Dilli-11

No, this is not some sequel to Delhi-6 but my list of who I'd like to see in the Delhi Daredevils playing eleven:

Click the image to view the list clearly:


The column on the left is my list of cricketers I'd like to see as my first-choice of playing eleven.
On the right, is the list of cricketers, who I can replace / can swap, along with the names of the cricketers I can swap them with.

These legends describe what the cricketers have been picked as:
BTA - Batting All Rounder,
Bt - Specialist batsman
Bl - Specialist bowler
Wk- Wicketkeeper
BLA - Bowling All Rounder

The 4 yellow-colored rows denote the maximum 4 foreign players who can be picked in a playing XI.
The team has been picked in batting order.

What I like most about this team is that it covers all bases - in terms of all the 3 facets: it has enough talent and depth in batting, bowling as well as fielding. Not just that, it has depth and variety within these departments too.

Let's pick each one-by-one:

1. Fielding

Some of the best: Manoj Tiwary, AB de Villiers, TM Dilshan, Paul Collingwood, Virender Sehwag, etc. are the standout livewires who would put any close-in ring of fielders to shame.

Guys like Glenn McGrath and Gambhir also possess a wonderful arm - to enable quick, strong returns from the deep.

2. Bowling

Led by the one and only Glenn McGrath, with perhaps the best left-arm slow bowler in the world in the form of Daniel Vettori, the wonderful prospects such as Dirk Nannes, Amit Mishra, Yo Mahesh and Pradeep Sangwan, along with the ever-reliable Ashish Nehra and Farveez Maharoof: you have all sorts of bowlers who can get you wickets against any opposition on any surface.

3. Batting

When a line-up has the likes of Gambhir, Sehwag, Warner and AB/Tiwary/Dilshan staring you in the face as its first four, does anybody need to tell you anymore about its prowess?
Apart from these living dynamites, there are also (only relatively speaking, though) sheet-anchor players, who can hold an end up and make others play their strokes around and on top of their calm and composed presence. Guys such as Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Dinesh Karthik, Mithun Manhas and Rajat Bhatia can alway be relied upon to stall any wicket-taking attempts of the opposition while also keeping the scoreboard ticking.

4. All Rounders
With guys such as Farveez Maharoof, the skipper Sehwag himself, Daniel Vettori, Rajat Bhatia and upcoming al-round talents like Dirk Nannes and Andrew McDonald, all-rounders are also available aplenty to choose from.

5. All-Round Depth
Most impressively, the all-round depth in each department of this Delhi team is extremely strong - atleast on paper, for sure. I would love to see a match where every skill in the game is utilised and harnessed in ensuring both hard-fought as well as facile victories.

Hope to see this set of Delhi XI playing someday, sometime, somewhere..can place a significant amount on it doing well. :-)

Kis? Kis? Kis, kis, kis, kis, Kisko???

Jaagore jaagore, jaa.aa..go..o..re!!
Yes, that's right - election ke din, agar aap vote nahin kar rahe, to aap SO rahe ho...
(and it plays out again - Jaagore jaagore, jaa.aa..go..o..re!!)

But yours truly - with all political disenchantment and without any clue on what choice to make - wants to know ki jaag ke, arthaat voting booth par pahunchke, karna kya hai????!!

Ji haan, vote to karna hi hai, par kis? kis? kis, kis, kis, kis, kisko?
Kisko vote karoon?!!

Now I do know, we do have enough regional/semi/quasi-national level parties, who have got quite used to calling the shots at the Centre in this age of coalitions.

But I want to zero in on only two - excuse me, all non-BJP, non-Congress, Third/Fourth/United/Disjointed/Secular/Whatever Front waalon and their supporters. Even if you possess an IQ that is as much as Mallika Sherawat's wardrobe, even then, you too would understand, that there are only two main parties in India: the Congress and the BJP.

These are the only 2 parties with whom shall wrest the responsibility of shaping the next government - whether on their own steam through a simple or near-simple majority (which is as likely as Himesh Reshammiya singing with the help of his vocal, and not nasal chords).

Or, one of these 2 parties can form/lead/support (from outside or from within the Cabinet), a coalition of parties where one of these two shall be the dominant, centrifugal partner in the coalition of parties that shall form the government.


Of the two, both seem to me to be equally (in)competent at the following:

• Corrupt: Now come on, we don't need to debate about it, do we? We have made ourselves and our country immune to it even faster than even the good folks who have been trying since so many years to immunise us and our country against polio through the pulse polio campaigns.
  

In fact, it has now come to a stage where corruption is a vice no more; virtue? - more
likely, necessity? - oh sure!

Which party/candidate to select, why and how?

• Communal: Overtly or covertly, directly or indirectly, whether through the direct, blatant, virulent verbal and physical attacks & hate propaganda by one party or through the other's squeamish, milk-them-and-use-them-in-the-name-of-secularism, get-votes-and-keep-promising-the-world attitude.

So, which one to vote for - the one that has Hindu sentiment and vote encashment as its
official warcry, or the one that just feels Muslims were born to live in a constant state of
shoot-at-sight, and it can feed off their insecurity and lack of other worthy options?
What enviable options!

• Apathetic: Don't know what others feel, but I can clearly sense these parties' care-a-damn-lets-get-power attitude.
  Pick any neta - Is anyone at all bothered about the welfare of the citizens and residents of an MP's constituency for the first 4 years 10 months??" What have both parties tried to do, when in power except on just encashing on the opportunity to use the power to achieve all material gains for self/party - in that order - at supersonic speed?

I know everything cannot be solved in 5 years (or even in 50 , for some problems). But I am not even asking for a quick-fix solution to everything. I just need to see intent, genuine intent, genuine effort, genuine concern and corrective action. Is that too much to ask for?
Unfortunately, none of the parties comes to the fore on any of these fronts.

I know, not voting does not mean the problems will be solved, but I need to know how to decide who is worthy of being voted?

How can you trust candidate A over candidate B when you have not only seen A and B, but have also seen the A's and the B's of the past - all happy enough to indulge in achieving their own personal goals and ready to involve themselves in mud-slinging against the other candidate/party at the slightest mention of their own tasks and achievements?

Yes, the answer is in putting your hand up if you feel so strongly disillusioned by things, and to make a difference. Forgive me for being such a pessimist, but I think such is the pre-dominance of these Big Two in politics, that even when the good, clean, meritorious, qualified, deserving and capable people have tried to make a difference, they have lost their voice and say, in the political spectrum of our country and have had to ultimately become subservient to one of the two parties, and pander to their big boss(es).

So where is the voice and clout of the independent in today's politics and what difference would you make, apart from raising some questions in the Question Hour? (that's assuming Parliament's not adjourned sine die, due to some or the other ruckus being created by some or the other party).

Anyway, just wanted to jot down my thoughts on the current scenario - apologies for the gloomy sentiments, and the pessimism - hope to find (and would love to receive through your comments) more answers than questions.

Till then...
Keep the faith, and do vote - just that I myself don't know, for whom? But good for you, if atleast you can put a finger on the pulse, and also on which button of the EVM to press!

Happy Birthday, sir!!!!!

It's here!! - April, the 24th!!
Another big day in the life of a gem called The Little Master, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, whose life is littered with big days and milestones galore.


Wish you a very happy and joyous day, and hopefully this is only one of many, many more joyous days and birthdays still to come, for many more years from now.

For mere mortals like us, events like birthdays are special, big days but sometimes I wonder what a milestone-laden genius like Sachin (on second thoughts, actually, there is nobody, quite like Sachin!) would feel on his birthday.

Yes, whatever heights you may achieve, a birthday is a birthday, and feeling stolid or emotionless about it. Agreed, he is of the rare breed who have enough reasons to celebrate and rejoice over some or the other milestone almost everyday anway - through his obvious precious and always-precocious talent, discipline, level-headedness, perseverance, international longevity (oh what not!) - he has now come to the stage that he keeps breaking records and milestones has become as much a part and way of life as breathing!

But perhaps he being one with a child-like zeal and zest for life, he would still treasure a birthday as much as any young kid!
Have you a great one, champ and you deserve to enjoy many, many more ones - also, many more birthdays still to come, where you might need to spend the day representing India, atleast till the 2011 World Cup !!

Such a genius and true patriot who has for long been a one-man army shouldering and carrying off the expectations of a people in every tournament, every innings, and on every ball, deserves to get a World Cup in his trophy cabinet, atleast before he turns 40.

That's my only, simple (and inexpensive, actually free!) birthday gift to you, Sachin - I sincerely pray and hope that may God bestow you with His grace and ensure you play a stellar role in making India win the World Cup!
(Having said that, you are the best, and ya shalt remain the best even if you score runs in the negative for the rest of your life! But having known your craving for the coveted glory, knowing your passion and penchant for seeing the Indian flag flutter gloriously on the winning podium), and to hear the national anthem of the winners as Jana Gana Mana, may you be bestowed with all the good luck and form to make it a dream come true - Amen!!!!!

Many Happy Returns of the day, Sir!!

What For, MSD?

Okayyy...so somebody's back!
No excuses for not writing in, but at least today, I just had to.

I have been (and still am) an avid MSD fan, and if you have followed some of my earlier posts, you'd know that I have always been singing hosannas, praising his demeanour, talent, tactics, et al.

And then I read about MSD (and Bhajji) skipping the awards, (http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=NLetter&id=a21f82c6-77dc-434c-8a4c-d83d56bb4f56&Headline=Dhoni%2c+Bhajji+give+Padma+awards+a+miss).

And this is when I really wanted to give vent to my thoughts. I just wanted to put things in perspective, be fair, and ensure I am no blind follower of his.

Which is why, I decided to pen down (er..ok, make that key in) my disappointment over his conduct.

Disclaimer: Since I do not see myself (atleast not for now) calling up MSD and getting his thoughts/response on this, I have only been looking to a report citing MSD's version of things. Have waited a while but since no reports have been forthcoming, I write this with the assumption that he actually did skip the Padma awards ceremony for the sake of endorsements.

If it is indeed true that MSD has skipped the National Honor ceremony, only to turn up for a brand endorsement, it is certainly regrettable. I just hope it isn't lost out on the young man that any brand endorsement, function or any other event - unless it is a matter of someone's life and death - cannot be more important (however pre-planned it may be, and for that matter, the Padma Awards cermeony too, is not exactly an off-the-cuff, chalo-let's-have- it-tonite one) than an event where the nation is bestowing one of its most coveted civilian honors.

No amount of persuasion, arguments, or justification can cover for such callousness. Hopefully, whatever reason MSD has, if he stays true to himself, he will atleast in his own heart, own up to the fact that he need not have skipped this event. But this regret should not come about because it caused an unnecessary furore and diluted his brand equity - and ironically, which itself was what he wanted to build at the cost of missing the function, - but because others' reactions notwithstanding, his heart and mind should unequivocally exhort him to put country, national honor, and respect for the country and its love, above anything and everything else.

No brand can be bigger than the brand of a billion hearts beating for you, cheering for you, loving, respecting, adoring, and idolising you.