Apocryphal Stories !!!

Back in January, in the third Test of Basil D'Oliveira trophy after Collingwood had completed another rescue act, the joke going around was that the next act would be repeated in Chittagong against Bangladesh. There was a logic to it and it precisely was this- Collingwood was a major factor in pulling off draws at Cardiff , Centurion , and Cape Town . Few cynics also suggested that Collingwood be the first choice for games played at these venues and they suggested that Calcutta and Colombo retain their old names! Well coming back to this series, it got off to an inauspicious start in the media with the withdrawal of Andrew Strauss and Cook was drafted in as the skipper. Adding to Cook's woes was the poor form of Pietersen. Coming back in the series against South Africa, he continued his poor run into the series against Bangladesh. His form was so poor getting into the first Test that he scored 69 runs off 111 balls in 7 innings. It was so poor that a bowler called Allaudin Ba

Looking at Yousuf's ton yesterday, this question does spring up in the mind. Well for a batsman not crossing 59 in 32(international) strikes at crease, he saunters to the crease and unleashes the second fastest T20 ton. One resemblance from his Deodhar trophy heroics - both ended up in losing causes. Rayudu plays a bold hand in raising Mumbai Indians total in the innings but does not seem to posses the same resolve, when it comes to playing for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy! Maybe we can attribute it (comfortably indeed and thereby increasing the legend) to being with Sachin Tendulkar in the same dug-out!!

What happens when you have given a hit like "Happy days" in your last outing? What happens when as a production house, you are making huge revenues by making movies like "Sivaji", "Ayan" ? What happens when you are the flag-bearer of the third generation of the biggest production houses in the state? - Expectations build up and with those expectations came AVM's "Leader". Leader was supposed to be Diwali but various non-filmy reasons led to its postponement What added weight to the movie was its positive title and it releasing in the time of a political maelstorm adds to the gloss of the movie. A movie can sustain itself only when it has some story happening on a nice thread. Leader does that - atleast for me! With the insurgent demand for a separate state, it was hoped that "Leader" would have a few words on the issue. It veered clear of this issue and came out with a protagonist, who looked the perfect fit for the role ****** It d

Definition of greatness is 'Very large in size' or ' Remarkable or outstanding in magnitude, degree, or extent'. Now can we with conviction name a player, who qualifies to the definition above? The only two people who come closest to the above definition in ODI terms are IVA Richards and SR Tendulkar. I would put Viv Richards on a higher perch (yeah! even after yesterdays 200) because of the fact that he has won a WC final, with a century coming from his bat. If mere numbers indicate the greatness of a player, then Desmond Haynes has to be the greatest ODI player before Sachin Tendulkar took over the mantle of highest century scorer from him. A player's value in a team cause goes beyond mere numbers, which is the reason we don't tend to remember players like AB Agarkar. Coming back to Tendulkar, he would certainly sit on top of the pile if he wins the WORLD CUP for India in 2011, which, presumably is his last chance to do so Now 17,598 runs at an average of 4

Now I would certainly start talking about movies and cricket ....