World Cup 2015 Format

Although I do not follow much of Cricket nowadays but World Cup (WC) is special, once in a four year event does attract even people like me who seldom watch Cricket.

When I was looking at the format of WC 2015 it was quite baffling but at the same time it makes commercial sense for ICC.

In WC 2015, the teams are divided in a pool of 7 team each. Out of 7 teams four teams from each of the pools will qualify for the Quarter final (QF) stage. From the QF stage the format of the tournament will be knock out.

Now if we look at each of the pools, their are 3 team in each of the pool which hardly stand any chance to qualify for the next stage and it will be mostly 8 test playing nation who will qualify for the knock out stages. In some way the first 42 pool matches are not of much consequence unless there is a major upset like Ireland beating West Indies.

In the nutshell, the WC is nothing but 4 QF, 2 Semi Final (SF) and 1 final. The most promising or consistent team may not end up being a winner but someone who is lucky and wins the last 3 matches will win. The format does not make any sense as  42  pool matches out of total 49 WC matches are of not much significance.

If we look at the commercial side of it, it may be done just to have India in contention atleast till the QF stages, so in absence of series of major upset, all major test playing nation will remain in the tournament till QF and there will be hardly 3 matches ( 2 SF and 1 Final) after that stage. India providing bulk of the viewership will make sure that ICC in making a lot of money out of the event by playing atleat 8 matches in the tournament. !

So if you a hard core Indian Cricket Fan, sit back, relax, even if we loose a game or two in pool stages, its going to hardly matter, just pray that we win the last three matches.

Biographies: Sachin, Steve Jobs, Srila Prabhupad

A post after a long time. Happen to read 3 biographies in last one and a half months. These are the people who have inspired me the most and reading their biographies was a real treat. I tried to compare the personalities and life of the 3 great personalities. This is my interpretation and people may have different opinion on the same. Here 10 is the highest rating and 1 is the lowest.

	Sachin	Steve Jobs	Srila Prabhupad
Passion about subject	10	10	10
Command in the area	10	10	10
Struggle in the Initial Stages	6	5	10
Struggle in middle Years	7	8	8
Support from Family	10	7	1
Financial Condition at Initial Stage	6	6	2
Years of Struggle	3	4	15
Faith in God	7	8	10
Personal Characteristics
Humility	10	3	10
Hard Work	10	7	10
Planning Initial Stage	6	5	5
Planning Later Stages	7	6	9
Positive Attitude	10	8	10
Courage	10	10	10
Determination	10	10	10
Discipline	10	5	10

Speak like a Captain

 Being a captain of any team, one has be responsible and intelligent in all the external communications. The curious case of Shahid Afridi bashing Indian people and media is still alive in our memories and has left a bad taste in mouth. Since the wordings were so strong the media actually made him take his words back.

Now the hard hitting batsman Mr. Sehwag has also done something which I will not associate well for a captain of the team Delhi Daredevils. He said in a press briefing, " I have played under Dhoni's captaincy and I know what all tactics he can deploy as a captain and will make it ineffective against Delhi Daredevils Team" . Now there are somethings which you might be thinking of but speaking it out as a captain does not look really good for a captain of the team. Yes, it might not be as bad as what Afridi did but non the less he could have been more discrete. The media might not have caught the comment made by him but it does looks immature for some one like Sehwag.

The only thing which is interesting in these recent episodes is the similarity between Sehwag and Afridi's way of playing cricket.

Team India: Making History

It was amazing to see India lift the Cricket World Cup yet again after 28 years. The team never looked perturbed by the initial blows in the finals, not even when Sachin got out. This team under Dhoni has graduated to a level where they can think about winning without Sachin.

I still remember the matches of world cup from 1992 to 2011, the truth is the team never looked so formidable before. Yes, the team had a good chance in 1996 but Srilankans with the assistance from unprepared pitch of  Eden Gardens gave us a disappointing loss. The uncompleted match played at Eden  made a lot of Indians to cry and we still get emotional about that game. The itch lasted really long  but finally Dhoni's XI gave  Lankans  reply after 15 years. What a fabulous way of winning.

The God of Cricket got the due respect from the team and it was very nice to hear the team dedicating the cup to him. Sachin actually got what was long due to him. I strongly believe Sachin should play another world cup as he is still the best batsman in India and the world and his fitness levels are beyond doubt.

The whole thing is still to seep in, Winning the world cup Feels great !

Stupid MRF Blimp

The IPL 3 is finally over, it feels so good that now we no more need to hear phony phrases like " Carbon Kamaal Catch, DLF Maximum or Citi Moment of success " .


I really pity the well paid commentators, who  were forced to speak these phrases and after months of repetition they might find it difficult to get rid of the new vocabulary. Advertizers should realize that broadcasting the same thing over and over again might create the top of the mind recall but can also irritate the customers.

  The stupid Air Balloon sponsored by MRF called MRF Blimp was especially portraid as something which is extraordinary.  It was not surprising when people were tweeting messages like " I'm just so happy that there's NO MORE BLIMP!!!! NO MORE BLIMP!!!!NO MORE BLIMP!!!!NO MORE BLIMP!!!!" 

Youngistan and Ungli Cricket!

The new series of advertisement by Pepsi and Idea really make me think what are these creative advertisement gurus doing ?

We all know that Pepsi is targeting the young generation and half of India's population lies in that segment but what are you guys really want to show ? Is it a attempt of involving customer going terribly wrong ? What exactly is Sanjay Dutt doing in that huge suit which makes him look tiny ? I dont know ?

Idea has also disappointed its fan by the new Ungli Cricket advertisement , Indians are mad for Cricket but it doesn't mean that they can digest all kinds of shit thrown at them in the name of cricket. The whole set up looks clumsy and the idea of Ungli cricket looks really Ugly.

For Idea this advertisement is a total disaster as it was replacing the Hit " Idea can change your World " theme . Now for changing themes of the Hit campaign , you should really have some substance in your campaign ..

Both the advertisements are classic case of the waste of celebrity and also conveys that Celebrity endorsement never means that the campaign will be a hit. Some more thought should be put into the campaigns by big corporate houses as they have huge budgets for telecasting the advertisement and every time such ads are telecasted , people only loath them and left with no option but to switch the channel.

One more thought visit my mind frequently.. Why cant these celebrities tell the ad man directly " Boss Is mai Dum nahi Hai ! "

Some of the Best Quotes for God !

These are some of the quotes I love to read again and again ! Its like listening to Bhajans .

From Cricket Legends

"Sachin is a genius. I'm a mere mortal" ~ Brian Charles Lara

"If I've to bowl to Sachin, I'll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard." Dennis Lillee

" I saw him (Sachin) playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two...hi compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel. " Sir Don Bradman.

"Sachin Tendulkar has often reminded me of a veteran army colonel who has
many medals on his chest to show how he has conquered bowlers all over the
world" - Allen Donald

"He is a perfectly balanced batsman and knows perfectly well when to attack and when to play defensive cricket. He has developed the ability to treat bowlers all over the world with contempt and can destroy any attack with utmost ease." - Greg Chappell

"I think he is marvellous. I think he will fit in whatever category of Cricket that has been played or will be played, from the first ball that has ever been bowled to the last ball that's going to be. He can play in any era and at any level. I would say he's 99.5% perfect" - Viv Richards

Some from Twitter by Tendulkar Fans

" ICC announced that Sachin Tendulkar's b'day i.e. 24th April will be will be celebrated as "World Cricket Day"

" A cricket fact - Most of the countries have history in playing cricket but INDIA has SACHIN TENDULKAR to rewrite it "

" All kneel down and praise whatever God you fancy for the mighty Sachin Tendulkar. "


Other credible Sources


" Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives." BBC

" I'm hounored to take birth in the same Land, I'm blessed to breathe the same air, and I'm fortunate to see god in True Sense, No words to describe this great Man , Thanks Sir Sachin ! Kudos ! " Abhishek Mahajan via SMS

"They say that God created the world – the grossly flawed world that we know and live in. Sachin created another world where in people live in pure harmony till the time he is on the pitch. No egos are hurt when a guy in a Mercedes comes to a autowallah with a radio and asks “Kitne pe khel raha hai??“. There are no class distinctions when outside a TV showroom you can see people with expensive clothes standing alongside street vendors looking at the screens – all with the same wish in their hearts. And a world where a whole nation can rise with one voice if something goes against the God. Where else can you find such a homogeneous world?"-Sidharth Bedi


I believe time is ripe for Indian government to award him Bharat Ratna , Oxford to include the word Tendulkar in their Dictionaries, Ms-Word to recognize Tendulkar as a word and Tendulkar critics to bow in front of him and go to Himalayas .

I Play for the Audience

When it comes to Indian Cricket Team, I must say they are totally committed towards customer satisfaction, they want to make every match really interesting for the audience. Yesterday in the close encounter with South Africa, Appam and party were again in top form, they made sure that the match goes to the last ball.. I have captured some of the excepts from the post match interview session with Appam

Reporter: How do you rate your performance yesterday?

Appam: My performance was awesome, I was good in both fielding and bowling, never got the chance to bat, could have been a complete day for me.

Reporter: You were taken for runs all round the field Appam , your fielding was awful, and you are still saying that you were good .. your batting could have ended a lucky escape for India ..

Appam: You are talking rubbish, In the field we play as global players, there were few of the players in the opposition of my IPL team,I cant mess around with my IPL career..

Reporter: So what was your approach in the Game

Appam: I want each spectator on the field to be involved, be its Indian or South African and it should be the prime work of all the players. We are entertainers and end of the day the thrill of the match should be kept alive. I wanted to throw the balls to covers but my accuracy was not upto the mark and the ball fell few feet away from Dhoni .

Reporter: What kind of result were you aiming for?

Appam : Tie would have been the best result and could have kept the interest of all the spectators in the remaining matches. Only my inaccurate throw needs to be blamed for the same.

Thanks Appam for the brilliant performance, just because of the players like you the interest in 50 over match is still alive. Appam has definitely taken the game to a different level.

Kartikh's Team Spirit

Mr Kartikh , one of the unrated players who rarely scores runs in double digits spoiled the party of Sachin by hitting the winning six against Srilanka. I have , never seen Sachin so clearly upset about not getting a century .

What Karthik did can never be justified by even the worst critics of Sachin, I am sure none of Indian Cricket team fans were amused by such display of batting by Kartikh. He should have curtailed his rare heroics and should have allowed Sachin to complete the century.

Good Wicket

Over the years life has become tougher for bowlers, I don't know how can a youngster watching Cricket nowadays will get motivated to become a bowler when a bowler is thrashed to all parts of the ground.


Mediocrity is something which can be appreciated by more number of people and this is precisely the reason why Cricket authorities are trying to woo the audience by making pitches full of runs. It might make batting look more spectacular but it comes at the cost of being unfair to bowlers.

I still remember good old days when bowlers like Wasim, Waqar, Donald, Mgraw, Ambrose, Kumble, Warne use to test batsman for their skill, there use to be a great anticipation for contest between the bat and the bowl. Are we seeing it any of it these days ? It looks like we are just watching batting and not Cricket.


Sometime I really don't understand how can someone call a dead pitch devoid of any life for bowlers as a good cricketing pitch. Making the teams score 400 runs in 50 overs might be making Business sense for the Cricket Lords now but i strongly believe that its a short term trend and eventually people will get bored out of it.

Sachin Sachin .......

I was just going through Sachin's ODI record today and though of finding some averages. It might sound like a crazy idea and many people say that Indians are crazy about Sachin but I think we have all the reasons in the world to do so..

Today after reaching milestone of 17000 runs in ODIs, he has also made his 45th century . Going by 424 innings he had played till now it takes him less than 10 (9.42) innings to hit a century and less than 5 (4.66) matches to hit a half century. Doing it consistently for more than 20 years is a awesome achievement.It wont take you a second look why he is the Best player in the world. Generations past might feel jealous that they could not see a player of such a caliber . Thats why he is called the GOD of cricket.

Strategic Time Out

Sometimes I really wonder how marketing guru's change the face of the game in such a amazing fashion .. Look at the new feature of the IPL - Strategic Time out . A move which adds another 10 minutes to the game , how it has changed the entire game . Now the media has extra time to put in more advertisements and earn extra revenue . It also provides  time to teams to realign the strategy in the middle of the game and makes it really interesting . So many games in IPL have been influenced by this time out.

The best part of it is the flexibility it provides to the viewer who can also use this time to do some work , sitting and watching the entire 2 hour game can be tough for few of us .

 In all a win win situation and no one is complaining . 

Fake IPL Player ..

Today is our convocation day , a little over stretched and we have a break for around 2 hours for lunch before the real show starts. I decided to hit my college computer center for one last time to just check my mail , than I came across a Blog , my oh my , what a Blog ..

The name of the blog is Fake IPL Player , the blogger claims to be one of the member of KKR , Shahrukh Khan's team and he is writing all the intimate details about the proceedings of the game , how different players reacts and do things off the field in a very typical style .

He doesn't name any of the player or celebrity but gives them funny names and gives lots of intelligent hints so that you can guess the names. Shilpa Shetty has been named as Big Sister , Mr Mallya has been named as Batli wala , Mandira Bedi as Sandy baddy babe . The stories are really interesting and you wont stop laughing once you start reading it ..

You can visit this blog on this URL .. Enjoy !

http://fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com/

IPL Blues…

Indian Premier League (IPL) launched just a year back was a big hit in the Indian subcontinent and the best part of it was the win-win situation, everyone was getting benefitted out of it. The players which could not make it up to the Indian team were getting great remuneration and high visibility which was at par with the international players, government was getting tax revenues and a chance to showcase India, TV channels were making loads of money through advertisements , the sports infrastructure of the country was benefiting out of the events and people were just loving it as it was their daily dose of affordable entertainment, better than the regular soaps which they have to watch. The 20-20 format was very entertaining and the time format of 2 hour game made it all exciting for even the people who don’t like to watch cricket all day.

The attack on Srilankan Team in Pakistan has caused more damage to IPL than any other event in the world. It is a classic case of a Black Swan as termed by Mr Nassim Talib in his book ‘The Black Swan’. As per Mr Talib Black Swans were debated not to be in existence and it was only before scientist found the rare breed in Australia that people realized the existence of Black Swan,  it’s a low probability event with high damage potential and nobody usually think of it in normal circumstances. A Mumbai attack through local boats or a 9/11 through passenger aircraft is a classic Black Swan which nobody thought will occur. The insurance companies never included this probability in calculation of their premiums and suffered badly from it.

Mr Lalit Modi is trying all out to make the event possible but who will take guarantees of guarding the lives of players when our own Home minister has refused to provide security to the teams during election season. Even if someone takes guarantee, the International Player might still reject the offer due to fear of attacks. Time is not far when people will start paying for their own security to outside intelligence Agencies. It does sounds like a good business proposition ‘Private Intelligence Agencies ‘?

When Umpires comes under pressure..

In last three matches Tendulkar has been wrongly given out LBW by umpires and even if  we look at the past , he has been the victim of poor judgment countless number of time.  Is it shear chance that he gets out so often due to umpiring mistakes or is there some other reason?

Some figures become larger than profession they are in, Sachin Tendulkar is one such  player who has been worshipped by cricket Fans all over the world , His genius with both Bat and Ball , breath stopping performances and humility makes him the worthy owner of the title  “GOD of Cricket‘. As all good things come with a cost, the popularity of Sachin also has some intangible cost associated with it. I believe Sachin’s importance in the game puts additional pressure on umpires which makes them give poor decisions against him.

 All the decisions for or against Sachin goes through loads of analysis and scrutiny which only adds to the burden of umpires who are as human as the one playing the game and likely to make mistakes.  

With or Without you ..

Government of Pakistan has barred their cricket players from participating in IPL 20-20 cricket tournament where Indian Inc buys contracts for almost all the major players of the world to play and earn like lords. The decision came as a knee jerk reaction to the Indian government's directive of cancelling the Indian cricket team tour to Pakistan after the Mumbai terror attacks. It  look rather a routine decision but can have lot of implications , some of them can be

Risk Management Strategy: -Since most of the terrorism in India is direct or indirect effort (supported by state or entrepreneurial venture) of Pakistanis, it may reduce the chances of Pakistani players caught in friendly fire and getting executed by their own men.

Forex Reserve:- Pakistani state treasury which is running on outside support from past few months won’t be helped by this opportunity of earning at least a million US $ in foreign currency. The money could have been used to buy some arms and ammunition for the Pakistani army.

Politician’s effort put to rest: - With no real issues left for politicians, many of them had been trying to use the popular anti Pakistani sentiment and were openly advocating of not to allow Pakistani players to play on Indian soil, now all such issues cannot be converted into vote Bank.

News channel/Print Media loss of news and revenue: - Should India allow Pakistani players to participate in IPL, many more useless discussions like this ,both on TV and newspaper won’t be possible anymore, it can lead to loss of revenue to the media companies both by advertisements and SMS polls.

On a serious note the major learning for the Pakistani government should be that the Cricket won’t die without Pakistani players and the show will just go on with or without them.

Perfect Farewell to the Prince of Kolkata ..

India crushing Australia 2-0 is the perfect farewell to our cricket hero Saurav Dada. His remarkable career came to an end today and I’m sure his fan will miss his energy and exuberance on and off the cricket field.

On his day dada was the sweetest timer of the ball, he can rip the fast bowling apart to all sides of the field and will hit more sixes than fours of the spinners. He along with Sachin gave us the most exciting starts in one day matches and won countless matches on their own. England always brought best from the cricketer, be it the century debut at lords where he mesmerized every one with his class, be it the finals of the Netwest trophy where he took off his Shirt to show the world that we can also do it if provoked or be it India reaching finals of the world Cup under his leadership.

Cricket is known by Individuals ,Ganguly was the real character , emotional , vocal and ready to take all kinds of leadership roles .

It was Gavaskar who brought dignity to Indian cricket when English Press commented “ Indians can now play Fast Bowling “ ,It was Kapil who brought respect to Indian cricket when the cricket giants said “ Indians can now bowl Fast Bowling ‘ and it is Ganguly who brought the fighting spirit and aggression to Indian cricket and every one said “ Indians can answer your queries on field now in the language you ask them “ . He was the fighter, and he made it a point that the team plays aggressive cricket under his leadership. And his contribution to the Indian cricket will be remembered forever

Cricket Field Entightenting ...

A welcome break from run of the mill life, we have the sports week coming up. The enthusiasm is on top, something I love about Mba Junta . Somehow they manage everything with full energy and commitment. So we have a match tomorrow and today we had the practice session. I really found myself out of practice but anyway I was never a great exponent of this art.

Cricket in Mumbai is different from other places , In a small ground roughly half the size of a football field there were around 10-12 independent cricket matches taking place . Half of the time in such conditions you will find yourself worried that the ball from other games might hit you on your head, especially when you are not used to this mode of Cricket. But somehow everyone was managing everything really well without any altercations or hostility.

After few overs I was directed to field at deep square leg. There was a interesting match going on there .I was more engrossed in that match rather than our practice session as the ball was rarely getting hit in my direction. I was listening to their conversations. It was real interesting conversation :-) ,the kids there in half torn clothes ,roughly in the age bracket of 10-16 , were fully engrossed in the match . It made me think with amazement how sports and cricket can take your mind out of everything and provide you healthy way of recreation. Those kids may not be sure about their next meal or their future but still enjoy the game with full concentration. 

I sometimes feel that it’s the educated and learned who waste more time in fretting about future and opportunities rather than people who just live life without any fears and high ambitions.