Random thoughts on Yesterdays match

It was a fantastic match yesterday and Aussies need to be given credit for providing such a high quality match. They were magnificent and deserved victory. As Bevan said after the match, Aussies would like to believe that they actually outplayed India in all department except for Sachin's innings...Its a big thing for their players to come here and play with such a big heart. I feel they have been very lucky that this series was exactly after the CL tourney in which NSW and Vic played very well. This means,even with all injuries, Aussies could get the players who have played in CL trophy and performed well in India.

 

Our fielding left a lot to be desired...On a placide pitch, most of the times its the fielding which will make the difference and unfortunately we were not able to bring our A game in this aspect yesterday. Missed chances also proved costly  (especially of Marsh). As Dhoni said, it doesnt mean we could restrict Aussies to 270 but even 320 could have been different. White and Hussey played very well for Aussies in the end and they made sure that the start provided is not gone waste and they will get a very high score in the end (Was expecting it to be around 340 after Ponting's dismissal but in the end that proved the difference)

 

Coming to our batting, Sehwag played a cameo as usual and was infact lucky to be playing that far as Bollinger dropped a far easier chance earlier. I couldnt understand why all this hue and cry about 17k. Did we ever celebrate 16K or 15K like this? Even they were numbers only others can dream of but I dont think there were any special signifance mentioned for them. I guess everything is about the media hype. Now, they are already planning for his 30k which is not far either...Once Sehwag got out Sachin changed gears swiftly and made sure that we are in touch with the run rate always. The shot Gauti played is his normal shot and 8 out of 10 times he would have cleared that man. As we are facing this stiff target, I dont think he is to be blamed for playing that shot. Yuvi came and had a soft dismissal...Clever bowling from Watson...and Dhoni played a correct shot for the ball (short and wide outside the offstump) but unluckily for him Voges took an excellent catch and Sachin was left to repair his innings with Raina. Raina played very well though he was struggling with his timing initially. Sachin made sure that we dont lose our momentum in the middle overs and keep a close tab on the run rate.

 

I had to take an official call yesterday between 7:30 to 8:30 PM...When I went for the call, Sehwag had just got out and I had no hope left in this match. When I came back, Sachin was playing on 98 and Raina was giving him company and we were around 160/4 in about 26 overs...I didnt have the strength to watch the match and decided that I wouldnt watch the match till 9:30 and if Sachin is still there, I will watch the rest...Its just that I couldn't endure the tension...I prayed and made a pact with GOD that if he will allow Sachin to take us home, I am ready to face disappointment in Sunday's feature with Chelsea (Well, Apologies to all Utd fans but I had to sacrifice something which is very hard for me as the task was very difficult and as we have 26 more games in league I felt Utd could always come back while yesterday's was a once in lifetime opportunity - Thats the way I make my pact with GOD). This is not in anyway to suggest that my prayers has anything to do with how Sachin plays. I know it very well but my prayers are for my own pleasure and the pleasure I get when Sachin plays well and India wins is sort of unmatched till this point in my life (And I am sure I wouldnt be the only one). Anyway, when I switched back the TV at 9:30, Sachin was still there with Raina and now I had real hope but I was always pessimistic with the past experiences(As any rational Indian fan would be). They played very well, didnt panic even with dot balls and scored around 7-8 runs without much risk and I was looking at when we are going to take the power play...

 

I guess the idea was that with these two scoring around 7-8 runs in an over even without power play and as India didnt struggle with run rate, they decided not to take it as that might force them to do some big hitting (as singles would be more difficult in PP). Then it happened...On 299, when we needed 52 from 48 balls, Raina got out trying to hit one of his favorite shots...Ball bounced a little more and Manou did a good job running backwards to get under it. I could sense that it was the turning point. After watching his innings so long, I knew that Sachin was going to get out sometime before we cross the line and we needed Raina to stay there to win the match. People can call me whatever they want but realistically I always thought Sachin was not going to be there in the end. Bajji came and left immediately and then Jadeja joined Sachin and they decided to take on the PP...Jadeja played well and hogged the strike but I dont think Sachin ever wanted anything else (And for people who go on talking about he plays for personal landmark - At one stage, he was around 33 runs away from 200 while India needed around 61, so if he was particular about it, he would have asked for more strike and could have started hitting himself but there was no such intention and by allowing Jadeja to play the way he did, he told us that he wanted to take India home rather than care for a personal 200). With 3 overs to go, we wanted 19 runs and Sachin decided to go for a shot that might be deemed as risky by us but would not be by Sachin.(I think thats the difference between watching cricket for 25 or 50 years and playing it. If you are a good player, you will understand that the percentage of risk involved in a shot is purely personal while that might not apply to a person watching cricket...A paddle sweep might be a risky shot for a some players while for Sachin, thats one of his trademark shots, similarly a reverse sweep might be risky for some players but for those who have practiced it more and more, it is a high percentage shot and not a risky one) And you are confident of picking the slower ball if you are batting on 175 but may not be so confident if you have just come to crease. Unfortunately for Sachin, Mckay produced a very good slower ball and Sachin didnt have much option apart from scooping it to short fine-leg. It was all a repeat of Chennai test although the players played much better here. I am not going to talk anything more about Sachin's innings as everything has been already written but for me the biggest fact was that he fielded for 50 overs and then batted for almost 48 overs without having any discomfort and running between the wickets were sharp allthrough. This fitness level was amazing and I seriously hadnt expected it to happen again as Sachin had recently shown that he gets cramps as he nears the century...I also had a theory about his considerably lower record during the second innings. I thought this was due to the problem with fitness. After being in the field for 50 overs, I thought his concentration levels werent as good as before as he was tiring but yesterday's innings showed me that he has recovered that fitness once again.

 

Jadeja played very well till that point but was needlessly run out going for a non-existent single...I think he is too eager to show that his running between the wickets are good but then one thing you have to realise is that running between the wickets is more about being a good judge of a run than the speed of running. He is young and will learn his lessons. I think people are going overboard here when they are blaming him for the loss and asking for his head. He has bowled very impressively in the matches before and didnt have much opportunities with bat (As Dhoni mentioned before, it is never easy as a no:7 batsman in a ODI game). Was also surprised that some poeple were saying Bajji should be dropped. He was the most economical bowler of the entire match and on a pitch just to concede 4.4 runs an over is a tremendous achievement. Also, some people were telling that we are back to 90's and the team is 1+ 10 jokers...Please refrain from making such a harsh judgement. This team has improved leaps and bounds over the ODI team in 90s and please remember that we are still alive in the series at 3-2 without any major contribution from Sachin for our victories and have competed well in the matches we have lost(It would have been hard to believe that in 90s). PK tried hard but probably a dive could have saved him and India from the disappointment as we needed only 3 from 2 balls after that. I guess, he didnt expect the fielder to throw it to the strikers end and that was probably his undoing.

 

Coming to the post match presentation, I think Dhoni was correct in mentioning about the mental aspect of the game where we lost out. I have stated this before but will say again, Aussie players arent just taken from under-19 and drafted into the team. They all have played in the ultra-competitive domestic matches for years before joining the team (I guess Ponting and Clarke are the only exceptions). Look at McKay yesterday...he was so cool under the pressure. As commentator mentioned, he has played for the Vic side in many domestic finals and knows how to handle pressure while the Indian counter parts like Jadeja just came from 20-20 or under-19's without much experience in tight games and panic under pressure. We need to improve this aspect if we have to stand any chance. I think he was so disappointed with Sachin and the team that he didnt say much in the presentation ceremony (He explained a lot more in the press conference). Sachin I think was very angry about the whole thing and I think his statement that 'I care about playing for India' is probably a vieled criticism at some of the youngsters who are taking the defeat lightly(I think he might be the same player who called up Shetty after the CT and said some of the younger players doesnt care if we win or lose).

 

On the whole a night of heartbreak and I dont think I was disappointed like this in a long long time...

 

I know was a long one...Was not expecting it to be so long when I started...Anyway, thanks if you have reached till here!

 

PS: One good thing is that GOD didnt hear me and allow SRT to win the match for India, so I think he might not disappoint me on Sunday...Expecting a draw at SB. :)

Mumbai -26/11 - Reflections

From the onset, let me make it clear that I am neither from Mumbai nor do I have any close relatives there (In fact have just visited the city twice) but last week has been that sort of a torture to me as any I can remember for a long time. 

Somehow I realize only now, how much I love that city (I don’t know for what reason, Would it be the same if it happened anywhere else? I don’t know yet and I hope I never have to learn it in this way) but I have felt a bleakness for almost a week now. The anger, sorrow and helplessness has been terrible and the emotions continue to sway in one way or the other never making me feel good about even a single thing (Though NSG did make us all Indians proud) and it makes me sick to the stomach…

Ineptitude of our country in preventing or dealing with such a disaster has left us really really vulnerable. I know it’s great to say that we wont feel afraid because then we are playing to the terrorists hands but how would I feel that way in the current scenario seeing how vulnerable we are as a nation?

Isn’t this time for introspection and going ahead in implementing precise and objective reactions than saying we are a resilient nation and we will recover easily from this? It’s with shock that I have to say that I was ashamed of the national address from our PM. It was such a cold and passive response that I felt he was talking about distributing participatory notes. I know 90%of the people don’t believe and has no confidence in the government to do anything different this time either but the least he could have done is to have some passion in his speech so that at least the 10% who believe in the governance gets some confidence out of it. Sadly that was not to be. 

With the government functioning like this, it’s up to the people of this country to stand up and see to it that we are not that vulnerable. And believe me its possible if people in this country collectively (and that includes the common man, media people, intelligence agency people, police man and military – ultimately everybody is just a citizen) tries to take the necessary steps despite of the politicians and governance structure. 

As Gail Wynand says of Newyork city in The Fountain head (Written by Ayn Rand), “If a war comes to threaten this, I would like to throw myself into space, over the city, and protect this city with my body”. I think that’s what we all Indians should pledge on a day like this

Now, assuming that governance is going to take its curse, there are several points of concerns and improvements that comes to my mind. I am sure there are a lot more when we put our collective intelligence to it but this is meant as a starting point from my side...So here you go

1. Intelligence failure:  From whatever I understand, there was no intelligence failure. In fact our intelligence agencies had warned of an attack on Mumbai and specifically on Taj, Oberoi and Leela. If this is not actionable information as defined by Jayanthi Natarajan then I don’t know what else is. As Shobha De pointed out, will we say that actionable information is only when Terrorists calls up the CM to say that they are going to strike in a couple of days on Taj??? Why was the security not in place despite the warning? As far as I hear, there are two reasons. One is that people had complained of inconvenience, well if our government really believes our intelligence agencies, people should have been taken into confidence and people also shouldn’t mind going through some inconvenience if it helps to curb the terrorist attacks .I think that’s one thing we need to improve collectively as a society…Rahul Bose says ‘I am concerned about the quality of life in between the attacks’, well I agree it should be good but then with some restrictions It can still be good though we will have to compromise on something. That compromise is needed at this hour because we are dealing with lives of people and they should have a premium value. Second was the fact that police didn’t have enough people and were really over stretched, so at the moment somebody complained they were ready to take the security out. Why don’t we have enough police protection in cities? Why are they underpaid? A figure indicates that in 60 years of independence the police force in Mumbai has increase 15% while the population has increased 400%. We need to make our police force the best in the world and there should be a dignity for police personnel. I feel that if they are properly paid, lot of this corruption would end and they will start behaving bit more responsibly. 

2. Response time and Understanding situation: I am sure Maharashtra ATS chief is a courageous man and a man of principles but I am not sure whether he understood what he is against even as a ATS chief. I would be very concerned if my ATS chief goes to fight terrorists with a .303 rifle. There could be couple of reasons for that too, one he didn’t have anything better like our normal policemen (In that case, government has showed a total negligence and should be bashed for that) while the other more probable case (as I am assuming he is the head of ATS) is that he didn’t sum up the situation well. In that case, I would be very concerned about the preparation of our ATS members and how they go about their business. Need for NSG or similar force closer to the metros who can be deployed within minutes of an attack is a necessity and I am happy that most of the governments are taking the measures to ensure that. Another aspect that could help here is if the NSG can share some of the basic precautions and basic areas where local policeman can concentrate when dealing with such a situation.

3. Role of Media: Media should also take its share of the blame in creating the impression in the minds of people. Its all good that they are leading the crusade against politicians and others during these times (many accepts that Media also has a problem but they don’t want to commit anything for themselves going forward or want to discuss how to correct it!) but how do you go about correcting your end? Are you taking the necessary steps? Media is talking a lot about how things are implemented post 9/11 in US but have they ever looked at how media behaves and how much media is supportive of their government (even when it is temporarily wrong? I am not saying media should be a puppet at the hand of government but they should reduce the sensationalization about anything and when it comes to national security issues, they should be more restrained in airing their opinions). Though on second day media voluntarily stopped airing sensitive information, it took them almost a day to understand the significance and gravity of the situation. I hope such a blunder never happens again and same is with the question to our home minister who told the details about the commando operations (Though it was an unpardonable mistake from Home minister, if there was some sort of real time screening of information by NBA before airing, anybody sensible should have told it is a sensitive information)

4. Investigation/Reaction: I fear the outcome of this investigation to be the same as any other happened previously as I don’t see any difference. And that’s why I feel there is a need for a stricter anti terrorism laws and special courts to try them as we can’t obviously treat them as another criminal. Yes, there is a chance that the new law could be mis-used but any law has a chance to be mis-used in a country like India which has a corrupt judicial system. I feel that with proper reviews and stringent punishments for the mis-used cases, we should be able to get that strict anti-terrorist law into practice. Here again media plays a key role. Putting half information coming from our politicians who just want to make a statement without validating the facts in media just reduce the credibility of our investigations. Especially in cases like that of Gen. Purohit. I don’t have any issue if Sadhvi and other people are arrested and treated the same way as any other terrorists but treating an Army colnel in this way without 100% proof is not acceptable. First ATS say Colnel stole 60Kg of RDX from military (its even funny to assume anybody who has served in MI being so foolish, but lets take that he did), then army comes and says it doesn’t use RDX anywhere in its operations and hence doesn’t stock them. Now, ATS says that the RDX was captured from some criminals and was used by Purohit ( possible!) and how did he use it? To blow up Samjhoutha express and now we realize that government investigations during that time explicitly states that there was no trace of RDX being used in the explosion and we give Pakistan the evidence of a guy who has done it. What does that prove? Either that Indian government faked the evidences and produced false evidence to Pakistan ( Which they are now saying – I just heard a Pakistani journalist saying that they don’t believe what New Delhi is saying as they believe it might be the same as the case with Samjhoutha and as ATS chief who was heading that operation was just terminated in this blast why cant it be a conspiracy theory). That just destroys the credibility of our nation. These are the issues where our leaders and our media need to show restraint. They should understand how it will affect our foreign relationships and how it will be viewed across the world. Don’t panic by the pressure of people, do thorough investigation, provide sufficient proof to world leaders as well as Islamabad and see if they take any action. If they are still unwilling to do anything about it even after having solid evidence, then we need to think about a possible military action.

5. Attention to details: There are lots of information coming out now which says that Indian Navy had intelligence reports that were terrorists coming through sea route. As per the arrested terrorist, they realized it and hence went ahead and hijacked an Indian fishing boat and started its journey on it after killing all the members except for captain. That means that Navy forgot the basic lesson in these cases, attention to details. I wonder whether they have a GPS system which tracks the movement of vehicles through Indian Ocean, if yes, I really wonder why they couldn’t even suspect it if they given enough attention to the intelligence report.

6. Education: One of our main objectives should be on how we can improve the quality of education. Last Sunday, I saw an article on Hindu magazine which spoke about the results after talking to 4-8 year old kids from Delhi…They were so polarized and religiously conscious that it makes me frightened to think that how much we are to suffer in the name of religion. Few of my cousins teach in a primary school in one of the muslim dominated areas in Kerala. Things there has gone to such an extend that the muslim kids in 2nd or 3rd std doesn’t want to sit with a hindu boy because their parents have told them they are ‘Kaafirs’. I am sure the reverse should be also happening at other hindu dominated areas and that really shocks me. If we want to stop this carnage at some point of time, this polarization needs to stop and the fact is that the grown-ups of both the religion are to blame to a large extent for the divide. One person who could make a difference is teacher if he is principled but then we cant expect many of them as the profession has lost lot of its past glory. When will our government realize the importance of teachers and Teacher training institutes? It is mighty important to have well trained teachers who could handle these situations and take the kids slowly out of the harms way. During our times, we didn’t even know the religion of our friends for a long long time (except if its very obvious from the name). In fact, I generally used to tell only my first name to other kids and being from a muslim dominated area, and everybody accepted me as another muslim kid. Really in those times people never cared whether you are a hindu or a muslim. I have very very close muslim friends who are shattered with how things have gone for their religion just because of some insane people. I still remember how I used to take fast with them and how their mothers used to treat us. 

During these troubled times I want to end this blog by reciting two lines from Kabir

“Chhaahe Githa Vaachiye, Ya padhiye Khuran, Tera mera Pyaar hi, Har pusthak ka Gyan’'

I salute all the people who fought with terrorists, the commandoes, cops and the hotel staff who displayed amazing bravery to resist them and rescue most of the hostages.