SRI'S Blog

They say time flies – How true is that ?  Very true is my assessment .The BSNL Sports Quiz – a dial in and answer a Sports Quiz Program that started in 2002  gets to it 700 the episode coming  Sunday ( 18 th October 2015 ) Originally  telecast live on Saturday , the program has now settled down to the  Sunday  9-10 PM Slot. Not an easy achievement at all to have this program delivered every week for the past 699 weeks .  Kudos to DD Podhigai  Channel for doing this along with Dr Sumanth Raman , the encyclopedia of Sports of all types. I have travelled this journey during the last 12 years or so week after week with great passion and trying to dial in and answer a question. It does not matter where I am but this one hour is a great way to complete the week end relaxation and enjoy and relish my passion . What ticks this  Program so well – Several things : The Anchor Dr Sumanth Raman Dr Sumanth Raman – you should watch the...

In my last post , I had reminiscent memories  about my school days.. This post covers my college days and the enormous bonding and fun that we had at College. ‘WhatsApp” was able to get us all connected --not all but most of us connected in to the group through the past year. The group was very active and it was a strange feeling as none of us saw each other but kept the group active. Finally-- after 29 years since we left college ,  the group picked the date that  all would meet . it was the Aug 22 nd and I was very excited to see how each one of us  looked  and how we  each one  made progress in their lives both Professionally and Personally Credit goes out to few of the guys who took the initiative to form the group and were keenly looking to add and bring back the batch mates  in to the group. Actually the group in the WhatsApp was a year old. I joined six months or so  back , just being added through a friend whose brother a...

Two events during the past week took me to my school days and the other one to my college days.. Those days were some of the memorable days that all will cherish .. you will never ever get them back . I will cover the first one in this post and the second one will follow . The First One : Last Monday ( 17 th Aug ) The  Hindu Newspaper  had a small column that indicated Alfred Burrows , former cricketer had passed away in Perth Australia – It was a very small caption and since I read through all that gets in to  the Sports pages,  it did not miss my attention . I was shocked but at the same time surprised at this small little article . Burrows passing away was a bit of a shock but  he getting attention in the Sports Column was indeed a surprise. Burrows  was not one of those cricketers who  made it big –  his passing away getting recorded in the major newspaper may have been an apt tribute to a man who had it in him to scale heights as a C...

It was an event that the whole family looked up to … It had everyone engaged.. While the siblings were engaged in how to do the celebration   the best they can to their parents , their children were engaged in how to please and make their grandparents happy. Well , it was the celebration of my father in law’s , 80 th or should I call it 81st birthday or half way between turning 80 and getting closer to 81 ? The reason I call it this  way is that the celebration was not on his birthdate. There were several discussions as to when to celebrate this – Astrologers were consulted , Pandits were consulted , several others who crossed 80 years were called to check on when the function had to be performed.  And there were several  others who gave their  ideas and opinion and recollections of how this was done when their third cousin’s sister in laws  , in laws turned 80 ! It was all confusing .However what settled it was my Sister in law’s ability to come to...

The Rotary year begins July and ends June every year, So, towards the end of June , it is the time for the Governing team to thank every Club/ President / Rotarians for all the good things that happened through the year. Everyone needs appreciation and although  Rotary is a NGO , it is not different to any other organisation  in terms of the way it is run and so there is a “Gala Awards Nite “that happens every year and everyone is excited and happy and of course there are few that are not happy as well . You cannot satisfy everyone but by and large the Rotary family enjoys this event thoroughly.  Last week end ( June 20 ) I was specifically invited to the Awards nite by one of the District official. I have never attended one so far  and so was confused by the specific invite and was not keen to go . But , landed up for the event and glad that I did .  Some statistics just to bug you as to how difficult it  is to make the awards work – 1. ...

The summer is always a tough challenge on the water resources at our flats. Every year , just to prepare for the summer , we desilt the well (we do have a well in our flat ), clean the bore and also all the incoming water pipes . And in spite of doing all this , there will be  a day when the metro water will not show up and your bore well motor packs up on  the same day-- leaving the residents with no water to use. This year , when we had the issue come up  , we got  a new guy ( highly recommended by the next door flat Secretary ). He manage to fix the  issue but it was short lived. My security guys were anyway unhappy with the new guy.They kept complaining that the water was not flowing from the bore well as before. And the said he will biding his time to claim the daily wage when he could have finished the work sooner ! So when the issue surfaced again , I called our old guy back. But he was in semi-retirement -- he said his son would handle but he wil...

My prediction in my blog of Feb 10 th in the run up to the tournament  was an Aussie – SA final with NZ being the  underdog to get to the final  . It turned out to be right. SA choked in the semis against NZ and so  it was an Aussie – NZ showdown. Aussies won the trophy in a thumping manner. The final was devoid of any  thrills , with NZ capitulating to the strong Aussie attack.If one expected a high octane final , it was not so . It was a dump squib and it gave the Aussie the chance to flex their muscles in front of their crowd. McCullum won an important toss.  But the first three balls he faced from Mitchell Starc probably dictated  the course of the match. I thought McCullum would change his approach for the final and would stay  at the crease  for a period of time before doing his regular attacking brand of shot making. . But No – The first ball he face , whizzed past him , the second one he charged down the pitch but Starc ou...

Well Well Well –  We “ gave the cup away “ and No “Mauka Mauka” from here onwards … Australia beat India hollow and square to get in to the finals .   India ended up on the losing side in spite of the Prayers , the heart of many Indians that wanted an Indian win  and the bookie predictions… How can that happen? But it did happen and the Indian juggernaut journey came to an end. In all big matches , the toss plays a important role . Clarke won the toss and had no hesitation in opting to bat. Putting runs on the board is the best thing to do . India got rid of Warner early and Finch was playing an uncharacteristic innings .. However Steve Smith continued his dominance of the Indian bowling to get to a better than run a ball century.  India got back right in to the game with some quick wickets  and there were optimism  that  India could restrict the Aussies down to 280 or so..  Ashwin bowled a superb spell in the middle to keep things tigh...

It was a nerve wracking  match and it was fight to the finish  and one of those matches that kept everyone on their toes .   For match updates ,  most of us  had no need to get to  websites to get the latest scores. Many of the WhatsApp groups had live updates going ! And each group  had their predictions and on the state of the match.  Both teams fought with great intensity and will to win but just when it mattered the most,  SA faltered  and that was in their fielding and they paid their price for it – A loss at the semifinal stage  and again a team with so much promise  faltering and not delivering to its potential I cut short my fitness routine in the morning ,  to view the match that started at 6.30 AM IST. I was keen to watch NZ either bat or bowl.. if it was batting , wanted to see the explosive McCullum and  if it was bowling , watch Boult and Southee. Boult and Southee have been in tremendous f...

The Semifinal line up is complete – It is the Proteas versus the Kiwis  and the Aussies versus the Indians—the script of the Quarter finals did not quite go as per the form book. First, Proteas won rather easily against the Lankans and then Aussies huffed and puffed to a win against a Wahab Riaz led Pak attack SA versus Srilanka This was a disappointing match . SL made a  hash of it .. Giving wickets to a part time spinner like Duminy is Crime – Added to that Imran Tahir took four wickets .. If you look at the dismissals , they were not special deliveries. Mahela pulled a rank long hop to mid-wicket fielders hands. SL looked jaded and out of sorts and Sanga defended as if he was playing a test match. Although it was a small target to chase , knowing SA’s penchant for the “ Choker tag’ , there was lot of nervousness in the SA camp . But SL did not have  a quality spinner to test them . Herath could have made a difference. SA romped home and there are claims t...

This week saw the end of the qualification matches .. While Group A  teams that qualified  got settled well ahead of the  final around of matches , Group B went till the last match and Pakistan and WI got through at  the expense of the Irish. Irish looked jaded in their matches against  India and Pak and lost out an great opportunity to get to  the Quarters.. Group  A qualifiers saw  the exit of England and that was not as per the script. Bangla  Tigers did the surprise that I was keenly waiting to happen. So the Quarter Line ups see SA play  SL ,  India Playing Bangla Tigers , Aussies Play Pakistan and NZ play  WI .. From here on it is anybody’s game .. Every team fancies their chances and  hope to get past their rivals . Bangla Versus England and NZ England needed a win to stay in the race for the qualification.  Bangla batted first and put up a par score which I thought the English would get with some...

T here were some matches where the big boys flexed their muscles and their opponents simply crumbled.. The ones where the big boys did well was – Ireland Versus South Africa , Australia versus Afghanistan  , Pakistan Versus UAE—Ireland , Afghanistan and UAE lost comfortably. Bangladesh managed to chase down a 300 + plus score against Scotland leaving the Scots with no victory so far in this World Cup.. In all these matches , the bowlers were at the mercy of the batters --- The matches that hinged interest was the India Versus West Indies ( WI ) , South Africa ( SA ) versus Pakistan and Aus. versus SL India versus WI The Indian bowlers performed again creditably. The pace and the bounce outdid the WI batsman including Gayle – Dropped catches not helping , WI were on the mat all through the innings due to splendid display of the Indian bowlers . Shami and Umesh hustled the batsman with pace and bounce while Mohit did the job of softening them up , Ashwin and Jaddu ...

N o – I am not going to write about the “ stroll in the park” that the Indian team had when they met the UAE team.. MSD and team .. it was one of those club cricket matches—Forget that you played against UAE – The week had several outstanding matches – First it had the West Indies against  Zimbabwe and Gayle the Gagnam style man came to form with some great and lusty hitting that took the  wind out of the sails of the African team. Gayle’s double century was laced with several muscular hits and Marlon Samuels joined him in having fun. West Indies  won with great comfort. The reason I talk about this match is because of the fact that West Indies and Gayle got a taste of their own medicine from South Africa and may be just one man  in their next match Afghanistan won their first World Cup match beating the Scots – A nerve biting thriller ( may not have served that kind of high quality game but never the less ) , the Afghans kept their nerve to win the mat...

The second week of the round robin had four matches that evoked my t  interest. The first one  was  Ireland blowing away the Windies ( as briefly indicated in the last blog ) – Ireland have their one or two acts for each of the World Cup and it was unfortunate for the WI as they notched up a 300 + plus score but saw it being surpassed quite easily by the Irish . The Ireland team will continue their giant killing acts and I believe this is not their final  act of this World Cup The second one between England and NZ saw some phenomenal swing bowling by Southee of NZ.. For the first four overs or so , nothing seemed wrong and the England openers Bell and Ali held firm.  One wicket – that of Bell just opended the flood gates and Southee ran through the English batting order to return with seven wickets.  England crashed to 123 all out and that was it . NZ skipper and opener Brendon Mcculum was in a hurry. A  World cup record of 50 runs in 18 ball...

The first four matches of the WC 2015 went as per the script book . The two home teams Australia and NZ took on potential predators – England and Srilanka ( SL ). Batting first both home teams put up such challenging totals that it was a mammoth task to chase. End result was both England and SL fell comfortably short. Aussies did show their fire power in both batting and bowling .. So did our dark horse NZ…. It will be a real difficult task to beat these two nations at their home soil The next match was South Africa ( SA) versus the minnows Zimbabwe – it was no cake walk for the SA team which was to overpower the minnows. The Zimbabwe team  stood tall in terms of their performance and  gave a big scare and wake up call to the South Africans. No wonder Dav Whatmore is regarded very highly as a Coach and he seems to have really worked hard with the Zimbabwe team , At certain points of the game , the worried look on the faces of the SA team bench said it all. Th...