The Cubs Roar

Down Under in the U-19 World Cup, the Indian team has won a cliffhanger against Pakistan in a Quarter Final match. Detailed report here. On a lighter note, the Indian juniors seem to be outdoing their older counterparts in adding dramatics to the mundane. A target of 137 to be chased in 50 overs does not promise the kind of excitement that was on display today in Townsville. Come on kids....think of the cholesterol laden veins and arteries of your parents that must be bursting with anxiety each time one of you got out or decided to take a wild swipe.

India plays New Zealand in the Semi Finals who beat West Indies in a text book T20 style with an Indian origin batsman (IS Sodhi) blasting 17 runs in the final over.

Congratulations to the Indian team. Keep Roaring!!!!

Retired 'Hurt' (?)

We Indians have the rare gift of romanticizing even the least poignant of moments to degrees that can only be called out of proportion. Hence when the most magical and at times most whimsical of our famed batting quartet calls a press conference to let us know that he is hanging his boots,  we can be excused if we go a tad berserk in mouthing our astonishment. Elsewhere in the world, a 38 year old cricketer with indifferent form and of visibly inadequate fitness retiring from the arena would be a natural progression but leave it on us Indians to drum up a conspiracy theory when none exists.

Nobody in the right frame of mind can undermine the contributions of V.V.S. Laxman to India's cause in the last decade and a half or so. Be it the belligerence of Adelaide or the grit in Eden Gardens, his tag of 'Special'  is well earned. In style and poise, he probably even transcends the greatness of his fellow greats.  But let's face it, he is not age proof, he is not form proof. He is as mortal as any of us and hence when his muscles and nerves do not quite cope up with the rigors of the game, he should give up. Inner voice or no inner voice!!

White Wash

A leading wall paint brand from India has announced that it is planning to hire the services of the Indian Cricket Team for certain commercial purposes. When self declared ad-gurus jumped guns to explain the absurdity of making commercials using a team that finishes test matches in the time span of a TV advertisement and thus finds its saleability at par with that of the field hockey team from Samoa, a company official clarified that the team members will not be endorsing the product but would rather be used as consultants in the development of the brands new all weather resistant white paint. The BCCI remained unreachable for comments on this latest development but unconfirmed reports suggest that the powers that be were driving a mean hard deal with the paint company for every dime, nickel and non-existent new paisa for this deal which could herald a totally new vista of earnings.

Intrigued by this totally out of the world thinking by the company when we hit the grapevine, we came to know that the thinktank of the paint company feels that the ability of the Indian Cricket Team to get itself whitewashed in geographically and climatically diverse environments places its members in a unique position to advise the company's researchers in devising the all weather proof white paint.