On the OBC quota

Thank goodness, that even while the government goes bersek, there is still a body called judiciary which keeps its feet planted on the ground and doesnt hesitate in calling a spade a spade. At least, the quota debacle has been avoided for this year.

Without going into a debate as to whether introducing an OBC quota is justified or not (socially), here is a short list of where the government bungled -

• The government doesnt have any authentic figure on percentage of OBC population
• The figures upon which they based their decisions came from 1931. If it isnt height of stupidity to assume that demographics remain constant, then what is?
• Even these figures arise from Mandal comission report, whose correctness is a BIG question
• Even assuming 27% to be a good figure, the institutes didnt have the infrastructure to cope with the seat hike. Premier institutes like IITs face a 15-20% faculty shortfall already. A 27% seat hike on top of this would have been disastrous

Chappell sense

Ian Chappell talks sense and feels its time for Sachin to hang his boots. Sad indeed that it has come to it. But, it really does seem that Ian Chappell has hit the nail on the head. Hopefully the little master will get a chance to shine again and then hang up his boots while on top.

a leaf out of Hayden's book

Team India might do well to hear Matthew Hayden's word after the West Indies Austrailia match. To quote him:

"I've had to show a lot of commitment and passion, first to get back into the one-day side - and in particular, to represent Australia at the World Cup."

Commitment and passion were the two ingredients the Indian team lacked, and they paid for it. If a player of Hayden's stature can talk this sort of talk and back it up, it makes you wonder how much lesser stars in the Indian team are able to take their positions in the side for granted! But then, it is India we are talking of arent we? Here, in cricket money (endorsements) matters more than anything else.

Cup of woe?

Thats it. India's world cup campaign is all but over. Barring a miraculous Bangladesh-Bermuda game, India is out of the world cup. Sad isnt it? But, thankfully the billions can get on with their day to day jobs without wasting their time watching cricket.

Cherish this moment ...

Aaaahh!! Cherish this moment while it lasts! As of today (19th March 2k7) Bangladesh poses a serious threat to India's chances of qualifying for super eights. Kenya and Ireland do one better and are placed second in their groups. Ireland in fact was momentarily the group leaders (till the Windies defeated Zimbabwe).

Michael Holding and Ricky Ponting had indulged in minnow bashing before the world cup started. So did I. I dont know about the other two, but I, personally, retract my comments; The minnows are the underdogs; and as Bangladesh and Ireland showed us, every dog, even underdog, has its day.

All hail the glorious uncertainities of cricket. :-)

The day of the underdog

Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainities. And this fact shone through brightly on St Patrick's day with the two underdogs, Bangladesh and Ireland putting up courageous performances to upstage India and Pakistan.

This means India treads in troubled waters; they just have to beat Sri Lanka and Bermuda to progress. Pakistan is knocked out. Sad, for these two teams have some of the most exciting cricketers in world cricket. But the events on the cricket pitch drove home the point that talent alone wont take you the distance. Application will.

Leaving aside the murky reminiscences, lets toast the glorious uncertainities of the game and congratulate the worthy winners, Bangladesh and Ireland.

Sehwag "The New Wall"

The way Dravid has backed Sehwag, it appears as if Sehwag is the "new wall" of Indian cricket. Infallible (from the team that is; not performances) due to Dravid's support.
Yet again, he failed against Bangladesh. Considering the relatively weak nature of opponent, India can afford to (?) try out one of the out of form players (Viru and Pathan). Irfan Pathan showed signs of coming back to form in the practice match against Windies, although he was lucky to garner three wickets. But Dravid and co chose to have Pathan on the sidelines and play Sehwag instead. Once again, the wrong horse was backed!!

Really strange considering the flexibility Pathan brings to the side with his allround skills.

Its about time Rahul Dravid gives up his fascination for Sehwag. Ture, if you give him 20 chances, he is likely to hustle up a smart fifty (no doubts on Viru's talent; its just that his form is questionable). But, its likely that on other 19 occasions, team India would rue missing out a solid 30 from an opener.

quotable quotes :-)

World Cup special!! Direct lifts from cricinfo:

"I don't believe I coach cricketers, I coach people in cricket uniforms."The erudite Mike Young, Australia's fielding coach, reminds us of his coaching role. Coaching people in cricket uniforms, not cricketers.

"He loves India. He has named his child India. His biggest player is actually Tendulkar. Right now I'm hoping Tendulkar does not hit a catch to him because he will probably drop it to watch him bat."Irvine Romaine on team-mate Lionel Cann who is just a bit overawed by being at the World Cup

"Watching cricket is one of the best ways of avoiding working known to man."A study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has warned that the British economy could lose 270 million pounds over the next two months, due to World Cup absenteeism.

Indian GenNext's views on marriage.

An interesting survey published in The Telegraph...

The key features include -

• Marriage and kids should be in the thirties
• "C'mon. Marriage aint my life. There's more to life." attitude emerges in a big way (though thats still not the majority view (abt 53% against to 47% for. Interestingly, the global figure is 61 vis-a-vis 39). Indians getting more career oriented than the rest?
• 87% say marriage is for life.

... the way Indian played their cricket.

Ricky Ponting, the Aussie captain has some strong words for Sunny Gavaskar. He also derides India's lack of success in recent times. For the record, Aussies lost 6 out of their last 7 games. India won 6 out their last 7 games.

Ponting also conviniently forgets his own performance against India. He is definitely a tiger at home, in the Aussie grounds. But he came to India and scored 20 runs!! (in 3 tests :P )

Personally, whoever wins the cup, I would love to see the Aussies lose; just because of their arrogance if nothing else.