Federer manages to crawl home

Boy, what a match it was. Wimbledon 2007 Men's Final and the top two seeds battling it out for the crown. Federer the King of Grass and a 4 time champion against the "Spanish Stallion" and King of Clay, Rafael Nadal. They had met in the 2006 finals too but that looked more of a flash in the pan for Nadal. Nobody had given him much of a chance to reach the finals, including yours truly. But not only did he prove us wrong by galloping to the finals but nearly won the championship too!!!! Nadal displayed his allround game in the finals and gave the champion a run for his money. The match was a spectators delight with all the twists and turns one can ever ask for. Nadal did well to stretch Federer to 5 sets and in the fifth set, he had the championship in his pocket but full marks to Federer for not giving it up. Federer was constantly under pressure in the deciding set but as soon as he saw an opening, he went for it.....and won the championship. Everyone in the Nadal camp, including me was disappointed but now we know that Nadal has an allround game and he is not just a King of Clay. If he continues to play like this, he will win the Wimbledon pretty soon. As far as Federer is concerned, Congratulations for the fifth Wimbledon trophy mate.....now you have everything you want....no wait.....French Open is still missing. Oooops!!!!! Now that is gonna be tough for you. Anyways.....see ya next year at Paris Mr. Federer....if at all you feel like coming. Go Nadal Go!!!!!

Is everything alrite with the Indian Team

India played pretty well under pressure in the last two matches of the Future Cup against the South Africans. Indian team, 1-0 down after the first match, put up some great performances to win the series 2-1. Now the whole India is ecstatic. The team, the spectators and the fans, the media...everyone is going gaga. And they have reasons to do that as this series victory is first against the South Africans away from home. And the fact that it came after the World Cup debacle makes it even more sweet.

I do not want to sound pessimistic but is everything alright with the Indian Team? I do not think so. All the three matches went down to the wire and they could have gone either way. One big problem that I can see is with the batting. Though a couple (Tendulkar and Yuvraj) came up with some good performances with the bat, others were found wanting. (I am not including the performances in the match against Ireland). Against the South African bowling attack, Ganguly and Gambhir struggled with the bat. Ganguly's front foot seemed nailed to the crease where as Gambhir did not apply himself enough.

I believe the biggest problem is with the captaincy. Dravid allowed the South Africans to trot to the target in the first game and in the last game, his bowling changes were not up to the mark. That helped the opposition to build a fighting total. His captaincy is lacking the aggression that is required in such crunch games. Though he scored 70 odd in the first game, his batting is also not what it used to be. He is not giving the full face of the bat to the bowl, instead he is looking to work the ball on the leg side. That is making him look very tentative and is affecting his strike rate too. Moreover, the way he has been getting out is also a concern. He was bowled in the first (there was a time when it was a rarity but now it has become a common phenomenon), he was caught and bowled in the second (he was neither on the front foot nor back foot while playing a rising delivery) and he was run out in a stupid manner in the last. The way he was run out in the last game reminded me of Virendra Sehwag's dismissal in the last game against the Lankans, before the World Cup. On that occassion Sehwag was heavily criticized. I wonder why is the media quiet this time around. This dismissal could have cost us the match.

Having said all that, I agree that Dravid is a great player. Infact, one of the best that India has ever produced. (Its a surprise that he was not included in the "All Time Indian Test Team", which was selected by a few former captains.) It is just that we have an important series against England ahead of us. We will require good form of Dravid the batsman and Dravid the captain in that series. All the best to Dravid and the Indian Team for the series.

For now, let us enjoy the moment of glory!!!

Am Happy!!!

Today I took some time out to look back at my life. Me and Roshni had just returned after some heavy duty shopping and I was thinking that how happy I am...at least on the personal front. I have someone who is more a friend than anything else. We enjoy so much together and the fact that our likings match, does help a lot. I know guys tend to run away from marriage thinking that it will bring too much responsibility. They think that their wings will be chopped off and there would be someone at home constantly telling to be systematic!!!

Well, thats not entirely wrong. My wife DOES tell me to be a little systematic at home but its not that my wings have been chopped off. Its just that my idea of fun has changed. Pub-hopping, biking...etc have been substituted with candle light dinners and shopping. But I am enjoying all this!!! I did not have to make any changes in my life style. It comes naturally, if at all you love the other person and want to make her happy.

But I nearly missed all this. I had said no to marriage and had decided that I will spend my life alone as that would be a different kinda fun and there wont be much responsibilities. Thank god that for once, I subordinated my preference to my parent's wishes. I had lost all hopes from my life but she changed everything. ".....saaqi ne phir se mera jaam bhar diya.....". Thank You. I am happy once again....we all are happy once again....Touchwood.