Captain Number One.

IPL III is off to a great start and has now reached the 'drag' phase. It is the phase where most neutral matches are boring and seem meaningless. It will eventually lead to the 'race-for-semi-berth' phase where even a neutral match becomes a must-watch. Mumbai and Bangalore look really strong at this stage and most of us would agree if i said they are the probables. Question -> Are Sachin and Kumble the best captains of IPL 3?

Here goes my opinion : NO. Definitely not Kumble. Definitely not the Kumble who shouted at somebody who fumbled near the boundary ropes. Kumble *is* good with the strategy and there is proof for that. Eg: Using spin against Gily, Using the short ball for Yusuf etc etc. But not all strategists are leaders. Kumble fails in the 'inspire-the-team' part.

What about Sachin? I do respect his game. He is one of the better captains in the IPL. But is he the best? Not when Dhoni, Gily and Warnie are around.

Dhoni - The Mathematician. When he is the captain, there is math in his game. He understands his team and the opponents so well that he has a very detailed plan. Given the players who can work his plan out, Dhoni can beat any team; anywhere; anytime. But can he do the same with a 'not-so-capable' team? I doubt it. Dhoni can lead a pack of lions but not anything less than that. He needs everybody to play the exact roles assigned to them which doesn't always happen.

Gily - The Philosopher. Adam Gilchrist is a man of principles. That means he has fixed ways of handling things. He preffered chasing irrespective of the conditions in IPL 2 and in IPL 3 he prefers batting first irrespective of conditions. He is considerate. You can feel Adam treating younger members of team like his own son. Also he looks into the tiny details that most captains overlook. But are his strategies unquestionable? No. Why do you want to bat first everytime? Gily has to read situations better. May be he can learn from Dhoni. Bottomline, DC is a 'goat leading goats' clan. It is a happy family but not a deadly pack.

Warnie - The Braveheart. Warnie is William Wallace reborn. He is fearless, inspiring and intelligent. Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja , Swapnil Asnodkar, Kamran Akmal, Naman Ojha, Siddarth Trivedi and now, Jhunjhunwala. Where does he get all this local talent from? No other team has benefited as much as RR from its inexperienced players. How does Warnie pull it off? It is in how you see your players. You cannot see them as chess pieces (as Dhoni does) and you cannot see them as sons (as Gily does). Warnie does it right. Warnie might not be the great player he once was but he did not forget the art of inspiring. He tells his team: what to do , how to do and more importantly, WHY do. Warnie is the ultimate captain material.

Will Warnie win the IPL? May be not. Rather, most probably not. But mind you, the winning captain is not always the best captain.

P.S: I support the Deccan Chargers. Go Chargers Go Chargers Go Go Go.

Wealth

I read this question on the internet: "Would you rather be rich and paralyzed from the waist down or poor and able bodied?"

Yes. You are right. This is a very old question and everyone, probably had heard it 7-8 times. But this time was the first time that i really wanted to give it a thought. (I am considering rich = really rich. There is not point in being 'moderately' rich and paralyzed. You are stuck.)

So, rich & sick (or) poor & healthy?

Being rich feels good. Always. You would be more happier if you had 100 more bucks in your wallet. Even if you are paralyzed from your waist down, you can get things done right from your bed. Business, fun, entertainment - all at your doorstep. You can even build your own virtual world, where you can walk around. But the more important thing is that, people atleast pretend that they care for you. You get flowers from all over the world. People respect you. Your illness is news to them. The care and the love might even eat away your illness.

But.

There is existing. And then there is living. You might not be as rich as 70% of the people in the world. But if you are fit: you know you can go to the everest, some day; you know you can bungee jump off a cliff; you know you can out run a mad dog that chases you; you know you can still get to your cubicle on the 12th floor, when the lift is out of order; you know you can play with your kids, you can be their hero; you know you wont make news when you die, but you also know that day is far far away.

Fitness and happiness put together can outweigh money. There is only one thing that is better than being fit and happy. Being fit,happy and rich.

I would rather be poor and healthy than rich and paralyzed. :)

Oh, My God?

"How many of u in this class believe in God?". My 7th class physics teacher was asking. For about 5 seconds nobody reacted. Sarath raised his hand slowly. He then turned and looked if i would give him company. He was the only one with his hand up in air. I did not have much time to react. So i decided i would give him company. I don't know when i turned an atheist. But it was definitely after that moment.

I used to have a lot of questions about God. Questions that we can talk about for hours together. But in the end, i decided the answers don't matter at all. The truth doesn't matter as long as you believe. I chose not believe only for the fun of it.

~~Carter Chambers : "If you dont have faith in God, you are saying 95% of the people in the world are wrong." Edward Cole: "95% of the people in the world are always wrong."~~

The Bucket List

Things i should definitely do before i die:

1. Bunkee jump.
2. Get a Katana.
3. Meet Adam Gilchrist.
4. Write a romantic song. Add music. Sing it to a crowd. Make her realise it is for her. :)
5. Go on a tour with 20 kids. To some place really far.
6. Be a member of a secret society.
7. Make love to her in a waterfalls.
8. Go to the Himalayas. Sit by the window of a buddhist monastery with a cup of coffee.
9. Visit a old friend and hear "Boy, i missed you a lot!".
10. Inspire.

On Maturing.

I suddenly realised something. Maturity is defeat. You mature when you start accepting the world's definition of things. You mature when you lose your uniqueness and you become one of 'them'. I would love to 'unmature'.

Achilles and his heel.

"Troy" pounced on me from a wooden horse (called Star movies) two weeks back. I decided the first thing that i ll write in my blog will be about "Troy" and Achilles.

One good thing about the movie is that there is no divide. It does not classify the two sides. It does not say which side is good and which side is bad. And hence, it breaks down all assumptions. You can't assume that 'the good' will eventually win because you dont know which side is 'the good'.

Achilles - Wow, Majesty, Anger, Power. Add that to the Oxford thesaurus. Brad Pitt plays it so well that Russell Crowe as Gladiator now feels like a house cat.

Why does Achilles have to have his heel?

Is it to make the climax interesting?
Or is it to show nobody is invincible?
Or is it to show God ain't that perfect?

My guess is that it was to make the climax ,or the end of the story in the case of the book, more interesting. Primarily because, I would have done that if i had written the script. May be i would ve chosen his earlobe.

Was it to show that nobody was invincible? Probably not. Everybody knows nobody is invincible. Why do you need to say that in your story?

Was is it to show God ain't perfect? This is a bit more interesting. The answer depends on what God wanted to happen. May be he wanted to make Achilles all powerful and invincible. In which case he ain't perfect. May be he didnot want to disprove something that people believe in(Ref the para above) Or may be he wanted us to think that he ain't perfect while he actually was.

Well, who can answer these questions? God knows :)

To blog or not to blog.

Well, you know the answer :)