Fairytale...

Kamran Khan story is very interesting and shows that if you have got dedication, you can overcome the odds. It shows that there are always opportunities, even in a country like India, for a dedicated sportsman. Wish him further rise and would like to see him play in national team.

I also think, apart from auction of players, there should be a performance linked pay which is same for all players. It was disheartening to see Kamran getting 16,000 GBP while Flintoff went for 1.5 million USD.

Seeing Is Believing - The Sydney Test

I hadn't been following cricket since India performances are not something worth spending my time on. Lately, this controversy after Sydney test caused me to check back on how a significant part of my country's economy is doing. After watching this video on youtube, I was shocked... ok, not so much. The most comments on this video are in bad taste but nothing can take away what happened on the field.

I personally feel that a lot of decisions do go against India and fellow countries in Indian sub-continent - Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Australia has been playing good cricket but they are not great on human scale. Honestly, I don't expect them to be. There is lot at stake - lots of money. In cut-throat competition, nobody wants to be at losing end. If we expect Australian players to walk, we are dreaming.

It is more disturbing to see the level of umpiring falling to such a low. The technology is here. We can have a complete match without the human umpires. Why do we still need them. It does not take away much time away from cricket that people seem to think. Why can't balls be fitted with sensors that will tell if it is bounced? Technology is cheap and available - we have kids' toys that glow when bounced off the ground.

If that sounds impossible, just have more umpires on ground (virtually), separate for no-ball, stumping, LBW etc.

Cricket is a big money game. It is high time, this money be spent on betterment of technology and better umpires rather than just being paid to players.

Cricket: Videocon Cup - India vs Sri Lanka

Well, everybody in India loves cricket (the sport). I'm no exception. I was thrilled by the performance of Indian team in the 3rd test match (till now). I felt that last pair should have been given chance to score till they can, when Sehwag declared at 316/9. Bhajji was in top form and could have made a half century, and would have given much needed batting practice to him looking at the fixtures coming up. 509 or 519, there isn't much of difference to either side. Sri Lanka looks set to loose this one unless two of their players hit double hundreds - highly unlikely on a 4th and 5th day pitch. Surprisely, pitch is holding much better than I thought.

I think the fielding efforts from Indians have been slipping below the standards again but couple of fumbles and some strange field settings. They should not let these victories go in their heads. Like Chris Rock says in "Head of State", God bless India and everybody else.