INDIA BITE THE DUST ONCE AGAIN

India have yet again lost a cricket match. Even 'Pathetic' is the most pathetic word to describe this performance. The Aussie outplayed us in all departments of the game. Although this is no new news for the Indian cricket fan, this loss brings forward a lot of unnoticed defects which cannot be ignored on the eve of the World Cup.

1. We do not have a reliable opening batsman other than Sachin. Relying on Sehwag is very dangerous and self destructive. The inclusion of Gautam Gambhir may help.
2. Our middle order is weak as this was highlighted by the difficulty with which Raina managed to score runs in the abscence of Yuvraj Singh.
3. We do not have a single world class new ball bowler other than Agarkar. The decision to drop Sreesanth may have cost us the match against West Indies.
4. We cannot score runs at will against a disciplined bowling attack.

We cannot overlook these shortcomings when the world cup is so near. Also Mr. Chappel must get over with his love for experiments. Otherwise the world cup will be the same old story again.

It is a Ball Game!!!

It is a game of football but it seems that these dudes are interested in some other kind of balls!!!

Books I want to read

I like reading very much but the time factor always creates problems. Here is a list of books which I want to read:

1. The Line Of Fire - Pervez Musharraf
2. Sacred Games - Vikram Chandra
3. Veronika Decides To Die
4. The Zahir
5. Like The Flowing River
6. The Pilgrimage - all by Paulo Coelho ( I am a fan of his style of writing)
7. The Loss of Inheritance - the latest booker winner by Kiran Desai
8. And many more.................

I think I will get the time to read these books next year only.

Of Pervezs and Afzals

This post has been due for a long time but I did not have enough time to dedicate it to blogwriting. I am writing this post in carved out time. I had always wanted to discuss topics like Musharraf's book and Afzal Guru's appeal for lieniency when they were hot. I do not like cold coffee but I have no other way out than to drink it.
To start with let us walk into 'The Line Of Fire'. I wanted to read the book badly but so much has been written in the newspapers that there seems to be no need to do that so. It seems that Pervez Musharraf has been faithful to his legacy of flip-flopping. I do not think that the book has much of a literary value. The Pakistani President is using it to enhance his ever declining reputation among the Pakistani public. What is the use of digging old topics like the Agra summit and declaring otherwise that the Kargil war has been won by Pakistan when all of us know what happened? We wish that the book succeeds in it's motive because it is in our interest that Musharraf stays in power. If otherwise power falls into the hands of fundamentalists there lies a great danger of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falling into their hands and they using it against India.
Human rights organizations always think that punishment to those who commit heinous crimes is a crime in itself. Therefore they surface to the forefront when a mass murderer or a persom convicted with treason of the highest order is being tried or is being given his dues back; which in most cases is called execution. Otherwise plotting against the heart of Indian Democracy is okay for them. Afzal's family asking for lienency is perfectly understood but what is not is the protests held by politically backed Human Rights Organizations. Afzal deserves punishment of the highest order for plotting the parliament attacks. This will give out a clear message to members of the anti India community that no one dares to wage war on the Indian state. The only way to crush terror is to deal with it by force. Indira Gandhi did it in 1984 and we must say that she was successful. We hope that the current Indian government too realises it by the earliest.