Can Dada rescue India?

The fourth one-dayer had the same ending as the ones before it with India losing to South Africa without putting up a fight. The squad for the test-team which plays three tests in South Africa was announced today.

I think sweet shops in Kolkatta will do extra business today as rosgollas and sandesh would be distributed to celebrate the return of Dada to the Indian team almost a year after he played a test in Karachi.

The team is as follows:-

Squad: Rahul Dravid (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), VVS Laxman (vice-capt), Dinesh Kaarthick, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, VRV Singh, Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth.

Laxman has been named as vice-captain, I personally feel that Kumble deserves that place, and I am certain that Kumble will end up as the most deserving star who never captained India. Sehwag is certain to be dropped if he does not fire in the first test.

All that remains is one 20:20 fixture and the fifth ODI. Team India has to win these games to salvage some respect and let us see if Dada inspires again......

Uneasy is the head on which lies the burden of captaincy-or-How the Indian cookie crumbled in Durban.

The first ODI match between India and South Africa was cancelled because of heavy rain, so when the second match started on time on November 22, expectations were high. The Indian team had disappointed its supporters with its performance in the Champions Trophy, and Dravid and Sachin had promised to make amends in South Africa.

The match started well for India, and Zaheer Khan, who was back in the side bowled his heart out and took the crucial wickets of Graeme Smith and Bosman. Unfortunately for India, it was Kallis's day and he went on to hit an unbeaten 119. He was ably supported by A.B. de. Villiers who hit a strokeful 41. Harbhajan was tormented by Kallis and he went for 59 runs from his 10 overs and failed to pick up a wicket. I wish the management plays Kumble in the next match, or we are going to be hit for another 300 or 400 runs.(Anyway we could not chase 248 so imagine our plight chasing mammoth totals)

Agarkar and Munaf Patel also bowled pretty well to restrict the Proteas to 248.

When Sachin and Wasim Jaffer walked out to open the Indian batting, I had a feeling that this would not click(I just reached home in time before the Indian innings started at 10 P.M.)Now I wish I had watched some other channel. Jaffer's ODI debut ended in a big disappointment with his stumps being dislodged by Pollock. How do you expect a new guy to open the innings, that too on a bouncy track? Then Kaif walked in and he went into defensive mode. At the other end Sachin produced some boundaries. Then Kaif departed, caught by Gibbs at point. Then Dravid came and he just scored 18. Then... the cookie crumbled and the famed Indian batting order was skittled out for just 91. I have added the Indian scorecard, courtesy of Cricbuzz to highlight our miserable form-

Batting: India Innings
Batsmen
India (91/10 in 29.1 ovs)
Runs
Balls
4's
6's
SR
Wasim Jaffer
b S Pollock
0
3
0
0
0.00
Sachin Tendulkar
b A Nel
35
51
5
0
68.63
Mohammad Kaif
c H Gibbs b S Pollock
8
19
1
0
42.11
Rahul Dravid (c)
b C Langeveldt
18
25
3
0
72.00
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk)
c M Boucher b A Nel
14
27
3
0
51.85
Suresh Raina
c J Kallis b A Nel
4
12
0
0
33.33
Dinesh Mongia
c J Kemp b J Kallis
1
9
0
0
11.11
Harbhajan Singh
lbw b J Kallis
1
4
0
0
25.00
Ajit Agarkar
b J Kallis
6
16
1
0
37.50
Zaheer Khan
c M Boucher b A Nel
1
8
0
0
12.50
Munaf Patel
not out
0
3
0
0
0.00
Extras:
b - 0, w - 1, nb - 2, lb - 0
3

Total:(91 for 10 in 29.1 overs)
91
Run Rate: 3.1

Now tell me what should we do as loyal supporters, the meagre total ruffled feathers in the Parliament with MPs asking Chappell to be sacked. I still believe Dada should be brought back. He has the best batting average for an Indian in South Africa and Laxman deserves justice.

The latest news is that Vengsarkar has flown to South Africa for important talks with the team and coach. Let us hope India at least puts up a fight on Sunday for the third match.

Hope we win or atleast lose by a smaller margin

A Monsoon Wedding-Part-2

First of all an apology to all the dedicated readers of my blog, especially Revathi, Jeanne and Mick, I was totally occupied with work and found no time to blog. Finally I have found some free time now, so BACK TO BLOGGING.

The feast was sumptuous, and after some time of chatting about the "porutham" of the bride and the groom, we decided it was time to explore Tirunelveli. We had about three hours time from 4 P.M. to 7 P. M., and decided to make good use of it.
The first stop on our tour itineary was the famous Kanthimathi Nellaiyappar Temple. We took a bus to the temple which was about 25 minutes from the Junction busstand. The visit to this temple will remain as one of my most cherished memories. I was spellbound by the architecture and the grandeur of the sculptures and the layout of the temple.
This twin temple dedicated to Siva (Nellaiyappar) and Parvathi (Kanthimathi) is situated in the heart of the city. Built by the Pandyas in the 13C but entirely remodeled and extended in 17C - 18C , the main deity is a 'Suyambu Lingam' or a Shiva Lingam which erupted from underneath the earth. The temple is worth seeing for its beautiful sculptures, musical pillars, valuable jewels, a golden lily tank and a thousand pillared mandapa. It is one of the five sacred places in Saiva religion.
The highlight of the temple is the set of musical pillars, which produce musical notes on tapping them. Then there was a huge pond with fishes and the temple elephant who blessed all of us.
Next stop was the Iruttu Kadai Halwa shop.
Tirunelveli is synonymous with its halwa dripping with ghee that melts in your mouth instantly. So we bought halwa from the famous "Iruttu Kadai", maybe it does not have tubelights, I don't know why its called that. "Iruttu Kadai" when translated means "Dark Shop".
Then we just visited some of the shops and brought a silk saree for the bride and a silk mundu and Jibba(kurta) for the groom. It was beginning to get dark and we returned to the marriage hall.
D-DAY for Mapillai
It is 7:40 and our mapillai and his bride are about to enter a new stage in their lives or shall I say life as they are supposed to be-"One in spirit and Soul from now..." The vaathiyars(priests) chanted the mantras and the thali(mangalsutra) was tied on to the bride to the echoing of the "Nadaswaram Gettimelams".
The bride cried as she was leaving her family and joining a new family. I was immediately transported to 1994 when my sister was married and she cried a lot hugging our mother and uncle.
Then everyone proceeded to the dining hall, where a grand feast was arranged. Then it was time to say goodbyes and promises were made to visit each other(all far-flung relatives living places as varied as Palakkad and Pathankot). I returnedwith my sister and brother-in-law by the Nellai Express. That is another story, which will form the basis of my next post.
Keep reading.Cheers.

A Monsoon Wedding
The past week has been totally hectic and I had no sleep for four days from Friday evening to Monday evening. I left for Tirunelveli to attend my cousin's marriage. I could not get train tickets, so I booked a ticket on a bus K.P.N. Travels. Koyambedu to Tirunelveli via Villupuram, Trichy and Madurai. It was raining throughout and to top it they put one sick comedy movie called Gusthi on the bus. It starred Karthik and Prabhu and had two women romping in skinny outfits provocating everyone and then saying-"Unakku Akka Thangachi Illaya"(Don't you have brothers and sisters?)The bus was comfortable and the seats were spacious, but somehow I just could not sleep. It was an awesome experience to view the change in the sky and the landscape from sunset to sunrise. Something that I will never forget. Another thing that I wanted to know is, aren't there any luxury buses in India which have toilets. I might sound a bit vulgar, but facts are facts. I took a leak at all the scheduled stops - Villupuram, Trichy, Madurai and an unscheduled place without a name somewhere on the highway.I finally reached Tirunelveli at around 7:30 A.M. It was drizzling continuously like the irritating rain at Lords which is not severe, but enough to stop a cricket match. I had breakfast at Nellai Saravana Bhavan, good food and decent service. I took an auto to the marriage hall-Rajmahal Thirumana Mandapam. One common factor in Tamil nadu is that everywhere the auto-drivers will fleece you. It was just about a kilometre and I had to pay 25 rupees.The ceremony(Nischidamboolam) was yet to start and only a few of our distant relatives had reached the hall. The bridegroom Dinesh was loking ill at ease, perhaps he was reliving his bachelor days as his bachelorhood was about to end. The customary rounds of "Namaskaram Mama and Mami" were completed andI entered my room. The hall was really huge and had lots of facilities. I had a room to myself, which I would have to share with other relatives when they would arrive. I had a refreshing bath, and contemplated on my course of action.By 9 A.M., the far-flung relatives started arriving by various modes of transport. The ceremonies had also begun. I was dog-tired but I looked at the ceremony for an hour. Then I went to my room and slept for a couple of hours. When I got up it was almost 1 P.M. I went to the dining hall, already the "Mudhal Pandhi" (First batch of diners) was in progress. I sat in the next batch of diners and dug into the sumptuous spread of the "Kalyana Sappadhu" (Wedding Feast)By now my cousins had arrived and then all of us decided to visit the various places in the town, as the marriage was to take place only on the next morning.To be continued......