words of neeraj

Continued

2006-04-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

To begin with what I actually wanted to say , before I got distracted with how good the Indian team has grown to become , the actual comparison should have been between the games played and the first thing that I noticed between the games was the run scoring patterns between the teams. During the nineties , a team touring a country like south africa would look at a score of around 250 as a challenge , the reason ,the pitch would suit the bowlers at any time of the day, making it fairly even game. But in the sub-continent , where the tracks are basically meant for batsmen and spin bowlers of the highest quality (until recently) made the run scoring fairly easily. But the two games , which changed my point view change was when I noticed a team in the sub-continent getting out for 160 odd runs and a team in in playing in south africa makes 438 and team batting second actually surpasses that. This was something I thought would only happen in the sub-continent. I hope you- the readers , are able to see the small change in play between four totally different teams.

But the question to be really asked is , has the bowling quality for south africa and australia declined over the last couple of years , that they could not restrict each other to a decent total and has india's bowling improved to a degree , where on a batting track , they could restrict a team like pakistan to 160 in the 2nd ODI or would we just like to conclude with the fact it is all upto the captain and his decision at that point in time.

Contrasting styles

2006-03-19T00:37:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry about the previous blog. I kinda screwed up ( as usual). But getting back to the topic in hand, I , by my friends recommendation ( I hope I spelt that right) , happend to go to google videos , where I was treated to 2 good games of cricket . Yes , your eyes are perfectly fine. I know the definition of a good game when I see one. The first one - India Vs Pakistan 4th ODI at Multan. A game people may not remember. The second of course - Australia Vs South Africa 5th and deciding one dayer. The reason I picked these 4 teams or two matches is because of 1) there rivalry over the years and 2)yes, the contrasting styles in playing.

Now , When I first saw the game between India and pakistan ,I felt there was a small change in India's playing or approach towards the game. I guess it may be because of the new coach and captain or I just forgot how they used to play before.But either way it looks good. The other thing that I noticed were three very good up coming star 1) M.S.Dhoni 2) RP.Singh 3) Shanthakumaran Sreesanth. Their might be others , but I havent had a good look at them . Now this team seems to have improved on fielding hell of a lot. I still remember sometime in the mid 90's when azhar , jadeja and sachin were the only good fielders around. Thank god we passed that stage.

The reason I picked the 4th Odi between these two teams is because , restricting a team with a pretty decent line up to around 160 is a pretty hard thing to do. As you already know , I certainly dont have to explain, sub-continents are known for a flat , low bounce, helpful for spinners pitches. And seeing RP singh run in and take 5 wickets is a sight for sore eyes( and I hope that makes sense) . The batting also has come a long way. No longer having to rely on sachin to stay the entire 50 overs to see some runs on the board. Players like Yuvraj singh improving his playing ability, pathan proving quite handy with the bat and dravid appropriately named "the wall" or "Mr consistent " and how could I forget dhoni - the man with the iron hand swinging his bat like a sledge hammer .

The style for this team has definetly changed . The running between wickets , which was once often called sluggish or slow , is proving to be quite an asset for the team. Six years ago, the Indian team would have choked under pressure chasing a big total (any body remember 2001 worldcup final) . The 4th ODI definetly proved the bowling abilities of the team and batting althouh seemed shaky in the beggining was able to stablize and push for victory.
continued......

What consitutes a hit?

2006-03-04T20:03:00.000-08:00

The movies are interesting thing to watch and talk about. We would occasionally walk out of the theatre ,convincing ourselves the reasons why a certain movie should be a hit or not . We also argue with friends or who ever is interested in such debates , as to whether a movie is in contention for an oscar based on substance or just because it has a stellar cast and made over 100 million dollars in the box -office. Now if we go deep into this , we find ourselves in quite an ironical stage , where in the oscars we find ourselves rooting for a movie thats the most popular and not necessarily the "biggest blockbuster" in town. So does this mean that a movie that is nominated for an oscar a hit or the movies that make the cash , but are not nominated do not have enough quality in it to be nominated. I guess I am not that knowledgeable enough to give an answer , but all I can say is that there's a lot more to think about with regard to the movies.

Famous Catchphrases

2006-02-04T22:04:00.000-08:00

This might be trivial in many ways, but when was the last time you left the movie hall repeating a line. Well the lines I remember are from movies like Godfather. or Dirty Harry . I'm saying there arent any in the new movies , but it isnt a favorite for everybody. Well if you want to dissprove me, then fine go ahead leave a comment and evidence.

ERROR

2006-01-16T21:10:00.000-08:00

In my previous article , I made an error with regard to yusouf yuhana's role in this particular match. Well I stand corrected , because I was just informed that he converted and now Mohammed yousuf . Well I am sorry or confusing anyone . I fired my assistant for not informing me.

The Indo-pak series

2006-01-15T18:19:00.000-08:00

Hey , for all those cricket fans ,in India and Pakistan, I guess you must be glued to the t.v sets. As usual, the game seems to be dominated by the bat ,rather both bat and ball . The pakistani score card looks as fat as the paycheck I get at end 2 weeks . Four centuries , holy crap . when was the last time that happend ? I always got this feeling, that the Indian bowlers gave away runs rather than the batsmen earning them . well can't ask to much from them either , ajit agarkar was never the type of bowler who could run thru a batting side with the likes of giant inzy and flashy afridi . Guess what, youhana isn't even playing!! Wonder what would have happend then. I guess we need some one with a golden arm ( not ganguly, I dont consider him a wicket taking bowler) in the team. Zaheer , definetly has some issues ( although not playing ) . I dont want to keep criticizing the team , but 679/7 isn't a scorecard any good team wants to chase.Well I hope the batting line-up does better.

Whats happening?

2006-01-03T20:53:00.000-08:00

Hey,
I guess this might not be the article to start my blog out wth , but what the hell. Watching t.v these days can be torture , especially if you had a bad day at work . Reality t.v shows are over rated except for a few and sitcoms arent living up to expectations , except a few , otherwise everything else can be considered average.
The reason I'm bringing this up is because a few days ago or probably a month ago I was switching channels only to notice some of the best t.v shows are actually re-runs . Pretty much every channel has a reality show or shows that nobody wants to watch like - Martha or Dance with the stars, come on. Like who is going to watch that. For crying out loud they should get rid of Jerry springer and that other idiot Maury. Dont tell me you never stopped to watch them make a fool of themselves.
Whatever happend to good t.v ? The days when you could come back from a bad day at the office , sit in front of the t.v after dinner in you favorite cushion couch and watch something that ends your day , nice. I guess shows like 24 can be considered good t.v , but its not family viewing . What say people ? Please respond.

Intro To Me

2005-12-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

Hey,
Glad you could find my blog . Well rather me telling me who I am , you could read my postings and give your opinions.