SAST Wingees » sridhar

New Goals for Sachin Tendulkar

sridhar — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 13:50:00 +0000

I know that Sachin Tendulkar will never ask me to set his goals and that Greg Chappel will never visit this Blog to be enlightened by this piece on Sachin. But it is great joy to set targets for super achievers and even greater happiness when the targets are achieved. And who knows, may be, just may be he will stumble onto this piece and will take it seriously. Stranger things have happened!!!

A lot has been said about Sachin ending his career as the highest run getter in the history of test and one day cricket. A lot has also been written about his crossing the 40 centuries mark. If he decides to play a few more games for India both these landmarks will fall by the way side. Ergo, these goals are unworthy of the champion.

If Sachin truly wants be remembered as the greatest of the greats (head and shoulder above SMG and Kapil Dev) he should deliver the following: Starting next season (guess it will have to begin with the India vs. England fixture, once he returns from injury) he should:

Score at least 35% of the teams’ runs in test wins (5 wins at home and 5 wins abroad. Considering India ‘s record of wins, it will be a 3-4 yr project and will last him till retirement).
Take 5 wickets in an innings at least 3 times by bowling right arm leg spin. Apart from Shane Warne, I have not seen a current leg spinner who gives the ball such a solid rip while maintaining a decent line and length. But by attempting to live up to his reputation of being a “versatile genius”, he is trying far too many things with the ball. A lot of this is plain rubbish - seam up at 60mph, off spin to left-handers, etc. Consequently, leg spin, which is his most potent weapon, is not used often enough. If he can bowl balls like the one he did to Moin Khan (bowled round the legs) at Karachi, why would he want to try anything else? Greg Chappel should drive this into his head. Stick to leg spin and take 5 wickets 3 times.
Carry his bat through a test innings 3 more times.
Bat at no 4 in the one dayers. When India bat first, play till the last ball of the 50th over, 5 times , AND when India bat second, bat till the last ball is bowled to see India through to victory, 5 times .
Be the Player of the Tournament in the 2007 World cup . But more importantly ensure that India finish 1 or 2.
Win the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai 2 more times.

These, hopefully are worthy goals for the great player and will satisfy /challenge him.

A few more centuries and /or a few 1000 runs will change nothing - neither his life nor the lives of Indian cricket lovers.

Wing blog at cross roads

sridhar — Tue, 17 May 2005 15:54:12 +0000

An interesting article on blogging.- http://www.whatsnextonline.com/wno/newsletter040826.cfm

Bullet point 1 under blogging caveats could be a reason why Suku is the lone crusader of this effort. Here is my small contribution.

Rational or Impotent ?

sridhar — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 14:41:00 +0000

The Net is full of articles, each one more strident than the other, on how Hinduism is in danger in India. How a treatment of this sort meted out to a Muslim Cleric or the Pope, would have caused mayhem by now. How this can happen only in a nation that has a Muslim President, a Sikh PM , a Christian leader of the ruling party and millions of spineless Hindus .

One cannot deny that there is a grain of truth in all this. There is however , more truth in the fact that among the spineless Hindus, the Tamil Brahmins occupy pride of place.

For , what else can explain this insipid behaviour ? Despite all that has happened in our backyard, there is hardly a protest of note in the 4 southern states of the country. Almost none in Tamil Nadu and Chennai. The DMK & AIDMK for the first time in history have united to ensure that not a whimper is heard. If we are going to be cowed down by Karunannidhi and his mobs, why blame a Muslim President and a Sikh PM?

If we do not know how to burn busses or self immolate , we need to think of other forms of protest that will be just as effective. If we pride our selves on being the Chanakyas of this world , we need to have the courage to behave like one.

Sometimes being rational is being impotent – and I believe this is one of those times. It is all very well for an Iyer “mama ” to sit on his couch, after a sumptuous meal of “thair sadham ” and say that “law will take it’s own course”. Or for Geeks like us, to scan the Net and forward articles to one another (including this one) on Hinduism. Or for “ vadhyars” to conduct innumerable token “homams” for peace and purity. Or for the Kannadigas, the Telugus and the Malayalees, to quickly shun association with Kanchi Mutt and speak of their own pious Gods and Godmen. The fact is that we are incapable of anything more.

It must be our upbringing, our food, our culture and our biological-make up that prompts us to shoot off letters to “ The Hindu” on Nelson Mandela’s arrest but lulls us into watching Sun TV when our very own is in despair. We are programmed to push files in a Tahsildar’s office not to fight when the chips are down. Sometimes I wonder , if we secretly delight in the misery of our brethern

Is there a Bihari amongst us? hai koi jis ne maa ka dudh piya ho? Alas, there is none.

So, while we sip our filter coffees in the comfort of our homes, let’s refrain from talking of what the Muslims and Christians would have done in a similar situation. They have done their bit . It is we who have failed.

Shame at Kanchi

sridhar — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 13:18:00 +0000

The recent events in Kanchi Mutt have left me both bewildered and angry. Having seen the functioning of the Mutt from close quarters, it wasn’t a surprise to read about the financial irregularities and the corruption in the Mutt’s dealings. But what left me stunned were the allegations of mafia style murder and physical assault .

Any organization, (never mind Kanchi Mutt with assets worth Rs 10 Billion) is asking for trouble if 95% of it “employees” are made up of school dropouts, unemployed youth or retired middle level govt officials who are neither capable nor trained in managing affairs of this magnitude. (BCCI with a list of “honorary” office bearers is another volcano waiting to erupt). Corruption, petty mindedness, whimsical decisions are only to be expected. But what is astonishing are the allegation of gruesome murder and physical assault that have been levelled against the Mutt and it’s Head. “No smoke without fire” is an old cliché but one cannot but help but think that there is more than a grain of truth in this old adage.

I am particularly disillusioned with Jayendra Saraswati and his way of running the Mutt . While I cannot bring myself to believe that he would have had a direct hand in this sordid affair , one expects a lot more from a spiritual leader. Kanchi Mutt, which was renowned for preserving Hindu tradition , encouraging study of Vedanta and promoting the concept of high thinking and simple living among common folk is now famous for playing “ the failed middle man” in the Ayodhya affair. With murder , assault and corruption added to its growing reputation – I wonder if it can sink to lower depths. Jayendra Saraswati should take singular blame for reducing the Mutt to it’s current state..

I hope that he emerges clean from this episode but I also believe that it will be hard to cleanse the stigma associated with this affair. Harder still, will be the process of reviving faith and devotion among millions of followers , a number of whom would have turned away from him and the Mutt (hopefully not from Hinduism) forever..

Look forward to your views and comments .

Hurricane Ivan satellite picture

sridhar — Sat, 09 Oct 2004 18:11:00 +0000

Awesome stuff - gives some idea of the impact and menace the hurricane would have caused.