Well, I meant my world. You will understand what I mean in my next few posts.
"No score too big with Yusuf"
Rajasthan Royals (vs Delhi Daredevils - Match 1) were not looking very strong through the chase until Pathan started his blitzkrieg. Another cool win for Rajasthan Royals. They must be happy that Smith could finally dig in his heels and stay there throughout the innings. He seemed a bit frsutrated at the end may be because Pathan was hitting so well. But I still think he needn't be. He did well, welcome back to form (hopefully).
Talk to any Royals player and half of their answers are filled with what Shane Warne told them to do and how it helped them perform. He must be doing something right to command that kind of respect. Other teams should take a cue from him. As brutally honest as he is always, he was pretty harsh on his top order when they lost the last game.
Coming to Pathan's secular hitting. He showed no respect for reputation, taking out Mendis in Super over in the previous match and then today all the bowlers. He is soon turning himself into the man of the tournament, again I guess I am speaking too soon, but then what do I got to lose :)
Off for today, tomorrow we will see the two of the laggards (Royal Challengers and KKR) battling it out to regain some pride and get back into the tournament.
Its heart warming to see Tendulkar and Jayasuriya knock out the (freakishly) talented Mendis giving him a thrashing he isn't used to. Tendulkar must have felt vindicated after the disappointing Test Series against Sri Lanka where Mendis domesticated an already tamed Tendulkar.
Well, enjoyed watching the match since this is the side I am supporting to go all the way. Support stems from the fact there is a certain 36 years and 3 days old player who has spent two decades (spanning across three) in international cricket is captaining the side.
Few nice things that came out of today's match
- Tendulkar got his highest score in IPL
- Zaheer got his first wicket in the tournament
- Bhajji is showing signs of maturity, spending his energy where he should be (hitting those 2 consecutive sixes)
- Malinga getting the purple cap
Lessons to be learned for the teams:
- MI needs to get someone to fire in the middle order. JP Duminy is looking lukewarm at best and Nayar is still untested. That one knock might as well be a flash in the pan. However, Nayar doing his bit with the ball makes him a 'useful' player.
- Shahrukh Khan needs to understand that he is a big part (if not whole) of the problem he is trying to solve.
- McCullum needs to sort his act out. Is this the time for Dada to make his way back given he is known for his dramatic comebacks like no other!
Aside: I follow online scores on rediff since I could never get through cricinfo. Today after I followed the scores on cricinfo, I realised why it is so popular. The ball by ball commentary is just excellent.
Well, enjoyed watching the match since this is the side I am supporting to go all the way. Support stems from the fact there is a certain 36 years and 3 days old player who has spent two decades (spanning across three) in international cricket is captaining the side.
Few nice things that came out of today's match
- Tendulkar got his highest score in IPL
- Zaheer got his first wicket in the tournament
- Bhajji is showing signs of maturity, spending his energy where he should be (hitting those 2 consecutive sixes)
- Malinga getting the purple cap
Lessons to be learned for the teams:
- MI needs to get someone to fire in the middle order. JP Duminy is looking lukewarm at best and Nayar is still untested. That one knock might as well be a flash in the pan. However, Nayar doing his bit with the ball makes him a 'useful' player.
- Shahrukh Khan needs to understand that he is a big part (if not whole) of the problem he is trying to solve.
- McCullum needs to sort his act out. Is this the time for Dada to make his way back given he is known for his dramatic comebacks like no other!
Aside: I follow online scores on rediff since I could never get through cricinfo. Today after I followed the scores on cricinfo, I realised why it is so popular. The ball by ball commentary is just excellent.
The first match between Rajasthan and Kolkata was clearly the match of the tournament so far. There were so many nail biting moments that Ganguly would have chewed his fingers out had he not been busy creating those moments.
It was a battle between an extremely centralized team to a team experimenting with decentralization (multiple captain theory). Shane Warne solidly forms the core of an otherwise ordinary Rajasthan team. He has redefined the art of captaincy almost changing the game from physical to cerebral. Who could have imagined a team to lose from 8 needed from 8 balls with enough wickets in hand in a T20 tie where one of the players in the middle is among the top five run scorers in one day internationals.
Ganguly brought KKR very well back in the game where one ball from Munaf costing 13 runs (no ball and a free hit - both sixes) . Second last ball wicket of Ganguly left KKR to score 2 of the last ball. A superb save by Warne which reduced a potential triple to a single left the scores tied.
Super over had its share of many exciting moments. Shane Warne's find Kamran taking the over giving 15 runs, a really defend-able one over target. Pathan from Royals made an easy work of it by scoring 18 of the first four balls giving them, if not a historical, definitely a memorable win.
It was a battle between an extremely centralized team to a team experimenting with decentralization (multiple captain theory). Shane Warne solidly forms the core of an otherwise ordinary Rajasthan team. He has redefined the art of captaincy almost changing the game from physical to cerebral. Who could have imagined a team to lose from 8 needed from 8 balls with enough wickets in hand in a T20 tie where one of the players in the middle is among the top five run scorers in one day internationals.
Ganguly brought KKR very well back in the game where one ball from Munaf costing 13 runs (no ball and a free hit - both sixes) . Second last ball wicket of Ganguly left KKR to score 2 of the last ball. A superb save by Warne which reduced a potential triple to a single left the scores tied.
Super over had its share of many exciting moments. Shane Warne's find Kamran taking the over giving 15 runs, a really defend-able one over target. Pathan from Royals made an easy work of it by scoring 18 of the first four balls giving them, if not a historical, definitely a memorable win.
As the days are progressing, things are getting clearer.
Well I thought I will continue providing my commentaries on the proceedings. See, when Arun Lal can do it, why can't I.
Who is Arun Lal?
A friend of mine asked what makes Arun Lal qualified to speak about the games. To which another friend of mine replied, he is the guy who comes out of the local train in "mile sur mera tumhara" song. Now that was some shocking piece of information even though I know who he is. All these days I have been thinking that the local train scene was meant to have just the crowds and commoners and not great Arun Lal. To know that it was him, was as shocking as the revelation of Santa Clause not being real is for the foreign kids (and may be a few Indian kids). Well, for those interested to know, Arun Lal played 16 tests and 13 ODIs averaging 26 and 9 respectively (for India, of course).
Takeaways
Kings can win only in a high scoring match and Royal Challengers in a slow scoring one. RCB is riding (~barely floating) on the batting of an unlikely hero, who has been doing exceptionally well something that he is not supposed to be good at. Although today they scored a very healthy 160 and soon I might get proved wrong in which case I will gracefully eat my own words. There is nothing wrong in it, thats what Arun Lal did when he commented before Mumbai/Chennai match that Tendulkar hasn't read the conditions well.
Also, as a side note, I think Laxman should start calling himself Re-laxman and may be Gilchrist should really let him rest for a while.
Weather/Duckworth-Lewis method
Statistics is not just what you create while playing, it decides your results now. KXIP being the favorite victim so far.Thanks to SA weather, you can see a poster of the following graph in all the dug-outs. Of course, Sehwag could never understand it.
The definition of a match is redefined as well. If you can have 5 overs per team, it will be considered a match. Appalling!
I have internalized IPL so much that I am even using a strategy break between writing my blog. If you don't believe the Arun Lal memorabilia was the result of one such break.
Today's match between Deccan chargers and RCB brought out a few things:
Well I thought I will continue providing my commentaries on the proceedings. See, when Arun Lal can do it, why can't I.
Who is Arun Lal?
A friend of mine asked what makes Arun Lal qualified to speak about the games. To which another friend of mine replied, he is the guy who comes out of the local train in "mile sur mera tumhara" song. Now that was some shocking piece of information even though I know who he is. All these days I have been thinking that the local train scene was meant to have just the crowds and commoners and not great Arun Lal. To know that it was him, was as shocking as the revelation of Santa Clause not being real is for the foreign kids (and may be a few Indian kids). Well, for those interested to know, Arun Lal played 16 tests and 13 ODIs averaging 26 and 9 respectively (for India, of course).
TakeawaysKings can win only in a high scoring match and Royal Challengers in a slow scoring one. RCB is riding (~barely floating) on the batting of an unlikely hero, who has been doing exceptionally well something that he is not supposed to be good at. Although today they scored a very healthy 160 and soon I might get proved wrong in which case I will gracefully eat my own words. There is nothing wrong in it, thats what Arun Lal did when he commented before Mumbai/Chennai match that Tendulkar hasn't read the conditions well.
Also, as a side note, I think Laxman should start calling himself Re-laxman and may be Gilchrist should really let him rest for a while.
Weather/Duckworth-Lewis method
Statistics is not just what you create while playing, it decides your results now. KXIP being the favorite victim so far.Thanks to SA weather, you can see a poster of the following graph in all the dug-outs. Of course, Sehwag could never understand it.
The definition of a match is redefined as well. If you can have 5 overs per team, it will be considered a match. Appalling!I have internalized IPL so much that I am even using a strategy break between writing my blog. If you don't believe the Arun Lal memorabilia was the result of one such break.
Today's match between Deccan chargers and RCB brought out a few things:
- Dravid moves to the top of the table of leading run getters after scoring a smashing 48 off 27 balls
- He also scored 2 sixes in his knock which is two more than the total number of sixes in his career (ok, this is not correct, just a hyperbole)
- Today's match saw Praveen Kumar laughing for the first time in his life. It took a throw from Uthappa directly hitting him on his head, temporarily making him forget that he is Praveen Kumar and not supposed to laugh (or even smile)
- Robin Uthappa who I thought used to be in Indian squad primarily because of his communication skills is showing a lot of sincerity. Playing the wicket keeper and really trying to give his best with bat. I really hope he does well now.
but I am not upset.
The first two games of IPL 2.0 saw the two finalists losing their respective matches. Chennai lost in a close match, but Rajasthan got devastated. And look at the major contributors to the victory. For Royal challengers, Dravid scored 66 of 48 balls (highest score and highest strike rate barring Vinay kumar who score 8 of 2 balls), only other score in double digits was 32 by Pietersen. Kumble scalped 5 in 3 overs conceding just 6 runs. Talk about test bowler, he sure made the batsmen play like a test match in his short spell.
To top it all, Rajasthan made the lowest score ever in IPL.
In the first encounter, Tendulkar led from the front scoring an unbeaten 59 of 49 balls. So, surprisingly, in this young men's game the top performers were all on the wrong side of 35. Dravid in the presentation ceremony uncharacteristically mentioned (I think thrice) that to succeed in these pitches you need to play 'good cricketing shots' and that will be an advantage for players like him. A touch of arrogance perhaps, coming from where least expected, but I am not complaining.
If initial signs are anything to go by, this season may not be as high scoring as its last version and will be more testing for inexperienced Indian players who are not used to overseas conditions.
This is, however, very early to draw conclusions and definitely too soon to write obituaries (remember last year Rajasthan had a similar disastrous start), but the action has begun. Keep watching.
The first two games of IPL 2.0 saw the two finalists losing their respective matches. Chennai lost in a close match, but Rajasthan got devastated. And look at the major contributors to the victory. For Royal challengers, Dravid scored 66 of 48 balls (highest score and highest strike rate barring Vinay kumar who score 8 of 2 balls), only other score in double digits was 32 by Pietersen. Kumble scalped 5 in 3 overs conceding just 6 runs. Talk about test bowler, he sure made the batsmen play like a test match in his short spell.
To top it all, Rajasthan made the lowest score ever in IPL.
In the first encounter, Tendulkar led from the front scoring an unbeaten 59 of 49 balls. So, surprisingly, in this young men's game the top performers were all on the wrong side of 35. Dravid in the presentation ceremony uncharacteristically mentioned (I think thrice) that to succeed in these pitches you need to play 'good cricketing shots' and that will be an advantage for players like him. A touch of arrogance perhaps, coming from where least expected, but I am not complaining.
If initial signs are anything to go by, this season may not be as high scoring as its last version and will be more testing for inexperienced Indian players who are not used to overseas conditions.
This is, however, very early to draw conclusions and definitely too soon to write obituaries (remember last year Rajasthan had a similar disastrous start), but the action has begun. Keep watching.
This is what you do when you are generally pissed off. No, I am not talking of creating graphs, that you do when you just have some time to kill. I meant posting that crap on blog. Here you go, make some of your own, its fun
PS: As usual, this is a fun post and is not intended to be a reflection on my past, present or future employer and not to forget employers from my past births.
PS: As usual, this is a fun post and is not intended to be a reflection on my past, present or future employer and not to forget employers from my past births.
I thought it would be fitting to write a post about colors after a week from holi, but well this isn't about holi colors.
Colors is the most promising channel as cited by some popularity stats. In less than one year it has become a threat to stalwarts like star and zee. It took a series of regressive saas bahu sagas to take star to new heights. Not surprisingly, it is even more regressive saga of child marriage that is helping colors. What's wrong with us?
I also felt pretty pissed off after watching their new (or may be not so new) series called Utran. Every episode is punctuated after every 5 minutes by a sad tune where a poor girl is made to feel the pinch of her poverty. I doubt if any poor kid would self pity himself or herself as much as she does. I think most, if not all of them would have made their peace to not complain or think about it every 5 minutes. Its good to show efforts of getting out of poverty, but they could have spared the unnecessary self pity.
They have a talent hunt competition for stand up comedian kids who perform well beyond their ages in every sense of the word. To top it all, one of the judges is a wife beater and drug addict. Some role model, way to go colors!
Colors is the most promising channel as cited by some popularity stats. In less than one year it has become a threat to stalwarts like star and zee. It took a series of regressive saas bahu sagas to take star to new heights. Not surprisingly, it is even more regressive saga of child marriage that is helping colors. What's wrong with us?
I also felt pretty pissed off after watching their new (or may be not so new) series called Utran. Every episode is punctuated after every 5 minutes by a sad tune where a poor girl is made to feel the pinch of her poverty. I doubt if any poor kid would self pity himself or herself as much as she does. I think most, if not all of them would have made their peace to not complain or think about it every 5 minutes. Its good to show efforts of getting out of poverty, but they could have spared the unnecessary self pity.
They have a talent hunt competition for stand up comedian kids who perform well beyond their ages in every sense of the word. To top it all, one of the judges is a wife beater and drug addict. Some role model, way to go colors!
Someone who nobody had heard of a fortnight back now has a wiki page dedicated to him created few days after the Mangalore incident (some soldiers who Lord Ram wouldn't have had in his sena came out and beat some girls for whatever they were doing). For him, the battle is already won, everything else beyond this would just be bonus. On top of that he might just make a lot of money selling all the underpants he is getting for free.
So who stands to gain in this. I guess everyone starting with certain Mr PM, folks from pink chaddi and off late may be folks from pink condom
I am really unhappy that I am adding another blog to the list of blogs mentioning this guy. Anyway, here is the most interesting post I read on this topic.
So who stands to gain in this. I guess everyone starting with certain Mr PM, folks from pink chaddi and off late may be folks from pink condom
I am really unhappy that I am adding another blog to the list of blogs mentioning this guy. Anyway, here is the most interesting post I read on this topic.
This may be one quote that Federer would regret making. Not that not making it would have changed things.
"He (Nadal) is a fantastic player and is going to be around for so much longer so I am happy with every one I get now before he takes them all." -- After Wimbledon 2007
The Australian open loss this Sunday acted like the last straw that broke the camel's back. He just wasn't prepared for a defeat, like so many of us. He was waiting to make history, like so many of us. But his perfect script like his perfect rhythm was spoiled brutally and disappointed him deeply and broke him, like so many of us.
Now, this may be too early to right obituaries, I will be the last person to do that. Consider this - Federer has reached a male record 19 consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals and reached the finals of the last 4 grand slams. By any standards, this is exemplary performance, but the fact that it is being moaned tells you that he isn't (never is) judged by any normal standards.
Only after the loss of Sunday did I realize how big he had become. Even if he stops playing right now, he will probably end up with more records than anyone else in the history. I can't even imagine what would have happened, had Nadal not been around in this era. To get an idea sample some of these quotes:
By Him
It's just unreal, I'm shocked myself. I've played good matches here, but never really almost destroyed somebody.
It's a match for him to forget and for me to remember.
After defeating Andy Roddick in the Australian Open 2007 semi-final
On him
For me, in my prime, I felt unbeatable. In Roger's days, he's unbeatable. It's really hard to put one guy over the other. Having said that, I think Roger is dominating the game much more than I ever did. I think he's going to go on and pass 14 and win 16, 17, 18 majors. I think he's going to break all records.
Pete Sampras, before playing his third exhibition match with Roger Federer, Macau, China, Nov. 23, 2007.
He can beat half the guys with his eyes closed!
John McEnroe, BBC Wimbledon 2006 live broadcast
If he is playing very good, I have to play unbelievable. If not, it’s impossible, especially if he’s playing with good confidence. When he’s 100 percent, he’s playing in another league. It’s impossible to stop him. I fight. I fight. I fight. Nothing to say. Just congratulate him.
Rafael Nadal, after losing to Federer in the Shanghai Masters Cup semifinal, Nov.
And fight he did and look what he has done to someone who was (almost) invincible if there is any such thing. The ghosts of Nadal in Federer's mind are/have taking/taken concrete shapes. A win this Sunday could have taken care of them, but alas that wasn't to be. It pushed the knife even further and I wonder how hard it would be for him now to come back up and vanquish the one who has beaten him time and again.
Leaving you with some more quotes here and the following two pictures:
"He (Nadal) is a fantastic player and is going to be around for so much longer so I am happy with every one I get now before he takes them all." -- After Wimbledon 2007
The Australian open loss this Sunday acted like the last straw that broke the camel's back. He just wasn't prepared for a defeat, like so many of us. He was waiting to make history, like so many of us. But his perfect script like his perfect rhythm was spoiled brutally and disappointed him deeply and broke him, like so many of us.
Now, this may be too early to right obituaries, I will be the last person to do that. Consider this - Federer has reached a male record 19 consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals and reached the finals of the last 4 grand slams. By any standards, this is exemplary performance, but the fact that it is being moaned tells you that he isn't (never is) judged by any normal standards.
Only after the loss of Sunday did I realize how big he had become. Even if he stops playing right now, he will probably end up with more records than anyone else in the history. I can't even imagine what would have happened, had Nadal not been around in this era. To get an idea sample some of these quotes:
By Him
It's just unreal, I'm shocked myself. I've played good matches here, but never really almost destroyed somebody.
It's a match for him to forget and for me to remember.
After defeating Andy Roddick in the Australian Open 2007 semi-final
On him
For me, in my prime, I felt unbeatable. In Roger's days, he's unbeatable. It's really hard to put one guy over the other. Having said that, I think Roger is dominating the game much more than I ever did. I think he's going to go on and pass 14 and win 16, 17, 18 majors. I think he's going to break all records.
Pete Sampras, before playing his third exhibition match with Roger Federer, Macau, China, Nov. 23, 2007.
He can beat half the guys with his eyes closed!
John McEnroe, BBC Wimbledon 2006 live broadcast
If he is playing very good, I have to play unbelievable. If not, it’s impossible, especially if he’s playing with good confidence. When he’s 100 percent, he’s playing in another league. It’s impossible to stop him. I fight. I fight. I fight. Nothing to say. Just congratulate him.
Rafael Nadal, after losing to Federer in the Shanghai Masters Cup semifinal, Nov.
And fight he did and look what he has done to someone who was (almost) invincible if there is any such thing. The ghosts of Nadal in Federer's mind are/have taking/taken concrete shapes. A win this Sunday could have taken care of them, but alas that wasn't to be. It pushed the knife even further and I wonder how hard it would be for him now to come back up and vanquish the one who has beaten him time and again.
Leaving you with some more quotes here and the following two pictures:
Related to my post on Combination Generator, I received some email requests for some other variations. While answering one such request for generating nCr combinations, I did some search. As expected Perl did not disappoint me and I got to know of the awesome perl module for Combinatorics. To give an idea of how simple it is to use, here is the code for nCr generation.
use Math::Combinatorics;
my @n = qw(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14);
my $combinat = Math::Combinatorics->new(count => 8, => [@n],);
while(my @combo = $combinat->next_combination){
print join(' ', @combo)."\n";
}
output:
use Math::Combinatorics;
my @n = qw(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14);
my $combinat = Math::Combinatorics->new(count => 8, => [@n],);
while(my @combo = $combinat->next_combination){
print join(' ', @combo)."\n";
}
output:
Found a lot of noise about withdrawal of an emotional post by a blogger who wasn't happy with the way NDTV and more specifically Barkha Dutt covered the Mumbai terrorist attack. Here is the withdrawal link.
http://ckunte.com/archives/withdrawal
I read a cached copy of the post and completely agree with what he wrote. While watching the coverage when it all happened I wasn't happy with her reporting either. Here is what I had to say at that time. Hysteria and dissatisfaction form the core of everything I have seen her doing including her program "We the people" which I can't stand any more after watching it once. The topic was about stopping prostitution where Kiran Bedi and Barkha Dutt were trying to tell a prostitute that she was forced into it even though she felt otherwise. She seemed quite happy with the way things shaped up in her life.
Leaving this aside, there isn't much I have to add to what people are already writing on blogs, but I guess I will do my bit by adding another post in the already long list of posts opposing her.
As a parting note, interestingly this is what wiki has to say about her:
http://ckunte.com/archives/withdrawal
I read a cached copy of the post and completely agree with what he wrote. While watching the coverage when it all happened I wasn't happy with her reporting either. Here is what I had to say at that time. Hysteria and dissatisfaction form the core of everything I have seen her doing including her program "We the people" which I can't stand any more after watching it once. The topic was about stopping prostitution where Kiran Bedi and Barkha Dutt were trying to tell a prostitute that she was forced into it even though she felt otherwise. She seemed quite happy with the way things shaped up in her life.
Leaving this aside, there isn't much I have to add to what people are already writing on blogs, but I guess I will do my bit by adding another post in the already long list of posts opposing her.
As a parting note, interestingly this is what wiki has to say about her:
According to a study by Newswatch, a media watchdog based in Delhi, Barkha Dutt was the worst anchor in terms of sensationalizing the Mumbai Terror Strikes.[13] Perhaps most disastrously, during the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008, Barkha Dutt shared and telecast critical information live on television regarding
- the location of civilians hiding in hotels (thus potentially endangering their lives),
- the then ATS chief Hemant Karkare's safety preparation (showed him wearing a helmet and a bullet-proof vest in excruciating detail live on television: the officer succumbed to bullets in the neck),
- the exact number and location of commandos defending the hostage locations at the Taj and the Oberoi hotels (information easily available to the terrorists via television or sat phone),
- contacting the head of Oberoi to release sensitive information regarding the current hostage situation in the hotel which drastically contradicted the sanitised information released by Indian security agencies in order to keep the rescue operation uncompromised,
- she further went on to say that even though the govt said that there will be no negotiations with the terrorists, her diplomatic sources – she named the diplomat – said that negotiations are underway.
- It has been reported by a survivor(Lynne Shaw) that this information was used by terrorists in Oberoi to get to some of the hostages. There are also reports that this information may have let terrorists to the next steps by the armed forces.
I am currently reading "The Black Swan" and it mentioned the concept of "Scalable profession" in passing. A scalable profession is one where your rewards are not directly proportional to the effort you put. Most of the creative professions like creating music, writing books will fall in this category. Some examples of non scalable professions are manual labor, doctors etc. A little caveat - A scalable profession sounds like a great idea but only if you are good at it
I think all of us have realized the existence of scalable and non scalable professions but I never tried and categorize it that way. Before I started writing this blog I did a search on "black swan scalable profession" and got this blog which explains the exact same concept and a little more. So, no more on this topic, why rewrite when you can reuse!
I think all of us have realized the existence of scalable and non scalable professions but I never tried and categorize it that way. Before I started writing this blog I did a search on "black swan scalable profession" and got this blog which explains the exact same concept and a little more. So, no more on this topic, why rewrite when you can reuse!
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