Not so elusive 2800

When I read that Sasikaran/Humpy/Ganguly/Harikrishna came in 4th with a plus 1 score (or whatever), my immediate reaction is to congratulate them for doing so well in a Russia domimated sport. Vishy though, evokes completely different reactions. I resorted to privately calling him 'permanent bridesmaid' when he came in 2nd at the World Chess Championship (WCC) last year to Topalov.

With Kasparov out of the way, and Kramnik not really in the picture, I thought that Vishy's time at the top had just begun. Afterall, the others, Topolav/Ivanchuck and co were secondary in my mind to our great Vishy. I conveniently dismissed Topolav tying Kasparov at Linares 2005 as a one-off. Thus, Topalov's spectacular victory at the WCC was quite a rude shock to me, leading to some unfair criticism of Vishy.

With Ind-Pak cricket being a dull affair during the first two tests, the privilege of my 'first web visit of the day' invariably went to rediff-sports. And Vishy kept me happy by playing aggressively (as always) and winning (as almost always) with the black pieces (this is new!). Topalov's loss to Adams cleared the path to victory....or, so I thought.

However, the name of Kamsky made me quiver ever so slightly. The 1994 debacle in the Candidates Chess Championship is an ever lasting scar, in spite of the thrashing meted out later at the PCA Candidates finals, when they played for the right to challenge Kasparov. And sure enough, my worst fears came true with last placed Kamsky beating leader Vishy, enabling Mr.Topalov to catch up.

After which, Topalov was either sole or joint leader through the rest of the tournament, forcing Vishy to fight back. When round 12 between the leaders was a tame draw, I used the bridesmaid remark once again and shut out the Corus tournament from my mind. You see, in my achievement laden life, second place just wasn't worth a web visit.

It was past mid-day when I actually went to rediff Sports, more out of habit than anything else. And I notice that the AUS Open headlines was bumped off the top by our very own Vishy. Turns out that against some mighty defending by Gelfand, sheer genius found a way (much like 'Life found a way' in Jurassic Park).

And what more, due to more victories with black pieces, Vishy is crowned champion for the 5th time at Corus! AND THEN.....for the first time ever, Vishy broke through the magical 2800 Elo mark!!!...after performing at over 2850 at this tournament. Shamelessly, without any remorse, I enjoyed and savoured the historical moment and continue to do so. What an easy life this is!!!

ohhh and btw...in case you didnt know, Vishy is a fellow Don Bosco dude!!! :D

Oh Valentino

I am not an avid MotoGP fan, however, I am well aware of the bulletted points on Valentino Rossi's resume and have no doubts that if anyone fits the description of maverick genius, it is him. Simply put, the guy is a 'character who wins'! What more can the press want. For the moment, they can't stop speculating about his F1 prospects, thanks to his test runs with Ferrari. And now, to add fuel to the fire, he decides that is time to mix it up with the big bad boys and one crybaby tennis-player-on-bike of F1.

The media is bound to go bonkers if he posts a laptime within 0.2 secs of Massa. The repercussions in the event of him going faster than the Regenmeister are just not worth contemplation. Mind you, the fact that Rossi will be driving the faster F2004 when compared to the slower 248 F1 (2006 version) wouldn't matter to the British media nor to the ones that lap up on such BS.

And all this is bound to put me in the firing line of the water pistols held by some pals in the McLaren camp. Bring it on, I say. I sure look forward to some exciting argumentative times ahead :)

Beauty turned UGLY Down Under

Haven't quite recovered from the only punch Henin threw during the finals. After raving and ranting about the quality to expect from the finals, I was mighty disappointed to see her lose the first set 6-1. But at the same time, was quite sure that the inevitable comeback was just around the corner. Even at 0-2 in the second set, I was hopeful...but then came the low blow. And to think that I sacrificed the beautiful blonde for Henin in the semifinal!!!

Peter Bodo minces no words in his assessment of the incident. Not that this comes without a precedent. Henin, with a game that personifies grace as much as her male equivalent Federer, has always had a dark side to her which I never cared to explore in depth. Dug up this article from 2003 that narrates a few of the unsavoury incidents that Henin has been involved in. This one though, makes me feel bad for Serena (yeah!!!) in that 2003 French semi.

I just hope that the WTA finds a way to mete out some punishment that fits the crime, though, not sure how someone can prove that Henin did not have a stomach ache. Maybe, proving that Henin has a 'weak stomach' would do!!!

Incredible Davy

I am watching Davy for the first time ever. And I sure chose a good moment to do so. This guy is hitting the pants off each and every ball coming his way and is holding himself comfortably against Roger Federer from the baseline. Actually, he pretty much dominated the third set but ended up conceding it to Federer the fighter as much as Federer the genius.

And then, when I thought that I had the 4th set scoreline all figured out, this dude (who just gave up 6 set points) comes out fighting and breaks Roger straightaway. He seems like the real deal. Will watch out for him from now on....and would suggest that you do the same!

Cmon, that is not a fair substitution!

Now I understand how Ponting felt when he was run out by the substitute.....sort of.

To have Inzamam come in at 216/4 and guide Afridi to a swashbuckling century... and in the process score a century himself was painful (but also inevitable), to say the least. And then, instead of seeing a lumbering giant sleep on the field, I notice a livewire Farhat gliding all over the field and then running out a very very generous Dravid (still can't believe that Dravid was sloppy). Thats it. I'm convinced. Its time for a 'replace like for like' substitute rule! and if they cant find an Inzi in their squad, we better lend them our very own Ganguly!!!

...or maybe, I just stop rambling and succumb to the truth that this very good Pak bowling lineup is bound to prevail over our very good batting lineup on an uneven bounce surface.

That ENIGMA....AJIT AGARKAR!

I am sitting in office going through this document filled with details about some new technology...phew....but too often for any meaningful work to be done, I 'Alt-Tab'ed and read through the previews and predictions for the 2nd match between India and Pakistan. As always, the team composition is discussed and debated at length. And as always, Ajit Agarkar is the second most mentioned man in these articles. Almost everyone wants him out. They feel that he is blocking R.P.Singh (who seems to have leapfrogged Zaheer Khan...IMPRESSIVE!).

So, I closed the document. It was 3pm already. Loooong day! And opened up StatsGuru and looked up AA's record. It reads 26 matches, 58 wickets, average of 47 and a S/R of .....well, I couldnt find it in his career summary, but then, you get the picture....Still, amidst the ruins, a best of 6/41 stands out. Is it because those are the only numbers worth a mention there? Well, YES! and NO!!!. Here's why...

An Indian test win in an away series is a rarity even though SAURAV's boys managed to almost double our tally of total away wins within a 4 yr period. And a win in AUS, against a STEVE WAUGH led team, after conceding 500 odd in the first innings....Well, I watched that performance and will always play it over and over in my mind. It was that sort of an occasion and the performance matched it.

But that isnt the occasion that I started the one man fan club of AA. That club was started long long ago. Not when he scored a test century at Lords, not when he scored the fastest 50 by an Indian in ODIs, not even when he was the fastest man ever to 50 ODI wickets (cheap shot, I agree...but cant be bothered about decency when crumbs are all I got)...my fascination with AA goes back even further.

It was the late 90s....I just googled it and it turns out to be early 1998...when India's A team toured PAK. This lad was a 19 yr old of whom I had never ever heard about. And then started the test series between India A and Pak A. Pak A had a strong team filled with quite a few test discards (Aaqib Javed, Basit Ali among others) while our team was a talented inexperienced youthful one. There was no video coverage of the tour, so, I followed it through the newspaper (Internet hadnt entered my life then) and the SPORTSTAR. I was not overly excited by this tour since it wasnt exactly international cricket. But an India-Pak encounter can have strange hypnotic effects.

India batted first and made a huge score. They had no trouble negating Aaqib and co and I presumed (and probably read) that it was a flat wicket. So, I expected a backlash when we got the ball in our hands. The rains came down and disrupted their innings. It was a 4 day 'test' and at the end of it, we got only a few overs against them. I dont have any recollection of the second test...except that it rained there too but in between, we managed to dominate them with the BALL, I would have assume (reasons later).

The third test was a thriller and we managed to beat them with Bahutule (the captain, I think) ending up as MoM for his efforts with bat and ball. The fact that India had beaten Pak in their backyard was a big deal to me (Fact of the matter is, our H to H record against them is sooo skewed, that any victory is HUGE for us). Alright, well and good, but am I fascinated with AA only because he was one of the members of the victorious 'A' team? Again NO.

What I failed to mention about the first test was that, in the short time that we managed to bowl, we had them tottering for the loss of atleast 3 wickets. AA got going and was unplayable by all accounts. And he continued doing the same during the third test. At the end of the series, I vaguely recall reading that he had a total of 16 wickets in '3 and a little bit more' completed Pak innings. One of the compeleted innings had to be the second test since 2 complete innings were in the 3rd test and we didnt get to bowl them out in the 1st test.

Those numbers are phenomenal, arent they? To completely outbowl Aaqib and Pak's long line of quickies takes some doing as I am sure everyone is aware. And then came the clincher, the reason for the fan club, the reason for me sticking my neck out every time he is on the field, the reason for me rambling on for sooo long...the reports from out there unanimously mentioned that AJIT AGARKAR, that lean skinny 19 yr old, tortured and tormented the quality batsman in the opposition lineup while operating with SEVEN SLIPS !!!

Those words stuck to my heart and will always remain there. And so, until my heart beats there is no escaping the fact that I will be blowing AA's trumpet each and every time he gets a tailender with a waist high full toss.

FYI....Except for the time of the Indian tour and AA's stats, everything about the tour is from memory (which is why the account is filled with 'assume', 'vaguely recall' etc). I wholeheartedly acknowledge the possibility of someone pointing out some glaring statistical mistakes in the account. But until we get our own Wasim or Shoaib, this memory is too close to the heart to be damaged by 'mere facts'.

AJIT AGARKAR Forever!!!

Pressure? What pressure??

I am not very keen to acknowledge someone's predictions, particularly so, when the 'someone' is a close friend. When it comes to Sehwag, due to the hyperbole from my friend's mouth, I have always undermined his abilities during arguments. However, after watching Sehwag in rapt attention during this 1st test, I needed an outlet to voice reality.

Its not that this was the first time I watched him in action, nor was this one his finest....far from it actually! What about his debut 105 against SA or the 195 on Boxing Day vs AUS. I havent watched his 155 at home vs AUS or the 309 vs Pak. But man, what a collection within 40 tests. And that isnt even the point of this blog.

Until recently, I was not aware that he reached his 300 by hitting a sixer, with three fielders manning the boundary on the leg side. WHAT?!! And then comes the loft into long-on's hands when he was on 195. And if you thought that he learnt from that, then check out his shot on 199 this time around.....a slash over slips with a third man in position. And last comes the 3 consecutive attempts to slash over the keeper (slips got too easy, I would have to assume) when 3 short of a world record partnership, with that being the sole purpose of coming out to bat. I DONT UNDERSTAND, someone else pls explain....

And what about the strokeplay....183 to 200 in 5 deliveries.....FIVE CONSECUTIVE deliveries!!! "Pressure?? What pressure?" he is supposed to have told Dean Jones when asked about being unbeaten on 96 overnight. I BELIEVE HIM !

Keep them coming buddy...And press conferences seem more interesting when you are around. Check this out

Get off that high horse, you journalists

Whenever an issue arises in cricket, we often read about how someone failed to see the bigger picture and put personal interest above the team interest. And this goes down well with the reader since we are all happy to discuss the morals of others' actions.

When it comes to the Ganguly soap, every single writer seems to have the good of Indian cricket at heart. And hence, feels the need to devote the title of the article and 75% of the content to Ganguly related speculations.....what does Dravid and Ganguly sitting at different tables during breakfast REALLY mean, what does the INSIDE SOURCE say about the discussion between the trio on the morning of the test match blah blah....

Why doesnt a single writer take it upon himself to help the situation by NOT IMAGINING undertones to every word uttered by the concerned folk? Mind you, they do not have to conceal the truth. But how about not reporting rumours and speculations without basis. Is that too much to ask?

If someone is wondering why I am rambling on about this topic, here it is. This one is as ridiculous as it gets. And all it is meant to do is provide some fodder for the Ganguly bashers. IMHO, the content seems to be trash and nothing else. And this, to an audience that has thrown stones at THE SAINT's (seems to be a more appropriate name for a man who is a better human than a batsman...and that takes some doing in his case) house (who btw, is showing the way to the team by opening the innings). So, why not avoid inciting our volatile supporters, by putting cricket over web hits.

Next time, when someone takes the high pedestal and writes that Ganguly or whoever put personal interest over the team, consider the facts, but also remember the following:
1) Most humans would do so - particularly when it involves a position in the Indian team. And in case you are wondering, Sachin is as human as they come.
2) The author would have done exactly the same that he was prophesizing against in that same article or maybe his previous one.