Learning to walk in the real world

Guess every individual goes through this phase of life, some learn it fast, some learn it the hard way and some never learns. Out of the three, I wish I had the luxury of learning fast. Well!! In a way I am happy that at least I am learning it the hard way than never learning at all.

Learning what? "The Real World"

I just hit my quarter century couple of months back. I was a student till 1.5 yrs back. There was No issues, no politics, no boredoms, no stereo typical life, blah blah blah. But its totally different nowadays. Facing politics day in and day out, insecurity regarding the future, frustration with few relationships, stereo typical life, ..what not..Now I know why they call this phase as "QUARTER LIFE CRISIS"

Heaven

The world we know as a student was a heaven. Almost all of them (Either it be Relatives or family friends or neighbors or friends) saw us as a carefree kid/young guy and treated us the same..there was absolutely no discrimination because of wealth, family, position, background,...of course the ones who were smart had the respect of all but that too not to an excessive degree. So as I said before, we never encountered politics or issues between us. We were graded in school so we knew where we stood and we got performance feedbacks then and there. Needed no politics to survive, never read people, no big thoughts about consequences for every action taken.

Real World - a Mystery

The Post-academic life is full of twists and turns and emotional ups and downs of adolescence.Now I am learning the real meaning of some interesting words - Honor, Prestige, Status, Esteem,... I see lots and lots of character changes at different branches of my relationships. This includes relatives, friends, colleagues et all.It was shocking to see some of them acting completely different from how they were a yr and a half ago. Nowadays I waste lots of time reevaluating interpersonal relationships. People change so fast that I scarcely seem to know them at times.

Unlike Academic life, we don't get performance feedbacks all the time. No one gives honest opinions. To survive all these politics, one should be good in interpersonal skills. Politics is not the only one which is new to me. There are many more to add to it, kinda loneliness, adapting to stereotypical boring jobs, thought about unestablished ambitions and so on..... As of now, I haven't taken giant steps but taken some firm steps for sure and continuing to proceed on my path of learning these confusing social skills to become a better man. It looks like a pretty long walk but its interesting as well as frustrating at times.

Yes, it kinda sucks!! But "Better learn now than never"

A Long Walk!!!

Back after a looooong break!!

After India's pathetic display in cricket world cup, i lost all my interest in blogging. I wanted to start writing for the past couple of months, but was totally tied up with loads of work and stuff.

Now I'm glad to be back . I'll try my level best to come up with at least 2 or 3 posts every week but no promises. Lets see how it goes.

Back!!!

World Cup Cricket '07 - Favorites - 2

Wow!! What a drama this world cup has already witnessed. It’s just a week through the world cup and already a former world cup winner is out of the competition and another former winner is in the verge of getting eliminated. Continuing from where I left in the last post, I’ll go ahead analyzing the next two teams in my list. In fourth, its two teams West Indies and India.

Although India has an uphill task in hand, to qualify for the Super eight, I still believe they can sneak to the next phase (Actually, its more of a hope than a belief)

4 West Indies:

Batting:

Openers: Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle: One of the best in this world cup. In the last one year, they have made 6 centuries and 14 half centuries between them. They are in exceptional form. West Indies reached the finals of ICC Champions trophy last year (Oct’06) in India, all because of the 3 centuries by Gayle (against Bangladesh, England and South Africa). But off late, he is kind of struggling to score. In the last 10 innings (after the ICC Champions Trophy) he has scored only 162 runs (16.2 runs per innings) with only one fifty and 7 one-digit scores (2 ducks). At home, we can expect him to get back to his devastating form. And the other Opener Shivnarine Chanderpaul case is totally opposite to Gayle’s. Although he was scoring consistently in the last one year, nothing was exceptional. But when it comes to the last 3 months, he is at the form of his life. In the last 9 matches, his batting average stands at 73.57 runs per innings (with 2 centuries and 3 half centuries).Although he never seems to play in the V, or off the front foot, he has his own way of scoring runs. When both these openers get their eye in; it’s no stopping West Indies from imposing a big score or chasing down any score.

First down and middle order: Similar to all other great teams, West Indies has their best and classy batsmen in the middle order. First down is Ramnaresh Sarwan. He is the most consistent player in the present West Indies team. As far as I remember, he has never had a bad season. He is one of the few players who have 40+ batting average (to be precise, 44.01) in ODIs. He stands 12^th in the list of highest ODI batting averages (right next to Sachin Tendulkar). In his last series at WI (against India), He was in supreme touch, he scored a century and 2 fiftiess (one of it is 98*) in the 5 match series. In the middle order, they have Marlon Samuels and Brain Lara. Marlon Samuels is a batting all-rounder. Although he possesses a very balanced technique, he has been very inconsistent. But off late his batting is in the upswing. In the recent Pakistan and India ODI series, he was very productive scoring a century and 3 half centuries (Averaging 50 runs per match). If he carries this form into the World cup, I am sure he is going to blow off the opposition’s slow bowling attack (medium pacers or spinners) in the middle overs. He can score quickly too.

Next in the middle order is one of the batting legends of all time, Brain Lara. Being a Sachin Tendulkar fan let me put him as the Best “Left” handed ODI batsman in the whole world. He is not in the best of the forms for the past 2 years now. Starting from Feb’06(After the CB Series in Australia), he has played 41 matches and scored only at an average of 28.11 (with only 5 half centuries) But when it comes to home, he always gives his best. All his great innings have been at West Indies (400* and 375). And he has already announced that he doesn't want to continue playing in ODIs after the World Cup. So I am sure he will try his best to sign off his ODI career in style.

Lower-order: Although, they have a top-class top order batting line up, they lack powerful hitters during the slog overs. This is one of the weak points of this West-Indies team. Since 2006, there lower order has scored only 5.78 runs per over (last 10 overs) and only 19.41 runs per wicket (last 10 overs). This is the worst among all the eight main test playing nations. Slogging department belongs to Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin. Bravo was more of a bowler at the beginning of his career. In the last one year, he has improved himself to a genuine all-rounder. In the last 20 innings, he averages 41.27 with one century (112* against England in Champions Trophy ’06) and 2 fifties. But when it comes to the other two, they are more of a swing and miss guys. And West-Indies do have the worst batting bowlers among the good teams.

Bowling:

West Indies has a pretty week bowling attack. The main seamers are Ian Bradshaw, Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor and Corey Collymore. All of them are bits and pieces bowlers. They have a one-dimensional bowling attack. Ian Bradshaw has been one of the most economical bowlers in the past 2 years but he lacks wicket taking skills. I don’t think he will be playing all the matches; he will be selected depending upon the form of the other bowlers. Jerome Taylor is their main strike bowler. Pace and accuracy are his main weapons. In the last 2 seasons, he has turned into West Indies' spearhead of the bowling attack. Getting important breakthroughs in the crucial stages of the game solely depends on his shoulders. Other two seamers Powell and Collymore have pretty bad Strike rates (49.76 and 48.69). They are not going to be much of an impact on West Indies fortunes of winning the World Cup for the third time.

But when it comes to all-rounders, they have a very good bunch of bowlers. Bravo, Samuels and Gayle have been very effective in the recent past. West Indies may be the worst batsmen in the last 10 overs, but when it comes to bowling they are one of the best in deaths. They have been very tight, leaving only 5.85 runs per over and 20.02 runs per wicket (in the last overs). Gayle and Samuels have unsettled lots of teams by firing their offies flat and fast in the death overs.

Verdict:

They have one of the best top orders in the World cup. But their batting line up is very unpredictable. As I said before, they have a very bad lower middle order batting line up. Their chances of winning this world cup depend on their top 5 player’s performances. When it comes to bowling, they don’t have a dynamic bowling attack and except for Jerome Taylor, they lack strike bowlers in the crunch situations. When they win the toss, it is advisable to go for chasing rather than opting for defending a total. So overall, they have more negatives than positives in their plate. Being the hosts, with thousands of passionate fans to back them up, I guess they atleast have a very good chance of making it to Semifinals.

4 India:

Batting:

Openers: India has 3 openers in their 15 (excluding Sachin Tendulkar): Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa and Virender Sehwag. Sourav Ganguly will be playing as opener for sure but when it comes to the second opener its going to be performance and situation oriented. Sourav Ganguly’s last ODI, before Jan 07, was on Sept 06, 2005 (Vs NZ, Final of the tri-series Ind-Zim-NZ). Last year, Ganguly making a comeback was a mockery in every other newspaper in India. Even people were ready to bet on Saddam Hussain getting released but not on Ganguly returning to international cricket. But amidst all this, the way he has comeback is unbelievable. After India’s record chasing streak in ODIs, they slumped to the rock bottom in the ODI ranking list with the series of defeats. With no other option, India turned towards Sourav again. He was picked up for the test series in SA. He ended as the highest Indian run-scorer in that series. And that good showing, reserved himself a place in ODI team as well and then he capped his fairytale comeback with a four ODI fifties (98 and 68 against WI and 62 and 58* against SL). After his return to ODI, he has played 9 matches scoring 502 runs at the average of 71.71 (with 6 half centuries). Already he has scored half centuries on both the world cup matches (Against Bangladesh and Bermuda). If he continues with his present form, with the strong middle order to follow him, India is going to score some mammoth totals in this world cup.

Robin Uthappa has always been attractive to watch, hard-hitting, with every shot in the book, unafraid to hit the ball in the air. But when it comes to temperament and consistency, he has a long way to go. He tries to go at all the balls thrown at him and ties to score most of his runs in boundaries. It’s up to the seniors, who play in the other end, to calm him down and help him build his good starts. On his day, he can take India to a flying start, scoring more than 100 runs in 10 overs. Hope he plays sensibly to give some decent starts in the vital matches.

And next is the out-of-form (for almost 2 year now) Sehwag. Its been 59 matches (almost 2 years) since he has scored an ODI century (He scored a century against Bermuda yesterday!!). In this period, he has scored only 1549 runs at the run rate of 27.66 (with only 8 half centuries). He was extremely lucky (all thanks to Rahul Dravid’s efforts) to be picked in this current World cup team. If he gets past this bad form and gets his eye in, he is one of the most dangerous batsmen in the world. The Whole India will be praying for his return to form. If that happens, Sehwag and Ganguly will make the best ODI opening pair of this world cup.

Middle Order: One of the strongest middle orders among all the teams in this world cup. This is the major strength of this Indian team. This is because they have 2 players(Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid) who have scored more than 10k runs in ODI, one player who was the best batsman of 2006 (Yuvraj Singh) and the one who is the deadliest hitter of the ball in the cricketing history (Mahendra Singh Dhoni). At 34, probably this will be the last world cup for both Sachin and Dravid. For the past one year, He was/is criticized from all sides and rumor mills keep on rising abt retirement from cricket very soon. But when you pull out the stats for the last one year, it reads totally different picture. He has played 25 ODIs(since Jan 2006), scored 938 runs at the average of 46.90 (Career ODI avg – 44.18), this includes 3 centuries and 6 fifties. Indian people forget things very soon, they expect him to score century every other match. It was really shocking that even his own home crowd booed him in his last test match at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. He always answers his critics with his bat. I expect the same this time too. Wait and watch!! God will unleash his power!!

Rahul Dravid, nicknamed The Wall, is the most consistent batsman for India for more than 10 years now. A lot will depend on Dravid to score in the middle overs. Yuvraj is a totally different player in this world cup to the last 2003 world cup. He has matured a lot and has worked really hard in his batting skills. Now he stands as one of the key players in this Indian team. After the BCCI selected him as a regular player in tests, along with the responsibilities, his confidence has peaked a lot. His record speaks for him, in the last 15 months, he has played 34 ODIs, scoring 1393 runs at an amazing average of 60.56 (Career avg 35.76) with 3 centuries and 9 fifties, that includes 3 man of the series awards. And next to Yuvraj, comes the wicketkeeper ‘Mahi’ Dhoni. Dhoni along with Yuvraj make up a good combination. They are the main heroes for the India’s unbelievable run in setting the new record for consecutive run chases in ODIs. Dhoni has established himself as a clinical destroyer of bowling attacks. He tends to reach out and drive the ball by extending his wrists. He has the uncanny knack of hitting big sixes and especially the ones over extra covers off both fast bowlers and spinners. We are surely going to see some amazing sixes from his bat. With the team packed with so many great players, I really doubt Dinesh Karthik getting a match in this world cup (Touchwood!! Unless otherwise someone gets injured). He is a promising youngster who can bat down the order and although he was a wicketkeeper, his fielding has been exceptionally good.

Bowling:

Seamers: Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel and Sreesanth. Most certainly, Zaheer and Agarkar will open the attack in most of the matches. IN 2005, When Zaheer Khan’s pace dropped and his attitude was also questioned, he was dropped from the ODI side. At that juncture, he was invited to join Worcestershire to play 2006 England county season. He worked hard to put down his extra pounds, he got his rhythm back and he ended up as the leading wicket taker of 2006 county season. This really helped him to regain the spot in Indian team. There’s no turning back after that. After his return, he has played 12 ODIs, taken 20 wickets at the average of 23.70. He has cut down the number of extras balls he used to bowl. Now he is the heart of the Indian bowling attack.

Ajit Agarkar has been India's most effective ODI bowler since 2005. He has been consistently performing for the past 2 years. He has the best record in West Indies pitches when compared to any other bowler in this world cup (In 7 matches, he has taken 12 wickets with average of 20.16 and a phenomenal economy rate of 3.61 runs per over) With Left hand bowler Zaheer at the other end, they will make a good opening bowling pair. The first change bowler will be Munaf or Sreesanth. Munaf is the trump card for this Indian bowling attack. His nagging length outside the offstump corridor, reverse swings and a well-directed Yorker has troubled even the best of the batsmen. Particularly in his last 9 ODI matches, he has taken 16 wickets (at the average of 20.06). If his body holds well throughout the series, he will be a surprise package for other teams. Sreesanth is the India’s find of 2006. He is already famous among the bowling greats like Wasim Akram, Imran khan, Allan Donald and Dennis Lillie. They already are raving about his immaculate seam position when the ball leaves his hand. He was very effective in test matches but when it comes to ODIs, he has been leaking lot of runs. He tries too many things at a time and ends up being thrashed all over the park. Its early days for him, only experience will build him as a very good bowler. But in this world cup, I guess he won’t be playing much of a part, unless one of the other three plays really bad.

Ohh..How did I forget the only ‘allrounder’(supposed to be) in the Indian team? Irfan Pathan. Similar to Sehwag, he is extremely lucky to be picked in the team. He is in the worst of his forms for the past 8 or 9 months. In the last 14 matches, he has taken only 13 wickets at an average of 39.07 and at a very bad economy rate of 5.90. He never completed his full quota of 10 overs in any of these matches. Not only the length and swing is missing, his pace has also gone down to 120+ kmph. He is most unlikely to play in any of the matches.

In the spin department, India has the best 2 spin bowlers in Harbhajan and Kumble. It’s hard to pick one from them. They will be picked depending on the opposition and pitch. More the left handed batsmen, better to go for Bhaji. When it comes to minnows and inexperienced teams, its always Kumble. He has got Ph.D in dismantling inexperienced batting line ups. Off late Harbhajan’s new weapon doosra was very effective and the batsmen were always in two minds in having a go at his bowling. But he has turned out to be more of an economical bowler than a strike bowler. Since 2006, Harbhajan has the best economy among all the bowlers playing in this worldcup. He played 29 matches, had an economy rate of 4.14 and his bowling at the deaths is also one of the best (at economy rate of 4.76 but again with a bad average of 60). Its because of Munaf and Harbhajan, India stands third in the list of most economical bowling at the death. In the 32 matches played since 2006, India has conceded only 22.21 runs per wicket and only 6.25 runs per over.

Most probably, India will be going with only 4 specialist bowlers, so its up to the part timers to make up for the fifth bowler. India has pretty good part-time bowlers in Sachin, Sehwag and Yuvraj. Its going to be very interesting how Dravid is going to use them in the middle overs.

Verdict:

In paper, none of the other world cup teams can compete with India’s great batting line up. They have the right blend of experienced and young players. And even in bowling department, they have hell a lot of experience. But unpredictability as a team is the main concern. One day they will play like champions and in the very next day they will fall like nine pins. So it all depends on how faster India accustoms to the West Indies condition and lots depend on how they start the series. If they all gel up well, they will strike gold for sure.

India has already played 2 matches in this world cup. And they are already struggling to move to the next stage of the series. Now they are waiting for their next game against Srilanka on March 23^rd(Friday). Its do or die match for them. If they win, they move to Super-eights. If not, it’s going to be a very bad news for its 1 billion fans back home. It is expected to be cracker of a match. Every Indian is impatiently waiting for this match. If they make it to the next phase from here, this come-from-behind effort will drive them to heights (atleast to the semifinals).

World Cup Cricket '07 - Favorites - 1

It’s already 3 days since the world cup has started. Although it’s kind of late to start this post, with more than 50 days of cricket left, I guess it’s not too late to write one. When it comes to favorites for this world cup, it’s pretty much wide open. As for me, all main test playing nations have a good shot of winning it. This should turn out to be a cracker of a tournament.

Being a great cricket lover, I just love analyzing team strengths and weakness (with stats to prove them). Let me start with the least favorites and write my way up to the hot favorites.

6 England:

Batting:

Openers: Ed Joyce and Michael Vaughan. Joyce, 28, made his debut only a year ago. He has a vast first class experience. His century against Australia in the recently concluded CB Series was simply superb. He looks like a solid player but consistency is the one which is more important when it comes to big stage. With very limited experience in the international arena, its too much of an asking to expect something big from him everytime he goes on to bat. When it comes to Vaughan, he was in and out of the team for the past one year, owing to series of injuries. So I don’t think he will be at his best. For me, the opening looks a very fragile one. And they are not attacking batsmen as well. (With strike rates in and around 65)

First down and middle order: Ian Bell has been very good in the last one year. You can bet on him to score atleast 35+ in every other match. He is very handy in bowling too. This combo of his ability to score at will and put in some valuable overs, is one of the good things to have happened to England. And then the main trio of Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Andrew Flintoff. England getting to a healthy total depends heavily on these three’s performances. Pietersen hasn’t played a single game in the last 2 and half months. He was out of the CB series due to the fractured rib. It will take him a game or two to come to terms. With his kind of game, I am not too impressed with him coming at No.4. As for me, he must come at No.6 and help the team to push the score in the last 15 overs. No.5 is Paul Collingwood, he is their Savior. He is the man in form, his last 3 knocks (106, 120* and 70) in Australia speak volumes about his importance for England’s performance in this World Cup. It’s not only his batting that’s vital; he is a very reliable bowler and a great fielder in the covers too. And next is Vaughan’s deputy Freddie. He was not in the best of the forms in the last season, bit of scratchy recovering from his injuries. But now he is peaking at the right time as well. He has got his batting form back, bowling seam movement back and looking good in field too. A lot depends on these three for sure.

Lower-order: They don’t have a deep batting order. Pinch hitting lies on the shoulders of above mentioned middle order trio, Jamie Dalrymple and Paul Nixon. JD is a genuine allrounder, he hasn’t played a great part so far but it’s his hard hitting capability that the England team is banging on, to milk some extra runs in the final overs. Nixon at 36 is a pretty old customer(in county cricket) but he is just new to the international cricket. He was a surprise draft to the England World cup side(ahead of Jones). I expect nothing great from this guy.

Bowling:

Front line seamers for England are Liam Plunkett, James Anderson and Sajid Mahmood. Similar to their batsmen, they were pretty normal till the end of ashes. But in the last couple of months, Plunkett and Mahmood have improved leaps and bounds. The whole bowling package looks pretty decent now. Plunkett heads the group. He was pretty consistent in Australia, in the last 5 matches he took 12 wickets (4 times 3 wickets). I am not a great fan of Anderson, in the first couple of years he impressed one and all with his raw pace and consistent line. After suffering from series of injuries, he is no more the same. His career was more of a sea-saw game, full of ups and downs. But lately, he looks in a great shape. And then the medium pacer in Freddie, he’s considered as the fulcrum of their attack. In his day, he is simply devastating. And then part-timers Colingwood, Bell and Dalryple can throw in some good overs. And then their main strike bowler, Monty Panesar. With wickets kind of tricky in WestIndies nowadays , England’s hopes of turning the table in the vital situations solely depends on Monty’s loops and quickies. He has a great character and his presence brings a great deal of energy to England’s dressing room. This is quite evident from the response of players and spectators when he comes on to bowl.

Verdict:

Although they look to be a talented team with the present form in mind, they don’t have it in them to make it big. They lack a genuine pinch hitter in the death overs, very fragile openers, most of the bowlers are not dependable, they not only lack the wicket-taking abilities, they concede the most number of runs in the first 20 overs and they are one of the most inexperienced team in the tournament. So, England has a very narrow chance of making it. (Even this time!!)

5 Pakistan:

Batting:

Openers: Imran Nazir and Mohammad Hafeez.I remember Nazir starting his career in bang. He is one of those gifted batsmen who have never used his abilities to the fullest. Nowadays, he has become very careless. As soon as he comes in, he starts to score 20-30 odd runs in rush and then plays a silly shot and gets out early(inspired by Afridi’s batting style I guess). For instance, in the first match against WI, he scored a 6 in the second ball (upper cut) of the game and got out in the very next ball trying to force a ball going away from the batsman. If he continues with his swing-the-bat-at-everything-thrown attitude, he is not going to be of a great impact at the top of the order. Next Opener is Hafeez, he is one of the all-rounders for Pakistan.He is most likely to open with Nazir, unless otherwise the team management opts for Afridi to him. Hafeez has always been patchy; most of his decent scores were in subcontinent pitches. On any given day, its better to go for Afridi as opener, he is the one who can take the opponent attack into pieces. He is a great allrounder. I love his bowling, he has a great legbreak googly. With West Indies pitches getting slower and slower, his bowling is really important in the pakistan’s equation of things.

First down and Middle Order: They have a very experienced middle order in Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Piling runs in the middle overs belongs to these guys. Younis Khan, he is really strong in the arc area. I always loved watching him play (obviously not against India). But his present form is very mediocre. In the last 10 matches, his avg looks pretty bad at 20.4. Mohammad Yousuf, was simply phenomenal last year. He had a dream year topping the all time test match runs scored for a calendar year and topping the number of centuries for a calendar year as well. Its not only tests, even in One dayers he was in devastating best. As for me, he is the Pakistani player to be looked upon in this tournament. Next, captain of the Ship, Inzi, one of the legends of Pakistani Cricket. He is remarkable, with his bulky structure its easy for anyone to mistake him as a pinch hitter kinda batsman, but his real strength is sublime touch. His pulls and lofted drives are treats for any cricket loving fan. Similar to Younis Khan, he is not in the best of the forms. If we pull out the stats for this last 2 seasons, its not looking that good. In his last 25 matches (Starting last feb), he has batting avg of meagre 31 runs with only one half century (79). It’s high time he scores big in this worldcup. Its been 9 matches since he has scored more than 15 runs in a world cup match.

Lower Order: With no Razzaq around, they rely on Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal to score in the death overs. Shoaib Malik is the trump card for this Pakistan team. He can score in bulk, has a very good strike rate, and very handy in bowling too. With respect to Kamran Akmal, I don’t know what happened to his batting in the last one or 2 seasons. He is in a pathetic form, in the last 29 matches he has scored only at the rate of 16.69 runs with only one half century. With Afridi at top, its very important for Kamran to come to terms to score some fast runs.

Bowling:

They are really handicapped with the absence of Shoib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif. Without them, they look like a second fiddle bowling attack. Except for Umar Gul and Danish Kaneria, I don’t see anyone making a big impact in this tournament. Umar Gul is their strike bowler, he looks very promising. He has one of the best outswingers, not only his wicket taking abilities, his economical rate is also very good. And when it comes to other seamers, Naved-ul-Hasan stands more likely to share the new ball with Gul. He is also in a lean patch. He is extremely lucky to make it to the World Cup team. With the unavailability,of Akhtar, Asif and Razzaq, management had no other option other than going to already tested horses like Naved ul Hasan and Mohammed Sami (the only 2 experienced “uninjured” bowlers in the Pakistani lineup)

I am sick of hearing about Mohammed Sami in media. Enough is already said about Sami, he started his international career with some great performances. Both Wasim Akram and Imran Khan just love this guy. Whenever he was out of sorts; they have always supported him and helped him out. But he has been consistently inconsistent. My guess is he won’t play more than 2 or 3 matches, unless otherwise he utilizes his chances remarkably well. And they have Iftikhar Anjum and Azhar Mahmood too. I guess Azhar mahmood was inserted to make up the 15 players for world cup (They must have found it hard to find a replacement for allrounder Razzaq. With no enough bench players, they have opted for someone who was not even in the team for almost 2 years now). He has done nothing great in county cricket to get a chance to play in internationals. When it comes to good part-timers, Pakistan has very good ones in Shoib Malik, Afridi and Hafeez. They all can bowl 10 overs on their own. This is the one I like about this team, allrounders are the ones who can win you matches. And in the spin department (other than part-timers), they have a specialist in Kaneria. He was more of a test player than a one day player (only 17 ODIs). Although he was a surprise recall to the world cup team, in a turning pitch, he can be murderous. Well directed googly and the ball that drifts into the batsman are his major assets. Along with Gul, he is one of the main strike bowlers for Pakistan.

Verdict:

Both in paper and in present form, they look very weak when compared to all other main test playing teams. The only reason I have them ahead of England is their experience and their attitude towards the game. They give everything in them to win a match (atleast to avoid fines and suspensions from PCB for playing below par :P). They have too many out of form players (Younis Khan, Inzi, Akmal) and too many surprise picks(Azhar Mahmood, Infikhar Anjum and Hafeez). Not a solid lineup at all. Bits and Pieces of performances wont help them much. As for me, it all depends on Mohammed Yousuf, Afridi and Umar Gul. Pakistan’s chances make or break depending on the performances of these three. Pakistan winning the world cup this time is highly improbable (But counting them out is equally dangerous, they are like Phoenix, they have the history of rising from the ashes)

My typical weekday "WAS/IS" - 1

WAS: In India
IS: In US

Waking Up

WAS: Alarm - 5AM, I have never heard it ringing throughout my life in India. Mom wakes up first. Around 5:15AM, she will (try to) wake me up. Always it will start with pleading for 5 more minutes of sleep. It would finally be atleast 2 or 3 more “5 minutes” before I wake up. Usually the count depends on the assignment or record submission for that day.

Next, run directly to the bathroom. Brush, blah blah (censored) and take bath. Scarcity of water is so bad in chennai that I can’t use more than a bucket of water for bathing. In the next 5-10 minutes I will be out.

IS: Alarm - 6:20AM. Wake up to switch it off. Wait for couple of more snoozes. And then with eyes shut, walk directly to the restroom. Reaching the restroom unhurt is a big challenge for me. Every other day I end up banging on the closed restroom door, closet or the wall in the pathway leading to the restroom.

Post-Restroom Session:

WAS: Pull out all the clothes from the closet. Look for the best one. Usually end up wearing some t-shirt/Shirt in blue (my favorite color) Mom starts about me wearing the same shirt all the time (Needless to say, not a morning passes without this phase). After the end of that mini war, go around the house searching for watch, notes and stuff.

And then start scribbling something for assignment/record (who cares about what we write, what professors really want is title, first line and last line correct.) The most important thing is figures (Don’t mistake me, I mean… diagrams :P). Better the diagrams lesser the theory part.

IS: With no drive to wear flashy clothes, pull out some decent T-shirt/Shirt and a jean.(At least in College, we had so many junior gals to impress. But in office, almost all are committed/married, so what’s the point in wasting time to select a good one :P)

Breakfast:

WAS: Being south Indian. Its mostly rice stuff like idly or dosai. Sometimes roti too. Having spent so much time in getting ready for college, having 2 or 3 of what mom has cooked and a cup of milk is a big deal.

IS: Sometimes cereals, sometimes bread but mostly one or 2 nutrition bars, that’s it. It was heaven in India, diff stuff everyday, at least different sabjis, sambhars or chutneys...Miss home made food A LOT

Packing food for lunch:

WAS: Who knows what mom packs. Just grab the lunch box from the kitchen and run.

IS: I usually cook once in 2 days (evenings). So get the plain rice, mix it with whatever I have cooked or pulav or roti with sabji. Half the time I end up eating in the office food place with collegues.

On my way to College/Office:

WAS: I have got to be in the Train station before 7:10AM, so run all the way to station from my house (just 2 blocks away from my place)

All fun starts now. Board the train with my gang of friends.We used to have so much fun teasing and pulling each other’s leg. We will be the cynosure of all eyes in that train compartment. We talk about cricket, music, professors, movies, rumors, affairs(nothing to do with political affairs, this is something diff, hope you guys got it :P), "The Hindu" crosswords and almost everything under the sky. In parallel, continue scribbling something for assignment, practicals observation or record.

IS: Pretty lukewarm, listening to some music in my mp3 player (I love keeping myself updated with all recently released movie songs and pop albums)

First hour in the College/Office:

WAS: Unless otherwise we have something to be finished, its usually standing outside the classroom enjoying the beauty (Once again don’t mistake me, i m talking abt the beautiful construction of our department building and the surrounding lawn area [:p])

Out of blue, someone will come up with the assignment or class test we have that day. Get the papers from someone who has already finished. We have our own way of writing assignments. Copy the first 2 sentences and then skip next two and this goes on..Our only motto will be to make up a few pages, instead of not submitting anything.

Finishing it in the last minute is incomparable to anything. Whats the thrill in finishing early and simply waiting to submit the assignment?. Writing till the last minute is fun. We won't know exactly, whether we will make it or not. Thats the thrill i am talking about.:D

If it is some kinda class test, even more fun. Divide the unit into parts. Each one of us take a part. Read through all the main words in it. During the test time, share our knowledge [:P]...we are the true followers of the famous proverb "Coming together, sharing together, working together, succeeding together"

IS: Check emails(gmail/yahoo), orkut messages, cricinfo, sify, cnn and at last the office email id (see!! How sincere I am). Grab chocolate milk and get back to my desk and then check the calendar for the day’s deadlines and meetings.

Connect the earphones, start listening to some music (i have a pretty big collection of songs) and in parallel I do start some office work.. (Oh!! something is wrong!! I guess its fair to put it the other way around, Start working and in parallel listen to music :P I don’t want my sincerity towards work to be doubted)

Music and Work goes in parallel. Sometimes I would be so immersed in music that I have missed calls from my co-workers. I remember my mom asking me to do one work at a time. Not to listen to music while studying or writing stuff.But I have always managed to do all my work with music on (Let it be assignments in USC, work in office, writing emails, whatever it is). Music for me is like brain for any human body. Irreplaceable and without it, you are nothing. I listen to all kinds of music. Absolutely no bars with respect to music.

Remaining Pre - 'Lunch Session':

WAS: Once we are done with all our assignments and records for the day, next comes the newspapers and magazines phase. When I was a student, I have never missed a single magazine. Let it be The Week, India today, Frontline, Outlook India, Sportstar. you name it, I must have read them all. (All thanks to Ravi and his library membership)

In parallel, I do take notes. I am one of those guys who take notes properly (Very handy when I got to write stories in examination, usually just glance through them a day before examination and write own story in answer sheet) Believe me, it works, my stories reaped me very decent scores eighty-five odd)

During intervals, we walk all the way to the canteen to crunch/drink something, meet all other department friends over there, return back to the class some 10 minutes through the next period. Magazine session continues. In between, we do have the chit exchanges (mostly something teasing professor, rumors, gossips or plans for the weekend or some crap or the other), this was the one which kept us awake most of the time. Papers used on this chit exchanges are usually more than what we use for our class notes.

Last half an hour before the lunch is the deadliest time on the whole day. We will be very badly hungry, feeling sleepy and to peak it all, the professors tortures. I don’t know how the worst professors of our dept were assigned that hour every other semester. They always have these crappy lectures, class tests and stuff. It will be like testing our patience.

IS: Mostly we won’t have our project meetings in the mornings. So it’s more of staying in my room. Slowly I will start catching up with the project works, writing reports, emails and stuff.Similar to chit exchanges in college, we have this msn msgr chats here. Actually it is for exchanging the work related stuff. But we use it “effectively” for non-work related stuff. It’s similar to our college chit exchanges, over here its teasing abt our boss or some other colleague, sharing rumors, about some movies, what I did yday, what’s for lunch and stuff)

Morning session usually runs like crazy. By the time I start getting into my groove, it will be noon.

To be Continued .......

Please leave ur comments..Thanx :)

New venture as a blogger

.

Hello there, all you guys!!
Welcome to my blog "It's a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious life!!"

This being my first post, I don't know where to start from.

I m neither a great story writer nor a great narrator of events.
I'll try my best to keep it comical, lively and informative as well.

I guess its going to be lots of fun writing my views (mostly weird from rest of the world :-P) and interesting experiences.

Whenever you have time in plenty, peep into my blog to kill some.
I'll make sure you wont be bored :)

Cheers!!