Thank god for small mercies! The left party is out of the government – When were they in the government to be out of it? All they have been doing for the past 4 years is to raise objections to any scheme that would have beneficial to the country at large. One of the fellow blogger has raised a pertinent question as to why the Left hadn’t joined the government and taken portfolios like social welfare etc and show what they can do instead of doing a Ramdoss in Tamil Nadu.
For the uninitiated the nucleus of the Indo-Nuclear deal is as follows. The right minded people (read pro nuclear deal) see it as an avenue for increased supply of nuclear fuel without us having to sign the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. We will be able to purchase nuclear equipment from the likes of Russia and of course the alpha dog YOU YES YEAH. We can safely envisage a situation where the entire country would become like Gujarat which proudly proclaims 98% of the state to have electricity. It will also hugely help us achieve the rather unrealistic growth targets we have for the next five years. These things are of course possible even without the nuclear deal but it will take a sweet twenty years and India cannot afford to wait thus long at this crucial juncture.
The anti-deal junta basically claims that it will affect India’s ability to pursue and develop nuclear technologies to the nation’s benefit and will make us dependent on the US for nuclear fuel- a stand which has clearly been challenged by some of the most intelligent minds in India including Abdul Kalam. (I can’t believe Ms Prathibha Patel is now occupying the same chair as Mr Kalam but I will save that rant for another day). I am no expert in this whole nuclear deal saga but am more than happy to follow the same as stand as the likes of Manmohan Singh/Abdul Kalam rather than a bunch of no-hopers who are not mature enough to take responsibility for their own actions and would rather criticize everything.
I would have loved to see what stand the left would have taken if the counter party to the nuclear deal was China instead of USA. I am sure Mr Karat would climb down from his moral high horse and would have started brown nosing the Chinese who in my opinion are as reliable a neighbor as the left are a coalition partner .The fact that congress has been losing all the state elections of late had given the left the edge in this whole “we will pull the plug drama” as the congress weren’t confident of winning any elections at this point in time. I am also terribly ashamed of BJPs role in this whole saga and the fact they have used this issue to try and bring the government down clearly indicates the abysmal levels to which modern day politicians have stooped to. I am sure Gandhi and Nehru are turning in their graves after seeing this latest Indian tamasha!!
No Longer do I have to wake up and read any statements issued by Mr Karat and Co and take any of this seriously. I was also reading some articles about the alleged bribery and horse trading that was involved in the trust vote- Here is my take on it- If such acts would result in left staying out of the government I am more than happy to contribute my share of bribery, please do let me know where to address my cheque! Please stay away from the government and you guys can keep continuing the wonderful service to Kerala and West Bengal- after all I couldn’t give a flying f*ck to any state that is rule by you guys.
Cheers
S
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Cricket’s nearly men
A friend of mine recently wrote a blog about his favorite but unheralded cricketers (http://vatsap.blogspot.com/2008/06/back-to-cricket.html) and I have shamelessly decided to pinch his idea and come up with my own list of cricket’s nearly men. These are cricketers who are immensely talented but somehow did not make the impact commensurate with their talent. I have obviously not included the likes of V V Kumar, Bob Taylor, Sylvester Clarke for I haven’t watched them in action. So here goes my list in no particular order
1) Ian Bishop (West Indies)
Tall, well built and unbelievably quick- this Trinidadian could have delayed the inevitable decline of cricket in the caribbean. I love him even more for the fact that I don’t remember anyone troubling sachin tendulkar more than him. Any write up about Bish would be incomplete without a mention about his 6-40 at the WACA. Thanks to back injuries the world of cricket was deprived of a world class fast bowler.
2) Graeme Hick (England)
I have watched enough county cricket to be certain that he should have been in the same bracket as Lara’s and Tendulkar’s. The man has to be the archetype of unfulfilled talent. I don’t agree with the claims about him being “England’s answer to Bradman” only because I haven’t watched the Don enough. His innings of 405* against Somerset and his famous 309 in under seven hours against the Irish have been raved by everyone who has watched the game I have always thought Hick can be as good as he wants to be- and he turned out to be as good as he wanted. He never wanted it enough! His aversion to the limelight didn’t help his cause. A combination of Ambrose’s short pitched deliveries, Ray Illingworth being an idiot and Atherton’s infamous declaration wrecked a career that could have been so different.
3) Carl Hooper (West Indies)
As an avid supporter of the West Indian cricket and cricket in general there is nothing in modern cricket more frustrating than to see Hoopsy throw his wicket away. Till date the best players of spin bowling (that I have watched) have to be Lara and him. It is an absolute joy to watch him toy with the likes of Kumble and Warne. Cricket is the biggest loser as “Poor man’s Richards” hasn’t fulfilled his true potential.
4) Stuart Macgill (Australia)
Anybody who has picked up over 200 wickets in 44 test matches cannot be branded as unfulfilled potential. But, that explains what the world cricket has missed out on. It is an absolute shame that Stuey was born in the same era as the indomitable Warney. He would have been heralded as a modern great if he was playing for some other country. His inconsistency is unbelievable annoying but we have to bear in mind the fact that leg spin is the most difficult art to master in the world of cricket.
5) Vinod Kambli (India)
It is not out of contempt (towards Sachin) that I keep repeating that Kambli should have been a better batsman than tendulkar. He was prodigiously talented and the cricketing gods have wasted so much time in creating a player who was deemed not good enough for the Indian team Till date this has to be the biggest mistake the Indian cricket authorities have made- Not taking care of Kambli when he needed us most. His double centuries against England and Zimbabwe were the stuff of men against boys at the time when he was not old enough to grow a tasche’. Imagine if he had got the same support that Kaif and Yuvraj had from Ganguly and Dalmiya – he would have plundered attacks, given that he loves batting with Sachin.
6) Laxman Siva Ramakrishnan (India)
What makes the Kambli episode even more frustrating is the fact that we had a similar experience with Siva. Any bowler who can leave Javed Miandad stranded in the middle of the pitch with nonchalant ease has to be an outstanding spinner. The amount of wickets he purchased with full tosses and half volleys explains the dip that he’s got and is something Warne would have loved in his armory. The fact that Sachin wanted him to be his net bowler when he was planning the famous assault against Warne at time when Siva was coming back from his drug addiction is probably the biggest compliment someone can pay to him.
7) Basit Ali (Pakistan)
Basit Ali is the closest someone will ever get to the great Javed Miandad. If he had Javed’s temperament we would have been talking about a modern great and not of a nearly man. His unorthodox style and fearless batting made him one of the most difficult batsmen to bowl at. His 67 ball hundred against the Windies (second fastest then) was one of the best exhibitions of batting against fast bowlers in ODIs. Players like Basit and Kambli reiterate the need of professional set-up in cricket- What could have been?
8) Simon Jones (England)
I can hear you guys saying” One swallow doesn’t make a summer” but I really think this guys was the real deal. Freddie takes a lot of credit for the poms winning the ashes in 2005 but in my opinion it was Simon who made the difference. He was the unfashionable 4th seamer but he always did his job. I remember Boycott mentioning in an interview that he was watching jones bowl from behind the square he could hear the ball thudding into Geriant Jones’s gloves. He was deceptively quick and in my opinion the best exponent of reverse swing after Waqar Younis.
9) Darren Lehmann
Boof has to be one of the most intelligent one day cricketers of the modern era. Apart from his odd moment of brilliance and being one of the best team players his potential was largely unfulfilled. He has scored more than 10,000 runs in Aussie domestic league (which is one of the most competitive leagues and is not like England where every tom dick and harry can amass 10K runs if he plays 100 games) before making his test debut. Warne rates him as a better one day batsman than most of his contemporaries.
10) Shoaib Akthar
Cricket’s most popular bad boy had to make the list. If his will to succeed were as big as his ego or his desire to be in the limelight he would be entered the cricketing history books as one of the best fast bowlers in the modern era. Graham Gooch famously retorted to Ian Botham “Who writes your scripts?”- It would have been even more apt for Akthar- His every comeback is even more dramatic than his downfall. There is always a feeling that Akthar plays cricket for the Camera’s- Perfect for the IPL as my friend keeps reminding me.
Thank you gentle men – You guys have made the sport what it is today- What is sport without these nearly stories. Every time I watch the game I have silently prayed and hoped that this would be the game you will shed you nearly men image and prove to the world your real worth.
Cheers
S
1) Ian Bishop (West Indies)
Tall, well built and unbelievably quick- this Trinidadian could have delayed the inevitable decline of cricket in the caribbean. I love him even more for the fact that I don’t remember anyone troubling sachin tendulkar more than him. Any write up about Bish would be incomplete without a mention about his 6-40 at the WACA. Thanks to back injuries the world of cricket was deprived of a world class fast bowler.
2) Graeme Hick (England)
I have watched enough county cricket to be certain that he should have been in the same bracket as Lara’s and Tendulkar’s. The man has to be the archetype of unfulfilled talent. I don’t agree with the claims about him being “England’s answer to Bradman” only because I haven’t watched the Don enough. His innings of 405* against Somerset and his famous 309 in under seven hours against the Irish have been raved by everyone who has watched the game I have always thought Hick can be as good as he wants to be- and he turned out to be as good as he wanted. He never wanted it enough! His aversion to the limelight didn’t help his cause. A combination of Ambrose’s short pitched deliveries, Ray Illingworth being an idiot and Atherton’s infamous declaration wrecked a career that could have been so different.
3) Carl Hooper (West Indies)
As an avid supporter of the West Indian cricket and cricket in general there is nothing in modern cricket more frustrating than to see Hoopsy throw his wicket away. Till date the best players of spin bowling (that I have watched) have to be Lara and him. It is an absolute joy to watch him toy with the likes of Kumble and Warne. Cricket is the biggest loser as “Poor man’s Richards” hasn’t fulfilled his true potential.
4) Stuart Macgill (Australia)
Anybody who has picked up over 200 wickets in 44 test matches cannot be branded as unfulfilled potential. But, that explains what the world cricket has missed out on. It is an absolute shame that Stuey was born in the same era as the indomitable Warney. He would have been heralded as a modern great if he was playing for some other country. His inconsistency is unbelievable annoying but we have to bear in mind the fact that leg spin is the most difficult art to master in the world of cricket.
5) Vinod Kambli (India)
It is not out of contempt (towards Sachin) that I keep repeating that Kambli should have been a better batsman than tendulkar. He was prodigiously talented and the cricketing gods have wasted so much time in creating a player who was deemed not good enough for the Indian team Till date this has to be the biggest mistake the Indian cricket authorities have made- Not taking care of Kambli when he needed us most. His double centuries against England and Zimbabwe were the stuff of men against boys at the time when he was not old enough to grow a tasche’. Imagine if he had got the same support that Kaif and Yuvraj had from Ganguly and Dalmiya – he would have plundered attacks, given that he loves batting with Sachin.
6) Laxman Siva Ramakrishnan (India)
What makes the Kambli episode even more frustrating is the fact that we had a similar experience with Siva. Any bowler who can leave Javed Miandad stranded in the middle of the pitch with nonchalant ease has to be an outstanding spinner. The amount of wickets he purchased with full tosses and half volleys explains the dip that he’s got and is something Warne would have loved in his armory. The fact that Sachin wanted him to be his net bowler when he was planning the famous assault against Warne at time when Siva was coming back from his drug addiction is probably the biggest compliment someone can pay to him.
7) Basit Ali (Pakistan)
Basit Ali is the closest someone will ever get to the great Javed Miandad. If he had Javed’s temperament we would have been talking about a modern great and not of a nearly man. His unorthodox style and fearless batting made him one of the most difficult batsmen to bowl at. His 67 ball hundred against the Windies (second fastest then) was one of the best exhibitions of batting against fast bowlers in ODIs. Players like Basit and Kambli reiterate the need of professional set-up in cricket- What could have been?
8) Simon Jones (England)
I can hear you guys saying” One swallow doesn’t make a summer” but I really think this guys was the real deal. Freddie takes a lot of credit for the poms winning the ashes in 2005 but in my opinion it was Simon who made the difference. He was the unfashionable 4th seamer but he always did his job. I remember Boycott mentioning in an interview that he was watching jones bowl from behind the square he could hear the ball thudding into Geriant Jones’s gloves. He was deceptively quick and in my opinion the best exponent of reverse swing after Waqar Younis.
9) Darren Lehmann
Boof has to be one of the most intelligent one day cricketers of the modern era. Apart from his odd moment of brilliance and being one of the best team players his potential was largely unfulfilled. He has scored more than 10,000 runs in Aussie domestic league (which is one of the most competitive leagues and is not like England where every tom dick and harry can amass 10K runs if he plays 100 games) before making his test debut. Warne rates him as a better one day batsman than most of his contemporaries.
10) Shoaib Akthar
Cricket’s most popular bad boy had to make the list. If his will to succeed were as big as his ego or his desire to be in the limelight he would be entered the cricketing history books as one of the best fast bowlers in the modern era. Graham Gooch famously retorted to Ian Botham “Who writes your scripts?”- It would have been even more apt for Akthar- His every comeback is even more dramatic than his downfall. There is always a feeling that Akthar plays cricket for the Camera’s- Perfect for the IPL as my friend keeps reminding me.
Thank you gentle men – You guys have made the sport what it is today- What is sport without these nearly stories. Every time I watch the game I have silently prayed and hoped that this would be the game you will shed you nearly men image and prove to the world your real worth.
Cheers
S
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