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The final was well worth staying awake upto 2:30 in the morning.  Not to mention the hilarious tweets.  What a time for Dhoni to play the innings of his lifetime.  The stabilising innings from Gambhir & Virat meant that India didn’t feel the repercussions of losing Tendulkar & Sehwag cheaply.

The only silverware missing from Sachin’s trophy cabinet has been won.  6 attempts and what a way to sign off with a victory.  An end to another magnificent career of Murali.  Too much was made of the controversy at the toss.  Our conspiracy theorist media lapped it up.

It would not have been a well deserved win if India had won the cup the easy way.  To beat Australia, Pakistan and finally Sri Lanka en route to win the cup is probably the best written script.

Also that should settle the claim around Dhoni that he is plain lucky.  Luck only takes you so far.  Like it or not, he is a masterclass captain.  A T20 world cup win and now the 50 over World Cup and not to mention the numerous series wins both at home and abroad, Dhoni has proved to be the best ever player to have captained India.

The biggest party in the world is happening out there.  Enjoy it while it lasts.  For the next 4 years, We Are The Champions.

Above pictures courtesy: Cricinfo

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To win the cup, you have to beat the best.  Maybe Pakistan wasnt at their best during the semi finals against India at Mohali yesterday.  But you cant ignore the fact that they were the best in their group.  Dropped catches, misfielding, pathetic bowling by Umar Gul and the crawled batting all contributed their part to ensure that India increased its record to 5-0 in the World Cup matches against Pakistan.

So, it will be Sri Lanka vs India at Mumbai on the 2nd of April 2011. Two legends (Sachin & Murali) are playing the last World Cups of their lives.  Both are special players who have not only enriched the game but also bought happiness to millions of followers.  Both the teams would want to gift the respective players the gift of victory.  There is still lots to play.

Again, may the best team win

Above picture courtesy: Cricinfo

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3 Asian teams and New Zealand have made it to the semi finals of the ICC World Cup.  No one would have expected such a situation at the begining of the tournament.  Australia was destined to be in the semis and as for South Africa, they have made choking their middle name.  The nail-biting win over India in the group matches was alas, a fluke.

The India – Pakistan semi finals is almost being hyped up to a final.  Wishing that the law of averages catches up with Afridi in the semis.  But they still have enough mavericks in the team to turn the match on its head.

New Zealand is my other favourite apart from India and i would love to see them beat the Lankans, though it would be a tall order for them.  Looking at the way this tournament has progressed, anything is possible though.

May the best team win.

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Finished the one week ISMS course and on the last day had an exam too. Wrote well.  Hope to pass. Came back to work after a week to a mountain of emails and things to catch up on. Wish i could take a few days off and relax at home, but with so many things happenign at work simultaneously, i kept that thought on the backburner for now.

The new team, work is exciting.  Lots to learn and so less time.  Things move very fast here unlike at my previous position.  Hardly have time to procastinate, which only leads to things getting escalated to the other people in the team.  Its been fun, but ya tiring at the same time too.

Blogging has taken a back seat as of now.  So much to write, but i find so little time.  Also realise that i havent checked my equity portfolio properly in a week.  The sad events in Japan have really shook up the markets not to speak of the Japanese people.  But am sure their resilience will come to the fore and Japan will once again rise from the ashes as it has always done.

Maybe the Japanese govt will finally open its door to the immigrants who will now be very much needed for the reconstruction work.  Nuclear plans will be on hold all over the world.  That would mean more reliance on fossil fuels.  Oil prices are sure to shoot up.  The previous record of $147 per barrel could be broken.

People (both pro and anti nuclear) will play out their agendas.  But lets keep it in mind that nuclear power for all that has happened in Chernobyl, Japan and the Three Mile island incident is still the cleanest way for us to produce electricity.  Lets face it, the other methods like wind or solar are no patch to the quantity and quality of electricity that can be produced through nuclear power.  Ya, its risky and a lot of checks and safeguards need to be in place.  Proper mechanism for disposing off the spent fuel rods must also be in place.

The commies and the jholawalas are sure to raise muck about the numerous nuclear power plants that are coming up around the country.  The chaddis as usual will try to fish in murky waters.  But let the rhetoric not make us take our eyes away from the goal.  That is clean power which is an absolute must if India is to grow above 9% per year.

Countries like France generate almost 75% of their electricity from nuclear power.  Japan also generates almost 30%.  Its easy to take the path of using dirty fuels (fossil fuels) to achieve our economic growth and end up with disastrous consequences as China’s environment has faced.

So lets take a step back, clear our mind of all the rhetoric and take a call.  What lies ahead is nothing but our future.  Let’s learn it from the experts who have done it and done it well.

Meanwhile my deepest condolences to the thousands of Japanese killed and the millions whose lives have been affected by this triple whammy of earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear accident.

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The Cricket World Cup has started.  Hardly see any real enthusiasm for the game. The same is the situation with me.  Other than the opening match, there has hardly been any game worthwhile.

Why couldnt the ICC stage matches between the top teams on weekends?  Why is India playing the next match with England more than a week later on a Sunday instead of Saturday or Friday?  Why is the tournament stretched so long in the first place?  Heck, why have 14 teams in the first place?

Iam all for all out participation of minnows in top leagues, but why bring in Canada, Netherlands etc to the world cup.  There should have been a qualifying tournament for the other ICC member teams and only 2 of the winners should have made the cut for the actual world cup.

And then they worry as to why the 50 over format of One dayers are losing their appeal.

Call it tamasha or nautanki, iam still waiting for the IPL.  Gimme my Deccan Chargers and the cheerleaders anyday

And ya, keep that Lalit Modi fella away.  Another shot of his on the TV screen and i might puke.

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