Vetti velai (Jobless....Vella .....)

He leaves to where his music came from

2008-09-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

I generally attend very few kutcheris during the music season, though my visits to the Sabha are more frequent to savour the food that is on offering. But every year I always used to watch out the papers for the Sabha's where Kunakkudi used to be playing. He generally played for everyone, the connoisseur as well as the layman. His music reached everyone, right from the knowledgable maami's in their impeccable kanchipuram sarees to those who came just to listen to some soul stirring music. There have been occassions when his violin used to speak with the audience, he used to play songs on demand, even cine ones. There have been occasions when I have been forced to go to kutcheris just to accompany my mother, I used to sit because I was forced to, but when Kunakudi was playing it was different.

His greatest achievement will perhaps be making the Murugan temple at Marudhamalai extremely popular. The song Marudhamali Mamaniye murugayya from the movie Deivam set to tune by Kunnakudi remains fresh in memory to this day. Every time he played the song one could sense something special, the smile used to widen, the hands used to move on auto pilot mode. It was more than just a song to him , it was his offering to his favourite god for all that he had bestowed on him.

The greatest teachers are those who are able to reach and communicate effectively to the students with the lowest IQ. A teacher is judged not by the knowledge or degrees he accumulates but in the way he articulates the most complex of theories. Similarly a musician's greatness should be judged not by how the connoisseur's perceive him , but by the impact he has created amongst the laymen. This is where Kunnakudi stood head and shoulders above the rest. He drew the music illiterate into the halls, people who didn't know what laya, shruti, pallavi or anupallavi flocked to listen to him. To them the notes emenating from his violin were divine, they just came there and lost themselves in the magic he weaved. The rhythmic nodding of his head, the bow moving like a magic wand, ash smeared all over his forehead with the kungumam in the middle added to his mystique. There will never be another Kunnakudi. I for one will certainly miss him

Updates

2008-02-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted anything for a rather long time. Updates from my side are:

Shifted to CTS from TCS
Equally jobless here also ;)

Was just now looking at the West Indies vs Australia under-19 score card. The Austalian team's opening batsman went by the name of Ananth Kumar Sarna!!!!!!!!!!!!! West Indies for their part had a Veerasammy Permaul. Sounds like our own Perumal garu over time morphed into Permaul. Looks like in due course cricket might well be played only by Indians!!!!!!!!!!

The return of left arm spinners

2007-10-17T23:15:00.000-07:00

Its always a pleasure to watch a left arm spinner in action. (The ones with clean action, not the types of Abdur Razzaq). The casual trot to the wicket, the pivot, and then the final delivery is sheer poetry in motion. My first memory of a left arm spinner was watching Maninder Singh in action with his colorful turbans. Ravi Shastri, though not in the same league as Maninder was also passable. I had read a lot about Bishen Bedi from the Sportstar but never had I got the opportunity to watch him in action. I got this when cable TV invaded our households in the 90’s. The silken run up, the final pivot and then the release was a pleasure to withhold as opposed to the rickety whiplash action of Chandra. Slowly ODI’s evolved into slam bang stuff, wickets became grave yards for bowlers offering no turn or bounce and the left arm spinner vanished out of the scene. The only ones to be seen were Jayasuriya and Keith Arthurton who bowled those round arm faster ones that were near impossible to hit. But the last couple of years have seen the resurgence of the left arm spinners. New Zealand’s match winner in the absence of Bond has been Vettori, England have unearthed Monty and before that has Ashley Giles, Bangladesh only potent weapon for a long time has been Mohammad Rafique,. But none of them possess the classical left armers action. Monty spins it a long way but doesn’t toss it up too much, Vetorri has all the variations but just doesn’t evoke the poet in you.

It’s a sight to watch a left arm spinner toss up the ball above the batsman’s eye level, the batsman bringing his foot forward and the ball dipping ever so lightly pitching and turning to catch the edge or beat the beat. The best part follows later, the batsmen bedazzled and the joy in the bowlers face on outfoxing him. This is a sight to behold. Unfortunately you rarely get to see this happen nowadays. Yesterday happened to be one of the days when a forgotten practitioner of the art, hailed as the heir to Bishen Bedi, decided to do a déjà vu at the Wakende. Three years ago, on a raging turner with the ball turning square Murali Kartik had bowled India to victory. That was a different wicket; all he needed to do was come up and land the ball on the right spot and he did so and the wicket did the rest. But yesterday was a different scenario; the Australians had got off to a flyer and were in cruise mode. The first of his wickets was a sight to behold, Brad Hodge like a snake swaying to tune of its charmer, plonked his front foot down and then, as if mesmerized followed the path of the ball and obligingly poked it into the hands of the waiting slip fielder. A classical left arm spinner’s dismissal, pitching on leg turning to off and catching the batsman’s edge teasing him all the while to sound his death knell. This was not a brutal reverse swinging yorker that zeroes into the toes, a dismissal not by brute force but by deceit. The dismissal of Brad Haddin was a lesson in setting up a batsman, leading him to his own doom. Kartik spun a couple right across his bat and then woth absolutely no change in action sent down the arm ball. Haddin committed himself to front foot plonked his front leg down the pitch only to see the ball thudding into his pads and was a dead duck. From there on Kartik was into his rhythm, couple of trots to the wicket and then teasing and taunting all the batsmen to their doom.

Once couldn’t notice that throughout the series he was bowling with a lot more confidence, flighting the ball more and was enjoying his cricket more. A county stint with Middlesex seems to have done wonders for him. I guess Sourav Ganguly didn’t handle him very well, he was asked to bowl over the wicket and fire it into the legs of the batsman. He was used to stem the flow of runs and not as a wicket taking bowler. Also he was never given an extended spell, he was always one of the players who was chopped and changed as per the fancy of the selectors. Dhoni has invested faith in him, thrown him the ball whenever he needed a wicket and Kartik has responded wonderfully well.

It is great to see a match where there is an even contest between bat and ball. Beyond a point it gets boring to see the Haydens and Dhonis bludgeon opposition into submission through sheer power. Yesterday there was a bit in the wicket for all the bowlers and it was fun to watch the so called destructors stutter and stumble when they faced quality bowling. Only last week Paul Harris bowled South Africa to victory in Pakistan, Kartik has done the same for India, a forgotten species which we thought had mutated in order to adapt itself to the new environments, has suddenly come out into the open in all its pristine glory. The left arm spinners are not only buzzing, they in fact seem to be stinging!!!!

P.S : If any one has watched the India A South Africa A series ……..please watch out for Praghyan Ohja the young spinner from Hyderabad

Answers to the quiz @ QFI Chennai

2007-07-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

Here are the Answers

Played under 2 religious affliations
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi
Barabati
Arbab Niaz Stadium
When Ram Singh first came to Chennai he found it difficult to find a house bcos the owners asked him about his ancestors and his origins. So Ram singh told them that his ancestor was Guru Gobind and he came from Amirtsar. Hence A G
Chennai 600028
Montevideo
Tirupati Brahmotsavam
Lagaan
Mogadishu
Rubiks cube
Garuda
Mushtaq Mohammed
Arjun Singh
Kanappar
They allowed cattle to graze on it
Sikkal and since he got back his old beautiful form(beauty = Singara in Tamil) he became Singaravelar
Jallianwallabagh
Used to measure baldness
They created an option that had the characteristics of both and then looked into the map and found Bermuda in between Americ and Europe and hence called it so
Berlin Zoo after Knut the polar bear burst into fame
Day of the Jackal technique
Janavasam
Awards = Viridhu and hence Virudhunagar
Pran
Tetris
The fox terrier had a straight tail which looked like an antenna(See the pic on top)
Vanni tree and hence Thiruvanmiyur
Indian thoughtless
Frequency Analysis
Kala Paani
Napoleon
Klu Klux Klan
Bartitsu
Royal society of Chemistry
Bees saal baad
W. G. Grace
The answers in Red form a theme Can you try identifying it

Quiz conducted @ QFI- Chennai

2007-07-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

What unique achievement connects A.G. Kripal Singh and Mohamammad Yousuf ? (Not related to anything they did on the field!)
Shaharyar Khan, the erstwhile chairman of the PCB was at one time a foreign secretary. His cousin however continues to stay in India. Who is his famous cousin?
This cricket ground’s name stands for “twelve entrances” in the local dialect. It is in fact part of a fort & ASI excavations have revealed a moat around it. Identify the stadium?
This ground in Pakistan is named after a minister in General Zia’s government who collected funds for building the stadium. The ground is a mini colony and houses all the staff inside it’s own premises. Identify the stadium
A.G. Ram Singh when he came to Chennai didn’t have any initials. What is the story behind the initials A.G?
This Tamil movie has a tagline which is the same as the starting lines of a famous song from the movie “Pudhupetai”. Identify the movie?
This city is supposed to get its name from the Spaniards who recorded the location of a fountain on the map at this place. It meant the “sixth mountain from east to west”. The city’s full original name is San Felipe y Santiago de ________.
Lord Indra once killed a Brahma-raakshasa (a Brahmin with demonic characters). In doing so, he incurred a great sin of killing a Brahmana- "Brahma hatya dosham(BHD)". To relieve Indra of this burden, Lord Brahma conducted a ceremony. In this ceremony, officiated by Brahma himself, Indra held Sriman Narayana (Lord Vishnu) on his head during the special ritual bath "Avabritha Snaanam". What was this the first instance of?
Sony during the 2003 world cup ran two advertising campaigns. It ran thus “Jan 26 India vs England” .Feb 26th India vs England. The second one was the telecast of the India vs England world cup match. What was the first ad referring to?
This city’s name is supposed to be the African version of the Arabic name “maqad shah” or “the imperial seat of the shah” thus hunting at a Persian role in the city’s founding. Others consider it a mispronunciation of the Swahili "mwyu wa". (Last northern city), raising the possibility of its being the northernmost of the chain of Swahili city-states on the East African coast. Identify?
Possible names for this were “Guardian knot” and “Inca Gold” but finally the inventor’s name was itself used to name this toy. Which toy?
This mythological character’s various names include chitrada, gaganeshvara, kamayusha, Kashyapi, Khagesvara, Nagantaka, Sitanana, Suparna, Tarkshya among others. What is his most famous name?
The 20 -20 trophy in India is named after which former cricketer?
Jamia Millia Islamia recently named one of its building and roads after whom, which evoked a lot of criticism from the media?
Arjuna while meditating on Lord Shiva in the forest for getting the Pashupata astra failed to recognize the Lord when he appeared in the form of a hunter. He was cursed to be born as a hunter in his next birth and worship the god before attaining mukti. Who was he reborn as?
Lords got its first mowing machine and appointed a grounndsman in 1864. How were the pitches maintained before the invention of the mowing machine?
Surapadhman was a Brahmin and hence when Lord Muruga killed him in battle the sin of Brahma hatti affected him and he lost his original complexion and became pitch black. He went to a certain place near Tanjore and bathed in a tank made out of the milk of Kamadhenu and regained his form. Where did he atone for his sin and what name did he get because of this?
A G Ram Singh began his career playing cricket in Punjab before his father migrated to Chennai. At which place of historical significance did he start playing cricket before migrating to Chennai?
The Norwood-Hamilton scale is used to measure what?
There are widely three types of options that are traded in the financial world, namely American, European and Bermuda. American options can be exercised at the choice of the option holder while an European one can be exercised only on maturity. A Bermuda option can be exercised on certain pre specified dates. Why is it called a Bermuda option in the first place?
This organization’s stock price more than doubled in April 2007 at the Berlin stock exchange after a trade mark registration. Identify the organization and the trademark which it registered?
Albert Stopford III calling himself the Earl of Buckingham was exposed as a fraudster in Nov 2005. The last Earl of Buckingham had died in 1687 and the title had become extinct after his death. His fraud was exposed when he was stopped for a routine check when trying to cross back to UK from Switzerland. Stopford had used the identity of a baby that had died in 1963 and would roughly have been of his age. What did the UK press dub this technique as?
According to the Vedas, once upanayanam is over for a Brahmin boy, he becomes a Brahma charin or one who walks in the way of Brhama.It was a time for him to learn Vedas and other necessary knowledge. It was customary during those times that he used to wear one white short cloth up to the knee, never shave or have a hair cut, never wear a garland or scents, never wear sandal paste and in fact lead a saintly life. Which practice in Hindu marriages is a result of this; it is in fact a literal translation of a cloth worn only up to the knee?
According to local legend round 400 years ago, a warrior, who was in possession of a number of awards in token of having conquered many others, challenged the residents of this town. A resident accepted the challenge and in the ensuing fight, killed the warrior and seized the awards. Which place in Tamilnadu gets its name from this legend?
Maurice Horn the editor of world encyclopedia of comics describes him as the “Walt Disney of India”. He is a M.A in political science and has a degree in fine arts from J J School of arts Mumbai. He started his career with a Delhi based newspaper Milap. Identify?
In first-time users, __________ significantly raises cerebral glucose metabolic rates (GMRs), meaning brain energy consumption soars. Yet, after four to eight weeks of daily doses, GMRs sink to normal, while performance increases seven-fold, on average. __________ trains your brain to stop using inefficient gray matter, perhaps a key cognitive strategy for learning. In fact, the lowest final GMRs are found in the best players' brains, the ones most efficient at dealing with __________'s Daedalian geometry. Fill in the blanks.
For the famous Hutch ad a fox terrier was initially chosen instead of a pug, but on the day of the shooting the fox terrier died and the producers had to substitute it with a pug at the last minute. Why was a fox terrier chosen in the first place?
The great Valmiki who composed the Ramayana was counseled by Sage Markandeya while listening to the devotional verses of the Ramayana that Siva worship and the darsan of Lord Siva are necessary to attain moksha. Sage Markandeya bade Valmiki go round the world and advised him that the place where he heard a voice saying 'I am here' was the most fitting one to offer worship to Lord Siva Accordingly Valmiki started Pradakshina and when he came to the west of River Palar along the seacoast of the Bay of Bengal, a voice from above cried out, "I am here". Valmiki stayed on there and offered worship to Lord Siva. Lord Siva was pleased with the worship of Valmiki and gave him darsan on the 'sacred bull by the side of the Vanni tree. Which place in Chennai gets its name from this incident?
R.K.Narayan’s own publishing house is called “Indian thought”. He had however thought of naming it as something else but then decided to stick with “Indian thought” since it would anyway mean the same. What was the original name he had thought of?
This method of cryptographic analysis is used to break classical ciphers. This was in fact used by the axis powers to break several of the codes during World War II. The method is based on the fact that, in any given stretch of written language certain letters and combination of letters occur more often than others. What is this method of analysis known as?
Veer Savarkar wrote a book on the treatment meted out to the Indian prisoners in the cellular jails of Andamans. What was the name of this book?
A tower can be found a few kilometres southeast from Orttanadu, on a deserted stretch of coastline on the Bay of Bengal. It is 65 kilometres from Thanjavur and 135 km from Pattukkottai, and is situated at Sarabendra Rajanpattinam. What was the reason for building the tower ie what event did it commemorate?
Throughout its varied history this organization has coined many words beginning with KL. Some of these include Klabee(treasurer), Kloran(the holy book),Klecktoken(initiation fee) etc. Identify the organization
This martial art was created by Edward William Barton Wright a British engineer who had been building railways in Japan. He claimed that it incorporated the best of all martial arts. The name he gave was a portmanteau of his own name and the word Jiujitsu. What was the martial art invented by the above gentleman?
The website of the organization whose coat of arms is shown is www.rsc.org. Identify the organization?
This movie directed by Biren Nag in the year 1962 is a cult horror classic. It starred Wahed Rahman and Biswajeet. It also featured the big hit “Kahin Deep jale kahin dil” sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Identify the movie?
The first Australian team to visit England comprised entirely of Aborgines. They had weird sounding names which the English press couldn’t pronounce and hence used names like Bullocky, Dick a Dick, Redcap etc. The aborigines were great athletes and indulged in pastimes after the match. One such pastime was ball throwing competition. The Aborgines threw farthest but they were beaten by a young Englishman who had just then turned 20.Identify the Englishman?

Answers to Local cricket Trivia

2007-04-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

1. Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan
2. Robin Singh
3. Unnikrishnan
4.The movie Chennai 600028 is based on a team which was sponsored by this shop
5. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan
6. S.Venkatraghavan
7. Sri Chakra tyres
8. Aruna CC
9. Buchi Babu
10.India pistons. (Central polytechnic ground is maintained by IP who paly all their 1st division matches there, C K Prahalad used to work in IP)

Very few responses :(( Request more junta to leave comments

Local Cricket Trivia

2007-04-05T00:38:00.000-07:00

Who is the only Tamilnadu cricketer to score a century in first class cricket batting at number 11?

MCC(Madras cricket club) in the mid 80's was a powerhouse in the first division league. Akbar Ebrahim who was then a regular in the side introduced a young fast bowler who troubled the other sides with his pace. Who was the new guy?

The same MCC team had an opening batsman who has now achieved fame in a different field. Identify?

Evergreen florists is a small shop in R.A Puram. Why has this shop been in the news in recent times in Kolywood?

Who dismissed Steve Waugh in his debut test match?

Ramachandra Guha while in Chennai went to attend a concert of M.L. Vasanthakumari, went to the front row where a lady of striking beauty was sitting. Next to her was reserved a seat for her husband. The kuthceri began exactly at the time the gentleman walked in. Who walked in?

For which brand from TVS did Krish Srikkanth appear in ads?

This first division team is promoted by HCL Precision. It has the unique distinction of climbing from the 5th to 1st division in 5 years. Name the team?

Venkatadri Nayak of CHandragiri sold present day Chennai to the Britishers. Ironically it was one of his descendants who stood up to the Englishmen and was instrumental in the creation of TNCA. Who?

Connect the person below and Central polytechnic in Taramani to TN cricket ?

Good bye Sharath

2007-02-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

It’s been quite some time since I updated my blog, I started writing about Damien Martyn when he retired but then all I just couldn’t egg myself on to finish it. Martyn was a class apart; he alone seemed to possess that extra bit of time when others around him struggled. But this tribute is for some one who is closer to heart, whose career I have followed for over a decade. Sridharan Sharath played his last innings for Tamilnadu today. It wasn’t one to remember but TN at least managed to squeeze home and avoid relegation.

Sharath will probably go down as one of the best players never to have played for the country. I have always been a keen follower of local cricket more than international matches. Most of us would have read about Lance Armstrong’s fight against cancer, but few know about how Sharath battled back after a serious scooter accident. He looked ungainly, was never a purist’s delight but when the score card read 4 down for nothing there was no reassuring sight than to watch Sharath walking out of the dressing room. There used to be a time when the start of the first division season used to be associated with a spate of Sharath tons. Year after year he would score heavily waiting for the elusive chance that never came his way. But even after he knew that his time was up the hunger didn’t die. He continued scoring tons of runs for Vijay C C. I remember Sharath scoring three consecutive boundaries of Fanie de Villiers, hope surged, I prayed silently but then God is sometimes cruel. He missed one playing across the line and the dreaded finger went up. His dreams destroyed, Sharath walked and I cursed the umpire for the rest of the day. There are some innings from Sharath which stand out the most notable among them being an effort at Tirunelveli when TN edged out Mumbai in the Ranji quarterfinals. He was one of the few natural hookers and pullers I have seen in domestic cricket. He never flinched against genuine pace. I still remember a match against Pakistan A where Sharath playing for India A and running fever played a blinder to take his team home. The Pakistanis had among their ranks a tear away quickie by the name of Mohammad Zahid who later on in the year troubled even Brian Lara in Australia.

I went on the last day of TN’s encounter against Baroda. TN needed to win this one to avoid relegation. The second innings target was 123, from a comfortable 77/2 they slipped to 83/5. In came Sharath, he was playing his last innings for his beloved state. I prayed to God once more, at least give him a fitting farewell. Yousuf Pathan was turning the ball square on a dirt track, Sharath looked assured. He patted away vicious turners with nonchalance. Then one spit from a good length, he took his bottom hand off, the Ajit Bhoite and Jacob Martin appealed half heartedly. The ball had come of the pads, but God once again let me down, the finger went up. Sharath looked stunned. This wasn’t the end he deserved, but the team successfully managed to chase the target down. At least he didn’t have to go out with a heavy heart of letting the team down. After the match was over all the players converged around him to thank him for the valuable tips he had passed down to the youngsters.

It will be different next year, TN will be four down for next to nothing, but there will be no Sharath walking out. The few faithful mama’s from Triplicane who come to watch the domestic cricket will miss the reassuring presence of Sridharan Sharath. A veteran scorer at TNCA - Shankara Subramanium - once christened a spot in the old press box at the Chidamabaram Stadium as 'Sharath's corner'. He'd insisted on sitting there and scoring when Sharath walked in, convinced that his shift played a role in Sharath's big knocks. Sharath’s corner will be empty from next season. Tamilnadu cricket will miss you Sharath…..

Comedy times

2006-10-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

Have been watching quite a few dramas of late, and it’s been a completely different kind of experience. And I am not talking about English plays, am referring to good old crazy Mohan and S.Ve Sekhar dramas. Enjoyed them thoroughly as they are a pleasant change from run of the mill movies. It was a surprise to know that the script for these plays have been written in the early eighties or late seventies. Mohan and Sekhar have adapted them to present day issues. The titles of the plays are also quite intriguing. “Mahabarathathil mangatha”(Rummy in Mahabharatha), meesayanalum manaivi (loosely translated as even if your wife has a moustache, she is still your wife). The plays are all total laugh riots. One can’t stop laughing once the play starts. And if you think there will be near empty halls, then you are sadly mistaken. Most of the plays are house full.

The best part about these plays is that there are no second chances in terms of retakes or editing. Most of the artists are extremely creative and innovative. There have been instances when the mikes have misbehaved, but such is their experience they have come up with excellent impromptu performances. One can clearly find out the inspirations for some of the more popular tamil film comedies in these plays. And mind you these plays are not the cheap variety where one guy kicks the other or some guy spewing cacophonic sounds. The comedy is clean and can be enjoyed with the entire family. I was surprised to find out that some of the plays have been staged a staggering 5000 times. So if you are not interested in watching India getting clobbered by Australia, then the place for you is either Vani Mahal or Naradagana sabha.

Hail king Roger

2006-09-11T12:23:00.000-07:00

I couldn’t watch Federer conquer Andy Roddick, blame it on CAS ,but managed to catch some glimpses of the semi finals. Watching Federer play is pure joy. Watching Federer is like watching Michael Angelo paint the Sistine chapel or Mozart composing his symphony in C major. One knows that he/she is witnessing a master in action. Federer’s racquet is more like a paint brush that seems to create strokes out of thin air. The ball goes just where he wants it to go; the racquet is only an enabler, a guide. The great man’s brain creates an opportunity which mere mortals (audience and the poor guy standing on the other side) can’t imagine, it all happens in the blink of an eye, arms extend the racquet meets the ball at the right angle and the ball then obediently obeys its masters bidding and leaves us gasping at the sheer brilliance and the opponent frustrated. Spare a thought for poor Roddick, after a bad year when he was knocked out early at Wimbledon and French opens, fought tooth and nail to make it to the finals here. Whom does he meet? A guy who has a 11-1 record against him. I guess Roddick must be tired of meeting Federer in a final. Imagine going into a final knowing one is going to come out second best. Roddick has Jimmy Connors as his coach, a man who played each point as if his entire life depended on it. But even the combined might of Connors and thousands of screaming Americans, couldn’t stop the juggernaut, it just rolled over Roddick with minimum of fuss. More often than nor discipline, commitment, dedication and never say die attitude prevail over talent. But there appears once in a while an outrageously gifted athlete who just eclipses the rest. Federer is a once in a life time athlete. He knows that he is special and more importantly knows how to handle his precocious talent to create history. He is competing only with history……….

But then history has it’s own way of telling mankind that sheer perseverance combined with an over my dead body attitude can prevail over genius and it seems to have sent a 20 year old with Popeye like muscles who runs after every ball as if the very existence of human race depended on him reaching it. Rafael Nadal inspires hope, he seems to be the Achilles heel of Federer. He was supposed to be a one surface wonder but he proved the pundits wrong by making to the Wimbeldon finals. A guy who has a 6-2 record against the greatest player to hold a tennis racquet cannot be a one surface wonder.

Federer won watched by Tiger woods and Michael Schumacher announced his retirement. Guess it’s time for something special by Brian Charles Lara and Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bon voyage RAVI

2006-08-07T10:37:00.000-07:00

Very few of you seem to have visited my blog. Those who did gave their feedbacks on IM rather than on the comments. Would appreciate it a lot if all of you can leave some comments on my blog.

I hope to do some outsourcing here by requesting some of my friends to write here. I hope that some well known bloggers like Samanth, Ravi, Mensa would do the honours by helping a friend :))

The first post wouldn't have interested a lot of people. It was intended for a few die hard fans who still follow first divison scores regularly. Will try and write more contomperary blogs henceforth.

One of my close friends is going to Florida tomorrow to pursue his higher education. All the best and bon voyage Ravi.

Power vs Panache

2006-08-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

During the last couple of weeks, I have been watching 1st division matches during Saturdays and Sundays. I got to see 2 double hundreds of contrasting styles, one was extremely violent and included a record 20 sixes by an upcoming youngster, the other was a pursit's delight oozing with elegance the ball being cajoled rather than butchered into submission. The first knock was played by Devendran for India pistons at the CPT-IP ground, the second came from a forgotten and much maligned circketer. Sadagopan Ramesh's double hundred oozed class, lefthander's elegance, nonchalant flicks through midwicket, delicate late cuts, it had them all. I have always been a great fan of Ramesh, there is a sense of lazy elegance about him, which people mistake for aloofness. He has been crucified for his lack of footwork but that is just the way he plays, he has made all those runs playing the same way. David Gower made 8000 runs most of them in England against the swinging ball with a non existent foot work. Players like him are born with the gift of timing, I guess we need to savour and enjoy his stroke play rather than lament the fact that he doesn't possess an impregnable defence. He's made a lot of runs for Kerala(last season he played for them)last season and hopefully this double hundred should get him back into the TN team.

The double century by Devendran was a completely different ball game. It was played on a raging turner where there was no sense in playing defensively because one would just not survive. In the previous match at the same ground Ashish Kapoor( with a big belly) wreaked havoc. The ball turned square, hissed and spat venom(he in fact bowled a couple of bouncers !!!!!!!). Deva walked in with his team in trouble, decided attack was the best form of defense and gave it a big "humpty"(this is what Botham remarked to Graham Dillee during Headingley 1981). He just put his front foot forward and the ball seemed to disappear out of sight. This was probably the cleanest hitting I have seen for some time, wickets kept falling at the other end but Deva carried on. He made 215 out of a team total of 400 or slightly more.

P.S: Will keep coming back with more throughout the rest of the season. Sharath has scored 3 centuries so far, but Vijay haven't played @ Viveka so far..so watch out this space for more...

Introduction

2006-07-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

Trying to create a blog..........keep visiting