Bleeding Blue more than ever before..

2011 ICC Cricket World Cup - One Final Hurdle

The hopes of an entire nation on the shoulders of 11 men (not to mention the support staff). I've not felt more passionate about the Indian team in a long time, it's a wonderful time to watch cricket. This is just a fan's perspective on the road to Saturday.

Leading up to the World Cup, Team India was playing really well, they handed New Zealand a white wash, took South Africa to really close in an away series and raised the hopes of many. Which is why seeing India scratch around to beat the minnows was sad, they have not been the most convincing world beaters, but here they are. One step away, from making people stop talking about something that happened 28 years ago. The team is at a stage they were at 8 years ago when Saurav Ganguly brought India to the doorstep of the World Cup, but the final was too big a hurdle for Team India to cross, despite all the improvements in the tournament, the Aussies were just too good. But now, this time around there were no world beaters around. There are a bunch of teams that  really really closely matched. It makes for some amazing cricket to watch.

Watching the group matches with England or South Africa, was meant to be the appetizer for the fans and the tough tests for the team before the main event of the knockouts started. The matches went back and forth & watching the team skittle away good positions to tie one match and lose the other was heartbreaking. But it brought back the hunger to watch the team play, watch the team succeed. I've always been an ardent follower of the game, but over the last couple of years, I've not spent late nights in front of a TV watching a cricket match.But this world cup has made me wake up at the crack of dawn to see my favorite team battle it out for the glory.

The road to the quarter-finals was paved for India, despite a mediocre performance against some of the teams in their group they still came out second, with the only team to beat them a cut above. That's when this World cup changed though. An India - Australia quarter final. A match against the world number one team. The team that denied them glory in 2003. India outplayed them in Ahmadabad, another all round performance by India's left arm spinner and finisher Yuvraj. I could not watch that match live. But I think I watched the highlights 2 or 3 times. It was fun to see them lose to India. The rivalry has been so tense with Australia over the past decade & it has  produced some epics. The end of an Era. After 1999, for the first time, the world cup will leave Australia.

But even that match seems so insignificant now, in comparison with the one that followed. India vs. Pakistan. The second semi-final, a chance to meet their sub-continental neighbor in a match for all the marbles. The match took on some epic proportions, with anyone who had anything to do with either country saying something or the other. The premiers of both nations used the match as an opportunity to try and mend broken roads, and many of us thought of the "what if" questions again. One country, one team. Imagine the possibilities.

The world descended on Mohali, all eyes were on their favorite teams. The world remembered the significance of an India-Pakistan match. All Indians will say one thing, when it comes to the world cup & India-Pakistan matches, India is undefeated. Everyone in India was hoping that record remains untarnished. But at the same time everyone knows that Pakistan on their day can be the best in the world. This world cup had seen some of their best performances and seen them beat all comers (except of course for a piece of brilliance from Ross Taylor, that handed them their only defeat in the tournament till that point). The alarm went off at 4AM, and we were there, in front of the laptop with the match on it's way. What a match it was. Despite having a lot of packing & moving to do, we were transfixed. It was India-Pakistan. It was a world cup semi-final, it was India's best chance to go for gold (and that too at home). After a see-saw battle with during India's innings, the team battled their way back into the match with really good bowling spells from their second line quicks & an ever improving Yuvraj. And towards the end even though it was quite certain that India would pull it off an make it to the World Cup final in Mumbai, the tension was still in the air, you found your self unable to move till the last ball was bowled & you saw Kholi throw the ball in the air and signal India's victory.

With that win, a lot of cliches stayed true. South Africa continued to Choke at crucial moments, New Zealand reached the semis and lost & India beat Pakistan.

As team India travel to Mumbai for the Final, to face Sri Lanka, a team who have been incredibly dominant in this tournament (their only loss coming at the hands of Pakistan), all eyes will be on Wankhede, to see if India can pull off a victory and break one cliche that's been certainty since 1975. No Home team has ever won the world cup. It does not help that the team that they are facing was the one that won the last sub continental world cup, or the team that one the last world cup before Australia began their dominance or most importantly the finalists of the last world cup. Team India will need to play well to win & I sure hope they do. All the best Team India

"A Fan Following" - Rahul.

A few useless facts:
1. The last 3 surviving teams in the tournament are also incidently the finalists of the last 3 world cups.
2. The finalists of the last 2 world cups are now the finalists of this world cup.
(for anyone that's been under a rock for the past 15 years, the team in all of the earlier finals was Australia)
3. The only teams to have knocked out Australia since 1996 in a world cup are the 2011 finalists, India & Sri Lanka.

PAUL - Review

PAUL - "Good for a few dumb laughs... Fun way to send a couple of hours if you have nothing better to do.."


PAUL was just what I expected it to be. I wanted to go today and watch a movie just for the dumb laughs, not some serious story with amazing acting or  awesome action movie.

The movie started off slow with the 2 British nerds (sci-fi geeks) at COMIC-CON looking to experience the science fiction landmarks of the US. But the moment Paul enters the scene, the movie picks up steam. The graphics on Paul's character really rocks. He has the standard Martian look but looks really realistic and eyes have some tremendous depth. Seth Rogan's voice acting really carries the character and makes him really funny.

You get a few laughs every 5 to 10 minutes or so when something ridiculous happens.Hey, it was fun. If you are bored, go watch it. Not a classic so 3 on 5

Rahul.. 

The King's Speech - Review

The King's Speech - STUPENDOUS! A wonderfully crafted movie which captivates you throughout. (no wonder it won so many Oscars)


The King's Speech is such a simple story, but the way it's told leaves you filled with all the compassion, admiration and respect for King George VI.

The Duke of York, the son of the then King George V, had a severe speech impediment that caused him to stutter in any public conversation. Multiple attempts with various doctors did no good to him, until his wife found a common man, Lionel Logue with a reputation for unconventional methods to treat his patients. You also see the shackles that royalty puts on the family, the constraints of role, the detachment from the common man and you see how different the two worlds really are. But, at the end of the day it's about the relationship between two men, the Duke of York and Lionel Logue his speech therapist.

The movie takes a good 15 minutes or so to sink it's teeth into you. It does not let go after that. You are riveted. I guess it's the scene during their first encounter, when he makes the Duke read a passage from Shakespeare that you realize this is going to be good. Over the course of the story you see the friendship between the soon to be King and this common man develop and the King fight to overcome his impediment to a great extent.

It's a fantastic movie, Colin Firth & Geoffrey Rush. Hat's Off.
I'll say 4.5/5. Please watch it - you are guaranteed to enjoy it. 

Rahul.

No One Killed Jessica - Review

No One Killed Jessica - A movie that deserves a watch because of the subject matter. Not the over the top acting.


The Jessica Lal murder case was one of the biggest stories in the Indian media in 2006, because of the unjust verdict that was delivered the first time around. The story shows the fights that the family, her sister Sabrina in particular had to endure to secure justice for Jessica. The media reports that followed the initial verdict went on to show the miscarriages of justice, the changes to the truth. It showed the common Indian try and get her justice. The media took it upon themselves to get the case re-opened. It's a sad story, which showed India at it's worst and best.

The story deserved to be immortalized in a movie so that the story would be told through the years. Maybe it would shake a few consciences (?). But I really don't think the movie needed to be so, "Bollywood". The story was there and the way Jessica's story and eventual death & Sabrina's fight was portrayed in the first half was very tasteful, touching and made you feel for the family. Especially because you knew what was coming (every Indian knows the story). But in the second half, the media character portrayed by Rani Mukerji stands out as very "filmi", it takes the seriousness out the story and takes away a bit from the story. They told the story with all honesty, but if not for the fluff, it would have been a wonderful homage to Jessica and a salute to her sister and the Indian media in general.

Watch the movie. It'll touch you despite the tamasha that it has thrown in.
It's 3/5 for this one...

Rahul

dhobi ghat (mumbai diaries) - Review

dhobi ghat (mumbai diaries) - four people living in a big city, different perspectives, their lives intertwined by strange coincidences.


dhobi ghat is a movie that signifies the new types of movies that have become the staple of aamir khan's production house. You can always go for one of his movies confident that you will not leave bored or frustrated.

With this movie though, I had my doubts, it was his wife's production, they billed the movie as, "not for everyone". But I felt the movie was really worth a watch, if for nothing else but the sheer honest acting by all 4 main characters.

The four characters in the story are so completely different, that they bring completely different perspectives to the story.

Prateik Babbar, plays Munna a dhobi and rat killer in Mumbai's slums. A boy who came to Mumbai from Bihar because he was starving. His introduction begins with him telling his brother that, even though being a rat killer is disgusting, it's at least an honest days work. But he has dreams as well, he wants to be an actor he wants a better life.

Monica Dogra plays Shai, an investment banker in the US who goes to India on a sabbatical looking for inspiration and a change of scene. She brings into the story a kind of naivety that she has developed with her many years outside of the country.

But the best performance in the story is from Kriti Malhotra who plays Yasmin, a young bride who has come to the city immediately after he marriage. She has a video camera with which she is writing a video letter for her younger brother back in the village and her entire story is told from behind the lens.

And then there is Arun (played by Aamir Khan), the artist who looks all around Mumbai for his inspiration. He calls the city his muse, his whore and his love. His character serves as the bridge between the other three as the story is told.

The movie starts off slow and never really gets much faster, but then it's just the story of 4 people, I guess it's not meant to be fast. You see how different each of their lives is, while despite a number of people around them how lonely they actually are.

I would say the movie by itself is a work of art and not for everyone. I liked the movie. Go ahead and try it for yourself. I would rate the movie a 3.25 on 5. But I wont be surprised if you either love or hate it. 


Rahul.

Where's has my Cricket gone?

IPL - A runaway train - a wreck waiting to happen (Players Won, Fans and Cricket Lost)

The first season of the IPL was wonderful, with new teams being formed, a concept developed and icon players in each of their teams. It was a gala of cricket with some of the best names thrown in for a bit of fun. T20 cricket was just evolving, people were already calling ODIs dead and test matches was the premium product that was served in small doses. It was a great event with really high quality cricket and all the teams played brilliantly.

Despite the tournament moving to South Africa for a year and then coming back to India a year later, all 3 seasons of IPL provided wonderful entertainment and action for all involved. The amounts of money involved was ludicrous for 6 weeks of cricket, but India is the money spinner of cricket, and more money for everyone can't be a bad thing right? Maybe it can. Over the last 3 years, for a lot of the cricketers the importance of international cricket has gone down. They have started calling themselves Professional freelancers (Flintoff, Symonds). Folks are retiring prematurely to play jut T20 cricket, all sort of stuff happened with the cricketing world. No other cricket league has since formed, which has the scale this one does.

But early retirement and professional freelancers not withstanding, the rest of the world still thought of international cricket as the holy grail. No one is quite sure anymore what the priority for Indian cricketers is. There was a time when cricketers were dropped from the national team and they slogged and slogged in domestic cricket to make their way back. Even Saurav Ganguly had to fight his way back to international cricket before the IPL. But now, cricketers who have been pushed aside by the selectors still have a flood gate to fill their pockets, the glorious IPL.

This year has been nothing but scandal after scandal for the IPL. To be quite honest I didn't understand all the nitty-gritties and legalies of why RCB and KPXI were removed by the BCCI. Purely from a fan's standpoint, all I could care about was that I would have 2 less teams in the IPL to watch. Two teams that I had enjoyed watching. RCB for the way Shane Warne had groomed the youngsters who were playing with him into good players, who eventually represented India and KPXI, just because I liked watching them lose. Don't know why, but I didn't really like the team. Months of speculation and at the end of the day they were cleared and IPL was all set to have 10 teams. That's a good number, the season should be fun.

But then this auction came along and left a very bad taste. Why does the league need an auction every 3 years.Why can't it be like 10 companies operating for the best cricketing talent in the world. the spending cap makes sense to level the playing field, but if you have 16 players in your squad today, shouldn't you get the first right of refusal for each of them. Shouldn't players get to choose who they play for? So tomorrow if Delhi wanted to buy Dhoni for $2 Million, shouldn't the three parties hash it out like a company and trade for players? New players show up on the scene, set a salary cap for them until they have played for their countries for a year or two (or set a number of games as the criteria), at the end of the day these are companies, they are not going to throw a huge chunk of money at every player that comes along. But these player retention, open auction, uncapped player rules along with the amounts of money shelled out for the Indian cricketers makes the head spin.

Do you think Irfan Pathan would have any more incentive to try and get back into the national setup with a paycheck that reads $1.9 Million. He was a brilliant fast bowler, a good all rounder until he fell out the form and the national team. I really think he could have a second burst like Zaheer and become one of India's better players. But would he still have the incentive to do that?

Then there's also the simple fact about how you build team loyalty. Come on, if the entire structure of the team changes every 3 years, how can you really keep following that team. Think about it this way, you come together as a team today, build strategies and skills together. Now as long as your core stays you can grow, but changing the entire team means re-building from scratch. If one or two guys move to a different team, that may give you some money to go get some new talent and will create an interesting situation when you have that one player in the opposition you knows your tricks. But putting them all back in different places causes chaos. That's why I think the Chennai team is best placed with the number of players they have retained and retrieved, the core has remained, I would always support my home team, but I feel for the internationals who follow the IPL, they may had some favorite cricketers, Gilchrist & Symonds maybe and would have built and affinity towards the Deccan chargers. But now one's the captain of Punjab while the other is in Mumbai. It devalues the franchises.

And then people keep asking the question if future players will now aspire for the Indian team or an IPL team. IPL is a distraction for the fan, international cricket at the end of the day is the real deal. Do you think if the Indian team starts doing badly in international cricket, people will still like the IPL. People would start looking at the price tags more cynically and would start criticizing the salaries.

So now I ask the question. Where has cricket gone in all this mess?
I say, let's forget the IPL for a while. Look forward to the World Cup, the real cricket.
This entertainment extravaganza will come and go.. Hopefully some better Tests and ODIs will follow so that we forget this ever happened, until the auction comes around 3 years from now. (or maybe by IPL 7 people will learn and things will change. Hey, we can always hope!)

Rahul.