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This is one of the last pics in my camera from US GP 2003. I came back with a couple of souveniers, one of them being deep disgust at seeing desi support for that damned Michael Schumacher rival the Colombian support for Montoya and Brazilian support for “Rubinho”. I think I was probably only one of a handful of non-Ferrari supporters and probably one in a dozen McLaren fans among the desi crowd (definitely over a couple of hundred there) in the Brickyard on Sunday. I even spied some of them shouting “Go Ambassdor” with a fervor that would have charmed the Hindujas. This led me to seriously doubt if they ever have looked beyond the Ferraris in F1 and if it was all because of the “Me Tifosi too” frame of mind, just to feel part of the crowd. Whatever, I had a good time and barring the weather, I am sure nothing would have come between the Iceman and the chequered flag.

Montoya was (in the words of Speed Channel talk show host, Dave Despain) screwed royally by the race stewards and with all their fawning over Ferrari in the recent days, I am sure Montoya and Berger would be, in the hindsight, be grateful that they escaped with just that drive-through penalty. Its all a plot! There was talk (in the commentary box at the Brickyard) that Montoya would have to finish 6th or higher to keep alive his championship chances. But that proved to be erronous. Its all over for this year, Juan!

As for Suzuka, that damned place is the home GP of Bridgestone - a place where the !@#$%#% has been doing good over the last couple of years. But Murphy’s law is very active in F1. Remember Mika San’s infamous last lap blow out with a 45 second lead in Catalunya in 2001? Actually the day after the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix, one of the websites had featured a video of the last lap of the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix. Race leader Nigel Mansell was actually waving to the crowd on the last lap with a comfortable lead, when his car blew. I am still hoping for such an event to happen to Michael at Suzuka. More better would be for a second string driver stalling in the start taking Schumacher Sr. out with him. It ain’t over until the fat lady sings. So am still having my fingers crossed.

I woke up on this morning with a splitting headache. Mebbe its because of this trip I made yesterday. I was just opposite the podium. But would have been happier with a different winner. Whatever…Tremendous experience, all the same.

And I missed this on Saturday here at OU - something that has caused a ruckus here on campus, mainly among the parents who were in town for the Parents Weekend. This was their first campus appearance and someone said - might be their last too.

I recently heard and glanced through an editorial that had appeared in The Hindu about a month ago. It appeared two months after N.Ram’s taking over as Editor in chief of the Hindu Group and announced a re-structuring of The Hindu and its sister publications and sought to inform the readers of its re-orientation. Now about a month after this editorial, comes the first public hint of the change. An article covering a function marking the 125th day of the release of the Vikram flick - Saamy. Is this for the good or the bad? This is but a very tiny indication of change in the newspaper and can by no means construed as representative of the magnitude of such a change. There was, as far as I know, no coverage of the recent fracas involving a couple of out-of-work actresses and their subsequent arrests, but then these events happened much closer to that editorial mentioned about. So will The Hindu go the TOI way? I hope not!Coming back to the event that was covered. Too much praise on each other from Rajini, Surya and Vikram. The King and the heir-apparents. Another poseur - Vijay, was around too, but I think he got invited on stage just out of politeness. That he had just two words (apart from reading out a list of names) to speak did not add any sheen to his presence. Vivek apparently got mentioned in the same breadth as Kamal and Rajini, straight from the mouth of the big boss, KB. Vivek, in case u did not know, is a KB discovery from Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal. Dunno if he did any more with KB though.

Harsha Bhogle, whose comments make so much sense and who never fails to amaze me with his insights informs us about what Andy Flower has to say about Dravid’s batting after becoming the ODI wicket keeper for India.Andy Flower points out that Dravid’s ODI batting average has actually improved a lot since he started keeping wickets for India. He explains this statistic with this reason - Dravid has the opportunity to observe the wicket when he keeps. This helps him with his batting.

But my point is, this can happen only if India decides to chase. A good way to understand if this really happens would be to see data pertaining to India’s chases. If India has been chasing targets for a large percentage of the matches since Dravid has started keeping wickets, then this could be good reason why. Will try to hustle some numbers on this.

Am at work and since I answer phones, I have sometime in my hands right now to do what I want. Since heavy thesis work is out of the question (I will be disturbed at least once every 5 mins), this is the right kinda work to do when I am here at the front office at the OSA. Be back in sometime….

UPDATE

Am back after like an hour since my post. No matter where I search, i cannot find the original peice by Flower. If any of you know how to find it, do tell me. But from the stats I culled off Cricinfo, I just found out that Andy Flower’s surmise cannot be backed up completely by the numbers. Found some other interesting peice of info too.

Interestingly, while Dravid’s batting average has actually indeed gone up from when he was not keeping, this rise cannot be attributed to Andy Flower’s surmise that he reads pitches better after he has kept wickets. Read on to understand why.

Dravid has actually kept wickets for 47 matches in which India has chased targets 21 times (45 percent). Now his performance as keeper is not different whether India has bowled first or not (28 and 29 dismissals respectively). But his batting is actually better when India set a target, with 966 runs @ 50.84 (2 centuries and 5 fifties) with a highest score of 145. When India chased, his stats are, in 21 matches, 575 runs @ 47.91 (1 century and 4 fifties) with a highest score of 109 not out.

So that would mean that his batting actually suffers when India chases. Obviously the fatigue factor. But hear this. India actually won 14 of the 21 matches that we chased with Dravid having to bat after keeping for 50 overs. That’s exactly two thirds of the matches we chased. And we won 14 out of 26 games that we defended targets in. Which is around 54 percent. This indicates that though his batting has suffered, we have actually become better chasers when Dravid is keeping. This would mean a number of things, the major point being that the team is more balanced and also that Dravid’s contributions are helping India win.

So Dravid has started batting better now (an average of 39+ against 32+ when he was not keeping, would indicate this) and since he has proved that he is no slouch behind the stumps, this should a added interest in Ganguly wanting him to keep wickets for the ODIs. But this can’t go long too, in the interests of India’s prospects abroad.

So maybe we could let Ratra/Patel/Naidu keep when we are playing at home with Dravid as a specialist batsman. A couple of changes would have to be made, but we are always better players at home and hence this should not be a problem.

But Rahul, you can do it. The Wall just moves a couple of feet from one half of the match to another. Just believe it. Just Do It!

After this happened sometime ago, this was born in the last couple of days. All the best guys. Maybe me think of something to tell you too. Well, as long as one of us is not a psychopath - a la Darna Mana Hai. Okie, that was a poor joke, but a joke by any count.

When C.K.Prahalad and Gary Hamel proposed the concept of core competency in 1990, little would they have imagined that it would take at least a dozen years or so for their pet concept would have such a bearing on Indian businesses! They should be disappointed that, while a focus on core competency helped companies like Cisco in the even in the early 1990s, it has just slowly started getting prominence in India, with the rise of so many call center operations and R&D hubs in the last year or two. But one area where it still does not play any role what so ever, is Indian cricket.

Australia is just one fine example of a number of teams that have reaped the fruits of the core competency model. Ok, my use of the phrase “core competency” here (in a cricketing sense) can be defined as follows “every player does what he does best. In that sense, in Australia, you shall definitely not see Andy Bichel open the innings in the place of Hayden (though I am sure that the versatile team man that he is he would rather do well). Regardless of how good an ODI opener Gilchrist is, he shall not be asked to open in Test matches. He does what he does best - come at the fall of the 6th wicket and thump the ball around and set/continue the good platform for declaration.

So, as far as Australia is concerned, the openers pick themselves by virtue of several record partnerships and fine individual performances. The numbers three and four are attacking batsmen who can pulverize any attack into submission. Number five is a dour fighter who always takes the fight into the opposition. Number six has always been fighting unsuccessfully for a place into the team and when his chance came, has been a great success. Number seven is a wicket-keeper and perhaps the worlds best all rounder.

The lone spinner (traditionally) has picked himself and when he’s unavailable due to either cricketing reasons or otherwise, his perpetual understudy has performed so well that critics of the master spinner wonder why he keeps his place. The three pace bowling places have been traditionally rotated between two/three permanent fixtures and a pool of 4 to 5 second stringers who have always justified their inclusion making it tough to leave them out when the regulars come back.

On top of this pool, there are at least half a dozen no-shows who make us wonder every time on why they were excluded. Some of them are a regular part of the one day team and would be a part of any other test team barring this one. A couple of them are captains of their state teams as well. Now with a team like this, where at least 10 out of the 11 pick themselves automatically (with two or more claimants for each spot, barring perhaps the wicketkeeper’s), the selection panel can afford to leave the selection of the captain to the last moment, till the 12 has been picked. But can it happen with India? Certainly not!

What happens in India would leave Prahalad and Hamel shaking their head in regret. People are moved about in the order perpetually to “find the right balance”. But wouldn’t balance come by itself if people are picked to do their own job? The latest news is that people like Yuvraj and Sodhi decide that they can be openers and people are prepared to listen to them. Why should a batsman practice bowling out-swingers and why should the tail-ender focus on his footwork against the spinners. This does not go to say that McGrath does not bat in the nets, only that he does not have to do it as seriously as Hayden or Langer.

So here is the “core competency” model for India. Pick two openers from a pool comprising of Das, Jaffer, Ramesh and any other hopeful who has opened for his state team for at least a period of two years now. And if their first class career has not been that long, then at least the hopeful should have been opening for his state for the whole of his first class career. This should be acceptable because with Das, Ramesh and Jaffer having played decently, there is a need for the selectors to back these people now. Number three and four would be Dravid and Sachin who would pick themselves. Numbers five and six should be a choice between Saurav, Laxman and Sehwag. If these three are not satisfactory then people like Kaif, Yuvraj, Bangar, Badani, Sriram etc. should be brought into the pool. The wicket keeper should be chosen from a pool comprising of Ratra, Parthiv Patel and any other wicket-keeper who has kept wickets for at least two seasons for his first class team. Again capability should be the key and hence people like Dasgupta with proven faults should not be chosen just because they can bat. The spinner’s pool would comprise of specialist spinners like Harbhajan, Kumble, Kartik, Sarandeep etc. Pace bowlers shall be Zaheer, Nehra, Balaji, Agarkar, Srinath etc.

There are some eternal questions that will be answered by this model. To summarize, for an away tour, we should pick 4 pace bowlers, 5 batsmen, 3 openers, 2 spinners and 2 wicket keepers on each tour, which leads to a 15 member squad. If it is a home series, we pick three pace-men and 3 spinners. Alternatively, we could pick just two specialist openers (which will not go well with our selectors) and pick an extra batsman. This is true of any international team except India. I am leaving Pakistan out of this equation because in terms of volatility, Pakistan ranks much worse and there is change every second. By the way, did you notice that in this model, I have mentioned neither the word “all rounder” not the word “captain”, which I will now.

The “all rounder” is dead as far as cricket is concerned. But was there ever a description similar to that what the BCCI was always looking for? The word for that kind of “all rounder” is superman. In cricket, there are only men, no supermen. Well, if you exclude the likes of Tendulkar, Lara etc. So why are we still looking for someone who can do a number of jobs. The age is of the “bowling all rounder” and the “batting all rounder” - people who can one job very well and the other without looking stupid at it. So while Bichel would be a bowling all rounder, Bangar will never qualify in that respect.

As for the captain, when the team picks itself by virtue of current form (we can use current form as a yardstick because of the pool of talent that we are dealing with), then the choice of captain is not critical. You need an aggressive (or in-the face, as Saurav has been described) captain only to balance the non-functioning of some of the arms of the team. If the bowling/batting is below par, aggressive moves from the captain could make the opposition vary. This happens a lot with India and hence we need such a captain. But if the team does live up to its individual potential, the team does not need a Saurav ” an introverted Tendulkar would do just fine, but only because the team does what it needs to do without being prompted to do so.

But none of the above has been happening so far. Right from the selection of the team to the performance of some of the players, things have not been going that well (the World Cup performance not withstanding). So India needs a Saurav Ganguly, more for the “in the face” captaincy than for his batting. Speaking of his batting, it has suffered, but his average is still just below 35 and if the other batsmen play to their potential, this would still be enough in the long run. But other than all this, the best reason to let Saurav stay on as captain is the fact that one major rule in anything is that you never disturb a winning combination. And even though we have not won everything in sight, we have actually been doing better than ever. For that reason, Saurav will still be a part of my team, yeah, only till my version of the “core competency model” is adopted.

I am strong backer of dappan koothu! The term dappan koothu probably originates from Dappa Koothu or dance (koothu) accompanied by percussion beats from the back of a dappa (tin or box). For those of you who’s knowledge of Tamil is perfunctory, Dappan Koothu is nothing but the common man’s (read as someone with zero knowledge of classical music) idea of music - the Tamil equivalent of rap. Hence, most other people (incl. my father) dismiss it as trash. But if you want to dance and you lack the moves, then the best music for you would be dappan koothu.I am a great fan of dappan koothu - the versions strongly promoted by the likes of Thenisai Thendral (LOL) Deva. For a period of time during my undergrad years, Deva produced a steady stream of such songs that have probably entered my Koothu Hall of Fame. And there have been several other composers too who have contributed lately to this list - The Raja siblings, Bharathwaj etc.

I am not a good dancer per say, but koothu electrifies me. And this is my koothu Hall of Fame (in no particular order, I should add). If you want to hear these songs, just go to Raaga.com and search for these movies. And be sure to have some empty space in your room when you hear these numbers. I am sure that you are gonna start dancing.

The Dappan-Koothu Hall of Fame.

1. Anna Nagar Andalu - Kaalamellam Kadhal Vaazhga (1997) / Deva / Deva etc.
2. Kasu Mele Kasu Vandhu - Kadhala Kadhala (1998) / Karthik Raja / Udit Narayan, Kamalhaasan
3. White Lagan Kozhi - Priyamudan (1998) / Deva / Deva etc.
4. Kothavalchavadi Lady - Kannedhirae Thondrinal (1998) / Deva/ Deva etc.
5. Vethala potta sokkula - Amaran (1992) / Adithyan/ Karthik*
6. O Podu - Gemini (2002) / Bharathwaj / SPB, Anuradha Sriram (the remix rocks too!)
7. Sarakku Vachirukken - Shah Jahan (2001) / Mani Sharma / Shankar Mahadevan, Radhika
8. Site adippom - April Madhathil (2002) / Yuvan Shankar Raja/ Silambarasan, Karthik
9. Kaathadikkudhu Kaathadikkudhu - Ninaivirukkum Varai (1999) / Deva
10. Laalakku Dol - Sooriyan (1991) / Deva / Mano

* the Tamil actor

Btw this is just my personal hall of fame - songs I enjoy dancing to. My father would not appreciate these songs as much as i love them, but if you share similar sentiments with him, I would actually ask you to see (the video) of one song - the ninth in the list.

This song is actually a fine example of what can be conveyed through these songs. Songs of this kind are quite common in street theatre and this particular song incorporates a sequence from the Ramayana (the kidnapping of Seetha), which literally comes out of the blue.

Anybody who says such songs are trash should see this song to understand the messages that can be possibly expressed through this medium. Maybe then Deva and his ilk would get the respect they deserve. But for that to happen, Deva should probably first lose the “copy cat” tag that has overshadowed even his best work.

Is there a cure for disillusionment? If so, please tell me!

This day’s for all ye privateers and sprogs to learn to speak like Old Davey Jone’s himself. He’s gone to his locker and so tell no tales. But all ye blue blistering barnacles say “Aye Aye Captain” and go fore now. Else ye be walking the plank on aft soon. That after ye face rope’s end. Go starboard now or if ye wish, you’ll feel the hempen halter.Ye bilge rat.. Yo-ho-ho, shiver me timbers! What you staring at? Go fore now.

Ever heard about the Six Degrees of Separation game? The basic premise is any Hollywood celebrity could be linked to Kevin Bacon within 6 steps. Let me try this one. Fairly simple, but just to establish the game - Steven Speilberg to Kevin Baco.This is done off hand with no info, so there might be a shorter connection.

Speilberg directed Tom Hanks in “Catch Me If you can”
Tom Hanks was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon.
So the number of steps is 2.

This can probably be done with any Hollywood celebrity, but Kevin Bacon is typical because of his fairly large number of ensemble movies.

The reason behind this post is that, with the amazing rise in the number of blogs/bloggers, it might just be possible to link two bloggers similarly. What say Quatrainman?