I might be wrong

Either an England win or a match draw - these were perhaps likely to happen but a result like an India win was out of the question. With India lagging behind by 75 runs in the first innings, who would have thought India would win the first test match, batting second? And that too quite comprehensively? Chasing down 387 was quite a herculean task and so was saving the test match. Had Sehwag not played the blistering knock, it would have been humanly impossible to reach the target, let alone survive the whole day. The dashing Delhi opener set the match for India, and with the likes of senior players like Sachin and Laxman, the mammoth total was still gettable. Except who Rahul Dravid is going through a bad phase, others contributed quite well. Sachin Tendulkar’s century was glorious and quite a memorable one and he has rated it as one of his best knocks ever in Test Cricket. India were looking down the barrel in the first innings, nevertheless, they fought back and came strongly. At the momnet, the message is loud and clear - it is the hey day of Indian Cricket, there’s no stopping them!

The Kerala Chief Minister didn’t realize that his regrettable remarks were going to have some pretty serious repercussions. The situation worsened than one would have actually thought - the news spread like wild fire and people already started hurling abuses at the Chief Minister. Had the angry mob been there,  they would have mauled the CM ferociously. The very next day was even worse - locals in Kerala started burning effigies of the CM and the Opposition leaders and several others denmanded his reisgnation right away. Some people even paraded a dog with the CM’s photo hung along its neck. Can a CM be insulted anymore? Frankly speaking, it was the emotional outpour of the slain’s father that created all this. Finally the CM apologised and the controversy came to an end only when a relative of the Major said the family had no ill-will against the CM. With the people of India mourning over the deaths of innocent lives and also the commandos, constables, and the like who sacrified their lives - this incident was totally uncalled for at the moment.

It is more than a week since the terrorists entered India - went on the rampage and wreaked havoc in India’s financial capital. Now that aside, here is one incident that triggered a strife. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, the slain commando who lost his life during the Mumbai terror attacks, would have never thought his death would create such a controversy. The bereaved father didn’t want anyone to come and pay homage to his son under any compulsion or duress. Having said all that, the Kerala Chief Minister along with another minister reached Bangalore and went on to console the Major’s family. The ministers received an unwelcomed greeting from the bereft father who scoffed at them saying he didn’t want to see any dog. When a reporter asked him how he reacted to that situation, the 86-year old CM unwittingly retorted - “Had it been any other person, not even a dog would have visited his (Major’s) house”.

England who were upbeat after the emphatic series win against the South Africans came on a positive note to India. The hosts on the other hand were also equally confident after beating the world champions 2-0 in the test series. And when these two teams met in the 7 match series, it was obviously a clash of the titans. With the Indian skipper’s shrewd captaincy, and with the inexperienced England side, the visitors were out of the competition right from the start of the series when the batting and bowling did not click at all. Besides, they had only three players who have played good amount of cricket in the subcontinent pitches. Now that the ODI series is over, all eyes are now on the two Test matches that will be played in a couple of weeks’ time.

It looks like after the unprecedented terror attacks in Mumbai, people are reluctant to tour India, especially Mumbai - they are citing security reasons and rightly so. The England tour of India has been called off - the remaining ODIs, to be precise. Earlier, Mumbai was chosen as the venue for the first test match and because of the terror attacks, they have changed it to Chennai. An airborne attack has also been threatened in three airports, in that Chennai is one of them. Even though tight security is deployed, I really wonder how safe is safe. An official from the England Cricket Board (ECB) was sent to produce a detailed report regarding the security - but now that they have decided to go ahead with the tour, my question is how many tours and series will be called off after this massacre? And for how long?

First of all my sincerest condolences to the hapless victims of the gruesome terror attack in Mumbai. Close to around 175 casualties reported till now. Taj, Trident and Nariman house were targeted - 10 terrorists entered Mumbai with heavily sophisticated ammunition and it took almost 60 hours and 30 minutes to gun down all of them, though one was caught red-handed and apprehended later. The lone terrorist is the only one who was nabbed and he’s also the only hope who can give us information regarding the terror. He has so far confessed a lot of information from the plans to blow up the Taj hotel to the 1.5 lakh amount which would be paid to him for participating in the fidayeen attack by the top member of Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Right after the seige, a couple of ministers have tenured their resignations. Will the sacking of inept and incompetent politicans strengthen the fight against terrorism? Well…

The recent Mandira Bedi’s Bollywood flick, “Meerabai not out” is an utter flop. Utterly dull and utterly insipid - that is Meerabai Not Out in a nutshell. This lacklustre movie which stars Mandira Bedi and cricketer Anil Kumble is all about Cricket. Meera’s (Mandira) life revolves around cricket and and Anil Kumble as well. She meets and falls in love with another guy but sadly, the marriage is called off by the guy’s father, when she sneaks off to a cricket match on the day of the engagement. Amid much tears the couple unite. It could have been fresh, unique and entertaining, instead what we get is film whose dialogues are dull and stale. Moreover the songs are ill placed and out of pitch. On thw whole, extremely unenthusiastic and completely wearisome. Don’t ever watch this movie, Meerabhai, you are out, definitely out.

It has been raining like no man’s business in and around Tamil Nadu for a couple of day now. What started as a light drizzle intensified and has resulted in torrential rain. And to make things worse, improper drainage facilities have created heavy inundations in most parts of the state. Furthermore, water logging has left houses stranded and marooned. Traffic was affected a great deal as roads and tracks were submerged in water. Lots of casualties were reported - some electrocuted when came in contact with live wire, some fell inside potholes, and some were swept away because of the heavy flow. Affluent industries could pump out the stagnant water whereas the others found it quite difficult. Some remote  areas in villages had boats to transport people as it was the only conveyance from one place to another.

The first time I saw the footage on television, I was speechless with shock. Two groups of Law college students got engaged in an unnecessary clash over a petty issue and went on the rampage when things didn’t go their way. And what surprised a great deal was the inaction of the cops. They stood as mute spectators witnessing the whole incident and when enquired why they didn’t react and keep things under control, they gave a lame excuse saying the Principal requested them not to intervene. They felt that if they had resorted to lathi charge, things could have wreaked havoc. And isn’t it ironical that these law students are the ones who have to get justice for the comman man tomorrow? Don’t they have the sense not to indulge in nefarious activities like these? The scene which involved the beating up of a couple of students to unconsciousness by the untutored and uncouthed students left a bad taste in my mouth. I now feel I shouldn’t have watched the footage. The clash was uncalled for and if some sense had prevailed among the students, these barbaric activities would have been averted. And finally after all these incidents, the public blames Cinema. No, don’t blame Cinema for violence, college students are mature enough to decide what is right and what is not. I just have two words for the students who think violence inside college premises and elsewhere is cool - GROW UP!

After the Mumbai massacre, the England Cricket Board (ECB) was ambivalent about whether or not to continue the rest of the ongoing ODI series, let alone the Test matches. Having lost all the five matches, the England team was going through a bad patch throughout the tournament and with two more games to play little was expected of them to play the reminder of the series. The bottom line reads 5 - 0 in India’s favour. Having said all that, it is now up to the England side to play well, at least in the Test series. India for sure are favorites and the visiting side, which is incomplete with a few key players, has their task cut out. After their dismal show in the ODIs, they have to put up  a good show now! Let’s wait and watch.