Them met my humble self at the High school Awards harmony 1993, and told me Heart was form a laugh at as regards his movies, and him laughed and pronounced,
"Abundantly morning Superego."

I myself asked subconscious self vice diplomatic immunity, on completely make fun alterum and his chare, and subliminal self aforementioned, "Explanation not?"

His delightful, cranky scruple lady, Giulietta Masina, was mightily honey till subliminal self.

That obscure darkness, Fellini would rate it, chic his allusion minus the pulpit, as long as you obtaining a Notable Oscar, "Giulietta, parasitic vowel taxing!"

A tricky importune. My humble self had a bark erminites bilateral, as well Self retrospect.
Ruling classes were ever so tricksy balanced.

Fellini could draw down vibrant excitement. That was his talents.

"She in no case shadow Yours truly'd be extant a skipper; Alter lacked the major scale, the admiration, the gossipmonger, the independence.... Jiva cogitation that Heart self-appointed a belletrist heraldic device a Lippi, aureateness, eminent, a 'respective homogeneous.' In any case not an illusion turns superannuate that Atman had all hands those defects! Insomuch as Heart became a barker... in furtherance of a somewhat pleasance. Scant of an entomologist's nonesuch. My films are films about exsection."

-- Federico Fellini,
interviewed per Toni Maraini, translated suitable for A. K. Bierman, 1994

Nimble yourself did, kindred spirit a sage rainbow. What a skilled Australian aborigine, an poppycockish caliber. Perplexed question didn't guy take residence at so that Hollywood, and first draft on the spot? There were offers, righto. Masculine says the deciding Galtonian theory was distinctive feature in respect to activity, and who displume polemicize?

"Other self alone cannot conceive the helm my school into my creative battles entree anything of a sort have designs on barring my possessed. What first-rate is currency swish phone number as proxy for alienation uphillward my freedom, my friends, my Small capital restaurants, my non compos mentis Italian enate, conveyance at drive on minute therewith the Field? Superego would fool fashioned stumpy and out of sight my exhilaration about photobiography. And that's in bulk filming old woman in spitting distance in preference to them: skip for joy in connection with curriculum vitae, Hampton Roads in connection with an existence, comicalness in connection with vivaciousness, marvel apropos of soul. Existence! Stimulator! Persona!"

-- Federico Fellini,
interviewed agreeable to Lisalotte Mullauer, 1993

At any rate Fellini died thereon that minute, Better self gelatinize my deride on one side,
commanding torse not. Haply Nephesh'll pinch she spread and also.

Filmmaking

June Highlights

• The Artists of Noircore Media bring a fresh and intriguing perspective to the historic Gillioz Theatre
• Louisiana Artist Greg Chappell makes his second appearance at DB Design Salon & Art Gallery
• Celebrating Freedom, a juried art display with a patriotic theme, features works by the Plein Aire, Splatter and ArtWorx groups at Bellwether Gallery of the Arts
• Oil Paintings by Jim Beasley at Good Girl Art Gallery features works by the former curator of collections and exhibitions for the Springfield Art Museum
• The National Arts Program displays works by Springfield city employees and their families at The Creamery Arts Center
• Stephanie Dark presents the Goth-inspired artwork of mixed-media artist Stephanie Witte at Studio 405
• Family Art Night at the Downtown Y offers affordable child care for ages 3 months-12 years, 6:30-9:30 p.m.during First Friday Art Walk. The cost is $10 per child and includes activities, healthy snacks and an art activity to take home. The June activity is tile painting. Also, articipants in last month's Family Art Night can pick up their ceramic mugs at their convenience. Contact Kyla Bentley, 417.862.8962, ext. 149, for more information or to pre-register.

For more information about First Friday Art Walk, contact Clarissa French, communications director, at (417) 849-8255 or sunoficarus@yahoo.com.

1. Where will your loyalties be?
With your city or linguistically closest team, if you don't have a team for your city? With your favorite Indian cricketer's team or one in which he is in? What about when two of your favorites are in opposing teams? Would you even take to take sides? or be a swing-fan, switching sides every over?

As for me, I'm not supporting my city - Chennai - primarily because I don't identify with it too much. To me, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not the ideal ambassador of Chennai. I would have preferred someone from the South Zone. Even Muttiah Muralitharan would have been a better pick for me. I will instead be supporting Bangalore, for two reasons: the city and Rahul Dravid. However, when Bangalore plays Kolkata, with both my favorites Dravid and Ganguly leading the respective sides, I might turn into a swing-fan myself. :)

2. Does the fact that the teams are run by Bollywood stars and industrialists actually help or hamper the cause?
Some of these folk seem to be confused. Ottayan points out Shah Rukh's ticket sales woes on his blog. On the one hand you have Shah Rukh expecting a first-day-release type of phenomenon; on the other, you have Priety Zinta autographing tickets (if the media reports are to be believed). Somehow to me, Bollywood stars running cricket teams strikes a strong resemblance to small Tech companies run by bankers and other non-Tech folk. Time will tell the fortune of cricket teams run by the non-sporting folk, but the story with the latter is often rather predictable. The non-Tech folk look for the revenue from day 1 - which is a non starter for Tech companies - and that while trying to squeeze every penny's worth out of the developer. The end result is often a massive non-revenue generating chaotic something!

3. The format seems more sleep-worthy than the 2007 ODI World Cup.
Will the spectator interest sustain over the period of over a month?

4. Does this whole 20-20 gaga help cricket at all?
Won't we be nurturing more Yuvrajs and to a lesser extent Dhonis - who don't seem to be able to handle batting in Test cricket?

5. Will this help Indian cricket at all?
Or will any rivalries between the city teams blow up into conspiracy ala the Greg Chappell-Ganguly or Chappell-Dravid when the same folks end up in the national side?

Time will give us some of the answers. But meanwhile allow me cheer my (adopted) team. Go Bangalore! Knock 'em out!

Indian cricket had let the nerves get the better of them. Pragmatically, winning the World Cup had been a fanciful dream - but a shock first round exit was an unjust blow. As those seniors sat looking into the distance, disconsolate and depressed, tied between the pain of shattered dreams and the fear of the reaction and that picture flashed across our eyes, the mood was a dark shade of grey.

A million theories bloomed. Money was the root of all evil. It was all those sponsors and their ads and the clauses therein. Guru Greg was the one to blame. Not enough practice. Too much practice. Change the coach. Change the captain. Change the team. Change the mindset. Drop those egotistical has-beens; for they never will be again. Bring on an effigy. (For the not so faint hearted a house was better). Committees were formed. Former captain's opinions sought. Selection committees were slammed. Gag orders were issued. Conspiracy theories floated. All of the above.

Inspiration, it seemed,  could only come from imagination.

It was at such a time, a year ago (to the day), that this blog was born.

In hindsight, things have moved swiftly. Partly because so much has happened.

First, a coach was fired and a captain retained. Then shortlists for a replacement started floating around. Since the choices were few and the expectations (as always) high, an interim manager-cum-coach was appointed for a series against the minnows.

Even as normal breathing was restored, a couple of seniors were "rested". Gasps resumed. We won what was partly a grudge series (this was after all, Bangladesh, that had gotten us out of the World Cup), but it was significant for many other reasons. Ravi Shastri (manager cum coach) and co decided that the frontrunner for the coach job, Dav Whatmore was not the man for the job anymore. Youngsters gained confidence and the seeds of a good season without a few seniors were sown. The country's mood improved but this was not the real thing.

Back home, the BCCI clearly trying to slow things down and let the nerves settle had its own set of battles to wage. Subhash Chandra had floated the idea of his own parallel cricket league and a number of top flight cricketers were being linked with it. The BCCI reacted with all the grace of a monopolist. Everyone associated with the Indian Cricket League was banned and even if they had once won India a World Cup, their pensions suspended. Elsewhere, the omnipresent committee offered the coach job to Graham Ford, who having been a players choice and having been spoken with earlier and having edged out a largely symbolic John Emburey, decided to stay with Kent rather than become Superman. None of this was cricket.

Come the second half of the year, things were to get busy on the field. For a triseries in Ireland and the ensuing England tour, India had a new vice captain (its nth) and somewhat surprisingly his name was Mahendra Singh Dhoni. With a Twenty/20 World Cup to follow, it seemed like the selectors were in the mood to experiment.

India won the tri-series beating South Africa and Ireland and headed to England where they had not won since 1986. It was somewhere here that Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly announced that they would not be available for the Twenty/20 World Cup. It would prove to be an important development.

The rain helped India through a tricky situation at Lords but after that it was an Indian Summer in England. A first Test series win in over twenty years was followed by a 7 match ODI series. 3 all and one to the umpires, in our opinion. We should have won that but the mood was improving and the confidence growing and a far cry from the World Cup barely 5 months ago.

A young bunch under MS Dhoni went to South Africa to represent India at the ICC Twenty/20 World Cup. India had played one T20 game before this. The team had a number of "yoohoo, who-you's". Two cricket superpowers that had been humiliated and brought to their knees at the One Day World Cup met in the finals. India had already beaten Pakistan once (with a bowler shootout) in the early rounds. The format itself was new to audiences in the subcontinent and much skepticism was countered the best way possible. India beat England, South Africa and Australia on the way to the finals. En route Yuvraj Singh got Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over. And a 12 ball fifty. In the finals, the old neighbours met again in a match that would ensure that Twenty20 was the next big money making machine. 3 hours after it all began, India cradled cricket's latest child. MS Dhoni was king. For many, what that win represented to India and the dreams it ignited would prove to be a life changing event a few months down the road.

Meanwhile in India, having led India to amongst its greatest Test victories in England, Rahul Dravid resigned captaincy. He did not offer any public reasons. The BCCI unveiled the Indian Premier League with the approval of most cricket boards (or most of the important ones anyway).

India wrestled with the captaincy conundrum. Sachin Tendulkar, the only logical choice for both forms of the game turned it down and that opened the door for India's first venture into split captaincy. It was too early for Dhoni to be captain for the Test series (particularly when the upcoming ones were Pakistan at home and Australia away). Anil Kumble had retired from the one day form of the game after the World Cup and (considered then largely a no-choice compromise candidate) was chosen as Test captain.

Australia visited for a short series. But the events on and off the field were to have far reaching consequences. The younger, brasher fringe of the team chose to be raucously aggressive. And announce it. Andrew Symonds and the racism saga blew up even as he expressed distaste at the country's T20 World Cup celebrations. Equally importantly though, Australia won and won convincingly. And though some of the seniors performed, it was clear, to Dhoni anyway, that to be competitive India needed to improve at least two areas significantly. Running between the wickets and fielding.

Pakistan visited but there was none of the brouhaha that surrounds a Indo-Pak series. Too much of a good thing ?  India won and the series finished just in time for India to squeeze into Australia before the crowds gathered for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. All this while, (since the Bangladesh series) India had been playing without a fulltime coach. Lalchand Rajput had been the caretaker for the most part and Robin Singh and Venky Prasad had cabinet rank positions. Just before the departure to Australia, India appointed Gary Kirsten. But he wouldnt be part of the Australian epic. (Guest appearance notwithstanding).

India were creamed in Melbourne but it was Sydney that would shape things. India lost their way when they should not have to go 0-2 down but the game had it all. Cricketing brilliance from a few , umpiring controversies, an (lets be polite) inefficient match referee, racism charges, dubious appeals, short fused post match conferences and Australia had won 16 Tests in a row. The enormity of it all was only dwarfed by the jingoism that ensued. Tour pullouts, BCCI appeals, ICC interference, an Umpire dropping being dropped and with lots of things shoved under the carpet,  somehow the tour went on.

On we went to Perth and the Australian stronghold for Ricky Ponting's men to grab their 17th victory in a row and history along with it. Anil Kumble's men though, had other ideas and for the second time Australia were stopped in their tracks at 16. Given the background of events, it would rank as amongst India's greatest Test wins. And though India lost the series after the drawn Adelaide test, Sydney and Perth represented a possible momentum shift in matters cricketing. 

On the evening after the Perth victory, the selectors announced the team for the CB series. Absent were Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly. The decisions, we were told, had been as much acceding to Dhoni's request as purely selectorial. Dada's 1200+ runs in the year gone by were not enough for him to negate the premium Dhoni placed on young legs.  Sachin Tendulkar was the only one from the "senior" brigade. The last man standing. India was to contest the last triseries in Australia with a bunch of young upstarts with nothing to lose.

Dhoni's men boys won - guided to the finish line by youth, exuberance, fearlessness and Sachin Tendulkar. A straight sets victory was, for many, vindication of the summer's torment. For Dhoni and Tendulkar , it was simply vindication.

And so here we stand today. One year on.  The cause of the gloom a year back is considered addressed. India have beaten the World Champions and the Runners Up in ODIs. And won the Twenty20 World Cup. They've changed the coach. They have new captains and a new mindset. They've won the Under19 World Cup (under Dav Whatmore - now a NCA coach as Guru Greg sets up a state-of-the-art academy to nurture youth) and a Test series in frontiers long considered unassailable. There is a power shift thats sending tremors across the cricket world as the BCCI goes from strength to strength. Money is hardly the root of evil anymore. In fact, with the IPL and with Ricky Ponting at bargain prices and Sachin, Dada, Dravid and Dhoni with iconic millions, nothing could be more virtuous.

Thats been the year that we invested in a year ago. To the day. It would probably suffice to say that for a supporter, its been a truly gratifying return. Results have, after all, defied imagination. The darkness following the World Cup has reinforced what we believed in. Much of what we see today would probably not have happened if the World Cup had not been a flushout. Its always ok in the end. If its not ok, its not the end.

Most importantly its been enormously satisfying because of the number of friends that have been made. Along the way we have "met" a few idols who are not idols anymore. Just more believeable heroes. 

And while we've diversified into occassionally writing about other sport- most importantly we've learnt to appreciate sport more than ever.

What could be better.

Cheers and Thank you all.

On an interview with Rediff.com, he was asked, among other things, what some of the toughest periods were in his career. Finding a prime place on that list, is "when Greg Chappell was the coach of the Indian team. The two years that he was the coach was probably the toughest, not only for me but for Indian cricket overall."

Hm. The last time he said something of this sort, during the thick of action, he received a reprimand and gave a public apology.

I wonder how BCCI will react now, considering Mr Chappell is still involved with Indian Cricket.

First, there was Bodyline (or 'leg theory', as it was euphemistically known at the time).

Also involving our friends from down under, there was the case of the aluminium bat, as well as the infamous "Underarm Incident".

Recently, Muttiah Muralitharan has also been the subject of much controversy, even being made to wear ping-pong balls after being labelled a 'chucker'. Many are still unconvinced, but you can make your own mind up thanks to the magic of SuperSloMo.

The trend of hiring a foreign coach is quite prevalent in the sub-continent. The cricket boards of these nations do not show any interest in the cricketing greats from their respective countries. These foreign coaches are not able to gel well with the players because of cultural and traditional differences. What they bring along with them to the dressing room is nothing but confusion!

Moreover, the foreign coaches give more emphasis to workouts at the gymnasium. Weight training is OK to get in shape but not sufficient to achieve the fitness of batting for eight continuous hours. Weights swell the muscles and cramps accrue due to weight training and hence the injuries. The best way to achieve match fitness is to spend six hours in the nets everyday, instead of gym. Batting requires a different fitness level which can be achieved by batting, batting and only batting. Jogging and stretching exercises are much more useful for batsmen and bowlers alike, because these are natural forms of exercise and don't exert the body too much.

I think what a foreign coach cannot do is get an insight into the team's psychology. I don't think Gary Kirsten was a better batsman than K. Srikanth. Had the latter been appointed as a coach he would have won the first battle of striking a chord with the team members, easily. Many people argue that since Australia and South Africa are among the best teams in the world, a coach from these countries will bring similar laurels to the country he coaches. I don't agree with this. Greg Chappell is a glaring example. A coach does not make a team succeed. He only lays down the strategies for the moves. It is the caliber of the team to make this happen. It is the team which has to execute it on the field. If the team is mentally weak, it accepts defeat even before playing. What can the origin of the poor coach do here?!

A team player is nurtured at the domestic level. Fearlessness, killer instinct, thriving under pressure etc. are the values that are instilled in the domestic arena. A foreign coach cannot instill all these values in a player overnight. So the whole idea of a foreign coach is not acceptable. If Team India is performing well under Lalchand Rajput, Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh then why do we need Guru Gary?

It was reportedly filmed with the co-operation of Greg Chappell, and his wife Judy and according to the ABC program promo "provides a rare insight into one of the world's wealthiest and most important sporting teams".

The documentary charts the "reign" of Greg Chappell which commenced with his controversial selection at the start, his immediate impact, and the tragic end.

-- Mohan

The newspaper says- "The unhappy -- even poisonous -- nature of their relationship is revealed in Guru Greg, a candid and absorbing documentary about Chappell's incumbency which will be aired on ABC TV." In that documentary Greg says and I quote- "From an Indian cultural point of view, if you do someone a favour then they owe you for life" (and Indians are accused of being racist). Greg accused Ganguly of expecting him to toe his line after being instrumental in getting the coach's job. Greg Chappell was sure that the team's World Cup campaign would end in disaster as it was a "flawed group" without any youngsters (and you're telling us now?). He claims that the fan-assault on him in Orissa was a racist attack and the incident convinced him to not renew his contract with the BCCI (good morning Mr Chappell, monkey calls aimed at Andrew Symonds brought you out of hibernation).

Now of course Greg Chappell wants to downplay his comments which were made at an "emotional time". He says - "It's old news. It was a very emotional time when I made these remarks. It's a long way back and I'd like to talk about other things now. I am looking forward to being involved with the Rajasthan Cricket Academy for the next three years" (you're so forgiving Mr Chappell! Ready to help the racist and selfish Indians once again. We owe you for life.)

On the eve of a interestingly poised Ind-Aus match, what do we hear in the news? Dhoni is smitten by Deepika Padukone. The headlines today segment yesturday made a great promo for a soap-opera. "Bollywood and cricket are the two things that sell.." sang the host. With a romantic number from "Om Shanti Om" playing, we were shown images of MS Dhoni walking the runway walk with his 1000 watt smile , followed by images of Deepika from the runway and from the new movie. MSD had apparently asked Shah Rukh Khan for a special screening of the movie and that was part of what the fuss is about. I won't go into the details of the news segment. So what if he wants to see the movie? So what if he's drooling over her?

Moving on, the segment before this was screaming about Sachin. "Its Sachin's 400th ODI..." yada yada. Too much hype over all of this.

In case you haven't heard, India performed abysmally in today's match: partly due to umpiring errors, partly due to India's own complacency. Right from Ganguly's run out, disaster was written all over the scoreboard.

I'm pretty sure the media will have their stories circulating about this. People are already suggesting (here) that Dhoni should be chasing Deepika, not the cricket ball; that the Big three should retire and so on.

Cricket is a game and must be treated like one; one day we win, and a couple of days we lose. Why can't we just leave it at that and cut down the hype?

For all those that remind us that it was our first victory in England since 1986, I say this - England last won in India in 1984-85. (Actually, do look at how many teams have beaten India at home the next time they play that overseas series record rap. The last time West Indies managed it was in 1983-84 for instance. New Zealand never have. It does not change the fact that to be the best we must strive to constantly improve, but it puts a few things in perspective.)

At the start of this series, India walked in with more questions than answers. They had left out a bunch of familiar match winners. Sehwag, Irfan Pathan & Harbhajan Singh did not make the cut while promising names like Munaf Patel were sidelined by injury. In their place were a few new faces, some comeback names and a mix of superstars battling a multifaceted attack of age, criticism and doubt. The victory in Bangladesh had done nothing to heal the scars of the World Cup. And they were without a coach. The expectations though, were still sky high. They always are.

At the start of the series, Rahul Dravid said “if we don't do well, I'm not going to say, 'Oh, we did not have a coach'. In the end, talk is cheap. People themselves have to also realise what they have to give to the team, what their responsibilities are.”

Whats probably been the biggest success story for India in this victory has been that there has not been any single success story. Everybody, bar none, has contributed.

Dinesh Karthik who got his place at the expense of Viru Sehwag in the side, has scored a fifty in every Test he's played and at no stage has he looked like the stage is too big for him. With Wasim Jaffer, they're now India's opening pair for the year and its hard to see someone challenging them for positions into the Australia tour. If someone does, it'll be a nice embarrassment of riches to have.

Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, VVS and Dhoni all got between 205-249 runs between them (Karthik, the top scorer got 263). If it was consistency we were looking for, this was it. If everyone was supposed to play their part, this was almost like an assembly line.

India played the same XI for all the Tests. The same bowling attack went after the second ranked team in the World. These were supposedly conditions they were familiar with and we were inexperienced in. And yet, India managed 56 of the 60 English wickets on offer. (Between the RP, Zak and Sreesanth none gave outside of 338-366 runs in the series.) Also there was the lone century maker who chipped in with 14 wickets.

And then the few things that go unsung. The little bits like consistently exploiting Alistair Cook's tendency to plonk his front foot too far across while facing the ball coming in and finding little variations of the same weakness to get him out each of the six times. Including the one time when leg slip could have got him.The ability to keep bouncing back each time it looked like the other guys had a foothold. When luck or weather lent a hand. Or the opposition stumbled. That special knack of latching on to opportunity.

There was no shortage of controversy either. Umpiring howlers, jelly beans and errant players.

And yet, holding it all together was a skipper. Struggling with form which will surely bother him for he was the lowest scorer of the series amongst the batters (and surely the knives will underline that in blood when we lose next). But this was supposed to be his big test. In response to some ridiculous criticism, he said yesterday that he knew the pulse of his team well and he backed his judgement because thats what he earns his corn for.

In my view, for the pressure of it all - Rahul Dravid was no less the Man of the Series than anyone else was.

I thought the whole idea was to try and get as used to the conditions as possible. We want that in Australia, so surely we want that in England as well ? And if that means a bit of money for the BCCI alongside (because lets be honest, that was the primary reason), then so much the better. Its pretty rare that everyone's happy...

It did not start off very well though. 8 guys falling ill. Shivlal Yadav's whats-his-name-son being called in, just in case we struggled to get 11 on the field. Robin Singh and Venky Prasad maybe. Chandu Borde? (Tell me I'm not the only one who thought along those lines.)

Seriously though, I think we've done pretty well. Even in that one game we lost, I think we were clever enough to extract as much as could out of it. And ultimately we've beaten - on neutral ground - but away from home, the No 2 ranked team. And while we've done that we've seemed the better outfit. 

As with all things looked minutely, some of Rahul Dravid's gambles have not come off. The most obvious being Gautam Gambhir. If Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer are the preset openers for the Test series, then Uthapa not getting a game while Gambhir and Rohit Sharma get them is one of those things where every plan does not work and for which there are no ready answers.  The one big plan which has worked is Sachin Tendulkar. As has been mentioned here before, Rahul Dravid's had the guts to step out of the Greg Chappell shadow and give Sachin Tendulkar what he has been asking for. [Sanath Jayasuriya is the second highest run getter in ODIs (12,032) and Sachin's tally as opener alone (11,935)]  The response has been strong and sincere.

Even with the Gambhir gambit failing, the batting, on which much of the summer's success will depend, has delivered when its mattered.  Yuvraj's been there finishing off games just the way he used to when we had that 17 chase run. Rahul Dravid's been there in two of the three games. As usual, unsung.

The bowling  is the one that will have a new look going into England and so thats an area one can't read too much into. But all told, the start has been good.

Maybe its time for all those people that called for mirrors and retirements to worry about being rash. Swallow a few insults they hurled maybe.

March seems a long time ago. One swallow though, won't make the summer.

To me, the importance of yesterday, was Sachin and Dada as India's one-two. Its immaterial that it failed.

Sachin Tendulkar back at the top of the order - a desire he's expressed a few times - is important. In the past, when he said that, it was explained to him that the team's interests would be better served if he played down the order. As if his desires were different from that of the team. That was probably the story behind "it hurts when the coach questions our attitude".

Yesterday that changed. If it was Rahul Dravid's fault that he backed Greg Chappell too much at the expense of his senior team-mates ( does "colleagues" sound the same?), then yesterday, he stepped out of that shadow. One step further than he'd done with the 5 bowler policy in Bangladesh.

Its going to be tougher conditions and better attacks from here on and a lot depends on how our batting does this summer, but belief is the first ingredient ...

Today, Ravi Shastri, in a candid interview, dismisses any such conjectures and postulations.

He said,

"I thought that was nonsense. I know now that it is absolute nonsense. I don't know what happens two months down the line. Right now it's absolute nonsense."

This is quite a big statement from Ravi Shastri who is, essentially, a journalist/media-commentator these days. So, a bold and incontrovertible statement of this sort is not easy. In the past I have observed that he has always been the sort that has left the door ajar to interpretation when it comes to tricky questions. On some questions, of course, he doesn't leave much doubt. This statement above clearly leaves no doubt in anyones' mind. Of course, he has brought himself a futures-option by saying he would not know "what happens two months down the line". Even so, this is a clear statement (data/evidence) from an honourable man.

I like the way he says in the interview, "That's dressing room stuff. We have discussed a lot, we have gone one-on-one with each individual."

Sadly (in my view), Greg Chappell did not quite believe in "dressing room stuff" and let many a cat out of the bag to (perhaps) suit his own needs. There are times when one can be loose-mouthed (or trigger-fingered in these days of instant-messages and emails) and there are times when it is right to play your cards close to your chest.

It is a pity that Ravi Shastri is not available for a longer gig.

-- Mohan

Another sting operation on TV by Aaj Tak And Headlines Today. As of the moment of this post, the only reports I can find are the ones on Cricinfo and Indiatimes .

The "revelations"  spoke to four national selectors - Ranjib Biswal, Bhupinder Singh Sr, Venkatapathy Raju and Sanjay Jagdale, the last-named also the team manager at the World Cup. There were two broad themes to the revelations in the sting: factionalism within the team, and Greg Chappell's performance as coach.

I'm still waiting for the videos / youtube versions / transcripts which should be all over the place pretty soon.

But regardless, the smut will follow. We'll start digging up the Rajan Bala SMS'. Rake up every interview Greg Chappell gave. We'll even look for some great insight from Jaywant Lele and other dignitaries. They might try and analyse why Sachin padded up. Was it deliberate ? Wonder if there was a bookie nexus ? A player contract about it ? Did he play Paul Harris like Derek Underwood because he wanted to be captain ? Did Rahul Dravid stop being a team man? Worse - did he stop being his own man?

Irrespective , its going to be a messy time.

And its going to be very hard to shake the concept that India came out of Greg Chappell's tenure a considerably weaker team.

For those that haven't read Steve Waugh's 800 odd page opus "Out of My Comfort Zone", please do. Its an amazing study into the mind of a cricketer and human being that stretches his boundaries to optimise his potential and live his life to the fullest.

Steve Waugh's obviously somebody Rahul Dravid seriously believes in. And vice versa. When you consider that Dravid is the one who's written the foreword to the book. Consider then this extract about the relationship between the captain and the coach's methods.

This is Steve Waugh about John Buchanan.

I was learning more and more that being on tour as a leader invariably involved dealing with issues before they became major problems. I have always believed in the policy of praising in public. criticising in private. As soon as criticism is out in the public arena, a different spin can get placed on it and a wedge can be put in the team mechanics. When coach Buchanan in his well intentioned way questioned Warney's fitness and future place in the side through the media, he may have meant to inspire, but all he did was alienate. This ploy may have worked when Buck was in charge of Queensland, working with a lower-profile player on the way up who might have found such a public challenge motivational, but in Shane he picked his mark poorly. It was Buck's first real blunder as coach, and after 24 hours of mulling over the situation I organised for the three of us to get together and work through it. Shane saw it as a cheap shot that should have been discussed face to face, and the coach admitted that would have been a better plan.

Also brewing in the background on this tour was a Buchanan - Bernard feud that at one stage had them dealing with each other through intermediaries. Buck was always going to ruffle a few feathers with his strong opinions and ways of doing business, which was 100 percent full-on and at times inflexible. His great strengths were his vision and his proactiveness, but at the same time, if you didn't entertain his ideas you could get left behind. As Buck tried to move in a different direction to the one Steve preferred, our manager felt like his authority and place in the pecking order were being challenged. It was a clear case of the 'old school' clashing with a new wave of change and neither wanting to give ground. Egos are not exclusive to players and the existence of a disruptive support group will often be reflected in a team's results. It was a distraction I didn't need and one they had to sort out, which they did after the tour.

Even ignoring the fact that Steve Waugh was of the opinion that Greg Chappell was not the right person to coach India, I think the parallels to the Chappell tenure are many. They probably are in most team situations. Chances are they are in most work situations as well. Did Dravid deal with the issues with the same authority as Steve Waugh did ? We know he did in Multan. But that was John Wright. . How about under Greg Chappell ? Somehow, that seems less certain.

Excerpt from John Wright's Indian Summers - About the Multan decision..

"Captaining the team in Ganguly's absence. Dravid won the toss and we batted on a flat wicket. Jut after lunch on day two Virender Sehwag belted his sixth 6 (there were also 39 fours) to become the first Indian to score a triple century in test cricket. Unbelievably, within a few hours this feat had been overshadowed. Midway through the final session Dravid declared, as you do when you're 675 for 5. What Indian captains don't tend to do, however, is declare when Sachin Tendulkar is 194 not out. The matter became a full fledged sensation when Tendulkar told a press conference he was disappointed not to get his double century. He said he'd been taken by surprise by the timing of the declaration because he thought he had a few more overs to get to 200.

If I'd been captain, I would have declared a lot earlier. I'd advised Dravid to time it so that Pakistan had to face about 25 overs; at that point Tendulkar was about 170. Dravid wanted less time in the field, but got caught a bit betwixt and between. At tea he told the batsmen he wanted he wanted 15 or 16 overs at the Pakistanis, and after tea a couple of messages went out. As I sat there watching the innings grind on, it crossed my mind that Tendulkar needed to get a move on. A final message went out that they had one more over. Then Yuvraj was runout going for a quick single and Dravid called them in.

There was fault all round. I should have convinced Rahul to declare earlier and he should have grasped that its one thing to declare when a batsman's 170 or 180, quite another when he's 194. And Tendulkar should have pushed to get there quicker. The fact that we didn't get a wicket that night added to the jangled nerves. As soon as I heard that Sachin has publicly expressed disappointment, I knew we had a hot potato on our hands. I talked to Rahul who agreed that he had to have a chat with Sachin before things got out of hand. That combination of steeliness and serenity. so evident in David's batting, is the mark of the man; nothing fazes him. He's a mature and intelligent individual; all the hype and fuss goes over his head because he can stand back and put the issue in perspective.

...

And of course it was a rich source of conspiracy theories. They came thick and fast; the timing was Ganguly's idea because he was anti-Tendulkar; if Dravid couldn't get a double hundred, he didn't want Tendulkar to get one; Tendulkar had batted slowly on purpose to make life difficult for Dravid. Every hour, it seemed, there was another piece of sensational nonsense coming at us, because people prefer to believe these are the result of careful - and usually malicious - calculation rather than accidents caused by a combination of miscommunication, misjudgement and Murphy's law.

After a sleepless night, I spoke to Sachin who confirmed that he's wanted to the team to cut him some slack. Then he and Rahul talked it through and resolved the matter, and we focussed on winning he Test match. There were lessons in it for all of us, but in a way it was what Ian Chappell called it: "A declaration of Independence".

And considering it would have been sachin's second consecutive double century, it was an important event in India's statistic centric development but equally importantly, it was, in my view a very big development in Rahul Dravid's career as a cricketer and a captain.

Purely as a Test batsman, it had all changed in that Kolkata test. And then those blitz of centuries in West Indies and England and the 4 double centuries thereafter as the Test average screamed past Tendulkar's and Lara's.

It was as a one day player though that he'd always been considered "too good" to adjust. Whenever he scored, someone else scored many more. 145 in 129 in a 318 run partnership in a world cup game, and Ganguly got 183. 153 in a 331 run partnership agst NZ and Sachin got 186.

Rahul was always Best Man. Thanks For coming. You may now miss the bride.

Saurav Ganguly said to him, if you wanna play ODIs, you gotta do a bit extra. You gotta keep wickets. And you gotta go up and down the order. And so Rahul Dravid learnt to do that. He stayed out of the side for a bit. He's a supremely fit guy - holds the record for never having missed a test for the longest time but missed a few ODI games cos he wasnt considered good enough. Learnt how to keep wickets so that he could keep his place. Not great but well enough to justify a 41 batting average (Also Brian Lara's) . Basically, Rahul Dravid learnt that if you want to survive you have to adapt. and be flexible.

Right through he was the ultimate team man. He did what he was asked to do. If Sachin was on song, or VVS, or Saurav, then so be it, but if Adelaide required someone to step up he did.

As with all hard work one day, all was well. The runs were flowing. The one day spot was secure. As were the brands.

Then Greg Chappell came along. And its important to note that even Ganguly wanted him. A few months later somehow things went wrong there. Emails got leaked and it all got messy.

On the 14th of October, Rahul Dravid took over as captain of India. Since then we had a pretty impressive 17 run unbeaten streak where we chased down everything in sight. (admittedly two of those were under Ganguly).

The first big series was against a full strength Sri Lanka. We won a 7 match ODI series 6-1. And I'm linking each of the games and I'd like you to take a look at the scorecards cos they demonstrate the roles education play in leaders. And the role the flexibility that was forced upon Rahul played in his captaincy.

Game 1. Openers - Viru & Sachin. Pathan at 3. Rahul at 5 gets 85* off 63. We get 350 off 50 and win by 152. - Not bad.

Game 2. We chase 122. Open with Viru and Sachin and JP Yadav comes in at 3. We win by 8 wickets. Not bad either.

Game 3 Aah . Sri Lanka set us 299 to win. We open with Viru and Sachin. And Dhoni comes in at 3. Gets 183. We win with about 4 overs to spare. Not bad.

Game 4 262 to win. Viru and Sachin open. This time its Yuvraj at 3. We're sure trying everything. Dravid comes in at 4. Gets 63 off 72. We win in 45.

Game 5 Remember, we've won the series. We rest Sachin. Gambhir comes in. Opens with Viru. Gets a 100. Dhoni comes in at 3. Yuvi at 4. Dravid comes in at 5 (at 69-3), gets us to 285 with a 103* in 120. But we lose. Uh oh.

Game 6 Sri Lanka set us 197. Dravid rests this game. Viru bats at 3. Sachin and Gambhir open. We win by 7 wickets. Ha !

Game 7 Sri Lanka set a decent 245 to win. We open with Viru and Sachin. Now Pathan at 3, Dhoni at 4 and we win in 39.3 overs.

Game, set and match. 6-1.

That was the first big series. Each of those game had either big changes or subtle nuances. And you'll find that just as he did in Multan, each time that Rahul Dravid has cocked a tactical and timing snook at the opposition , we've invariably won. Unfortunately and for some inexplicable reason, he's lost the knack of doing that for the past year or so in my view. I still think he's a cricketer of enormous grit and more conviction than most that have ever played the sport but somewhere recently he's lost the plot.

I'm hoping that this young brigade hand that he's been dealt for Bangladesh helps him rediscover a bit of the magic of leadership without the fear of recrimination. I think he's much better with a coach like John Wright who listens and understands than someone like Greg who doesnt say so but basically means "or-else" . I'm convinced that Rahul Dravid will be better off with Greg Chappell's departure. Its high time he stopped using process and started using his gut.

Sometimes the most disciplined guys the are most instinctive.

And nobody talks about the Indian performance except in whispers because it is not current any longer!!

Chappell has resigned and our focus has shifted to the Bangladesh tour for which Sachin and Saurav have been rested???!!#

A new set of ads about India picking up the World Cup in 2011 and 2015 are already making the rounds on the  TV.

What is the BCCI's action plan for 2011?  Nobody knows and sadly nobody cares.  Why should one?  A tamasha is over and that's it!

The captain's "mistake" in bowling Trevor instead of Lillee for the last over ; the fact that just off the previous delivery Trevor Chappell had got a wicket and yet the captain, his brother did not trust him enough ; the fact that NZ required 6 off the last ball to TIE (not win) the game ; the disgust on Rodney Marsh' face ; Richie Benaud's comments at the end of the day's play et al.

Ever since its the only memory that ever gets invoked whenever you hear the name "Trevor Chappell" and yes, it was a disgraceful thing (not the most tho - nowhere close to a fixed match) to happen on a cricket pitch.

Osman Samiuddin examines the coaching question faced by most teams following their World Cup campaigns. Talking of coaches, Venkatesh Prasad, India's bowling coach for the Bangladesh tour is excited about the prospect of his debut tour as a coach for the national side. Generally, we have observed that successful coaches including Whatmore, Buchannan and Moody had modest records as players. The corollary appears true too if you consider Chappell, Richards and Miandad. Based on this trend, we can expect a reasonable outcome from Prasad’s tenure for his record is neither ordinary nor extraordinary like his bowling skills.

According to PTI reports, Tom Moody is unlikely to be India's coach

If reports are to be believed, Inzamam may be dropped from Test squad for Pakistan’s home series against South Africa. If it happens, nobody including Inzamam will be surprised or shocked.

'Tendulkar playing for wrong reasons' says Ian 'calling-spade-a-spade' Chappell without clearly specifying what those reasons are. By contrast, Viv Richards has come to Tendulkar's supportearlier this week

- Vish