SRT - what next?

Turns 40 in less than a month. No Test century in over two years. Even His divine status as 'GOD' has been stolen. Yet despite what Ram Guha feels, retirement is Sachin's decision and his decision alone.

This blog is about what our selectors must do. Yes, free advise to those lucky blokes who get paid close to a crore/year to sit down a few times and select the Indian team.

Here it is: Let Sachin know that He is not in their future plans but they do not have the (for lack of a better word) 'balls' to sack Him. At the same time, they would like Him to continue as a mentor to the team. And if He does not retire select a team of 16+1 to South Africa with Sachin Tendulkar as player cum batting coach & mentor. Thereby passing the buck to the supreme power of Indian cricket - Sir Jadeja Dhoni. Well, make it 16+2, Add Zaheer as well as player cum bowling coach & mentor for good measure.

I am actually quite serious about the suggestion. Here are four reasons why:

A. I don't want SRT to follow his predecessors into the commentary box. While Saurav has done well, VVS and Rahul Dravid both seem out of their comfort one. I would rather see these two heros write articles, books and give talks at MCC, etc - Just my personal opinion. Same with Sachin.

B. India would do well to retain the services of Sachin Tedulkar post retirement. Especially His presence in the dressing room.

C. Sachin and Zaheer will be less disruptive figures and will greatly help to ease the youngsters in. Especially when compared to say Sunny G or Kapil D. Moreover they already have an existing relation & command respect from most 'seniors' unlike say Venky Prasad who was the bowling coach earlier.

D. Both will enjoy the position which has no clear responsibility. Well that's the kind of thing we Indians love isn't it. If it goes right, everyone praises the duo and if it goes wrong sack Duncan Fletcher.

Lance Armstrong - My thoughts

From Wikipedia on the Tour de France:

The New York Times said the “Tour de France is arguably the most physiologically demanding of athletic events.” The effort was compared to “running a marathon several days a week for nearly three weeks”, while the total elevation of the climbs was compared to “climbing three Everests.”

My love for cycling as a sport began in 2003. Enamored by the beauty of the French countryside & the intrigue surrounding the success of Lance Armstrong, I started watching the Tour de France back then. At first it was about understanding and getting to love the sport. But pretty soon I realized that doping is a major part of professional Cycling – especially as the sport tests the limit of human endurance.

Having read some of the earlier rumors, I wasn't naive to believe that Lance Armstrong didn't take performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), but I thought that if he took it, everyone else took it too.

The reason then why I watched the sport was Lance Armstrong – To see whether he can win the tour again. and again. and again. Doping was not the reason why Lance Armstrong won those seven tours. Everyone doped – He won it because of the tactics and the strategies he employed, the way he got the entire team to work for him and how he achieved his goal every single year (A bit like Schumacher and Ferrari), his individual work ethic and his single minded determination to succeed. Those were the differentiators. At least, that is what I believed then.

Soon after Lance Armstrong retired in 2005, I found the 2006 edition very difficult to watch. Without a compelling enough story to hook me back into the sport, I haven’t seen the tour since.

Since then I have been following the sport offline – especially as the Lance Armstrong saga rolled on. Despite mounting pressure Lance continued to live in denial and when the weight of evidence that USADA gathered became too much, he cracked. He decided not to contest the USADA charges, (while still proclaiming innocence) meaning USADA stripped him of his seven titles.

This is what the USADA had to say:

“Achievements of USPS/Discovery Channel pro cycling team accomplished through the most sophisticated, professional and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”

The volume of evidence is too much to ignore and cycling's worst kept secret is out - That Lance Armstrong cheated. 

Having read Tyler Hamilton’s Secret Race and the USADA investigation I believe that Lance is a cheat but the USADA report (probably to justify its spend) and the subsequent media trial (led by ex-dopers) has gloriously magnified the extent of Lance's crimes. 

First objection: the words “Most sophisticated and professional”

Having read the critical parts of the USADA report, while it is certain that Lance Armstrong doped, it amazes me as to how they could conclude that his doping programme was the most “sophisticated” or even the most “professional” one. I didn’t see any comparison of Lance Armstrong’s programme with Team Telekom’s Jan Ullrich (Also a drug cheat who finished 2^nd behind Lance in most tours) or say Team CSC’s Ivan Basso (Yes, another drug cheat who finished second in 2005, Lance Armstrong’s last tour win) or for that matter any random racer in any random team!

You either doped or you didn't. Sadly everyone (A generalization you have to make if you have read Tyler Hamilton’s The Secret race) in that era doped including Lance Armstrong.

I don’t see any proof in the reports to say that Lance Armstrong doped “more” than say Jan Ullrich. Infact there was only 7 mentions of Jan Ullrich in the USADA report and none of them have anything to do with doping. How then is Lance Armstrong’s doping the most sophisticated or most professional?

Second objection: the most one sided report ever

Is Lance Armstong as he claims, a victim of this witch-hunt as a part of a one sided investigation carried out by USADA? I am not sure about the witch hunt - If Lance Armstrong didn't admit to doping someone had to go after him to get to the truth. But what the USADA has come out with is cetainly a one-sided truth. The section on the 1999 tour (about 20 pages long) begins with

“Seven (7) eyewitnesses from the 1999 U.S. Postal Service cycling team have provided testimony to USADA regarding doping on the team in 1999.”

Yet when you read the near 20 page section you feel it has been picked almost entirely from Tyler Hamilton’s The Secret Race. Each and every alleged crime that Lance Armstrong is guilty of has been described in the book.

For me it is very clear that USADA have considered what Hamilton is saying as the gospel truth and have made absolutely no effort in conducting a fair investigation. The entire report is based from two or three witnesses at the most.

Also there has been no effort to uncover doping in cycling in general. As I have said before I would like to know how Lance’s programme compared to Ullrich’s programme.

Third objection: Media trying to paint Lance as the greatest evil. That Hamilton, Landis et al are mere victims in the game played by Lance.

Another thing that pained me is the attempt by the USADA report and the media coverage to paint "scumbags" likes of Hamilton, Landis and David Millar as "heroes" who are telling their story to clean up the sport.

To quote Hamilton, he took everything – EPO, Blood transfusion, testosterone and all other illegal substances. Yet he lost - Even in 2003 when he was leading a different team. And then Hamilton got busted not once but twice. Where was his moral high ground when he was doping for all those years he raced and also those years he lived in denial?

Drug cheats like Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton have seen an opportunity to make money “by coming clean” on the whole doping affair. That’s all they are – opportunistic cheats. It pains me to see Lance Armstrong’s name cancelled out in the pages below while at the same time you see names like Tyler Hamilton (4^th in 2003) and Floyd Landis (9^th in 2005) still there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Tour_de_France

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Tour_de_France

While everyone cheated, Lance Armstrong won. I will stick to what I originally believed about the reasons for Armstrong's success. 

Lance Armstrong took performance enhancing drugs. Nothing less. Nothing more. 

Transfer Window - My thoughts

The Real Madrid Perspective

Luka Modric: He was ‘the’ player Real Madrid were after all transfer season. I am not the greatest fan of Modic and would have preferred either Cazorla for half that amount or even Hazard who has had an excellent start to his Chelsea career, but Modric it is. Mourinho has done very well in his two seasons at Bernabeu – So when he says he has a plan, we trust him. Welcome to Bernabeu, Luca! Here’s a superb analysis on what that plan could be - http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/08/30/modric-and-song-arrivals-indicate-barcelona-and-real-are-thinking-about-each-others-style/

Defensive Midfield: Mourinho prefers to play two pivots with Alonso and Khedira being his first choice players last season. Also, last year he had a problem of plenty on the bench with four backup players. But look what happened - Sahin left on loan, Granero left for QPR, Lass went to Anzhi and Altintop to Galatasaray. While there is delight to see La$$ and Altintop leave, losing Granero is a big disappointment. The four of them have been replaced by just one player – Michael Essien, on loan! Would have loved to keep Grenero, but I guess we will be fine in this department. There is the January window in case of any problems with squad depth.

Right Back: This is the only position where Real Madrid could/should have done better. Selling Dani Carvajal, who was seen as an obvious replacement to Arbeloa, to Bayer Leverkusen for 5M Euros was disappointing. Also disappointing was that Madrid did not buy any replacement – Unless Essien was bought in to play in that role, I am not sure. Dani though could be back in Madrid in the next two years, as we have a buyback clause.

Final thoughts: The nucleolus of the squad remains the same. Modric has arrived to add more options in attack. Despite selling players worth as much as 40 million Euros, none of them were first teamers. Squad rotation has never been a part of Mourinho’s game plan, so trimming the wage bill is welcome.

Overall rate it 8/10 – with losing Granero and Carvajal obvious disappointments. One of those rare summers where we make a net profit is hugely welcome J

The Rest

• Man City have signed 50 million pounds of rubbish. Chelsea have signed OK, but not enough to compete for the title, especially under Di Matteo. United have bought the premier league title for 24 million pounds, although City will run them close.
• Arsenal is one of those clubs most neutrals want to see do well. They were really lucky (so were Chelsea) to finish in the Champions League positions. But instead of rebuilding they sold their best two players again and bought just one player worthy of wearing their shirt – Cazorla. They probably still might have enough to pip the 4th spot, but as Liverpool is finding out it is much easier to stay in the top 4 then to get back from a position outside. Apart from the Champions League money involved, attracting players even if you have the money in the bank becomes very tough without CL football. I am still predicting 4th for Arsenal, but sadly the club is all about making more insane profits for its owners, not about winning trophies.
• Barcelona for all that La Masia greatness they proclaim, continued to outspend Real Madrid. Under the Jose Morinho era, Real Madrid have spent less than both Barcelona and Manchester United. Fact. 

A Podcast Experiment

India ended its 'best ever' Olympics last Sunday when our flag bearer Sushil Kumar provided the silver lining with a brilliant performance on the wrestling mat. While the media was going Jai ho (well everyone except Karan Thapar) about this 6 medal haul, few of us were debating it on Twitter. Those few of us were Karthik Gadiyar, Nishant Kumar and I from the IIM Indore batch of '08.

And then Boom! An idea to do a podcast. All said yes. Shared a brief rundown and decided to meet at 8PM on the Saturday. Best part was that we were all online on Skype by 7:55 PM!

So here it goes:

http://soundcloud.com/isport08/i-sport08-podcast-1-olympics

More than anything, it was great fun. Probably missed few other sports 'regulars' from our batch and also the Maggi from night canteen I guess!

Music & Editing Credits goes to KCG.

You can follow them here:

• KCG: @kcgadiyar  & http://irreverentlytimed.com
• Nishant: @NishantSKumar & http://www.nishantzworld.blogspot.com/ 

Hopefully we will be back much better next time!

"Boring" Spain

Flashback 2008. Spain's squad of 23 in Euro 2008 had only 5 players from RM (2) & Barca (3). Spain played with 2 strikers throughout the tournament. Their 3-0 semi finals victory over an inspired Russian team was brilliant! That was the Spanish style we all loved.  

Another stat from those brilliant guys at Opta. Spain's possession during Euro 2008: 56.6%; WC 2010: 65.2%; Euro 2012: 68.2%! Improvement? More possession - Yes. But, also fewer goals. Less fun.

Football in Spain has always been based on the passing game, but now this passing game is used to put a sleeper hold on the opposition players (and the fans) before they finally score in the 85th minute (Which you will realise 30 minutes later when you wake up after having dozed off on the chair). While this passing style is the reason why I enjoy La liga, 'death by Tiki Taka' (which is how I describe the current Barcelona and Spanish style) is painfully boring.

I know it takes top players (not just 1-2, but the entire team) to execute this strategy and Spain has those players. But these extremely talented players can also go and thrash Portugal 4-1 if they play the right way. 

The problem is that it looks like VDB will continue to remain the coach of Spain. If Spain win the Euros, his 4-6-0 formation will become the template for World Cup 2014 as well. Ouch!

Hence for the love of football, I am supporting Portugal. Would love to see this happen again, but this time hopefully the goal will stand! C'mon Ronaldo!! 

Spain - Loss would have been better!

Few thoughts on Spain post the Italy game.

1. Tiki Taka: Spain and Barcelona are considered the template for everything that is good about football. But where are the goals? 1000 passes and 85% possession without creating a decent chance is more boring to watch than a team parking the bus. To quote Jose Mourinho post game "I don't like it when a team keeps possession just for the sake of it. They should play to score."

2. Constant complaining: Another Barcelona trait I hate. VDB, Xavi and Fabregas all came out blaming the pitch and the fact that it was not watered prior to the game. Pathetic.

3. The result: With Torres flopping, VDB can go back and say Fabregas as false 9 worked. Look at it this way, Spain had 1 chance in 75 minutes that Fabregas played and 2 in 15 minutes that Torres played. Spain were infinitely more good to watch with Jesus Navas on the wings and Torres up front. That Torres failed to convert is a different story. Time for Negredo to get his chance. Or Llorente. Or even Pedro. We need a striker please. Don't kill us with anti football. For this reason alone, a loss I think would have been a better wake up call.

4. What Next for Spain? They will defeat Croatia and Ireland and qualify from the group stages, but the lack of quality up front will be exposed if they play France in the quarter finals. 

5. I was hoping that VDB gets back to coaching Madrid after 2-3 years of Jose Mourinho. Now I am not so sure.

Prediction for Euro 2012

With just one day to go & the entire nation talking football (or at least as per the Neo Sports ad), here is me in Paul-the-octopus mode with the predictions for all teams in Euro 2012.

Simply put,

Team I support - Spain.

Team that should win the tournament - Germany

Team that will win the tournament - England

< Now waiting while you gather yourselves after the laugh and all that rolling on the floor >

Top scorer - Benzema (4 Goals)

Finals MVP - Joe Hart

Tournament MVP - Ozil

Predicting that England win will take some justification isn’t it? Here it goes...

England:  

Well, where do I start? Here is a squad which draws 6 of its players from a side placed 8th in its own league, Liverpool! Its best player is suspended for the first two games. And this whole Rio Ferdinand issue has taken spotlight away from the fact that this squad is just not good enough to compete, let alone win.

But when has consistent failure ever dampened the spirit/expectations of a British sports fan? BBC Sports' Phil McNulty's blog title read "England win wasn't pretty ... but neither were the Greeks" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/2012/06/england_win_wasnt_pretty_but_n.html). Obviously implying England is going to win the tournament via 1-0 results in the knockout phase! 

But when Chelsea could do it, why not England? Isn't John Terry destined to lift the European prize before his trial? Who needs quality if you have luck? So there goes my crazy prediction for this European Championship - England for the win!!

Where they should finish: 4th in their group. 

Where they will finish: Winners

(Funny Fact: Liverpool has the same number of players in the tournament as Barcelona! Only Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Dynamo Kiev have more representation)

Germany:

Quietly, Germany is assembling one of the best squads in the world. There is experience in Schweinsteiger, Lahm and Gomez. Talented youngsters in Gotze & Reus. And a world class player to provide that magic - Mesut Ozil.

This year was supposed to be Germany's year. Bayern Munich should have won the Champions League – They blew it. Germany lost the 2008 Finals to Spain and the 2010 Semi Finals also to Spain. A top quality, injury free squad that is hungry for revenge should go in to the tournament as favorites in my opinion. This might well be Germany’s year. But I think fate has something crewel for them again – in the Finals.

Where they should finish: Winners

Where they will finish: Losing Finalists

Spain:

Spain is bookmaker's favorite. And who would like to bet against the defending European and World champions?

Injuries to David Villa and Carlos Puyol however are both severe setbacks, as these are two areas where Spain does not have quality cover. Fatigue is the other reason why Spain will suffer. And as Phil Ball writes here http://espnfc.com/uk/en/news/1087738/simply-redphil-ball-previews-spaineuro-2012-campaign.html, Spanish media and most people in Spain think this will not be their year.

So, who will their conquerors be? Have to say France or Germany…

France vs. Spain in the quarters is a possibility. Spain before 2008 had a history of losing in the quarter finals. So I am predicting it is going to end there for Spain. Either way, it should be great fun to see how they react and I really hope that they can defend their title they so brilliantly won in 2008.

Where they should finish: Runners-Up

Where they will finish: Losing Quarter Finalists (To France)

France:

They have the squad to compete well and in Benzema a finisher in top form. But still not enough ammunition to get past Germany in the Semi Finals I think.

Where they should finish: Semi Finalists

Where they will finish: Semi Finalists

Portugal:

Basically the draw is such that any two teams progressing from the Group of death should make it to the semis. Good team with some very good players, but their star player whom they are totally dependent on for the goals has a reputation of going AWOL on the really important day. 

Semi Finals (if they get there) will be as far as this squad can go.

Where they should finish: Knocked out from the group of death

Where they will finish: Losing Semi Finalists

Italy

Last time the match-fixing scandals raised its ugly head in 2006, Cannavaro led Italy to a famous triumph in the World Cup the same year. I was wondering if this squad could do a repeat. In one word - No. Their defense is not magical any more. Make no mistake, they still have some very good players but their lack of width in the midfield could hurt them in the quarter finals match against England/France. 

Where they should finish: Quarter Finalists

Where they will finish: Quarter Finalists

Greece, Poland

Greece might be headed for an economic catastrophe, but I think their football team will somehow qualify from Group A. Home support might just take Poland through. But Germany and Holland/Portugal in the quarter finals might be a bit too far for any of the teams going through from this group.

Where they should finish: Knocked out in group stages

Where they will finish: Quarter-finalists

Holland

For one of the pre-tournament favorites along with Germany and Spain, they are pretty unlucky to be in the group of death.

Sneijder has not been the same player this season. Robben might still be hurting after that poor performance in the UCL finals. Somehow, I am not sure whether this squad is united for the cause. And the Portugal squad is definitely good enough if Holland is not at its very best. 

Where they should finish: Semi Finalist

Where they will finish: Knocked out from the group of death

Denmark, Ireland, Croatia, Sweden, Ukraine, Russia, Czech

Russia should consider themselves very unlucky to be in this list, but I am picking Greece to pull off a minor upset and qualify from Group A. Home support could also see Poland through over Czech in the same group. The rest I guess will be surprised/ thrilled to reach round 2.

Where they will finish: Knocked out in Group Stage.

Phew .. Enjoy the tournament folks!

Best league debate

Full Disclosure (If needed): I am a Real Madrid supporter and a huge fan of the Spanish league

I usually do not get dragged into the best league debate and believe in the "each-league-has-its-own-charm-and-is-beautiful-in-its-own-way" argument. But being an English speaking fan of the league, its tough to keep quite when so much crap is said/written all the time. 

Latest from a certain, G. Neville :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2116517/Gary-Neville-Stop-knocking-best-world.html 

Lets get straight in and analyse the article:

1. Best teams in the world - He accepts that Barcelona (for some time) and Madrid (now) are the best teams in the world .. So lets move on
2. Attendance and Foreign TV rights: Lets assume the figures are right .. But, since when did money determine the best league? Even if you are to go by them, Bundesliga would be the best league in the world, right? Bernabeu can fill 75,000+, but its the fans of Bilbao (like against United), that makes the league proud.. Even in Madrid, (As Mourinho himself eluded to) atmosphere at Rayo Vallecano was absolutely brilliant (around 20,000 i think) and many times better than Real Madrid. So it is not only about quantity there, Mr. Neville.
3. UEFA Co-efficient (Eng -1 | Spa -2): This comes down to the strength of the top 4 teams. I agree that from 2005-08, EPL was the best league, but their squads have been on the decline for quite some time and they no longer are the best .. Barcelona and Real Madrid are. In Spain now, Valencia are a very good team, Malaga can spend and are recently seen, 7th place Bilbao thoroughly outplayed mighty United. Twice. Co-eff. change .. And they will change very soon.
4. 7 Finalists vs. 4: Very convenient Mr. Neville. .. Lets go one step further - 2 Winners vs. 4. End of matter.
5. Title Race? two horse in both countries. Better quality in Spain. And you often talk about bullying lower teams - United and City have more points per game compared to Barca this season. Only Madrid are better, as they have been largely injury free and have had a better fixture list. One slip-up and Barca will be back
6. CL fight: 3 teams in England vs. 6 teams in Spain
7. Relegation : Bottom 5 in EPL are an absolute and total disgrace. Only 20th place Zaragoza are out, with rest of the clubs competing well to stay in the league. 

I do accept that remote controls and game-downloads point to EPL being more watched league. But you tell me what use is a remote, when a Real Madrid match played to suit Asian timings is not telecast here in India because of a Mickey Mouse Cup game? (Some people refer to that as Carling cup) .. The statistics mean just that - EPL is the 'most watched league', no way the 'best league'. 

Having said that two things the Spanish league needs to address urgently are the television rights situation and on ways to market the league better across the world. 

Bottom line - Look at the records of Spanish and English teams in the Uefa Cup to judge whose second tier is the best! I think Gary Neville has conveniently written this article now before the much anticipated El Clasico finals becomes a reality!

Blog Update:

Real Zaragoza finished the season winning 5 out of their last 6 and miraculously surviving on the last day despite being in and out of administration .. There you go, what do I know about football.

Rahul Dravid - What's next?

This Roger Federer - Rolex commercial begins with the question "When is greatness achieved"

And ends with "Maybe it’s when you’re always asking yourself; What’s next?"

Dear Dravid,

I had originally planned this post to be a tribute to your great accomplishments. With the title #FareWall #Dravid. I was quite sure that you would retire after the series - irrespective of the result.

The series has ended and to my shock, you are still carrying on I hear? So, yesterday's rumors are false?

Dravid, please don't get me wrong - I have been a huge fan of yours ever since that 148 at Johannesburg. At par with Sachin - And times even more!

I have followed your career with great joy from here:

to here, when you appeared alongside Federer!

Yes, as you say in the commercial, yesterday is over. India does not play Tests until September. We don't play away until much later in 2013. There are youngsters like Rohit Sharma, Pujara, Rahane craving for a chance to showcase their talents.

I could understand that you really badly wanted to win in Australia. And ofcourse, even at 39, you might still have a lot to offer.  But the youngsters cannot do any worse than 4-0, can they?

So Dravid, as one of your ardent followers, I am allowed to ask this - Why didn't you retire?

What's Next? 

Regards,

A Rahul Dravid fan.

PS. Thank for all the memories.

Goodbye 2011!

Wow, another year down! A look back on the best of some lighter moments: 

Best sporting moment: That MS Dhoni Six

Well ofcourse, it has to be India winning the WC, but the two personnel bests were (a) watching the semi finals live at Mohali and (b) watching the first ever Indian Grandprix at the Buddh International circuit.

Best of Travel: 

Added two new travel locations: 

• North East - Assam and Tawang were breathtakingly beautiful !
• Valley of Flowers - Recommend this fantastic trek

And an old one - Goa!

Will continue to explore this magnificently country with Kashmir firmly on top of the agenda this year.

Best gadget purchased:

But the coolest gadget I bought was a native union retro pop handset. Check it out here: http://www.nativeunion.com/hk/wiredproducts/popphone.html 

Apple gadget for the year was a ipod nano 

Best Movie going experience: Kung Fu Panda 2 

I am sucker for comedy movies and none came better than this one. Ah, my old enemy - Stairs .. Still funny!

A year of reckoning 

I believe that India has to get worse in order to become better. This year certainly got worse in India - corruption, inflation and complete failure of governance / reforms. But look at the positives - Raja, Kalmadi are in Jail; Anna Hazare and the Civil society are playing a much more active role. Youngster are voicing their views thanks to the social networks and I am sure in the years to come, we will play a more important role in laying a better foundation for the country. 

Few Firsts 

- Started this blog (though updating it has been a pain)

- Donated blood

- Watched almost an entire Parliamentary session live

While the year spent was personally satisfactory (Damn you Real Madrid!), have a lot more to look forward to the next year. And like the lyrics of this latest song:

Umeed waali dhoop, sunshine waali aasha ... Happy new year everyone!! ... nana nanana Khush rehney ka hai waada!!

El Clasico Review - No. Not yet.

Timing of the fixture

When the Clasico was announced for Saturday, the first thing I checked was to see when the two clubs are playing in the midweek. To my disappointment, it was Madrid on Wednesday, while Barcelona played on  Tuesday. Moreover, Madrid traveled to Amsterdam to play Ajax while Barcelona were at home. In such a scenario it surely made sense to have the match on Sunday! Just two days to prepare - surely a match of this importance deserved better.

That both Real and Barcelona had qualified in the champions league with a game to spare meant that this was not such a big issue, but Mourinho for some reason started with quite a few stars that night - including Kaka, Benzema and Higuain. Even Alonso came off the bench to play a part in the game. What was the necessity for them to even travel before such a big fixture, I still cannot fathom. On the other side, Pedro was the only possible Clasico starter to feature on Tuesday for Barcelona.

Pre-match

Most of the talk surrounding the game was that for the first time in many seasons Real Madrid entered the match as slight favorites. They were on a 15 match unbeaten streak, while Barcelona had dropped points in away fixtures - including most recently to Gatefe and Bilbao (And narrow wins at Gijon and Granada). Madrid were heading into the game with a 3 point advantage and a game in hand.

Lineups & Formation

I was expecting Madrid to continue from the previous season with a 4-3-3 that included Alonso, Khedira and Lass/Coentrao in the middle three. For Barcelona the only question was where would Alves play - In the back four or as a part of midfield four.

Mourinho (pleasantly) surprised many with a more attacking starting formation with Ozil in the midfield three. The shocker was preference for Lass ahead of Khedira. I need a separate blog to just tell you how much I hate La$$.

Flexibility

For a side with so many stars Real Madrid were surprisingly rigid in their formation. At the least when things were not going well, CR7 and Di Maria should have changed wings. With CR7 and Di Maria always cutting in, they were narrowing the game, which made it easy for Puyol and co.

Barcelona on the other hand could change between a 3-4-3 and 4-3-3 at the drop of a hat. Messi dropped back at will and Iniesta was all over the pitch.

Leadership

When things were going wrong, Messi took charge of the game. Madrid has the answers to most Barcelona players except for him. With Madrid dominant at the half hour mark, a visibly frustrated Messi dropped deep, got clear of la$$ and found Alexis clear with a superb through ball. And just like that for all the domination of Madrid, Barcelona were level.

The Match


For once we only talk football. It was not bad luck, as Mourinho eluded to - But Barcelona were the superior side on the night. But Madrid are closer than ever before. Better finishing and the result could have been very different. They also need to improve their defense - Messi shouldn't have been allowed to string passes in the manner he did for their first goal.


The result is a disappointing 1-3 loss at home, when Barcelona were there for the taking. Now the mind is cluttered with self doubt. As much as this Classico result was important, it is the number of points Madrid is going to drop against other teams that is going to determine the winner of the league. The fans need a response. In Seville.

Positives

Benzema and DiMaria. They were absolutely brilliant in the first half. Especially Benzema. Having performed on the biggest stage must have given them great confidence.

In Ronaldo we Trust 


One must not forget that Ronaldo is our top scorer and carried the side admirably last year including in the copa win. A final thought from what Guti said after watching Madrid play from the stands for the first time:

"Doubting Cristiano is like doubting Messi when he plays a bad match with the Argentine national team."

And as Mourinho said post game : "We're Leaders"

Hala Madrid!

El Clasico Preview - The tide is turning

The last couple of weeks have shattered a few widely held beliefs

1. Dev saheb is immortal.

2. Sergio busquets will never be caught for diving.

If you haven't followed laliga closely you might have missed this incredible moment altogether. Here is the proof:

This is no Photoshop work. The unthinkable did happen.

Here's a brilliant cartoon which had me in roflolololing: http://www.studs-up.com/2011/11/the-princess-and-the-defensive-mid/ 

Barcelona for the last 7-8 years have been the most powerful force in world football. Three champions league crowns, multiple league titles and many more humiliating victories over Real Madrid.  

The reason why I refered to the Busquets incident is that there is a sense of feeling that things are about to change.

(1) Not long ago, everyone held this Barcelona team in awe. Opposition fans applauded during humiliating defeats; Press raved about the football Barcelona played and many teams/coaches had lost the match in their minds even before the play started. But after the clasico, the auro of this team seems to have lessened, probably due their non-football skills on display in the 4 clasicos. So far this season, teams have played Barcelona much better.

(2) Injuries. Last year was the perfect year for Barcelona. Like Newcastle's campain so far this year in the EPL, the same 11-12 players played for Barcelona throughout the last campaign. I know they have strengthened with Alexis and Fabregas, but there are still many players in this Barca side without cover - specially in the defense.

(3) This is Real Madrid's second season under Jose Mourinho

And finally, probably most importantly, the results have also changed. Real Madrid are three points ahead of Barcelona and with a game in hand going into the Clasico.

Hoping that on Sunday morning I will be celebrating a 6 point lead with a game in hand.

Mallya takes on the Media

After many articles covering KFA's troubles, the media frenzy regarding this issue hit its peak after news that Mr. Mallya is allegedly negotiating a bailout package. Key people in the Govt (The PM, no less) spoke about the need step in which outraged many. How can taxpayer's money be used to save a private company, they asked. 

While following the developments, I wondered how the flamboyant man would react to all this. The response was measured. First his friends addressed the battle field. Suhel Seth and others spoke rationally and articulately about the problems surrounding KFA and the ills of the airlines industry at large. 

Then the man himself came out. The press seemed hostile, but Mallya composed.

He might have been fighting for his airline's survival, negotiating a "bail-out" package or partying with the Calender girls, you wouldn't have known by watching this interview. Among all his sporting interests, he would make (or probably is) a bloody good poker player.

Then he attacked the Media: 

@thevijaymallya: "Watching media reports n analysis that share prices of United Spirits fell due to Airline fears. How flawed. United Spirits is liquid gold"

"World largest plane lessor speaks 2 ET Delhi- full support 4 Kingfisher. Not published. Instead ET Mumbai correspondent ignores n attacks !"

Mallya's companies are one of the key advertisers for the Indian media. So it is very difficult to buy these arguments. I feel the TV media at least has been measured and cautious in its attack of KFA. They get facts wrong most time. They pronounce their verdict before hearing the case most times. But the slightest mention of "Bailout" got a swift response from Mallya. And soon enough, most of them corrected.

Either ways, the media seems to have moved on (in search of the next scam), with Mallya emerging the clear winner in this round. He and his airlines are hear to stay. For now at least.

In between this drama surrounding the media coverage for the last two weeks, KFA has achieved three things:

(a) Got Kingfisher out of some of the non-profitable routes, without much hue and cry from the government. Make no mistake, some passengers will suffer. But of the important reason why Indigo is profitable, is that they run only on profitable routes. 

(b) Its now become common knowledge that there is problem with the punishing taxes that the center/states levy. That Air India is also bleeding is a concern to the government. So if the government relaxes the taxes, they are less likely to get the "You are taking measures for private greed, what have you done for the common man" argument. Not sure they will be touching this though.

(c) Made it a bit easier for those lobbying for increase in FDI in airlines sector. India badly needs Reforms 2.0 and the Airline industry is in pole position to be freed up.

Final thought - 

@TheVijayMallya "If our Government has denied FDI by Airlines in Indian carriers on security grounds, how come we have expat non Indian Airline CEO's ?" On the Spice Jet CEO

Starting your day with Twitter?

More than a year back, I decided to purchase the Ipad and also simultaneously stopped subscribing to any newspaper. Also because I didn't see a point waking up and reading the Toilet paper of India. 

So, since then I usually wake up and browse favorite websites, news apps and Twitter. Slowly, it has become only Twitter. I get all the news - the very latest, well written editorial are always RTed. Plus there the funny men with their funny lines. So, there has been no need to go anywhere else actually. 

But recently, twitter has not been good to start of with and I am thinking of going back to the newspaper days. Reason - Waking up to those RIP messages.. It is such a useless/sad way to start of your day. And usually on most occasions, these day only gets worse. 

Take for instance today's death of Peter Roebuck - I didn't need that information at 9AM.. It could have easily waited till say post noon and it wouldn't have changed anything. For two weeks I woke up to some tribute or the other of Steve Jobs .. Great man, but should not affect your 14 consecutive mornings! The last few months have been just terrible.

I wonder how many people start their day with twitter on your apple / android / blackberry machines? Do you? (Pls leave a comment; You might probably be the first one :) )

I am thinking of getting back to the old habits of reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee.. And not opening twitter till much later in office.. What say? And which newspaper to go for in Delhi? HT?

The joke that is Ballon d'or!

Whatever might have been the process to arrive at the nominations, the Ballon d'or list was very disappointing, to say the least.

There was a clear message (As in the earlier years as well) - It is not the football over the last 12 months but your popularity that wins nomination. Perfect example was Eric Abidal, who received a nomination after raising the CL trophy coming back from illness. Another example was Eto'o.

Lets get the easier task out of the way - predicting the winner

The Winner - Lionel Messi

It doesn't matter that Messi is a dud playing for Argentina, a side with the attacking talent of Higuain, Tevez, Aguero.. Creativity in Di Maria, Riquelme & I am sure that I am missing a lot of names

It doesn't matter that he did this last season:

Neither that he often goes to ground easily. Messi is the darling of world football. He cannot do any wrong. Hence Winner.

How Sneijder could miss out last season still beats me! Scratch that, he couldn't make it to the top 3 .. The rest have no chance this year.

Runner Up - Ronaldo
Third - Xavi &/ Iniesta


A word on the nominations:

Full List: Eric Abidal (France), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dani Alves (Brazil), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Nani (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Gerard Pique (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), David Villa (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Xavi (Spain).

From the list, two clubs dominate the nominations:
Barcelona - 8
Real Madrid - 5


They are currently the best two clubs in the world, that they can be no doubt.. Ofcourse, Manchester United have a better "recent history" (the last 5 seasons) than Real Madrid.

Here's my changes to the list of 23 nominations:


Omissions I make from the current list: 

1. Villa, really? If at all a Barca player has to be nominated, it should have been Pedro, who provided the real spark last season (Including the first goal in the Champions League finals)
2. Eric Abidal? As discussed. 
3. Sergio Aguero. Please Explain. 10 Points.
4. Benzema? 20 Points for anybody who makes a half decent attempt.
5. Muller comes in as a total surpise.. Specially considering neither Goetze or Nuri Sahin made the cut. Also Gomez scored 39 goals.. Muller, playing for the same club only scored 19
6. Samuel Eto'o: Another one who gets the popularity vote
7. Fabregas: Cant recollect him doing anything last season apart from sulking and being injured. Actually, that is good enough for many !
8. Ozil: Had to put his name after some thought. Had a very good half a season but was completely missing from the crucial matches in the second half.. Probably it was the fatigue factor, but not this year, Ozil.
9. Bastian Schweinsteiger: Bayern Munich finished 3rd in the league, Round of 16 in CL and won nothing.. Very good player, but sorry, no nomination this season

Just making the cut:

Dani Alves (He won a lot of trophies, played well & there are very few defenders in the list) , Sneijder (He should have won it the last season.. This year, he just makes the cut because of grace marks carried forward), Forlan (For his international performances)

Inclusions:

1. Van Persie - Is the single reason why Arsenal is still competing today
2. Goetze - I think the only reason he does not make the list is because of that Ronaldo's quote
3. Nuri Sahin - Bundesliga's player of the season last year
4. Cavani - Not far behind DiNatale in terms of goals, was an inspiration to Napoli guiding them to 3rd and the Champions League place
5. DiNatale - Top scorer for Italian league last season. Was the reason why Udinese's finished 4th
6. Falcao - Nobody deserves to be in the list more than Falcao based on what he achieved for Porto, especially in the UEFA cup
7. Hazard - The best player in the French league, the only reason he is not there in the list is that no bigger club has paid 40 million for his services

The list has very few defenders and/or goal keepers. So here are two who deserve to be there:

1. Vidic - United were EPL champions and the CL finalists: They deserve 3 nominations.
2. Manuel Nauer - The goalkeeper who should have been in the list along with Iker Cassilas

Notable Absentees
Mario Gomez (Picked Goetze and Sahin ahead of him), David Silva, Hulk


Summary - 


The best three clubs (of 2010-11) representation in my list:
Barcelona - 5 (Probably too many, but they did win the double)
Manchester United - 3
Real Madrid - 3 (+1; Sahin)

9 Changes (Plus a possible 3 more) to a squad of 23, shows how poor the Fifa nominations are.

What to expect from the F1 weekend

While India gears up for it's first Formula 1 weekend, here are five things one can expect this weekend:

1. When the grand stand erupts at the chequered flag, the cheer and the noise will not be for Vettel the winner of the grand prix, but for Sachin Tendulkar waving the flag

     1.1 The winner dedicating the victory to Sachin and carrying him around the race track

2. Half the crowd having turned up after seeing the SRK ad, just like they do for his movies

     2.1 The knowledgeable ones wondering how come Schumacher is not wearing red of Ferrari

     2.2 The really knowledgeable ones explaining to them that the real Michael Schumacher has retired and this is someone else, possibly his brother.


3. Narain Karthikeyan using his local knowledge & adopting a 17 pit stop strategy, thereby avoiding a punctured tyre and winning the race.

4. Worldwide audience of F1 realising that India is more than slums and poverty, but left with one nagging question -- Who or What is Ra.One?

     4.1 Also, rest of the world being introduced to the technological marvel that is the MRF blimp and the race being red flagged for a 5-minute strategic break

5. Arnab Goswami's monologue with Vettel

Thoughts?

---

Update after watching FP1 -

#3. will lead to epic failure as the track and the conditions are simply brilliant.

But what did happen was that FP1 was red flagged for 5 minutes. Reason --- Unidentified dog on the circuit! haha.. But that incident aside, Friday practice was just brilliant. Promises to be a brilliant first #IndianGP.

The day after Diwali

Today marks the beginning of Samvat 2068. Wishing a very happy new year to all !!

Just noting a few observations made yesterday:

1. Seemed like there were less crackers burnt this Diwali
2. The best part of watching Ra.One was the trailer to Don 2 (Or is it Don.Two?) . Insane marketing alone does not make good content. If Farhan Akthar direction also delivers a dud, then brand SRK is in deep trouble if not dead.
3. Diwali (or for that matter any festival) away from home sucks. Big-time.

Just want to dwell a bit more on the first observation. Most of the crackers burnt in my colony were after 9pm and by adults who were generally 25+ .. The only time I saw kids, were when they were playing cricket in the morning.

Two possible theories -
a) Inflation - Not enough money for left to spend on the crackers & also the cracker prices.. The amount you have to shell out to buy the good ones is insane.
b) Education - I wonder how much impact this is having. Kids today seem to be generally more aware about social issues.

It's only when I saw the celebrations late in the night, I thought it might be the latter. Wouldn't it be great if it is! Of course this is a sample size of 1. The hypothesis itself could be wrong. Would love to know if anyone else felt the same or this is just my wishful thinking.

Dewarists - The Brand behind it.

19:20 on a Friday - Bliss. Just one call to attend for the weekend. Usually sporting events dominate my things to look forward to for the weekend. True this weekend also with the Rugby World Cup. But also there is one other program I don't want to miss -

Dewarists, On Star World @ 8PM.

If you haven't watched episode 1, you must do so here..

The idea of music documentary is something really fascinating (At least in India) .. But what's even better was the execution. And the music at the end of it all was superb.

But this post is not about 'Dewarists' the show.. But 'Dewars' the brand. A scotch brand.

Heard that they have underwritten almost the entire production costs of the show. And even after having spent quite a lot, they have just lent the brand name to show. No unnecessary product placement, screen popups, etc. I wonder how many people know that Dewars is an alcohol brand from Bacardi, and even after watching the first episode know about this.

I really think the marketing guys @ Bacadi have struck gold. Compare this to Bhajji's "Make it Large" or Dhoni's "Spirit of Leadership". Think this is one of the best marketing concepts this year in India.

Secondly, would they have been inspired to create such a campaign if alcohol advertising was allowed in India. Would there have been more product placement, etc?

Anyways, waiting to see how they follow through on the fantastic beginning. And also if the show will go on to become a successful franchise (I think so).

The Blog.

I woke up today with this thought... "I should start blogging".

To be honest today was not the first time. It's actually 175th time. Yes, same number of runs Kapil scored during that 1983 World Cup match against Zimbabwe.

But the difference was, this is probably the first time I thought about blogging since joining twitter (actively) in May 2010. On twitter it's like I am talking to myself. So I presume it's going to be the same here. But you never know... as Oogway said, There are no accidents.