A load of crap from an idle brain » Sports

The new circus in town – Formula 1

Liju Philip — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:48:53 +0000

The Formula1 carnival has finally reached the Indian shores. The first day of practise has happened. The race was as inagurated by our honourable chief guest “a dog”. They never fail to make their presence felt. Remember the Commonwealth Games. Well, its better having a dog on the track than Suresh Kalmadi who is cooling heels in the Tihar Jail post all the scams.

Other than being dusty, the track seems to have got a huge thumbs up from the F1 boss, teams and players. Anyway building the whole thing up in just 2 years has been a humungous effort. Its the first time ever and am sure the builders (Jaypee) would learn from this effort. The next year is gonna be awesome. As of now the whole place looks like just another track anywhere else. By the next year, Jaypee plans to insert some “Indianness” into the whole thing.

As long as the Indian government stays away from anything related to organising anything, am happy. Good to see a much much professional job by the private sector.

All pictures courtesy: ESPN

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Its been a while…

Liju Philip — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 02:24:59 +0000

The last post has been about 2 weeks earlier. Meanwhile work has been heavy and persistent. Not to mention grown up people with their child like minds causing more problems than necessary and increasing the temperatures in the team. Sigh…. Am a serious believer that when people join an organisation, they should be put through people handling skills before they are let into the actual fire. Most can cope. Its the minority few with no people skills, no idea of how to talk to people and take up every issue as an assault to their king-size ego, who cause all the mayhem and frustration in the workplace.

Anyways, once out of the workplace, i try to shut myself off and turn to my other interests. Reading and music. Finished reading the Andre Agassi biopic. Its simply an awesome read. A flawed genius with no genuine interest in the game, Agassi with his talent and hardwork became the true legend of the game. Forced into a game he hated, by his father and sent early on in life to the Nick Bollettieri academy which Agassi describes more as a prison than a place for kids to enjoy the sport, he rebels. Against the system, against his father, against Nick, against the sport, against media and against himself.

On his path to self-destruction he meets people like Gill (his trainer), Brad Gilbert (his coach) who pull him out of the morass he keeps digging himself into. Not to mention his friends like Perry, JP and his own brother who form a protective cocoon around him to try shield him against the pressures.

The book is a magnificent read. Agassi doesn’t yield, nor does he stop from pulling his punches. I cant believe that a sportsman can write in such beautiful way so as to completely arrest you to the description of events in his life.

Love tennis, hate tennis, one thing is for sure that the book is not a put down. Some of the games that he describes is sure to transport you to the minds of the person that is Agassi. His sudden self doubts on his ability, his inability to finish off games, his on court rivalry with Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and numerous other players, the book is a riveting read.

I have read quite a few biographies till now. Lance Armstrong, Louis Gerstner, Jack Welch, Warren Buffett etc…but this one sure is one among the best i have read.

I have always been a Sampras, Becker, Stefan Edberg fan, but never had any kind thoughts towards Agassi because of his constant threat to my favourite Sampras. Reading this book has completely changed my opinion of the man. Ya, he might be a flawed genius…but yes, he is a genius still.

The only other enthusiasm that i share with Agassi is Steffi Graf. The only female tennis player i have ever idolised. Two champions and their offsprings are sure to be prodigies themselves, but then both Agassi and Graf decide that their kids will never be forced to take up the sport that both despised so much.

Now, that is what i call…perfect parents. Not trying to see your dreams being realised through your kids, but to appreciate your kids own talent and let them bloom in whichever career they want to.

Open: An Autobiography
Author – Andre Agassi
Pages – 400
Publisher – Knopf

My rating: * * * * *

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The Champions – Barca & Chennai

Liju Philip — Sun, 29 May 2011 05:52:26 +0000

The IPL finals was hopelessly one sided. With no orange or pink cap holders, Chennai proved that one doesnt need superstars in the team to win the cup twice in a row. And Bangalore proved that its appearance in the final was courtesy a one man show called Chris Gayle. Till Gayle came in the middle of the tournament, Bangalore was floundering. He single-handedly powered the team to the finals. To expect him to repeat the performance again in the finals was asking for a bit too much. No wonder they flopped when Gayle was out in the first over itself.

The captain cool, Dhoni marshaled his troops well (as usual). No fuss, no emotions guy, Dhoni has demonstrated repeatedly that he is the best cricket captain ever to wear the Indian cap. A T20 world cup win, a 50 over world cup win, 2 IPL wins and a Champions league T20 win, taking India to the top ranking test team, he has achieved probably everything that he needs to. And when asked, he simply retorted that he wouldn’t mind repeating the whole thing again. That’s the kind of hunger that drives champions.

On the other hand, Barcelona showed why they are the best footballing club in the world. Money can only buy you this much. The most important thing is for the group to gel well and play as a team. If at all money could buy success, the musical chairs of managers being played at Chelsea and Real Madrid would have won them tons of trophies. Or for that matter if star players could power teams to victory, then Sachin Tendulkar would have been a great captain. These are great examples for teams who have no qualms splashing out millions of bucks to snap up superstars for their teams.

Manchester United might be the best in England, but two consecutive losses to Barcelona in the past 3 years shows that they still have a mountain to climb when it comes to the Champions League. And if Manchester United cant make it, then it just shows the hollowness of the other teams in the English Premier League (Chelsea, Liverpool & Arsenal included).

And now i shudder to think that i have no sports to look forward to for the next couple of months, with both IPL, Champs League and all the European leagues coming to and end for the season.

The only thing to look forward in the next month is if the second sting Indian team traveling to the West Indies can pull off a miracle. And to see how the new coach of India, Duncan Fletcher manages the egos in the team.

Above pictures courtesy: Cricinfo & Sun

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The Tamasha Begins Again – IPL4

Liju Philip — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 14:06:14 +0000

Serious cricket is over. Time for fulltoo timepass cricket. The baby of Lalit Modi, the combination of two religions of India, Bollywood and Cricket, the Indian Premier League begins tomorrow.

Chikni cheerleaders, bimbotic Bollywood stars, moronic commentators, 3 hours of non stop masti. The next 50 days promises non stop hungama. Bring it on.

No points for guessing who my favourites are. Go Deccan Chargers Go. No Gilly, Symonds, Gibbs & Styris. But we do have Steyn, Sangakkara, Pietersen, Ojha etc.

The new advertisement for Deccan Chargers is downright hilarious. Watch the video link here .

Best thing about this IPL? No Pakis. Thank God for small mercies. Or else after feasting on our money and enjoying our hospitality, that bird brained Shahid Afridi will go back to PUKEistan and complain that we are not large hearted. Not to mention that langda tyagi, Sohail Tanveer complaining about hindustaniyon ki zehniyat.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

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We Are The Champions

Liju Philip — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 07:32:03 +0000

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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Its India vs Lanka – Cricket World Cup 2011

Liju Philip — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 04:52:47 +0000

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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The Final Four

Liju Philip — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 06:01:47 +0000

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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Cricket World Cup

Liju Philip — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 06:31:40 +0000

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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ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – The Teams

Liju Philip — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 00:40:54 +0000

With less than 30 days for the ICC Cricket World Cup to begin in thesubcontinent (February 19), all the 14 teams (except Canada) have announced their 15 member teams. With so many ex-players pointing out India as the favourites to win the cup, am a bit apprehensive now. Combine it with the hopes of a billion people and Dhoni has the biggest challenge on hands. The Indian injury list is pretty long and hope they get ready before the tournament starts. Also, the whole thing about India wanting to win the world cup for Sachin Tendulkar is a big hogwash. Let’s face it. Cricket is a team sport and yes Sachin Tendulkar is probably the best cricketer to ever have graced the sport. But to have such priorities is ridiculous. If India doesnt win the cup, it doesnt make a dent on Sachin’s reputation or vice versa. So lets chuck that extra reason for pressure out and concentrate on the game.

The defending champions Australia too have a big task on hand after having slipped down the test ranking and also after having lost the Ashes. A loss here would mean a certain end of the road for Ponting.

The perennial chokers, South Africa would be itching to get rid of the tag and so would be Pakistan (the only team to yet decide on a captain) along with Sri Lanka wanting to win the cup for a second time.

There will be the usual mismatches between the stronger and weaker teams, but some upsets would set the tournament up beautifully.

Australia
Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Doug Bollinger, Brad Haddin, John Hastings, Nathan Hauritz, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Tim Paine, Steve Smith, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

Bangladesh
Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shariar Nafees, Zunaed Siddique, Mohammad Ashraful, Raqibul Hassan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riad, Abdur Razzak, Naeem Islam, Shafiul Islam, Suhrawardi Shuvo, Rubel Hossain, Nazmul Hossain.

England
Andrew Strauss (Captain), Jimmy Anderson, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy.

India
MS Dhoni (Captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan.

Ireland
William Porterfield (captain), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Gary Wilson, Andrew White.

Kenya
Jimmy Kamande (captain), Seren Waters, Alex Obanda, David Obuya, Collins Obuya, Steve Tikolo, Tanmay Mishra, Rakep Patel, Morris Ouma, Thomas Odoyo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Peter Ongondo, Shem Ngoche, James Ngoche.

Netherlands
Peter Borren (c), Adeel Raja, Wesley Barresi (wk), Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman (wk), Tom Cooper, Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Bernard Loots, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Szwarczynski, Ryan ten Doeschate, Berend Westdijk, Bas Zuiderent

New Zealand
Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Jamie How, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Kane Williamson, James Franklin, Jacob Oram, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Hamish Bennett, Luke Woodcock.

Pakistan
Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanveer, Ahmed Shahzad

South Africa
Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk.

Sri Lanka
Kumar Sangakkara (c/wk), Mahela Jayawardene (vc), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando, Rangana Herath, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Thisara Perera, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga

West Indies
Darren Sammy (captain), Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh Jr., Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith.

Zimbabwe
Elton Chigumbura (c), Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Sean Ervine, Greg Lamb, Shingirai Masakadza, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Ed Rainsford, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams

Canada
Yet to announce.

The full schedule of the ICC Cricket World Cup can be found here.

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IPL 4 – The Bidding

Liju Philip — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 03:46:41 +0000

So, the main bidding for IPL-4 is complete. New teams, new players and newer loyalties. Again, dont think that i need to define my loyalties, which remain firmly with Deccan Chargers. The loss of Symonds and Gilchrist is a bit upsetting, but then life moves on and i believe DC has a more balanced team this time.

Given below is the list of the players (info source: Cricinfo) picked up in the auction and the ones retained by the teams. The first player in each team (according to my assumption) will captain the team.

The IPL-4 looks much more formidable this time with more players, more teams and no clear favourites. Again happy to see no Pakistani players in the auction and glad to see them being kept out of the whole tournament. Hope this courtesy is extended to all their artists too who are feeding off our film & music industry.

First the World Cup in February and then the 4th edition of IPL. Ah, life’s gonna be busier again.

Previous posts on IPL here

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