CRICKET - PAPER TIGERS - AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD

Hello,

So are they trying to prove me wrong.

Chasing 206 in the T-20 match at Mohali and today defending 414 at Rajkot, both done like champions.

They showed the right attitude, aggression and desire to end up on top. Well done India.

I'll be greedy and ask for a bit of consistency. Let's see if I can get it.

Best regards,

Manoj

CRICKET PAPER TIGERS - FAILING TO ROAR

Hello,

The proverbial ink had not dried out when the Paper Tigers proved me right.

The world's best Test Playing Team was outplayed in the T-20 game against Sri Lanka.

Look at the number of catches dropped!

Does it look like a performance that can be expected of the best team in the world?

Look at the number of stupid high shots they hit during the middle overs!

Did they expect the opposition to reciprocate their poor fielding effort?

The international press is already trying to point out the flaws in the way the ranking was awarded. But how does it matter. The cricketers have already got their bonuses and a few losses here and there does not matter to them. This is the attitude that will never let India become the true World # 1 team.

Pull up your socks. Perform like the champions you are made to be.

Best regards,

Manoj

CRICKET PAPER TIGERS - AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD

Hello,

The Indian Test Team is now # 1.

I must admit that the performance in the last two victories were really well deserved. But can we say that it was thought out and execution of a strategy.

I doubt it. To begin with the victory in the second test was due to an exceptional bowling performance from the comeback spoilt kid Sreesanth. Nobody expected that performance and it can be safely said that except for this standout performance, the teams were at par.

In the third Test, Sehwag turned the match on its head. If you have a player hit almost 300 runs in one day and at the pace that he did it, the opposition is almost always going to find them out of the game.

Although I am proud to be Indian and be # 1 in the world, the performance needs to be analyzed to get the correct picture.

Against Australia, India lost the last series 2-1. Against South Africa the last series was drawn 1:1. Both these series were played at home.

Which are the teams that we have beaten on the way to # 1. England, Srilanka and New Zealand.

How did we perform against Australia and South Africa. Were our losses heavy or did we put up a good fight? When we won did we win comprehensively and when we lost were the tests exciting or was it one sided?

How did we win against the other teams? Were our victories conclusive? Did we recover from precarious positions?

Only our analysis of the answers to these questions can tell us if we really deserve the throne. Cricket is not like other games, like football, where the competition is close and we have several closely matched teams. Therefore to really celebrate our # 1 status we first need to find out if we are consistent, ruthless and determined as the teams of West Indies in the 80's and the Australian Teams then after. You need to be adaptive and aggressive.

Nobody can pretend to be the best player in the world even with the # 1 ranking (a la Safina and Mauresmo in Tennis)

To be the best Team in the World India needs to be consistent, win tournaments, beat the best and all challengers to the throne on a regular basis and be equally adept in all formats.

We do not want to be a Safina or Mauresmo. We need to be like Federer - demolish opponents, get out of tricky situations, win when the chips are down and win against the best.

Best regards,

Manoj

Best regards,

Manoj

TIGER WOODS IS HUMAN

Hello,

Tiger Woods was never prone to mistakes on the golf course. He always picked up the right club. He never vacillated between a wood and an iron and his putter could pick up the hole from unimaginable distances.

He was perfect.

He then had the injury and people started wondering if he was human after all. The victories did not come back immediately and it seemed that the God of the Golf green was finally shoved off his perch.

But then Tiger decided otherwise and soon, too soon, one may conclude now, he was put back on the pedestal. He was now looking at records and victories that made people look at him with awe. Is he human? they asked.

A US$ 164 fine for a car crash and women is his closet. This is what it takes to make him Human once more.

Well, just because he is amongst the highest earning sportsman, an extremely talented golfer, a model Black American married to a Caucasian with a couple of kids, does not guarantee Godly behaviour. In fact it made him bold and audacious. It makes him Human.

The risks he took on the Golfing Greens made him famous. Small risks he took out of the playing area are now making him infamous.

Fickle world, Fickle worshippers, Fickle God.

TIGER WOODS IS ONLY HUMAN. Leave him alone.

Best regards,

Manoj