Posts by Vivek:
Chelsea’s road to finals
April 25th, 2012
Roman Abramovich era started from June of 2003. Since the takeover, the club has won eight major trophies – the Premier League 3 times, the FA Cup 3 times (with 2010 providing the club’s first ever league and FA Cup double) and the League Cup twice but never the UEFA Champions’ league. Not winning the Champions’ league has led to sacking of ‘the special one “Jose Mourinho”, Avram Grant, Luiz Scolari and Carlo Ancelotti.
The 2011 -12 season had everything for Chelsea to win back the glory. A £50 million striker named Torres, a successful coach Andre Villas Boas and many other good players like lukaku, Cahill, Romeu were added to the squad.
But nothing went right for the Blues. Firstly, Andre Villas Boas got sacked in less than 9 months and Roberto Di Matteo was appointed as the caretaker. Chelsea was in a desperate position, wanting to be in the top 4 of the league. They had lost an important match against Napoli (3-1) in the Champions’ League and only a miracle could have helped the Blues in surviving a season which was perhaps the worst in the Roman era.
14th March was the day decided by the Gods when the miracle would begin. It was Chelsea vs Napoli at the Stamford Bridge. Blues needed to win the match by a margin of 3 goals and they did exactly the same and surprised the world by winning the match 4-1. The juggernaut continued. They defeated Leicester City to reach the semi final of FA cup and then defeated Benfica for a showdown against the team which is regarded as the best in the history of club football, a team named Barcelona.
They thrashed Tottenham Hotspurs in the FA cup semi final 5-1 and then defeated Barcelona at the Bridge 1-0. Many thought Chelsea were lucky to win the match. And indeed they were but the way they defended, no other team in the world could have done it against Barcelona. 24th June was the day fixed for the return leg. All the pundits and commentators had given literally no hope for Chelsea to reach the finals in Munich.
After all, the match was going to be played on the home turf of world’s best club team. It was going to be really tough for the Blues to come out as winners. It was going to be a night full of drama. This is how the drama unfolded.
Garry Cahill, the man who was responsible alongside John Terry for Chelsea’s defence was forced off as early as in the 6th minute. Then Terry did the unthinkable by kneeing Sanchez and getting a red card. So with 10 men, Chelsea needed yet another miracle to save them from embarrassment. Barca had scored twice in no time and were itching to bombard the Blues. In came first half stoppage time and out of nowhere Ramires scored perhaps the most important goal of his life. The way he scored that goal- a chip over Valdes. Even Messi would have been proud of it.
A pin drop silence could be heard at Camp Nou because everyone knew that if the score remains same, Chelsea would go through on away goal difference. 2nd half started and Drogba was given the role of left back and he literally gave it his all. He did everything possible for the Chelsea defence to regroup but in the process conceded a penalty.
If this penalty had gone in, Chelsea would have been buried right then. And the man responsible for that would have been the great Messi, but this time around Gods were on the side of Drogba as Messi missed the penalty.
Time passed by and the excitement had reached fever pitch. Sanchez’s goal was ruled out for being off side, and then Messi hit the post yet again. In all this drama, there was a player who has been mocked by the whole world as waste of £50 million. The guy quietly came in for Drogba and in came the moment which every Chelsea fan has been waiting for.
A long distance clearance found Torres and with nearly 50 yards to cover and perhaps the miss which he made against Manchester United weighing down somewhere at the back of his mind. El Nino took the ball, and darted towards the goal, went around Valdes and scored the goal which was perhaps worth the £50 million.
Chelsea headed towards the Allianz Arena, Munich. This was perhaps the most special night for a Chelsea fan. Even if Chelsea does not win the final, this night was worth more than that. It was the night when the legacy is made. A night which every Chelsea fan would remember forever.
This is their road to the Finals:
September 13, 2011 - Chelsea 2-0 Leverkusen
28th September, 2011 - Valencia 1-1 Chelsea
19th October, 2011 - Chelsea 5-0 Genk
1st November, 2011 - Genk 1-1 Chelsea
23rd November, 2011 - Leverkusen 2-1 Chelsea
6th December, 2011 - Chelsea 3-0 Valencia
21st February, 2012 - Napoli 3-1 Chelsea
14th March, 2012 - Chelsea 4-1 Napoli
27th March, 2012 - Benfica 0-1 Chelsea
4th April, 2012 - Chelsea 2-1 Benfica
18th April, 2012 - Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona
24th April, 2012 - Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea
The Phoenix Named Ganguly
April 23rd, 2012“Hi, mera naam Sourav Ganguly hai. Bhoole to nahin?” Can anyone forget this ad which Pepsi made when Dada was out of the team? In his own style, Ganguly announced to the world that he would be making a comeback very soon and he did. Try as hard as you might, you can never forget his name. If Sachin has been proclaimed as God, Dravid the Wall, Laxman as the Magician, Dhoni as the Boy of Destiny then Ganguly is the leader – Dadagiri style!
Sourav Ganguly is perhaps the only player who has toyed with his fate, tempting it to turn its back on him, only to rise from the ashes and stun the world with his performances.
Ganguly batting against England at Trent Bridge, 2007
Dubbed as the God on the “off-side”, Dada has always done something that nobody would expect of him under normal circumstances. You throw him out of the team, he would come back and score the highest runs. Give him some talented but directionless cricketers and he would produce a team that would win Test matches anywhere in the world. You tell him he can’t play bouncers, well he would score a hundred on a greentop.
England had leveled an ODI series against India 3-3 and Andrew Flintoff had charged topless around the Wankhede stadium. However, in a fitting reply, a few months later Ganguly was delivering the mother of all cold revenge dishes it took sometime before we could grasp the enormity of the defiance.
Although he played in the era of Sachin and Dravid, he made sure his name was taken with these legends. Unfortunately, people have never missed an opportunity to mock him but he never took it in a negative way but instead he used it as a catalyst to improve his performance. His century at headingly and brisbane are sought to be the ceturies which changed the whole complexion of Indian cricket.
His style of leadership was something nobody had seen before. Full of aggression, giving organised hell back to the oppositiong (whoever the team might be). If we call this the best phase of Indian cricket then Dada is to be awarded credit for it. He made sure Indian cricket was taken seriously worldwide. It can be rightly said that “Dada was the Best captain of the Indian Cricket Team whereas Dhoni is the captain of the Best Indian Cricket Team”.
The present scenario: The other day Delhi Daredevils were making a mockery of Pune Warriors’ bowling attack in the 
IPL. Sehwag was brutal and Kevin Peterson was just getting warmed up. In came the change. Saurav Ganguly gave his cap to the umpire. KP was going to launch a full blooded assault on Dada but on the very first delivery, he uprooted KP’s off stump and went for a 100 meter dash (special mention to the ‘hair-raising’ moment).
May 5, 2012, is going to be The Match between Pune Warriors India and Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens and it’s going to be a cracker of a match not just for cricketing reasons. Dada was not handed the best treatment at SRK’s team when he was the captain of KKR but now in the absence of Yuvraj Singh, he has made yet another comeback as PWI captain and it would be interesting to see if the Prince of Kolkata can take give back some of the fire to his former team owner, Shah Rukh Khan.
Jose Mourinho
April 16th, 2012Off late there have been a lot of rumours about Jose mourinho leaving Real Madrid next season and joining Chelsea again. Well, for all those who follow the English premier league, they know how important this is and if you are a Chelsea fan, you must be hoping for these rumours to be true. However for those of you who do not know much about the game, here is a brief look at the story of a legend called Jose Mourinho.
"I am the European Champion..."
The start:
Jose Mourinho has won two Portuguese league titles, a UEFA cup and Portuguese cup with FC Porto and later they eventually won the most coveted prize in premier league football, the Champions’ League against AS Monaco. That moment brought him to the world stage.
The special one:
Fresh off a now-legendary Champions League victory, Mourinho was introduced as Chelsea’s new manager in the June of 2004. Known for his extrovert, loud-mouth persona, Mourinho didn’t disappoint when he audaciously proclaimed: “I’m not a defender of old or new football managers. I believe in good ones and bad ones, those that achieve success and those that don’t. Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m a European champion and I think I’m a Special One.” During the league cup final of 2005 against Liverpool. Chelsea were trailing by one goal and thanks to Steven Gerrard’s own goal, scores were leveled. But that was not the high point of the match. It was yet again Mourinho who just stole the limelight. He was having a torrid time in the final as Liverpool fans were taunting him but just as the score levelled, he made a finger-on-the-lips hushing gesture to the crowd. Although he was sent off from the pitch for this, the Blues won their first title, which he had to watch on television.
The special gesture:
He had won two back to back titles for Chelsea but when Chelsea won its second consecutive Premier League title in 2006, Jose Mourinho repaid the club’s fans for their support — in a very, very big way. Upon being handed his winner’s medal, Mourinho tossed it into the crowd, and did the same with a replacement medal he was given just moments later. He later said: “I kept a Premiership one for myself. I have one from the last season, it’s the same medal, and I only want one. I cannot keep everything I have.” However, due to his outspoken nature and his frequency not matching with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, he had to leave. It was perhaps the most emotional moment for me and all other Blues supporters to see the special one leaving Stamford Bridge.
The legend continues: he then went to Inter Milan and once again did something which no done had done before – winning a treble. Later in 2010, he became the coach of Real Madrid. It’s just here that he has been unable to replicate his success story for a reason called Barcelona. The rivalry between Barca and Real is so titanic that even a legend like Mourinho could not do much. But it still looks like they would be winning the La liga and are strong contenders for the Champion’s League too.
The probable return:
On other hand, Chelsea’s owner’s nature has remained the same. Case in point- sacking Andre Villas Boas. This guy had a flawless CV before joining the Blues but things did not go well for him and he became the 7th causality of the Abramovich era. On other hand our very own special one has been doing things which have made him phenomenon. It has been found out that Roman Abramovich has rebuilt his friendship with Mourinho and this made fans go into overdrive as they just want to see him at the Bridge again. Mourinho could join the Blues once more and needless to say, if and when he does, he will rewrite history.
Formula 1 begins again
March 18th, 2012As the formula 1 season has started already, it marks for a special occasion in formula 1 history, as there will be record 6 world champions on the grid. This is going to be an epic season as its time when the iceman, Kimi Raikkonen would return after 2 years and Michael Schumacher would try to show why he has been hailed as the best in the history of formula 1. And players like Massa would be trying to remain in the contention.
Sebastian Vettel
Out of the six champions, it will be current world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red bull team who would once again be the fav to win the title for third consecutive season. He just dominated the last season. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button of Mclaren Mercedes are the only ones who could give some fight to the red bull team.
Then comes the Ferrari team, Ferrari has been synonymous to winning races. They have two time world champion Fernando Alonso. To challenge this mighty team, Lotus Renault shocked the world when they announced that Kimi Raikkonen would be racing for them. Well, one thing is for sure, when its Kimi, no matter what car it is, it will be fast, very fast.
Let’s now talk about our own team, Sahara Force India. Well Vijay Malaya might not be able to fly high with kingfisher but his team Sahara Force India has all the ingredients to race high. They have a very good car which has been giving them great results in practice. And they have Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg in their ranks who have shown in the past that they can actually compete with likes of Hamilton and Vettle.
Sahara Force India
India’s Narain Karthikeyan will be back with HRT but will only get to drive the car during the first practice session in Melbourne, like last year.
So, if see the present cars and the team. For me it will be once again a fight between Vettel and Hamilton. There might be few races where the likes of Schumacher gets a podium finish or even our very own Sahara Force India be able to finish in top 5 or the Iceman might just strike some thunderbolts. But it would be very difficult for them to chase down Vettel and Hamilton.
The best part would be to see the young guns like Vettel and Hamilton fighting it out with the experience of Schumacher and Raikkonen, while players like Hulkenberg and di resta would be trying to make name for them.
Let the race begin!
The Phenomenon, The master, The Centurion
March 16th, 2012Suresh Raina would be remembered as the player who was there at the crease and Shakib Al Hasan would be remembered as the bowler who bowled that magical delivery when Sachin scored this century of centuries. Yes! I was lucky to be alive when this happened. It has been a great journey growing up with Sachin’s centuries. After Ganguly and Dravid retiring, Sachin is the only reason why my generation watches cricket. We don’t watch it for Virat Kohli’s antics or Gambhir’s flamboyance. We still watch it for Sachin’s batting. There is something which still makes our heart pump when Sachin comes on the crease, takes stance and starts punching the ball all around the park.
The Phenomenon-
The bat talks
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is a phenomenon. He has done something for the Indian cricket that no one has done till now and perhaps would ever be able to do. Such is the impact of his game that nobody is looking at the budget any more. In the last year, more than Sachin, we had become obsessed with his 100th century. We had forgotten what he has done till now can not be matched. The numerous occasions when Sachin’s wicket meant the entire match. That psychological edge which our team had just because Sachin Tendulkar was playing the match. Those amazing punches through covers. The lofted sixes. The heroics in sharjah. The double century in ODI. If we start, there will be no end to it. To hell with his detractors. The number of games Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar won for India single handedly cannot be matched.
The Master-
People call him ‘The Master Blaster’. I agree. But for me, Sachin is a far greater master. He is a living example of how to conquer your mind over your body. Give me one example of a cricketer whose career spans more than two decades and is still going strong. I don’t remember Sachin being drawn into verbal duels or ego wars on field. No matter how sharp the barb may be from the opposition, like a monk on a mission, he has always chosen to answer with his bat. Many a times, he can be seen grooming youngsters in the nets. Self restraint, humility and pride, they all are the virtues found in abundance in this man.
Can you forget 1996 world cup?
The conqueror-
After much deliberation, we just thought of giving you a list of all his centuries. He won most of the matches for us, in the others he made sure he conquered a billion hearts. Let’s see how many matches do you remember.
1) 119* vs ENG-Manchester- 14 August 1990-Draw-Test
2) 148* vs AUS-Sydney-6 January 1992-Draw-Test
3) 114 vs AUS-Perth-3 February 1992-Lost-Test
4) 111 vs SA-Johannesburg -28 November 1992-Draw-Test
5) 165 vs ENG-Chennai-12 February 1993-Won-Test
6) 104* vs SL-Colombo-31 July 1993-Won-Test
7) 142 vs SL-Lucknow-19 January 1994-Won-Test
8 ) 110 vs AUS-Colombo-Sep tember 9, 1994-Won-ODI
9) 115 vs NZ-Vadodara-Oct ober 28, 1994-Won-ODI
10) 105 vs WI-Jaipur-Novem ber 11, 1994-Won-ODI
11) 179 vs WI-Nagpur-2 December 1994-Draw-Test
12) 112* vs SL-Sharjah-Apri l 9, 1995-Won-ODI
13) 127* vs KEN-Cuttack-Feb ruary 18, 1996-Won-ODI
14) 137 vs SL-New Delhi-March 2, 1996-Lost-ODI
15) 100 vs PAK-Singapore-A pril 5, 1996-Lost-ODI
16) 118 vs PAK-Sharjah-Apr il 15, 1996-Won-ODI
17) 122 vs ENG-Birmingham- 8 June 1996-Lost-Test
18) 177 vs ENG-Nottingham- 5 July 1996-Draw-Test
19) 110# vs SL-Colombo-Augu st 28, 1996-Lost-ODI
20) 114# vs SA-Mumbai-Decem ber 14, 1996-Won-ODI
21) 169# vs SA-Cape Town-4 January 1997-Lost-Test
22) 104# vs ZIM-Benoni-Febr uary 9, 1997-Won-ODI
23) 117# vs NZ-Bangalore-Ma y 14, 1997-Won-ODI
24) 143# vs SL-Colombo-3 August 1997-Draw-Test
25) 139# vs SL-Colombo-11 August 1997-Draw-Test
26) 148# vs SL-Mumbai-4 December 1997-Draw-Test
27) 155* vs AUS-Chennai-9 March 1998-Test
28) 177 vs AUS-Bangalore-2 6 March 1998-Lost-Test
29) 100 vs AUS-Kanpur-Apri l 7, 1998-Won-ODI
30) 143 vs AUS-Sharjah-Apr il 22, 1998-Lost-ODI
31) 134 vs AUS-Sharjah-Apr il 24, 1998-Won-ODI
32) 100* vs KEN-Kolkata-May 31, 1998-Won-ODI
33) 128 vs SL-Colombo-July 7, 1998-Won-ODI
34) 127* vs ZIM-Bulawayo-Se ptember 26, 1998-Won-ODI
35) 141 vs AUS-Dhaka-Octob er 28, 1998-Won-ODI
36) 118* vs ZIM-Sharjah-Nov ember 8, 1998-Won-ODI
37) 124* vs ZIM-Sharjah-Nov ember 13, 1998-Won-ODI
38) 113 vs NZ-Wellington-2 9 December 1998-Lost-Test
39) 136 vs PAK-Chennai-31 January 1999-Lost-Test
40) 124* vs SL-Colombo-28 February 1999-Draw-Test
41) 140* vs KEN-Bristol-May 23, 1999-Won-ODI
42) 120# vs SL-Colombo-Augu st 29, 1999-Won-ODI
43) 126*# vs NZ-Mohali-13 October 1999-Test
44) 217# vs NZ-Ahmedabad-30 October 1999-Draw-Test
45) 186*# vs NZ-Hyderabad-No vember 8, 1999-Won-ODI
46) 116# vs AUS-Melbourne-2 8 December 1999-Lost-Test
47) 122 vs SA-Vadodara-Mar ch 17, 2000-Won-ODI
48) 101 vs SL-Sharjah-Octo ber 20, 2000-Lost-ODI
49) 122 vs ZIM-New Delhi-21 November 2000-Won-Test
50) 201* vs ZIM-Nagpur-26 November 2000-Draw-Test
51) 146 vs ZIM-Jodhpur-Dec ember 8, 2000-Lost-ODI
52) 126 vs AUS-Chennai-20 March 2001-Won-Test
53) 139 vs AUS-Indore-Marc h 31, 2001-Won-ODI
54) 127* vs WI-Harare-July 4, 2001-Won-ODI
55) 101 vs SA-Johannesburg -October 5, 2001-Lost-ODI
56) 146 vs KEN-Paarl-October 24, 2001-Won-ODI
57) 155 vs SA-Bloemfontein -3 November 2001-Lost-Test
58) 103 vs ENG-Ahmedabad-1 3 December 2001-Draw-Test
59) 176 vs ZIM-Nagpur-24 February 2002-Won-Test
60) 117 vs WI-Port of Spain-20 April 2002-Won-Test
61) 105* vs ENG-Chester-le- Street-July 4, 2002-N/R-ODI
62) 113 vs SL-Bristol-July 11, 2002-Won-ODI
63) 193 vs ENG-Leeds-23 August 2002-Won-Test
64) 176 vs WI-Kolkata-3 November 2002-Draw-Test
65) 152 vs NAMI-Pietermari tzburg-February 23, 2003-Won-ODI
66) 100 vs AUS-Gwalior-Oct ober 26, 2003-Won-ODI
67) 102 vs NZ-Hyderabad-No vember 15, 2003-Won-ODI
68) 241* vs AUS-Sydney-4 January 2004-Draw-Test
69) 141 vs PAK-Rawalpindi- March 16, 2004-Lost-ODI
70) 194* vs PAK-Multan-29 March 2004-Won-Test
71) 248* vs BAN-Dhaka-12 December 2004-Won-Test
72) 123 vs PAK-Ahmedabad-A pril 12, 2005-Lost-ODI
73) 109 vs SL-New Delhi-22 December 2005-Won-Test
74) 100 vs PAK-Peshawar-Fe bruary 6, 2006-Lost-ODI
75) 141* vs WI-Kuala Lumpur-Septembe r 14, 2006-Lost-ODI
76) 100* vs WI-Vadodara-Jan uary 31, 2007-Won-ODI
77) 101 vs BAN-Chittagong- 19 May 2007-Draw-Test
78) 122* vs BAN-Mirpur-26 May 2007-Won-Test
79) 154* vs AUS-Sydney-4 January 2008-Lost-Test
80) 153 vs AUS-Adelaide-25 January 2008-Draw-Test
81) 117* vs AUS-Sydney-Marc h 2, 2008-Won-ODI
82) 109 vs AUS-Nagpur-6 November 2008-Won-Test
83) 103* vs ENG-Chennai-15 December 2008-Won-Test
84) 163* vs NZ-Christchurch -March 8, 2009-Won-ODI
85) 160 vs NZ-Hamilton-20 March 2009-Won-Test
86) 138 vs SL-Colombo-Sept ember 14, 2009-Won-ODI
87) 175 vs AUS-Hyderabad-N ovember 5, 2009-Lost-ODI
88) 100* vs SL-Ahmedabad-20 November 2009-Draw-Test
89) 105* vs BAN-Chittagong- 18 January 2010-Won-Test
90) 143 vs BAN-Mirpur-25 January 2010-Won-Test
91) 100 vs SA-Nagpur-9 February 2010-Lost-Test
92) 106 vs SA-Kolkata-15 February 2010-Won-Test
93) 200* vs SA-Gwalior-Febr uary 24, 2010-Won-ODI
94) 203 vs SL-Colombo-28 July 2010-Draw-Test
95) 214 vs AUS-Bangalore-1 1 October 2010-Won-Test
96) 111* vs SA-Centurion-19 December 2010-Lost-Test
97) 146 vs SA-Cape Town-4 January 2011-Draw-Test
98) 120 vs ENG-Bangalore-F ebruary 27, 2011-Tied-ODI
99) 111 vs SA-Nagpur-March 12, 2011-Lost-ODI
100* vs BAN-Mirpur-16 March,2012- (ODI)
Anyways it’s good for the game that he scored his 100th century today. People can concentrate on other important work now like the game itself. It has been a great day Sachin. We were all waiting for this. Just that you know, we waited 1 year and 4 days for you to strike this century. Don’t stop now, no matter what they say.
[P.S- The list of centuries is provided by a few fans on facebook.]
Hockey India
February 27th, 2012[Editor's Note :- We, at Campusghanta, love sports. Current Indian victory over France in hockey has swelled our hearts with joy for some unknown reason. Maybe because it is one sport where we used to be the undisputed champs for decades till government apathy took it's toll or maybe because we needed a break from BCCI's lets-make-money-all-year crazy schedule. Khel-kood visheshagya Vivek Tiwary writes how it was.]
Well well well.. The 8 times Olympic winners are finally back where they truly belong. Beating France 8-1, did not just prove that India was the better team and they truly belong in the Olympics. It also made sure we change our viewpoint of only supporting and talking about cricket and bollywood. There are many things which should get their due importance and one of them is Indian Hockey. The Indian women hockey team had agonizingly lost against South Africa and missed their flight for the Olympics but nobody even got to know about their valiant fight. It’s high time we support them too. This also proves that if due importance is given, it whould not always be just the dhoni’s and the SRK’s but it can be the the Sandeep Singhs’ and the Lakra’s too.
What an atmosphere it was at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium. The atmosphere was explosive and people were excited. Those unstoppable drag flicks of Sandeep were magnificent. The exemplary passing and counter attacks made it a scene to watch time and again. The songs which were played after every goal scored were making the atmosphere even more intense.
“Lakshya ko har haal me paana hai”
It was a do or die situation for the team. And winning in such an emphatic way showed that Indian hockey still has its spine erect and if given proper support, it will bring us lots of laurels. People present at the stadium cheered the boys up and showed that if they kept performing well, crowd will always be behind them.
Best part was, for the first time it was hockey winning which was trending rather cricket losing. Believe it or not, this win will make sure that cricket get less criticism from the media for sometime about which, I am sure, we all are fed up now. More on that later. Right now it’s the Sandeepmania which has gripped the nation. I am going off to bed thinking what will happen if this team goes on to win the gold at the Olympics.
Dhoni – From Start to Finish
February 14th, 2012Richie Benaud in the commentary box “70 runs to win 6 overs to go with 3 wickets in hand. And yet again the savior is standing there, Michael Bevan.”
For many years it has been said that Bevan is and will always be the best finisher of matches in cricketing history. However, they forget that India has an answer for that now, in the form of its captain- Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Mind it!
Gone are the days when the loss of Sachin’s wicket would prompt us all to switch off our televisions, dejected and thinking that no one can win us the match. But now even if the little master is not in the playing eleven, even if he does not score a century, we still have someone to take us through the entire match and ensure a victorious finish.
The best example of this is the 2011 World Cup final: Sehwag and Sachin had lost their wickets already. India was chasing. Kohli lost his wicket too and the situation had become very intense. A slightly controversial decision ensued – instead of Yuvraj, who was the in-form batsman, Dhoni decided to step in and together with Gautam Gambhir made sure India won the match.
Now in Adelaide too, against Australia, the situation was quite similar and yet again the two players who came up to the team’s rescue were Gautam Gambhir (quite an indispensable player himself) and Dhoni. But it was Dhoni’s ideology of taking calculated risks which made sure that India wins.
The best thing about Dhoni is the way he accepts his mistake if the job is not done. Today he publicly said that it was his fault in gambhir’s run-out which in fact made the whole difference.
Experts and the commentators may say that he has lost his midas touch. But they did not know that no matter what the stats may say when its MSD, even the greatest gamblers put their bets off because they know out there is no ordinary person who is playing, he is someone who just takes those gambles and make sure he hits the jackpot time after time after time.
People may say that today’s match script is not at all in favor of India and then suddenly he just decides to flip the script and takes a pass on yelling uncle and suddenly as the old saying goes “we got ourselves a game”
All about IPL
February 5th, 2012Indian Controversy league is back!
Players getting auctioned transferred from one team to other like cattle while audience cheers on. All this has been going on since a long time in football (English premier league, Spanish league), NBA, NFL, NHL etc. But people in India had never witnessed such thing. Since the day lalit modi, the man behind IPL, developed this idea of auctioning players on lines of EPL, the idea has always been a debatable one.
It all started in 2008. Auction was shown live on TV and it was fascinating to see players getting crores to play for a particular team. Set Max took away all the TRPs by showing the league.
2009, due to general election coinciding with the IPL, and due to security concerns the venue was shifted to South Africa. Again it was a massive hit.
2010, it opened with auction of players. A total of 66 players were for offer but only 11 were sold. The main controversies this time were no less. On one hand, no franchise took any of the Pakistan players and it became a national debate again, and on the other hand, due to telengana issue, Hyderabad had to choose other venue to play their home games. Also, it was for the first time a sporting event was telecasted on You tube.
2011, two new teams, Pune Warriors and Kochi Tuskers were added. The bid around the tuskers turned controversial and it led to the resignation of Shashi Tharoor. BCCI also removed Lalit Modi from IPL chairmanship. Rajasthan royals franchisee was terminated. A whole lot of mockery was made of Saurav Ganguly who was rejected by every team saying he was too old to fit into the format, later Pune took the fighting warrior into their team. Things soon got cleared and tournament was once again a massive hit.
2012
The fifth nilaami (auction) of players has taken place. Each franchisee could spend up to 2 million dollars and only about 25-30 players will be taken from a pool of nearly 144 players. So, hold on to your skirts ladies, its IPL, there has to be one controversy or the other added to it. And you we have all of them for you.
Controversy 1: Kochi tuskers
The franchise got disqualified for nonpayment of bank-guarantee. All players have to get nilaam yet again. We are telling you this just to make sure you don’t think that we are some dumb ass commenting on anything or everything we like to.
Controversy 2: Vinay kumar
Ok first of all this guy bowls at such breakneck speeds that before the ball reaches other end, Sehwag’s innings gets over. Seeing him sold and seeing James Anderson going unsold, is like looking at the mockery of cricketing talent, live.
Controversy 3: Sahara India
Sahara has just pulled the plug and it seems Pune Warriors would not take any further part in the IPL. The one–sided emotional relationship with the BCCI could not be dragged further. And now along with Kochi tusker players, the likes of Saurav Ganguly are also up for grabs.
Controversy 4: Yuvraj Singh
Entire nation is in shock. Yuvraj Singh’s physio has revealed that he has cancer and is getting treated in US right now. 
While few of us are still not sure about the authenticity of the news, others are already taking things in their strides. ”It is a rare tumour and is cancerous but it has been detected in stage one itself. Doctors had to decide whether to continue medication or go for chemotherapy but since parts of the tumour are just above the artery of his heart, there was a danger that while running it could burst. But it is 100 per cent curable,” physio said. Lets see what effect does this have on IPL and it’s proceedings.
These might be the topics which will be discussed by a whole lot of experts and it would be interesting to see how all the events turn up. It’s time for likes of India TV to bring on their baba’s and predict the future of IPL. Or shall we say ICL- Indian controversy league!
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