Jun 19, 2008

Update

Off to hel(L)!! Next update from thr!

Apr 12, 2008

IPL: What’s the cut-off this time?

In cities like Bangalore where people are on a lookout for avenues of entertainment… I think IPL will be a huge success in times to come. The three major positives of IPL are:
1. 20-20 format: This ensures that the match would get over in 3 hours.
2. Timings of the matches: The matches would start at 8 pm… lot of ppl can catch the match after office hours.
3. Higher disposable income: Especially in place like Bangalore where there are ppl with money but very limited choice of entertainment, I m sure ppl would welcome these matches and would go for them. (I know ppl who consider shopping at Big Bazaar and other big malls as their primary weekend activity… this is because of lack of options… you hardly get movie tickets if you don’t book in advance.)

There are other positives which I can go about writing… but let me write about the something different… a different kind of future…

Now… the time has come where ppl have realized that even sports can earn you money… I know lot of brilliant sportsmen who had not taken up sport as a career because of money constraints they could foresee had they made that choice. The times have changed… Ishant Sharma would be earning about 19000 odd rupess per ball he bowls in the IPL. This is considering the maximum no. of balls any bowler can bowl for a 5 year contract. 5years*16 matches (semifinal and final included)*24 balls/match = 1920 balls for his 3.8 crores contract.

3-5 years from now: People would not talk about CAT/IIT/IIM/AIMS/etc. cut-offs… instead there will be talking about cut-offs for making into smaller leagues in the pattern of IPL/ICL… These smaller leagues would lead to ppl qualifying for IPL/ICL later…
Imagine missing making into a team because your batting average fell short by 0.25 runs… the cut-off was 40.55. Or missing out on bowling strike rate cut-off of 25.1 balls by 0.1 balls.

Gear up countrymen for the times to come.
For the time being… Happy IPLing!!

Mar 6, 2008

I m back!

It has been a long time since i have put up a post... I shall be back to my regular best soon!
Lots has been happening... there were free times when i was in no mood to write and when the mood was there i didn't have things to write.

Congrats to Indian Senior and Junior cricket teams on their achievements!
Go Sachin! You just have to get 11 half centuries and 8 centuries to complete centuries of half centuries and half centuries of centuries in ODIs!!

Staying with cricket... Munaf Patel is the superlative exmaple of one-dimensionality in cricket... He just knows how to bowl... and once he had done that he forgets that he can field in his follow through and he can also run back to the stumps to help effect a run-out. People who don't want to be 'Jack of all' but aspire to be 'Master of one' can idolize Munaf as he has excelled in being one-dimensional without slighest of the deviations.

I am bored of the phrase 'Chuck de' and feel like pulling out my hair or ear or eyes when i hear or see it used - it has been used anywhere and everywhere... someone motivating his/her team... 'Lets, chuck de!', Even Mr. Lalu prasad used 'Chuck de Railways' while presenting the railways budget... After India's victory one of the news channels (Actually it would qualify as an entertainment channel for me) had a headline which said... 'Chuck diya India'... One of my flatmates got a bag from his company which had 'Chuck de' printed on it... Where has the imagination gone... and i am more or less convinced... definetely more and not less convinced that SRK got the filmfare not for his acting but for giving us this multiutility phrase!

Aug 11, 2007

Yeh kaisa Junoon

Sir Sachin Tendulkar,

I belong to a generation which has grown up watching you play. When I was younger, I used to skip lunch/dinner whenever you got a wrong decision. The T.V. used to be shut down when you used to get out as if to pay homage to the war deceased.

That was when I was 14. Now, when I m 24, I still like to watch you play but the T.V. is on even when u get out and no more food skipping when u get rough decision. But it still hurts when you get beaten and when I see lesser bowlers dominating you. Although I believe you have two more cricketing years in you but I want to see you retire in your peak form and not when you are struggling and because of pressure from public and selectors.

I do understand that your role has changed but I want the old Sachin back. I did see some of the vintage Sachin batting at Lords in the first test of the current series, and I hope old Sachin is here to stay. I hope you give us a few definitive innings (you make India win from the jaws of defeat) that your critics often talk about as being missing in your glorious career. I want to tell stories about your batting to my children and grand children when I get old… ‘Those were the days when Sir Sachin used to bat…’

An Ardent Fan.
I hope you read this some day

P.S. I used to think there were two kinds of batsman who could score centuries, one with loads of talent and the other with little talent and more hard work, until I saw a third kind.... Mr. Anil Kumble. A man with zero batting talent but with a lot of grit and determination. It was heartening to see him score century.

Jun 22, 2007

I'm Back - part 1

I m back home after completing the task of getting my brother settled in his new place of study. Dad gave me this responsibility and his theory was that he did these things for me and now i should do them for my bro. Moreover he also told me that this could me a vacation for me.
I stayed at 4 different hotels, traveled by 4 different trains, ate at the expensive and at not so expensive places, traveled by best and worst of the buses, visited 5 places... and did all this in 14 lazy and hectic days.
Although i love trekking but a perfect vacation for me would be when i have nothin to do but relax... so this trip which my dad called a vacation was far from it... i had to interact with so many people of all age group, although not necessary but i also had the responsibility of finding the best for my brother... i visited so many houses, looking for PG accommodation, ragged so many students (i would call it ragging as i used to hate it when guardians used to quiz me about places and subjects etc.), asked for directions to every 5th person (dont ask me why this was required), gave gyan to people double my age... but it was all fun.
The train journeys were eventful and would write another post on it... train journeys in my colorful country has its own charm, someone gives me choice between free flight ticket and a free train ticket... i would choose train.