Mahabaleshwar To Pratapgad—The Fort Of Valour!

The most exciting sightseeing of a Mahabaleshwar visit is the trip to the mountain fort Pratapgad—about 22 km from Mahabaleshwar through a narrow hilly road that cascades up and down the Sahyadri Mountain range in Western Ghats making you gasp all the way. The sharp turns to the extent of almost 180 degrees and the green valleys down thousands of feet now one side of your car and the next moment the other side. 

Pratap Gad—the Fort (Gad) of Valour (Pratap)—is strategically placed and is known for the legendary Battle of Pratapgad in 1659 fought and won by Maratha ruler Shivaji Maharaj against Afzal Khan, the commander of the mighty Sultanate of Bijapur. Through a web of deceit from both sides finally Shivaji killed Afzal Khan here and the Afzal Khan Tomb was also built in the Fort environs. You can climb up to the top through two layers of Fort constructions and get amazed by the military strategy adopted and the sheer natural beauty all around. 

Tea Break at a Restaurant Atop!

On the Mahabaleshwar-Pratapgad road stretch too you cannot help getting down from your car at several points and get in tune with bountiful Mother Nature. 

Ahoy! 

India Vs England: Zaheer, Yuvraj, Bhajji Dropped, And Dhoni Stays!

India cricket captain MS Dhoni gave out the right signals right after the Kolkata Test defeat that there was no question of quitting his captaincy. Right, why would he? Do the corrupt politicians do so? Do the rotten chiefs of Indian sports bodies do so? Who bothers about national pride and dignity? If supreme bodies like the Indian Olympic Association or the Boxers’ get suspended by the international controlling authorities, let it be so, why would anyone give up personal profit for that! The national selectors of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) showed similar inclination as how they could possibly control the Frankenstein it itself created and nourished. 

Therefore, as per Dhoni’s signals three perfect scapegoats have been identified for the sacrificial altar  by the BCCI Selectors in Kolkata today for the fourth Test match between India and England staring in Nagpur from 13^th December, 2012. The first one is Yuvraj Singh who fought cancer to get back to cricket. About his fitness captain Dhoni has always been suspecting and protesting, and so he had to be sacrificed. The second one is Harbhajan Singh who hardly played in this Test Series, and when he did in fact play in the Mumbai Test he was hardly used by the captain the bounce in the pitch notwithstanding. The third one is veteran pacer Zaheer Khan. Well, one senior had to be sacrificed to please the offended cricket fans and experts of India. Anybody with experience would do that. One youngster pacer (Parvinder Awana) was brought in, again for that purpose only.

So, what about Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and the captain himself? As we have already indicated players like him call the shots rather playing them well in the field. Read on! Whom Dhoni has brought in for the remaining two slots? Ravindra Jadeja, the great Indian all-rounder on paper, for whom Dhoni allegedly arranged the maximum ever price to buy him for Chennai Super Kings in IPL-5 captained by Dhoni himself. And who else for the spinner’s slot than Piyush Chawla? These two have been Dhoni’s all time favorites all the time.

Therefore, the King remains King whatever happens and the powers that be rally around him only, this has been the Indian story, ever. Sad, atrocious, supreme arrogance, highhandedness, power of vested interests, power of money…you decide how you want to get vocal about all this. By the way, Team India for the T20 matches against England has also been announced. The skipper figures, naturally, there too along with his trusted comrades. Right?

As per latest reports the BCCI had warned one and every player of Team India for poor performance. Whoa! At least something is better than nothing! But who will bell the cat…sorry…has Dhoni been warned too?

Test Cricket: England Annihilate India In Kolkata!

Finally India managed to avoid the ignominy of an innings defeat—a defeat terminology India have been used to thrusting upon their rivals at home since time somewhat memorial. On the last day of the third cricket Test match in Kolkata today England cruised to a 7 wicket victory over India—a historical win at Eden Gardens where England last won a Test as far back as in the 1976-77 England tour of India under the captaincy of Tony Greig. England could have wrapped up the match forcing an innings defeat well within four days yesterday but for spinner R Ashwin’s charged fight-back  posting the only half century of the Indian second innings trailing 207 runs. The so-called Revenge Series got turned on its head and converted into a Humiliation Series by a gallant England team that called the shots all the way since the media-termed Revenge No.1 after an Indian victory in the first Test at Ahmedabad. Mumbai made Revenge No.2 turn into Humiliation No.1 and now Kolkata made Revenge No.3 to Humiliation No.2. The fourth and last Test scheduled on the bouncy Nagpur pitch is likely to favor England strongly. And India cannot win this Series, what they do to avoid Humiliation No.3 is to be seen. Two back-to-back Test defeats at home have come for India after more than a decade.

As I was writing I was looking for a word strong enough to describe this terrific England victory over a clueless India. I did not find ‘crush’ or ‘demolish’ effective ones. After a rabid search for a whole lot of synonyms I finally short listed ‘Annihilate’ and ‘Pulverize’, and I settled for the first! However, ‘pulverize’ is not so bad either! 

 Nothing much to write home about India in India. It was again only England bowling and England batting all the way. They played to a plot steadfastly irrespective of the pitches or conditions. They have made this England Cricket Tour of India 2012-13 a most memorable even before they go to Nagpur for the final showdown. Captain Alistair Cook, KP Pietersen, Compton, Trott, Panesar, Swann, Anderson, Finn are the stars that would make whole of England proud. The Scorecard:

 

India skipper MS Dhoni has excelled only on two major counts: demanding turning or conditioned pitches and winning the toss. Both of these going almost his ways at home Dhoni still could not take the advantage. All his teammates failed him miserably—in batting, bowling and even fielding with Dhoni himself responsible for several lapses. We have maintained here again and again that this dismal show is not due to lack of class batsmen or bowlers, but due to lack of motivation, application and accountability, and the negative Indian mindset inspired by their leader trying to take the easy way out for revenge or victory or whatever. They lost to England in England 4-0, they lost to Australia in Australia 4-0, and they blamed the pitch and conditions. Now, they trail 1-2 in India. MS Dhoni and a few non-performing key players must go, at least temporarily so that nothing is taken for granted in Indian cricket. How the cricket Board act against the vested interests is to be seen now with the last Test coming up in Nagpur. That spinner Ashwin nearly scored a century and that Indian spinners caught England wobbling briefly today shows motivation rather than the pitch.

With the obvious Team disarray looming large before the national selectors action was still not deemed necessary for the Third Test in Kolkata. Now it could be too late for the last confrontation in Nagpur. England leads the Series 2-1 and they fully deserve to make it a triumphant 3-1 to go home celebrate Christmas and New Year and then come back for the one-day Series. Meantime Pakistan must be gearing up for its short Indian tour in five years starting December 25. They must be preparing to go for the kill against a decimated India, but in the short format of the game India’s vulnerability is yet to be proved convincingly.