Sashtiabdaboorthi

With a well-defined boundary and a stable federal government, she was reborn to the sacrifices of a million patriots. Her beauty, her vastness in culture, are all matchless.

Many of us born post-independence do not know the essence of freedom. We tend to debate the unfolding of events and the choices of our leaders during the formative years. Today, I put all that aside to say "Thank You Freedom Fighters".


The abundance of the land which was plundered to poverty and sickness is slowly returning after 60 years. Even history was unfair to reset her counter when it is only evident that civilization was sown in her soil. Nevertheless,today we march forward spreading her glory inch by inch in all directions.

Mother! I salute you. Jai Hind.

Next Indian Coach ?

As the quest for the next Indian Idol gains momentum in Sony TV, an even bigger quest is on for the Indian cricket fans. Who will be the next Indian coach. It all began with the great Sir IVA. Richards offering unsolicited advice to the Indian team soon after their shameless exit from the World Cup. Then Chappell was rumoured to continue as coach or atleast head the NCA for a new term. Chappell managed to run away with his life.

Ravi Shastri was convinced to shoulder the mantle temporarily for the Bangladesh tour. The funny thing was that a bowling and fielding coach were announced for this all important tour. India crossed the eastern border with three coaches for three departments. One would only expect that Venatesh Prasad or Robin would be named the coach at the end of the tour. That was not to happen. BCCI is like Rajastan State Bumper lottery. The odds of luck overweighs any logic.

A casual talk by the BCCI raised Dave Whatmore's hopes to Himalayan heights only to ruin his current stint with the Bongs. Afterall India had to avenge for their WC defeat. They took it on him, poor Aussie.

Kapil Dev, a patriot that he is, intervened to question the selection of a foreign coach. "Whatmore? Who is he?", he exclaimed. Even Sunil Gavaskar was quoted to prefer a Desi coach albeit Arjuna Ranatunga from the island nation. One day or the other India has to invade that country for the atrocities they commit against our Tamil brethren.

Suddenly, a new name popped up. Graham Ford quickly topped Google search list for no one in India knew about him. He happened to be the Coaching Director at Kent. Remember, that is where they picked up John Wright. Thanks to Dravid's recommendation.

Finally Graham Ford was selected over John Emburey after a one-hour presentation at Park Sheraton. It seems Sharad Pawar and team were gobbling up their dinner during Emburey's presentation. They just didn't pay attention to whatever he said.

Graham Ford like any IT guy attended the interview for fun. He decided not to risk his life for limelight. He probably remembered his successor, Bob Woolmer.

The search is still on. The voice of Swadesi's louder than ever. Who will BCCI name as the next Indian Coach? Will it be the Chinese guy who is likely to become the Indian Idol.


If I were them, I would choose a respected Desi with proven track record. Sandeep Patil comes to mind immediately. If he is not available, my next choice is Bharath Reddy. Although he has played only a handful of matches for India, Barath Reddy enjoys a good relationship with several youngsters in the current Indian team. Bharath Reddy was the Sports Director for Chemplast's Jolly Rovers team which had big names playing in the local divisions. Current national players including Dinesh Kartick, Harbajan Singh and Dinesh Mongia regard him as a great coach. Hemang Badani, L. Balaji and Harvinder Singh have spoken highly of him. Sanmar Group chairman N. Sankar praises him for finding new talent for his club. Several Tamilnadu players including Jesuraj Rajamani (my favourite for this season) and S. Badrinath (who was almost there) attribute a lot of their success to him. More than that Bharat Reddy and Abdul Jabber successfully ran cricket camps in Madras following Brijesh Patel. He is also a close friend of Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. Rahul Dravid,having played a lot of cricket himself in Chennai for India Cements, will surely have a lot of respect for Bharath reddy. He has also served the BCCI as the South Zone talent resources development officer in 2002-03. He will be able to identify new talent that Vengsarkar claims not to exist.

The most important reason is he is Shriya Reddy's father and also my relative of sorts.

Sa(chin), Ra(hul) and Greg

I think Greg's tenure has already been extended secretly - Sorry Sir Viv.The announcement will be public pending the tamasha of World Cup post-mortem report/meeting. On several occasions Greg has stopped short of asking Tendulkar to quit, fearing the public rage - Remember his comment "Sachin's best days are over"?. Sacking Ganguly was one thing but Greg was quick to realize that Sachin is at a different level in India. He quietly "moota kattified" his idea of dropping Sachin and started asking him to be a mentor for the youngsters. Now he has sought his brother's help to achieve what he couldn't dare attempt. Ian has advised Sacin to retire. It is strange that he chose to advise Sachin through cricinfo or whoever, instead of talking to Sachin as a wellwisher. I smell something fishy. If Rahul is not dropped as captain or if Greg's contract is renewed, India will be pushed to a level that would require them to qualify for the next World Cup competition.

Having said that, I request you Mr. Tendulkar to resign gracefully. Have Kumble share his retirement letter, if you need a template. Also pass it on to Ganguly, if he needs help. This is the best time. I would have called you and requested this personally. But unlike Ian, I don't have your cell number.

I also think that we need a foreign coach. I don't think any former Indian cricketer can command respect from the current generation of cricketers. Imagine Nayan Mongia or Venkatesh Prasad trying to dictate to Sehwag or Yuvraj or Harbajan. Only a guy who can intimidate them with his English can control them .

My new Indian team XX comprises:
--------------------------------
Gaurav Dhiman
Cheteshwar Pujara
Robin Uthappa
Shikar Dhawan (three out of first four must play)
Virendra Sehwag
Yuvraj Singh
Dinesh Karthik (wk)
Mohammed Kaif (c)
Rahul Dravid (should leave way in 2 yrs)
Suresh Raina
Mahendra Dhoni (Wk)
Irfan Pathan
Munaf Patel
Zaheer Khan
Piyush Chawla
Murali Karthick (may be long shot)
Sreesanth
Romesh Powar
Jesuraj Rajamani
Harbajan Singh


PS: Vengsarkar - I can take over, if you need some rest. Afterall you have tried to do it all by yourself in the last one year.

Ravana killed Rama

I was right and I was wrong.

Good luck India

Srilanka showed no signs of hangover after their loss to NZ (thanks Ajay) in the warm-up game.
They came back well to dominate their first two games. Whereas India were buoyed by the warm-up victory and suffered a concentration lapse just enough for the Bongs to capitalize on. Whatever happened has happened. Now it is time for Indians to get their act together and prove that their are real heroes and not just reel heroes.

India should consider Harbajan in the place of Kumble but must replace Agarkar with Sreesanth or even Irfan or play two spinners at his expense. Leaving out Agarkar can make the difference between victory and defeat. I also think India must put Srilanka into bat, if toss favours Rahul. Getting Jayasurya and Sangakara early is key. I am not too concerned about Mahela but Silva can be a little dangerous too. Also in the chase, India should look to attack Vaas from the go. Victory is must and in the horizon. If India bat first Muralidharan will be the major threat after the initial spell of Malinga. India sould look for 240-270 minimum considering that there has been a lot of rain. Arial shots will help. Dhoni should be given a chance to come up. Whether Rahul will experiment has to be seen. Uthappa, Sachin, Sehwag, Dhoni and Yuvi can win it for us by clearing the stadium and rotating strikes. Ganguly will be a liability for this game considering the law of averages. Maybe he will get to bowl.

In the match against Bermuda, the banner read "Go to Barbados or stay back in Trinidad". I say every player should bear that in mind.

Finally like Pakistan did, pull one for Bob and our own Greg, who have gone through a lot these two years in the sub-continent. With Pakistan out of the tournament, I hope they will be rooting for us. On a Friday their prayers get answered, right guys!
For my part, I will recite Bhagya Suktam in the morning.

Aurobindo's Gandhi Bashing

I don't want to be that guy who posted a clip on You-tube imitating Gandhi.

But here is a quote that was as refreshing as a cuppa Madras filter coffee.

When Gandhi's movement was started, I said that this movement would lead either to a fiasco or to a great confusion. And I see no reason to change my opinion. Only I would like to add that it has led to both.

-Aurobindo June 23, 1926

However a few may argue that it led to India's independence. I see it as something that was given than earned. Your thoughts?