The first one dayer between India and Pakistan was more of a Paki loss than an India win. First of all, they dropped an easy catch and gave Sehwag a life on the first ball of the match. And then, they collapsed inexplicably.
Sachin showed that he is no ‘occassional’ bowler by picking up a 5-fer.
And sadly, as usual, Dravid did not get a man of the match award because Sehwag probably had a more flamboyant innings. I think Dravid deserved it more than Sehwag did. But the commentators (the adjudicators) thought otherwise.
I have a HUGE favor to ask you. Tonight Wednesday 3/30/2005 after 9pm (basically, after American Dreams is over), and before 5pm tomorrow Thursday 3/31/2005, can you please send an email to:
Body: I really love American Dreams and I would strongly request you to bring it back next season. Please don’t cancel the show.
If you want, you can simply click here to get the email composed automatically.
Please send it from all your different email addresses. And please ask all your friends to do so too. Please. Its a small favor. Not much to ask. And I am serious - please send it to your friends and everyone you know who has an email address.
It is important that you send it after the show is over, so if you have friends in a different time zone than yours, please alert them about it.
NBC is going to monitor the response they will get after the season finale tonight, and then make a decision about keeping the show.
For your benefit, this post will stay on top all day today.
I got a pretty bad cramp in the middle of the night on Saturday night. It was in the leg, when you have no control over the nerves being pulled. I stood up and screamed like crazy, and started rubbing on my calf furiously, hoping it would help. At the back of my mind I knew it was not going to help and it would become better on its own.
After a few painful moments, it became ok, but not good. Enough for me to at least go back to bed.
What’s the deal? It was not too cold either. I should not be cramping at this age!
And there was a second one that came in on Sunday night. This time it was at the back of my ankle. It was not so much a cramp, it was more like a sprain-feel pain. Terrible.
I am getting increasingly frustrated with blogger. I am trying to make a follow up comment on a comment that SPM posted on my ‘CD to MP3’ conversion post and I simply cannot get the comment window to open. I tried hard last evening and again this morning and it would not show up. It pops up a new window but just does not refresh it.
I guess this is the price we pay of going with free technologies. C’est la vie.
But it still does not change my opinion of the moment - BLOGGER SUCKS!
India had to just play out 3 sessions on a not-so-bad pitch. They couldn’t. I blame Dravid and Tendulkar, besides Gambhir.
Gambhir mainly for being indecisive about running. He called for a non-existent run and then backed out. Losing Sehwag was bad for two reasons - the momentum that India had going was broken, and for all practical purposes, Pakistan knew, that India would not be able to chase. Which means they could give away a few boundaries here and there, but concentrate on getting wickets. Gambhir’s mistake would have been ‘normal’ on other days, but here, it was crucial.
Then of course, the hugely unexplainable defensive rut that he and Dravid got into. And then he got out right after getting his 50. If he had carried on, playing positively and keeping Pakistan on the backfoot, it would still have been ok. But he did not play positively, and also, got out. Bad. Bad, bad, bad.
After he got out, for no reason, Dravid and Sachin closed down the shop and decided to play for the draw. It is one thing to play for a draw and another, to play negatively for a draw. They could have put away the bad balls and even put some pressure on the bowlers by stepping out of the crease and spoiling the rhythm. But they went into a defensive frame of mind, and let Pakistan crowd them with so many fielders around the bat, that it was almost inevitable that one of the defensive shots would end up in a fielder’s hands.
And that is exactly what happened. Dravid pushed forward and Younis Khan (can he do anything wrong in this match???) scooped up a brilliant catch. VVS came in ahead of the captain, like in the first innings, and he was playing freely. Until a faster one caught him in a defensive frame of mind and trapped him. Sadly, that signaled the end of the Indian defense. Because even though Sachin was looking strong (but negative) at one end, there was going to be no one at the other end to be strong enough to resist the Pakistani bowlers.
Ganguly woeful run with the bat continued. He could not believe that he was bowled. One thing I would like to say here, strongly too, is that his failures have been exaggerated. Yes, he has failed in this test series, but his previous two series had scores of 57 and 40 (South Africa at home) and 71 and 88 (away in Bangladesh). I don’t think that is too bad. So please stop the noise about his batting failures and his captaincy problems. He is good at both and every batsman goes through a rough patch and luckily for him, the rough patch is still only three tests old. One big innings and he will bounce back. Leave Ganguly alone. With John Wright probably leaving, we need to have the captain stay the same so that the transition happens smoothly.
I have been a big critic of Ganguly’s favoritism but I think he is being made a victim here. So please, let him be and let India be. We need to start pointing fingers at Pathan’s lack of sting and fire in this test, the bowlers' inability to clean out Pakistan in Mohali and the negative attitude of the top batsmen in Bangalore.
So the series ended 1-1. So India will not be #2 in the ICC Test Rankings. And I don’t know what series are lined up for India next. Whatever be the case, hope there is some cricket in the next few months, because we’ve been having too many gaps! :-)
I have started a new domestic project. To convert all the CD’s into MP3 files on my computer and box away all the CD’s. They occupy too much space, and are never truly accessible. Once you have MP3’s on your computer, you can safely play your entire collection in ‘shuffle’ mode.
Maybe an ipod purchase in the future…to enable the music to be played anywhere, virtually.
It was a highly entertaining day 4 of the test match. This is the kind of stuff that makes test matches more and more interesting nowadays. There was good bowling to start a mini tail collapse in the Indian innings, triggered of course by some bad shots by the tailenders, and then there was a rollicking innings by Afridi, followed by good, sensible batting by Younis Khan.
Pakistan has the upper hand, I must admit. But I think they, like the rest of India, know that they have to ensure Sehwag does not go berserk. In fact he does not even have to go berserk, just staying at the wicket is good enough. They way he scores and the ease with which he can put away balls, can be scary for the opposition.
And just like he makes it exciting to watch test cricket, Afridi also makes it quite exciting. Of course, I don’t like to see Pathan and co. getting smashed around the park, but just by his simple philosophy of ‘just hit the ball hard’, he makes run rates go up like they do in one dayers.
And Younis Khan - what can you say? He has had a fantastic match. Everything he has done, has worked well. I think he will remember this match no matter what the result.
Quick notes - India played according to my plan, except for Ganguly failing. The plan, as you would read in the post, was:
For day 3, the key to India is to avoid the follow on, put on some partnerships, and get to 350 or so without much loss. It only needs 100+ run partnerships for the first few wickets and India can be there. If the pitch does not deteriorate much, I think this test is headed for a tame draw.
The first few wickets put on 80-odd but Ganguly failed again. And that is where it broke. Also, that is where I think Sehwag’s innings can be considered extremely critical. If it were not for him, India would not have got close to where they ended the day.
Dravid failed, and continued his bad form in Bangalore. Sachin should not have tried that shot at that time. There was no need. But at least he was being positive. All the time, I have heard that Sachin is overly defensive, and frankly I was afraid that it would be the case here too. But it turned out to be an aggressive innings from him. In fact he was the only one to have about 50-50 split in the partnership with Sehwag.
Pakistan did well to come back and have the upper hand now.
I started the day a little early today. So I thought I’ll stop by the Starbucks near my work. It has a drive through and I thought it would be wonderful to use the drive through and drive away with a nice, warm White Mocha.
The line at the drive through was just ridiculous! There were at least 20 cars in line! I just parked, went in and bought myself my coffee. The line inside was also ridiculous, but it was bearable.
Plus, I got some unfair treatment. Good for me, of course. I ordered and waited in line at the counter to receive the coffee. There were 5 other guys waiting. But she asked me what I was waiting for, because obviously things were just going crazy behind the counter. I promptly said what I had ordered and she made my coffee before those other guys! I took it and walked off!
I know, I should have said, these other guys are ahead of me in line and let them tell her what they had ordered. But it all happened so suddenly for me, I just did not get any chance to think about what to do when I was asked what coffee I want. Plus, of course, there were more than one coffee makers, so the other guys' coffee was probably being prepared by the other guy.
Anyway, am enjoying my White Mocha right now. Feels good. And its a Friday! Yay!
It was quite a day. Pakistan piled on the runs, but not as many as they could have or they would have liked to. Getting Inzy early in the day was a big boost because he is the kind of guy who can take you apart without you realizing it. Younis Khan on the other hand, simply motored on.
Bhajji was bowling well, but wickets were not falling in heaps. For India, the problem was smaller partnerships all the time. For Pakistan, the problem was after Youhana/Younis' 84-run partnership, there was no other large partnership.
All in all, Pakistan should back themselves now for pushing a win because 570 is plenty of runs, even though they may have hoped for 625-650. India needs 370 just to avoid the follow on!
Sehwag and Gambhir put up yet another 50-run opening wicket partnership, and of late, with Indian opening wicket partnerships going well into the 80-90+ run range, we really need to look hard at Sehwag’s contribution. Chancey, he is. But no one can ignore the fact that if it not were for him, India would not be able to cross the 50-run mark without losing a wicket, and of course, not be able to put up 100 runs in a session regularly.
For day 3, the key to India is to avoid the follow on, put on some partnerships, and get to 350 or so without much loss. It only needs 100+ run partnerships for the first few wickets and India can be there. If the pitch does not deteriorate much, I think this test is headed for a tame draw.
But the X factor is Arshad Khan. He is tall and will (should be able to) get good bounce on the wicket and cause trouble, with fielders around the bat. Watch out for him tomorrow.
Wow. This pitch looks like a belter. I am not sure if it was a good idea to have such a flat pitch. There was absolutely nothing for the bowlers, and thankfully Afridi went early, otherwise Pakistan would have scored at least 375!
Now, where do we go from here? Pakistan will probably bat on, if all goes according to plan, for 600+. India in an optimistic scenario will score somewhere close, and the match will end in a draw.
But more than likely, India will not be able to score 550+ because the pitch may start wearing on the third day. And as a result, if they concede more than 100 runs lead (if not follow on), Pakistan can score a quickfire 150 more and try to get India all out and make the series 1-1.
Even if Pakistan scores 525-550, this scenario may work out.
The only hope India has is a collapse like Calcutta. If that happens and Pakistan folds for 450 or so, then India is back in the game. In that case even a minor lead would be sufficient for India to press on the initiative.
But one thing is for sure. Inzamam is a great player. You have to get him out early or else, fuggeddaboutit.
A few days back I wrote about how I have got rid of the jacket already. I guess I spoke too soon.
The weather completely changed on me! Since last Friday, it has been rainy, gloomy, cold and just un-Spring-like.
People are talking about wonderful Spring skiing, and all that. I was so looking forward to bright sunny days. Not gonna happen. This weekend is going to be dry, but the rain is going to pick up again next week.
Yay! Not like I use Yahoo mail that extensively. But just kicks others in the backside, and forces them to keep up or be left out.
Yahoo Mail’s interface is pretty good, actually. But I am so used to using some mail client or the other (Outlook mostly, but also Thunderbird here and there), that going to web client is just not comfortable.
Now, if only they make Yahoo (or GMail for that matter) IMAP-compatible. Then we would be talking!
I have noticed that there are some people who are compulsive flushers. As soon as they have someone else walk in the rest room, they flush. I was explained once that it is a courtesy flush. What the hell is a courtesy flush?
To mask the sounds? To let someone else know someone else is in the rest room? What is it for?
I don’t understand. It’s not like you are doing something that needs to be announced to the world, you know.
Wastage of water, is what I think it is, ultimately.
Another great free/cheap service is gone to the corporates. I doubt it if they will keep the pricing structure as it is. Freebies are over. Get ready for the micro-charges world.
2 cents for something here, 3 cents for something there. All of it seems inexpensive enough, but at the end of the month, because of the number of such smaller charges, the outflow is going to be ridiculous.
Just read that Inter Active Corp has bought Ask Jeeves. Also, Yahoo has picked up Flickr. Google upgraded its Picasa software. Ask Jeeves earlier bought Bloglines. MSN has created a blog product and has tried to integrate it with the rest of its MSN properties.
So much stuff going on, around search/social networking/blog space.
Don’t know why, but have not watched it enough to be a big fan of it. But I must say, whatever little I have watched, I think I will like it.
But the thing is that there are so few countries regularly playing it, and they have formed so much rivalry among themselves, it is hard to jump in and create a favorite. The sport itself looks exciting.
Just wish they would show more of it on TV here in the US.
Well, here we go again. His two wickets in the second innings were both excellent ‘doosra’ deliveries. But those are the ones that need review for action.
Let’s see what is there to correct. Or else, welcome to the XI, Murali Karthik? Or is it going to be Ramesh Powar?
I loved the race, though it was not as exciting as it should have been. Why? Because I did not tape the live version, because of cricket match. And I did tape the delayed version, but by then I forgot about it and saw the sports headlines and the fact that Alonso had won.
Renault, as I have said before, is a strong contendor for the title this year. I think both the drivers rock solid and they would have finished 1 and 3 if Fisi had controlled his car when Webber tried to pass him.
As for Ferrari, and Schumey, well, life is tough. They better get the new car out fast, and come up with a good strategy for the races, or else, they can say bye bye to their title hopes.
I think this year is going to be awesome because I would love to see how Ferrari performs under pressure. Last few years, they’ve had no realistic pressure. Yes, there was Hakkinen and there was Kimi, but come on…for the constructor’s championship, it was a cakewalk.
This year is going to be tough. And I love that! And of course, I would love for Ferrari to show what they are made of and make a climb up.
Meanwhile, the team to beat is Renault. And what about Toyota? Wow. From nowhere last year, to something spectacular and almost unexpected this year already - #2 and #5! I had mentioned the Toyotas in the same article linked above. Trulli is a superb driver and Ralf is not bad either. So I think that team is also going to show that they are up there.
Meanwhile, BAR Honda is going to be the biggest disappointment of this year. From what they achieved last year, to what they will end up with this year, is going to be a sad story. It is about time Button falls back to earth.
And as a sidenote, another finish for Karthikeyan. Good work. If he has less than 5 DNF’s this year, I would consider it a big deal.
What a day! Dravid and Karthik first played well and quick enough to keep India on track for setting a decent target.
Dravid once again proved that he is called The Wall, The Rock, Mr. Dependable, etc. for a reason. He stood there like as if nothing else was in the world except him and the bowler. He was so focussed. He could have gone on and on and on, but for the need for more acceleration.
Pathan played quite well and with Kumble, added the much needed runs to make the target 400+. One six over extra cover was simply amazing.
Afridi gave the kind of start to Pakistan that will keep Ganguly nervous as well as Inzy interested in the match. Technically, if the pitch plays true and the batsmen are comfortable out in the middle, Pakistan can actually go for it. It will become increasingly difficult as the run rate required goes up, and of course, as wickets fall. But if there is someone willing to anchor, and someone willing to take charge, Pakistan has enough depth in its lineup to be safe from a total collapse.
On the other hand, Kumble and Bajji really hold the key to India’s fortunes. They have to bowl well, exploit the rough and most importantly, keep the pressure on from both ends. Very interesting Day 5 coming up - like Dravid said at the end, all 3 results are possible.
