2 stars of Indian Politics in their own rights

We are 15-16 days away from a new Parliament term & maybe a new Prime Minister as well. While there are a hundred aspirants to the throne, including the 2 that i am going to write about, only a handful have the credentials to get there. Of the folks who don't make the cut with me - 

• Deva Gowda (fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on ME!)
• Jayalalitha (nope amma, your good English skills & mediocre Hindi skills don't hide your narrow thought process)
• Mayawati (She is Jayalalitha Ver 0.0.1)
  
• Prakash Karat (No, Thanks. I don't want to live in the 19th century!)
• Sonia Gandhi (too much baggage Ma'am - You fled to Italy during the 1971 Indo-Pak War & your procastination in getting Indian Citizenship till your Cabinet Minister husband are 2 reasons why you should never be India's PM & not your foreign birth!)
• Sharad Pawar (What, he wants both ICC Presidency as well India's PM post!)
• PA Sangma (what! If your abilities as Lok Sabha Speaker are any good measure, the country will be in chaos during your term!)

On to the 2 gentlemen that i wanted to highlight today. Not because, they are my choice for Prime Minister but because they have skills in certain areas that are much needed. No one could predict that Laloo Yadav will revolutionize Indian Railways. I believe that the same will happen if these 2 folks get anywhere close to the PM Chair. 

Drum rolls, for Person 1 - Narendra Modi ...

Let me make the case for Modi. Have anyone see the way Gujarat has jumped up the charts in economy & Human Development Index in spite of the continued marginalization of the Muslims. Do you see how respected Industry leaders sing his praises? Do you see the amazing amount of passion in him to lead his state? Do you see the dwindling rural-urban divide in Gujarat where rural development has been given as much importance as urban growth? Sentiments & party membership aside, does India have any leader who has Modi's "Ready-in-2-minutes-PM" candidature?

Now, for the negatives - his non-apology for post-Godhra riots. I have 2 issues with Modi on this attitude - Marginalization of minorities always leads to radicalization of society and is the first step for downfall of any civilization. For the last 7 years, Muslims have been using 2002 riots as the excuse for nearly every terrorist attack in India. Modi's attitude towards Muslims needs radical shift. While Modi will never fall in love with Muslims, at the very least he needs to show genuine concern for Muslim & other minorities. Else, he is no different than the narrow-minded Mayawati to me. The second issue with Modi on the Godhra incident is that his non-apology has made folks focus on post-Godhra riots and there has been next-to-zero empathy for the victims of the train attacks. Had Modi succeded in avoiding post-Godhra riots, the focus over the last 7 years would have been on the radicalization of Muslims and their inability to join the mainstream. That could have bought shame to right-wing Muslims thereby reducing their numbers. Modi, you did a major dis-service to the nation by not taking action post-Godhra attacks. 

The second person that i want to highlight is Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Laugh all you want, but i would take MSY anyday above some of the other leaders in view. His anti-English & anti-computer stance are meaningless populism measures that he himself will abandon post 2009 elections. I recall a Shekar Gupta story on the Sukhoi-30 defense deal. Mulayam worked together with Vajapayee, Jaswant Singh & finished a deal that was started by PV Narasimha Rao & Manmohan Singh. Reason? The deal was good for India. That's the bottom-line. Politics was left outside the door when it came to our strategic interest. Second example, Mulayam Singh was the key reason why the Indo-US Nuclear deal was signed. The UPA goverment was in shambles after the Left Front abandoned them & when APJ Abdul Kalam called Mulayam Singh for a meeting & provided his support for the deal, Mulayam agreed to prop the UPA government. In effect, the anti-US SP provided support to the nuclear deal rather than the pro-US BJP.While some can contend that Mulayam's support was opportunistic (and it might well be the case!), we should acknowledge the fact that Mulayam put India's interest before his own interest. And by the way, Mulayam was all for giving APJ Abdul Kalam a second term as President. In fact, Mulayam was one of the early proponents for Abdul Kalam as India's President in the first place in 2002.

The case against Mulayam has been well documented. His pro-Muslim lean along with anti-Hindu stance is the mirror image of Modi's stance. 

The nation will be well-served if we had a 50:50 mix of Modi & Mulayam.

Karunanidhi & fasting ...

So, we have all heard about Karunanidhi's dramatic attempt at indefinitive fasting in Chennai today which started after breakfast and ended before lunch. 

What a noble attempt. Right? Karunanidhi's action speaks for itself

• 19 July 2008: Karunanidhi doesn't go on fast but senior leaders of his party do. Reason - Protest killing of fishermen by Sri Lankan foreces
  
• 1 October 2007: Karunanidhi goes on indefinite fast protesting the dealys in the Sethusamudram project. 
  
• December 2003: Karunanidhi ends fast within minutes of starting one protesting the arrest of partyman.
  
• 2002: Karunanidhi goes on fast protesting attacks on his MLA office in Chennai. 
  
• June 2001: Karunanidhi goes on fast protesting his arrest by the Jayalalitha regime

You make your own judgement. Is Karunanidhi today's version of Mahatma Gandhi or is he a selfish politician?

WTF Moment of the Day - Ram Temple & Secularism

Sonia Gandhi was in Mumbai & before she reached the rally venue, Ramdas Athavle uttered this WTF sentence:

"Only the UPA (Congress-led United Progressive Alliance) can build a Ram Mandir because we are secular.

I mean - what was that & where did that come from?

I was always under the impression that Secularism meant that Hindus donate away their temples to Muslims & Christians. I was under the impression that those pressing for building the Ram temple (BJP, Shiv Sena) are called communalists. As per your definition, BJP is the most secular party in India. Isn't it so?

If this wasn't the election season, i would have sympathized with this man believing that he was in the midst of suffering a heat stroke. Personally, i am tired of this chalta hai attitude of the public - Politicians can state whatever they want & get away before the elections. 

By the way, Mr. Athavle, did you know that this UPA government that you believe will build the Ram temple doesn't even believe Ram ever existed! That's what they told the Supreme Court of India in September 2007 before withdrawing it in the face of widespread protests & condemnation.

IMHO, Congress wants to have the cake & eat it too! They want both Hindus & Muslims to believe that their interests will be addressed only by Congress and that's why we get to hear these WTF statements.

The Big Fight - Sri Lanka

I watched the Big Fight: Sri Lanka Shadow in Tamil Nadu Politics last saturday. What a fight it was.

There was quite a panel - Jayanti Natarajan (Congress - She escaped by the proverbial skin of the teeth when Rajiv Gandhi was assasinated); AIADMK leader (didn't get his name); L Ganesan (DMK - recently switched back from MDMK); Dr. Subramanian Swamy; Catholic Priest who sympathizes with LTTE; N Ram, Editor - The Hindu; a pro-LTTE mid-30s student leader; Anti-LTTE journalist.

Before analyzing these folks' comments on the show, let me salute to the 2 brave girls & one guy who dressed down the pro-LTTE student leader for his comment that Prabhakaran should be compared to Bhagat Singh & Bose. The 2 girls, in particular, shook down, a vehemently patronizing comment from the stupid LTTE student leader and landed quite a few punches. The power of Youth at it's best & also the reason, why India 20 years down the line will be in much safer hands. Kudos to all 3 of you.

My thoughts on each of the leaders & their party/party position:

1. Jayanthi Natarajan: Had such thin-skin that it was incorrect to get her to come to the show. She had the opportunity to get leverage to Congress in the opening remarks & missed it completly. She couldn't send a strong message that the UPA govt saw the difference between LTTE (for which it has no sympathies) and the Sri Lankan Tamils. However, kudos to her, for slapping down the LTTE student leader when he displayed patronizing behaviour towards the 2 girls.

2. AIADMK Leader: Whatever you drank before the show, from your performance, never drink it again. You cannot call the nation's NSA advisor, a "chaprasi". Shoes might be the rage of the season, but never again call anyone chaprasi if you don't want a mob to beat you up. Moreover, you cannot ask that a secular nation be forced to bifurcate with the demand for "Eelam". Why is Pakistan wrong when asking for seperation of Kashmir while India is correct when calling for Eelam seperation?

3. L Ganesan: You look drunk! Period. And remember that this is 2009 & not 1989. The rights of Sri Lankan Tamils is different that LTTE.

4. Catholic Priest: You got too worked up by SL President and called the current situation a "genocide" & "humanitarian crisis" by the evil Rajapaksa. Never mind that you don't know the definition of genocide (def. not 40 civilian losses a day) and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar called that the relief camps in Sri Lanka were much better than the relief camps in Tamil Nadu for Sri Lankan Tamils or the Kashmiri Pundit relief camps. How can you not comment on the recent photos showing LTTE holding civilians hostage at gun point? You were yet another disaster in the show.

5. Subramanian Swamy: Nice opportunity for you to mention the February lawyer attacks as well as showcase your legal expertise. I don't like you a lot, but am impressed by your knowledge.

6. N Ram: Dignified, calm response in volatile environment. Just what we expect from him everytime

7. Pro-LTTE student leader: Counldn't defend a thing! Uttered rubbish statements like "Prabhakaran is equivalent to Bhagat Singh & Bose". To you - Bhagat Singh & Bose were ready to sacrifice their lives for the needs of their fellow citizens; Prabhakaran has murdered many a Tamil & non-Tamil leaders for his cause; Prabhakaran has abused the political process to get out of tough situation; Prabhakaran has a death sentence warrant against him & never against compare him to great people.

8. Anti-LTTE Journalist: Great summary of LTTE's war crimes against fellow Tamilians.

Vikram Chandra did a great job. He called out people when they uttered non-sense but i felt that he could have been more decisive and pressed the leaders for depth in the topic.

What's my take:

• I won't feel sorry when the LTTE is decimated. They don't belong to the present times. They hurt too many Tamilians to generate the sympathy that they have today.
• Rajapaksa has the golden opportunity of correcting 60 years of mistakes and prove that he is a World leader rather than a narrow-minded state patriarch. Announce the repeal of "Sinhala Only" Act completely; provide for affirmative action for Tamilians in educational & government for a period of 20 years; provide a federal structure within which the Tamils get enough autonomy to rule the Northern & Eastern states where they dominate; repeal the military constitution and replace with a civilian constitution.
• Indian Government: Pressure SL by recalling our ambassador & contemplating firing their envoy if Tamilians don't get political benefit
• Indian political parties: Avoid making stupid statements against a soverign nation. You could be booked under NSA.

My Vote is for Sale - 3

In 2008, we saw history created in United States, when they elected Barack Obama (47). In 2009, India will create history if we elect LK Advani (82) as the Oldest Prime Minister to take office. Manmohan Singh at 78 looks positively young!

I am amazed how developed economies can find fit leaders in their 40s & 50s to lead their countries while we find no such non-dynasty leaders. So, my vote is for the party that will bring a change in Indian politics. No more room for oldies who doze off in cabinet meetings. My vote is for the party that will limit the age of Ministers to 65 and limit the age of MPs to 70. 

That means, we will see 35 retirements from the 2004-09 Lok Sabha - the highest number of 70+ MPs that Indian Parliament has ever seen. Maybe half of them will be replaced by their kids, but i am hoping at least the other half to be new blood.

If my rules are followed, we won't see the 80s club - Bagun Sambrui (85), Jalappa (84), Kuppuswamy (83), LK Advani (82), Sis Ram Ola (82), Radhakrishnan Varkala (82), Lakshminarayan Pandey (81), Ripple Kyndiah (81), Bhanwar Singh Dangawas (80), AR Antulay (80), Kailash Joshi (80) and Venkatswamy (80).

The members of the 70s club won't be missed much either: Kalyan Singh (77), Ajit Singh (70), Subrata Bose (77), Deva Gowda (76), Pranab Mukherjee (74) amongst others.

Not funny

Quick post.

I heard about the Fake IPL Player Blog. The blog cornered space today's edition of The Hindu - in my mind, the most conservative Indian newspaper when it comes to gossips. When i read the blog, i was surprised that it had ZERO humour & was very prosaic. 

A few years back, Drew Bledsoe - an above average American footballer (the closest Indian comparison is Saurav Ganguly!) was replaced by a upcoming, young, good looking, Jessica Simpson-dating Tony Romo. A few weeks later, TonyHomo.com came to life that was a fictional first-hand commentary of Drew Bledsoe (who thinks he is God's gift to mankind!) criticize Tony Romo's actions. Great blog, amazing humour & must-read for even non-American Football fans.

So, to the author of Fake IPL Player blog, you can gain some lessons from TonyHomo. Happy surfing.

WTF News of the Day - "Oscar" Child up for adoption (sale!)

Shock is an understatement when someone hears a story like this. I have a few questions for Mr. Rafiq:

1. Why should the producers of Slumdog Millionaire pay anything more than what they are contracted for?
2. Isn't it your duty as the father of the child, to provide her education & appropriate living conditions?
3. If you cannot fulfill your duties as a father, why have a child?

Rafiq can learn from Rajendra Sonkar - the father of the girl who was showcased in "Smile Pinky". He didn't go around offering his kid for adoption. He wants to ensure that her daughter gets good education. Mr. Sonkar isn't any richer than Rafiq but there is a vast difference in their manners & thought process. I am disgusted with folks like Rafiq who take kindness for weakness. That he wants to reap £200,000 (Rs. 1.4 crores!) for giving away Rubina shows that it isn't anything but a sale. 

Rafiq - There is a special place in hell for folks like you.

Biggest theft in Indian History: How Western India has lost!

Care to guess the most valuable item in independent India?

Gold - Nope. Folks have tons (if not Kgs at home!)

Water - Getting close. But inspite of the perennial Cauvery, Krishna, Ganga water fights, it isn't Water.

Giving up?

The answer: MP seat. Yup. Do you disagree?

When the Lok Sabha was created, the founding fathers divided the kitty to states by their population representation assuming that each of these states will have near-equal status in various parameters like Growth, wealth, HDI etc. And why not? If the Gangetic & Indus plain was good for agriculture, the south had their own Godavari, Krishna & Cauvery basins. States that lacked good agricultural area had natural resources wealth - Jharkhand, Orissa, Rajasthan.  However, the last 20 years has shown how there is a huge North-South divide in terms of revenue generation. So, i wonder - why should we still use population as the only criteria for allocating MP seats. Why not use more progressive elements as well - GDP & HDI came to my mind.

So, i did a quick calculation. Let me not bore you with the gory details but the weightage for Population, GDP & HDI were equal. If you need more clarification, revert back to me. 

The results are startling. I wasn't expecting what i saw. Check for yourselves.

What was i expecting? Southern states to be the victims of the system while UP & Bihar were the major beneficieries. But, i was astounded to see that Maharastra (16 lost seats), Gujarat (6 seats), Delhi (5 seats) and Harayana (4 seats) have been the losers. The only Southern Indian state that can harbour a grudge - Karnataka (robbed of 3 seats). AP & TN have a long way to catch up on HDI & GDP parameters with the rest of the country. 

What's more - UP & Bihar have been the greatest robbers. UP deserves no more than 66 seats while Bihar should receive only 29 seats. That's a reduction of 25 seats or 20.8% of their current quota.

Will our politicians agree to such an excercise, where the MP seats are decided by factors other than plain population? I am not going to hold my breath for that to happen.

Till then, let us enjoy the next episode of "Greatest robbery show"

My vote is for sale - Part 2

It was quite a coincidence that i wrote a blog & the BJP manifesto (asking for "Swiss black money" to be returned) was released. Let's see if there is any other political party that answers the questions in this blog.

Issue #2: My vote is for the party that will flight "shadow black money system". 

Chidambaram came up with a fantastic idea in 1997 - VDIS'97 - Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme where unaccounted income could be disclosed & with tax paid on the same, the money would be regularized. If my memory doesn't fail - there was huge publicity and the ads were displayed on TV during Sharjah series cricket matches as well. The end result - the government netted Rs. 10,000 crores on "black assets" of 33,000 crores. The highest  payment came from Andhra Pradesh when a gentleman declared black assets of 500+ crores and paid 170 crores. Phew!

I think the time for VDIS II has come. With the real estate boom & the criminalization of politics, it is time for the government to remove black money from the system - estimated at 18 to 20% of GDP ($210 to 234 billion). Thus, putting together the offshore loot & local black money - it's an astounding $1.5 trillion! And to see no politican speak of it ...

.. isn't a surprise. Most politicans are the beneficieries of this ill-gotten wealth. Let me take one example of a recent addition to the political environment. Actor Chiranjeevi -my favorite Telugu actor & the star of Andhra Pradesh. 

Chiranjeevi filed his nomination papers for Tirupati MLA seat on 4th April 2009. As part of his papers, he declared assets worth Rs. 88 crores in the name of his wife & himself. No information on assets belonging to his children were released. That seems normal for a film icon whose 30 years in film world has produced more hits than one can count. However, one particular detail caught my attention. Chiranjeevi declared owning a site in Mount Road, Chennai  measuring 4,092 sq. yards (36,828 sq feet or 15.345 "grounds" @ ground = 2400 sq ft) worth Rs. 2.046 crores.

The calculation works to Rs 13.33 lakhs per ground for the property! That's a joke. We don't get property for Rs. 13 lakhs, 50 kms outside Chennai forget at the heart of the city. The actual value of the site is worth at least 25 to 50 times the declared rate at the least (Rs. 50 to 75 crores). Assuming the same kind of under-declaration, Chiranjeevi & his wife would be worth at least 300 to 400 crores if not more. And Chiranjeevi is contesting as a champion of middle-class! What travesty!

I am not singling out my movie-idol Chiranjeevi, but this is the trend amongst all politicians in India. 

The single largest source of black money in India is in these land-holdings. Let me explain how black money is created & funded. Assume Chiranjeevi wants to sell the land. The government guideline value might be Rs. 4 crores for the 4092 sq. yd land (i have no info on the guideline value in Mount Road). The seller buys stamp paper (11% of sale value - Rs. 44 lakhs) for Rs. 4 crores but the actual sale price might be Rs. 40 crores (assumption). In this case, Rs. 36 crores of black money is either created or routed. The government is also a loser - instead of receiving Rs. 4.4 crores as stamp duty, it receives Rs. 40 lakhs. The modus operandi of Indian politician at it's shameful worst!

My Vote is for sale - Part 1

I see nothing wrong in putting my vote for sale. In fact, i am thinking of writing an entire series of demands to the person seeking my vote.

The party that goes after money stolen in India and deposited outside gets my vote. So, here is what i want my party to do.

Step 1: Prepare a list of all countries that act as tax havens and publish it publically.

Step 2: Call the envoys/ambassadors of these nations for a meeting and give them an ultimatum. They have 3 months to produce a list of account holders and the amount stored in the banks in their countries.

Step 3: If the countries refuse, we ban these countries - economically & politically. All companies HQed in these tax havens will be refused license to operate in India. Citizens from these countries won't be allowed to travel to India and vice-versa. A complete black-out.

It is rumored that 700,00,00,00,00,000 (70 lakh crores!) - a full 162% of India's GDP of 43 lakh crores - is boarded outside India. Time to bring back the money. 

Nationalist apologists!

Nationalist apologists are people who disregard history and pout nationalist sentiment to question or explain away half-baked truths or full-fledged lies as FACTS. Here is one from New Zealand:

Paul Lewis writing in New Zealand Herald:

Now that the Indian cricket tour is nearing the end, it's time to ask: Why have we been so nice to them?

The answer to your question. You are returing our favour. Plently of teams in India sweat & cry blood when they see a dusty brown track but that hasn't been a problem for New Zealand because BCCI refused to upset the visitors.

New Zealand played 2 series in India over the last 10 years. In 1999, we played a 3 test match series which ended in 1-0 verdict against New Zealand. In fact, we dished a green top where India (the hosts) were bowled for 83 in the first innings. It wasn't our fault that the black caps refused to take advantage as they were bowled for 215. After that, it was all India, as we piled on 505 (2 centurions - Dravid & Tendulkar with fifties from openers Gandhi & Ramesh) and a predictable draw followed. In the second test match, the spinners ruled the roost and picked 16 wickets. NZ spinners didn't do badly - Vettori picked a 6-for. Tendulkar created a personal record in the third test with his first Test match double century. The game meandered into a meaningless draw thereforth.

In the 2003-04 series, we resumed in the same location & by the looks, the same pitch. It was Dravid's turn for a double century and the bowlers found no support from the pitch. In the second test at Mohali, NZ plundered 630 runs and 4 centuries in the first innings after winning the toss. India however saved the Test with VVS Laxman making a century in the first innings and 67* in the second innings to lead India to safety. Guess, who were the last men standing in the match? The same pair of Laxman-Yuvraj as the second test in 2009 series in New Zealand. Is Laxman becoming a pain for New Zealand after being Aussies tormentor for the last 8 years?

Bottomline: 5 test matches with 4 high scoring draws in India isn't bad. New Zealand received batting wickets in India in their last 2 tours. It is wise on their part to return the compliment else they face turners in their next visit to India. Get the point, Mr. Lewis.

Bow to thee - Master Gambhir

Small quiz: If i were to ask you to name Michael Atherton's best test knock, which would it be?

Wouldn't it be the 185 in Johannesburg - the "Great Escape" / "Great Survival"? Ray Illingworth called it "One of the greatest innings of all time". The basic stats - 185* off 492 balls in 643 minutes. Rest assured, Gambhir's latest 137 off 436 balls in 643 minutes (what a coincidence!) isn't going to be called as one of India's greatest but it does deserve a lot of applause. Gambhir, Sehwag's understudy (unbridled aggression) looked like Dravid's long lost brother or even Gavaskar's nephew!

When i checked Cricinfo Statsguru, Gambhir is in rare company. The list of players who batted 400+ deliveries to save a test or win it is an elite company of 24 innings by 23 players (Andrew Jones from New Zealand achieved this twice!). Gambhir's 643 minutes is the fourth (tied with Atherton) longest & apart from the Gordon Greenidge (226), the other three were match saving innings (following a follow-on declaration). Two have been featured in this blog. Care to know the others - the best was 275 in 878 minutes & 642 balls made by then-South Africa opener & current India coach - Gary Kirsten. The third longest belongs to New Zealand's own Mark Greatbatch who scored 146 in 485 balls and 655 minutes.

Gambhir, don't worry if this innings isn't placed in the same pedestral as Laxman's 281  or Gavaskar's 221 that nearly won the match (the other entries from India in the list of 24!), but your coach & team would know that your innings came very close. In fact, this one deserves to be in Top 10 Indian innings of all time . Also, one more small point - your Delhi teammate & stand-in captain, Virender Sehwag, owes you one. You (with copious help from the seniors) avoided the ugly questions for sehwag post his twin inning collapses against ordinary spin bowling. Encash it now!

PS: I played around the Cricinfo stats tool. To me, "Saving an away test match" is someone batting for over 500 mins (4 session) and 400 balls on foreign soil. That list is even more elite - just 7 "centurion savers"

Sachin & 500 Club

The last line in the Cricinfo stats article made me think of India's 500 performance. The line was:

Thanks largely to Tendulkar's 160, India managed their first 500-plus score in New Zealand

The question i had in my mind was - what is the relationship between India's overseas 500 run record and Sachin's performance in those matches.

Thanks to Cricinfo stats, i soon could tabularize the performance of all countries abroard. Australia (unsurprisingly!) led the way with 46 scores of 500 & above while England (39) and India (27) trail the Aussies. I was surprised that India was ranked so high. Since India prior to 2000 was known as home tigers, i didn't expect them to post huge overseas scores. 

India's record look good. They have scored seven 500s abroad than they allowed their opponents to score at home. Then, i had a hunch when i looked at England (39) and West Indies (26) figures. Maybe, most of these came  from pre-1990 era. So, filtering the above table for Sachin era, the result is startling:

Of India's 27 scores of 500+ in Test Cricket, 22 of them came in the last 19 years. What's more - Sachin played in 19 of these matches (Sachin missed in the 2006 WI tour as well as the 2005 Zimbabwe tour where Sourav & Greg clashed!). India (to my surprise!) has the best record with 22 scores of 500+ and allowing only 7 such scores from it's opponent at home. The 22 scores also indicate the golden period of India's Fab Three/Four/Five. All but one came after the debut of Ganguly & Dravid. Post-Sehwag's introduction, the frequency of these mega-scores have increased. The +15 record indicates that India has adopted better to foreign conditions better than opponents have adjusted to Indian conditions.

In the 19 matches, Sachin's record is phenomenal. His record stands as 19 Matches, 26 Innings, 2368 runs, Average of 124.63, 11 Centuries, 5 fifties and only 1 duck. What a stat! I don't have similar figures for Dravid & Sehwag (am sure, Laxman & Ganguly won't have 100+ average) but will try & put that out soon. India lost only one match - the infamous Sydney test match and won 7 times in 19 matches. Interestingly, India has never won a match pre-Sachin era when it scored 500+ abroad. It drew 4 matches & lost 1 (500 scored after being asked to follow-on with a deficit of 386 runs)

Coming back to the Master - Sachin & the Fab-five performance overseas having a direct link to our away record is probably one of the most underappreciated aspect of Indian cricket (the other - Kumble's contribution to Indian test victories)

Edit: Dravid's record in India's 500+ matches abroad: 19 matches, 25 innings, 2277 runs, Average of 103.50 with 9 centuries and 8 fifties & 1 duck. Which one of these 2 is better? That i am not sure. Dravid however has 3 double-centuries - the famous Adelaide Test match, the famous Rawalpindi Test match and the 217 in Oval while Sachin's 248 in Sydney was a drawn match & 248* against minnows Bangladesh. His near-200s - the 193 in Headingley was made on the foundation of Dravid's spectacular 148 & 194* in Multan was a support role to Sehwag's 309. However Tendulkar has one second inning century (against Sri Lanka) while Dravid has none. So, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I give Tendulkar's record a slight edge over Dravid.

Sehwag's record isn't Bradmansque. That's mainly because it is more hit-or-miss. There are 3 centuries - his 309 Multan special; whirlwind 180 in WI and the 151 second innings special in Adelaide. Apart from these efforts, there is no other significant effort in his 13 matches, 17 innings, 1135 runs, 66.76 average, 3 centuries and 2 fifties.

As i expected, VVS & Ganguly's records weren't extra-ordinary. VVS played 16 matches, 22 innings, 1162 runs, 58.10 average with 4 centuries, 4 fifties and 1 duck. His 148 in Adelaide followed by 178 in Sydney in the 2003-04 Aussie tour and a century in the ill-fated Sydney test showcases his preference for Aussie attack. Against the rest, he has a century in Zimbabwe and some fifties here & there though in his defense, his role at No. 6 gave his too few opportunities. Ganguly however cannot complain about lack of opportunities. He has the worst record of the Fab-5 in matches overseas where India has scored 500+. His stat line of 15 matches, 19 innings, 982 runs, 51.68 average, 3 centuries, 7 fifties and 1 duck doesn't look great. He started off well - 136 in Nottingham in his debut series & 128 in the match at Headingley where Tendulkar & Dravid collected centuries - both in English environment. His only other century kick-started the Ganguly-Chapell spat (century in Zimbabwe). 

Test Cricket Moral Police Force have got their facts wrong!

Vic Marks, Stephen Brenkley, Martin Johnson amongst others have criticized the lifeless pitches on offer in the Carribean where West Indies hold on to a 1-0 lead. After WI won the first, the second abandoned, the last 3 matches have seen pitches where the batsmen can play blind-folded Cricket. The complaints of these gentlemen above don't talk of disparity between bat & ball. These gentlemen talk about the imminent passing away of the great game called Test Cricket. Everytime there is a dull lifeless draw, critics pounce and declare Test Cricket dead.

Unfortunately, these critics probably failed in their history classes or they are Aamir Khan's long lost brothers from the movie Ghajini - suffering from short-term memory loss. 

Test Cricket in the olden days saw worse - slow paced dull draws. Disagree? Since these gentlemen are from England, what better examples than the Indian tours to England in 1990 & 1996. In both these tours, England won the first test match and the remaining 2 matches were boring high-scoring drawn matches. In 1990 series, there were 15 hundreds and 17 fifties in 3 test matches. A total of 4,640 runs were scored in 3 matches for the loss of 82 wickets at an average of 56.58 runs per wicket. The 1996 series was marginally better for the bowlers (mostly English bowlers!) - 8 hundreds and 10 fifties in 3 test matches. A total of 3,214 runs in 3 matches for loss of 93 wickets at 34.45 per wicket. Both these test series, post the first matches were batsmen games and that's the way the host team would have wanted it, to retain the series victory.

My theory is that the pundits have been pampered in the last decade when the win rate for test matches have gone up. Till 1999, there were 1404 test matches played (that didn't involve Zim & Ban) and 864 of these these matches ended in a result (61%). In the last 10 years, 375 matches were played (doesn't include the 2 current matches) and produced results in 269 games (71%). If we were to include Zim & Ban, the rates are 61.4% and 74.8%. 

So, in no shape or form, the last decade has dulled Test Cricket. Test Cricket had boring draws a few years back and will continue to have boring draws in the future. Please don't waste time in writing Test Cricket's obituary just yet.

26/11 - Pathetic Paki response

Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik: Some part of the conspiracy has taken place in Pakistan. We have lodged an FIR [first information report] into the case

Glad we got that cleared. And i think the Minister or Ministry chief or whatever they call him these days, is correct. Talking to reporters off-the-record, he later confessed that some part of the conspiracy was planned outside Pakistan and gave examples of these:

• Who should cook meals during the time spent on Kuber from Karachi to Mumbai
• Ring tones for their mobile phones
• Dress code during the attacks
• The person responsible for inflating the raft 

The minister claimed that Pakistan spent $5 million finding these vital clues and hence the same should not be ignored by India.

In other news, Guiness Book of World Records announced that the Pakistani Government representative (Pak President) has created a new record for the time spent by any person  with his/her head buried in sand. The feat started in 1947 and has continued as tradition to this very day. President Asif Ali Zardari, earlier known as Mr. 10 or Benezir Butto's husband, dedicated this performance to the relentless efforts of his predecessors. He said, "I shall continue to uphold this tradition of Pakistan Presidents who don't want to see the ground realities and are entrapped in a false world & false respect for their position vis-a-vis India". He also made other statements that weren't heard clearly from the sand patch.

Satyameva jayate - some politicians & businessmen prove it wrong!

Now that we have had a full month of Satyam Saga - it is wise to walk away from the minefields (controversy on employee head count) and irrational & exuberant statements. My random thoughts:

1. Too juciy an opportunity to let go wasted. The one IT company that trusted itself on all news channels with interviews and quotes was Infosys. Mohan Pai and Narayanamurthy (1, 2)were omnipresent. Thus, it is surprising when Narayanamurthy asks the media to back-off from Satyam. May be he should practice before he preaches. (All you pro-Narayanamurthy fans, i amn't Anti-Murthy, i am stating facts here). 

1a. By the way, since Narayanamurthy is a strict practioner of stringent corporate governance standards, should there be a disclaimer when he gives "Exclusive" interviews and sound-bytes to NDTV. Narayanamurthy is a Director on the Board of NDTV. The same should be disclosed by NDTV as viewers need to be aware of the exact relationship between the 2 parties.

1b. Staying with same topic, some disclaimer from me - i work for a competitor of Satyam. I have nothing but admiration for the company, disgust for the man/team who bought 50,000 employees to their knees.

2. I am surprised as to why Satyam - the company hasn't sued Ramalinga Raju, Rama Raju, PwC, CFO, VP-Finance in India and in US. Remember, Satyam as a legal entity is different from Raju. The company might have been founded by Raju but he isn't the company. My 2 cents to Satyam legal - Sue them and sue them for punitive damages. 

3. When Enron happened in US, both Enron & Arthur Anderson were dismantled and sold off in parts. Why? The liability wouldn't be passed to the new entity. I think the same needs to be done here. The company will be more valuable in parts and without liability. Suitors (sans-L&T) will see strategic value in parts rather than assuming liability. Aegis BPO has already stated interest only for BPO. Satyam's SAP/ERP practice at 40%+ of FY2008 revenues will look appeasing to Tech Mahindra for diversification. Why can't the company be sold in parts, the money used to settle legal claims (both ways - with investors and against Raju & Co) and the remaining amount distributed amongst investors?

4. When all and sundry are talking of employees, please remember that they can be the fastest to ditch the ship. Why expect them to stay put and tarnish their resume? I am not asking the employees to jump ship, just that i can understand if they do so. I applaud some employees' effort to revive the brand.  

5. Benami companies and land acqusition: If what we read is true, Raju has 1200 acres of land in Greater Hyderabad. This is outside the 6000+ acres that Maytas properties holds as land bank. How can the state government claim that they aren't aware of the situation? when someone acquires such large tracks of land, isn't it pretty noticable and trackable? How can we believe that state government officials aren't hand-in-glove with Raju? How come the CM, Revenue Minister never knew that Raju was acquiring such large tracks of land? By the way, i am not going to give even Chandrababu Naidu the benefit of doubt. It is too massive a fraud not to be noticed by the ex-CM. So, i say - Satyam should sue the AP state government for abetting Raju in plunder of Satyam's wealth.

5a. Shame on the state government for trying to shield Raju. Otherwise what explains the inertia for 2 days after the confession letter? What explains the sudden action after Raju receives SEBI notice? Why, stonewall SEBI from interviewing Raju for 3 weeks. This fraud is so complex and spread across multiple jurisdiction that CID cannot handle the complexity of work. If not for saving politicans, why did the CID arrest Raju?

6. Raju is in prison and enjoying star treatment. At least it is better than the stupid Bernard Maddow house arrest. Raju liked shopping - be it 1200 acres of land, 300 belts, 1000 suits, 300 shoes (is that for real? i somehow suspect the numbers), he shopped BIG. So, why not let him enjoy what he went after ala Chiru's Veta style. For non-telugu population, Veta is megastar Chiranjeevi's version of "The Count of Monte Cristo". One of his friends turns traitor in the greed for gold. Chiru extracts revenge by forcing the traitor to eat gold coins. What say, Raju? Ready to eat?

7. And by the way, can we stop refering to Ramalinga Raju as Mr. Raju or in any form of respect. He doesn't deserve it. Once again, taking cue from one of my fav. movie "A few good men"

Col. Jessup: ... Sweet dreams, son

Kaffee: Don't call me son. I'm a lawyer and an officer in the United States Navy. And you're under arrest, you son of a .....

Bottomline. World to Raju: Don't expect any respect from us.

Blame BCCI, not ICC for Tendulkar's ratings

There has been quite an uproar in India regarding the Test & ODI all-time rankings. What people fail to understand is that the list represents the highest rating ever achieved by a player according to their methodology and as per the list, Sachin's best test & ODI moment have been upstaged by quite a crowd. I have no qualms in the ranking and amused seeing Television commentators looking puffed up and all serious when criticizing anything related to the master. Relax, folks - it is just a ranking. There are better things to channel your anger. Gotcha? (Thanks Palin, this stupid term is the "official" OK in our residence!)

Is the ranking a good reflection of Tendulkar's career. I think so. I feel the following reasons have pulled Tendulkar's rating downwards:

1. The ranking lays importance to wins and Tendulkar hardly saw any of them during the first 10 years of his career outside India. When i checked with Cricinfo Statguru (quite a good tool, i should say), i noticed that India won 1 TEST MATCH AWAY FROM HOME between 1989 and 1998 in Sri Lanka and Tendulkar scored a century in the second innings of the match. In this period, Tendulkar played 39 matches and scored 11 centuries (including 4 in losing cause)
2. BCCI - The eternal problem creator, has a hand in Tendulkar's low rating. BCCI doesn't like Test Cricket as it eats into the time available to them for hosting ODI matches. Else, show me one other nation where tours don't have proper practice matches. BCCI would rather have the Indian team lose the first test match rather than lose revenues on 2 meaningless ODI games. The reason why i hold is multiple:
   

• BCCI guilty is lack of arranging 4/5-game series. Tendulkar has played 10 four-match series and 3 five-match series (8 of these four match series and all three five match series have been abroad) in his career. Thanks to BCCI's indifferent attitude, Sachin has played just 2 four-match series in his career. He made 4 centuries in those 13 matches and averages 65+ in these matches. Reasonable to expect that as 4/5 match series provides platform for improvement on adjustment to conditions. In contrast, records of Steve Waugh (16 four-match series, 12 five-match series and 3 six-match series - 12.5% of his matches are in 4 matches+ test series) and Brian Lara (19 four-match series, 11-five match series and 2 six-match series - 24.4% are in 4 matches+ test series) show they played in longer series than Tendulkar (8.3% of career in 4 matches+ test series). BCCI HAS FAILED TENDULKAR BY NOT HOSTING 4 MATCHES+ SERIES IN INDIA MORE OFTEN.

• In the common period between 1 Jan 1991 and 2 Jan 2004, when all three players played test cricket, the following is the number of test matches played by each country - Australia (148), England (147), West Indies (124), South Africa (112 from 1992), Sri Lanka (106), Pakistan (105), India (103) and NZ (102). Of the 103, India played just 46 matches at home (44/6%) while England (53.75%). Sri Lanka (52.83%), Australia (51.35%), NZ (50.9%) hosted more home games than away games. Should i say anything more? BCCI HAS FAILED TENDULKAR IN NOT PLAYING TEST MATCHES OFTEN ENOUGH.
  

Not that i find Tendulkar to be entirely faultless - he made centuries but not huge centuries. 170 - 190 run band was always a problem for him (every other player would have loved to have that problem!). Tendulkar crossed 150 on 17 occasions but made only 4 double-centuries. He never encashed his opportunity against weak teams (something that everyone should learn from the way Sri Lankan players pummel Zimbabwe & Bangladesh regularly these days!) except for one double-century against Bangladesh in 2004. 

ODI comparison soon (if at all!)

and it continues ...

Can the ICC not learn anything? the game was delayed and some stupid rule implementation by the umpires meant that the match ended after darkness set in ....

and now the ICC president gives a long winding speech ... some 8 mins in all and the crowd is booing quite heavily. also, mr. sonn - along with lara and mcgrath, Inzy also retired from cricket. you could have mentioned that.

why the medals to the match referee and the umpires - they don't deserve it for the bungles at the beginning and end of the match.

Nonsensical ...!

Good riddance World Cup 2007 ... that's what i am thinking as Sri Lanka is forced to play the last 3 overs (more on that later)

It started with the murder of Bob Woolmer and i lost complete interest in the game. The public apathy to a real life loss, exit of India and Pakistan, the high rates for tickets and the stupid rule that disallowed bringing music instruments into the stadium all contributed to terming this as the WORST worldcup ever.

and today was the worst of all ... fittingly for the finals.

(1) Because of rain, the match is reduced to 38 overs. 38 overs for a finals match! comeon - couldn't the WI board and ICC fund floodlights for the finals venue. remember, sydney 1992 and i am sad to see that the cricket administration has not learnt a darn thing. sad., very sad. today should have been a 50 over match or else the match postponed to tomorrow

(2) Not the ICC's fault but what was Set Max officials thinking when they put Mandira bedi in a saree knitted with flags of participating nation. Given the kind of backlash that Sachin Tendulkar had for cutting a cake in the shape of national flag, didn't someone in the production team figure that the saree was bound to create controversy - especially when India flag figured prominently below the knee of Mandira. It was sad to see Mandira come out during the break in a different saree and apologize. The production team needs to owe this 'wardrobe malfunction'.

(3) and the mother of all farcical situations., 3 overs from the end - SL was out of the contest and when the umpires offered light, everyone on Earth and elsewhere thought that the match was over. Except for the 2 people in funny clothes called UMPIRES. They were going to arm-twist everyone by insisting that we comeback tomorrow to play or play in complete darkness. Stupid., maybe the rule book should state that COMMON SENSE should be used by umpires and everyone involved in the game. They shoo-ed off construction workers trying to put together the podium and even when Jayawardane pleaded, they were struck in their bone-headed decision. In less than a year, we have 2 incidents where umpires occupied the wrong place in the match - centerstage. i guess the match referee could have sent a word to the umpires to put the nonsense to rest but he was equal in the task of acting like a ... (never mind)

Congrats Australia, you are deserving champions. Congrats Sri Lanka - there is no shame in losing to a team like the Aussies. Congrats to South Africa and New Zealand for their semi-finals appearance. Congrats to Bangladesh and Ireland for their upsets and unexpected entry into super-8.

Shame to the cricket administrators, team officials (i am looking squarely in your eyes, Greg Chappell) and umpires for lessening the repute of the game. the game would be better served with less interference and 'value-add' from you folks. for not seeing you folks, i am happy that the WC is over ....

BTW., ESPN (US Sports NW, not ESPN India) wrote an article on Bob's murder. Nice read as it gives a perspective of an outsider viewing the game. Click here

our politician's backward thinking!

Nothing represent India as a society that the current political action to restrict central govt funded institutes' admission to last year numbers. Check here and here.

Let me interpret the message the central government is sending:

• To further their political cause, the government forced the institutes to increase capacity and thus ensured that the institutes added 10% capacity (12,000+ over 1.2 lac)
• The government puts the interest of 1.2 lac candidates aside to address 'concerns' of 12,000
• When the supreme court decided to strike down OBC reservation, the government has withdrawn these 12,000 seats
• In case the May 8 judgement does not allow OBC reservations, i am 100% sure that the government is not going to use this to add more general quota or SC/ST quota students to these institutes.
• If the supreme court clearance takes time, the government will ask the institutes to freeze any capacity expansion

Thus the bottomline is, the government will let capacity go un-utilized or wasted but will ensure that the general public does not benefit. That's why they are probably called politicians ...!

May 8 is likely to be one of the saddest days for India as a nation ....

With respect to reservation - can the government reveal the number of OBC candidates according to their records who have been selected in the general quota for these 1.2 lac seats. Can the government also give a breakup of the location from which these OBC candidates hail from - rural/urban (ain't that simple - look at their hometown and 'rural' can be town/villages less than 50,000 population). Also, can the government provide stats of the number of rural and urban candidates from NE India? These are the more relevant categories that needs upliftment., not their vote banks ....