Priorities.. Piorities .. Priorities

Two girls lost in a drainage well in Australia used their mobile phones to update their Face book status. Thankfully some of their saner friends called the Police for help.

I bet there was a comment from one of their friends that read as follows:

"That's so hot!!"

Akash Chopra, the columnist

Cricket fans who have not been following Aakash Chopra's columns in cricinfo are missing out some wonderful articles.

He gives his thorough analysis from a player's perspective. Not the usual cliches we get from Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri types. Trust me, check out this brilliant pieces on concentration and close-in fielding.

Doosra - The wrong one

Ever since Saqlain (inventor/co-inventor?) invented the Doosra, it has been a topic of controversy. Bowlers who tried the Doosra were always under suspicion. Saqlain and Murali have been the greatest exponents of Doosra and have reaped rich rewards. Harbhajan had tremendous success against the Aussies, particularly Pointing with Dossra. Of course, his Doosras were called for suspect action. Personally, I feel that anyone bowling a good Doosra will always be under suspect as it is very difficult to bowl a Doosra without breaking laws on legal bowling action.

Speaking of Murali, I am not a great fan of his action. But I have been a secret admirer of his control and ability to pick up wickets even after the batsmen had the opportunity to study his bowling with advance video techniques that are available today. But this is the first time I came across details on his passion for the game and his preparation.

In his affable autobiography, Bully For You, Oscar (2000), Ian Austin, provides a lovely vignette of Murali's assimilation at Lancashire.

I've never known anyone who knew so much about cricket - or anyone who could talk about the game for so long. There's a hell of a lot of international cricket being played all year round these days, but Murali knew all about it. He knew more about Lancashire's record than Lancashire players themselves. We'd be sitting in the dressing room or in the bar in the evening at an away game and he'd suddenly start talking about one of our games from years back. He'd know all the facts and figures and couldn't believe that the rest of us didn't remember every last dot and comma of the game he was talking about.

Kudos to Murali. We might see him pick up close to 1000 wickets soon. This record might be most difficult one to beat in the long run.

Factoid that only interests me ...

Leander Paes plays for Washington Kastles in the World Team Tennis league. Here's why I came to know about this.

Washington Kastles? Seriously after Capitals, Freedom, etc. the Washington based Sports Franchises seem to have lost creativity in coming up with names.

Player and a Gentleman

Roger is well liked by his competitors too.

“Everybody wants Roger to win this tournament,” del Potro said. “But if I can’t do, if I can’t win this tournament, I want to see, next Sunday, Roger with the trophy.”

Roger faces Juan Martin del Potro in the French Open semi finals on Friday. Roger has a perfect record against del Potro.

All stars are lining up for Roger. This is the year to win the Frech Open and complete the career Grand Slam.

2009 IPL Thoughts

After shelling out 100 bucks to watch IPL on Pay Per view, here are the 5 things I think I think:

1. The commentators are awful. Ranjith Fernando is the WORST ever. He never finishes his sentences. His commentary is full of cliches. The person who hired him must be fired.

2. KKR is in turmoil. The team management will be fired by end of the season and they have to start fresh next year. Too many hyper inflated egos in the team including Buchanan, the coach. Now it seems like Steve Waugh/Warne coached themselves and they won in spite of Buchanan during the Aussie hey days.

3. CSK is in a roll. MS Dhoni has proved that he is the best captain among the eight. One could argue that he is the best in the world at the moment.

4. It seems that Lalit Modi and team are trying to ensure us all that South Africa has embraced and enjoying the event. May be they are. But it seems they are trying to convince the viewers too hard of that fact. It makes you wonder if this was all a bit phony.

5. Compared to last year, the bowlers must be happy about the shift to South Africa. They seem to get a little bit more respect in this tournament. Last year was brutal on the IPL bowlers.

Weather Guarantee

Awesome. ROFL.

If you need a laugh

Check out this, if you need a laugh. ICC is pretty consistent in inserting its foot in the mouth.

Coovum, a state river

Along this line, I as a Chennaite, demand that Coovum be declared as a state river - if not a national river. That way, the TN Government might one day take the necessary steps to clean up this river.

I wonder the same ...

"The Holdings and the Athertons say I am one of the top three left-arm spinners in the world... People say I am the best left-arm spinner in India, but I am not playing for India."
Murali Kartik rues that he doesn't seem to be in the frame despite the retirement of Anil Kumble