Does Cricket really need DRS?

Every time a ball hits the pad and there is an appeal, almost likely that whatever decision will be, either the batsman or the fielding captain will make the T sign, except when they have run out of their referrals or they are holding the advantage in the match.
A lot has been said about DRS technology not being perfect, Hot Spot going cold many times, ball tracker not showing the right trajectory and also ball hitting the stumps but only just and hence cant be taken for sure. BCCI has been ridiculed for not supporting DRS and twisting arms of the boards who want to use it in Series against India. Batsman growling whenever they were given out of inside edges but hot having any referrals left.
There have been suggestions on how DRS can be improved? How ICC can own the technology and not leave it to home boards and TV producers? How about leaving DRS completely between umpires and take it out of players hand, so its not limited to 2 referrals and all decisions can be improved?
well, I believe that Cricket don't need DRS except for line decisions (runout, stumping and ball pitch map). Lot of time and energy is being spent on something which never existed in the game and it doesn't really improves the game experience for anyone, ok may be for the players but check the odds for them. How many times in the last 10 innings of each batsman he has used DRS?, once or twice and chances are that he even then got a 50-50 score line with DRS. DRS or no DRS, 3 international teams have been bowled under 50 in last 15 tests and no DRS could have saved that.

All great batsmen who have been playing since 90s and have had 10+ years in international cricket, they have scored all their runs without any help from DRS. If they were ever given out incorrectly, they have taken it on the chin and moved on. There is nice story about Brian Lara , when he was given LBW against England in Jamaica, he went to see the replay even before taking his pads off. What he saw was marginal decision but then he said, "this wouldn't have happened if I had hit it with bat!" he never blamed the umpire or DRS. Ask Sachin and every time he got a shocker from Steve Bucknor, he just moved on and scored 15000 test runs, Ponting, Kallis, Dravid, Sehwag, you name any one in 10000+ club and they dont care about DRS. Ask McGrath, Warne and Murali, or even Kapil, Walsh and Hadlee, all record holders and no. of LBWs and caught behinds not given for them, they just went back to their mark and bowled again and again..
I think all boards will do lot of good for Cricket if instead of DRS, they can focus on bringing up good umpires and improve the overall standard of the game. Its important that Players trust the umpires and know that he will make best decision to his ability and he is honest. If DRS is meant to reduce the pressure on the umpires, its not helping and its undermining their authority.
Do every one a favor and drop DRS saga, go back to umpires , good umpires, and no one will miss DRS.

How will History Judge Dhoni?

A lot has been said recently about Dhoni as captain , batsman and last but not the least, keeper. Its to his credit that least talked aspect about Dhoni is his keeping, which is the first thing which got him in the Indian team in first place. Dhoni was never a natural keeper and he has worked hard at it to bring it to international levels and since not many questions are raised about it now, it could be because of one of these 2 reasons, either he is good enough keeper and best that India has OR other aspects of Dhoni the player completely out weigh this aspect.

Dhoni is not the best keeper India had or currently has, not even by narrowest margin. There are other keepers who would be more effortless while keeping in all conditions, seaming, standing up to spinners and also may be decent bat in front of wickets, but blame Gilchrist for this new standard of wicket keeper-batsman role. There is no way keeping is primary job anymore and Avg of 30+  as batsman in cricket is good for keepers. Keepers are expected to be good test batsmen and anyone with Avg of less than 40 is not good option. its ok if they drop an odd catch or let go few byes, why not, just because your best batsman drops a catch or misfields in cover, you don't drop him from team. wicket keeping is also a fielding position, yes, the important and specialist one but still a fielding position. So more than Avg wicket keeping skills are fine as long as you are proper batsman, and that means Avg of 45+ in tests and ODIs.
this is the difference between sides having only 5 batsmen or 6 (no 7 still belongs to all rounder unless you are Kallis). Dhoni brings this balance to Indian team, mostly for One Dayers. Dhoni the test batsman still leave lot to be desired.
But the most important role Dhoni plays is of India captain, which is the second most important job in India, after the Prime Minister (First when India is playing WC or Pakistan or Pakistan in WC ). Dhoni started well in test cricket, not losing much and winning a lot, check out any stats website for this. Also , lot has been said about 8-0 drubbing overseas, winning against WI and NZ was expected though there were some surprises but the recent loss against Eng was the real thing. Though England and Cook and Pietersen and Swann and Panesar deserve all credit, India didn't help themselves. I think Dhoni has a choice to make, he can be remembered as captain who won India the WC but was not good for test cricket or he can decide to leave his legacy behind.
Its no doubt that Dhoni thrives in shorter format, he is master of ODI batting and great reader of the game, couple of traits he is clearly lacking in tests, when the ball gets old and afternoons are long.
ODI pace suits his style of play, because stage of the game forces the play, rather than captains. He knows what batsman will try to do in power plays, middle overs and end of innings. He can judge that by who is on crease, how many wickets left, is it morning or under lights and who is bowling? In Tests, everything is open, batsman can play their game without worrying about run rates and that's when captain needs to force the pace, something where Dhoni is lacking. we can always blame the bowlers, as he can bowl only the ones who are playing but again, he is also responsible for who is playing!
Dhoni still believes that defending WC in 2015 is highest priority, he might leave one format by end 2013 to focus on this.He might consider leaving Tests soon after Australia series, atleast as captain so someone like Sehwag can take over. For heaven sake he has played almost 100 tests.
Indian cricket history may just get the captain who not only won the WC twice but also let Test team to get to no. 1 again,by leaving the captaincy. that might be his best move in test cricket so far.

Will India actually miss Sachin Tendulkar?

There was a time in 90's when it was unthinkable to even imagine an India cricket team without Sachin Tendulkar. From the day in 1989, when this boy from Mumbai smashed Abdul Qadir for 3 sixes in one over in that exhibition match in Pakistan, and made lighting fast fifty, he has been the darling of Indian cricket fans. Its not too far from truth that no one unites India more than Sachin. If you ever need evidence of this, watch any Sachin innings video on YouTube, but dont watch Sachin, watch the crowd when he hits a 4 or 6, or when he raises his bat after 50 or 100. No one watching remembers their religion and political preferences or even which part of India they are from.. they all just dance in the aisles..
This is what Sachin has done for all his 23 years in International Cricket. He has given performances of such magnitude on the field that has made India realize that we are not inferior, we are equal and even better than most in the world of sport.Its not that Indian cricketers in earlier generations were not that good, The Legends such as Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev also held Indian pride very high but Sachin's arrival also coincided with new confident India as whole. I remember reading an article from Harsha Bhogle where he mentioned that Sachin's arrival in cricket scene coincided with new economic reforms from then Finance Minister which opened up the Indian Economy and it has not looked back since. That was also the time when Indian IT industry really took off with companies like Infosys going public in early 90s. Now there is connection here. Indian IT industry is also industry of young people. At that time, all youngesters working in IT companies were working for many foreign clients, mainly in USA. It was still early days for Indian IT image and some where, all those young Indians in foreign land saw Sachin performing against the best of the lot and gained the confidence that we can do the same.
 That was also the time when Indian people were watching cricket not for India team but for Sachin Tendulkar. It was common that whenever Sachin was out, half the stadium will get empty, rest will go quiet and most people will turn their TV off. Mid to late 90s, when Sachin was already 10 years into the international cricket, people used to fear, what after Sachin? it was a very scary thought....
However, what Sachin also did is to inspire a generation of cricketers after him, likes of Sehwag, Dravid, Ganguly joined him and started sharing some expectations of Indian public and Sachin , for once, had the luxury of odd failure and India still pulling off victories (Natwest 2002 final.. Ganguly's shirt). Sachin was still the main deal though.. it was Sachin's word in 2003 WC when he said "we will improve" on behalf of team and calmed the nation down after scratchy start of the tournament. True to his word, team pulled its weight and we all know that..
we still thought what after Sachin? it was still unthinkable though likes of Dravid and Laxman were pulling enough weight.. in the middle of 2000s, Sachin's form fluctuated in the second half, but he still had lot left.. and no Indian team was still possible without him.. not so long ago, it was Sachin who was pulling India through the early matches of WC 2011 with 2 back to back 100s. if it wasn't for his 85 (Scratchy , yes, but look at the score sheet now) in mother of all Semi-finals against Pakistan..God knows what would have happened..
We all know that India has not been performing well in last 18 months or so.. and its not Sachin's fault.. we also bid farewell to 4 stalwarts of Indian cricket in last 4 years (Ganguly, Kumble, Dravid and Laxman) who built the core of the team with Sachin earlier and team has still moved on.. New talent like Kohli has taken the center stage and we still have the promise of Rohit's and Raina's in middle order for ODIs.. Manoj Tiwari and Pujara are lining up for tests as well.. so if we think about India team without Sachin as well, its not so scary any more.. Sad, true, but not Scary...
we all know that Sachin will not be around forever (and we always knew that) , though he still has the hunger and drive , enough motivation to play Ranji Trophy opener before the test series against Eng.
Think about it, if it wasn't the love for the game, what else could be driving Sachin to turn up for his state side for season opener...?? we have heard the stories that Gavaskar turned up for his club game the next morning he returned from foreign tours but he was still young then.. Sachin is not..
so what if this England series is the last series for Sachin and he bids good bye to Indian Cap, will that be catastrophe? I dont think so, Yes, it will be very sad day for Indian cricket but one thing Sachin has done by playing for these many years is that given us the opportunity to get comfortable with the idea of cricket without him, we have had the chance to live with the scary thought for so long that we are not so scared anymore.. we have seen enough talent coming through all these years that we know that next generation will take care of themselves and still hold their head high in the field..
This will be HIS biggest legacy to Indian cricket..and HIS every remaining day on field should be celebrated for that..and HE should be Thanked for HIS services to Indian cricket on last playing day...whenever that happens to be..

M S Dhoni- Losing his lucky charm?

When MS Dhoni became the captain of India T20 team for first WC in 2007 in South Africa, It was accepted immediately. It was believed that he was recommended by Ganguly, Dravid, Kumble and above all, Sachin himself. There was another theory that Kumble was made test captain in 2006 only because Dhoni was too young to captain Test team, not that India never had younger captains but in the times of Patudi and Kapil, it was only test cricket and they were thrown in deep end. But now, there are 3 forms of cricket and there was an option to ease him in for the main job, especially if you think there was Aus tour lined up very soon and senior pro as captain was better option. In hindsight, considering what happened in Sydney 2008, it was good call too..




Dhoni's first major assignment was WC T20 2007, More so when you think there were no Senior in the team, Sehwag was the most senior and he hadn't had even 10 years of international cricket till then.
Going by the early results, Dhoni seemed to had golden touch and his every move on the field was paying off, including even playing Yusuf pathan in final in place of Sehwag and giving that last over to Joginder Sharma.. think about it, Joginder hadn't played for India since..




He was winning everything, including 2-0 against Aus at home. It was an unbeaten run in tests, first time India won the tri series in Aus in 2008. India being defeated in T20 WC 2009 and 2010 was just ignored as team failure as focus was shifting to WC 2011 which was always just months away.
Dhoni achieved the dream with that six in the night of Mumbai and it seemed that India is finally going to be the super power on cricket field as it was off it. Dhoni had ensured his place in history...




Things started to go wrong from there...
India lost all games on tour to England, it was mostly put to fitness and sudden failure of batting greats.. Dhoni had his share of bad luck with Zaheer walking off on first morning and Harbhajan forgot how to spin..there were questions on his judgement when Dhoni called RP singh from his holidays and played him in last test even when Munaf Patel was in squad.. some eyebrows were raised but everything was over shadowed by batting failures, Dravid the wall, and Sachin's quest for 100th 100. After winning against WI at home, real test came in Australia.
Australia test series was the first time when cracks in his captaincy started to show up. No Tactical moves in field..defensive field settings to allow 200s and 300s from Aussies...No change in batting line up even when Perth test was lost in 2 days...Series was already gone but Dhoni didn't change the line up.. was it his ploy to keep playing the legends in the gamble that they were his best bet for revival and if they fail again, calls for their retirement will grow so loud that he will be spared the tough call and aging middle order will go away on its own.. we will never know...
Then came the tri series, first the rotation of seniors to let Rohit Sharma play, even Sachin was made to sit out.. then the mention of slowness of seniors..and Sehwag's reaction in press conference.. then the only game Ind won against Aus, Gambhir made a point to mention that Dhoni shouldn't have left it too late.. was it just communication gap?
It seemed that Dhoni the batsman still there but captain is loosing tactical touch..the street smartness which made him lucky earlier..
Not much has changed since then.. After winning the first WC T20 in 2007, India hasn't made to last 4 in next 3 editions..
Dhoni the captain had taken some calls on team selections which defies any logic.. consider this in last WC T20
- Making Irfan open in league game against Eng to give a chance to Chwala..ok but why Irfan? when its matter of just 20 overs, why not a specialist batsman? why the long middle order for just 120 balls?
- Why continue with same combination against Aus in super 8s? Knowing that in this format, loosing one game means it will come down to NRR, which no team alone can control? Even then, No Virat to open the batting..
- when team won against Pak, same combination against SA, knowing and watching the previous game at same ground that Spin is key..No Harbhajan..
Dhoni has tried to push his luck one more time..something works onetime then dont change till it fails..no proactive calls,no tough decisions,no picking of players except from CSK (Raina and Ashwin) , no backing of Umesh Yadav and Varon Aaron.. happy to play with what he gets.. no asking and standing behind some players like Ganguly.. if it wasn't for Ganguly, imagine no Yuvraj , Harbhajan, Zaheer and Sehwag today...
Dhoni probably had last roll of dice now, Eng and Aus are coming to India and Dhoni would feel he has good chance of winning at home.. he may as well be right.. But is winning now is more important than being able to win for long time.. He may still continue as captain till end of 2013 (though he had mentioned about leaving one format by then, most likely tests to focus on defending WC 2015).




Question is, what can he do for India between now and then.. Ganguly never won the WC but Indian fans still call him 'Dada'.. and swear by his legacy in Indian cricket.. how the history will remember Dhoni.. the captain who won the WC for India after 28 years or who gave India the players who kept us on top for next 28 years.. We will find it with England series..
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IPL 2012- the story so far and wish list...

IPL 5 was long awaited moment for many reasons around the world. Indian players would be playing at home after the most disappointing tour of Australia ever, including the one in 1999. It was to be seen if they can bring the fans to the stadium or not. Also, IPL 4 had the lowest TRP among all the IPL seasons till then and stadiums were empty and TV ratings were good only for RCB matches , because Gayle was playing and hitting every thing and for play offs and finals. Interestingly RCB lost the finals against the odds. IPL 5 is the litmus test of IPL. IPL 5 started with an event more suitable for blockbuster movies, more bollywood than cricketers and songs and dance, more like Filmfare awards... thankfully it was only for 1 night and there was no match schedule after that..






Once again, no Pakistani players in IPL and reason is clear that its more political than commercial. No franchise wants to take risk and they probably have inside instructions to stay away or they have just decided this among themselves to boycott neighbors. Overall, it would have been great to have likes of Gul, Afridi and Misbah in IPL as well.

Most Indian players were available, they have to be, after all its BCCI tournament. Not many Aussies, atleast from the 1st XI, they are playing WI, but since Gayle is not , he is playing IPL.
English and Sri Lankan were playing couple of tests but they finished ASAP and joined IPL already, mainly Pieterson and Jayawardane & Sanga, though Stuart Broad missed out and no one wanted Graeme Swan and James Anderson anyway.

Now coming to the matches so far, almost half way to the IPL matches till date, where some teams have played almost 1/3rd of their matches except Deccan Chargers, who have played only 2 so far. looks like they will have busy second half of the IPL, looks like this IPL have reversed the trend.
So far, last year's whipping boys are doing so well, Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals are in top of the table, also Kings XI Punjab doing well where last year finalists, Chennai super kings and RCB are in bottom half. As usual KKR is in middle, neither here or there, more like nearly there but so far.. Surprise package is Pune Warrior, almost didn't play the IPL 5 as Sahara pulled out just before IPL kick off but like most Indian sporting events, truce was called and Dada was captain again on field. No one
remembers that there is team missing called Kochi, except for people from Kochi.
Among Indian stars, Yuvi is recovering and PWI team seem to playing well under Dada. Good to see stalwarts like Dravid (RR) and Ganguly (PWI) doing well as captain, where Sachin resigned from MI captaincy and left to Harbhajan, this showed the same picture as in international cricket, where Dravid and Ganguly had better success as captain then Tendulkar. It shows that Tendulkar is so focussed on his game that he is ready to play under Bhajji and that's what works for him. It all worked out for MI as Tendulkar is out injured anyway, should return soon. Dravid playing his last tournament before walking into sunset..one way good to sign off with IPL, no pressure of international cricket and can play freely with nothing to prove..



Find of the tournament has been Ajiynka Rahane, with only 100 of IPL 5 so far, some amazing batting and holding Orange cap, where last years blasters like Gayle and Valthaty are subdued, so is Yusuf Pathan. Munaf Patel is back and getting some wickets with his nothing bowling.. glad to see Vinay Kumar being thrashed.. hopefully now he will be out of Indian team. Nothing for Ashwin, Virat , Irfan, Zaheer etc. Rohit played one good innings , with some help from Daniel christian but mostly disappointing.
Lot of time left in tournament but no clear leader so far, for the health of IPL and future of the brand, it will be good to have some new names in top 4. this will keep the competition even. its best when any of 9 teams can win any game.






















Personally , I would wish to see following in IPL5
- RR, KKR, PWI and Delhi Daredevils making top 4, they will get tough competition from MI, RCB and CSK.
-DC winning some matches and making it more interesting.
- Rahul Dravid hitting 20 ball 50 to chase off stiff target.
- Dada outthinking other captains, which he already did against MI and showed Bhajji who is the boss.
- More matches with scores less than 150, give something for bowlers and some tricky chases.
- At least 2 matches where more than 200 chased down, likely teams are CSK & RCB, and CSK already done against RCB
-KKR reaching final for the first time and SRK dancing in Stadium, as he promised in IPL 4.
-More last ball finishes, only 3 in first 38 matches so far..




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An year as Champions- Where are the players now?

It has been an year now since that night in Mumbai, when MS Dhoni hit that white ball into night sky and started the celebrations in the country and wherever Indians were at that time. It was one of those moments when everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing..

However the next 12 months have been the most bizarre for Indian cricket, with so much has been written about every possible reasons and some imaginary reasons behind this..some cared genuinely and some had other motives.. I am not planning to discuss these reasons.. After 12 months of that night, I am wondering where some of those players are who were part of this journey and have put their mark in history as WC winner..

you would expect that a world cup winning team is most stable one , where there are some players at their peak, some are upcoming stars and some utility players who will be around for some time.. however, if we look at the Indian Squad who played in WC, it will be surprising to see where some of them are now, just one year after that night..
Lets look at each one of them, what they did in WC and since and what future looks for them.




1. Captain MS Dhoni- well, he is not going anywhere after playing the innings of his life and his last shot picture is same as Kapil Dev's Pic from 1983 WC final , running back to take Viv Richards catch. Dhoni's position is secure in Indian cricket team and history, captain of Indian team in all 3 formats, he will remain captain till he decides to leave or get injured which might hamper his continous availability. Dhoni is most busy Indian player by long shot and biggest brand value as well..his biggest test start now, to rebuild the damaged reputation in next 12 months for Indian cricket which took 10 years to build in first place..
2. Virender Sehwag- After an explosive start to WC, with 175 against Bangladesh, he had bit quiet world cup , other than hitting the first ball of the innings for 4 in 5 consecutive matches, he ended up getting out for 0 in finals, on 2nd ball to give India it's worst possible start. after WC, played IPL, withdrew near the end for surgery and skipped WI tour. Horrible ENG and Aus tour later , with public spat with skipper, Sehwag seems to be loosing his aura. However, between oveseas tours, he smashed 219 in ODI which is no joke..he needs to get big score soon and pull off some impossibles, some believe that his vice captaincy is also under threat in Tests but may be too pre-mature to say that.. may be he needs to get his due, test captaincy to revive Sehwag the batsman..
3. Sachin Tendulkar- Dream come true for biggest player of this generation, pictures of Sachin being carried around on his team mates shoulders will remain in Memory, after WC, Sachin has been off color, after the 99th 100 in league matches, his 100th 100 was there for taking and chance to get it in finals, but it took almost an year.. sachin is not getting younger and even after getting 100th 100, no plans to leave ODIs but his availability is always subject to injury. probably will retire from ODIs after Aus tour of India in 2013 , to give enough time to settle new team for 2015 WC..Test retirement..no one knows..



4. Gautam Gambhir- After playing the innings of his life, 97 in WC final but not getting his due, MOM went to MS Dhoni, he had roller coaster ride..though same happened to him in 2007 WC T20 final, after making 75, MOM went to Irfan Pathan..Gambhir is key to India's future, one of the established batsman at top pf the order..when all big 3 retire.. lost his vice captaincy to Kohli which must be disappointing.. need to regroup and play some big innings soon at home against NZ, Eng and Aus..some scores need to be settled with them..
5. Yuvraj Singh- Toast of WC 2011 win and player of the tournament, Yuvi had most horrible of years when his form went off in Eng and the diagnosed with Cancer.. which puts everything in perspective.. recovery going well, no time plan to get back to cricket soon but he will come back.and he will be welcomed..may be a captain candidate for 2015 WC if Dhoni not available.. definitely a main middle order batsman in ODIs
6. Suresh Raina- Supposed to be Pin up boy of Indian cricket, fighting to stay in team really.. had a decent WC, with innings in Qtr final against Aus was his highlight and kept the fielding tight..but after that test spot gone for surerr after Eng tour and not much in ODI in Aus as well..need to score some runs soon else the likes of Rohit Sharma are hanging around..
7. Virat Kohli- The actual pin up boy of Indian cricket.. he is the only one who had real rise after WC..after horrible start in Eng and Aus, recovered and improved some reputation in Australia, with 100 each in test and ODI. ODI 100 was the high point with impossible chase against SL and then star of Asia cup, with 183 against Pak, now the vice captain and certain no. 3 in next test now that Dravid is retired..(unless Lax is considered for no. 3 first) , he can go strength to strength.. Indian captain for future for sure..
8. Yusuf Pathan- One of those utility player who should have been regular no. 7 in ODIs for his power hitting, but still on the sidelines. played 1st half of the WC and then stayed on bench..one year on, still on bench..may play some home series in ODIs, now with irfan back , fight for no. 7 has gone up.
9. Piyush Chawla- Eye brows were raised when he was selected for the WC and then played some league matches with no real impact, bowled in final overs against Eng which was a tie. since then on bench and out of Indian team.. again may come back for some ODIs at home but very unlikely as ashwin is first choice and Harbhajan can surprise many if he comes back. IPL 5 will go long way to confirm this. Also competing with Rahul


10. Munaf Patel- A fast bowler turned medium pacer, he bowled well in WC Semifinal against Pak but came apart in ODIs in Eng. He was not considered good enough for tests even when there was injuries all around. Dhoni preferred fat and slow RP Singh over Munaf. Played all Eng ODIs with had a fall in last ODI, went off the field limping and have not been seen since then.. with Umesh and Varon around, don't think he will come back. May be seen playing in IPL only..
11.S Sree Santh- More famous for his antics on and off the field then his out swingers which are of real quality with Red ball.. not the favorite of Captain when he asked him to irritate only the opposition players, not his own.. which tells a story, had a spat with Bhajji in IPL 3 as well.. played final only because Ashish Nehra was injured in Semi final.. bowled ok with some boundary balls.. more like a lucky musket for MSD as he was in 2007 T20 WC final and took the most important catch as well..still out injured and should come back once fit, he should be automatic choice with Umesh and Zaheer in test team, much better than Vinay kumar anyday..
12. Ashish Nehra: Described as best ODI bowler from India by Ganguly, bowled well in the WC, was in 2003 WC final as well but missed out on this one.. bowled well in high pressure semifinal against Pak with fractured hand, and haven't played since for India, chances to make comeback are slim, must be wondering what he did wrong..wasn't considered when things were going all wrong in Eng..might have played last match for India..


13. Zaheer Khan: Bowled well in final against SL, 3 maidens to start with , redeemed himself from the debacle of 15 run opening over in 2003 WC final.. was taken for some runs in end but over all well bowled, looked like he will be key of Indian attack for next 2 series, went out limping on 1st day against Eng and India never recovered.. bowled well in Australia..still the key bowler for next 2 years if he can maintain his fitness.. should get 400 test wickets.
14. R Ashwin: was competing for the 2nd spinner slot with Piyush Chawala in WC, finally got to play in QF against Aus, well bowled and played till final.. bowled within himself and sealed the spot in ODIs, since then gone from strength to strength.. now the no. 1 choice for Spinner from India, even in Tests now that Bhajji is out..scored test 100 as well at home and some useful runs in Aus as well, but lot more is expected with ball.. home series against Eng and Aus will be key..
15. Harbhajan Singh: was no. 1 choice for India in all formats, nothing of note in WC but played all matches..since then , things have gone downhill for him.. came back from Eng after 2 tests and dropped from Indian team in all formats.. IPL 5 is one chance to redeem himself..




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what's not to like about London..

A recent short business trip to London after 2 years made me realize why I like this city so much, I had lived in London in 2008 for some time and got to know the city very well during those months. Having experienced the underground network of London once, it always makes it easy for future visits.

Been living in stockholm, the city I like as well, there is no shortage of sunlight and greenery in spring and summer which is good 6 months of the year and I love the snow in winter as well so all that is fine so what is about London which has its own unique charm?

1. London Tube & Bus Network- which is huge and well connected. It can be overwhelming for the first timer but once you get the hang of it and get used to all the lines, The Jubliee, The Piccadilly and rest and of course the DLR, its not so difficult to get around. Stations can be overcrowded in peak hours and most of them are only stairs, no escalators, still they have this antique feeling about them considering this system is more than 60 years old and still running. And the Tube itself are unique design. From outside, they look so small that I wonder how anyone will get in, but everyone does..



Also that typical underground sign is never far away from the street and huge escalators which can take you so below the earth that you will loose mobile signal. The best part, you can be assure that you will not be bothered about people next to you talking on the phone loudly, you can read your book in peace..


on the other hand, the charm of double decker busses, stops are strategically placed so you always have one near by and pleasure of sitting on upper deck and watching the traffic go by below you is something to experience..

2.Buzz of the morning Rush hour-
Going to office in morning via public transport has this refreshing feeling in London. for some people it might be stressful as Tubes are crowded but coming from India, crowd doesn't bother me. Also , there is common theme and understanding between office goers, a common london office goer will dress in suit and tie, with overcoat, a briefcase and umbrella in hand and either listening to music via earphone, reading newspaper (ah..the free copy of Metro) or a book, which is being replaced by e-readers..
Also , the understanding is quite evident when its time to get in or get out of the tube at your stop, no matter how crowded it is, every one allowed to get off first, they all get out in queue one after the another, no pushing and then every one gets in , one by one and you can always squeeze in..
3. London Taxis- the unique looking old black taxis are best way to get around, the best part of the taxi is internal design, the boot space is removed and converted into spacious sitting area, where you can stretch your legs, and even sit comfortably when you are 4 people or have big luggage.. and they can take you anywhere, no matter how short and long distance you need to go..


4. London parks and places to go- you always have someplace to go during weekends, in summer, its mostly the parks, which are huge anyway with children play areas. No. of attractions & sights to visit. In evenings , the choice of theatre and movies are unending and not to mention the amount of restaurants you can choose from. the evening crowd on weekends on the streets gives that feeling that it's happening city.


5. Lord's- Ofcourse, how can we miss that, the Temple of cricket which is the place to be in July and rest of the summer, there is no other cricket ground like it..it would be dream to watch a cricket match over there and see your favorites up & close., Having been inside the visitor dressingf room and seen the famous scoreboard and the Ganguly balcony, I can say its the place for every cricket lover to be..

6. A sight of London residential street- a sight to remember in London suburbs, mostly identical houses on both sides of road with house nos. in even and odd orders, with typical british door, with street lined up with Cars on both sides but wide enough for traffic.


7. CBD area- Canary wharf, the best commercial address in London which houses all financial institutes and all global companies, the view of London eye from high rise buildings and the sight of those buildings with huge company logos on top of buildings.

8. Telephone Booths- A typical London telephone booth can be recognized in any part of the world, a signature sight of any london street



Not to mention the typical english tea , which just tastes better in london..2012 is big year for this city with so much lined up, including the biggest one, Olympic 2012.. Seeing the preparation, its going to be huge and also a chance for 10.5 Million visitors to visit this amazing city, sure most of them will be there for the first time and will come back again..
looking forward to another visit to London some time soon..


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