Was that really me?

Man, its wierd to hear your own voice .... realized it so very much while watching this video ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc_pI3r9Kdg

Was embarassing, don't know if it was tooooooooo bad, but definitely thought there is a lot of scope for improvement.

All in the game

First you say you're always with me,
Coz being with me is fun.
Say you'll go the whole distance,
Since the love that you found all right.
Come on. What's going on?
What you're thinkin'?
Then you say you need me,
Like the garden needs rain.
Then you go and deceive me,
Like it's all .....
.... in the game...
All in the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R00T80pwKmE

Love the ad .... and more so, the jingle.....fabulous it is.

Recession Times

There was an interesting analogy that came to mind while reading through a cricinfo article today. The article said that Tendulkar recently criticised the pitches on the last tour to New Zealand thus: "The wickets are great [this time around]. Not only players, but the spectators are also enjoying it. Last time we came here the bowlers got false confidence and the batters were looking for technical problems which didn't exist. I have at least not played on tracks like those and it wouldn't be ideal for the spectators either."

Most of it is fair comment, but the pitches are not great this time either. Not with the small boundaries at least, where edges and dabs go for boundaries and sixes. Won't the easy runs give some of the batsmen false confidence? Wouldn't bowlers be looking for faults that might not even exist when they look at their figures?

A booming economy, like it was in the last five years or so, is like a batting paradise: small boundaries and a flat pitch. Even edges and dabs go for boundaries and sixes and batsmen get a false sense of confidence. There is no distinguishing between a Tendulkar and a Ryder, everyone scores hundreds.

On the other hand, a period of recession is like a hard seaming pitch. Or a pitch that offers sharp turn and bounce. Only batters of the highest quality can survive, score and do well. Champions flourish wheraeas others perish in such conditions. I bet the Dravids and the Chanderpauls get more pleasure scoring runs in such testing conditions. Its in such conditions that they get distinguished from the rest. Flat track bully's like the Jaffers and the Laxmans who score tons of runs in good batting conditions, are not good enough to survive on such a pitch. They blame the pitch and the conditions for them not doing well.

I think this is a perfect analogy with what is happening with the economy right now, we keep blaming the economy for whatever is happening with us.

Thats why I think batters should try to improve their batting skills rather than blaming the conditions! Atleast not unless the pitches are as bad as the New Zealand pitches of 2002-03 tour :)

Its a new day

A busy but refreshing trip to India is over and I'm back to US. I have quickly got a reminder that things cannot be taken for granted. Howsoever good you are, in howsoever good nick you might be in, you have to take a fresh guard, you have to start from scratch in a new innings. You have to remember that when you face a new delivery, there are no past reputations. You cannot relax and rely on your past laurels. It was my mistake, I just did not deserve it this time. There just wasn't enough perseverance and more importantly desperation. I just kept hoping for some miracle. But I have been quickly grounded, and its disappointing and hurting.
But the important thing is to learn from your defeats. This is a hint to me to work on my game and my game plan. Never relax and chalk out plans to conquer future games.
And also, as I said earlier ..... if there is no desperation to win, there can hardly be enough perseverance. I think that's an important reason for my current form slump. There's just not enough motivation in there. I need to find some pretty quickly to avoid more embarrassments. Need to be on the right track otherwise it doesn't take long for the wheels to come off and the train to derail!

Feeling Proud

"Thats why you can never count us off. We can come back from behind, from seemingly hopeless situations to win games. We can raise the bar when it counts, we can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Ultimately, thats the stuff champions are made of" - Steven Waugh after Australia won the 99 world cup.

Cannot write anything more right now, but I repeat ... "Wo sikander hee doston kehlata hai, haari baazee ko jeetana jise aata hai" :)

So near but yet so far

The 5 P's: Preparation, Planning, Practice, Pressure, Performance ..... are the keys to success. As far as my latest venture goes, I did great as far as the first 3 factors are concerned...I don't think I could have done anything more to change fortunes as far as these three factors go. But probably I was not able to handle the pressure and perform on d-day. The result: I may lose this one .... well there's still a big one to go on the 17th and while I won't give up till the last minute, honestly, its going to be an uphill task to win from here.
There is no shame in losing a game. But yes, there is disappointment ... and tons of it. And when you introspect, there is nothing but regret. Regret the mistakes that you made, a tale of what COULD have been but what it is. But again, principles let me not to give up and situation demands to try harder.

Bombay Bleeds

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/25kp.htm .... an article that I'd read after the bangalore blasts a few months back .... and history repeats, keeps repeating!