Day 218-2011 : The English Nightmare

The Indian cricket team has had a pretty cool last year and a half.  They haven't lost a series, for the last 11 series, have sat on the top of the world Test rankings throughout the year and in April, won the World Cup as well.  Truly, a dream run!

They must be, however, beginning to realise that this dream was only a prelude to what they might call, in a couple of months' time, as the 'English Nightmare'. 

The India v/s England series was billed as top draw, a battle between, arguably, the world's two best cricket teams.  At stake is the top spot in the world Test rankings.  It has however, turned out to be a damp squib.  Two tests down, it has been a no contest between a tired, ill-prepared, injury ridden side and a well prepared and disciplned side.  The Indian side has been slow on the field and doesn't have a clue on how to handle swing and seam.  The only exception has been 'The Wall', excelling at the place where he made his debut about 15 years ago.

England now have an unbeatable 2-0 in the series.  So what are the reasons for this disgraceful slump? 

The symptoms:  No Virender Sehwag, the musical chairs between Yuvraj and Raina, Gambhir injured and to top all of that, the main strike bowler, Zaheer Khan out with a hamstring injury after bowling a few overs in the first test. 

For once, I would not blame the cricketers at all.  Clearly, we do not seem to be taking good care of our cricket team!  The BCCI has been greedy and these are all the symptoms of that.  The schedule of the Indian team is jam-packed; the idea being to milk it more!  The World Cup followed by the long and hectic IPL followed by the West Indian series and then the current England series.  Those who have been part of all of this, should be exhausted by now!  We run the risk of pushing some of our talented cricketers to the brink of burnouts.  Is BCCI killing the hen which lays the golden egg?

On the other hand, the English team look to be very well prepared.  It is probably the strongest ever English team that I have seen in the last few decades.  They seem to have sorted out their ego issues (especially prima donna KP!) and the captaincy capers.  Strauss has led well.  They have planned the downfall of each and every Indian batsmen meticulously.  Their batting line up is solid!  And most importantly they look hungry and want to be the best team in the world.

As I watched the two test matches on the telly, it was very evident that I have been watching the world's number one Test team.  But it certainly wasn't India.

Take care.

Day 182 - The Beautiful Game

Goooooooooaaaaaaaaalllllllll!!!

Yes, it is football frenzy time!  It is amazing how once in every four years this phenomenon, called the FIFA World Cup, captures the imagination of practically the whole world, me included.  Let me be very clear; I am not a great fan of football.  Club football confuses me, what with all the different leagues in different parts of the world and the never ending player transfers from one club to another.  However, when once in 4 years, the World Cup is played over a month, I become a die-hard fan of the game.

Although India has never played in the World Cup Finals (it did qualify for the 1950 World Cup Finals, but the team did not travel to Brazil for the competition), during the World Cup people in India become staunch supporters of various teams depending on various parameters like, the stars that they follow, the emotional attachment to a playing nation, the style of play of a particular team, etc.

I, for one, support multiple teams!  And believe me this is not because I try to hedge my bets.  I am supporting Spain for its seamless and skillful play, Brazil as the eternal favourites due to the flair with which they play, Germany because of their structured and disciplined execution by a very young team and last but not the least, Argentina!  Since the time I watched the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico for the first time, I have an emotional connect to Argentina!  Argentina won that competition and Maradona was the 'God of Football', not necessarily due to the 'Hand of God' only.  From that year on, I have watched every World Cup with great interest.  If 1986 was about Maradona and the 'Hand of God', 1990 was all about the magic of the dimunitive Salvatore Schillaci.  1994 was all about selling the game to the USA, while 1998 was the year of Zinadine Zidane; France winning the tournament on home turf! The World Cup came to Asia for the first time in 2002.  It was also the first time that two countries were jointly hosting the tournament; Japan and South Korea.  I thought 2006 was a drab affair in Germany, which was won by the Italians.

2010 is the year of Africa, the World Cup Finals being hosted in this continent for the first time.  I missed the first set of matches due to the travel to Bengaluru.  However, I more than made up for it in the second week, by ensuring that I watched rest of all the matches in the Group stages.  I have to say, very few matches in this World Cup have been entertaining.  The pre-quarterfinal match up between England and Germany was a riveting affair.  It was also marred by poor referee decisions.  This and some other such bad decisions by the referees have sparked of a huge clamour of the usage of technology to assist referees in decision making. 

Now, don't get me wrong.  I am a great supporter of technology and its applications in our day to day lives. I also appreciate the fact that such technological help has added great value to sports like Cricket and Tennis.  However, I, for one would be very careful to go the whole hog with technology for a game like football.  Football is a beautiful game because of the raw speed and pace, because of the amazing skills of the players to control a ball and keep its possession with them and because of the innovative and creative tactics used by teams to cut through the defences of the opponents to score a goal.  I believe uncontrolled intervention of technology can take away the beauty of this minimalist game.  If the usage of technology is controlled in such a way that it does not kill the pace and creativity of the game by frequent interruptions, it must be welcomed.  Remember, some years ago, the game had started to become very boring due to the frequent stoppages because of inappropriate tackles and fouls.  FIFA had then introduced the 'Advantage' rule, to increase the pace of the game and keep it interesting.  The rule was simple.  If a player was fouled, but the possession of the ball still remained with the player's own team, the game was allowed to be continued without stopping it for a free kick for the foul.

As I write this, the tournament is entering its decisive and interesting quarter finals stage.  A couple of big ticket encounters await us.  Argentina will play Germany in the Quarters; can't wait for it.  Oracle Octopus might have predicted a win for Germany, but as one of my colleagues pointed out today, the law of averages might catch up with Mr.OO. I am betting on a Brazil v/s Argentina final, though Spain could also be one of the finalists.  They are playing some beautiful football.  Some of the stars to look out for in these later stages of the tournament are: David Villa, Lionel Messi, Kaka, Fabiano, Diego Forlan, Gyan, Sneijder, Klose, Podolski and maybe some more who might emerge as stars due to their exploits in the final stages.

I am loving it and looking forward to all these stars and their respective teams performing at the highest levels.  Meanwhile, this weekend I cought up with my friends from SHCIL.  Jyoti is here in India for a couple of months.  Hence myself, Parag, Jyoti and Ritesh got together for lunch along with our respective familes.  It was a relaxed affair and a lot of fun.  Plan to organise a bigger event in a month or so before Jyoti goes back to the US.

On Monday, Dad got operated for cataract. Finally, after a couple of postponements due to high sugar levels.  He is keeping well and in good spirits.

Hence, so am I.  Take care.