beingdesh

Category: India

  • A Part of me Died

    Dada, Dada will never ever play again. After the post lunch victory, reality has just started sinking in. It has been eight hours after that historic victory but I have no other thoughts other than Dada in mind right now.

    I almost ran into tears as I went through this article Losing my Religion. Its one the best articles on Cricket I have ever read. As Siddhartha Vaidyanathan narrates his story me and all my friends across India felt that he is telling our story. I thank him for writing such a great article. As I looked at this phrase in the post, a part of me died, I felt the same. All these cricketers have been as indispensable to me as my body parts and as they go slowly I feel a great sense of loss and sadness. Its almost the formal end of my childhood which lasted so long due to these great players and the day Tendulkar goes life would never be the same again. Just today I said to someone that almost 4 years of my 24 year life has gone in thinking, watching, playing and talking about Cricket, and these guys made it possible.

    I don’t know what to write, Dada has been a Dada for me, as a Big Brother he has given me and so many other Indians great moments which we would cherish throughout our life. 1996 when he and Dravid came into the team, I missed his first test hundred. I heard that there is this new guy who is king of off side, bowls some nice swingers too and is very similar to David Gower. His elegant off side drives gives me fond memories of my childhood, after Dada every kid in my township started playing strokes on the offside (generally it was considered that leg side is more scoring with a tennis bowl). Almost invariably when he used to open with Sachin and take first strike he would hit a sweet boundary through the off side. I vaguely recall him hitting Pollock many a times through the off side, the bowl slowly travelling to the fence, and Boycott all praises for the Prince of Kolkata.

    As I came from class 6th in 1996 to the 2000’s 10th board, Dada had become a prolific run getter in one dayers, I had remained the same students, in the years had passed an unsuccessful world cup, The God becoming the captain unsuccessfully, azhar going in and out of the team, a World Cup where Dada scored a brilliant 183 at Taunton, a World Cup in which I didn’t sleep at night and and went into tears momentarily when South Africa lost in the semis, lot of Coca Cola cups at Sharjah where Tendulkar and Dada were killing all bowling attacks, a Sahara Cup where Dada set himself as an all rounder, a period of change in Cricket when Wills ended its sponsorship with the Indian team, Jagmohan Dalmiya headed the ICC, and above all a disgraceful India South Africa series. And then it was Captain DADA.

    Although I was a Dada fan but it was after he took up captaincy my respect for him increased, as he and his side with few new players started winning it was a different feeling altogether. Dada positioned the Indian Team as an aggressive unit, for the first time in history I felt that Indian Team was doing something like this, change which Dada brought about was zillion times more than Obama used the word in his campaign. Change we need was brought and it was just amazing. The Great Eden victory still comes in my dream, and the Natwest one, or India almost ruining Steven Waugh’s farewell in Australia, and the 2003 World Cup and so many others.

    Lot of memories, but sadness is blurring most of them today. Some not so good ones of Dada’s spat with Greg Chappell and him being dropped after the Zimbabwae tour, some of prayers which we did for his return to Cricket, some extremely funny like me saying Jai Dada aloud in front of a Dada poster with 20 people standing around before my XAT exam last year in Bangalore, some drunken memories of me and my friend dimpy, patrick and sussu drinking and praying for Dada to score during our tragic loss to Bangladesh in last year’s World Cup, more drunkard ones of me and the quark and the enginerd and Ati-Say supporting Dada, and Sandy and Mathuru and Mandu supporting Dravid and Barve as always confused :), some meoments where I cursed Greg Chappel like had none other in my life, two historic moments when I watched Dada Live on stadium, him hitting a Six to Vettori during a Test match in Ahmedbad, him winning in the IPL opener at Bangalore this year, never saw him in one days, some more cursing for Bucknor when half the times gave pathetic decisions to Dada and many a times helped the cause of getting Dada a ban, some moments which I was ashamed of as Dada’s Pepsi ad, and another million memories.

    I hope Dada finds happiness in whatever he does next, he enjoys life and cricket and some time with his family.

    I am happy that I can tell my kids 20 years from now that Dada was there, because I don’t think they would ever see a player like him again, they will ever feel the emotions of the game we all love in the same way as we did, but as Siddartha pointed out in his article we belong to this generation and for all of us its a very sad day. Hope is what I have and I hope there will be many more greats who will play for the Indian Cricket Team. In the current lot I don’t have that feel for anyone other than Sehwag or Dhoni. Lets Hope.

    So finally this is it, as the Quark would have told me in his favourite singer Jim Morrison’s words, this is the end, beautiful friend, or debu would murmured his Darkness filling up the room dialouge, one thing I know, I have lost something which is irreplaceable.

    God give me the strength, I would badly need it on the Day when Tendulkar retires.

    Technorati Tags: Sourav Ganguly, Dada, Cricket, India

  • Baap Ka Suroor

    A Post which confusingly switches between Bollywood, issue of Female foeticide, killing of Girl Child, the practice of Dowry all packaged with a tribute to the legendary Satyen Kappu. Stays true to the name of Blog.


    यह     शादी नही हो सकती , ठाकुर साहेब मैं अपनी पगड़ी आपके कदमो मैं रखता हूँ , मेरी बेटी लक्ष्मी है उससे मत ठुकारिये, मैं आपकी पाई पाई चुका दूंगा,

    यह शादी नही हो सकती, कहा उसका खानदान कहा हमारा !!!

    मुझे अपनी बेटी की शादी के लीये करज़ा चाहीये लाला !!!

    बेटी सेठजी से शादी कर ले, तुझे खूब सुखी रखेंगें !!!

    Satyen Kappu is a legend by any standards, people remember Jagdish Raj for playing the inspector innumerable number of times, so much so that he has a Limca Record on his name. Satyen Kappu (originally named Satyendra Kapoor) has been devoid of such an honour but I bet him playing a worried Father of an unmarried daughter symbolises much more than these recognitions. He is part of a group of individuals whose contribution to Cinema is somewhat neglected in the glitz of stars. [Refer this post which pays a tribute all these characters.]

    ( A Middle Aged Kappu from movie Coolie, he played charecters from every facet of life, irreseopective of religion, caste or profession. Inset: Waheeda Rehaman)

    In an India torn apart by the Gender divide Kappu represents the destiny of so many fathers who end up struggling for their daughter’s marriage, and brings to light the issue of dowry and female infanticide. In times when our Nation is struggling to keep up a healthy sex ratio, Kappu acts as an inspiration to Millions by giving the message of Beti being Ghar ki Lakshmi. The topic of Girl Child being killed is one of the most depressing things which comes up in our day-to-day discussions, people who practice killing of girl child should be hanged, movies like Matrubhumi have really shown what extremes this phenomenon can lead too. Also Dowry Deaths are still present in our country and is well spread, all these practices should have an end and Cinema can act as a vehicle for raising the concious of so many people related with this. Read through this poem by Sur on Dowry Deaths which was posted a few days back, The Ultimate Greed.

    coming back to Mr. Kappu, be it the drunkard who is worried about his daughter’s marriage in Kaala Patthar to the recent tele series on Zee TV “Mehendi tere naam ki” directed by Aruna Irani where he plays the father of four daughters, he has given new heights to the role of a worried father. Even in films like Rajesh Khanna starrer Aap Ki Kasam where he plays the second-hand Husband of Mumtaaz, his defining scenes come when accepts Mumtaaz’s daughter and finally when he is marrying her off (in the last scene when Khanna dies). His efforts spread across decades are put forward by his presence in the movie Beti No.1, a movie which epitomises the importance of Girl Child (the concept was good, the movie’s execution pathetic), such a movie can be never conceptualized without Mr. Kappu. Maybe he suited the roles to perfection because in real life he had four daughters himself. No one played the role of a depressed Beti Ka Baap better than Kappu through the 70’s and 80’s.

    But Kappu’s defining moment came in two movies- both Kurosawa inspired Rural-Bandit sagas one of which went on to be come Sholay and another poor man’s Sholay- Khotey Sikkay. Although everyone remembers the Ramu Kaka ka kirdaar from Sholay less is known about the origins of an Advocate who fights for Truth and Justice against Jagga (Ajit as the Bandit), is gifted a Golden Watch (which hums a melodious tune) by Sarkar (government, maybe the judiciary) for his sacchai and imaandaari and gives his life for that. In Khotay Sikkay he plays the father of Feroz Khan(who just roams around in a Eastwood inspired robe from spaghetti western days) , Feroz Khan (the unnamed Horse Rider) then goes ahead and avenges his Father’s killing by killing Jagga by the end and hence the victory of Truth and Justice.

    Kappu’s death scene in the movie is one of my favorite moments from Hindi Cinema, when Jagga puts the Khanjar ( a dagger) in his stomach, the tension, the carvings of his face, the widening of his eyes, some 8-9 drops of sweat on his face and the watch poignantly falling from his hand playing a melodious tune and in background of the ever strong Ajit laughter makes for a unparalleled moment in Cinema. I don’t think this death sequence will ever bettered by anyone.

    RamLal from Sholay is somewhat popularised recently by the series of jokes remarking the relationships of Thakur-Ramlal, something which puts the great man in bad light.

    Apart from these Kappu represents the true Indian middle class by donning almost all possible professions in his career- Inspector (on all possible designations from hawaldar to DIG to Commissioner), doctor(Aap ki Kasam), Judge (Khotay Sikkay etc.), Naukar( Sholay), Army Fellow (Dream Girl), Teacher(Khel Khel Main) cutting across religions- Panditji in Ganga Ki Saugandh, Aslam Bhai in coolie, to church Father (I don’t remember the movie name but remember seeing him once). Mr. Kappu is a true manifestation of Aam Aadmi, and we will always remember him as a great actor and a champion of Social Cause.

    Technorati Tags: Bollywood, Satyen Kappu, Cinema, Dowry Deaths

  • If only the Reservations were…

    a bit more flexible. I mean look at the transformation Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav has brought to Train Reservations. Although the IRCTC web site is slow, lacks a basic error page for JSP, and whatever, still it has made our job so much easier. Or look at Capt. Gopinath’s Airline revolution which has spurred a number of Airline Reservation websites. If only the reservation policies implemented by government were a bit easier to understand.

    If only we have online portal by government where we get the latest Caste Score side by side our reservation status, that would be wonderful, will let me know when people form my caste fall in Reservation bracket :). Also one can book his reservation seat, cancel it, check status, check waiting list etc. One can even apply for caste certificates online and his/her application can be processed by government.

    Even couple of years back this issue was quite happening and it has come back again to give us more to talk on.

    I was thinking of something better when it came to reservations, maybe the Central institutes have to increase the seats this year why not have the concept of RAC being promoted with waiting lists and Confirmed seats. If seats are less lets go for RAC, a railway like concept where a single seat will be allocated to two people, given,

    • Both of them belong to different caste.
    • Both of them share the same set of books, same hostel bed (taking turns to sleep), same bathroom.
    • Both of them share same laptop, same pens, pencils, eat from one thali, drink chai from ek pyali etc etc.
    • Both share the same girlfriend/boyfriend 😉
    • To avoid unnecessary hassles lets keep the RAC seat for the same sex, i mean both candidates should be either male or female.

    I think this will be a new way to achieve National integration and bring different people close, issues won’t separate them anymore and the benefits will be equally shared.

    On a serious note I think I am in for Affirmative Action, certain sections of Indian society have been neglected and treated in an unjust manner for years. I also believe the injustice has been caused independent of Economic levels, and even after getting good jobs and home people do suffer due to caste differences. But let some sanity prevail, let the process not be an indefinite one, I think more than anything else, we require quality institutes of higher learning, more number of seats will keep most happy. I think slowly such a system should be done away with, but it will never happen. So let us think of “innovative” ways in which we can twist this process and make it much more entertaining because slowly we would have to learn to live with it forever. Look at Vishy’s suggestion to do the same…

    I am more in for a scheme suggested by Mr. Yogendra Yadav and co. named MIRAA which creates a social index factoring parameters like Caste, gender, economic levels and provides reservation on basis of that. But maybe for such a huge country, its a a difficult and confusing exercise altogether.

    I believe its time for everyone to realise that percentages and number of seats and caste and religion and regional differences will be always there, and so will be reservation, atleast its much better than the country falling apart into separate pieces like so many European nations. Isn’t it?

    Technorati Tags: Reservation, Quota Issue

  • Jai DADA …Cuck Fhappell…Shappell Cucks…

    Dada showed all of us what great player he is, along with Yuvi he broke records and showed people like Dravid and Chappell how great he is. I think now its time both of them realize that they can’t destroy any cricketer’s career at will and they must learn to respect people like Dada (it will be difficult as there would be no one like Dada again).


    What my friend Nitesh another Dada fan said yesterday,

    Darvidian Zameen par Dada ka Double Ton…


    BTW This post comes from my friend who along with me and Nitesh is the biggest dada fan ever. Shameek didn’t even cut his hair for a long time waiting for a dada century to happen. Shameek runs us through the Dada stroy still reminiscent in the mind of each and every cricket fan. So fresh from a hair cut and an amazing Dada knock here is what Shameek has to say,(all what I wanted to say too)

    5 log jinko DADA ne us din double hundred maar kar karara jawaab diya hai :

    • Greg Chappell : said that DADA was not mentally as well as physically fit to be in the national side.
    • Kiran More : said that DADA does not fit into the scheme of things.
    • Sharad Pawar : used him as a political pawn as and when he needed against Dalmiya group.
    • Rahul Dravid : who did not support him when he needed it the most, may b the biggest mistake by Dravid.
    • Bishan Singh Bedi : duniya ka sabse kamina ex-cricketer jo apne aap ko chhodkar baaki poori duniya ko ******* samajhta hai.

    Cut back to early 90s…when this young maharaja made debut, not a great one in ODIs and when rejected to carry drinks…People said his attitude is not good and cannot fit into team….He went on to become the BEST captain of INDIA….

    Come to 1996….when he was selected for England tour after 5 years…people said, he was selected because of his political backing…and went on to said “He will not continue in team”…then entered the GOD of OFF SIDE making back to back 100s on debut…”Prince is born”

    he never turned back and kept scoring “sexy” square cuts…lovely off drvies and those deadly sixes….and there was a time…when he was on par with another GOD of cricket….

    When Azhar was out and Sachin couldn’t handle it….he took the onus…people again said..”how can he be captain of Indian team?”…awell…we all know how Indian cricket team transformed from tigers on paper to Tigers on field….

    Natwest trophy, beat AUS in India and also in their back yard..beat Pakistan,Won a mini world cup,runners in WC2003 and reached to finals in almost every tournament Indian team played…

    People said he can’t play in Australia….his 144 in Brisbane set the tone for Indian fight back in Australia…

    Then started decline in his personal form and people started to write off him..

    “This is the end of road for Sourav”

    “End of an Era”

    “End of Dada Giri”

    “he doesnt fit into scheme of things“

    were few comments…but there were many silly and humiliating jokes cooked upon him..

    He was “thrown” out of them team with out any respect…

    Even few of his team members who flourished and retained in team under his captaincy didn’t even go and gave a tap on his back…

    the prince was left alone. deserted….lost captaincy. lost place in team…but not the hope. not the hunger…not the fire….

    December 2006…when India toured SA…team needed some experience and called him back…though people said “he will face the chin music on SA pitches”

    “We dont want Sourav” were the press conference words said by the then coach and captain…

    But those ignorant people forgot something…”Only challenges bring best out of warriors”…

    That is what exactly he proved…played an crucial role in India’s Win against SA..and was highest scorer for the series..

    People kept saying he is the weak link in the side…and he kept coming up with his own replies…

    Now came the thunderous punch to those people…a hundred at his own home followed by trade mark sexy stylish superb 239 which not only made a world of good to him but also bailed team out of trouble along with Yuvi and pathan.

    you are looking for a clue to what has helped Sourav Ganguly sustain his spectacular run in Test cricket since his return at the fag end of last year, don’t bother looking at his footwork or the flow of the bat. Take, instead, a close look at his eyes while he is batting. They speak of a calmness almost bordering on serenity, and a combination of composure and resolve. You could see it in his comeback innings in Johannesburg that fetched him an unbeaten 51 and you could see it through his epic innings in Bangalore that marked a new high in his career.

    People will still say…”he doesn’t have technique…” “he cant play short balls” “he is unfit” “he is weak link”….

    And I am sure they will again get their replies from this great warrior….SOURAV GANGULY…. from his bat!!!!

    Technorati Tags: Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid

  • Dreaded S-Word

    1993

    two kids from class 3 fighting as Abhishek watches on (still be christened with any of the present day nicknames).

    bippu*- saale kutte kahi ke???
    ritesh*- shocked and about to breakdown
    Abhishek and rest of the audience- Haaaaauuuuuuuuu……
    ritesh*- full-tu crying, I will complaint this to Ratnam Mam [My fav teacher in school, bestest teacher ever, will write about her sometime)

    Pumped by anger, insult and what not ritesh decided to complaint and bippu got punished, junta was obviously shocked at bippu’s behavior and happy that bippu got punished.

    1999

    All of us on the playing, tiddu*-famous for not blurting out any bad word till date fires one on pattu, pattu laughs like hell and so do the others, tiddu rages and starts a bat-beating session on pattu, pattu and others still laugh and welcome another member to the gang.

    [*Names have been changed to confuse identities]

    Gone are those days, in primary school using the S-word (something similar to a Brother-in-law too, your wife’s brother, I don’t know why it became an abuse in the first place) meant that you were the full-time rowdy in class, other kids parents wanted their kids to stay away from you, and it was not at all good public behavior, you were the big time culprit of every wrong deed done in class. Slowly though, with secondary and higher education an Indian student gets graduated in profanities too.

    Nowadays when I see kids using the F-word is much more than feeling, its mostly going away from our culture of using the S-Word to perfection. Although lots has been said about girls not using it but I know a few who use it nicely. But lets not get into gender aspects as of now.

    Although the Hindi/desi equivalent of the F-word is considered quite crude in its usage but I don’t know why people consider the formers usage as much more decent (relatively). Both are the same, a conservative may say that they are bowing to western culture, but I think its much more to do with the popularity of such terms in Hollywood, its counter-part Bollywood has been not so liberal in usage of abusive language.

    I picked up foul language sometime in mid-school, when we passed school there was only one or at most two boys still away from its active usage. In my college I found only one among 200+ boys (but he had his own versions of curses, which went quite above everyone’s head). The good things about using foul language are,

    • Good way to throw out your anger and frustration, go and shout from a roof/hill top, or do it after getting drunk.
    • Gives you a good time cursing your bosses, peers, any boy who roams around with good girls or mostly anyone.
    • Comes for free and is quite relieving, much more than dhyana or yoga.

    The only things about it which is not good and I don’t like is when its done in a seriously serious manner. People start fighting over it and makes matter stupid. When I and most of my friends do it, its mostly for fun, although we know making fun of other people is a serious crime, but everyone does it, and criminals are bound to use some foul language here and there. Some serious misapprehensions which are associated with this are,

    • it slows down with age- I think this skill mellows with age, the usage becomes more or less perfect and less hurtful to others.
    • you shouldn’t say it in front of girls- ???? pointless

    Although in front of parents and relatives better don’t use it. I mean you can but better don’t. You might have noticed it, sometimes when you are at home, and things haven’t rubbed off from your tongue you feel like shouting sometimes, do it in a bathroom, safest place to do it.

    By the way some unique ones which I have come across in my life are,

    – Indi-Poi Indrapal- used by a schoolmate, he considered this to be the mother of all profanities
    – Dusht Bijuke – Bijuke is Pure hindi for Scarecrow, my friend in college made it quite popular.

    I am not mentioning lots of them which would like a bit indecent on my blog.

    Whatever be it, never ever use it to hurt anyone, as long as its for fun, use it…

    And for all those like the F-Word, try using the S-word!!!

  • Taj Mahal Needs a Facial

    Great, even Taj Mahal gets into the Shahnaz Hussain regime. Read this news on Time- The Taj Mahal Needs a Facial.

    Interesting way to resolve the chores of India’s only member in the Seven Wonders of the World club. The website quotes,

    The parliamentary report suggests applying a special mud treatment to the building to bring it back to life. “To restore the pristine glory of the Taj Mahal, as a conservation measure, the clay pack treatment which is non-corrosive and non-abrasive [should be] carried out for the removal of the accretionary deposits,”it says.

    Good that given our Parliament’s way of doing things, they didn’t go for a detergent clean-up!!!

    Technorati Tags: Taj Mahal, India

  • Kalam Chacha- Tussi Na Jao

    One of my friends today sent me a link to vote (some kind of a online petition) to let APJ Abdul Kalam, the honorable President of the India to stick to his job. I quite liked the initiative as I find him the Best President till date, quit energetic and Junta Pleasing than his previous mundane successors. A person who truly has redefined the role of President. If you find him good too Vote for him.

    (APJ Abdul Kalam. Img Source:http://presidentofindia.nic.in)

    I quite appreciate the work done by Kalam Sir and am very fond his books (Wings of Fire and Ignited Minds). I don’t want him away from this job and as such the other names in consideration are quite scary.

    So vote for him and if you haven’t visited President’s website yet do visit it. It’s great fun to read his speeches and lectures.

    Technorati Tags: APJ Abdul Kalam, President, India

  • Cricket Without India: naahhhhhh

    Black Friday changes its meaning with every passing day. Last Friday could be a subject of a another movie though of yet another tragedy.

    Movie is a distant thing though, right now the hours of Cricket meant to be unleashed on TV have become irrelevant. I mean being Cricket Lovers doesn’t mean that we as Indians can overcome such a big tragedy so soon.

    The night match finished everyone was quite heavy with emotions. Some stupidity on Television followed. Mandira Bedi was so emotional as it she was about to breakdown any moment. It’s ok to be Indian and feel for the game, but as a presenter I feel you should be professional enough to run through the show. Somehow Charu Sharma carried the show well.

    More...

    We should do something to the news channels though, at night a nice looking reporter from Aaj Tak caught on with a bunch of Engineers after the defeat who were shouting and swearing at everything. even a drunk person could have made out that the bunch of people were heavily drunk. Similarly on Star News were Atul Wassan appeared as the “expert” was answering questions of viewers on the telephone half of which came from quite Drunk people. I mean we know you ought to show us everything but thoda decency mangta hai.

    The next day I shutdown the TV for the whole day because I know even the television set can’t witness all the reactions shown by the news channels throughout the day. I know we all angry but the way these channels put these up makes us, our team and everyone involved look as villains.

    So no more of Cricket for most of us, some entertainment will come (as it happened in the South Africa-Australia encounter) but still we will miss India.

    Post originally blogged at DesiDabba

    Technorati Tags: Cricket, Television, India, World Cup

  • Its Prayer Time…!!!

    No pre-match discussions, no predictions, no prophecies, its time to pray
    Let us pray so that we don’t become Sri Lankan Lion’s prey;

    A prayer from heart is what they say, will help the Men in Blue save,
    but don’t let the prayer be too strong,
    as the Blue may become darker and the colour a lil wrong;

    The last one for Dada, Dravid and Tendulkar,
    the first one for Dhoni and Pathan,
    Let all the firsts lasts and middles go on,
    Not tumble upon and fly back home so torn;

    Somehow I feel the prayer will succeed, as will our team,
    but we are habituated to hiccups and our team to indigestion,
    even if they win it will be surreal and even if they loose it will be quite away from real;

    But still let come together and Pray,
    as I, we and everyone from India doesn’t want this to end up as a messed up fray.

    Techonarati Tags: Cricket, World Cup, India, Sports, Poem

  • Hu Ha India…gaya India!!!

    I don’t know why we always pin hopes on our boys. Maybe its blind optimism. Maybe it’s the hope that show us( or the ads). Anyway South Africa tours have been generally this way only. 157 run loss is just the first in series. I don’t see the tide turning anyway further in the competition.
    So what has been wrong, a recent interview with Wasim Akram on some news channel said it all. According to him we chop-n-change too much, add to that our inexperienced bowling attack. But someone told me Kumble has went for the tour, for what playing kho–kho with the team.
    It will be better if Indian team does some batting practice, rather than playing kho–kho and kabbadi which may have left Yuvraj out for the World cup.
    With due respects Dravid is a great batsman, but when it comes to captaincy, everyone agrees he could be a bit vocal. Rather than showing his presence on the field he remains a bit laid-back. agree that’s his style but even with bowlers bowling all places on field he doesn’t seem to wither a bit. He should start doing that otherwise its tough days ahead for him. Ganguly and even Azhar in the past have shown their dominance by having a great field presence which maybe important for a captain to have.
    The only special thing yesterday was the knock by Sachin. He is GOD!!! Nothing more I can say about the GOD.
    Also another good thing was the television presentation on ESPN, bringing back the great memories of days when commentary used to be on cricket not on spaghetti straps. Also the great atmosphere on the ground and the good pitch added to the presentation, quite a refreshing change from the recently concluded boring Champions trophy.
    It seems like Kaif and Raina have to do something, Raina especially isn’t a hitter and no great innings to his name. Kaif should stop basking in the glory of past achievements which are long lost in the past.
    Dinesh Mongia seems to be a good thing for team. His bowling is quite good but its still puzzling why he was under bowled.
    As far as Greg Chappel is considered I completely agree with Durga Puja pendal guys in Kolkata who created a deity of Durga with Mahishasura where the ASURA was Greg Chappel. With him in picture first time it seems Indian cricket operates not from field but from outside it.
    Please say bye-bye to experiments, Cricket is a lazy man’s game, let it be that way.
    Anyway check out this amazing post on the same issue,
    Kaho Na Massacre Hai

    Disclaimer: I am a hardcore DADA (Sourav Ganguly) fan, so this article may not be considered neutral by few, still this is my personal opinion.
    Also the title is not against India, it’s against the Indian Cricket team. Still if the title offends any I apologise and will change it.

    *This one was originally blogged at Sportolysis

    Technorati tags: Cricket, ,,South Africa,