Jaywalking with Jaunty

Call off the hounds!

2012-01-23T22:03:00.001-06:00

I did something a few minutes ago that I have never done before - I stopped watching an Indian Test match. In the past, no matter how dire the situation, I never gave up on the team. Today, I am as close as I have ever been to do that.

I just saw Ishant Sharma, bowling just his 8th over of the day, about half an hour after lunch on the first day, trundle in and throw down an innocuous loosener, short and wide outside the off-stump to a salivating Ricky Ponting. When I contrasted that with the number of times the Aussies have blasted through from the first ball of their spell, I felt like weeping.

YOU DON'T DESERVE MY SUPPORT!!

Half an hour past lunch on the 1st day and they cannot summon their best stuff?!! The fielding is lethargic, the field positions are defensive (I promise you, placing just one lone slip at 2nd slip is asking for trouble. There will be an edge that travels between the keeper and the lone slip. Just you watch), and the body language is of total surrender. Senior citizens show more interest that these fellows. Did you see the way they walked onto the ground? Gah!

It's too bad I don't have a say in the selection of the Indian Test team. This would have been my 11 for the Test (in batting order):
Ajinkya Rahane
Virender Sehwag
Virat Kohli
Sachin Tendulkar
Rahul Dravid
Rohit Sharma
Wriddhiman Saha
Abhimanyu Mithun
Umesh Yadav
Pragyan Ojha
Zaheer Khan

Oh, and I'd make one more change out of left field. With the caveat that a failure will not affect his chances, I'd make Virat Kohli the captain and put Sehwag, Dravid and SRT on notice. Twin failures from any of them and it would be the last Test match they play for India. Anything less than 75 runs in an inning is a failure. (By the way, unless MS Dhoni shows me in a first-class match that he is willing to tough it out and bat for a long time in the longer form of the game, he does not deserve a spot in the team, either. Anyway, for me, his Test captaincy days are done).

I'm done with this Test team. Wake me up when the new-look Indian team is revealed 8 months from now. Until then I shall watch the Pakistani team and root for them to exact revenge on England.

Run, Forrest, run!

2012-01-21T20:19:00.001-06:00

There are some things you can hide on the silver screen and some that you cannot. One thing you cannot hide is how you run. At least for a long distance, in a long shot.

For years, in my mind, the champion runner was Amitabh Bachchan. No one ran better or more impressively than him. Check it out:

(The dude also got shot in the back quite a few times, didn't he? I guess he couldn't outrun a bullet).

In Hollywood, the undisputed leader is Tom Cruise. I have yet to see a movie of his where there isn't at least one scene of him running. It's almost as bad as Paresh Rawal and eating scenes or Sridevi and monochrome saris in a song. Here's a compilation of Tom Cruise running and running.

For what it's worth, I still think Amitabh is the better-looking runner.

Surf's up: Random musings - 6

2012-01-18T19:05:00.001-06:00

Trolling through the web I often come across things that I file away for future (posting) reference. Here are some of the ones that still seem interesting enough to pass on to you.

a) An oldie, but a goldie. Do you want to know why Test cricket is dying (i.e. why spectators are not turning up to watch it any more?)? Well, look no further - it's the spectators who are to blame.

b) Who says cricket is a batsman's game? Here's some food for thought - Over 2,000 players have played Test cricket. As of December 2011, a debutant has taken 5 wickets in an inning on 143 occasions. In contrast, in spite of many more opportunities, only 93 debutants have scored a 100.

c) I can't really say much more than repeat the title of the link: High Speed Liquid and Bubble Photographs by Heinz Maier. Wow!

d) Tring, tring. Click clack. Ka-ching. Some of the sounds your kids will never hear in their lifetime.

e) Which batsman and bowler has the highest rating - ever - in the history of Test cricket? Check out #3 on the bowler's list. He was the first bowler who scared me even though I was just watching him bowl on TV. The #1 on the Batting list is not a surprise, but see where Sachin Tendulkar's highest-ever rating places him on the all-time list.

f) I know a picture is worth a 1000 words, but this picture being worth $4.3 million is simply ludicrous. Why, oh why, is it worth that much?

g) I don't think I will ever have the guts to take this ride. But, it does not stop me from living it vicariously.

h) And if you liked the previous one, you may like this one, too:

i) And, finally, I was debating whether to end with this picture, or this picture, or this picture or this picture. But instead I settled for the one reproduced below. I hope it is of Laxman tying his shoelaces for future battles, not of him getting ready to hang up his boots (more on that in a different post).

(Associated Press - 2012, via CricInfo)

If, not when...

2012-01-05T21:54:00.000-06:00

All these days I was convinced that Sachin Tendulkar's 100th century was a matter of when, not if. After watching the way the guy goes into a shell and becomes defensive for no reason whatsoever, I am not so sure any more.

The man has scored blah,blah,blah number of runs in cricket. If that ball-hitting ability of his had been alloyed with the temperament of a real accumulator he would have been challenging Jack Hobbs himself.I am not pissed that his tentative prod robbed him of a 100. That milestone is an artificial one and it will come when it comes and I will be happy for him if it does. What I am really pissed off with is his tentative prod, with the new ball just a few balls away, that opened the door for the Aussie, who then came thundering through it. You gave an easy wicket to Michael Clarke, SRT. Michael Clarke, for heaven's sake. Did the Aussies gift Sehwag a wicket when he bowled? Nah, they took him for 75 runs, no less.

So what were you doing, you gutless idiot, defending like you did not know how else to bat? Leave that style of batting to untalented mutts like me.

Maybe the Wizard of Oz can give SRT a heart...he badly needs one.

ZAK, you invertebrate!

2012-01-05T21:41:00.001-06:00

Zaheer Khan, your attitude is atrocious.

A few months ago, I got really mad at VVS Laxman and told him that he could no longer survive as a one-skill player. Right now I am watching Zaheer Khan bat....let me rephrase that..I am watching Zaheer pretend to bat and I am befuddled by it.

As a bowler on this very same pitch you saw three Australian batsmen put on more than 650 runs while you trundled around in the field and did nothing noteworthy after an initial burst of wickets. Yet, when it is your turn to bat, you are hell-bent on throwing your wicket away and making it easy for the bowlers to stay interested. Gah! On top of it, your fitness sucks. You are a below-average fielder and a total liability in the field.

Since you are Zaheer Khan and your bowling carries an aura you will play for India till you decide to drop. If I had anything to say about it, I'd pack your bags for you and tell you to come back when you were more prepared to fight it out.

As I type it, you are still flailing around while the Aussies refuse to bowl that full ball on the stumps that will get you out. I have a feeling they are toying with you like a cat toys with a mouse when it knows the mouse cannot escape.

Your dismissal is a matter of time. With this attitude of yours, it's too bad that dismissal is not from the Indian side.

How SRT and the IPL ruined the Summer of George

2012-01-04T16:39:00.000-06:00

(or) The Eternal Lament of the Spoiled Indian Cricket Fan

This was supposed to be the Summer of George. India had just won the World Cup and ahead of me, over the next 9 months, were no less than 14 Test matches, 6 against the West Indies, 4 against England and then the Big Daddy of them all – a 4 Test series against Australia.

On April 3rd, being a fan of Indian cricket was a good occupation to have. Then, two not entirely unrelated things happened that eventually ruined the happy ending.

First came the lure/pressure of the IPL, call it whatever you will. Virender Sehwag was injured but still played in the IPL, nursing his shoulder injury as best as he could. He played 11 games and, tellingly, only when the Daredevils were eliminated did he opt for shoulder surgery, rendering him inactive for the tour of the West Indies.

Sachin Tendulkar played every game (16 in all) in the IPL but felt compelled to seek rest after that from the West Indies series.

Gautam Gambhir got injured in the World Cup but was not totally aware of it until he re-aggravated it in the IPL. However, he continued to play with the injury until the Knight Riders were eliminated, and then rested, missing the tour.

Yuvraj Singh played 14 games but missed the West Indies tour because of a lung infection. All in all, four stalwarts of the the Indian World Cup campaign were rendered hors de combat for the Windies tour. However, I will not apportion any blame on the IPL for that.

Coming on the heels of a long and arduous World Cup campaign, the timing of the IPL was not the best. However, it is revealing that all the major players named in the previous paragraph did not seek “rest” or “treatment” for their ailments during that tournament, instead choosing to forego the West Indies series altogether instead.

I have absolutely no issues with a person choosing to make some more money at the expense of playing “for the country”. They have an obligation to themselves and their families and I am no one to tell them how they should go about maximizing their revenue or what their priorities should be.However, I do have an issue with the consequence of that choice and how it affected the rest of the campaigns over the next 9 months.

The second factor crept up on us during the World Cup, when Sachin Tendulkar was in sublime touch, continuing his rich vein of form of the past few years. He scored a couple of centuries, had a near-miss against Pakistan, failed in the final, but got the ultimate prize – courtesy a ride on the shoulders of his teammates. Somewhere along the way a new beast was unleashed by the media – the quest for the almost-mythical 100th international 100.

It is at that point that some of SRT’s choices become curious, especially in hindsight.By eschewing the Windies tour, SRT ensured that his next international match would be at Lord’s. Ooooooh, how perfect, his handlers (and he himself, maybe) crooned: a century of centuries at the Mecca of cricket. What a perfect setting for the feat. It made great business sense to score that century at Lord’s than, say, at Roseau.

After a fruitless Test series in England, SRT skipped the return ODI series at home. Why risk scoring the 100 in a meaningless ODI on an Indian highway, when Test matches at Kotla, Eden Gardens, and/or Wankhade were yet to come, each carrying an alluring ring for the media and his sponsors?When that did not work, the ODI series against the Windies was skipped since the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne beckoned. Longingly and achingly.

Now, bear with me while I imagine an alternate scenario. (Not a guaranteed scenario but still a very possible one.) SRT goes to the West Indies and scores a century in one of the Test matches (maybe at Kingston). Suddenly the stories go away, the pressure is lifted, none of the remaining Indian players have to field any more questions about whether SRT is feeling the pressure. Viru and Gambhir decide to skip the IPL, get rested during the Windies tour and are ready to play in England, fully healthy. With SRT playing the Windies series, the Indian batting order does not have to be reshuffled, and since Viru and Gambhir are ready for the England Tests, VVS Laxman can continue to play at #5, and Rahul Dravid does not have to become an opener in England and the batting order is not unsettled. Since the batting order is more settled .... I can’t bear to carry that dream any further. It hurts too much to contemplate what could have been.

Damn you SRT and the IPL! This was supposed to be the Summer of George. It really was...

Maggi Noodle Review: Hugo

2011-12-23T17:53:00.000-06:00

I had no intention of seeing Hugo. I am not a big fan of 3D movies. I feel it is more of a gimmick than an artistic improvement on 2D. On top of which, I felt the the preview for the movie was about a Dickensian orphan living by his wits in a French station. Been there, seen that.

Now that I have seen the movie, I am super-duper glad I did. it is a gem of a movie, an ode to movie-making, and the 3D is non-intrusive, making you (the viewer) a part of the action as opposed to the target of it.

I should have known. Martin Scorsese, the director, is a man who has long professed a love for the movies and probably sees 3D as the wave of the future and wanted to make a definitive movie for the medium. Much like James Cameron's Avatar (the only other 3D movie that I recommend must be watched in 3D), Hugo is a movie that relies on the story as the hook on which to hang the visuals where a lesser director would make the mistake of doing it in reverse.

Some of the side characters are caricatures, behaving in a typically predicable manner, but at the heart of the story is the connection between the eponymous hero and an elderly gentleman who own a toy store played with great elan by Ben Kingsley.

Go, see the movie while you can on the big screen and in 3D, if possible. Then we can talk in more detail about the story and how it is, at its heart, a love story. A love story between a director and movies.

P.S. The only jarring (and sad) note for me was that the main protagonists speak in a decidedly English accent even though the entire action is taking place in Paris. *sigh*

Book review: Beyond the Blues

2011-12-23T17:16:00.000-06:00

For a few weeks I have working furiously on a personal deadline of writing a book before Christmas rolled around. Now that the deadline has been done and dusted with I can get back to more important things like living my life again. (Some will snicker that the deadline was less about Christmas and more about Boxing Day. Oh, how well they know me!).

Anyway, thinking about books took me back a couple of years to a book that I had read, liked, promised to review but had never gotten around to doing. So, here it is - my review of Beyond the Blues by Aakash Chopra. Better late than never.

From September 9th, 2007 to June 5th 2008, Aakash Chopra kept notes of his actions and thoughts in the form of a diary. Eventually, to the happiness of many of his fans, including me, he went ahead and published them.

The book is filled with an insider's perspective of Indian cricket, from the behind-the-scenes shenanigans in the backrooms of selectorial meetings to the on-field skullduggery that the viewer is unable to pick up on from 90 (or in these days 60) yards away.

It is a compelling book, written from the heart. The best way to appreciate the book is to read it in its entirety. Here are some of the nuggets that caught my fancy and should serve to whet your appetite for when you read the book.

On Sachin Tendulkar (p48):

Aakash Chopra had a very pivotal hand in Sachin's classic exercise in self-denial, that face-saving 241* at Sydney in Steve Waugh's final Test in 2004. In fact, it is safe to say, that Aakash saved SRT's life that day. He did something that made him "... one of the few people in the world who has given something to the Little Master without taking anything material from him in return."

On a fellow team-mate (p60):

He has definitely mastered the way to score at this level consistently and I wouldn't be surprised if, one day, if he plays enough domestic cricket (given his India commitments), he goes on to break every batting record on the domestic circuit.

On not making it to the 2007-08 tour of Australia (p83):

Aakash was the leading run-scorer in the 2007-08 season and was among the 24 probables named for the tour of Australia. On the eve of the announcement of the team, Gambhir was ruled out with a shoulder injury. Shockingly Virender Sehwag, who was not part of the 24 probables, was named in the team and not Chopra. I am not disappointed, I am shattered. The only person who picks up the phone when Chopra calls around is Rahul Dravid. He also leaves a lot of messages asking for an explanation. The only person who returns his call is Anil Kumble. Why doesn't the identity of the two gentlemen surprise me?

(Chopra has never since been selected for the Indian team, in spite of many other occasions when he might have been. Case in point: this one time when, well, read for yourself).

On batting :

(p116)...batting is a one-ball game. You can have the best batsman in the world and he can be dismissed off the first ball...

(p204) Even the best players in the world don't play all the shots in the book and usually bank on only a couple of shots for big runs and keep themselves busy in between.

On Praveen Kumar (p150):

Praveen ... is a wily customer and moves the ball both in the air and off the surface more than anyone else in domestic cricket. He bowls from close to the stumps and still manages to swing the ball in. To bowl an in-swinger, most bowlers have to go to the edge of the crease to ensure that the ball does not slide down the leg side. He not only gets his in-swingers consistently without moving to the edge of the crease but also has impeccable accuracy. He doesn't get hit for a single four on the leg side through his twenty-one over spell.

(Oh dear! Why do I think we may miss Praveen Kumar very badly over the next couple of months?)

On Yashpal Singh (p 164):

This is his only chance. He must deliver and deliver big time. He scored over 800 runs in the previous season and was the second-highest run-getter but couldn't find a place on an A-team or even for the Challengers. He almost left the BCCI fold just ahead of this (2007) season to join the ICL but his employers (Indian Navy) didn't let him go and he stuck around for yet another season.

Joining the ICL would have been a good decision for him. He is working for the navy at a clerical post with no major promotion in sight for years to come, regardless of on-field performances. His father passed away a few years ago and he is the sole bread-winner in a family of three: his mother, his wife and himself. (...) He needed a job to keep his family going and only the Services were offering anything at that time to a young and nearly unknown guy of nineteen. He joined immediately....(T)he job gave him security and bore the expenses for his father's treatment before he passed away, but it also deprived him of a lot things. Playing for a low-ranked team means that he seldom gets noticed despite scoring heavily and this eventually affects his chances of playing for the country. (...) When I think about these players, I feel fortunate and and don't forget to count my blessings.

(Who is Yashpal Singh, you may be asking? And you should be, especially since even Arjun Yadav has played for India A, much to my chagrin. Grrrrr....)

I will let you read the book and discover other nuggets for yourself. It is definitely one of the better sports-related books that I have ever read.

P.S. Aakash Chopra recently released a second book - Out of the Blue and it is on my reading list. Hopefully, it wont take be 3 years to finish reviewing that one.

Never die wondering

2011-12-08T09:04:00.001-06:00

Seven years ago, the man said he would do it. Today, he did it. The "he" is Virender Sehwag, the "it" is a double century. In an ODI. Which he achieved with 6 overs to spare.

Last night I was very tired and went to bed very early and slept a dreamless sleep till about 2:55am, when I woke up and was instantly as wide awake as I was going to be. Call it premonition, call it luck, call it what you will - I turned on the PC and saw that India had won the toss (again! Take lessons, MSD) and was going to bat.

For years, I played in a local league with a batsman whose appetite for gargantuan scores was seemingly limitless, except that he kept getting out. We always wondered how much Sohail Chaudhry would score if he lasted the entire 25 overs. And then one day we found out. I have always had the same feeling about Sehwag. He still hasn't ever batted for the entire 50 overs but on the day he does, I am pretty sure he will score more than the 219 runs he scored today. What a player!

The sign of a truly great man is that he leaves room for improvement even when he accomplishes the unthinkable. By not batting the entire 50 overs, Sehwag has left the door open for a few more dreams.

In parting, of all the comments I heard/read so far today, the best of them all was by someone named Jim Morrison on CricInfo's (outstanding) ball-by-ball coverage. Reacting to Sehwag's double, he wrote:

"So, Sachin now holds the record for the SLOWEST double century in ODIs!"

Priceless!

Surf's up: Random musings - 5

2011-11-18T13:45:00.001-06:00

Trolling through the web I often come across things that I file away for future (posting) reference. Here are some of the ones that still seem interesting enough to pass on to you.

a) The shirts worn by the Australian Test cricket players has new design, probably to help them sweat less or something like that. All I know is that it makes it seem like they are wearing sports bras under their shits. Not a good look for them. Fail!

AFP via CricInfo 2010

b) Of late, soundbites from MS Dhoni have started to take on a fairly simplistic note, probably mindful of his ever-burgeoning public image. But there was a time, not so long ago, when the man would speak from his heart and speak eloquently enough about his life. Here's an interview from 2008, a few months after he had become India captain and well before he became the media-created behemoth he is today.

c) While on MSD, have you ever seen a batsman "walk" for an LBW. Take a look at MSD's reaction from about the 1:50 mark of this video. Who knew that in a few years from then, he'd be captaining Murali to IPL (cough) glory.

d) I was directed to the video in the previous point from the subject of this musing. For those of us who cannot stand the television coverage of today (aptly described as a bunch of commercials interrupted by a few seconds of cricket), our best recourse to "watching" a game remains online text portals such as CricInfo's outstanding ball-by-ball commentary. Another frequently visited website is The Guardian's Over By Over (OBO). To whet your appetite, here's an OBO of the 2011 World Cup final between Sri Lanka and India. Almost as good as some of my match day analyses. *sigh*

Open letter to the Indian team

2011-11-07T12:02:00.002-06:00

To: Indian Cricket team - Test edition
Date: Day 2, Test 1 - India-West Indies, November 2011

Dear friends,

After watching most of the first two days of the first Test match against West Indies, here's what I have to say to each of you:

Gautam Gambhir: Get out of ODI mode. Stop dabbing at the ball, trying to run it down to third man with 3 slips and 2 gullies waiting for the ball. You are lucky you got to 41. You not unlucky you got run-out. You should have been out much sooner and, also, you were holding the bat in the wrong hand. You got what you were courting.

Virender Sehwag: We all see very clearly that you do not believe a spinner exists who is worth your time. But still, you are a little too casual for your own good. Having said that, I MUST say this - you rock! Very few batsmen make a game's situation and the bowling seem as superfluous as you do. When you were batting, 304 seemed a matter of time. You got out and the pitch reverted to being a mental minefield. Now, go and bat in the second dig with your foot inside the crease at all times.

Rahul Dravid: Respect. While you may be regretting the pull shot, I think it is a godsend. The team needed a wake up call. If you had brought the score close to the Windies total, it would have papered over the cracks.

Sachin Tendulkar: I have never seen any batsman look as guilty as you do when you are hit on the pads in front of the stumps. My goodness, your body language takes away any semblance of doubt the umpire may have. By the way, smart of you to have failed in the first inning. Now the stage is set for you to hit a heroic century in the second inning while leading India to a win, a la Chennai a couple of years ago. As your financial adviser no doubt told you - very strategically smart move. (Of course, I jest when I say that...maybe).

(By the way, Sachin's aura is undiminished. As soon as Sehwag got out, the BCCI.tv server crashed! It was almost as if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.)

VVS Laxman: Are you close enough to that wall that you seem to always have your back against? Now turn around and look closely. There's some thing written on it - your future. You play in just one of three teams for India. And you land up after a long gap looking like you had a dozen too many extra sweets? Really? You can no longer afford to slide by with an inning here or there. Like Dravid, you need to realize that what you have ahead of you are your last flashes of brilliance before the sun sets. Lose that paunch, get into a little better shape. Then maybe you wont look so leaden-footed when playing spinners. When you inside-edged your 4th ball and it barely missed the leg-stump, in the process getting you off the mark, I though that (maybe) luck was in your favor. Well, guess what? You got out off the next ball you faced to a routine ball outside the off-stump from a leg-spinner in the first over of his spell. Gah!! Virant Kohli cannot be denied much longer and I don't think he is looking at Yuvraj's spot anymore.

Yuvraj Singh: Right attitude, right way of playing. Don't fret. You were doing the right thing, the execution was slightly awry. Just retain that attitude, and you'll be fine.

MS Dhoni: Just pretend you are playing an ODI, for crying out loud. You got out to Darren Sammy. Think about that. You played Finn, Bresnan, Anderson, Broad, Swann and didn't get out and then you get out to Sammy. Darren Sammy. Has it sunk in yet?

R. Ashwin: The second inning was made for you. You bowled well in the first inning, but I'd like you to pitch the ball up a little closer to the batsmen, giving them less of a chance to play you off the pitch. Now that you are bowling with the new ball, go forth and prosper.

Ishant Sharma: You remind me of Jason Gillespie. And in my book that is a good thing. Keep your chin up, the rewards will follow.

Umesh Yadav: Not much to say to you. The pitch isn't really tailor-made for you. But you can learn something from the way Fidel Edwards persevered, in spite of being hammered around the ground.

Pragyan Ojha: You are the Wizard of Ozha. Give Sunil Gavaskar a few more days and he will come up with that nickname. Your bowling is just what was needed on this pitch. Relentless probing on a stump-to-stump line with just a little bit of spin in either direction. You grabbed your chance with both hands and the sound we hear is of the door swooshing as it starts to slam on Amit Mishra and, if Ashwin can continue to do well, Harbhajan Singh (who went wicketless in his recent Ranji game).

Sincerely
JQ

Beefing up one's obituary

2011-10-27T18:38:00.000-05:00

Ignore the fact that he is selling some random brand of beer. You will become a little more intelligent simply by listening to the Most Interesting Man in the World.

The Prestige

2011-10-27T18:24:00.001-05:00

This video is just 13 seconds long, but you MUST look at it. Two kids attempt to pull of an amazing magic trick and succeed beyond their wildest imagination.

Don't try this at home.

On second thoughts, DO try this at home. Just be sure to record it while it happens.

Almost heaven

2011-10-27T18:11:00.000-05:00

I spent almost a quarter of my life in a beautiful city nestled among the Appalachian Mountains. The Monongahela River languorously winds its way by the city, providing ample opportunities for residents and visitors to marvel at the pictures it leaves behind. Fall, Winter, Spring or Summer - it does not really matter which time of the year it is. Morgantown, West Virginia, home of the Mountaineers.

I recently came across a time lapse video of the city. I know every location that is shown in this video. I have driven on it, walked past it, or simply stopped right there and admired the view. If you like Morgantown, you will love this video.

(Credit: Chad Griffith, Chad Griffith Photography; www.chadgriffithphotography.com, chadgriffithphotography@gmail.com)
(I am a sucker for time lapse videos. Click here for previous posts on time-lapse videos, including the most beautiful video I have ever seen.)

Nor any drop to drink

2011-10-20T15:33:00.000-05:00

(Quoting verbatim from the Youtube spot. For more, click here)

To mark World Water Day, on March 22nd Solidarités International and its agency BDDP Unlimited rolled out a campaign to build awareness of the scourge of undrinkable water.

The campaign called on journalists to spread awareness of this scourge and appeal to readers to sign a petition that was to be personally handed to the French president during the 6th World Water Forum in March 2012.

To evoke the silent and invisible threat of unhealthy water, BDDP Unlimited opted for a minimalist approach that is both visually appealing and surprising, using water and ink exclusively. The spot shows the power of ink to reveal the invisible.

The spot, created by BDDP Unlimited, was produced by Hush and directed by Clément Beauvais, a young director, illustrator, musician and photographer. His multiple talents and mastery of various techniques enabled him to both create the drawings and direct the spot.

Read, rinse, repeat

2011-10-20T13:19:00.001-05:00

With all the ruckus over Anil Kumble's perceived (and real?) conflict of interest, it is interesting to note that this is not the first time the press has gone ga-ga over the issue and neither will it be the last time they do.

Earlier in the year, Prem Panicker gave a detailed explanation of all the activities of N. Srinivasan, the current President of the BCCI.

Back in the day, there was a big brouhaha about the corruption of the Jagmohan Dalmiya regime; hosannas were sung when Dalmiya was replaced by Team Sharad Pawar (what irony!), which sought an electoral victory on the plank of introducing transparency (more irony — Pawar and his hand-picked successors have if anything been more devious, their corruption more subterranean, than anything Dalmiya ever did). The Modi regime at the IPL was deemed corrupt; it has since been replaced by the N Srinivasan regime (Chirayu Amin is nominally in-charge of the IPL, but discount that — as must be painfully evident now, all decisions whether they relate to the BCCI or the IPL emanate from the office of ~~India Cements~~ the Board Secretary). Come to think of it, the shuffling of the board bears parallels to the various Cabinet reshuffle exercises at the center, no? Same problem — endemic corruption. Same solution — move the corrupt around the party table, Mad Hatter style.

Nothing much came of it then, and nothing much will come of it now. To paraphrase Lord Alfred Tennyson:
For men may come and men may go
But conflicts of interest will go on forever.

When the die was cast

2011-10-20T13:10:00.002-05:00

Not many people can claim to have changed the world.

On 6th August, 1991, Tim Berners-Lee did just that when he posted a short summary of a project of his on a newsgroup, opening the box and making the World Wide Web publicly available.

The world, as we know it, has not looked back since then.

Fly over

2011-10-15T16:29:00.000-05:00

I want to get off this planet and travel among the galaxies. I wish I could jaunte like Gully Foyle. Oh, how I wish the space program would take off and I could read books while a spacecraft slowly took me to my destination, the stars beyond the stars.

Until then, I will have to vicariously live my dream through the eyes of the astronauts at the International Space Station.

A time-lapse taken from the front of the International Space Station as it orbits our planet at night. This movie begins over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica. Visible cities, countries and landmarks include (in order) Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles. Phoenix. Multiple cities in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Mexico City, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, El Salvador, Lightning in the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Lake Titicaca, and the Amazon. Also visible is the earths ionosphere (thin yellow line), a satellite (55sec) and the stars of our galaxy.

Bad to the bone

2011-10-13T12:23:00.000-05:00

How dangerous/fabulous must a villain be if it takes so many super-heroes to fight him? Get ready to root for the bad guy!

Don't people know? Dream Teams rarely work out (just ask the Miami Heat, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Indian batting line-up, all of recent vintage).

Odds and ends

2011-10-13T12:18:00.002-05:00

Recently, during a lull in the action while on a field trip, I asked a couple of students, RS and FO, to complete some sayings/statements I had written up. The only condition being that they could not complete the sentence in the normally accepted manner. Here's what they wrote:

1) Where there's a will, there's a death.

2) If you run away from home, you also run away from your best friend.

3) What goes up, must not be dense.

4) Whatever else you do, don't ever repeat yourself.

5) The only thing I am certain of is that I am not certain.

6) When I meet St. Peter, the first thing I'll ask him is this good LSD?

7) If you climb every mountain you come across, you will have tired feet.

8) Never say no to a giant.

9) A thing of beauty is a dangerous thing.

10) The brain does what the heart cannot pump.

The eye of the beholder

2011-10-12T21:04:00.000-05:00

The NASA website publishes one new photo everyday. Most are usually spectacular. Sometimes, they exceed even themselves. Here's one such gem. Click on the link to find out more.

Image credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA - September 2011

Look closely to the top left quadrant of the photo. Inside one of the rings is a tiny blue dot - the Earth!

Standing on the toes of giants

2011-10-12T20:56:00.001-05:00

In 2005, when the Sharad Pawar faction wrested control of the BCCI from Jagmohan Dalmiya, many followers thought that it was a new dawn for cricket in India. Heck, even the new committee believed in it because they published a vision statement! Today, reading it makes one wonder whether to laugh or cry.

(Click here for the entire vision statement)

Here are some snippets that should tell you how seriously (not!) they took their own vision.

To make domestic cricket attractive, at least 4 weeks in the month of October be kept free from international cricket. While finalizing bilateral tours, this Edict is to be kept in mind.

Ahem! In 2011, from October 14-29, India is going to play an ODI series against England. Clean bowled!

The President is very clear that there cannot be any compromise on facilities to players and paid spectators as they are the Gods for cricket administrators.

I promise you, I am not making it up! Some stadia in India have indeed been brought up to par. Not surprisingly, they also happen to be the "home" grounds of some of the head honchos of the BCCI. I am sure that is sheer coincidence. On the other hand, the 2011 World Cup began in a storm of bad press for the way the "Gods for cricket administrators" were treated. Remember that?

The board wants to end speculation over the selling of television rights. It would like to come up with a transparent method which will not only benefit the Board financially but will also help in restoring its image as an organization which has become the epicenter of international cricket.

They did end all the speculation over the selling of television rights by utilizing a method so transparent that, sometimes, even they did not know the details of the transaction!

The Board will soon have a website providing all basic information...

This edition of the vision statement was released in 2005. The website was announced with great flourish 3 years later, in 2008. Surely, an unemployed programmer in the suburbs of Hyderabad could have conjured up a website in less time than that.

When the launch of the website was announced, Sharad Pawar said:
"I'm happy that this alliance between Global Cricket Ventures and the BCCI will further significantly enrich the user experience for the Indian cricket fans around the world with a direct window to the on-field action through next generation technologies".

By the way, here's the much-touted BCCI website. After a few failures to launch, it has finally morphed into something that approaches what a functional website should be like. I guess there is hope after all.

By the way, if this hasn't satisfied your hunger, just for kicks you can read the 2000 Vision Statement of the BCCI here!

(Hat tip: Prem Panicker's Twitter feed.)

Hello, world.

2011-10-12T20:09:00.000-05:00

In my review of Casino Royale, I had written:

In the third act the movie meanders a little bit as Bond recovers from the trauma of his last encounter with the bad guys. Then there is a twist, and from the wreckage emerges a more definitive Bond. At the very end he walks past a fallen bad guy, the iconic Bond music playing for the first time in the movie, and then he looks into the screen and identifies himself. I do not get goosebumps often enough in a movie theatre these days, but after this scene I was tingling.
James Bond is back, and how!

Trolling the web, I finally came across the scene I was talking about that day. Yay for Youtube!

नदिया किनारे ...

2011-10-12T20:00:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, while the Indian cricket team was getting shellacked in England, Hasha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar took some time out to have some fun by the Trent River. (Sanjay is quite a singer).

(Update: It is mostly in Marathi, but if you listen carefully, you'll understand the gist of what they are saying. Wait for him to sing, it is worth it. Also interesting is the choice of songs.)

Travel by proxy

2011-10-12T19:57:00.000-05:00

Have you ever visited London? If so, you will like this. The photograph claims to be the largest photo of its kind in the world as of November 2010.

If you have never visited London, do you really need to any more? What's left to "see"?

The photograph is a lot more than just a 360 degree view of London. Right-click on the photo and explore even further.

Enjoy!

Office space

2011-10-12T19:43:00.000-05:00

I have been in a pretty bad funk for quite a few weeks. I figured I would get my work done and only then blog.

Well, I haven't been able to get all my work completed (hence the absence from the blog) and at the same time I am missing out on blogging.

That ends now.

This is what my desk used to look like in the good old days:

(C.S. Manish 2010)

This is what my desk looks like today:

(C.S. Manish 2011)

Hah! Wouldn't you know it?! SC, a fellow blogger, captured my feelings perfectly on his blog. Maybe the same muse visits both of us and it took a little while for it to travel from the East coast to the heartland.

Exit interview with the Indian team

2011-08-23T17:58:00.000-05:00

If I were the coach of the Indian team and I had to conduct exit interviews with some of the Indian players in the aftermath of the Test series, this is what I would have said to them.

Gautam Gambhir: Sometimes, it is better to let yourself heal completely at the expense of some cash on the table. If the BCCI is putting pressure on you to play the IPL with an injury, then you need to think about your priorities. Right now you are like Shane Watson used to be at the start of his career - full of potential but getting injured more frequently than a pincushion in a needle factory.

And oh, do not field at forward short-leg in the near future. Handling concussions is an inexact science and one, I am sure, the trainers have not had much experience with. Have them check out the NFL's policy on concussions. It is serious stuff. Really.

To wit, here's an excerpt:
"The player should not be considered for return-to-football activities until he is fully asymptomatic, both at rest and after exertion, has a normal neurological examination, normal neuropsychological testing, and has been cleared to return by both his team physician(s) and the independent neurological consultant."

Virender Sehwag: A couple of years ago, I had warned you that the casual way in which you were treating the form of your life in New Zealand would someday come back to haunt you. It is blindingly obvious that you have not totally recovered from the injury that you have been carrying for a long time. Go away. Get fit. Your place is secure. In my squad a starter does not lose his place because of an absence due to injury.

Oh, and don't even think about retiring from Tests to concentrate on ODIs and T20s. You reputation as an all-time great will be secured only in the long form.

Rahul Dravid: Loved the fight you showed in the series. But there are still some things you could learn. Like catching in the slips. For a fellow with such a stellar record, you dropped way too many clangers in this series. I am not even talking about the ones you reacted late to. I am talking about the ones that hit you flush on the hands at catchable height. What's with that? You know that our bowlers are struggling to take 10 wickets. Don't make it harder by forcing to take more than that to bowl out a side.

Also, I know you are an honest man and forthright and all that jazz. But when only your "gut instinct" tells you that you have nicked a ball and you are not totally sure, keep it to yourself. If you knew for sure that you nicked it, that would be one thing. But, seriously, Jammy, you thought you nicked it?

VVS Laxman: I like you, VVS. I really do. But do you really have to go about giving others ammunition to shoot you down? You are still a great batsman (this series notwithstanding) and there is no one among the young turks who can threaten your spot just yet. But you cannot last too long on the basis of just one skill. You are still the best 2nd slip fielder in the team (probably the best India has ever had) and with two more catches you will be 9th on the all-time list of catches by a fielder (a number you are likely to retire at). But the rest of your fielding is atrocious. You move slowly, react late, and you are a liability in both the infield and the outfield. You do not lack stamina, so it must be something else. If your knees are too wobbly, try something different (swimming?) but lose some of the rigidity in your body and try to move around a little better. You might even be able to convert to those twos into twos, and threes into threes again.

But if you do not score runs in the next series against the West Indies, I don't think I will be able to stop the knives from carving you out of the Indian team for good.

Sachin Tendulkar: I am sure your handlers told you that not playing the Test series in the West Indies was a great idea. The thought of scoring your 100th international century at Lord's in the 2000th Test match played seemed so Bollywoodishly perfect, didn't it? I bet you regret not touring the Windies and getting that monkey off your back. You would been battle-tested and ready for the bigger series against England, too.

Instead, you will now score your 100th century in a meaningless ODI. As soon as you do that, they will start talking about your 50th ODI century...just you wait.

But my most serious concern is this - your propensity to go into a defensive shell any time a Test match needs to be batted out for a draw is approaching ridiculous proportions. What the heck?!!!!! At Lord's, you adopted such a go-slow it dragged the entire team down with you. You may be an all-time great, but you are an utter doofus to think that you can dead-bat your way to a draw. Leave that to the Tavare's or the Boycott's of the world. I blame YOU for us not drawing the Lord's Test match. It is a cross you will have to bear till you are done playing. Sheesh.

Suresh Raina: Suresh, Suresh, Suresh...did you forget how well you played in the second inning at Lord's? You did not do that by defending your way out of it. You did it by taking on the bowlers and hitting them when they needed to be hit. If it was an ODI would you have made an 29 ball duck? No way, no how. Then why did you bat so diffidently in the last Test match?

Also, in the Windies, you were content to duck under the bouncers and let them go by harmlessly. Why are you suddenly trying to hit them? Are the English fielders goading you to do so from behind the wicket?

You are still a great hope for the future but unfortunately, you opened the door wide open for your competition to walk through. Be prepared to spend some time in the wilderness while Yuvraj, Kohli, Sharma, and Pujara step ahead of you in the line.

MS Dhoni: Take a look at the way you batted in the 3rd Test and contrast that with the way you batted in the other 3. You will know what to do.

Also, for heaven's sake, don't play the ODIs and T20s if you are tired. Get some rest. And when I say rest, I mean complete rest. Earlier this year I hurt my fingers taking a catch. Three months later it still hurts when someone shakes my hand. You have very similar injuries (the way you tape your gloves and the way your strokes lack their old zing tells me that) and I cannot imagine how the constant hits your body takes is good for it.

Get. Some. Rest.

And don't read any newspapers (or blogs) for a few months. Or a few years.

Harbhajan Singh: Turn back the clock. Go back to being the Turbanator. Lose the skills you picked up in transforming into Economy Singh.

And, yes, if you insist on bowling the lines that you currently do, always bowl with a leg slip and forward short-leg in place. Who knows, you may get lucky and pick up some wickets, too.

Psst...if you could also forget the doosra for the rest of your career, it would not hurt too much, either.

Ishant Sharma: Pitch the ball up a little further. Learn from Stuart Broad. There's only so many times I can watch you bowl short and wide outside the off-stump while the batsman shoulders the ball.

And what's with those gigantic wides down the leg-side? Get it right or work on it off the field but don't bring that junk to a Test match, please.

Praveen Kumar: When the ball stops swinging, the praises will stop, too. Keep working on your skills and wait for the Indian team to tour Australia again.

Sreesanth: If you want to behave like Chad Ochocinco, at least back it up with your on-field actions. Otherwise you will forever be known for your antics and relegated to the role of a clown. The seam position when you release the ball is to die for but your grey matter needs plenty of re-calibration.

Also, can you not throw your wicket away when you come to bat? Watching you flail away like a beached whale while a more accomplished batsman (Rahul Dravid, for example) is at the other end is a disservice not only to your teammate but your team as well. Careers have been truncated for less serious transgressions than that.

Pragyan Ojha: I will tell you the same thing I (wished I had) told Laxman many years ago - migrate to another country like England or New Zealand where your talents will be better appreciated. As long as Economy Singh and batting phenom Amit Mishra are ahead of you in the pecking order, you will not have a shot at playing. If you don't believe me, just talk to Murali Karthik.

Playing for Surrey in the County championships is a great sign. Thank you for doing that.

Zaheer Khan: It is crunch time for you. These are the last few opportunities for you to cement your status as a modern-day legend. Look at James Anderson. You have 273 wickets in 79 Tests. He has 240 wickets in 63 tests. But he is getting a lot of the press that you should be getting. And that's because he looks fit, is among the best fielders in the world, and puts a premium on his wicket when he bats.

The rest of the Indian bowling attack looks lost without you. Come back, ZAK.

TGIF: Songs to hum - 5

2011-08-19T19:52:00.000-05:00

On Friday afternoons, after I am done teaching (or preparing for teaching, as the case is this week) for the week, I sit in my office, put my feet up on my desk, lean back in my chair and softly hum songs to myself, unwinding and releasing the built-up tension of the week so far. Youtube is a good companion during these times and I have my own version of Chitrahaar, with the songs following some unfathomable pattern, changing per my mood and wishes.

Here is today's trip through Youtube:

How could I not start with a Shammi Kapoor song? I should probably elaborate on this some other day, but for now let me just say that the songs of Junglee were the first songs I knew the lyrics to. All of them. Bar none. And I still know them after all these years. (More on that some other day, I promise). In that movie, this was my favorite song, though it not the one that is most commonly associated with Shammi Kapoor.

In the same movie, the song that typifies the style of dancing that Shammi would make his own was in this song (even more so than the song that made the word Yahoo a household word). Isn't Helen just so pretty and dainty here? (SP and I would sing this song time after time on long road trips...what fun!)

During the days when I shared rooms, at night we used to let a cassette (yes, it was that many years ago) play while we went to sleep. A song that used to play a lot was this one:

Going from that song to this one is not much of a stretch, especially if you listen to a lot of AR Rehman songs.

Switching gears, I like the way this song plays out, especially how the music and lyrics flow together, even with the two languages at play:

One of my students is from Guatemala. One day, last semester, during a lull in the class he asked me if I could translate a Bollywood song for him. This was the song that he used to listen to on a loop. So, this one's for you, JL:

I think Vivek Oberoi is better in this song, though:

For simple fun and entertainment, there's a lot to be said for this "competition" between Vijay and Lawrence. If you don't understand the lyrics, it does not matter, neither do I.

Finally, a blast from the past. The sweetest song of all that I hope gets repeated in a day or two. :-)

Time to channel the inner Dhoni

2011-08-13T13:37:00.004-05:00

Dear MS Dhoni,

Plenty of knees will be jerking helter-skelter. Don't let that get to you. (Though, of all the captains India has had since I have been following the sport, you appear to be the one who is best equipped to deal with the highs and lows of being captain).

You've captained exactly half (30) of the Test matches you have played (60), which let's us have a wonderful exercise in comparative stat-play.

If they say your batting has become worse since you became captain, tell them this:
As a captain, you've scored 1800 runs at an average of 45 with 3 centuries and 14 fifties, strike rate 58.
As a non-captain, you've scored 1422 runs at an average of 33 with 1 century and 9 fifties, strike rate 62.

If they say, your captaincy sucks and you have put up a good record by beating up on a couple of teams, tell them this:
You have registered Test victories against 7 different nations (Zimbabwe and Pakistan are missing but you've never captained against them). In those victories you average over 56 runs an inning.

The fellow you are most compared to in the captaincy stakes, won 21 Tests in 49 matches as captain. In those 21 wins, Sourav Ganguly was able to register a Test win against 8 different nations (New Zealand escaped giving him the full monty).

Just as winning a game or two did not make you a good captain, losing a match or three does not make you a bad captain either.What you do need to do is to be prepared to take come heard decisions. If folks are under-prepared or injured, do not carry them into the game. If folks are not in form and are struggling, don't just bring them into the squad because they have taken 400+ Test wickets.

And even as I write that, show folks this bit of information:
Here are the overall analyses of two bowlers in this series
Graeme Swann: 73 overs, 7 maidens, 321 runs, 4 wickets, economy rate: 4.38
Harbhajan Singh: 69.4 overs, 5 maidens, 287 runs, 2 wickets, economy rate: 4.11

As you no doubt know, Graeme Swann's thrashing from the Indians is not receiving the press that Economy Singh's failures are. And that has to do with the outstanding support that Swann is receiving from the 3 fast bowlers in his team.

If Sehwag is not fully fit, don't play him in the 4th Test. Based on how he was fielding, I don't think he is fully fit, but that's just an observation of mine from afar. Play Pragyan Ojha in the next Test. None of the spinners are doing well, might as well try someone who will keep the runs down from one end, build up some pressure, and relieve the work load of the swing bowlers. (And it will not hurt to remind Kevin Pietersen that he has problems against left-arm spin).

Above all, there's no need to press the panic button. There's plenty of cricket left in this year for the team and one series does not make or break what you've accomplished over a few years. Let the players who need to refocus, get healthy, or get fit do so on their own time and not in the midst of a Test match.

Oh, the next time you win the toss in a Test match at Lord's, bat first.

Sincerely
JQ

Future rewards

2011-08-03T10:08:00.001-05:00

Dear MS Dhoni,

Things are not as dire as they may seem. This Indian team reached the #1 ranking over a period of time. You may have lost consecutive Tests to start a series for the first time ever, but fret not, you are still India's best option as a captain. Just as you did not become a splendid captain overnight, you did not become a horrible one in the span of two Tests either.

The Bell run-out fiasco is done and dusted with. However, there is one unintended consequence that will play into your hands as the series progresses. By invoking the nebulous "Spirit of Cricket", the two Andys may have put you in a bind but in the long term it is going to come back to haunt them. Can you imagine the furore the next time they are in a position where they have to uphold the "Spirit of Cricket" and fail to do it? The media will be more than happy to pull them up for their double standards. In time, this decision will reap its rewards. For the rest of their career, Strauss and Flower will have this millstone hanging around their neck. After all, they instigated the whole thing by knocking on your door at tea time.

Ricky Ponting had long advocated taking a fielder's word for contentious catches and the Sydney Test marked the beginning of the end of his captaincy because Clarke and Ponting himself claimed catches that had clearly not been cleanly taken. On top of it Symonds stayed put on a sharp edge to the keeper and Clarke did not walk when a catch was taken at first slip. After that, no matter how hoarse he got from the shouting, Ponting could never seriously convince any captain to adhere to the "Spirit of Cricket". Ironically, Andrew Strauss was the last person to feel Ponting's wrath for not sticking to the "Spirit of Cricket" for his time-wasting tactics and liberal use of substitutes.

Moving on, by luck (or curious coincidence?) Harbhajan Singh is not going to play the last two Test matches because of an injury. Like Shoaib Akhtar a few years ago, Economy Singh seemed unencumbered by his "side strain" when he was batting. (Yes, yes, you use different muscles to bat and bowl and all that jazz, I know). Anyway, if he really is injured, it is a blessing in disguise. Let alone not take wickets, the dude was unable to even live up to his Economy Singh moniker. What use is that?

You have to decide between Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha to replace Economy. The former has taken 40 wickets in 11 Tests while the latter has taken 42 wickets in 11 Tests. Not much to choose from there. I am sure you will go with Amit Mishra because the dude can hit a few runs. I am slightly biased in favor of Ojha but whomsoever you take it will not matter to me because it is, at best, a punt. What Ojha gets you in accuracy, Mishra gets you in the increased potential of bowling unplayable deliveries.

By the way, if you do play Mishra, can you tell the fellow to stop bowling no-balls? I'd hate it if he got Pietersen out for 0, only to be told it was off a no-ball. Mark my words, MSD.

The Indian team has always done well when they were the underdogs. I can hardly remember a time where they have delivered as good front-runners (the 2011 World Cup, maybe?). By virtue of the 2 comprehensive losses, in spite of being ranked #1 you find yourself in the position of an underdog. You have England right where you want them. They are probably already dreaming of an open bus parade through London to eclipse that of 2005. At least, I am sure Michael Vaughan is trying to finagle an invitation onto the bus with his attention-seeking tweets that probably hint at a desperation to stay in the limelight.

Don't let the press get to you (this open letter included). Develop that siege mentality and look within for answers. Every team in American sports tries to come up with a reason to say "no one believed in us". Well, my friend, you have been handed this on a platter.

Carpe diem

Sincerely
JQ

Travel: Day 6 - Puerto Rico - In the footsteps of James Bond

2011-08-02T15:21:00.004-05:00

One of the advantages of teaching at a small liberal arts institution is the freedom to design and offer courses that are close to your heart. In January 2011, I was fortunate enough to lead a group of 6 students through the world of Tropical Ecology. Apart from not being in the right ecosystem, Nebraska in the winter is definitely not the place to have field trips about Tropical Ecology. Consequently, one portion of the course involved a 10-day trip to Puerto Rico where we got to see for ourselves all the things we talked about in the classroom.

This is a travelogue of our adventures together, the sights we saw, the things we did, and the lessons we learned. (You can see all the previous posts in this thread here).

****************************************************************

After 4 fantastic days at Guánica, it was with a heavy heart that we bid adieu to our temporary home. MB and LP let us know in no uncertain terms what they felt about heading back to San Juan.

(Miranda Beran 2011)

So, one final photoshoot later we left Mary Lee's By the Sea. (If you are ever in Puerto Rico and are looking for a place to stay, you have all the information you need!)

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

Having driven south and then west to reach Guánica, it only made sense to take the longer route back to San Juan. We headed further west and north towards Mayagüez, skirted the western side of the island, and then headed east past Hatillo.

(Google Maps)

There was an ulterior motive to taking this route. We wanted to visit the site of the largest radiotelescope in the world - Arecibo Observatory.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

The Observatory is essentially serviced by a huge dish, which is 1000 feet in diameter (305m), 167 feet deep, and covers an area of about 20 acres. The dish is located in what used to be a natural sinkhole in the karst topography that characterizes the north-west part of Puerto Rico.

(Sami Wysocki 2011)

Suspended 450 feet above the reflector is the 900 ton platform.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

Similar in design to a bridge, it hangs in midair on eighteen cables, which are strung from three reinforced concrete towers. One is 365 feet high, and the other two are 265 feet high. All three tops are at the same elevation. The combined volume of reinforced concrete in all three towers is 9,100 cubic yards. Each tower is back-guyed to ground anchors with seven 3.25 inch diameter steel bridge cables (Source: Click here for more).

(Sami Wysocki 2011)

(Lorissa Panowicz 2011)

To us neophytes, the size of the telescope was astounding. While we were awed by the size and complexity of it, one could not but think of how Hollywood sensationally exploited it in Goldeneye. I am happy to report that the telescope was not really destroyed by James Bond.

But Goldeneye was not the only prominent movie to feature Arecibo. A few years earlier, Robert Zemeckis directed an outstanding star cast, including Jodie Foster, in Contact that used the Observatory for some pivotal scenes.

Segue: The movie starts with a virtuoso opening sequence that is almost worth the price of the ticket.

There's another scene in the movie that I was reminded of as I walked up the spiraling road to the Observatory.

While it was not exactly the same place, I felt it was necessary to at least follow in Dr. Arroway's footsteps (much to the amusement of my students!).

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

Having completed the pilgrimage, it was time to head back to the biggest city in Puerto Rico.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

As you approach the city, urban trappings take over and the roads are hardly distinguishable from any other city in the US except, of course, for the primary language that the signs are in.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

We made our way back to the same hotel that we had stayed in. It would be our home base for the rest of the trip. Located in the suburb of Carolina, it gave us easy access to the various places we still had to visit on the eastern and central side of the island.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

But before that, it was time for everyone to seek comfort in some familiar food and sights.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

Dhoni must open

2011-07-31T20:09:00.001-05:00

Nine years ago at Trent Bridge, Virender Sehwag was sent to open the inning and responded with a 106 that changed his life. One can even make the argument that it eventually led to India gaining the #1 Test ranking for the first time ever.

Sometime tomorrow either India will somehow get the 4 wickets it needs in the second English inning of the Trent Bridge Test or Andrew Strauss will play that favorite parlor game of commentators (when will he declare?) and no matter when he declares it will be said to have come at the wrong time.

Either way, it appears that India will have to score more runs in the 4th inning to win than anyone has ever done in the 2000 previous Tests played. More realistically, they will have to bat about 4-5 sessions to secure a draw. Based on how they responded to a similar scenario in the first Test, it probably isn't going to happen.

Which brings me back to Sehwag. In 2002, India opened with Sehwag and his blistering starts have set the template for many an Indian win since then. Tomorrow, I am asking MS Dhoni to do something he has never done before in his life - open the batting in a Test.

That move has all kinds of upside and very little downside. He gets a chance to take the attack to the English bowlers. If he gets out, no sweat, he has not exactly been in the best of form and the second new ball has anyway gobbled him up. But if he does get off to a flier, he is the sort who capitalizes on these moments. By leading from the front he will regain some of that equanimity that seems to have ebbed from his countenance of late. Also, by opening, he lets the batting order settle back into Dravid at 3, SRT at 4, VVS at 5, Raina at 6, Yuvraj at 7, Harbhajan at 8...enough gun powder to capitalize on a good start if it comes.

Come on, Dhoni, show me that you still have some of that out-of-the-box thinking left in you. Step forward and pick up the gauntlet. Viru did it in spectacular style for Ganguly so many years ago, you can do it for yourself. It is the time to send messages, and this will be as resounding as any you've sent in the past, including the time you seized the moment on April 2, 2011.

P.S. By the way, I may be the only person who wants to see you suspended for a Test match for the appallingly slow over-rate maintained by your team. You look like you really need the rest. Also, what's with sending Rahul Dravid to face the press at the end of the day after what happened today at the stroke of tea? Man up, MSD, and face the microphone!

A bookworm's dream

2011-07-29T13:55:00.001-05:00

There's an old joke, which goes something like this:

"Wow, Roger, you have such an impressive collection of books but not a single bookshelf. Why?"
"Oh, you see, I've never felt the need to borrow a bookshelf."

I was reminded of that joke when I came across this astonishing collection of bookshelves. I'd love to borrow any of them! (Hat tip: Roger Ebert).

A corner of a familiar playing field

2011-07-26T16:24:00.000-05:00

Two Americans watched India play Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup and came up with a fabulously interesting and hilarious diary of the day's action. Very revealing and surprisingly insightful, too.

Some samples:

We are further told it's a perfect day for cricket, though we are not told what a perfect day for cricket is. Looks kind of sunny. Sunny is usually good for sports.

We are told that in ODI (One-Day International) tournaments, the team that bats first wins 72 percent of the time. This whole thing is basically NFL overtime. So when India wins the toss and elects to hit first, it strikes us as odd that the announcers would bother to discuss whether that decision is wise, but they do. They then do an interview with the Pakistani captain who does an admirable job of pretending that if he'd won the toss he would probably have just chosen to bat second anyway, but you can clearly tell he just died a little inside. Then they head over to the Indian captain who is handsome and oozes team leader. He is Steve Garvey-esque, and his interview is straight from the Nuke Laloosh school of sports clichés. Nate finds this vaguely disappointing, as he always wants foreign things to be more foreign than they usually are.

Thus enter the apparently-great Virender Sehwag, as well as Sachin Tendulkar, whose genius as a batter is put into words by the announcer thus: "Words cannot describe his genius."

The announcer now says, in re: Tendulkar's back-to-back luck-outs: "I can't think of another moment in cricket where more people had their hearts in their mouths on consecutive balls." Which is the dirtiest non-dirty thing ever said.

The graphics on this broadcast continue to be phenomenal. They have a thing called the "Wagon Wheel" — an overhead view of the circular pitch, which shows where the batted balls have gone. Their colored-line trajectories look like spokes on a (very poorly-made) wagon wheel, which show you just how many different directions these guys hit the ball. Sachin Tendulkar's wagon wheel's spokes would provide adequate structural integrity for an actual functioning wagon wheel.

The dropped ball has infuriated the emerging man-crush, Afridi. The commentators are tearing into the fielder for dropping a rocket line drive that he was trying to field, 15 yards away, with his bare hands. Dunno. Seems understandable to us. But we feel for Afridi.

A Pakistani fielder boots a batted ball and turns what would've been two runs into four. Afridi throws up his arms in disgust. Seriously, Afridi, don't ever play American sports. Your teammates would reward this behavior by filling a tube sock with oranges and beating you senseless.

The announcers are absolutely ripping these fielders for dropping wicked line drives. (Again, they are not wearing gloves. Not even, like, wide-receiver gloves.) Speaking of ripping, Umar Gul, who isn't even bowling anymore (bowlers are limited in how many total overs they can bowl, but can be brought in and out multiple times) is still getting ripped for wilting under pressure. Mike feels bad for Umar Gul. Failure on a big stage is an aspect of sports that transcends international borders.

Sachin Tendulkar, for all the drama, is still in there, hacking away. We are beginning to understand how good he actually is.

It hardly seems fair that one team gets to bat in the day time, while the other team has to bat in twilight and then nighttime, which it strikes us now might account for that 72 percent-of-teams-batting-first-end-up-winning phenomenon.

When Tendulkar plays in the field, he wears a large, khaki-colored, floppy hat. Like, that a lady would wear while gardening. This is apparently legal.

"The key for the Indian side is to take wickets," says one of the announcers, a Dan Fouts-level obvious observation that completely obliterates any romantic notions Mike had about poetic color guys in other countries.

In stark contrast to their opposite numbers, the Indian fielders look super strong. While Pakistan several times either booted balls, allowing India to pick up extra runs, or botched them so severely that they scooted right past and rolled all the way to the boundary, India is grabbing everything cleanly. It's also doing something called "crowding," which is exactly what it sounds like — essentially playing the infield in, all the way around, confident that players can snag the little grounders that sometimes lead to single runs, forcing Pakistan to either gamble recklessly or remain scoreless.

Surf's up: Random musings - 4

2011-07-26T16:10:00.000-05:00

Trolling through the web I often come across things that I file away for future (posting) reference. Here are some of the ones that still seem interesting enough to pass on to you.

1) Are you a Mac or a PC person? Here's one way of finding out whether you fit into the stereotype or not. (For the record, I am a PC person).

2) I was fortunate to spend a few years in Chicago when the Bulls were winning championships with Michael Jordan. Not surprisingly, my favorite basketball player (ever?) was from the Bulls. He has since retired and enjoys a round or three of golf, which he plays very well, when he can. Ah, by now you know it's not MJ, because I said that he plays golf very well!

3) Interested in reading an online newspaper but don't quite know where to find it? Well, fret not - here's a link to ALL the online newspapers in the world laid out on a map.

4) Sans comment: What can 28,000 rubber duckies lost at sea teach us about our oceans?

5) Finally, how well do you recall the ending of Sholay? I bet this is not the ending you remember!

Objects in the rearview mirror

2011-07-24T17:20:00.000-05:00

We all know that Sachin Tendulkar is the leading run-scorer in the history of Test cricket. Do you know who is in second place?

Not surprisingly, Rahul Dravid has quietly overtaken Ricky Ponting and trails only Sachin Tendulkar on the all-time run-getters list in Test cricket. Quite an achievement for quite a guy . . . and the lack of fanfare is typical. After all he has more important things to worry about, like saving Test matches. A task that he does really well.

In the mean time, let's raise our glasses and honor this incredible achievement.

Well done, Rahul, well done! For once, you can look back at the rest of the players in the world (but one). Enjoy this moment of zen!

(AFP 2011 via ESPNcricinfo)

The long road ahead

2011-07-24T17:09:00.001-05:00

In a few hours from now, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and co. will resume their quest to bat India to a draw in the Lord's Test match against England. India needs 378 runs in 98 overs, with 9 wickets in hand to win.

A victory is out of question, a draw is a slim possibility, a defeat the most likely result. Yet, my every fiber harbors hope of the draw. And that is because the current Indian team, led by the resolute MS Dhoni, is cut from a different cloth than its predecessors of the last millennium. This team fights.

Tomorrow will be a good day of Test cricket to look forward to. England need 9 moments of inspiration. India need 588 moments of sheer doggedness. Well, since they can afford to be 9 down when the Test ends, one could be pedantic and say they need another 580 moments of sheer doggedness.

Either way, I know what I am doing tomorrow. I hope the Indian team does, too!

Apocalypse now

2011-07-24T16:49:00.001-05:00

Tom Cruise is almost certain to portray Jack Reacher in the movie "One Shot".

Cruise as Jack no-middle-name Reacher?!! You have got to be kidding me. (And on top of it, it seems to have Lee Child's approval, too). For the love of everything that is holy to the west of the International Date Line, can someone smash some sense into the movie-makers?

Here are Reacher's physical attributes:

Name: Jack Reacher (no middle name)
Born: October 29th, 1961
Measurements: 6'5", 220-250 lbs., 50" chest
Hair: Dirty-blond
Eyes: Ice blue
Clothing: 3XLT coat, 95 cm. pants' inseam

Reacher left home at 18, graduated from West Point. Performed 13 years of Army service, demoted from Major to Captain in 1990, mustered out with the rank of Major in 1997.

Now, close your eyes and picture Tom Cruise as Reacher.

See what I mean?

Pop Quiz #3: Entertainment

2011-07-20T14:11:00.002-05:00

Questions 1-3 are about information in the Harry Potter books, not the movies.

1) To start off, a very simple one - what is Ginny Weasley's proper first name?

2) Spoiler alert: If you didn't know by now, Voldemort split his soul into multiple pieces and "hid" them in various objects. In all, how many pieces did Voldemort's soul split into?

3) How many Quidditch championships did Harry Potter win in his 7 years at Hogwarts (well, technically six, but still...)? Hint: Gryffindor won the championship three times in that 7 year period.

4) Which TV sitcom character's phone number is 555-2390 (KL5-2390)? The area code, I presume, is 212 (Manhattan).

5) Which actress has received the most Filmfare nominations (16) for Hindi movies - 8 times for Best Actress and 8 times for Best Supporting actress? Hint: She has acted as Amitabh Bachchan's lover, sister-in-law, and mother in movies.

6) Which comic book superhero resides at 344 Clinton Street, Apt 3D? Hint: He died in 1992.

Answers after the jump:

1) It means "fair and smooth".

2) Eight pieces (not 7 as is usually assumed and which is what Voldemort set out to make). Visit here for more details such as: Voldemort planned on making six Horcruxes, thereby splitting his soul into seven pieces (the seventh being contained in his body). Through his attempt to murder Harry Potter, and Harry's subsequent accidental creation as a Horcrux, he actually had seven Horcruxes. His eighth, much mangled, piece of soul was the one that spent over a decade bodiless and eventually returned to his reconstituted body. However, inadvertently and by chance, his soul had always only been split into the magically significant seven, because the Diary was destroyed before Nagini was made a Horcrux.

3) In spite of being "the youngest and one of the greatest players at Hogwarts", Harry participated and won the championship game just ONCE, in his 3rd year, the year the Prisoner of Azkaban escaped.

4) In the episode "The Big Salad", the phone number is mentioned by Ms. Benes.

5) I'd be really surprised if this was the first name you thought of.

6) Is it a bird, is it a plane, not it's......this super-fellow?!

Maggi Noodle Review: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

2011-07-19T15:34:00.001-05:00

At first glance it would appear that ZNMD is an updated version of Dil Chahta Hai. After all it does have a Farhan Akhtar connection. I went in with the same impression but came out with a different one.

ZNMD has a superficial resemblance to DCH in that it features 3 friends, a road trip, and a woman at the heart of it. But it is different in that the entire movie is a road trip, the woman at the heart of the movie is not Katrina Kaif, and the resolution is not quite what you'd expect. I will not say more except that the writers play fair and do not cheat you with the ending.

The movie, set in Spain, features three friends who made a pact to go on a road trip where each one picks one dangerous adventure activity for all three to perform. The activity is kept secret from not only the audience but also the other friends, too, until it is time to do it. Of course, at the very beginning of the movie, the characters plan their route on a map of Spain and as they point out the cities they'll visit, the final destination gives away the last feat they have to perform. No sweat. By the time the characters meander their way to the final destination, the three friends have each had a moment of epiphany, frolicked with a romantic partner (at least two of them do), and learnt more about each other than they did in the 20 odd years they had been friends prior to that.

The movie is filmed magnificently, with the landscapes and backdrops captured in breath-taking splendor. Not surprisingly, there is a strong tie-in with the Spain's department of tourism. Apart from being a well-crafted movie, this is also a 2.5 hour long documentary displaying reasons to visit Spain. Almost every Hindi movie I watch seems to be about 30 minutes too long. However, for no discernible reason, I thought this movie's length was exactly right. The pace is unhurried, the camaraderie between the friends (meeting together after a long time with some unresolved history between them) progresses slowly from guarded friendship to open hostility to calmness and resolution of past issues. The conversations between the friends are of the type that you'd expect between folks who have known each other a long time and do not appear forced. I wouldn't be surprised if Hrithik, Abhay, and Farhan are great friends off the screen, too. Or they are great actors. Methinks it is a little bit of both.

I was reminded of numerous road trips I have taken with good friends and for that reason alone, I came out of the theatre with a smile on my face. ZNMD does not ascend to lofty heights but it does not disappoint either. See it on the big screen if you can.

The return of the King

2011-07-14T14:01:00.001-05:00

Shah Rukh Khan and Farhan Akhtar are returning this Christmas with a sequel to Don. A teaser trailer was released a couple of days ago. It looks sleek and intriguing, except that at the very end the whole effect is lost with a smirky SRK and an inane closing line. Oh well...

Pop Quiz #2: Who am I?

2011-07-12T11:50:00.002-05:00

This set of questions are fairly easy to answer.

1) Of the 65 66 ODI matches I have played for India, no less than 40 have been abroad. I played in the Under-19 World Cup final where my team, chasing 110 to win, lost by 38 runs! Five of my team-mates were out for 0 that day. In hindsight, the 4 runs I scored batting at #3 were a big deal. In the 4 editions of the IPL, I have won a championship and scored over 350 runs in each season. When people talk about me the words talented and lazy often get mentioned in the same sentence.

2) Jimmy Connons once said about me, "In an era of specialists, you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist, or a hard court specialist...or you're ______ ________." I have played in at least 5 finals at each of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments. The only man to ever do so.

3) My first 8 scores in Test cricket were 16, 18*, 59, 224, 227, 125, 4, 120. Less than 20 months later, aged 23, I played my last Test match for India, finishing with a career average of 54+. However, the enduring memory of my time in India colors isof me shedding tears as the world burned around me.

4) In a classic case of not letting facts get in the way of a good story, my contributions in a World Cup-winning campaign were 0, 26, 33, 8, 0, 6 - a total of just 75 runs in 6 matches @ 12.5 runs per inning. Yet the perception that has built up over time is that I was as instrumental as some of my more formidable colleagues in bringing us the win. On my Test debut, I scored an unbeaten century as my team took a 291 run lead in the first inning at home. Three of us scored centuries while none of the visiting batsmen scored a single one. Yet, we lost the Test match!

5) During the Under-19 cricket tour of England in 2002, in the third One Day International, I opened the batting and scored 177, helping chase down England's total of 305. (A few days later this feat was forgotten as the senior team chased down 326 in the NatWest final at Lord's). I then went on to captain the India Under-19 team in the 2003/2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, where we won 5 of 6 group matches before losing to the eventual champions Pakistan in the semi-finals. While my fellow-mates (Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa, Shikar Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik, RP Singh, and VRV Singh) have played for the senior squad I have never had the honor of doing so.

Answers after the jump:

a) This was really obvious, wasn't it?
b) In my book, he is the GOAT.
c) Hard to believe that, not so long ago, he was the toast of India and touted to surpass even Sachin.
d) If Sangakkara had not emerged, I probably would have played more matches. Maybe.
e) Moving to Baroda may have given me a jumpstart but playing with SRT may just be the final push I need to make it big.

Seasons of change

2011-07-12T11:03:00.001-05:00

As time goes by, Hindi movie previews are getting as polished as anything Hollywood dishes out, even exceeding them at times. Check out the preview of this upcoming Shahid Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor movie and tell me you are not in the least bit intrigued about it.

Nature calls

2011-06-17T14:40:00.003-05:00

Freedom Park, where the Nebraska Cricket Club plays is right next to the Missouri River. The cricket ground is nestled within the premises of a Naval museum. Surrounding our field are ships, planes, helicopters, and a submarine. Here's the ground during gentler times (the river flows on the other side of the various machines):

(C.S. Manish 2010)

Today, the Missouri River is raging, hell-bent of reclaiming its old floodplain. Our ground is under many feet of water. (Frame of reference: you can see the top of a chain-link fence that borders the field. The fence is about 5 feet in height!).

(Peter Daliere 2011)

Hopefully, the river will recede and we will get to play on Freedom Park again. Sooner rather than later.

P.S. Here's an aerial view that shows the river (as it flows south towards downtown Omaha) and the location of the ground at Freedom Park. (The photo was taken from this site)

(U.S. Army Photo / Carlos J. Lazo 2011)

Travel: Day 5 - Puerto Rico - Wetlands, salt flats, and a lighthouse

2011-06-14T11:37:00.001-05:00

****************************************************************

After visiting a dry forest on Day 4, we were given the opportunity to visit a wetland on Day 5. Located near the south-wastern tip of Puerto Rico, the exotically named Laguna Cartagena is located in Boquerón.

Once a very large expanse of water, it is now a small refuge for migratory wildfowl, encroached from multiple sides by advancing civilization and agricultural industries. Cattails are thriving in the wetland and Dr. Stephanie W pointed out that getting rid of this invasive species is of paramount importance to the health of the wetland.

A watch tower on the premises gave us a great view of the area.

There's a boardwalk that extend quite a distance into the wetland allowing observers to get "into" the wetland without disturbing it unduly.

Sami's fantastic panorama feature captures the extent of the wetland quite superbly from the tower.

On the walk back to the parking lot, AJ had a close encounter of the third kind.

The foothills of the Sierra Bermeja, geologically the oldest in the Caribbean, provided the perfect backdrop for a group picture with the resident expert and guide, Dr. SW.

After bidding adieu to Stef, we drove further south-west to the tip of the island, to Cabo Rojo. On the way we stopped at the Cabo Rojo Salt Flats. I was reminded of MK Gandhi and his Dandi march when we stopped there. The sea water is guided into the flat land, sealed off from the ocean and allowed to evaporate leaving behind large deposits of salt, which is used for many purposes, including as road salt.

The view from the tower is breath-taking as it gives a full view of the wetlands, mangroves, coastline, and, in the distance, the lighthouse.

We then drove further westward towards the tip, rightfully guarded by a distinctive lighthouse.

The access road to the tip of the island was, by far, the bumpiest road I have ever driven on. Driving on it was probably like driving on the surface of the moon. However, the destination, in the end, was worth the torture.

The Los Morillos lighthouse, also known as Faro Los Morrillos de Cabo Rojo, was constructed in 1882 to guide passing ships through the southeast entrance from the Caribbean Sea through the treacherous Mona Passage into the Atlantic Ocean.

The lighthouse is located on cliffs of limestone, which drop more than 200 feet into the ocean, providing spectacular views.

A gap in the rocky cliffs gives way to a partially hidden bay that features an alluring crescent-moon shaped beach.

Naturally, we trekked down to the beach and had lunch and took many photographs. It was a perfect spot for a relaxed lunch.

Followed by a photo session!

On the way back, we stopped off at Yauco to pick up some groceries. The otherwise nondescript town stands out because of the painted houses. Each house on the hillside in painted a single color but the overall picture is quite a pretty one.

That night was our last at Mary Lee's. We were sad about the stay coming to an end, but excited to see what was in store for us on the north-eastern side of the island.

Nature's services

2011-06-14T10:19:00.000-05:00

Wildlife photography at its best. Worth thousands of words right here.

Wow!

Stepping back to move forward

2011-06-14T10:13:00.000-05:00

I am not the only person who has noticed the shortcomings of LeBron James when the spotlight gets intense. I was fortunate that my time in Chicago coincided with MJ's golden finish after his basketball "sabbatical". I even got to watch him play at the United Center (January 26th, 1997, against the Miami Heat). The Bulls won by 22 points, and went on to win an unparalleled 72 games (out of 82) in the regular season.

For the rest of his career LeBron will be compared to the man I firmly believe is the greatest sportsman in the clutch I have ever seen. Unless LeBron discovers some inner toughness he will lose out on the GOAT stakes.

If LeBron is the reading type, I'd ask him to read this tribute that describes Jordan's last run for the Bulls. Taking command of the tight moments is what defines a leader. Until he does that, Lebron will just be another talented fellow who faded away from the basket during crunch-time.

By the way, late in his career, Jordan taught himself to fadeaway from the basket, too. Except he did it as a scoring option that was virtually unstoppable. Watch and learn, LeBron.

Yesterday, once more

2011-06-13T16:29:00.001-05:00

A few months back I realized that very few sporting events held my fancy any longer. Since then I have stopped watching TV just for the sake of watching it. To me, whether I watch TV or not has become a litmus test for sporting events. If I care enough about a sporting event I shall turn it on. If I don't then I don't care.

Simple. Right?

Well, end result? I don't watch much TV any more.

In the past few months the only bits of TV coverage I have actively sought out are the last quarters of all the Lakers games (for Phil Jackson, not Kobe) and the first two sets of the French Open final between Roger and Rafael. (The only reason I did not watch the whole match was because I had to play a cricket game that day).

Once the Lakers got swept I lost interest in the NBA until I noticed that the Mavericks and Heat were tied 2-2 in the Finals. And that took me back in time - 5 years ago, to be precise.

In 2006, the Mavericks led the Miami Heat 2-0 and lost 4 in a row to lose the championship. I remember watching that entire series and being frustrated beyond belief at the unfair advantage that was being provided to Dwayne Wade, the Heat guard. The officiating got so ridiculous that all Wade had to do was wander into the lane and a foul would be called on the defender. Gah!

So, in 2011, when the Mavs and the Heat came back for an encore, I was slightly interested but still not by much. When the scoreline reached 2-2, my interest was piqued slightly.

I watched the last quarter of Game 5, and was happy when the Mavs won that. Last night, I did not watch the 6th game, but got to see some of the post-match festivities.

The focus of most of the press has been the disappearance of LeBron James and how the Heat choked the Finals away. Dwayne Wade is getting a free pass, too. Strange. When they won, it was Wade's team. When they lost, it is James' team. Huh, how does that work?

The big winner is Dirk Nowitzki. For years I have admired the fellow for staying with one franchise, never seeming to complain about not getting enough money, not grumbling too much when the management replace Steve Nash with Jason Kidd, soldiering on through injury and early playoff exits. Yesterday, he got the recognition he always deserved. No 7-footer in NBA history has possessed the extended range that this German does. Pau Gasol could get there someday if he tried, but it would take years of hard work to do so.

The NBA Finals are done and dusted. Only Wimbledon seems to loom on the horizon. (If Tiger had been playing I probably would have followed the US Open). Thankfully, the Indian Test team is going to be playing 3 Tests in the Windies and then 4 in England.

I can hardly wait.

Time to bid adieu

2011-05-18T08:37:00.000-05:00

It is Finals Week and you'd think I'd be happy about the upcoming break from teaching, but I am not. I love being around students, talking to them, listening to them, watching them mature (or behave immaturely) as the weeks and months roll by. My students often ask me why I look happy on Mondays and sadder on Fridays and the reality is that I miss my interactions with a lot when they are not around.

What makes the Finals Week of Spring semester even worse is that some of the students will graduate and move on to bigger, better things. Most of them I shall never see again, hear from, or read about. I liken a college/school to a port on the voyage of life. You stop for a few days, (hopefully) gain some wisdom, and then move on. Someday, some small incident and how one responds to it will spark a memory - a memory of having been taught that life lesson by an instructor or teacher.

I think back fondly to some of the folks who've influenced me. Dr. M, whose style of teaching I consciously ape. I would never have taken his class if a certain University had offered me a reasonable stipend to enroll in their PhD program. Their loss, my gain!

From Dr. C (Jack to some) I learned about empowering students with responsibility for their own grades and performances by treating them as adults. Once, he gave us a take-home exam. He emailed it to us with two specific instructions. One, do not discuss the exam with anyone else. Two, open the email only when ready to take the exam and once the exam was opened we had exactly one week in which to complete it. That was it! He trusted us to be honest and not take advantage of his generosity. And we did. Be honest, that is. (Of course, the Indian in me made me take my own sweet time to open the exam as I wanted to be fully ready before I tackled it.) One day, as I was crossing Jack in the hallway, he stopped me, grabbed me by the shoulders, and said, "Where's my exam, young man?" Well, needless to say, 7 days later he had the exam. And yes, I did get an A in the class so I must have done something right!

There are numerous such incidents that I shall save for another post. For now, my hope is that someday, somewhere, some student of mine will, during a quiet moment, reflect back on his/her experience with me and remember me fondly. And that, my friend, will be all the gurudakshina I need.

Under-rated over rates

2011-05-16T18:24:00.000-05:00

These days, it is tough to find a Test captain who can finish the mandatory 90 overs in a single day's play. For all the good things he does, MS Dhoni earns a big black mark from me for his horrid management of the over rate, very often intentionally slowing it down to prevent the opposition from getting away.

Contrast that with this scorecard from the final of the Ranji Trophy in 1944/45.

Bombay: 462 in 160.5 overs
Holkar: 360 in 123.5 overs
Bombay: 764 in 256 overs
Holkar: 492 in 154.1 overs

Total: 2,078 runs in 694.5 overs

Look at the analysis of CS Nayudu
First inning: 64.5-10-153-6
Second inning: 88-15-275-5

This past weekend I played a 30 over a side game and woke up feeling sore this morning, a full two days later. I cannot even fathom how folks could have played so many overs back then in under 5 days.

What if...

2011-05-16T18:04:00.000-05:00

a) This is just mesmerizing....what would some of the planets look like in the night sky if they were the same distance from the earth as the moon?

b) What if the Earth had rings, just like Saturn does? How would it look from different cities across the world? How I wish this were true...*sigh*

c) And finally, if you have ever wondered what Hyderabad would look like if covered by snow, wonder no further. Here it is, courtesy some very imaginative CGI (from about the 1:35 mark).

Random musings 3 - Bits and pieces

2011-04-27T19:19:00.001-05:00

(In this column of I shall put forward thoughts that course through my mind - too small to be separate blog posts but too long to be mere passing fancies).

1) MS Dhoni is one of the most successful captains in modern day cricket (and is fast moving up the ranks of the all-timers). I have read as many articles about him as I can in an effort to figure out what he thinks. Lately, he has openly admitted that he does not attend the bowler's meeting prior to a match as he does not want to go in with a pre-conceived strategy. This is admirable, because it clearly shows that he is willing (and able) to think on his feet during the game.

I think his captaincy is based upon a simple principle - shorten the game. As long as he can sustain control over the proceedings by not giving away too many runs or by losing too many wickets, he believes that the Indian team has a better chance of winning. By reducing the number of sessions (or overs) in which India has to outplay the opponent, he is taking the risk that the other team may just as well take the match away from him. The mentally stronger team is the one that will win these battles most of the time. He is banking on his team being mentally stronger more often than not. His results definitely appear to back him up.

The first time I noticed this ruthless passive-aggressive streak was during a series that heralded the Test captain in him: Nagpur 2008 against Australia.

2) Did you ever want to know how, when, and against whom Sachin Tendulkar has scored his 99 international centuries? Well, you don't have to worry about that any more if you click here.

3) Here's Venkat Ananth doing his best to raise the issue of the elephant in the Indian dressing room that nobody in the team management wants to talk about publicly - the wicket-taking prowess (or lack thereof) of India's #1 spinner - Harbhajan Singh.

The problem -- and the unquestioned elephant in the team's living room -- is the fact that Harbhajan's bowling has been in terminal decline for some time now. Since March 2007, he has played 34 Tests in India, and picked up 142 wickets at an average of 36.16 runs per wicket. Significantly, he has played 27 of those Tests in the supposedly spin-friendly conditions of India, and only 7 Tests away from home.

During this period, he has managed one ten wicket haul and five five-wicket hauls, at a glaringly poor strike rate of 75.4 balls per wicket. In other words, it takes him the better part of 13 overs to get a wicket -- a rate that compares unfavorably with Graeme Swann, who has a strike rate of 55.6, or even Shakib-al-Hasan, who has a 67.7 rate. Keep in mind that it is Harbhajan who, on repute, is the better spinner of the three -- and the problem those figures highlight become glaringly obvious. (Incidentally, at the time he retired because he was no longer thought fit to lead the Indian attack, Anil Kumble had a strike rate of 65.9 -- and that high figure is reached only because his last year in Test cricket, 2008, was particularly horrid with the leggie getting a mere 28 wickets at an average of 51.07 and a strike rate of 99.18.).

The problem posed by Harbhajan's poor strike rate is further magnified when you consider that Swann, not rated as highly as the Indian offie, has in a relatively shorter career taken a wicket in the first over of a new spell 25 times -- that is to say, when his captain needs a breakthrough, Swann can be counted on to hit the spot straightaway, and to deliver the results his captain is asking for. Not so, clearly, Harbhajan.

(So why is Economy Singh the holy cow of the Indian 11? I hope and pray it has nothing to do with this.)

4)Statistically, Rahul Dravid is the greatest slip fielder of all-time. And no matter how many people cross his mark in the future, he will always have been the first to 200 Test catches. Here's a wonderfully detailed interview with the fellow soon after he reached that milestone.

You spoke of switching on. What about switching off between deliveries?

It is very similar to batting. Slip catching does help your batting in terms of your routines. Between balls I talk to my co-slip fielders. You talk sometimes about the game situation, but lots of other times about various other topics, not cricket. That keep you focused, keeps you relaxed. Like me and [VVS] Laxman talk about kids, house construction, plumbers, electricians, running errands. You cannot keep talking cricket the whole day - you have to switch off. But as soon as the bowler starts running in, you switch back on.

And if you are wondering who among his contemporaries has a shot at crossing his mark, click here to find out.

5) This one's for you, AV/BRB. Sachin Tendulkar has been the top scorer during an India inning a mind-boggling 48 times.

In comparison, Laxman has top scored 18 times including the 2nd Test of the India-South Africa Test series where he topscored in both innings with 38 and 96.

6) Siddharth Monga of CricInfo writes about Laxman's efforts under pressure just after the afore-mentioned innings in a match that India went on to win.

Despite a good bowling effort, India found themselves in trouble in the second innings, with four wickets gone for 56. This was home territory for Laxman. All boxes that bring the best out of Laxman were checked: the top batsmen were gone, there weren't many on the board, a failure then could lose India the series, and most importantly batting here was not easy.

It took you back to his debut Test, on a cracking pitch, against the same opponents. India then were effectively 70 for 5 in the second innings when the legend started: out came a fifty (with Laxman it is rarely headline-hogging hundreds) and partnerships worth 32 and 56 with Sunil Joshi and Anil Kumble. Javagal Srinath got enough to defend, and ran through South Africa.

If this was a test of technique, Laxman passed it in flying colours.

Here are some stats to back up the fact that Laxman is one of India's best second inning heroes in wins.

Muul Kesavan writes one of his best pieces in recent times on VVS. His final paragraph alone makes it worth your while to click on this link.

Yesterday, I was trying to explain Viswanath to my son by using Laxman as an analogy. Viswanath, I said, bailed India out of trouble time and time again in exactly the way that Laxman does today. I invoked the sacred memory of the 97 and 46 he hit against Andy Roberts and Co. on a fast Chepauk pitch in 1975 to help us win the match, then cited that gallant 113 against the English at Lords in 1979 that saved us from almost certain defeat. But even as I spoke, I felt the frustration of trying to convey the non-measurable magic of men like Viswanath or Laxman or David Gower to people who haven’t watched them play. My son heard me out and said: “So he was good in a crisis and a loser the rest of the time?”

Maybe that’s how they will see Laxman in the 2030s. It’s not the worst cricketing epitaph in the world (it’s better, for example, than being known for being a flat track bully), but we know it doesn’t come close to describing Laxman.

And finally, let's hear the man himself describe his get-out-of-jail performance in Durban against the SAffers.

Laxman admitted he was disappointed about missing a century. "You're happy that you've been able to absorb the pressure and perform when it's required and play an important knock for the team, but from a personal milestone point of view you will be very disappointed. As I always feel, my conversion rate hasn't been great, with 49 fifties and 16 hundreds. From a personal point of view I would have been more happy to get centuries in these games, but from the team perspective I've done reasonably well to bail the team out of tough situations."

He might have missed the hundred, but he talked of something that meant more to him. "You always want to be remembered as somebody who contributed to winning matches for the country. The biggest recognition you can get is when your team-mates know that you are somebody who can go in during tough situations and bail the team out, or when the opposition feels that they cannot take it for granted that the match is over till you are out. It also gives you added responsibility that you have to go and do it whenever you play for the country."

7) If you get a chance to see this documentary, folks like Samir Chopra suggest that you must!

8) Ricky Ponting's century against India in a losing cause in the World Cup quarter-final might have made articles like this, by Peter English, a little too premature. What do you think?

9) I don't follow the IPL for reasons mentioned elsewhere on my blog and are not worth repeating here. But my curiosity was piqued recently with the county/club debate that has come up since Lasith Malinga retired. Well, here's how much the players who came up in the IPL 4 auction make per year. I will let you decide who is overpaid and who is underpaid. (My understanding is that some players were not put up for auction and that their cost price is arbitrary and could be more than the ones listed here).

10) Finally, I leave you with the beauty that is Pixar:

Why India won the World Cup

2011-04-22T15:41:00.000-05:00

Around the world supporters of the Indian team made all kinds of sacrifices and promises to ensure that the obstacles to a cricket World Cup win would be as minimal as possible. The sacrifices came in various shapes and sizes and ranged from the small to the big, from not changing one's seat during the Final to offering to give up chocolates for a whole year.

However, as far back as last July, the World Cup win had already been sealed as far as JJ and I were concerned. Our cricket ground, Freedom Park, is located less than 50 yards from the Missouri River. Last summer the river flooded extensively and left behind big pools of water on the field. We were to play a game on Sunday and wanted to organize it no matter what. So, one Friday evening in early July, JJ and I toiled for a long time, clearing all the pools of water by hand, filling up a couple of big buckets, and then emptying them beyond the field - repeating the process umpteen times. We motivated ourselves with the thought that if we were successful in organizing a game on Sunday, India would win the World Cup.

We did have a game that Sunday and India did win the World Cup. Unrelated events? I think not! Listen carefully to the video and note that the path to an Indian win is littered by sacrifices like ours.

A joy forever

2011-04-18T10:06:00.000-05:00

This is the most beautiful video I have ever seen (The text provided below the video is by Terje Sorgjerd):

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

This was filmed between 4th and 11th April 2011. I had the pleasure of visiting El Teide.

Spain´s highest mountain @(3715m) is one of the best places in the world to photograph the stars and is also the location of Teide Observatories, considered to be one of the world´s best observatories.

The goal was to capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most amazing mountains I know El Teide. I have to say this was one of the most exhausting trips I have done. There was a lot of hiking at high altitudes and probably less than 10 hours of sleep in total for the whole week. Having been here 10-11 times before I had a long list of must-see locations I wanted to capture for this movie, but I am still not 100% used to carrying around so much gear required for time-lapse movies.

A large sandstorm hit the Sahara Desert on the 9th April (http://bit.ly/g3tsDW) and at approx 3am in the night the sandstorm hit me, making it nearly impossible to see the sky with my own eyes.

Interestingly enough my camera was set for a 5 hour sequence of the milky way during this time and I was sure my whole scene was ruined. To my surprise, my camera had managed to capture the sandstorm which was backlit by Grand Canary Island making it look like golden clouds. The Milky Way was shining through the clouds, making the stars sparkle in an interesting way. So if you ever wondered how the Milky Way would look through a Sahara sandstorm, look at 00:32.

Like my Facebook Page for updates http://www.facebook.com/TSOPhotography

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Press/licensing/projects contact: terjes@gmail.com

Music by my friend: Ludovico Einaudi - "Nuvole bianche" with permission.

Stretching arms towards perfection

2011-04-05T19:40:00.001-05:00

(This is a very long post. Disjointed and unorganized. It is a post 28 years in the making but I did not realize it till I sat down to actually write it. I can remember every little detail about the 2nd of April, 2011 like it was (day before) yesterday but just not in sequence! My reminisces about the day are also like that. I nearly deleted this post because of its rambling nature until I was convinced that I should publish it nevertheless because there are people who want to read what I write!)

...Oh My God! I think I may have just cost India the World Cup. How could I be so stupid?! It is 3:10am and I am driving east on Maple Street approaching the 204th street intersection. The light is red and I tell myself, if it stays red India loses, if it turns green India wins. It turns green! Phew! But not satisfied with dodging that bullet, I decide that if the light stays green until it is no longer visible in my rearview mirror then victory is assured. Oh no...oh no...oh no... Phew! I can no longer see it but then I reach 168th street and turn left. Oh dear, I can see the traffic light to the left in the distance, still green but how long can it hold on? Idiot!! How could I be so stupid?!!

Miracle of miracles, it stays green the whole time! India is going to win! After that - Never. A. Doubt. Honestly, God promise.

...I reach D's house. D is Sri Lankan and by the time the captains are ready to toss there are 4 Sri Lankans and one Indian in the house. All 5 of us are praying that Kumar Sangakkara wins the toss. Yes, me too. I had a "vision" the night after we beat Pakistan that MS Dhoni (and Sachin Tendulkar, I must confess) will be around when the winning runs are scored. Which means Masada needs to lose the toss so Sri Lanka can bat first.

...Watching on WillowTV's solitary commercial-free channel is such a beautiful thing. No ads, no interruptions, no nothing. I get to watch the entire "toss episode" and wonder about the magnanimity of Kumar Sangakkara to readily agree to toss even after he claimed to have called it correctly the first time. Hmmmmmmm.

...Sri Lanka makes 4 (four) changes. The most perplexing for me is the omission of Ajantha Mendia. I know he has not been much of a force against India in the past 3 years, but still the dude was having a World Cup that Harbhajan Economy Singh would give up his first- and second-born children for. Mendis - 5 matches, 7 wickets, economy rate 3.14. Economy Singh - 9 matches, 9 wickets, economy 4.48. Panic in the Lankan camp!

...The Sri Lankan national anthem is rhythmic and beautiful to listen to, but it goes on and on. Like the ending of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Lotur rotak, to my blog regulars). Just when you think it is going to end, it starts up again. And then again. Clocking in at a mere 52 seconds, Jana Gana Mana seems almost like a remix version.

...Before the inning starts, I always tell myself the score that I will be happy to restrict the opposition to and no matter how the other team starts or ends, that is the score I reference when the inning is done to figure out my team's chances of winning. My par score for today: 267.

...ZAK begins with a dream-like 4-3-2-1 before settling for 5-3-6-1. At the other end, Sreesanth, who looks like he stuck a finger in a power socket just before he got onto the field, is leaking boundaries. Leaking is the right word, until the dam bursts and he (almost) undoes all of ZAK's hard work. This punt failed royally, Masada. In the semi-final, the first extra was conceded by India in the 37th over. Today, it takes 5 balls. Omens, omens. Surely not. Nah!

...The most heartening sight of the World Cup (until about 8 hours later) is seeing Yuvraj Singh flying around at point! Yuvi is BACK! I don't know where you were but you picked a good time to come back. The real reason for India's resurgence in the field during the knockout stages is not Yuvi, but the boy from UP - Suresh Raina. What a fielder! Right up there with the de Villiers of the world. Raina, Yuvi and Kohli put the squeeze on the Sri Lankans and carry the rest of the team with them. Is that really Sreesanth parrying the ball back? Can that really be ZAK throwing caution to the wind? Masada has conned the entire world with an underappreciated masterstorke. Earlier in the tournament, when asked about the abysmal fielding standards he did not try to defend them (like Dravid or Ganguly were wont to do) instead admitting openly that it sucked and that it was what it was and we should not fret about it as it was not going to improve.

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist."
Keyser Söze

When you set the bar so low, it lulls not only your supporters but also the opposition. Suddenly, even routine stops (which, honestly, many of them were) seem like jabs to the gut. This is not the Indian fielding we were counting on. Oh dear!, think the Lankans. The greatest trick Dhoni pulled this World Cup was to convince people that Indian fielding did not exist.

...Economy Singh begins round the wicket. A long time ago, in a galaxy right here, Economy never went around the wicket, preferring to watch batsmen flick him away ball after ball. Then he developed that abomination - the doosra - and now almost exclusively comes round the wicket. From one extreme to another. Where's Chris Broad when you need him?

...Am I the only one who thinks that Economy is the epitome of a bully? If things are going his way, he is in your ears and jumping around. Slap his bowling around a little bit and he shrivels in the spotlight.

...Dilshan reaches 499 runs in the World Cup. D, my host, panics when I ask him, rather slyly, whether Dilshan can reach 500 runs in the World Cup. Not shy about using swear words, D focuses his attention on getting Dilshan to 500 and lets me know (very politely by his standards).

...But you see, that was just mis-direction on my part. While D is busy taunting me, Danger-man Dilshan is gone, dragging a ball from outside the leg-stump onto the wickets! By the way, Dilshan, flick, flick, flick, not sweep, sweep, sweep when facing Economy. Let that be a lesson to you.

...Mahela Jayawardene, the man with the silken touch, is simply gliding his way towards a date with Destiny and no one on the Indian team seems to be paying attention. Achtung! I see Jayawardene and wonder, why wasn't there a place for VVS Laxman in any World Cup squad? Dinesh Mongia?!! I lose my focus while I think about Dada's lucky charm from the 2003 World Cup (why else was he playing, I ask you?).

...Simon Taufel is umpiring the game. I see him and I picture a man in a poncho, cigar in his mouth, laconic as ever, leaving only dead bodies in his wake. "You see, my mule don't like people laughing." Is there a more assured umpire in the game? Aleem Dar is a close second and I am glad both are umpiring this game. Thank goodness the domination of the Aussies has ended, thereby enabling Taufel to officiate a World Cup final.

...Ravi Shastri starts his favorite parlor game - guess the final score. (This ranks right up there with: When will the team declare in this Test match?). Without fail, by the middle of the inning he begins guessing what the final score could be, then proceeds to second-guess himself with reckless abandon the rest of the evening, before finally proclaiming that the team was "20-30 runs short. Game on!" Today, he raises the specter of a 230 score and then proceeds to be amazed and astonished when the Sri Lankans reach 275. Dude, before the inning started I was looking to restrict them to 267. The fact that they took it to 274 made if 55-45 in favor of the Lankans in my book. Everyone now seems to say, "If Viru gets off to a quick start....." Gah!

...ZAK reaches 7-1-16-2. No signs yet of the carnage to follow. Only, it was not a carnage but more of a seductive assault by Jayawardene. ZAK finishes with 3-0-44-0. A tale of two halves. But no sweat. 267 (plus an extra 7) was always on the cards from the start of the inning, as far as I was concerned.

...Truth be told, I figure a Sehwag book-end to the World Cup is in store. Mahela began and ended the World Cup with a century. Surely, Sehwag will duplicate that. Malinga takes care of that omen in two balls. Don't review it, Viru, unless you hit the ball. Well, you didn't, and you are gone. In 2003 you were the lone gunman in the final against the Aussies and we lost. Today you get out early, we are going to win. You cannot battle omens like that.

Finding positive omens, at short notice, is my specialty.

...SRT is batting like a dream. He unfurls his patented check-straight-drive. This is good. Also, a lesson for Sehwag. When Viru first came on the scene, this was one of the shots he liked to play. Now, after the 175, he has forgotten to bat in straight lines and paid the price in both the semi-final and the final. I hope he rectifies this in time for the tour to West Indies (I could care less about the IPL).

...Eighteen runs short of 500, SRT perishes to the very shot he eschewed in that seminal 241* in Sydney so many years ago. Front foot pushes to cover do not come more tentatively than that. To quote Shastri, he should have "slashed, and slashed hard at it."

...BD sends me a text telling me he thinks it is over. I write back, "Ye of little faith. This is not the Indian team of old. There is plenty of batting left. Have faith." Say what you will, I honestly believe it is not over. This isn't the Indian team I grew up watching. Not that long ago, India chased down 317 against the same Sri Lankan team after losing the openers with less than 30 runs on the board. See, another omen! I can keep this up all night, I promise.

...Sangakkara and Kohli get into an argument, probably discussing the merits/demerits of having tattoos in visible locations. People talk about Kohli as a future Indian captain. After the example set by Masada, I am not sure I want a hot-headed person as the leader of the team. By the time the match ends, he makes such a perfect statement, I am almost willing to believe he could be the future captain (but more on that in a bit). Memo to Sangakkara: sledging may work against Polly and co. but not against Kohli and co.

...In the past few weeks we have had some rare astronomical phenomena. The Supermoon was one. Another less-publicized one was that Saturn was the most visible planet in the night sky. And Saturn takes 29 years to go around the sun! 29 years years. So close to the 28 years since we last held the World Cup. Close enough to count as another omen, I say! But wait, there's more. What is the Sanskrit word for Saturn? Shani. When was the final played? Shaniwar! Yes!!!!!!

...Dilshan imitates Superman and ends Kohli's inning. On the telly, Nasser Hussain says that Gambhir should have not moved when the ball was hit. Two things, Nasser. One, Gambhir had to move as the ball was hit towards him and he was trying to get out of the way. Two, Dilshan really made a catch out of it. Let it go.

...Dhoni promotes himself ahead of Yuvraj. Bold move, say many. Sensible move, say I. The man has shown on numerous occasions that he is a finisher and revels in these situations. Even if he failed, it was the right move to make. He doesn't and on such slender threads do storylines lie.

...Ever since the Natwest final, where India chased down 326 after being 141 for 5, I have used a simple formula to figure out a run chase. Take the number of balls left and subtract it from the number of runs to get. The goal should be to whittle down that number so it stays positive or near zero (indicating that you have balls in hand with runs to get). As soon as you distill it like that you forget the need to score boundaries off every ball. For the entire inning, the Indian plus/minus number was in the positive, except for a brief period where it rose to about -5 with about 8 overs to go. Thoroughly manageable.

...Keeping the plus/minus in mind, I realize that if India does not get all out and simply scores in singles they will win. Consequently, Sangakkara's tactics perplex me. He cannot choke India out of the game. He needs to take wickets. Win or lose, do it in 45 overs. Bring in the fielders (remember the Indians are not really good at handling the Batting Powerplay?), choke up the easy singles, force them to create the runs. If they are able to do it, that's fine. But if they don't, you are in the game!

...On second thoughts, forget I said anything, Sangakkara. Continue to play into Masada's hands (or bat, if you will). Good job!

...Gauti, Gauti, Gauti. Centuries in ODI's don't grow on trees (except for SRT). Centuries in finals are even fewer. Even rarer is a century in a World Cup final. The rarest of them all is a century while chasing in a World Cup final. I'd yell at you (but knowing what little I do of you) you will do a better job of admonishing yourself than I ever will.

...My irritation, Gauti, is not that you missed out on a century (I'm no Sunny G when it comes to personal stats) but that you opened the door ever so slightly for the Sri Lankans. Arrgh! It must not get past Yuvraj otherwise it could get tricky. Sangakkara, that magnanimous man, continues with a spread field to Yuvraj. Immense relief spreads over me. We are going to win this if we keep our heads! If.

...The Indians play out Murali and Malinga for the first 5-6 overs of their spells before beginning to expand a little more. Nice. Masada uses a shot that;'s his own - the thappad shot to cover with the bottom taking over during the flick of the wrist. (Akin to a ice hockey slap-shot, if you will).

...Another thappad and Ravi Shastri says "tracer bullet" for the first time all day! Yesssssssss!!!! In the next over, Masada picks off a tiring Malinga for two fours and even Tom Moody gets into the, errr, mood by referencing a tracer bullet. All is well in this world and India are almost home.

...In 1983, India watched a completely different set of personalities win the Prudential Cup. Here are a few things about that game that not many people talk about. Kris Srikkanth played a brilliant inning, smashing the bowlers all over the park, attacking and hitting, scoring 38 runs in 10 57 balls. Huh? In our memories, he smashed every ball to the fence, the reality was something different. Tinted lenses and all that jazz. Mohinder Amarnath played brilliantly scoring 28 runs in ..... 80 balls, and was hailed all over the world for it. The pace of the game in those days was such no one batted an eyelid while it happened.

But the biggest dirty little secret that no one mentions is this: NO ONE watching on the television in India that night actually saw Kapil Dev take the catch that saved the match. At around 8:30pm that night, Doordarshan went to its regularly scheduled Samachar. At that point in time, the West Indies were 40 for 1. When the telecast was resumed, the score was 66 for 5. In the 30 minutes that none of us in India were watching, Viv Richards had come, hit 7 fours in his 33 runs, gotten out, precipitated a collapse, and the upset was well underway. It's the truth, I swear!

...In 2011, thanks to WillowTV's commercial-free channel (thank you!), I don't miss a minute of the coverage. Therefore, nothing untoward happens during the chase and we now reach the final moments of the match. Omens, I tell you. Can't fight them.

...In 1983, when Mohinder Amarnath took the final wicket and Indian won by a whopping 43 runs, I was so excited I can remember just jumping around and hugging everyone. At one point in time, as per Buck D's recollection, "Teddy's hand was in JQ's mouth, and JQ's hand was in Teddy's mouth." *sigh* Since I cannot lie about that day, I must admit it's the truth. The Teddy in question? My wonderful dog (half-Alsatian, half-Pomeranian). A great price to pay for being able to celebrate a seminal win. A win that changed the course of cricket history. And I say that without a smidgen of hyperbole.

...In 2011, with 4 runs to win, Kulasekara becomes the latest in a line of bowlers who have given up a six to end an ODI at Masada's hand. Except that this is no small ODI - this it the FINAL OF THE WORLD CUP! India wins!!!!! India wins!!!!!

The man has a sense of the moment, a sense of the occasion, and delivers a video-friendly moment that will probably end up being the most replayed video in the history of cricket (until next time). Watching the ball fly, you sense that he knew a split-second before anyone else that the World Cup was won. Cometh the hour, cometh the MAN.

...Helen of Troy is said to have had "a face the launched a 1000 ships". Masada has long surpassed SRT as India's commercial icon, but now his is the face that launches a 1000 cliché's. The tributes are flowing in unabated and deservedly so. One of the best ones about the man was this one by Gaurav Kalra (hat tip - L of Maidenbowling).

For a man who isn't 30 yet, Dhoni's equilibrium is unusual. But I suspect it is so because he doesn't allow situations to burden him. Self-confidence is often misunderstood. In Dhoni's case it appears confidence flows not from an arrogant belief that he is right. But in trusting his instinct for what that moment demands. So quietly he slips in among the troopers when Tendulkar is paraded around the ground, not even offering him his strong shoulders so the limelight isn't shared. He punts on selections that confound the 'experts' and concedes them as mistakes even when they work out just fine!

(...)

MS Dhoni might well be a man of steely resolve and abundant talent. He might well be more determined and dogged than most cricketers on the circuit. But watching from a distance I am convinced Dhoni has no equal in the game in the art of mastering a moment. And more importantly, in letting that very moment pass. It seems like a well designed method for a happy life. Sometimes the quest for a place in history can snatch your present away. Mahender Singh Dhoni is teaching us how to not allow that to happen. I suspect though that he doesn't really care if we learn or not!

...I fell in love with his captaincy around 2008 after I read this interview of his in CricInfo by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan and Nagraj Gollapudi. Read it in its entirety and all through remember that this is a fellow who did not attend college until recently and did not captain a team at any level until he was handed the reins of the Indian T20 squad. No one epitomizes the act of meeting Triumph and Disaster and treating both Imposters the same as the man I like to call Masada.

...Many things have been said and written about the Indian victory, but the best line of the day was uttered by Virat Kohli mere seconds after India had won the match and the players had given SRT a lap of honor around the ground. Speaking about SRT:

"He has carried the burden of the country for 21 years," Kohli said. "It was high time we carried him around on our shoulders."

Picture perfect. I couldn't have scripted that better. My misgivings about the man as a future India captain were eased just a wee bit. Maybe there is a calmer being lurking inside that ~~arrogant~~ confident swagger.

...Masada has paid glowing tribute the ones who came before him and laid the groundwork for the final assault on the World Cup that he presided over. It took us 28 years to get there, but I wonder if it needed to be that long. The fact that VVS Laxman has never been part of a World Cup squad while fellows like Sunil Valson have, rankles in my mind. (Click here to read about VVS Laxman's thoughts on the Indian win).

...if you want to "re-live" the match, there are two fantastic sources you must visit.

The first if CricInfo's ball-by-ball commentary of the match. No one, I repeat, no one captures the ebbs and flows of a match better than the folks at CricInfo.

If you do not care for as detailed a journey, then look no further than Over-By-Over (more popularly known as OBO) for the final, on The Guardian's website. Apart from getting an over by over (duh!) review of the proceedings, you get plenty of pithy and irreverent remarks in the form of the comments that are appended to it. Brilliant stuff by Rob Smyth and one of my staple readings through the tournament.

...And finally, to paraphrase Alfred Lord Tennyson, for men may come and men may go, but these memories will live on for ever.

(Getty Images 2011, via CricInfo)

Not the real deal

2011-04-04T18:57:00.002-05:00

Coming up, very soon, a post on what I did on the 2nd day of April in the year 2011. Apart from the usual nonsense - get up, take a shower, drive around for a few minutes, etc., - I did catch a cricket match. I have been writing and writing and am still not done but I know my loyal followers (all 4 of them, I think) are waiting eagerly (one hopes)!

This post is just to say, "Have patience, my friend. A post is on its way." In it I shall reference, among other things, Rabindranath Tagore, OBO ("What's that?," you say? You'll just have to wait), Clint Eastwood, Keyser Söze, Saturn (the planet not the car), Lord of the Rings, Teddy (not Roosevelt but my dog), Doordarshan Samachar, 28 runs in ~~104~~ 80 balls, Helen of Troy, and VVS Laxman (but, of course).

Until then, feast on this iconic image of the shot heard around the world:

(Getty Images 2011, via CricInfo)

Xander Drax to the rescue

2011-04-01T16:52:00.000-05:00

I have been trolling the web for the past few days looking for articles about the Final that rise beyond the common and seek a balance between hype and conjecture.

Call it a search for a frame of reference for the occasion, if you will.

I have found it. Take a bow, Sharda Ugra.

Read the entire thing here.

With reference to the strategy for tomorrow's game, a small nugget comforted me and told me that the Indian team is in good hands. I trust MS Dhoni implicitly. Win or lose, I am happy he is our captain.

Like he (Dhoni) has always done, he will stay away from the bowlers meeting on Friday night, saying it helps him formulate his own alternative plans, if the bowling begins to fray on the field the next day.

Having beaten West Indies, Australia, and Pakistan (in that order, too), India has one other World Cup-winning team left in its sights - Sri Lanka. It is too wonderful a co-incidence to not be part of some mage-super-dooper plan. Or so I believe.

A date with Destiny awaits and I will leave you with these words by Rudyard Kipling (from If):

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;

(...)

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;

(...)

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

(...)

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

P.S. If you have made it this far and are wondering about the title of this post, click here and see if that helps a little bit.

Thoughts before the Final

2011-04-01T15:11:00.000-05:00

It is finally upon us - a cricket final in Mumbai, featuring an Indian team.

Here are some last-minute thoughts on the off-chance that an Indian player reads it and passes along the message to MS Dhoni.

a) Virender Sehwag promised to bat 50 overs. Now would be a good time for him to remember the promise. If he bats 50 overs, the game is almost certainly out of Sri Lanka's reach.

b) Sachin Tendulkar is going to score his 100th international century in the Final. Not for nothing has he accumulated no less than 26 international scores in the 90's. A few years ago in Cuttack, Dinesh Karthik went ballistic with SRT eying a century, stranding him on 96 not out against the Sri Lankans. Now I know for sure that Dinesh did not strand the Master, it was part of a Grand Plan.

While on that, can we stop calling SRT a "Little" Master? He has gone beyond the Little stage by now, I would like to think.

c) In Masada, I trust. I had a ~~dream~~ vision that Masada and SRT were at the crease as the winning runs were scored. That means...

d) Masada needs to lose the toss. I have more faith in the batting chasing down a total than the bowling defending a total. Invariably, because of the great start that Sehwag provides the commentators place a curse on the Indian team by talking about projected scores in excess of 350, only to have the natural course of events bring it down to the 260-280 range which feels like a letdown when, in fact, it should feel like a great total.

e) Ravi Shastri: I know it is the final of a World Cup. You need not scream yourself hoarse reminding us of it. We know that you will be feeling the following things:

It does not get any bigger than this.
It's anybody's game.
The atmosphere is electric.
What the batting team needs is a good partnership.
What the bowling team needs is a couple of quick wickets
(or, if it is late in the inning) a couple of good overs.

Actually, why don't you just click on this link for more.

f) While their careers have overlapped for almost 19 years, I was shocked to read that SRT has faced only 91 balls in ODIs and 366 balls in Tests from Muttiah Muralitharan. What?!! here's hoping for 59 more (and someone else's wicket off the 60th one for Murali).

There are many more thoughts but considering how incoherent the previous ones have been, I should just shut up and write only after my nerves have settled.

By this time tomorrow.....

10 thoughts on the road to salvation

2011-03-25T09:30:00.001-05:00

The cricket World Cup's schedule was ostensibly set up to ensure that, at the very least, India made it to the knockout stage. In reality, it was set up to ensure that all the teams that made it to the knock-out stage did so because of a proper body of work and not because of one or two fortuitous days of play (as was the case with Kenya in 2003). In the end it worked out well. Say what you will about England's tortured path to the quarter-finals, they had a chance to atone for losing to Ireland and Bangladesh. Similarly, Bangladesh needed a sustained performance and not just one good day (beating England, for example) to get it to move forward.

Also, the schedule was spaced out such that no team complained about not having enough time between matches, ensuring that all 8 teams came into the QF's with plenty of rest as well as match practice.

With that in mind, here are some thoughts about the quarter-final matches that have been played so far.

India-Australia

i) While most folks were anxious that we met the Aussies so soon, I was actually happy about it. Beating the Aussies in the semi-final was always going to be (mentally) easier than taking them on in a more tense atmosphere of the semi-final or final.

ii) The Australian team walked through their Group A matches untroubled for the most part because the only teams that could have realistically beaten them were Sri Lanka and Pakistan. One game got washed out without the batting being exposed while the second was a loss that was put down to the vagaries of playing in a dead rubber. The Aussies first real test were the Indians and the current edition of the Indian team is, pound for pound, mentally stronger and technically more sound than the Aussie one. Ironically, the fellow who may be the most fragile mentally (in the general opinion of many folks) is the fellow who just crossed 18,000 runs and is leading all scorers at a World Cup. Yet again.

In other words, the Aussies were ripe to be taken and the Indians did just that.

iii) Ricky Ponting played an inning that seemed as inevitable in its march towards a century as it was impressive to watch. Two factors worked in his favor. One, the Indians did not have a single bowler who could bowl a bouncer to save his life, so Ponting did not have to worry about that egocentric pigheadedness that has pervaded his batting of late - the stubbornness to pull the ball as if he were a re-incarnation of Andrew Hilditch in his prime.

Second, the pitch was not a batting beauty, so he was required to play the bowlers more carefully and had to eschew his normal mode of batting. Ponting in his prime was the anti-Dravid at the #3 spot. Where Rahul Dravid built his innings with impregnable defense from which he slowly expanded his range of strokes as he settled in, Ponting's MO was to attack, attack, attack until it forced the opposition's captains to spread the field and wait for a mistake. Even his forward defensive pushes used to be delivered with a gusto that was intimidating...until bowlers like Ishant Sharma and Harmison, in combination with a subtle dulling of reflexes, began to make him hop around for doing that.

Therefore, Ponting's inning was a restrained one. Eight years after the event, I still have vivid nightmares about the 140* made by Ponting in the WC final against India. Today's inning was even more impressive for me than that one for the skill he displayed against a set of bowlers who were fighting with him every step of the way. For the first time ever I was actually hoping Ponting would score a 100 because the way he batted today, he deserved it. Big time.

iv) I am 100% positive of two things about the way Ricky Ponting got out. I do not recall ever seeing or reading about Ponting hitting a reverse sweep. Second, that is the last time we shall see him attempting that foolhardy shot in a meaningful game. While it was probably not as seismic a shot as the Mike Gatting reverse sweep fiasco, it was the difference between 260 and 275, in my opinion. And those extra 15-25 runs would have made it more interesting, that's for damn sure (to quote Reacher). Why on earth did he play that shot at that time? I asked myself the same question when Tendulkar, not content with barely getting a ball over midwicket's head once in the 2003 final, tried to repeat that shot against McGrath, with fatal consequences. Déjà vu all over again. In a good way, this time.

v) By not hitting a single hook/pull shot and still making a 100, Ponting will have (hopefully) realized that run-making, as you grow older, requires a difference mindset. SRT successfully made that transition (Tiger Woods is currently struggling with one right now). There is no shame is not being the marauding attacker, Ricky. Your determination to succeed and range of strokes are more than enough to easily get you by for another 5 years. All you have to do is placate that ego and learn to duck or sway out of the way of a bouncer. Or, take a leaf out of Sehwag's book, and look to dab it down to fine-leg and live to fight another ball.

Here's a recommendation to you, Ricky. Watch VVS Laxman or SRT bat. They hook and pull only when they are totally comfortable and settled at the crease. Otherwise, they are content to duck out of the way of the bouncer.

One last point. Freed of the burden of having to lead the side, SRT has had the luxury of focusing simply on his game. I know it feels empty to not be leading a side you are playing in, but I believe you will enjoy your batting a lot more if you do so.

vi) Virender Sehwag has an injured shoulder. All the press is about the swelling in his knee, but I think that is simply misdirection on the part of the team management. Watching him bat, it seemed quite obvious to me that the fellow who made the 175 on the first day of the World Cup is not the fellow who was batting today. His hands are his biggest asset. Today he was not fluid when he was moving his hands through the line and I think there is something wrong with where the hands are getting their movement from, rather than his feet.

vii) When SRT scores a century, India does not win. When he scores a 50, India wins. What a conundrum to contemplate for the next two games (yes, I had a vision that SRT was walking out to bat at the Wankhade and it was so vivid I refuse to believe that it was wishful thinking). Personally, the fact that the current ICC Test cricketer of the year is leading the ODI World Cup run-scorers list, while also having been the leading scorer in the last edition of the IPL (T20) tells me that SRT is as close to a complete batsman as there has ever been in the game. I am not saying the best, the greatest, the most exciting or anything like that (even though arguments can be made for all of them) but simply - the most complete. What a player!

viii) Based on what I saw in this match, I propose one change to the Indian line-up and then I think we have the team that will win the World Cup. It is a fairly radical suggestion - drop Munaf Patel and bring in Yusuf Pathan.

Here's why: With Ashwin opening the bowling and Zaheer Khan only bowling 3-4 overs at the start, new ball bowlers are not really required. (I want to call Munaf a "fast bowler" but that is not true. Shahid Afridi has, at times, bowled balls faster than Munaf has in this World Cup). India has 3 full-time bowlers - ZAK, Ashwin and Economy Singh. Yuvraj Singh has become a 10-over bowler, too. So a combination of Pathan, Raina, and SRT (and even Kohli as Dhoni surprised us with today) can bowl the other 10.

Munaf is not going to be bowling 10 overs anyway the rest of the way. Here's how he has done this tournament:

10-0-48-4 (Bangladesh)
10-0-70-2 (England)
4.5-0-25-1 (Ireland)
Did not play (Netherlands)
10-0-65-2 (South Africa)
5-0-20-0 (West Indies)
7-0-44-0 (Australia)

Look at those numbers again. Are they really what you want from your opening bowler? In addition to that, the fellow gives away at least another 10-15 runs with his fielding (or lack thereof).

Surely, a combo deal of Pathan-Raina-SRT can give us 10 overs for 60 runs, too. And maybe even take a few wickets here and there, and save a lot of runs.

Masada, I know you don't read my blog, but on the off chance you do, please, please go in with just ZAK as a faster bowler. Drop Munaf and please do not get swayed by the conventional wisdom that you must have two medium-pacers at least or that Mohali is a fast bowler's paradise. Be bold, in return you get to have the luxury of batting Pathan as low as #8. Batting is going to be our calling card to the championship and Munaf is not such a significant upgrade in the bowing department in order to merit keeping him any longer.

Please, please.

ix) When the ICC drafted its controversial 15 degree rule for chucking, it stated that:
All bowlers will be permitted to straighten their bowling arm up to 15 degrees, which has been established as the point at which any straightening will become visible to the naked eye.

So, in essence what they are telling us is that a flexing of 8-10 degrees is done by almost every bowler and is not visible to the naked eye. So, even "model" actions such as McGrath's or Hadlee's have some flexing in them. In other words, if you can see flexing of the arm or bending of the elbow, then it means that the bowler is exceeding the 15 degree limit by a far margin and chucking the ball.

I saw both quarter-finals and, from my limited vantage point of the replays on the small screen, there were quite a few deliveries that were hurled with actions too jerky to be within the 15 degree limit. Shaun Tait, Economy Singh, and Mohammad Hafeez come freely to mind. The ghost of Johan Botha is lurking and tomorrow he may get added to that list in my head. Where's Chris Broad when you need him?

x) Finally, after the halfway stage of the game, one thing became very apparent. If India lasted the distance without getting all out, it would win the game. Even Ponting admitted as much. With about 10 overs to go, a couple of my colleagues watched along with me for a few minutes. For both of them it was their first time watching the game. Even as I explained the game, the basics, and the situation they asked me - why are the Australians letting the Indians take these easy ones? For a long, long time Ponting was content to spread the field and the Indians milked the runs. Four-five runs an over is no sweat when there are just 4 fellows inside the circle. The Indians were able to get close enough to the target where a few boundaries opened up the game.

Only when the Indians took the batting powerplay in the 46th over, by necessity rather than request, did the field come in. By then the horse had bolted and the pressure was less enough for Raina to launch Brett Lee for a six into the stands. To use an NBA term - that was the dagger. But if Ponting had closed in his fielders much earlier and dried up the runs, he could have created some panic. Going into the game, the big talk about the Indian line-up was their propensity to commit hara-kiri during their batting powerplays in the World Cup. So, why would you wait for the Indians to decide when they wanted to take the powerplay? Force it upon them artificially by closing in your fielders.

Gah! It was captaincy by the numbers. Ponting has never been the most tactically astute of captains, his outstanding captaincy record notwithstanding. But, what are all the support staff with their laptops and video analysis and strategy sessions doing?

Australia did not play like a team that deserved to be in the top 4 nations, their #1 ranking notwithstanding. As a result, India are left with a match that is against some nation it has only occasionally met on the cricket field in the past few years. I wonder if anyone else will even show up for the game as it is being played between two local teams.

I, on the other hand, can't wait!

Travel: Day 4 - Puerto Rico - Dry forests and ancient trees

2011-03-17T19:27:00.001-05:00

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Day 4 and Day 5 marked the birthdays of two of the members of the group. What are the odds that in a 10-day trip taken by 7 folks, two of them would celebrate a birthday in that period? After the obligatory midnight birthday ritual, we went to sleep knowing that Day 4 would be one filled with with a lot of walking and talking, sometimes both together. AJ finally had company under the stars, with MB joining him after the midnight party.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

Dr. Skip v B of the University of Puerto Rico (Mayaguez) was our guide for the day. After general introductions, we bundled into two vans and drove to the dry forest in Guánica, or to give you it's official name: Bosque Estatal de Guánica.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

Located in the driest part of Puerto Rico, the dry forest extends from a scrub forest near the sea to an upland deciduous forest. Astonishingly, for a place considered to be too dry for most species to survive in, the dry forest has more species of birds than the tropical rain forest on the other end of the island because of less competition for food from lizards and insects. It is the only place in the world where the the Puerto Rican crusted toad, and endangered species, can be found in its natural habitat.

(Sami Wysocki 2011)

As you would expect with any dry area there are plenty of cacti, specifically the Sebucán (Pilosocereus royenii) within the forest. However, in the past few years there has been a severe infestation of the cactus by the Harrisia cacti mealybug (Hypogeoccocus pungens). The mealybug likes to feed on the apical meristem tissue. Mealybug infestation results in the formation of a new shoot as a defensive response. The new shoot, which look like tumors on the cacti, is also soon devoured by the mealybug, eventually causing the cacti to die.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

Tropical soils are typically quite acidic (pH of around around 4) but the Guánica Forest is unique in that the pH of the soil is alkaline (a little over 8). The reason is that the calcium carbonate in the rocks binds to phosphate making orthophosphate which is unavailable to the plants, increasing the pH. The reason why calcium carbonate is found in large quantities in the soil has to do with the origin of the land that the forest rests on. A long time ago it was the bottom of the sea and tectonic uplifting eventually raised it above the sea level. A combination of water and wind erosion has left behind what we see today.

(Katie McKenna 2011)

Most of the trees in Puerto Rico were harvested for timber and other purposes in the 19th and early 20th century, so much so that in the 1940's less than 4% of the trees in PR were of primary origin. Finding a 100 year-old tree in PR is extremely difficult. Yet, in the middle of the Guánica Forest, about a couple of hundred meters off the beaten track, you can find a Guayacán tree that was already quite big when Christopher Columbus was still looking westward and imagining riches of all kinds.

(Katie McKenna 2011)

The Guayacán Centenario tree survived the axe probably because of a combination of its inaccessibility and its gnarly appearance. Either way it reminded us a lot of the Tree of Life from the movie Avatar.

Closer to the main trail Skip introduced us to the Century plant (Agave sp.). While this plant does not live for a 100 years, it does manage to survive for about 20-30 years. At the end of its lifetime, the plant produces a flowering spike that can grow as tall as 25-30 feet in height. Once it flowers, the plant then dies.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

We were lucky enough to see a few of these spikes.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

In a dry forest, leaf litter is harder to break down because of the lack of moisture. One of the most important agents that breaks down leaf litter in the Guánica Forest is termites. It is not uncommon to see termite nests up in the trees, where they are protected from predators.

(Sami Wysocki 2011)

Termites make protective channels of mud, tunnels if you will, along the tree trunk that serve as service roads to the forest floor.

(Sami Wysocki 2011)

From the Guánica Dry Forest, we then went to Tamarind Beach to observe a forest of a different kind.

(Miranda Beran 2011)

High-velocity winds come rushing in off the Caribbean Sea onto the shore near Tamarind Beach. Consequently, plants cannot afford to grow too tall. Instead they grow sideways or slant away from the ground, a property known as thigmomorphogenesis.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

Since the vegetation here is closer to the ground, trees can live for hundreds of years and yet not be taller than a foot or two. Instead they creep sideways, growing in very small increments each year. The Dwarf forest at Tamarind Bay has to be seen to be believed.

(Katie McKenna 2011)

The most surprising sight for us was to see that cacti can be found right next to the ocean.

(Lorissa Panowicz 2011)

There are many kinds of cacti that dot the landscape and coexist happily with the shrubs and trees.

(Sami Wysocki 2011)

After the hikes to the two different forests, the students had some fun cooling off in the waters off Tamarind Beach.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

The waters were quite rough and choppy. "I know how a coconut feels," said SW. Considering how this coconut was being tossed around, I agreed with her.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

Since it was KM's and MB's combined birthday, we had the obligatory cake-cutting moment when we got back to Alegre.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

I had previously decided to treat the party to a Puerto Rican dinner at a local restaurant, so we got ready for that. Everybody dressed up and we had an (extended) photo session before we left for Pimiento's Cafe.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

Naturally, we had to take a photo outside the house we stayed at.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

The food was excellent and everyone tried a different dish, enabling us to taste a wide variety of dishes.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

We came back from the restaurant well-fed and content and ready for the next day when we would visit the exotically named Laguna Cartagena, among other places.

Travel: Day 3 - Puerto Rico - Coral reefs and open water

2011-03-16T16:48:00.002-05:00

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Day 3 dawned, bright and early for AJ, who took advantage of the warm weather and brilliant skies to sleep under the stars. He did wake up at the break of dawn to capture some silent sights from Percy's Perch.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

After breakfast, we drove to La Parguera, about 25 miles west of where we were staying in Guánica. On the agenda for the day? Snorkeling the coral reefs off the coast of Puerto Rico!

(Google Maps 2011)

La Parguera turned out to be a seemingly-quiet, little, fishing village/town. After getting fitted for all the gear we would need by Paradise Scuba and Snorkeling, we set out for two nearby reefs - Enrique and Mario Reef. The boat ride was a fairly short one but as the excitement rose, so did the nervousness. I had never before wandered into the ocean with my limited swimming ability as the only thing preventing me from washing off to islands unknown.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

The students did not seem to share any of my apprehensions, enjoying the ride and the company.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

And then it was time to venture into the water. One final mug shot was taken, just in case we never made it back!

(C.S. Manish 2011)

The water was much colder than I thought it would be but it was clear and quite salty. After a couple of minutes, where I hyperventilated and nearly backed out of the whole deal, I settled down enough to actually enjoy the experience.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

For the next few hours we lumbered around, following our two guides, Christian and Jonathan, as they led us around the two reefs (with a brief stop for a sandwich in between) showing us the various types of coral on view, with quite a few sightings of schools of fish of varying sizes and shapes. Also, occasionally, one of the guides would dive to the bottom and come up with an animal to hold or feel. Sea cucumbers are soft and rubbery while sea urchins are always seeking objects to anchor onto, be it the sea floor or your palm.

(Miranda Beran 2011)

Starfish were aplenty in the water, too. Interesting echinoderms, they possess a multitude of feeding habits and are well-studied for their regenerative abilities.

(Miranda Beran 2011)

Finally, it was time to get back on board, but not before some of the girls took some extra time to explore their settings. Don't ask!

(C.S. Manish 2011)

Swimming around for hours is more tiring than I could imagine and was glad to be gently taken back to shore in the boat. Along the way we stopped at a small island that is a refuge for iguanas. Iguanas are not native to Puerto Rico and are quite a widespread invasive species today. The guides explained that many abandoned iguanas were brought and set free on this small island. AJ was quite adventurous and got closer to them than the rest of us cared to be!

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

As with any coastal area, the houses on the seashore are pretty and have interesting combinations of colors.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

After a quick detour to the grocery store we returned to home base and everyone rested for a few hours, tired but happy. In the evening, SW, MB, KM, and LP cooked up an ensemble of dishes that capped off a good day.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

In keeping with the tradition of eating together but at a different place each day, we ate dinner in the patio area, under the stars (if you discount the big umbrella above our heads!).

(C.S. Manish 2011)

We merrily reminisced about the activities of the day and discussed our upcoming hike into the Dry Forests of Guánica.

But that's an adventure for another day!

Travel: Day 2 - Puerto Rico - Of not-so-long drives and icebreakers

2011-03-15T17:10:00.007-05:00

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"You were supposed to be here by 7am, not 8." These are not the first words you want to hear when you walk into a rental company's office, expecting to pick up a 15-seater van. I may not be many things, but one thing I definitely am is thorough. No sooner had the lady said that, I pulled out three different pieces of paper that showed that I was supposed to be at her office at 8am (which I was, on the dot!). A few minutes of frantic phone calling ensued before the lady tried to cajole me into settling for two minivans (no way!). A few more frantic phone calls later, a very sour-faced lady handed me the keys to a 15-seater van - the courtesy van that received folks at the airport and brought them to the rental agency in San Juan! So, for the next 10 days, I wandered around the island advertising the rental company while also being mistaken on multiple occasions for the ferry to the airport.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

After picking up the van I drove back to the hotel, gathered everyone up and we stopped off for breakfast at a charming little place. The amount of food one can get at a breakfast joint for $5 is simply to be seen to be believed. After that, we began the drive to the south-west corner of Puerto Rico, Guánica to be exact.

(Google Maps 2011)

As we left San Juan, we saw many things for the first time which, as the days went by, became commonplace occurrences. First was the generic disdain for some of the smaller rules of traffic (changing lanes, halting at stop signs, merging onto the highway, etc.) followed by the very perplexing behavior of the cops. Less than 5 minutes after I got onto the highway I noticed, in my rearview mirror, a policeman fast approaching us with his lights flashing. Horrified at having broken some rule that I was not aware of, I moved into the slow lane and got ready to stop when the fellow simply blazed by seemingly unconcerned. After the third time this happened it dawned on us that this was the default mode for the cops in Puerto Rico! (However, even after 10 days, the sight of a fast-approaching police car with its lights flashing caused the heart to skip a beat every time, without fail.)

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

Heading south from San Juan, the road starts to climb up the spine of the mountain chain that forms the middle portion of the island. A tropical rainforest dominates this side of the mountain and the trees are thick and crowd onto the road, probably requiring frequent pruning. We drove into the clouds and then above it into bright sunlight, along the way marveling at all kinds of trees and plants. My favorite - bamboo!

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

After we crested the mountains, we began our descent towards the Caribbean Sea in the distance (first-ever ocean sighting for MB!). The effect of being in the rainshadow portion of the mountain becomes evident almost immediately. The trees are not as tall or huge, the vegetation shifts more towards arid-area shrubs and succulents, such as cacti. As one descends further, the air gets drier, the sun a little stronger, and the alluring blue waters that much closer.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

Eventually the road takes a turn towards the west and parallels the seashore for many miles. You can see the city limits of the town of Ponce from quite far away because of the large letters spelling the town's name that straddle the highway. For the group, however, the letter N held the most interest because of our obvious Cornhusker ties.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

Eventually, we left the highway and went straight south. Well, not exactly straight as the round wound around on itself a lot more than the folks in the back seats cared too much for. Eventually, we got our first close glimpse of the sea and the first photo op the trip was required!

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011)

(C.S. Manish 2011)

Soon, we made our way to Mary Lee's by the Sea, a group of houses dotting the edge of the island that can be rented out for a few days. The word quaint was invented to describe these properties. The house I rented was called Alegre (meaning "happy" in Spanish) and it was worth every penny for the 4 days we stayed there!

The first hour or so was spent in admiring the house and the view from it.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

I had budgeted the whole day for the drive to Guánica. However, we reached there much sooner, just a little after 1pm. After we settled down, we still had the rest of the day to kill. It was then that AJ had a brainwave. Why not go to Gilligan's Island (the island to the right in the photo above)? We quickly looked into it and hitched a boat ride to the island.

The three hours at the island turned out to be a better ice-breaker than any I could have planned. The island is very small and is basically a haven for mangroves of all kinds. We wandered around the island, taking photos and enjoying the perfect weather. The students were a lot more adventurous than I was (which I am putting it down to excitement and not age. *ahem*).

(C.S. Manish 2011)

After leaving the island by the last boat (the island is closed to the public after 5pm) we drove to a grocery store, picked up some supplies, and enjoyed a perfect home-cooked dinner sitting by the water, under the stars, listening to the waves lap gently along the docks. A perfect end to a great day.

(Andrew Jacobsen 2011;
Photo was taken in the absence of artificial light with extended exposure time)

Maggi Noodle Review: The Adjustment Bureau

2011-03-14T17:55:00.000-05:00

What if you did not have the ability to choose your own path in life? What if it was already pre-ordained? How would you live the rest of your life? What could you do in the (supposed) absence of Free Will? The Adjustment Bureau asks those questions about Free Will and Choice and more.

I went in expecting a sci-fi movie with thrills and spills and chases. I came away with the distinct impression that I saw a very well made love story. Yes, there are thrills and spills and chases, but they are moments of kinetic force that simply let you appreciate the tenderness with which the love story develops. Matt Damon and Emily Blunt were meant to be together! Or were they? Sometimes, it is not clear if even The Adjustment Bureau knows. And that is where the movie rises above the level of a typical one.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck came into the industry together, but have forged two vastly different careers. Matt is able to juxtapose his Bourne Identity action hero image with intelligent choices in what we would call hatke movies. This movie is another feather in his cap.

As you watch the movie, you find yourself asking questions about what you would do if you found out your life was already pre-ordained to a certain degree. Would you try to break the shackles or would you set forth to get some control over your choices? The answers are not always that simple and the questions are not always that complicated.

As Ian Malcolm once said, "Life will find a way."

Running Diary: India-South Africa World Cup match

2011-03-12T03:30:00.115-06:00

A ~~pivotal~~ scheduled clash between two of the strongest teams in the World Cup is at hand. Rather than do a running diary after every over, I shall write frequently, as and when thoughts come to mind during the telecast. Pardon the typos. After all, even the best of batsmen edge the ball during the best of innings.

2:55am: Further signs that the world in indeed going to end in 2012 - India goes into a cricket match at home with fewer specialist spinners than South Africa. India adopts the horses for courses strategy and takes just Harbhajan (Economy) Singh into the game. Of course, the course we are preparing for is a South African one. I hope Yuvraj Singh takes a few wickets. After all, Economy has been told by his captain to not worry about wickets as long as he contains the scoring.

By the way, just as it is not uncommon for my students to develop those 24-hour flus on the day of an exam, now that South Africa have made the quarter-final, leg-spinner Imran Tahir has a fractured thumb on his non-bowling hand that will take 10 days to heal. Just enough time to miss out on the rest of the league games but not too long that he will miss any of the knock-out games. Along the way, it surprised no one (and I predicted this would happen before the World Cup in an email to a friend) Tahir picks up the injury on the eve of the match against India.

3:05am: Everyone has all kinds of superstitions about the first ball they face. A player on my team (JJ) always shoulders the bat and lets the first ball go, another (FXO) likes to swing as hard as possible and hit a six. Sehwag likes to hit a four. Ho-hum, another first ball 4 for Virender Sehwag - the fifth time he has done so in 5 World Cup games this year.

3:10am: Ravi Shastri, not one of my favorite commentators by any stretch of imagination, calls this a "good pitch" because "the ball is coming on nicely and batsmen can hit through the line". A long time ago, before he grew up and became a stodgy batsman with an eye on Audi's and pretty women, Shastri used to be a pretty good left-arm spinner. Then he was shown the light by Sunil Gavaskar, I suppose.

3:25am: I bet Shastri's idea of a perfect game would be the first 1000 run game in an ODI. The way Sehwag is batting and India is bowling, it could be on the cards today. Morne van Wyck channels his inner Kamran Akmal and lets an edged ball off Sehwag harmlessly go by about a couple of feet to his right. Graeme Smith, no doubt used to Boucher puching catches for fun next to him, does not move either. Sehwag, please meet your gift horse. They don't come much better wrapped than this.

3:40am: After 8 overs, India are 70 for no loss. 7 singles, 12 fours, 1 five, 1 three. In other words, a typical opening partnership for the world's most boundary-happy team. Sehwag enters the 40's, the most dangerous time in an inning for him.

3:48am: "That was a signature dish from the Tendulkar cuisine, gushes Sanjay Manjrekar after seeing a replay of a picture perfect straight drive, right out of the textbook, by SRT off Morne Morkel. If that was an unrehearsed line, take a bow, Manjrekar.

3:52am: On CricInfo's (always entertaining) cricket commentary comes this gem of a metaphor from someone named Archit. "Watching Sehwag play is like throwing an ice-cream in the air and catching it with your mouth. It's exhilarating if it works out, and you go hungry if it doesn't." India scores 87 for no loss in 10 overs, SRT 35 (20 balls), Viru 46 (41 balls).

3:56am: After picking enough spinners (not named Tahir) to fill up a couple of Noah's Ark, Graeme Smith shows his captaincy nous by not using them in the first 11 overs. Stay with my for a minute. Viru and SRT have shown that they are enjoying the pace that is being thrown their way. The only balls that they have not creamed to the fence have been the slower ones. All tournament long, Smith began with a spinner to great success, as England will attest. Today, he eschewed this strategy based on the reputation of his opposition. Either it was a tactical ploy to not show their hand for the knockout stage or another example of a captain better suited to a game of book cricket. Take a chance, Smith. Sehwag is more likely to self-destruct against a spinner than he is to the express pace of Steyn, Morkel (or even Kallis).

4:00am: Sehwag survives the nervous 40's, the first hour, and the SAffer pace attack. Spin is on and, not surprisingly, Viru steps towards the square-leg umpire and lofts the first ball inside out to the cover boundary to reach a 50. That took him 11.2 overs. And he played 46 balls to get there. It's a world gone crazy out there - Sehwag is batting in a restrained manner and still has a strike rate in the Shahid Afridi range.

4:04am: Viru has hit the first ball he has faced from 3 of the 5 bowlers today for a four. Welcome to the not-so exclusive club, JP Duminy. Curious that Smith brought you on to bowl in the Power Play overs ahead of Johan Botha. He must be borrowing a leaf from MS Dhoni's (Masada) book - giving JP a much-needed confidence boost.

4:11am: While Viru has been in Seh-whack mode, Sachin has quietly scored a 50 in just 33 balls with only one smidgen of a wuarter-chance that AB de Villiers nearly pulled off with Sachin on 47. An inside-out lofted shot to extra-cover that was nearly converted into a catch by ABD running all the way from long-off. Shades of Manish Pandey's efforts in the Ranji Trophy final last year (but in the opposite direction)

4:29am: By the way, the score is 140 for no loss in 17 overs. Masada had asked the top order to bat longer. They haven't done it yet. Just 17 overs, one-third of the way there. Sehwag, moves miles to his left to cut the ball and cuts the ball onto his stumps. 142 for 1 in 17.4 overs. 73 to Sehwag with 12 fours. Took him 66 balls and also to the top of the run-scorers table for the World Cup (for a brief while, I think, considering the mood that Sachin seems to be in...for the last 3 years it would seem).

4:32am: Johan Botha unleashes the running-backwards-with-your-hands-in-the-air appeal that he picked up from watching Economy Singh. One question, though: if you were sooooooo confident it was out, why did you not refer it? Ah...the rules of excessive appealing have been modified since Mike Denness interpreted it loosely a few years ago, haven't they? (By the way, I think appealing has gone way over the top with everyone screaming their lungs out, so this isn't a dig at Botha specifically. Economy is much worse, especially on the 5th day of a Test match when the opposition is 8 wickets down and he is still wicketless).

4:41am: Johan Botha still has a very distinctive hitch in his action. Or is it evident only to me? There are too many bowlers these days with herky-jerky actions, an enduring legacy of the 15-degree clemency rule meant to eradicate just that.

4:46am: Fast bowlers - 11 overs, 93 runs, 0 wickets. Slow bowlers - 11 overs, 70 runs, 1 wicket. Just saying, that's all.

Caveat: 7 of those overs have come with the field spread but there is a discernible lack of aggression from the batsmen as they have had to generate the pace to take the ball to the boundary. Oh yes, what's that? India has gone in with just 1 specialist spinner? Well, of course, Ashish Nehra needs the confidence-boost. (Okay, okay - that will be my last dig at Masada's statement!)

4:59am: SRT plays in the IPL and hits 4 sixes in the entire tournament and still tops the run-scorers list. In the World Cup, he has already hit 8 sixes. Man on a mission and all that jazz. Pollard leads with 9 sixes so far.

5:03am: Why isn't Abraham Benjamin keeping wickets? He has been flying all over the field so it cannot be that he is not fit. It can't be that Morne van Wyk is a better batsman or keeper. A strike rate of 67 in 10 ODI's with only 2 catches and 1 stumping? Surely, Mark Boucher in his sleep would do as well, if not better, than van Wyk?

5:07am: Manjrekar tells us that the average score in Nagpur in day-night matches is 315 runs. Holy smokes, it's time to change something in favor of the bowlers. My suggestion? Allow one bowler to bowl up to 15 overs in an ODI. Or two to bowl more than 10, one 12 and one 13. This will let teams go in with just 4 bowlers (Yay! Seven batsmen in the side and captains will not even have to justify including that seventh fellow for his once-in-25-games saving blitz.).

5:12am: Sign of the times. Gambhir-SRT put on 50 runs in 63 balls at almost 5 runs an over and it feels like they are going too slowly. We are not that far away from the day when bowlers will be replaced by bowling machines and assistant coaches might actually get to earn some of the money they are paid.

5:14am: Johan Botha, the third-change spinner according to Graeme Smith, has bowled 7 overs for 24 runs. I hope Yusuf Pathan is practicing his off-spinners. He'll have to bowl since my prediction is that the three fast bowlers will not bowl more than 20-25 overs today, if that.

5:18am: At the 30 over stage, 197 for 1. SRT 84, Gambhir 28 in 42 balls. GG is struggling. Ian Chappell's comment that GG is expendable and Suresh Raina needs to come in may be playing on his mind.

5:20am: Gambhir - it's time to jump out to the spinners. Show us why you are widely regarded as one of the best players of spin in the world (and easily the best spin-playing opener in world cricket today.) Forget spinners, I remember him dancing down the wicket to Shane Watson at Delhi to hit a six to bring up a century.

5:25am: At the drinks break, India are 215 for 1 in 32 overs. SRT is on 93 (81) and Gambhir 35 (46). Here's an example of how much cricket has changed. Remember Kris Srikkanth's brilliant, attacking 38 in the 1983 World Cup final at Lord's? He played 57 balls in that inning, with 7 fours and 1 six! Gambhir is positively motoring along compared to Srikkanth, and yet feels like he is just plodding along today.

5:33am: No one plays the inside-out drive over cover after shimmying down the pitch better than Gambhir. Follows that with a predictable sweep to the ball fired down the leg-side and suddenly he is on 46 in 53 balls. SRT is 4 singles away (at least) from a 100. He has one or two of those in his career, I think.

5:37am: Mandatory ball change coming up after 34 overs. I think India bats one more over, lets SRT take the easy singles on offer to get to a century, and then takes the batting Power Play. Smith smartly brings up mid-on and mid-off. Kind of like a Power play without calling for one.

5:39am Abishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu are in the crowd. There must a movie to promote. Let me check on IMDB. Yup, some movie called Dum Maro Dum. How predictable.

5:40am: SRT's quest for a century lasts for one more over. Two runs in the over. Graeme Smith, why didn't you dry up the singles a little earlier? Hindsight, 20-20 vision, and all things related come to mind. By the way, Gautam Gambhir, you need to step it up just a notch so there isn't too much pressure on the other end to score quickly.

5:43am: SRT is on 99 and this just crossed my mind - the fellow, on the verge of his 99th century, has 18 scores in the 90's in ODIs! Wow.

5:44am: I did not jinx him. 99 international centuries for Sachin. What a player. In World Cups alone, in 41 matches, he has scored 2109 runs (and counting), with 6 centuries and an average of just over 60. This alone would be a fabulous career for any player. It is just a shade under 1/9th of this man's career. When Javed Miandad played his sixth ODI, he was a shell of his former self. SRT is not flying by on reputation alone. The deal with the devil is still quite strong. A century in 92 balls, by the way.

5:50am: India, take the Power Play already, will you? It's 37 overs into the game, 9 wickets in hand, 243 runs on the board.

5:53am: SRT manufactures his own Power Play with a fabulous drive on the up through cover off Morkel. 9 runs in 5 balls. It looks to me like he is going into a hit-out-or-get-out mode with Pathan, Dhoni, and Yuvraj still to come.

5:56am: Power Play taken. Over number 38 was just a warm up.

5:58am: Random thought: Yuvraj Singh and Abishek Bachchan look alike to me. Sort of. Biopic anyone?

6:02am: Manjrekar voices what I said a long time ago. "I like it when bowlers appeal so loudly and then don't go for a review."

6:04am: Bang! Bang! Gambhir moves to 68 from 71 balls with two thudding boundaries, one through point, the other through midwicket. Morkel and Smith earnestly discuss the weather in Cape Town.

6:06am: SRT falls 3 runs short of overtaking Sehwag on the run-scorers list in this World Cup. Don't worry, SRT fans, he will very shortly be overtaking Viru. Pathan or Dhoni? Who comes in next? My vote is for Masada. Better player of fast bowling. Well, while Pathan and Kohli were applauding SRT's efforts, Yusuf Pathan ran onto the field to give himself a chance to join the feast. 268 for 2 in 40 overs.

6:09am: Gambhir departs for 69 in 75 balls chipping Steyn to Kallis at mid-off, followed by Pathan for zero. Well, the batting Powerplay has produced 15 runs in 15 balls and three wickets. Even Stevens, as someone would say. Not Steven, of course.

And a lesson for all you captains out there. Don't be so quick to spread the field once the field restrictions are done. Put the onus on the batsmen to take the risks and see what comes of it first.

Shaun Pollock: It's not when you take the Power Play that matters. It how you bat in it that does. How true.

6:16am: All you Indian supporters getting all bent out of shape over the display in this Powerplay so far. Focus on thebig picture: India are 270 for 4 with 9 overs to go. A run a ball gets you to 325. Not bad at all. Forget about what it could have been, focus instead on what it is going to be.

6:18am: Yuvraj Singh launches the ball into the safest part of the ground, right at the sightscreen. Six. Botha lauches an appeal for the ages and then reviews it and it clearly went off the bat. I "saw" it as it happened but Botha did not. Very nicely done, Johan. Not.

6:23am: 9 runs in that over, including that six. Revised target 327 runs.

6:27am: Yuvraj falls and the commentators thunder that South Africa are back in it. I say, context is more important. 283 for 5 with 7 overs still to go is a big total. Powerplay: 5 overs, 30 runs, 4 wickets. A little bit of everything.

6:29am: It's around this time that one wishes Suresh Raina had been persisted with through his trough. Perfect situation for him. Flat wicket, midwicket on the shorter side. I like Virat Kohli but he is a lot like Laxman was when VVS played ODIs - useful in the first half of the inning when the field restrictions are in place and placement is more important than power. He is a misfit after the 35 over mark.

6:32am: Virat Kohli goes, popping up a simple catch. It will take a sizzler from the Masada of old to get to the target of 327 I asked for a few minutes ago. 4 dot balls from Kallis. Nicely done.

6:36am: Okay, commentators. I get it. India could have scored 350-400 but they probably will not. Now move one already, will you? Focus on what is transpiring and not what you would have liked to have happened in your head. Time for Bhajji to attack while Dhoni farms the strike till the 47th over.

292 for 6 in 46 overs.

6:41am: The commentators raise the ghost of 350 again. One more time and I shall mute the commentary, I swear. Bhajji loses his middle stump to Steyn. 1 run in 5 balls from Steyn. That was a yorker. Zaheer Khan, in his pomp, used to bowl them really well. Will he reproduce them today? I doubt it since it is not really a must-win game. And also, he is no longer bowling like he used to. He has come in to bat, though. And he does hold the world record for the highest score ever by a #11 batsman. In a Test match, however. ZAK holes out to a sliding Morne Morkel at long-on. I bet Munaf Patel will be able to duplicate that, if given the chance, once in 100 attempts (the catch I mean, not the stroke).

6:45am: Prior to the match, Masada had asked the Indian top order to bat longer. Now we know why. The rest of the order cannot bat more than 10 overs combined or so it seems. 268 for 2 in 40 overs is obviously not good enough.

6:48am: Finally, Shastri admits that 296 is already a good score. He then blots his copybook by lamenting about what it could have been. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. That's the stuff that Oscars are made of. Nehra departs after catching practice for Smith.

6:52am: How bad a batsman is Munaf Patel? His bat does not have a single sticker on it, not even the manufacturer's. Dude, I can do better than that!

6:53am: Now we know why Munaf does not have a sponsor. He does even get to touch the ball as the first ball, a yorker (naturally), flies past his bat onto middle stump. A Steyn pfeiffer detonates India - all out with 8 balls to go! The dreams of 400 vanish into the nothingness of less than 300.

Realistically speaking, this is actually what the Indian team needed. The batsmen needed a wake-up call to learn a lesson in how not to bat in a Powerplay, and the bowlers need to learn how to contain a top-notch team in spin-friendly conditions. Let's see how the three-pronged seam attack fares on a pitch where the likes of Botha and Peterson were getting appreciable turn.

Mark my words, India will still win this. Batting gets more and more difficult as the inning progresses and the ball gets softer. And don't forget, that nemesis of any batting line-up, the Batting Powerplay, is lying in wait for the SAffers, too.

By the way, Masada, it is time to unleash Bhajji (assuming you were restraining him). No more Economy Singh mode for him. What do you have to lose?

Now we know why the SAffers did not play Imran Tahir? They did not need him!

7:20am: ZAK versus Graeme Smith will be a fun one. But before that the number 1 ODI batsman in the world, Hashim Amla lies in wait. The second ball is a gorgeous cover drive in the Mohammad Yousuf mode for a four.

Oh, by the way, remember Sachin's World Cup stats? 40 innings, 2120 runs, average 58.88, 6 centuries, 13 fifties, highest score 152. Hashim Amla's stats at the start of this inning? 44 innings, 2321 runs, 8 centuries, 12 fifties, average a shade over 59, highest score 140.

7:26am: Good signs for the Indian team - Yuvraj Singh is fielding at point and makes a flying attempt (in vain) to stop a cut shot from Smith. Seeing Yuvraj there is the best sign of the World Cup for me so far from an Indian point of view. If he is really feeling better and can approach the Yuvraj of the past, it will be great news for the Indian team.

7:33am: Watching the Indian fast bowlers in the world is like watching a bizzaro version of the SAffers. Munaf patel and ZAK amble across the turf and concede two runs where one was the par value, and 2 a risky proposition. Yes, these are our bowlers - one skill and not always great at that either. And don't forget I haven't even talked about Ashish Nehra, that man who plonks himself in the middle of the pitch and watches the action unfold once he delivers the ball.

Smith is looking too itchy-fingered, trying to muscle everything. Take a leaf out of Amla's book, Graeme. Placement and timing does it.

7:41am: Amla has played 8 balls in the first 5 overs. Graeme Smith is battling hard to not get out to ZAK and India has raised the stakes to 280 more runs in 45 overs. Nehra is floating along in ZAK's slipstream and stringing together a few dot balls without really looking threatening.

7:44am: Hashim Amla channels the best of his self and sends the ball racing across the turf. SRT gives chase and puts Munaf and co to shame with a slide. Didn't prevent the four but the commitment is there. Methinks, SRT is going to leave the field in a few overs and let Raina prowl the infield in his place. The slide has give him enough ammunition to pretend he has done something to himself.

7:47am: Nehra gives up two boundaries to Amla in what should, surely, be the last time he bowls in the World Cup. India cannot afford to go into the remaining matches with three seamers and Nehra is not really bringing anything special to the table that Munaf does not.

7:52am Years ago, in Morgantown, the Indian restaurant boasted about its 40 item Diwali Special Buffet. They included items such as pickles, curd, and papads in the 40 items. I was reminded of that when Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri discussed the "good variety in the Indian attack". That's like offering your guests different types of snacks and boasting about the varied cuisine on offer.

7:55am: Nehra pitches it near Amla and a twirl of the blade later the ball bounces a couple of times before the extra cover fence. Nehra wanders mid-pitch grinning slightly at Amla. The next ball, predictably is on the leg-stump and Amla does what every batsman of subcontinental origin (bar Ganguly and Sehwag) have done since time immorial - wristily flicked it away to the fence. Amla looking ominous here. Very ominous.

7:57am: Graeme Smith sees the fielders creeping up inside the 30-yard circle and muscles a lofted shot straight over SRT. The very next ball, ZAK gets his revenge. A full ball begging to be smashed to cover instead get hit straight to SRT at mid-off. ZAK gets Smith for the 14th time in his career. Not quite Atherton to McGrath, but it is getting there.

8:01am: Kallis comes in. I'd have preferred to not see AB de Villiers in this spot and so I guess it is a backhanded way of saying I'm happy Kallis is here. Before any SAffer fans point it out I do know that Kallis is, statistically, the greatest (all-round) all-rounder in the history of cricket.

8:03am: Ashish Nehra (4 overs for 27 runs and all) takes a breather and the other variety seamer - Munaf Patel - trundles in with his McGrath-inspired run-up. Hmmm, after bowling the ball he is jogging back to his spot. Keep that up, Munaf, and I may slowly come around to believing that you do care to do more than just bowl.

Oh yes, ZAK's analysis so far? 5-0-13-1. Thank goodness India has at least one bowler who can keep the runs down and threaten to take wickets. Interesting concept that.

Holy Cow! This just occurred to me - the reason India is going in with 3 fast bowlers and 1 spinner is because that is exactly what the Aussies are doing. Only difference, our fast bowlers are fast in the sense that they don't eat anything while they are bowling.

8:14am: Hashim Amla and Virender Sehwag are two batsmen whose expression does not seem to change when they bat. Looking at their faces you cannot really tell whether the ball was hit for a four or defended. The sound of the ball being hit by Amla's bat is so sweet, it's worth raising the volume as high as possible to listen to.

8:19am: "Options galore for India," says Shastri as the camera pans to Economy, Pathan, and Bhajji. I feel much better now.

8:22am: India's best outfielder is a 37 year-old SRT, who is scoffing at my words that he is looking for a reason to leave the field. An important lesson for all of us: if you truly love what you do for a living, life is so much more fun. SRT really looks happy to be there and, boy, it does feel good to know he is still batting like a champion.

8:25am: Mpumelelo Mbwanga reminds us that India scored 29 for 9 in 9 overs to end their inning well short of the 350 that was their birthright. Relax, Pommie. The horse is so dead, beating it would be an insult to all things equine.

8:30am: At the drinks break, South Africa is (are?) 66 for 1 in 15 overs. Need 231 runs in 35 overs (6.6 runs per over from here on in). Amla 35 (39), Kallis 14 (22).

8:36am: Let's see. In 15 overs, South Africa scored 66 runs. So, naturally, as soon as the field restrictions were lifted, Masada dropped 4 guys to the boundary. What? Why?!!! Do all captains take a course in defensive play when they are given the honor of leading a team. A spinner comes on to bowl (Pathan) and even before the batsman has played a ball there are just 4 fielders in the ring. I swear I shall stop talking about it after now but I just want to point out that after the drinks break, The SAffers have scored 8 singles in 12 balls without even having to take a single risk. Well done, Masada, well done.

8:41am: Ahem...Suresh Raina is on the field now. I wonder who has left. Could it be Sachin? As soon as I can figure it out I will let you know. Heaven knows when the commentators will pick up on something like that.

Pommie tells us that Raina is on the field for Ashish Nehra. Ah, yes, so I was wrong about SRT but right about Raina coming in. There is more than one way to skin a cat, I suppose.

9:00am: Many years ago I had a roommate, NJ, who'd watch only the first and last 10 overs of an ODI (this was prior to the implementation of Powerplays). Had he patented his idea he'd have made a fortune but that's not the point of the story. The reason he disliked watching the middle 30 overs was because teams would be content to give and receive singles with the spread field and display no intent to take wickets or risks, respectively.

9:09am: Catches don't come much easier than they just did to Yuvraj Singh off the hapless Economy. Fielding at short-midwicket, Yuvraj charged in, got himself into a tangle and grabbed at the ball that was shoulder-height when it came to him on his left-side (his natural side). Clang! And Amla survives the misfortune of joining a very select group of folks - Junaid Siddique and Matt Prior - fellows who have been dismissed by Economy Singh in this World Cup.

9:17am: Wonder of wonders, Economy Singh picks up Amla with a beautiful delivery that was his hallmark when he first came on the scene and before the doosra ruined his line and loop. The ball was pitched a foot or so outside the off-stump, looped up, inviting the cut shot. Amla promptly obliged, but the ball turned in, bounced higher than expected an too an upper edge/glove into Masada's gloves. Amla walks and Harbhajan makes his first appearance in this World Cup.

9:18am: AB de Villiers comes in, sees just 4 fielders in the ring (naturally) and promptly bunts a single to long-on to get his inning moving along. 133 for 2 in 29 overs. 164 to win in 126 balls, 8 wickets in hand. -38 the equation for the SAffers. If they score a run a ball, they will be 38 runs short of their target. So along the way they need to make up that deficit.

9:24am: The ball is chasing SRT in the field and he is doing very well keeping up with it. Two deliveries later (after a swept boundary) a paddle sweep is escorted by ZAK to the fine-leg fence, showing us that age is just a question of mind over matter. If someone doesn't mind, it does not matter.

After those two boundaries, the SAffer deficit is now at -33.

9:28am: Yuvraj reins it back in courtesy a defensive Kallis and the equation shifts to -36.

9:29am: Take that! ABD saunters down the track and hits Economy for a six. Thwack! Luckily, Economy is still flighting it to ABD. Good for you! ABD and Bhajji have a little chat in the middle, instigated by Bhajji. ABD tries to respond with a six and hits it one bounce to deep midwicket. They continue the conversation. ABD does not seem to have appreciated what Bhajji had to say. Needless stuff, Bhajji. One wicket and he has suddenly found his voice.

Deficit is -34.

9:38am: ZAK is back, replacing Economy. Bowling round the wicket to ABD he gets the ball to move enough to elicit three dot balls on the trot, two off balls that beat the batsman. An inside edge off the 4th ball brings some relief to the South Africans. Umpire Gould has a long chat with ABD. Hmmmm, did ABD say something inappropriate, too? ZAK completes the over by preventing any further runs. Only 1 run in the over. ZAK 6-0-14-1.

Deficit climbs back to -39 with 96 balls to go.

That dangerous bait for batsmen - the Batting Powerplay - still looms ahead. ZAK has 4 more overs to go.

9:44am: An exquisite inside out cover drive by ABD sails one bounce over the fence, followed by a comfortable double to the square-leg umpire.

Deficit is -37 with 90 balls to go. ZAK continues with the new ball (changed after the previous ZAK over). The 2.5m rule raises its ugly head again and Kallis survives an LBW. Fair enough, considering the rule they have in place for the LBW but I am not a fan of that adjustment to the rule.

9:52am: Masada runs out Kallis! The recrods and replays will show that Harbhajan fired in a throw even as Kallis was struggling to come back for a second run, but Dhoni collected it on the bounce to the side of the stumps and in the same motion, while rolling over, smashed the stumps with Kallis well out! 173 for 3! Yesterday, Bangladesh nearly imploded when Kayes got run out going for a second run. Who will duplicate a Mahmudullah for South Africa today?

ZAK finishes the over giving away just 3 runs. ZAK 7-0-17-1. Deficit is now at -40. Powerplay taken. Ashish Nehra, two years removed from his heydays as India's death-over specialist comes back.

9:58am: Nehra has a field designed for a fuller ball. So, naturally, he bowls a shorter one outside the off-stump and Jean Paul Duminy guides it to the third man fence. Nehra indicates that the boundary rope at third man was to blame for that. I think.

By the way, Ashish, I am watching closely. You have not learned the need to go back to the stumps, have you? Two years in the wilderness have been spent practising the art of standing around mid-pitch with a sheepish grin on your face while the other 10 players are running around. Nice work.

10 runs in the over. Equation dips to -36 off 84 balls.

10:04am: ABD and Masada have a foot race to the stumps and ABD beats out Masada. Barely. I'd pay to see a 40yard dash to settle who is the faster runner among the two of them. Based on what I have seen in the field, I think ABD pips Masada. But only just.

10:08am: Imran Tahir sighting! Looks fine except for a thick, big bandage on that broken left thumb of his. How the SAffers wish they had him today to stop the rampage. Oh wait.

10:11am: ABD is limping and gets a runner. Does not stop him from taking half a run, remembering that he is injured, and then going back to safety. 28 runs so far in 3 overs of the Powerplay, no wickets in sight. I hope Gary Kirsten is taking notes.

Deficit -30 with 66 balls to go. I still say India is ahead, but the balance is shifting. Five years ago, it would have been almost insurmountable. After the advent of T20, it seems like a very do-able task.

10:18am: Length ball after length ball. Thwack, thwack, thwack. Four, four, six. ZAK's yorkers are in the distant past. Ay caramba! The SAffers are dominating the Powerplay. Nice. Writers everywhere are finding that point around which to peg their stories - the disparity in the results of the two Batting Powerplays for the two teams.

Deficit is only -19 now. What a big over.

What the Indians have going for them is that history tells us that the SAffers have one stutter left in them.

10:22am: ABD essays a very nice reverse sweep, almost reaching the third man fence on the full. I am not quite sure how he has hurt himself enough to be limping between deliveries, but his footwork does not seem to have been impeded. That's a nice injury to have. Deficit is dropping, and how! 50 runs in 38 balls.

10:25am: Ah! Is this the start of the stutter? ABD bends low, connects powerfully with a sweep shot and finds Virat Kohli who takes a sart catch, and then spoils it somewhat by using words his parents did not definitely teach him to tell ABD to leave the field.

52 runs in the Powerplay for the loss of 1 wicket. But that was a big wicket.

Deficit -18 in 54 balls. Yuvraj, India's leading spinner in this World Cup, comes on to bowl.

10:22am: ABD essays a very nice reverse sweep, almost reaching the third man fence on the full. I am not quite sure how he has hurt himself enough to be limping between deliveries, but his footwork does not seem to have been impeded. That's a nice injury to have. Deficit is dropping, and how! 50 runs in 38 balls.

10:25am: Ah! Is this the start of the stutter? ABD bends low, connects powerfully with a sweep shot and finds Virat Kohli who takes a sart catch, and then spoils it somewhat by using words his parents did not definitely teach him to tell ABD to leave the field.

52 runs in the Powerplay for the loss of 1 wicket. But that was a big wicket.

Deficit -18 in 54 balls. Yuvraj, India's leading spinner in this World Cup, comes on to bowl.

10:31am: du Plesis comes in, sees out a couple of bals, decides enough is enough and dumps Yuvraj beyond the fence for a pressure-lifting six. Right on cue, Shastri "gets the feeling that this match is going down to the wire."

10:33am: Masada stumps Duminy off Harbhajan Singh but this is not one that he will show in his Hall of Fame video. A wide down the leg-side is fumbled not once, not twice, but thrice by Dhoni before he manages to take the bails off. JPD had wandered so far down the wicket that he was about 5 steps down the wicket before he turned around.

Yup, the stutter has officially started.

Deficit -15, 42 balls to go.

I get the feeling that Shastri is going to use the "dot balls are like gold dust" line pretty soon.

10:42am: Gautam Gambhir overruns a catch, slips in trying to plant his foot, misses the ball and gives up a four. van Wyk is away! No worries, though. Two balls later, Munaf Patel nails van Wyk in front of the stumps while attempting a reverse sweep, and the 6th wicket is down.

Deficit is -14, 36 balls to go. 4 wickets in hand.

Suresh Raina is now firmly prowling in the field. I am guessing Ashish Nehra's day is done. Bat for a ball or two, give catching practice, bowl a few overs, stand around in the middle of the pitch for a while, run around in the field for a few more minutes, and then cool your heels. Get paid more than the pure sucker who runs around in your place. Nice work, if you can convince someone to pay you hundreds of thousands for it.

Deficit -16, 30 balls to go.

10:50am: Third man is fine, long-on and long-off in place, so the expectation is that the bal will be fuller and straighter. Everyone got the memo except the bowler, Munaf. Short, wide, four. Easy as that. What should be singles are converted to twos in the outfield, one to Bhajji and one to ZAK. 10 runs in that over.

Deficit -12, 24 balls to go.

Ashish Nehra sighting! Hmmm....so who's off the field then? The guessing game continues...I say it is Sehwag. Very smart rolling substitution employed by the Indians. That way no single player gets pointed to as the culprit. How long before the rest of the teams catch on (or does every team do the same thing?).

5 runs in the over.

Deficit -13, 18 balls to go.

10:59am: The lost art of the yorker. Munaf Patel dishes out some length bowling with no change in pace. Johan Botha loves it, slog-driving it to deep midwicket. Virat Kohli tries to mop up Munaf's mess with a valiant effort but the ball gently rolls into the boundary.

11:00am: One more length ball and Botha says, "Take that!". Well, not literally, but it felt like that. The ball flew about 10 rows behind long-off. The SAffers can't lose from here, can they?!

11:02am: Well, they might not lose, but they wont go without making this game closer. Needing just 18 runs in 14 balls, Botha goes for glory. And finds it. Only glory is named Suresh Raina who runs in from long-off, does not take his eyes off the ball, and then pouches it Why, Botha, why?

Deficit -5, 12 balls to go, 3 wickets left.

All I have to say is this. Don't take another wicket. Morne Morkel can hit sixes very easily. Don't let it get to him.

11:08am: ZAK bowls full. The batsmen take four squirty singles, and gets beaten by two of them. Shastri's prescience is remarkable. It HAS come down to the wire.

-7 deficit, 6 balls to go. So, in other words: 13 runs to win, 6 balls to go.

Masada decides to go with Ashish Nehra. Last year he was Masada's death-over specialist. Where is he today? We'll find out in 6 balls.

Ball 1: Inside-edged for four! 9 runs in 5 balls. No one to be blamed for that. Both the batsman and the bowlers need to stay calm. The calmest man on the ground is behind the stumps.

Ball 2: Nope! Peterson enjoys the pace and he swings it Wasim Akram/Mitchell Johnson style over midwicket. It was a length delivery, with no change in pace or anything. Easy as that.

Stay smart, South Africa. No hero shots.

Ball 3: Finally a yorker, dug out to fine-leg and they run a brace to tie the score.

Ball 4: We don't need 6 balls to find out whether Nehra will bowl any more overs at the end. 4 are enough. Peterson finds a gap in the cover region and South Africa do what India could not - reach a total of 300. They even had two balls to spare.

Good win for South Africa. It will help them ease the chokers tag a little bit. They tried a lot to give it away in the middle and if Peterson's first ball of the last over had inner-edged into the stumps, something else would have been written. But the SAffers bowled well in the last 10 overs and batted well enough all the way through to deserve this.

By the way, Masada. Here are the analyses for your 2nd and third fast bowlers:

Munaf Patel: 10-0-65-2
Ashish Nehra: 8.4-0-65-0

The two part-time spinners combined: 12-0-67-0. Yes, yes, yes, the 3 seamers idea needs to be rested now. Surely, R. Ashwin deserves to be in there instead of Ashish Nehra.

Okay, that was fun. The most important lesson learned from today? Sachin, do not score any more centuries in this World Cup. When you do, the opposition thinks batting is really easy and they chase down your team's totals.

The lone and level sands...

2011-03-11T22:02:00.004-06:00

Thanks to the replay feature of WillowTV I witnessed one of the most nerveless inning I have ever seen during a run chase. Other batsmen took the glory but watching Mahmudullah calmly farm the strike and play out the good deliveries, showing no sign of panic in spite of Bangladesh's precarious position, was a sight for sore eyes. There is always room for a calm head in a tense chase. Cricket may increasingly advertise its slam-bang nature, but the wins are set up by the pillars, not the wall hangings.

I have followed Mahmudullah quite closely since his Test debut a couple of years ago. (Yes, I do watch all kinds of Test cricket - including Bangladesh!) I wasn't surprised when he scored a century under pressure in New Zealand last year and it is not surprising that his 21 in 42 balls with the team 8 wickets down proved to be the fulcrum that Shafiul Islam used to pry open a win from a tenacious English team.

Unfortunately, in a few days, folks will have moved on. Someone looking at the scorecard in a few years will simply focus on the contribution of Iqbal and Kayes and Islam. Everyone else will forget his contribution, but I shall always cherish this inning from Mahmudullah. Long may he serve the game of cricket.

Maggi Noodle Review: The best movie of 2010

2011-03-10T18:03:00.000-06:00

2010 was an odd year for me. I saw very few movies, so much so, that during the recent Oscar telecast, the only nominated movies I had seen were Inception, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - part I and *ahem* Tangled.

So when I present to you the best movie of 2010, I do so from my limited viewing list. I thought about making it Inception but I decided against it. Much as I was impressed by the movie and all the conversations it has generated in its aftermath, the movie that moved me the most was:

I saw Secretariat almost by accident. Having already read the book it was based on, by Bill Nack, I wasn't sure if it would live up to my preconceived notions. You see, it is a hard story to tell. Most sports movies live off the feats of an underdog punching above its weight. The story of the horse, nicknamed Big Red is that it was always the favorite. How does one get the audience to root for the favorite? On top of that, anyone with the slightest knowledge of horse racing has heard of the legendary feats of Secretariat. Or at least has some idea that the horse did something great.

The moviemakers, luckily, decided to keep the focus of the story on the efforts of the owner Penny Chenery (portrayed magnificently by Diane Lane) and the trainer Lucien Lauren (the irrepressible John Malkovich) to ensure that the horse, destined for immortality, did not falter on its path. In a clever twist of story-telling, you are now rooting for the owner to do well, even as you know that it all worked out in the end for everyone concerned.

And how well did it work out? In 1973, Secretariat became the first horse in over 25 years to win the Triple Crown, the big trioka of races on the US circuit. Horses before him and after him have won the Triple Crown. What made the wins spectacular was that Secretariat won all three races in the fastest times ever recorded for those races. Two of those records (for the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes) still stand today, almost 30 years later.

That Secretariat would win the Triple Crown was considered to be a foregone conclusion. What folks did not know was how dominant it would be in the third race. Secretariat won by 31 lengths, the biggest margin of victory ever in the Belmont Stakes and ran the fastest 1 1/2 miles on dirt in hitory (2:24 minutes), a feat that has still not been matched or broken. An iconic image taken just before the finish line exemplifies the dominance of the stud. Secretariat was running so fast that it was accelerating at the finish line. Endurance matched with speed is a rare phenomenon, and Secretariat was probably one of the best horses at that, ever. The secret to it's success was revealed after its death. An autopsy revealed that Secretariat's heart was two and a half times larger than than that of a normal horse. Big heart, big speed equated to big feats.

I had goose bumps all over me during the climax of this film and came away filled with a sense that I had really seen the horse in action. I can think of no higher praise for a movie. Hence, it gets my vote as the best movie of 2010.

Spin it to win it

2011-03-06T14:41:00.002-06:00

I had originally intended to give the India-Ireland match a miss until I was asked to take a peek at Kevin O'Brien. (More specifically, his heroics against England a few days ago). I am glad I stayed up all night and watched cricket, including the England-South Africa game (until I switched over to the India game with Amla and de Villiers cruising towards a regulation win).

Some things that stood out for me:

a) It was soooooo much fun to see a classical off-spinner in action, tormenting the batsmen ball after ball and not a doosra in sight. He looked like he could take a wicket with every ball and, not surprisingly, raised the hopes of his teammates, who then forgot about the score and attacked the wickets with great gusto. Too bad that off-spinner is Graeme Swann and not Harbhajan Singh.

By the way, Graeme Swann's combined analysis after 4 games - 39-3-170-7. Economy Singh's analysis after 3 games - 29-1-128-2. Whose home grounds are these again?

b) In 2003, before the World Cup final started I felt that Ganguly had made two mistakes - selecting Economy over Anil Kumble and entrusting the opening over to Zaheer Khan and not Srinath. The first over set the stage for the rest of the final. Today, ZAK is a different bowler and it showed in as impeccable a first over as you can imagine. He got only two wickets in his spell and should have had more if India had a half-way decent 2nd slip fielder and not a make-shift one. For a few minutes there, I just imagined it was ZAK breaching through Ponting's defences and not Stirling's. Life was good in my alternate universe.

c) For a long time, if you were not transcendent in one particular skill, the route into a cricket team was to start out as a bowler who could bat and then transition into a batsman who occasionally bowled. (And not just in India as folks like Dilshan and Samaraweera will attest). Today the roles are shifting. Folks who have reputations as batsmen first are becoming wicket-taking bowlers. Shahid Afridi and Yuvraj Singh are prime examples.

For the past few months, it is the bowling arrow in his quiver that has ensured that Yuvraj stays in the team ahead of the likes of Kohli and Raina. Today he is our best wicket-taking spin option. *sigh* . His batting is still subdued, like a fellow who knows how to bat but has forgotten what it means to do so. Once in a while he flashes those shots - the ones he times so impeccably that adjectives such as imperious and dismissive are attached to it.

If there is someone in world cricket who times a ball better when on song than Yuvraj does, I'd like to see him bat.

d) The team with the best and most varied attack is South Africa. They have pace bowlers to die for and spin bowling options who double up as excellent fielders. In fact, pound for pound, it may be the best fielding unit among the favorites (Ireland was also spectacular in the field today). Couple that with a batting line-up that boasts the two top-ranked batsmen in ODI cricket (and neither is named Smith or Kallis) and you have all the ingredients for an undisputed favorite. Unfortunately, losing from seemingly-impregnable situations is their historic bugaboo and that came back to haunt them today.

Do they have effigy-makers in South Africa?

e) Wonder of wonders, with his very first words in response to the (always) hyperventilating Ravi Shastri, MS Dhoni praised the Irish team! Surely, he does not read my blog, does he? I am glad he has realized that it takes two teams to play a game and, hopefully, this isn't an aberration. His next test will come (after the World Cup, I hope) when he loses a game and is magnanimous about the other team's role in his defeat.

Now I shall retreat into my burrow until summoned to watch another game.

The quietest World Cup ever

2011-03-04T18:40:00.001-06:00

“We lay aside letters never to read them again, and at last we destroy them out of discretion, and so disappears the most beautiful, the most immediate breath of life, irrecoverable for ourselves and for others.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The cricket World Cup has started and folks who know nothing about the sport ask me how it is going. The reality is that so far I have watched only one full inning - India's inning against England.

I have just not been able to get my head wrapped around a schedule that features games for teams once every 5-7 days. CricInfo has been doing a good job of giving me the news without the need to see replays or highlights on WillowTV.

Can I force myself to stay up and watch the Indian team play this weekend (I had to look it up to even know whom they played)? I'm not really sure.

What I do know is this:

a) The Bangladeshi team is finding out first had what happens when fan expectations are high. Four years ago, when they forced India out of the World Cup, little did they imagine that they would be at the receiving end of an irate mob when the next edition rolled around.

b) Shahid Afridi is picking up wickets just for fun. Surely he could not have developed a mystery ball? Or is he reaping the reward of bowling stump-to-stump and feasting on batsmen raised on the need to hit him out of the park? Of his 14 victims so far, 5 have been bowled, and 4 have been LBW. Only 4 have been caught in the deep (of which two came against Sri Lanka).

c) Ravi Shastri needs to be told that the microphone is there for a reason, he need not scream into it. Putting the TV on mute is not enough as his voice easily carries across the oceans.

d) The ICC has perfected the art of managing the media. If there is a fiasco, they simply say that they are looking into it and will ensure that it does not happen in the next World Cup, counting on the 4 year gap to make the issue go away. Only 4,000 tickets allocated to the paying spectator for a final is a travesty of ginormous proportions and it is sad that the greedy moneybags even thought that would be sufficient. If they had their way, they'd not issue that many either.

e) I look at the Indian line-up and only see two decent fielders. The rest simply take up space. Year after year, we talk about fielding being our weakest link and the next generation is better at it. Well, after they make the team, they all regress it appears. Watching Munaf run while he was batting made me sad since he is not even 28 years old. What bothers me is not that he is incapable of running, but that he seems indifferent to even putting an effort into it to compensate for it. And that he is allowed tog et away with such a lackadaisical approach.

Travel: Day 1 - Puerto Rico - From snow to riches!

2011-02-20T18:26:00.004-06:00

At 2 in the morning I received a text from Andrew J, wondering whether the snowstorm that was hitting the Midwest would let us even leave Omaha. I looked out the window and saw nothing but whiteness. Our original plan was to leave for the airport at 7:30am. I quickly factored in the weather and told everyone to assemble by 6:15am instead. By 5:30am I was at the University's motor pool trying to jump-start the van that would take us to the airport. (Naturally it picked that day to die). Luckily, the head of Maintenance also believes in an early start and, a hasty truck ride later, we were able to requisition another van for the trip.

The ride from the University to the airport is normally a 45 minute one. That day it took us an hour and a half. We slip-slided our way, more than drove, to the airport. Finally, we reached the airport in time to leisurely stroll to the check-in counter, pick up our boarding passes and stop for the obligatory before-the-trip group photo.

(Miranda Beran 2011)

The distance from the ticket counter to the escalators that take us to the terminal floor is about 25 feet. In that short distance AJ managed to lose his boarding pass. A frantic 10 minute search and retracing of our steps did not produce them, so we obtained duplicate boarding passes. All of us exchanged looks, mostly of trepidation...was this a harbinger of things to come? (Rather than make you wait for 10 days of travel blogging, let me reveal the answer: no, the lost boarding pass was about the worst of the AJ-related travel incidents!)

Of the 7 people on the trip (including I), only 3 had flown regularly enough to not consider a plane ride to be a novelty. Of the remaining 4, three had flown a couple of times and one, Miranda B, had never even been to an airport, let alone fly in one. I gave her the window seat and a laundry list of items to "prepare" for once on the plane. She seemed more worried than usual and concerned about what the plan ride would be like.

it did not help matters when the pilot calmly announced that because of the snowstorm, ice had collected the wings of the plane and they would need to be de-iced before we flew. "Is that a bad thing?" asked an apprehensive Miranda. It did not stop her from taking numerous photos of the de-icing operation, though.

(Miranda Beran 2011)

Once the de-cing was done, we were ready to fly but not before Sami W dryly remarked, "I had heard that we should never eat yellow snow. Now I can add green snow to that."

(Miranda Beran 2011)

We had three hours to spare before catching our connecting flight to Chicago and the landscape as we flew overhead did not seem too inviting. The airport, however, is almost as big as a city and within minutes everyone was having a fun times gawking at the storefronts even as we made our way from one terminal to another. Along the way, I walked into a wall, or so it seemed to the rest of the party until they saw that it was really an interactive TV screen. We re-christened it The Giant iPad, and spent a few minutes admiring it and wondering whether this was the next step in television.

(Miranda Beran 2011)

The flight to San Juan was a 4-hour one, enlivened right after departure by a view of my favorite skyline in the world. Even at a distance, the distinctive skyline, framed by Lake Michigan to the east, brought back a host of wonderful memories.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

Soon, however, dusk fell and most of us slept, excluding Miranda who looked out the window the whole way. The flight into San Juan took us across the Old and downtown parts of the city and we landed at 10pm San Juan time, tired but excited for the adventures the next 9 days would bring.

(C.S. Manish 2011)

Travel: Day 0 - Puerto Rico

2011-01-30T20:48:00.001-06:00

One of the advantages of teaching at a small liberal arts institution is the freedom to design and offer courses that are close to your heart. In January 2011, I was fortunate enough to lead a group of 6 students through the world of Tropical Ecology. Apart from not being in a tropical ecosystem, Nebraska in the winter is definitely not the place to have field trips about Tropical Ecology. Consequently, one portion of the course involved a 10-day trip to Puerto Rico where we got to see for ourselves all the things we talked about in the classroom.

Over the next few days, I shall provide a travelogue of our adventures together, describe the sights we saw, the things we did, and the lessons we learned.

(C.S. Manish 2010)

Standing: (from l to r) Miranda B, Sami W, Andrew J.
Sitting: (from l to r) Lorissa P, Sarah J, Katie M.

And I'm back...

2011-01-23T13:35:00.000-06:00

My 10 day travel extravaganza is over and I am back, savoring (not) the below-freezing temperatures and snowstorms of Nebraska. In the coming days I shall be describing my adventures. Until then, I shall leave you with a tantalizing view of what I saw on a daily basis:

(C.S. Manish 2010)

Brief hiatus

2011-01-09T22:45:00.004-06:00

For the second time in 6 weeks I shall be leaving on an extended trip. I bet you did not even realize I was gone for two weeks in November but this time I'm making sure you know! The Test series between India and South Africa ended just in time.

During my previous trip I took a few interesting snaps. I've been meaning to share them with you, but will have to leave you with just a sample.

The next two were taken at the new airport in Hyderabad. I was quite impressed by it (except for the airport tax that they levy after you have entered the airport).

(C.S. Manish 2010)

The last photo was taken in a bookstore and I present it to you, without too much elaboration. Note the choice of books and the category that it is displayed under. I wonder what the former Governor would think if she found out.

(C.S. Manish 2010)

Pop Quiz #1: Who am I?

2011-01-07T15:48:00.001-06:00

(Note: Every so often I shall have a pop quiz on my blog with questions about people, places, things, events, and any other thing that comes to mind. Please take the quiz without peeking at the answers, which will be included at the end, and let me know how you did.)

Today's quiz is about cricketers.

a) My first four wickets in Test cricket were of Matthew Hayden, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, and Ricky Ponting. I was the Man of the Match when my team defeated Australia for the first time at Perth. I was also the Man of the Match when we won a World Cup. I have scored over a 1000 runs and taken at least 100 wickets in both ODIs and Tests. I have scored a Test century and once took a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match. Even though I am only 26, its been almost two years since I played for my country in any form of the game.

b) I was the first Indian bowler to take 5 wickets in an ODI twice. But I was better known for my batting. I top scored in the finals of two world level competitions but was not the Man of the Match on either occasion.

c) I took more than 40 wickets in an Ashes series, not once but twice. Yet, I am mostly remembered for a horrific shoulder injury suffered when I tackled a spectator, who ran onto the field, causing me to miss almost two years of cricket in my prime.

d) When I came to the crease in my debut Test, the score was 790 for 4. I still found time to notch a 50 and have not looked back since. People don't talk much about me when it comes to the best slip fielders in history but, don't look now, I am just 35 short of 200 Test catches for my career. I was the first Test captain to successfully appeal a decision using the UDRS system. I am one of the few fellows to have scored international centuries in all 3 forms of the game. No fielder in Test cricket has ever taken more catches off one bowler than I have (77 catches).

e) Of my first 21 Test matches, 20 were away from home. By then I had already played in 7 different nations. In spite of that I had scored 1158 runs with 4 centuries and 5 fifties. Luckily, I was able to play a few more matches at home after that and some would argue that I have forged a fairly decent career.

f) In 2001, I scored 10 centuries in 10 domestic first-class games. Yet, that wasn't the batting feat that got me the most press that year. Before that, on my Test debut, I was the only batsman in the top 8 on either side to score a fifty in the match. I am the only batsman to score two triple centuries in the history of the Ranji Trophy.

Answers:

a) You haven't forgotten me, have you?

b) Here are some highlights of my finest hour.

c) I was Jaunty's favorite bowler in the 1980's. Here's a detailed account of that injury I suffered.

d) My given names are: Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva

e) Who else did you think it was? Here's the first part of my career.

f) But, of course.