Common wealth games, 2018 @ Gold Coast, Australia

Commonwealth Games are starting today at Gold Coast, Australia today.
This event is getting pretty silent treatment in India at least.  Hardly anybody is aware of it, forget talking about it. If I am not wrong, after Olympics and Asian games, this is the third biggest event with many countries participating in various range of games over a period of roughly 2 weeks.
India has sent a big group of nearly 327 sports-persons, who would participate across different games. But there is hardly any word shared across media about them.
Very recently, we started hearing about these games. But not because of the sports or the players, but because of other issues. Like, how Saina and Sindhu's parents are not allowed to live with them, or probably event objected to travel with them. Most recently, we were caught in an embarrassing situation, when syringe needles were found near our players living place. Initially we denied owning them, then our doctor changed the stance saying it was used for giving Vitamin B to a player. This issue jeopardized our participation in boxing matches. Fortunately, all the players have been cleared of doping charges and the doctor (Indian) received a written intimation about following rules properly.
There is also news that the matches for the boxing and badminton teams are rather easy and we can surely expect some medals in these games. Also, Mery Com who is participating in Common wealth for the first time, has to win only one match to grab a medal.
All in all, there is surety of some good performance from the team. I will be looking forward to some events from athletics. Our women's 400 X 4 relay team apparently may perform good. So, I will be looking forward to it. Similarly, the shooting team has raised some hopes.
Apart from that, I hardly have any information about the preparation of our players, their scheduled performances and all. I guess there is a need to put some focus on such events, so that these other games will also get highlighted apart from Cricket.
Lets hope, our all the players do awesome, and all we hear about them are accolades and no bad news of doping and other ridiculous stuff.
Good Luck India

IPL 2018

PC: http://www.india.com/sports/ipl-2018-full-squads-check-complete-payers-list-of-ipl-11-teams-2867446/

Indian Premier league is back with the latest version 11 in 2018. This version, I believe would be different bringing new refreshing look. This is not because of any rule changes in the game play, but because of a significant change in every teams composition. Though, I was expecting an overall makeover, but these teams find out a way to retain some key players with themselves. Anyway, if not full at least 80% of the team composition is changed and we will get to some new equations being formed.
I have mentioned earlier too, that I prefer IPL like formats over the "between countries" matches. The country wise matches bring with them concepts like pride, honor, country before self etc. Its not that I don't have such feelings. But in present context, where these games are mainly governed by media and companies sponsoring the event, all these feelings are basically used to exploit people and make them watch the game with all the emotions. The concept where sports used to be the means of bring different countries together is far gone and it is all governed by the money making marketing strategies.
On the other side, events like IPL doesn't erupt such emotions. Though, in earlier days, people used to go berserk to support a particular team, but now the viewers have also matured. They watch the games only with the intent of a mere sports. They have a liking for a particular player, but mostly, it is not to the extent of going mad for them.
Besides, it has so many advantages. It has helped India create a  pool of talented players who are ready to play in any high tension situation. It has removed the restrictions of money flow to certain players only and  instead made many a players financially stable, who otherwise probably would not get chance to play for the country.

I am really looking forward for this event to begin. Details of the plan are available at
http://www.india.com/sports/ipl-2018-full-squads-check-complete-payers-list-of-ipl-11-teams-2867446/

Decorations at Hiranandani, Thane

A diwali like decorations on the streets of Hiranandani, Thane for Half marathon event.

Virushka wedding! and right of privacy

These are among some of the Virushka wedding photos which went viral on internet with in couple of hours of wedding. By god, I did even saw my own wedding photos this fast.

But, yes, finally the ultimate question that was troubling all the Indians and making us have a sleepless nights has finally been answered. Now, we can concentrate on some of the issues relevant to out personal lives.

Do you know, why we are in this situation where we were more worried about Virushka wedding than anything else. It is called media. It is the same media, which keeps always crying about retaining rights of privacy of an individual. This is media, which created this imaginary environment where the nation wants to know everything about Virushka wedding.

The way wedding took place, one thing is clear. Virushka wanted this wedding a personal affair. Till the last minute, they kept calling it a false news. Without disclosing any information, every one quietly went out of India to avoid any attention and tried getting married.

But media doesn't believe in maintaining any rights of privacy in such cases. They went all the way to dig out all the information about the venue of wedding, probable dates, who left India through which route. They even did not left their priest out of this and brought him too in the limelight. 

I just wonder why there is need to know all the things about a person's personal celebrations. What Virushka did is right. They kept it a private affair and later on revealed the news to all ( not just to the media) through social platforms. With this thought, hoping some saneness comes to Indian media, I wish the couple a very happy married life.

Hard Luck Indian Women's team.

I guess, it happened for the first time, that Indians were actually following ball to ball, a women's cricket match. The occasion was the final world cup match between England and India. India was the probable winner. The match went down the wire and one thing that happens pretty much always with us, happened here too. Indian batswomen lost it under pressure.

This was a big occasion. Also an important event, as it probably is the last chance of watching two great players of the game. Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami. I have been following women's cricket partly and these two names have stuck in my mind for a very long time. I remember watching Jhulan's bowling many years ago and felt like she is the Kapil Dev of the Women's cricket.

It was unfortunate to loose the finals. Our players couldn't hold up against the pressure, although there was no real reason to panic. We were cruising fine, until Punam got out LBW. It was a genuine wicket. But what followed after that was unnecessary. There was no need for Veda to try hitting lofted shot. Similar nature of hasty decisions taken by other players. They were hitting into fielder's hand and trying to get a run. I felt like the captain failed to reach upto players and give them direction on how to approach the game. She kind of left it on them to attempt to win the game. This reminded me of a world cup game way back sometime between Westindies and Australia. Westindies were cruising to win and just required some 30 odd runs with as good as 7 wickets in hands and many many overs to bowl. But then just dramatically, Australia managed to get all the wickets and reached the final.

Anyway, it hurt to loose the game and the world cup. But it brought many positives out. Now every one know that India women's team exist and they are too good to forget or ignore. Women's cricket match got viewers to an extent that Lords was full yesterday. I was happy to see the presence of Akshay Kumar in the stadium. Atleast few celebrities follow what they say.

All in all, a good show. Now BCCI should take efforts and make sure that the Indians keep getting some or the other updates of Indian team performance around the year regularly. That will help to get people hitched to Women's cricket automatically.

I wish Indian's Women cricket team and hope they perform even better to beat India's Men's team someday.

IPL-10, a matured version

Its almost three weeks that the tenth version of IPL has started. At a point, it may feel like this post is little too late. But, the point of view, I am addressing is more of a kind of realization after its three weeks experience.

Almost ten years back, when IPL started, things were different. It was more like a new born baby, who brings all the excitement in home. No matter, who does what in relation to it, it feels good and exciting. So, an advertisement mentioning prayers being said in Pakistan for Sehwag and what not made us feel good. In real sense, there were followers for a team. There was a huge fan following of KKR back then, because Dada was their captain. Considering his captaincy skills, plus the kind of treatment he had received from Indian cricket team, KKR was a big hit. This was followed by Mumbai Indian, of course because of Sachin Tendulkar. In addition, there were some teams like RCB, DD,CSK, KXI which were again famous because of the players and sometimes because of the people associated with it. It was a big hit.

 Then as IPL started progressing, it went through many phases. We saw, how even big shot players become vulnerable, on and off ground. How priority for players change suddenly. A face of the team player suddenly becomes a load to be relieved. It was just the beginning of professional face of IPL, coming across us. While we were cheering for a team, being carrying our city name, suddenly, it had no local representation.

A major change that happened was the absence of Pakistani players from the successive IPL series. Initially, it was widely discussed. The absence of those players were strongly felt. How every one was missing Shoaib Akhtar and Sohail Tanvir and all the lot. But sooner, those memories too faded. Now, no words of it are ever heard.

While the professional face of IPL hurt the senior players, it also brought up another angle. IPL can make or break players carrier. It introduced us to very young and talented emerging players. IPL made them big in just couple of matches time. All of them started dreaming of a chance to play for their respective countried, especially the Indian players for India.

But with the new season of IPL, suddenly those set of players were replaced by another set of players. Do you remember a player from Kings XI Punjab, Paul Valthaty ! He emerged as a sensation in 2001, probably IPL4 season. But now where is he? Nowhere. Infact, I took a long time to recollect his name and search for him. There is a big list of such players, who  don't exist anywhere. Take another example of Saurabh Tiwari. I guess just 2-3 seasons back, he was a find for the Indian team. He even played a couple of matches for India. But today, I don't see him in any team. Atleast, I couldn't find him. Another face of professionalism of IPL.

One black spot on IPL is of spot fixing. This was the phase when IPL was like in its teenage. There is not end to enthusiasm. And when there is no barrier, sometimes its difficult to understand, whether the act done is wrong or right. Something similar happened here too. Being a hub of big money, people got attracted to IPL not just for the cricket, but to make money too. If not by right manner, then any other means available. This put players like Sreesanth, Chandela in trouble, who tried to make quick bucks through spot fixing. Forget players, even the owners of the teams got entangled in betting. Result, teams like CSK and RR got barred from the new seasons of IPL.

All such things happened in last nine years. Probably the players, owners, media, viewers learnt a lot from all different kinds of experiences. This is the tenth year of IPL. Even after  three weeks of game being over, no such issue has emerged as yet. Players seems to behave responsibly. Owners are minding their business of just investing and really participating in actual cricketing act. Media also knows what to highlight to get more TRP. A new formula has been developed where cricket is just another dish on the platter, other than dance and fun and so called cricketing discussions. Even the past cricketers have learnt to dance and speak some couplets, shayris to attract the audience. And most importantly, the viewers have learnt not to get unnecessarily engaged with any team and just enjoy the game.

All in all, IPL as of now seem to have got matured itself and every body around it. Of course, even matured people will sometimes act foolish. So, we do expect some kind of funny turns as IPL progresses ahead. But, I am pretty happy with its present shape and enjoying cricket in its present status.

Courts!

 Day time Badminton court

Night time Tennis court

Kohli Vs Smith

A very long awaited cricket series is about to begin in a couple of days. Not many competitors make a series interesting as Australia does. Saurav Ganguly said few days, "Virat Kohli is yet to be tested as Captain." While he puts foreign tours to Australia, England, South Africa as the criteria to his real tests, this Australia tour to India, can be one of the biggest barrier to cross for Kohli to prove his mettle.

India Australia series is always seen as competition not just between teams, but also at individual level. Whether it Gavaskar-Border, Tendulkar-Warne, Ganguly-Waugh, Harbhajan-Simond, Zaheer-Gilchrist or any other, but such combinations keep making headlines. The two teams also has a history of few consistent and/or successful captains. These captains have left milestones on their way. And the rivalry between these captains became the face value of the series. From Australian side, while few names like Border, Gilchrist, Ponting, Clarke made it bigger for the team, the Indian counterparts stood tall with names of Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid, Kumble  and Dhoni.  The stories of how Gavaskar almost made his team to quit series because of bad umpiring, and how Ganguly made  Waugh wait for the toss, to how Kumble strongly showed disappointment in press over the attitude of Australian cricket and supporting umpiring, all of them attempted to make this rivalry look bigger and sold the series to the viewers. At times, people were more interested in knowing, who said what, rather than knowing the scores and performances of the player.

With the rise of Kohli to captains position for the Indian team and a similar rise of Steve Smith at the Australian helm is possibly gearing up for similar long lasting rivalry for the two teams. Both the caprains have reached the peak point at an early stage of their career. The age is on their side. To add to that, they don't seem to find any competitor in near future from their own team. Both the Captains are fearless, read to take on the rival team at any venue. While Smith has supported sledging as an aggressive move, Kohli is mostly seen on the ground with that attitude. Still if compared, Kohli seem to be more stabilized in his captaincy, while Smith probably is still trying to get hold of his team. If he manages to do that soon as Ponting did back in his time, we can witness one more successful rival captain combination emerging in coming years.

Bye bye Rio, Next stop -Tokyo

Surprisingly, 15 days got over very fast. I was recently getting excited about the Olympic games starting in Rio, and today, the games are over. I must tell you, the two weeks of Olympic games, is one of the most exciting time, which I really look forward too.

video courtesy: GAGALOVER347

This time India couldn't do that well as seen in last few Olympic outings including London, Beijing. But at times, we nearly missed the medal. Most prominently to remember are the missed bronze medals by Abhinav Bindra, Saniya & Bopaana and Dipa Karmakar. They really missed it at the last hurdle. Feels bad for them. Abhinav wanted to finish his career with a medal, which didn't happen. Dipa took so much efforts, even learned the difficult, nearly death level Produnova. Saniya and Boppanna, however did not look that effective in their efforts to clinch the medal. 

In contrast, some players just gave a big surprise by actually winning the medal. While every one was thinking about Vinesh Phogat making a mark, Sakshi Malik suddenly gave a great news of winning a medal. Although, it was heart wrenching to see, how Vinesh  went into pain while playing her quarter final bout. I can not even imagine myself in that position, the way her leg got all twisted and crushed under Chinese wrestlers weight. On similar line, everyone was expecting a sure medal from Saina. Nobody, though, knew that she is going through a severe injury, which actually needed a surgery. It is really difficult to digest a fact that she reached till pre quarters with the help of killer pains. But she had started in London, had to be taken ahead in this round of Olympic games. Last time, she brought Bronze mdeal for India. This time, another player managed to convert that Bronze into Silver. P.V. Sindhu, the youngest Indian to win a medal, really made all the Indians start loving Badminton in a span of few days. Her match against the World No.2 chinese player is one of the best matches I have seen. She was almost perfect in that games. By the time she reached Semi final, her confidence was evidently grown. It was apparent, the Japanese opponent was not match for her. The finals though was different. The way I look at it, I may be totally wrong here, Sindhu lacked a bit of attack in her  game. Marin was just too good that day. 

All in all, one silver and one bronze is what we could earn this time.

There were many failures, which left us disappointed. Biggest one is Dipika Kumari led archery team. Can you believe it, she is a world record holder. I followed her game in London olympics and again this time. But, I never felt confident about her performance. She is not consistent for some reasons. Ofcourse, I have watched her play on few events only, so my view might be totally wrong also. But, at a bigger stage, she some how fails to deliver. There was a huge expectation from our Men's Hockey team. But they could live up to their expectation. Surprisingly, Argentina, a team India defeated in their league matches, won the Gold. The last and biggest disappointment came on the last day of the games, when Yogeshwar Dutt lost in his first round of match itself. Actually, he is really good in his game. I have seen him developing and growing since his bronze medal win in London. His exit in the first round itself was shocking.

This was India at Rio. It wasn't as expected considering we sent the biggest contingent till date to Olympics games, but, we came to know about emerging talents, which are surely going to make a mark in coming days.

IPL: 2 year suspension of CSK and RR

 A very strong decision came out yesterday when CSK and RR, two teams from IPL were suspended for 2 years. This all happened thanks to the owners of these two teams Mayappan of CSK and Raj Kundra of RR. While being an owner of a team, these two people were involved in betting to make some extra cash. It is really saddening to see IPL going down the drain with every new year.

Personally, I really liked the concept of IPL. I followed it, I favored it, I supported it. I founf IPL as a place where new upcoming players will get a chance to showcase their talents, where oldies after retirement will get one last chance to try their hands on bat and ball, where some of the talented players who never got a chance to appear in India XI can make some money before hanging their boots and dreams of playing for the country.

This was the concept which made me support it. The way IPL started was also awesome. But slowly some where things started going wrong right from the second year. Biggest controversy at that time was the treatment given to Dada ( Saurav Ganguly). It was shocking to see the treatment given to him. At the same time, another legend VVS Laxman was also experiencing similar ignorance from his team.

Slowly, things started getting dirtier. More and more of senior players were ignored. Even Rahul Dravid had to change his team. But he proved himself by making RR one of the most consistent side in IPL.

And then this idea of fixing started entering minds of few people. Some where it was said that few matches were fixed, but it did not get proved. Instead, there were some instances of spot fixing which were proved and some of the players were involved in this scam. One of the biggest names was Shrisanth. It was really shocking to see him involved in this fixing.

But the story was only half told till this point. When more pages were turned, bigger names started coming out. And out of some of these pages, appeared the names of Mayappan and Raj Kundra.

Now that their involvement has been proved beyond doubt, its their team which is going feel the heat. There are many players from CSK and RR who do not know, how can they be part of IPL any more. It is no big issue for a player like Dhoni or Ashwin. They are big names and have relatively easier path to walk. But some upcoming players like Samson or Binny or for that matter Rahane who were doing good with in the working culture of RR (groomed by Dravid). But, they will find it difficult to get a place in other team. Their way of playing may not be appreciated by other teams. Just like Pujara, who other wise is a fantastic player but has no place in IPL ( instead he was playing in County cricket during that season), these players may also end up staying away from IPL. The way Praveen Tambe at the age of 42 could make an entry playing for RR and leave a mark in IPL, I do not think other teams would have tried him at all.

All such things will come to an end because of suspension of two teams. By the time they will be allowed to play, many such talents would have lost their chance to prove themselves.

 

India Vs Australia Semifinal World Cup Cricket 2015

Here, we are.

The Semifinal match of India where it will be facing a big team of Australia. 

I believe this is going to be the first real test of India  in this World cup.

 Although, India did faced some big names in its league matches, but none of them could really  put pressure on Indian squad.

I have already lost interest in India-Pakistan matches. Same is the case with India-West Indies match. I was expecting some real threat from South Africa, but it went badly for the proteas.

Coming from there, today's match will be the first real test for the Indian team. This time, in real sense, the best four teams  made it to the Semi final. It was little heart breaking for me to see South Africa loosing at the penultimate ball. I was routing for that team, all of because of their history (chokers) and some of my small connection with the Country. New Zealand on the other hand, I feel, is a great team only in its backyard.  I don't really remember this team performing any better at any other place in the World. So, I am not supporting  this team.

Coming back to India and Australia, it is really difficult to make any statement on which team will survive today. Both teams are in great form. Just out of insecurity one feels about their own team,  I am feeling, probably, its Australia Vs New Zealand Final. I hope, I am wrong.

As usual, I won't be watching the match, but following from time to time, on Cricinfo.

Let the best team win. 

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.

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( I hope its India)

Philip Hughes : an uncalled death

A sad demise of a Cricketer on field. Philip Hughes died because of a head injury during a domestic cricket match in Australia. A full blown bouncer was thrown towards him, and his misjudgement in reading the ball costed him his life. 

Such incidences some time make us think, how much of aggression is necessary in games. Isn't it said that games are meant for recreation. It is this this aggression which makes a bowler ball a bloody bouncer, or an athlete take drug doses to go that little extra faster than all others, or even make a racial attack, just to tone down the confidence of the opponent.

Few years one of the Indian players "Raman Lamba" lost his life in a similar incident, when he got little aggressive and tried fielding very close to the batsman. And now this incidence is added to that list. I have always thought about games as a sincere effort to play the game in such a fashion that all can enjoy the game. 

I have seen people getting hurt while playing such games Cricket, Football, Hockey and at times it brings a halt to one's life, just like what happened to Philip Hughes or Raman Lamba. What is the use of playing such a game. I have totally stopped playing all such games where unnecessary aggression comes into picture. My intention is always to enjoy the game. I never found a reason for bowlers to ball bouncers. I was a medium pacer and believe me I was very economic. I have been  hit for only one six in over hundreds of overs I might have bowled. That is my record. And I was always cautious that my ball should not only not touch batsman's bat but also it is safely away from the batsman too. But that was my way  to play cricket. 

And as obvious, that is not the way the world plays it. 

People would suggest that if good quality safety kits are used, then, such incidences can be avoided. In a way, yes, that is possible, but you never know when would your safety guards give up and unknowingly expose you to life threatening situation. Besides, I wonder if Philips was using a low grade quality helmet which can not save him from deadly Australian bouncers.

It remains a question to argue, but mistake if  I become ICC chief, I will put condition. Either remove situations like deadly bouncers or sign  a contract where you are responsible for your life. I will declare games like Cricket as action sports which are dangerous for ones health.

Good Work India at Common Wealth Games

Common Wealth games ended yesterday. It was an interesting 10 day tour which helped us witness all different variety of games. India's performance at these games was marginally well. Though their medal tally reduced significantly, but Indians managed to make a significant mark in some games. 

It is clear now that, we hold a good control over shooting events. India managed to grab as many as 17 medals in different events. Of course, the number of gold in these 17 medals is less, but still, it proves our hold on this game. Abhinav Bindra as expected brought one Gold for India. He has declared it to be his last Common Wealth stint. I believe he has done a great service to Indian sports by not only winning Gold but also promoting this game to such an extent that we have started grabbing most of the medals of the sport.

Shooting is followed by another game which brought India 13 medals. It is Wrestling. Two names, Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt are a must. These two names have been rounds for some time now and I guess now they should be included in the list of legends. While Sushil Kumar made us learn that we can win Wrestling, Yogeshwar Dutt taught us the meaning of hard work and perseverance. This times Yogeshwar's performance was beyond limit of any wrestler in his weight category. He managed to win all his matches with 2 minutes. There was simply no match for him including Finals. No wonder, more and more better wrestlers including girls have started not only knocking the doors but even grabbing golds in their first ever attempts.

There is a little disappointment with Boxing though. We had a chance of winning four golds here but we ended up loosing all four of our final bouts. And we did not just lost, our boxers including the famous Vijender Singh were at times not able to stand straight on their feet. It was painful to see their fights.

This time Table Tennis and Squash teams also managed to bring home some laurels. It was good to see our teams doing good on these fronts too.

I was impressed the way Kashyap won his Gold in Badminton. It was a tough fight against the young 19 years old Singaporean. The opponent was not just good but amazing. The way he was covering the ground was astonishing.  He made me believe at a point that the Gold is going their way. But Kasyap fought back with such an aggression, that the kid on the other side got tired and pretty much lost his way. Although, he made Kashyap struggle to the maximum possible extent before loosing control over Gold.

In contrast, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa lost their Gold in a most pathetic manner I have ever seen. I was wondering whether this is a Common Wealth Final games. The two ladies were hardly making any movement and were playing all using their hand and wrist. There hardly was any court coverage. Even I, who has played Badminton to marginal competition level could find so many gaps left in the court. Some of Ashwini's shots even reminded me of the famous hindi song "Dhal Gaya Din, Ho gayi Raat" where Jitendra and an actress are playing a funtime outdoor badminton game. I think its high time India needs alternativce doubles team.

India once again lost the final of Hockey to Australia. Some how, Australia is always a barrier for India, which we find difficult to cross. We need to come out of this issue with Australia and build ourself so strong that no matter which team comes infront, its their time to fear and not ours.
This time we got some success in Athletics and Gymnastics too, which is welcoming.

Over all India did well. I expected 80 medals, but we could reach upto 64. We scored 15 golds and as many as 25 silvers.Which means, Indians could reach the finals of 40 events. That is not bad.

I will avoid making any comments on the last minute controversy of 2 Indian officials bring shame to the Country.

Caledos Runner - A jogging App

I am trying to be a regular runner. My aim is to make it every alternate day, as that is the best way to get maximum benefit from running. Well, as of now, I succeed in doing it twice a week, which is not bad if compared to my few month back performance of once in 10 days.

There are two things which need to be improved while running. One is the distance covered and second is the time taken i.e. speed. Out of the two, at the moment, I am trying to concentrate on distance.

It all started, when my German friend took me to play Football in his group. I was surrounded by players from countries like Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal and many other European nations. Believe me, I could run around with them for hardly 3 minutes and that too in an indoor hand ball ground, which was followed by my 67 minutes rest. (Let me add it here, this is the best ever performance any normal Indian Cricket loving guy would give). This made me think, we need to do something. So, I started running and at one point I played one half  with out a break. (Played means I could run around with them. Touching football with feet was a rare situation countable on fingers.)

While in India, I tried to continue the same. I measured the distance around Shivaji Park in Dadar, Mumbai using Wikimapia .org (http://drkaustubhjoshi.blogspot.in/2013/03/wikimapiaorg.html).

I had this old mobile having stop watch that helped me to keep track of time required. But since, I was not very regular as wished, it was difficult to keep track of performance. Recently, during a similar conversation with someone, I was suggested to check for an app that does this task. And that is when I came across this windows based app name "Caledos Runner". It is freely available. I installed this app on my Lumia. It took me little time to understand how it works, but now I am getting comfortable with it. It allows you to keep track of the distance ran, walked, jogged or any other such activity. You can even use it check your swimming performance, provided you mobile is water proof.

It tells you the time required. Probable calories burned, your average speed during the run. It also tells you your present pace, so if by mistake are running little fast (not very good for long distance running), you can pace down a bit.

The app also gives you instruction on distance covered, speed and time and other things. It has GPS activated, so, it can provide you the location in case you are running in some new area. It can also adjust the back ground music from your list that syncs in well with your running pace, thereby, helping in improving performance. I am yet to properly figure out this facility.

It can also count your heart beats, but it requires some extension to be brought that attaches to your chest. It needs to be bought and I guess that is good for trade mill kind of work out. I am not there yet to buy it and I prefer outside running rather than on trade mill.

Overall it is a great app. There are many similar apps available for windows phone and I am  sure there must be big list available in Android. All you have to do is search "Jogging Tracker" or something similar and you will get a list. Some free, some paid. But I guess, the free apps are good enough. Because, at the end of the day, no matter which app you have, if you don't run, they are all useless.

Football Fever on rise

It seems Football fever has started claiming its victim. I am one of them. I am trying to follow the proceedings as closely as possible. Unfortunately, the timing of the matches is a problem. All the matches is in the night. Fortunately, the first match begins at 9.30 p.m. I have sincerely trying to watch that match at least, although, it can only happen after lots of convincing for others to give up their regular shows. Worst part is none of the big names have played as yet in this slot. All I could see is Columbia Vs Greece and yesterday's match between Switzerland Vs Ecuador. All the goals I have witnessed are through corners converted to goal through heading. I am yet to see a field goal.

I wanted to watch Spain Vs Netherlands match because their last big encounter was the finals of 2010 world cup final when Spain crushed the latter. Netherlands performance was amazing and has really questioned the quality of present Spanish team. Will they be able to rise up after such a humiliating defeat?

Today is one hell of a match. Luckily it starts at 9.30 pm.So, I should surely be able to watch it right from start to end. Overall the German team is fantastic and I will be supporting them. Portugal's team revolves around Ronaldo and it will be interesting to see how he performs. Among three most famous names, Nyemar and Messi have performed as expected in their respective matches, so, it is Ronaldo's turn to prove his mettle.

So, all Football aficionados, mark your diary for tonight's encounter between Portugal and Germany at 9.30 pm IST . I just hope it doesn't turn boring with no goals scored by either team.

Football World Cup 2014 in Brazil

Football is a religion in most of the countries of the world. If there is one game that is most famous, then, you can be sure of it to be Football. Unlike India, where Cricket is a religion, Football, is a game which has followers in every part of the world, be it South America, North America, Australia, Asia, Africa or the Core of Football i.e. Europe.

India also has a big fan base, but if compared to Cricket, number is negligible. Apparently, India stand 157th in the world ranking which tells story about its low fan base. Except for Bengal, Kerala and North-East states, fan base are hardly in small packets, which erupts only during big events like World Cup, spread across the country.

This year, starting tomorrow is the world cup of football. This time's host is Brazil. It should be a proud moment for that country. But seems, it is caught in some kind of turmoil. Every day we hear some news of protests, some times violent,  going across in Brazil. Brazil is also a developing country just like India, which faces lots of problems in carrying out quality work. I remember news during commonwealth games preparation back in 2010 in India. The news coming from Brazil about World Cup arrangements remind me strongly of those. Anyway, over the time, some how it is managed, and organizers manage to save their skin. I am sure, same will be true about Brazil.

Coming back to Football, this time, it is speculated that Brazil is the most probable champion. Somehow, that has become routine to expect Brazil to be champion, but then, it some how manages to loose out either in Quarters or Semi. This time they are depending a lot on players like  Neymar. I personally won't go with Brazil. I have the same image for Brazil as we have for South Africa in Cricket.

Other team that falls in the same category is Germany. I have supported Germany a lot. Thanks to my German friend, I followed their game closely in the recent European cup and was shattered when after consistent performance they lost pathetically in semis to Italy, thanks to Balotelli's two goals.

So, my advice, do not support these two teams till they do not raise world cup in their hands. They are the two best teams who can loose at any point from any team.

Last time champion, Spain, apparently is not a favourite any more. They don't have a very successful track record on South American soil. Also, its too boring to watch their matches. Nothing happens in the match where Spain. I guess they will manage to keep all their matches draw with 0-0 score except for one two where they will just score a goal just enough to win a match and reach the next level. In later phase, however, they somehow manage to score goals at their will.

Italy could probably be a big contender in the race. With players like Balotelli, they have a strong attack. But probably they are a little weak on their defence.

Argentina is another team I will be looking forward to. With Messi at the top, this team can do wonders.

Ronaldo's Portugal is one good team. I followed them during European cup. It is a good team, but it doesn't seem like a threat at any point. They are good qualifiers but I suspect if  they good finishers to touch the World Cup.

Back in 2010, I was praying for France for some good reason. But their internal team problems marred their way and threw them out in the initial round itself. This time, I am not sure what to expect from the team.

England is one team which try to portray itself as a big team and in reality on grounds, it is always a disappointment. 

There are many other teams which may make an impression. Some teams like Belgium, Netherlands, Nigeria, Mexico are called underdogs. But except for giving some unexpected results they won't make much difference. 

I will be looking forward to the performance of Asian teams. Among all, I guess Japan is the strongest team which may show some good moves.

Overall, its going to be awesome month ahead. I am going for Germany and Argentina to begin with. Let's see how it develops over the time.

If you want to know about any team in detail, their history, their team or any other thing, you can check this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup_squads

IPL -7

So, an year has passed and we are back to new season of Indian Premier League (IPL).

If you are looking for the schedule of matches, you can find it here

It seems, IPL has completed one complete round and has returned at the point from where it started. To begin with, IPL had 8 teams, which changed to 10 for one of the season, then reduced to 9 in the last season and once again it has 8 teams participating. The exiting teams are from Kochi and Pune. Pune's exit has relieved me. Now I won't be in dilemma whether to support Mumbai or Pune.

Most of the players I knew are out of the league now. Even Bret Lee went unsold this time. That makes little less interesting for me. Virat Kohli is the new hero of Cricket. Off-course he is fantastic, he can not cast spell on me (much older than him), as Tendular or Ganguly did some 15-20 years back.

IPL is also marred by so many controversies, which again makes it worth avoiding for some. When even the owners of the team seem to be involved in the controversies, credibility is bound to go down.

But in spite of these I prefer IPL for many which I have already discussed earlier through this blog. It gives one last opportunity to fading out players like Sehwag. It gives opportunities to upcoming players like Sanju Samson. It helps removing unwanted players like Chandila who basically play for money and not for the love of the game. It helps remove bad blood among players of different countries. (Off-course it at times creates one among players of the same team, read: Gambhir Vs Kohli).

What I appreciate most is the fact that it diminishes the line of country wise division among players. I think there is a need to remove the idea of one country playing against another. I think there is a need to go beyond that give more importance to the passion of the game.

I keep hearing from almost all commentators and players saying, "India-Pakistan match is a very crucial match which neither of the team would like to loose. All other matches apart, this is one match they want to win". Watch any India-Pakistan match and you will hear words on these lines. Same is the case with Australia-England match. Whether it is Ashes cup or any other match between these two teams. You will never hear such words for India-WestIndies, India-Newzeland match. Is it because of some history of exciting battle between two players like Sachin Tendulkar vs Shane Warne? It surely is not. 

Recently, I watched India-Pakistan 20: 20 match as well as India-Pakistan match in Asia Cup. Both the matches had commentators as well as some players uttering words like this is the most important match which they can not loose at any other cost. Doesn't matter if they loose all other matches, but not this one.

Interesting thing is nobody asks question like Why? and no body tries to answer it even if not asked.

Why this match is so important to win?

All I can understand is there is lot of history between the two countries, and the two countries try to look at this match as a representative of those wars, battles and unexplainable activities which they want to take revenge of. And that's why all the players are so full of passion and pride that they make this match a question of life and death. This is what makes me repel away from such country wise matches. The bad blood flowing here is between the two countries while the bad blood flowing in IPL matches is between two players. There is a big difference between the two. 

Even if you are supporting Mumbai Indians, but if Yusuf Pathan hits long sixes for KKR, you appreciate it. No matter which team you are supporting, you don't want Gayle to get out cheaply, because that will take all the interest out of the match for which you are watching. But, same can not be said about the country vs country matches. Most of the Indians/Pakistanis want their team to win the match because of the national pride and the fact that they can not accept defeat from Pakistanis/Indians with open heart. This is a feeling which really makes IPL preferred over Country vs Country matches for me.

Off-course this  feeling has subsided in recent years, but you need to give  a big  credit to events like IPL for that. So, when I hear words like "This match is the most important one for India against Pakistan", it doesn't resonate with me. For me, Pakistan is as good as South Africa, Srilanka, West Indies. I am trying to understand what these players and commentators try to communicate while uttering these words.

Sachhin.... Sachin

The "God of Cricket" as it is called in India for Sachin Tendulkar retired yesterday.

I barely got a chance to watch the match and so could not savor all the moments that are a part of history now.

But I did managed to witness him scoring his last 50. He was fabulous. The way he was playing must have made every body think, why is he actually retiring when there is so much of cricket left in him, The way he was handling spin as well as bouncers was awesome. I remember the way all the spectators were reacting on each one of his shot. If he missed a ball,which might go for LBW appeal, every body;s reaction was worth watching. I haven't seen such reaction towards any players except for some legendary Tennis players playing Wimbledon. Unfortunately I missed the match we he got out. I also missed yesterday's whole match which was his last day on the ground.

I checked all the videos later on. His last speech that tried to cover almost every body. The guard of honour given to him by Team India and his last walk to the pitch to say final good bye. It was all touching. People made it a grand procession all because of their love towards him.

And the ultimate news came that he will receive Bharat Ratna along with the renowned and most famous Indian Scientist C. N. R. Rao.

I think Sachin;s retirement has indeed created a big void. Actually the void had started opening long back with the retirement of Saurav Ganguly and Kumble that become bigger when Dravid and Laxman retired and now it has become deeper with the final episode of retirement of Sachin Tendulkar. His retirement has in real sense ended an era. People like us who grew up along with Tendulkar watching him  growing will actually feel this void more. Somewhere we will find it difficult and less interesting to watch Cricket with out any of our heroes in action. 

Today's new age players are doing a great work and they will definitely  keep Indian flag high, but they are the idols of new age kids who will grow up watching them playing. I wonder this new generation players will be consistent enough to keep a place in Indian team for long time as any of the famous five players did. Will they be able to make a fan base any where closer to what the retired players. The spectators who will shed tears on their success and failures. I have doubts about that.

Indian Cricket has changed. It has become more professional. It doesn't show signs of strong connectivity with players as it was seen with Kumble, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar. Tendulkar's retirement brings an end to such kind of attachment to the Cricket and players. And that is the most hurting thing that happened yesterday.

Bhag Milkha Bhag

I am pretty sure most of movie  buffs are waiting for today for the release of movie, "Bhag Milkha Bhag". There are many reasons for that. But I will talk about why I am waiting for this movie. The list of reasons could be a bit long.

To begin with, I am a fan of real life stories. I have searched wikipedia many a times for the list of movies based on real life incidents and then search them online or any where I can get it and watch it. Here is a list for you:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_actual_events

Then, I am a big fan of sports based movies. Following the same formula as mentioned earlier I found out most of the sports based movies and watched them. May then it be Miracle, Invincible, Remember the titans, We are Marshall, Gridiron Gang, The Blind side, Profantine and many others like that. I am watching Cinderella Man just now while writing this post.  Here is a list if you are interested

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports_films

 Third thing is the central character of the movie. Milkha Singh is one name which every Indian knows very well. Although not many actually knows what good he performed to  make it such a big name. I am curious to know all the history. Given the fact that Milkha Singh has appreciated this movie and complemented Farhan Akhtar is a receipt that the movie goes very close to the history and not very away from real incidents.

I like Farhan Akhtar over all. He is a good actor, singer, director and what ever else he might be doing. After Aamir Khan, I find Farhan Akhtar as one person who really put his heart in the work and try to give justice to the role he is playing. Just look at his built for the movie. He has really taken great efforts to get in the role of Milkha Singh. I am sure he will give justice to the role.

In India, real life and that too sports based movie is a rare thing. I can only remember only 4 movies on sports in recent future. Iqbal, Lagaan, Chak de and now Bhag Milkha Bhag.  There was one movie called Ashwini based on Ashwini Nachhappa but I could never find it to watch. (Remind me if you remember any other). I guess Chak de was little inspired by a hockey coach but other wise most of these movies probably are product of imagination. But, this time we will watch a movie we can actually relate to.

 I hope this movie succeeds in reaching as many people  as possible and it rejuvenate the spirit of athletic games in the young generation. So, do watch the movie, get inspired and let me know your views about the movie.

Photo courtesy : http://www.santabanta.com/photos/bhaag-milkha-bhaag/13193004.htm

Champions Trophy: Summary

Congratulations India on winning probably the last of its kind Champions Trophy. India deserved to win this tournament and so did they.

My impression about this whole tournament has been odd. First thing I felt was there should be a big "NO" to any big tournaments in England. England is synonymous with rains. You can not imagine any tournament happening there with out rain interruption. More than half of the matches were rain interrupted and their results were decided by the funny Duckworth-Lewis rules to such an extent that I renamed the trophy to Duckworth-Lewis trophy. 

Most of the matches in the tournament were reduced to around 20 overs match. Even yesterday's Final had to be reduced to 20 over a side match. It is absolutely ridiculous to decide about a one-day  match in 20 overs match. The difference between a One day Cricket match and 20:20 match is the kind of temperament required in one day match to stay on the wicket for 50 overs and still score runs at a quick rate. If you are reducing the match to 20 overs, there is no room to judge that temperament. With the outcome of such a match of reduced over you can not justify the selection of a one day match Champion. The ICC even don't wanted to allot an extra day to play Finals had their been no chance of play on Sunday. I started wondering why they took so much efforts of organizing the tournament. They could have just rolled dice and decided the Champion. The matches in this tournament were actually no different than that.

In spite of all the facts, I felt India was the only team that deserved to win and yes, England was the only team that deserved to appear in Finals along with India. I was wondering if rest of the Countries sent their secondary team for this tournament. Teams of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan were nothing but pathetic. I blame D/L rules for allowing South Africa to be in Semi Finals. They were not that good. West Indies should have made it to Semis. I am pretty sure they would have given better fight to England and might even have made it to Finals. But thanks to D/L rules, England got easy way.

Indian team stood out of the league. They looked too good to be with other teams. The way they won their league matches and Semi Finals, not to forget the practice matches, they looked in better shape. Except for New Zealand they played and defeated all the teams. They defeated England in the Finals yesterday in reduced 20:20 over match. I am not sure if the result would have been the same had it been a complete match. But India surely looked a better team than England and that's why it was the Favorite to win the Trophy.

I did not enjoyed the tournament. A tournament like this should be played to the full extent before declaring a Champion. But what the hell, India is probably the last Champions Trophy Winner. Congratulations India.