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STOCKS AND LIFE

When stock markets celebrated new year with gusto, who could have thought that within days all dreams will tumble…and in less than a year, the valuation will come down to less than a half!

Anyone predicting this ghastly scenario must have been termed a buffoon…a rotten pessimist who did not deserve to live as a thinking human being.

Now, the mankind must be convinced, more than ever, about the fallibility of their castles built on arrogance and misplaced beliefs.

The operation of stock markets is no different from life – daily ups and downs. Sometimes there are significant movements upward, but one can be rest assured that downward journey is on the cards.

On the rosier side….if there is a downward journey, it may also turn out to be a stepping stone towards a more robust jump to the top.

A jump which may be `staying and solid’, if not `spectacular and gravity-defying’ One lesson which life can take from stock markets.

There is no rock bottom in an average life…as much as there is no summit.

Energy, not excuses, will help Mumbai More

‘’Losers always have excuses, winners always have energy.’’
Who said these immortal words very recently!
If one recalls, it was great Sachin Tendulkar, a winner all his life, in one of the advertisements aired during the IPL tourney.

Sachin is a prove match winner with loads of energy. And he did play a great knock yesterday worthy of highest accoladess. It was remarkable the way he matched traditional strokeplay with slam-bang format. Pity that Mumbai had to lose despite such tremendous fightback. It was indeed a beautiful game of cricket where the team which held its nerves best in the final stages, won. Yuvraj ‘Jhonty’ Singh kept his cool, and propelled his team into the semis.

That is why one can not understand this sudden rush to blame Suresh Shastri for Mumbai’s defeat. Even before Shastri had delivered each of his judgments as third umpire, the knowledgeable commentators on telly had ‘’agreed in advance’’ with him. They were never shocked by any of his decisions, and if some one gets a shock now (be it Mumbai team management, or just Tendulkar), it can only be termed a case of sour grapes.

Surely, the beauty of that one hell of a contest should not be marred by some unnecessary controversy. With reports of criticism coming from the great man, it can only put the umpires under some tremendous pressure. Something surely not good for the rest of the tourney.

All the three matches yesterday (including the Champions League final between Red Devils and Chelsea) went to the wire. It was a veritable treat from 4 PM on Wednesday to three AM on Thursday. Chennai were Bangalored, Mumbai ran themselves out, and Chelsea were done in by destiny. In all the cases, matches could have gone either way.

In jest, Losers too had energy, and lots of it. Just that they lacked the most important thing needed to win. A little dose of good luck.

Vijay Mallya is right, and wrong!

‘’At the end of the day, people need to understand that the IPL has a corporate side to it, and a very definite corporate side. It is not at all cricket in the traditional sense.’’

Vijay Mallya is right here. It is not traditional cricket with reasonable money for cricketers. Mind-boggling salaries and exorbitant prices have been paid to purchase sides and franchises are probably right in demanding positive results. It is like old India-Pak rivalries where captains invariably got a sack after a poor result. Only that it is corporate pride, rather than the nation’s prestige, which is at stake.

Then Mallya is also one of those one billion Indians, who are much smarter than the selectors in terms of picking their dream eleven. At times, he can be smarter than the likes of Charu, Dravid, Sachin, and Harsha in picking his men (after all, Mumbai Indians are also not faring too well despite three in a row while no-hoper Jaipur are on top).

The real problem with this format is that even the best can fail in picking a successful eleven. Else the likes of Marsh and Watson would not have been getting peanuts compared to some of the biggest names who failed to deliver. Probably Mohali and Jaipur would still have been struggling to be among the top four, and not sitting so comfortably, had these two not delivered. Compare that to the likes of Symonds (who would have been expected to win all the matches for his team) and Ponting (who failed so miserably). Even Ishant Sharma, the find of the season and good for all formats, has not been the kind of influence his team would have liked him to be.

So here Mallya goes horribly wrong in blaming Dravid and Charu. Probably, the problem was in strategy. The team needed stabilisers in the middle and attacking batsman at the top of the order as in yesterday’s game. The way they approached their match against Mohali, in a very aggressive mood before that unfortunate and bizarre dismissal of Misbah ul Haq , showed what all was possible.

Then the team also went by reputation. It is not very easy to have the likes of Kallis, Jaffer and Kumble warming the bench. But then difficult decisions have to be taken to ensure a judicious mix of attacking and defensive play. Invariably, there are situations in the middle of the innings when teams need to consolidate. You can’t always be attacking, even in twenty20!

But the biggest mistake Mallya has committed is by publicly airing his disapproval of the way team was selected and shaped up. That seems to have further demoralized an already bruised side. He may be right in what all he said, but the timing was certainly not the right one. With his rapid-fire statements, he has turned sympathy into indignation. No wonder that a headline in Mail Today aptly described the sorry spectacle as ‘’Cry Baby Tycoon blames others for his IPL Team’s losses’’. The flamboyant Tycoon does need to learn a few things from Mukesh Ambani, who must have talked to his team privately after a string of initial losses.

Why IPL Needs Dedicated Space in Cricketing Calender

Let me start with a joke seen recently on net before coming to cricket:
A husband and wife were having dinner at a very fine restaurant when this absolutely stunning young woman comes over to their table, gives the husband a kiss on the cheek, says she'll see him later and walks away. His wife glares at him and says, 'Who the hell was that?
'‘Oh,' replies the husband, 'she's my mistress.'
‘’Well, that's the last straw,' says the wife. 'I've had enough, I want a divorce.
'I can understand that,' replies her husband, 'but remember, if we get a divorce it means that you don't get any more shopping trips to Paris, no more wintering in Barbados, no more summers in Tuscany, no more Ferraris and Lexus's in the garage and no more yacht club. But the decision is yours.'
Just then, a mutual friend enters the restaurant with a gorgeous girl. 'Who's that woman with Jim?' asks the wife.
'That's his mistress,' says her husband.
'Ours is prettier,' she replies.
Now, the joke may not be in very good taste, and a poor reflection on the materialist world, but one can surely find some uncanny similarities with cricket.

Let us assume that the Husband is BCCI, Wife is Traditional Cricketing establishment/purists, and Mistress is IPL Twenty20. The joke perfectly fits into the way cricketing equations have been shaping up. After over three weeks of mindboggling response, it now seems a must for the traditional Cricketing establishment to learn to live with the IPL peacefully. It has become important for them to have a dedicated space in the World Cricketing Calender, which can be used by the IPL and other such tournaments, which may be planned the worldover during this period.

It is highly unlikely that (taking cue from BCCI’s successful foray into the shortened version), other boards the world over will let go of such opportunities to start similar leagues in their own countries. And in all likelihood, few more leagues (Especially in Australia and the UK), could hand out very good financial returns (like in IPL), and the money can then be ploughed back into the traditional cricket.

With a dedicated window, every one will be happy in the long run. Boards will get money, players will get the opportunity to gain more, and viewers will have a veritable treat to look forward to every year. It will be a win-win situation without compromising with the morality of the original joke!

Bangalore Out of IPL

It was extremely disappointing, almost annoying to see how Bangalore were committing hara-kiri yesterday.

A target of 130 in 16 overs was not very stiff by any stretch of imagination but the way they grafted and grafted, before letting loose when it was too late, finally confirmed one’s doubt that they never belonged to this format. Luckily for Charu, he was not there to take the blame this time round!

As of now, Dravid’s vanquished warriors will probably need to win all of their remaining six matches to have any hope of reaching the semis. But that will also mean setting some sort of tournament record as no team so far has managed to win that many in a row, though King’s eleven Punjab need one more to accomplish this feat.

To be realistic, Bangalore look completely out of sorts and at the moment, the battle for semifinal looks to have been restricted to seven teams. Mallya can relax and concentrate on Formula one. IPL title is out of reach.
My First IPL Match
Meanwhile, watched my first match as ‘spectator from the stands’, and not as a journo covering a battle. It was between Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings at Ferozshah Kotla yesterday.

What a match and what an ambience! One refreshing change from the past tests and ODIs at Kotla is that the families are coming in such big numbers to watch the 40-over carnival. It has well and truly become a family outing with one seeing some many groups of ‘girls only’, cheering and clapping after every ball.

Reasons:
- Kotla is much cleaner now with functional toilets
- No boring moments mean people have that much less time to pass comments and harass the fellow spectators
- The format reduces the waste of time, allowing executives to pack up their office bags in time for the match. Female executives, so much concerned about their office work, can now do both the jobs on a given day.
- Last but not the least, the music and the cheerleaders, including Bhangra troupes and bands, usher in the festivities never seen before on India’s cricket grounds. Families just love the feel and the colour splashed all around.

The arrangements for the match were impeccable and ladies were feeling much secure coming to these encounters. These are great times for cricket indeed.

As Charu Packs his bags...

It is not surprising that the sack came. The more surprising thing is that it took nearly three weeks for the first KO blow to come!

Poor Charu. only if he had watched the telecast of few Bangalore matches, he would have seen the ‘clinched teeth smile (!)’ of owner Vijay Mallya with his team perennially occupying seventh or eighth place.

But he is not likely to be alone. Prasad is already inching towards the exit door and the way this Premier League is shaping up, expect few more dismissals (from some other franchisees too) by the time the winners jump atop the podium.

From purely the business point of view, the main reason for the success of top shots like Mallya and Mukesh Ambani is that they are much more concerned with the overall policy making and efficient delegation. They select top pros and expect them to deliver. Take as much resources as you want, but deliver: That is their mantra, time-tested and sureshot roadmap to success.

Charu (along with Dravid) failed to deliver a team which could succeed. It looked more suited to 120-120 format, than 20-20! That diluted the Brand Royal Challenge beyond permissible limit, which could never be acceptable to Mallya. Even the replacement choice, Brijesh Patel, shows the vengeance of a seething Mallya, than some well thought out plan. After all what can Brijesh Patel do as CEO, which Charu could not have done! If Royal Challengers start winning after this shocking change of guard, it will more be incidental!

Mumbai are in a smiliar state of dismay and despair. Now, if one of pre-tournament favourites lose few more, one can expect some similar turmoil among their ranks. After all, did not a big Reliance functionary on cricket controversies programme on NDTV, say that their target was at least reaching the final. As of now, even a semifinal spot looks woefully out of reach. The richest Indian in India will certainly not like it.

In fact, one can expect more and more bad blood between the owners and the players/management as tournament gets into the business end. As Shahrukh famously said a few days back ‘’failure is not an option for me, or my team.’’ Though the evergreen hero might still take it sportingly if Nightriders fail to deliver, same can not be said of many other franchises who have too much pride, or money at stake.

Hum Chloremint Kyon Khate hain!

What is life without some humour. And a spectator did manage to find it in an encounter involving Mohali and Knight Riders few days ago.

The reason for the slap Sreesanth received (as shown in a banner held by him) was not related to cricket in anyway (Well, that is news!).

Actually, Sreesanth received the slap because, during the handshake, he had the audacity to ask Harbhajan ‘’Bhajji Bhai, hum chloremint kyon khatein hain (Dear Bhajji, why do we have chloremint).

Coming to that match, it also showed why Twenty20 will continue to capture the imagination of the nation for years to come. After losing their top-five for 50, KKR’s never looked part of the match up. Still, it could not be decided in favour of Kings Eleven Mohali until just two balls remained! That is the thrill of this instant cricket.

So far, 24 matches have taken place (six involving each team) and there has been just one encounter where a team looked finished even before the second innings started. And that was the 24th match involving the Mohali outfit and Super King’s Chennai, where Tanvir’s brilliant spell on a batsman friendly track decided the match in the first innings itself. In all other encounters, things could have gone either way until the last few overs.

Even two-weeks into this format, boredom has not set in. Every thing is boisterous. Right from the first ball to the last strike. Batsmen chancing their arm at every opportunity, Cheering spectators, and cheer leaders – all have combined to make it a thrilling spectacle.

Meanwhile, the performance of Indians (as skipper) is along the predictable lines in this format. While Dhoni, Yuvraj and Sehwag are on top with some remarkable leadership and imaginative display, teams lead by Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly have been struggling. It clearly shows where our future should be headed!

God Bless Twenty20!

Despite the tremendous success of Twenty20 cricket – highlighted by the September World Cup, confirmed by the ICL, and then reconfirmed as a smashing hit by IPL, there are still people believing, and trying to force others into believing, that this version trivializes cricket!

They cry hoarse about the decline of their beloved cricket, played in traditional way. Suddenly, even ODI cricket has become a traditional fare, whose ’’imminent demise’’ has to be bemoaned in every possible way.

They decry that the like of Vijay Mallya and Mukesh Ambani, and their big corporations, are out to enslave this beautiful game.

Take a break mate. And use some common sense. Even before IPL came, big corporations were controlling cricketing stakes the World over. Wills, Sahara, Pepsi, Coke – these are not your neighbourhood kirana stores after all!

And when was cricket without its share of glamour Sir. Who were the subcontinent girls dying for in cricket heydays of 70s and 80s – Mudassar Nazar or Imran Khan, Bhagwat Chandrashekhar or Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi!

As Mandira Bedi said in one of the programmes, stars were always present in such big number at places like Sharjah to watch the ODIs, then called pyjama cricket. Only that they are paid much more now to be brand ambassadors, with few even mustering up the courage to buy teams.

Those who have witnessed their cricket from close quarters, understand that in course of time all forms will survive. Test Cricket did not die because of ODIs, and Tests and ODIs will not die because of Twenty20.

Rather, Twenty20 will help batsmen discover and master few more strokes, which will enable increase in scoring rate in all the versions.

Besides, this version has created so much more employment opportunities for some promising cricketers.

Gony is no longer a badly spelled Dhoni and God Bless twenty20 cricket for that!

Three Cheers for Cheer Ladies!

In one of HT's supplements today, one saw Kareena Kapoor (hogging one full page) wearing nothing more than what some much more gorgeous Cheer Ladies have been wearing at most venues of the IPL

Wonder what the Moral brigade, which is after the lives and livelihood of the IPL cheer ladies, has to say on the Tassan ad.

Just seeing the juicy supplements of various newspapers (still considered the bastion of media conservatism and noble values) will provide with much more voyeuristic masala than all the antics strung together by the ladies flown in from many parts of the globe.

Hence, one can only describe as pathetic the attempt to take out cheer ladies from the IPL venues. Probably camera angles make them look vulgar at times, but how they are to be blamed for that. Having cameras focus more on their face, and some long shots will do the trick.

IPL is a combination of star power, glamour, and cricket, with cricket taking precedence but star power and glamour not too far behind. Those who do not like it, can simply switch off their TV sets and go for their routine Tests and ODIs. But first, they also need to instruct their newspaper wallah not to give daily supplements, which often has starlets wearing far less than what we have seen in various matches.

As far as politicians are concerned, this moral conservatism looks nothing more than opportunism to settle some political scores.

Cricket's biggest revolution!

Having watched the IPL for last one week, I am getting more and more convinced that future belongs to this version only. Reasons why IPL will be a hit in India, and further promote twenty20 worldwide are.

1) Slam bang is the approach in today’s modern life and the format slips in really well. Then, one does not have to miss office or school to make it to the ground in time.

2) A three-nation tournament (one match against each team followed by the final) can start on Saturday Morning and end on Sunday evening.

3) If TRPs for the initial part of the IPL are indeed what TAM is making us believe, it seems the men are finally getting control of the remote even when mega K serials are on. However, if ladies too are chiping in along with cartoon-crazy kids to see the matches, that shows the real triumph of the format.

4) It provides a unique level playing field. Countries like Holland, Scotland etc will have near equal chance of beating some of the middle level teams. Just one good knock can make such a big difference as shown by some of the IPL matches. It will help promote the game globally as time consumed will be less that two football matches one after another.

5) The Indians are mad only for fours and sixes. One glaring example is that they are not prepared to accept a pitch like the one at Eden, which produced one of the most thrilling low scoring matches. The format provides massive hits in abundance.

6) Like in movies where quintessential villain changing his profile and helping heros at times draws biggest applause (Amjad Khan in Love Story or Pran in Zanzeer), in cricket seeing the Pakistanis and the Australians helping out Indians, and celebrating along with them is a real boost to the sport, and the relationships.

So IPL has unleashed a monster for the other versions, but a messiah for the have nots of cricket. It has shown that twenty20 is the most viewer friendly format ever produced.

Mahanama's Pathetic Show!

To the millions of meek, pliant and spineless character which inhibit this world, there is one more addition – Roshan Mahanama.

Why blame the ICC? As long as there are people like Mahanama to serve its interests in safeguarding the supremacy of a chosen few, it will get away with anything it wants.

Match referee Mahanama’s comments (in his report to the ICC) on a ‘substandard’ Kanpur pitch are all the more disturbing as he belongs to a country (Sri Lanka), which has won most of its battles on tailor-made home tracks with the help of Murali. Imagine the state of Lanka cricket (their win-loss record) if they had to deal with bouncy tracks at homes as well.

Probably Mahanama has forgotten that on a ‘substandard, under prepared pitch’ South Africa had upper hand on most of the first two days and but for a fighting last wicket stand in India’s 1st innings, the eventual outcome could well have been different.

Even on a so called ‘perfect pitch’ of Ahmedabad, the match was over in three days. Then why blame the pitch at Nagpur? Playing on an under prepared track too requires a different kind of skills, which South Africans lacked in the end. Period.

It must be understood by all and sundry that preparing same kind of tracks will take away the home advantage and make the game very dull. It will take the fun out of the game. Imagine a world where all women were blonde! But people like Mahanama, with their playing careers over and refereeing at the mercy of ICC, will forget all that for a cosy job and some quick bucks.

Existential Dilemma (From my other blog spiritualsolace.blogspot.com

To understand the nature of this world is really tough. So our response to it is often confused and varied. Sometimes it (the world) attracts us like a real magnet. And at times, one desires to renounce anything and everything.

This dialectics between affinity and revulsion defines our very existence. Generally our moments of triumph mark our affinity, while revulsion usually comes after some really painful events. Though it is not a set rule, but generally this is the way it is. Only saints can enjoy a feeling of revulsion (renunciation) in their moments of triumphs. But they must surely be on the verge of extinction in today’s world.

The best way to live should be by enjoying both the states of existence. But there is nothing better then enjoying your moments of despair. That only can be done by counting one’s blessings. What’s a bloody life without its share of trials and tribulations. Is not that the reason why rich and famous often perish in pursuit of thrill and adventure? Too good is too bad at times.

If life is understood as one small stretch between two infinite existences which one is not yet aware of, it can be led in a much better way. Unfortunately, most people are too much obsessed with the present to lose the very sight of the pleasure that must come along with it.

Intrigues for fast bucks and cozy life, as well as their insecurities, dominate their existence, which can spoil the very idea of a perfect life.

A life time of Ten Days!

Remember April three? It was just ten days ago, when everybody was gunning after the Indian cricketers, lambasting them for a meek surrender at the Ahmedabad greentop. http://atulsondhi.blogspot.com/2008/04/just-one-bad-day.html

Today, after a commendable show in the last two days when they fought against all odds – loss of toss, loss of Kumble, a very good start by the South Africans, and a very dismal start by their own openers – things have changed so much! In few minutes from now, they will be fighting a battle, which once seemed lost for all practical purposes. Just ten days, and four playing days was all it took to get them back to where they belong to – the very top.

If the visitors manage a reasonable batting score, South African can still win this match and the series. But if it is anybody’s game now, it is only thanks to some stupendous display by India. They would certainly have been out of the equation but for tremendous bowling by Harbhajan, Ishant and Chawla, and some gritty batting display by their middle order spearheaded by Sourav Ganguly.

In the process, India also showed the world that they can come back from any situation. They may not yet be the World's best team (they still need the winning consistency of South Africa and Australia), but for an average Indian fan who wants his team to fight till the very end without caring for result, they are a special bunch. Our sentimental number one.

Just One Bad Day

Each one of has one bad day in office once in a while, and this Indian team is no exception.

It is not that suddenly this bunch has become a gathering of cricketing novices. On the contrary, most of them are cricketing greats whose records and accomplishments will be fondly remembered decades after they are gone.

So it was amusing to see/read/hear so much, and so scathing, criticism of the team for just one bad session of batting. They were dubbed the greenhorns on a greentop while their Series victory in England on seaming tracks, commendable performance in Australia especially the win on Perth’s bouncy track, and authentic win over Pakistan was conveniently forgotten. The problem was not with criticism, but with the overdose of it.

To be fair, after the World Cup this team has lost just one test series (courtesy the likes of Bucknor and Benson) and won a rare tri-series and a twenty20 world cup. So one disastrous day was always in the offing and it came at Ahmedabad.

Today, a Harbhajan delivery hitting Kallis stumps without dislodging the bail symbolized India’s plight more glaringly than ever. A team, with all the greatness at its disposal also needs some luck, and a few umpiring decisions, to make it count. India never had that in this test and that is the crux of the matter. It is not just the pitch.

Approaching tea on day two, with South African leading by a good 300+ runs, only one result looks likely. Unless Weather intervenes in a big way.

Do not blame it on Sachin's absence

With just two wickets to go and lunch still half-an-hour away, it does look disastrous. But it will be most unkind to South Africa to suggest that the absence of Sachin Tendulkar has got anything to do with India’s massive collapse on the Indian Soil. He could have suffered the same fate as the rest of the specialist batsmen. After all, all the score that India had made at Chennai had come without a single run from the blade of this world’s premier batsmen. If’s and buts never solve the cricketing zigsaw.

Not only the South African bowlers looked to be in great rhythm today, but they were also helped by some misjudgments from the Indian batsmen. Of the first six batsmen, only Jaffer and Dravid were authentic dismissals. Laxman was a victim of his own poor judgment, Dhoni failed to keep his head, and bat, down, while Ganguly and Sehwag just played on to the outbound deliveries.

As the situation stands now, there is a real danger that South Africa may bat India out of the match by tomorrow evening (if they survive that long). But looking at the positives, India have one additional bowler and with five-men attack, they might be able to restrict the visitors to a manageable lead.

As things stand now, India can only hope and pray that the South Africans too suffer from the same series of misjudgments, which plagued them today morning. They will certainly need some luck as bowling alone may not be sufficient to get them back into a match, where result looks a certainty after less than a session of play!

India Selections and Global Warming!

There was a very interesting item in the Times of India today, which talked about the potential of laughter towards increasing global warming. That’s a rather grim warning, especially to those who take interest in, and tend to give some serious thought to the BCCI selection policies.

One can still not stop laughing, and contributing to the global warming, when thinking about Kaif coming in place of Tendulkar in the Indian team (unless the idea is to promote the stock of Kaif and his team just before the prestigious IPL). He may have been doing well in the domestic cricket, but when you are looking forward, it appears to be a big step backward.

Leave aside a waiting Yuvraj (the natural replacement if India still go in with the same batsman-bowler combination), there have been batsmen like Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir, who have done wonders in the last few months in international cricket. They should have been rewarded first.

But more importantly, with talks already on about having five bowlers on Indian pitches, it would have been prudent to include a bowler to have more options just before the final selection. So that was an opportunity missed.

The only positive of having Kaif as of now is that if India chose, they can afford to go in with an additional bowler without too many protests. Probably, the selection was also made keeping that in view.