they happened yesterday.

The discipline he maintains. Sachin has always been the most affected of dubious umpiring but can hardly been seen showing dissent in public. His urge to learn, the passion for the game,etc.. Such are the standards Tendulkar for him that he is allowed no failure. Just as there is a tendency from one school to condone everything he does, is the overwhelming barrage of criticism from the anti-Tendulkar school — and again, as difficult as that might be to believe, that is quite a sizeable number — at the first hint of the most complete Indian batsman hitting a rough patch. Having said that, it is a tribute to Tendulkar’s longevity and his focus, his undiminished skills and his insatiable appetite, that in all forms of the game, against all countries and in all conditions, he has blazed a trail that can only be described as spectacular.
His biggest success lies in the Art of Handling success, in keeping a steady head, in keeping his feet firmly planted on the ground. The middle-class moorings have not been cast away in a jiffy; almost incredibly, after all these years, Tendulkar is still the boy next door. He wears the cloak of success with modesty all too rare. And this along with all those pointed above makes him the ALL TIME HERO of Mine...

Another face of Love

2006-08-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

After all that on Love and marriage, too much of discussion seems to happen....Now the question is Can love turn into hate?

And my answer is NO.

There are two angles to this problem.Lets take it 1 at a time.

You Love a Person and the person does not love you.

Frankly, speaking there is nothing you could do in such a situation.The feeling of affection & care and belongingness which you felt towards that person,he/she did not feel it towards you.Neither of you are at fault.This is how human beings are made.Everyone is different, no two people think the same or feel the same.Forget about some XYZ. Just take your brother or sister for example,do both of you love each other in the same way or for that matter is your love for your mom or dad is the same? One of you might love your mom more and the other one the dad and there could be various reasons for it.This doesnt mean you dont love them at all it means just that you dont love them as you love the other person.

So ,Its the same here also.If you love a XYZ and that XYZ doesnt reciprocate, there could be 1001 reasons for it.And that person might not be even able to tell it.And there is no point in you feeling hurt in such a circumstance.

The second type is a more tricky and a sentimental issue.
A person says he / she also loves but then says no

If such a thing happens, it is totally humane to get upset,angey,hurt and everything. Here also the only fault on your side is probably did not know whom to give your love to.Whatever is happening here can be taken on various way but the best way to handle it is to feel probably that person is not lucky enough to experience your love for them by staying with you, because this is the only way to keep urself away from getting hurt.And if you get hurt jus because someone had hurt you by ditching it could lead your life into getting gloomy, you might lose the confidence you have on Love and you might also get afraid of loving anybody else,becuase you are afraid of getting hurt.

And when such a thing happens can the love turn into hurt? NO.Love stays love,if it stays into hatred then it was never love it was jus a need. You felt you loved that person because you needed something from that person and when that person refuses to satisfy your need it becomes hate. And by calling the need as Love you were just fooling around.

So,friends be clear in what you want and what you give.Love a lot and be loved a lot!!!!

Love and Marriage....

2006-08-27T22:08:00.000-07:00

After reading a friend's blog today, i am inspired to do this piece of blogging....
Love and marriage.....There is a lot of things coming into my head and i m jus gonna put them all down..

Now what is Love, it has been so wrongly understood by so many people that Love is a feeling which is 99% of time comes only to the person of the opposite sex.All these Love at first sight and crap.The media needs to be blamed for this.Love is such a beautiful feeling which can come even towards ur pet dog,for that matter even towards a key chain u think is dear to you. Love is a mixture of a lot of emotions.When you say you love a person you mean that you care for that person,you wanna share the good,bad,great and worst times of the person,It means that if that person is going through some pain it hurts you.More importantly when you Love a person it means that you are giving that person the right to hurt you. And it is a promise that if you start loving a person you can never hate them.Now coming to the Love of our society..the boy gal funda

Is it better that u love the person before marriage or is it better that u marry a person and love.
This is somewhat similar to our all time favourite topic Love Marriage Vs Arranged Marriage. Well, at this point in my life when most of my friends are in the so called Love, i feel Arranged marriages are much much better. When people commit themselves to a person that he / she is gonna spend their entire life with you as your Husband / Wife and then ditch you it is such a pain and tht is what happens 99% in today's world atleast.This is such a cruel materialistic world.Why get into something then hurt yourself and also the other person.And married life is not a joke as it looks like. When you decide to get marrried to a person then you are deciding to live the rest of your life with that person.

And can you decide it just because you think you love a person. Films are fine to watch and enjoy for 3 hours but will they fit into our lives. Just because a hero and heroine runaway marry and succeed does it mean anyone running away can do it. And half the people after getting married think was it the person they loved.And this doesnt mean that in arrnaged marriages it is all well and fine.No even there you are risking your life to a person whom you dont know but there atleast you are sure your parents wont risk your life.

Love is a belief which can come on a person at any time. Marriage is an commitment which is good if it is made once in your life. If it is Love before marriage be sure it is love and if you plan to get married, see to that you love stays and matures.Life doesnt go on just by filmi dialogues. To spend your life together you need to make a lot of compromises,there should a feeling of need,affection,compatibility,sharing and all that.

Above all thism when your parent has chosen all the best things for you all these 22+ years dont they know what next needs to come in your life.If you cannot make this small compromise for your parents and give them the opportunity to choose your life partner then i feel you can never love anyone in your life.Coz if you cant compromise for a person you dont love them and if you dont love your parents then you probably donno what love is.

2006-08-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

It is so happening that for quite sometime in my life now i have been feeling that nothing goes on as i want it.Be it a small thing like watching a program on TV to a something veyr important in life. My brains do tell me that it is not with you but with everyone,but the heart never accepts and it also wins always.

First i thought that it is just a phase of life which comes in everyone's life but now i am wondering whether it is a very long phase.What is that the person above has in store for me??Y is he frustrating me so much...Y is he teaching me things like Loneliness,Defeat,frustration etc....

Will there be some light at the end of this long tunnel????It is for time to answer....