ChinmayC Blog

Ross Taylor Overseas woes drown India as New Zealand won the one-day international (ODI) cricket Series overpowering a hapless Team India in the 4 th ODI match by 7 wickets with 11 balls to spare in Hamilton today.   The Kiwis take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match Series reducing the last match to be played in Wellington on 31 st January to only an academic interest. Team India managed to do absolutely nothing so far in its Tour of New Zealand except for that inexplicable tie in the third ODI in Auckland on 25 th January. That match did not fit into the category of an epic encounter, because surprising lapses and worrisome attitudes somehow took the match to a tie. The Kiwis should have won the Series with ease then and there, and when India finally needed two runs off the last ball Ravindra Jadeja just did not seem to be interested in taking the second run. For India there was a record in Indian ODI cricketing history as their 6 th , 7 th and 8 th (Dhoni-Jadeja-Ash...

New Zealand beat India by 15 runs on Duckworth/Lewis method in the rain-interrupted second one day international (ODI) match in Hamilton today delivering one more professional performance in all areas of batting, fielding and bowling. India, by virtue of this fourth consecutive ODI defeat, lose the NO.1 ODI ranking that they enjoyed since January, 2013. Australia thunders back to No.1 position after they lost it in the beginning of 2012.  There is not much to write home about this match. It followed almost the same pattern, spirit or the lack of it as far as India is concerned and the performances except, of course, for the several rain interruptions that reduced the match to a 42-over affair. Dhoni again won the toss, and again due to lack of faith in his batsmen or due to fear of the short and bouncing stuff decided to hand over the good batting opportunity to New Zealand, Again, Anderson, the blossoming all-rounder, was instrumental in plundering 100 runs in the last 8 overs. T...

Mitchell McClenaghan In Fury!  After losing both the ODI and Test Series in South Africa Indian batsmen today in the first one-day-international (ODI) against New Zealand in Napier had a great chance to reverse their poor overseas cricket trend, but they failed miserably despite a brilliant hundred by Virat Kohli (123 in 111 balls) as New Zealand beat India by 24 runs. As is usual for Indian ovseseas cricket the Indian Tour of New Zealand started with a defeat. Again, it is more of a story of the Indian batsmen not able to negotiate short balls and bouncers with four of the top batsmen failing due to sheer pace. Even then, reduced to 129 for 4 in the 29th over chasing a daunting target of 293, Kohli and Dhoni (40 off 46 balls-the second highest individual score for India) built a fast-paced partnership bringing India within sight of victory, but a quick fall of three wickets sealed an exciting New Zealand victory. Possibly it is the same fear of the short stuff that made Indian cap...

Emperors or Kings of ancient and medieval India used to have their ‘ darbar ’ or ‘courts’ to hear and address the subjects’ problems. These autocratic monarchs had full authority to decide action or punishment on the spot and nobody dared question the verdicts. However, modern Indian democracy is much more different, and Arvind Kejriwal’s brand of ‘common man rule’ is the extreme contrast with everybody having the right to ask, question or contest. Besides, Indian mob behavior is only too predictably well known. In an almost unmanageably overpopulated country plagued by unemployment and inflation the huge crowds at the employment exchanges, freebie events and public transport stations are only to be seen to be believed. And then the ‘me first’ mentality has been a constant witness to innumerable stampedes at religious places, fatal road accidents and huge traffic snarls. Having a Chief Minister within a touching distance you can lucidly imagine how desperately the crowd would behave. ...

Somewhere in India.   In a small nondescript town two friends are sorting out issues.    Friend 1: “Hi buddy! ...You seem to be in a bit of a worry. What happened?”  Friend 2: “Well, a debate is raging within me…You know I told you about my land settlement issue. Job is almost done except for one last document. And the concerned official is asking for ‘speed’ money to expedite it quickly…” Friend 1: Ha! Speed money? The legalized term for a plain simple bribe?  Friend 2: “I don’t really know. People nowadays hardly have enough time for odd jobs. But these have to be done too. I’m told people readily pay ‘speed’ money to save precious time. …Anyway, my predicament is not actually that. Something else is disturbing me…” Friend 1: “You mean to say you are ready to pay bribes! How could you be so immune to the anti-corruption wave going on around?”  Friend 2: “How do I matter? Meaning how do I solve the problem by my so extremely personal example? I need to cl...

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal won the trust motion in Delhi Assembly on Thursday, January 2, 2014 on a voice vote, 37 in favor and 32 against. After an eventful day on the floor of the house Congress maintained its promise of outside support and with its 8 members (7 voted) ensured an AAP victory. One additional vote came from the lone Janata Dal-United member and the independent member making the mathematics clear—AAP (28) +Congress (7) +JD-U (1) + Ind.(1)=37. The main national opposition BJP had been objecting from the beginning for clear reasons—that being the single largest party in the assembly they could not or rather did not form the government; that it always maintained AAP as being opportunistic or immoral for obtaining support from the very political party (Congress) which they identified with corruption and became a political entity fighting tooth and nail against it from Anna Hazare days and that when Congress is on one side the traditional...