3 wkts in 32 overs? NO CAN DO SIR!!!

That's what Team India said at Old Trafford today.

When was the last time you saw a bowling attack so fuckin incapable of bowling wicket-taking deliveries? And this is supposed to be the pride and joy of more than a billion people - the Indian Cricket Team, HA!!! They almost did the unthinkable today when RP and Dhoni ran out Collingwood! And I thought this one's in the bag... well, so much for confidence and faith.

This is it... I am not gonna follow the Indian cricket team anymore.

A ball, a stick and some Instincts...

Golf is a funny game.

There's one school of golf which swears by the art and technique of a swing. And the swing is the end-all be-all of the sport for them. Everything else falls in right if you master the swing! But of course no one has the ideal swing. Would it be Tiger's? Or would it be Nickalus'?Or would it be mine?

Then there's the other school of thought which says there is a ball, there is a club and there's instinct. Everything else happens if you just hit the ball with the club. The club is angled to provide the trajectory to the shot. The ball is stationary, so just aim for the right spot on the ball. And let your instinct take over, just like a child would hit a ball with a stick!

I started off getting indoctrinated into the first school because I took golf lessons last year at ISB. And of course all instructors only talk about the swing! But over the last couple of months, I have just been swinging alone at the range near my office. And I am beginning to let instinct take over. I see the ball, I hit the ball. But there's still technique to it. It's not all wild heaving. I still have to work on the angle at which my arm comes down. And I certainly have to work on keeping my wrists steady. The easiest thing to do by instinct is to let the wrists control the shot at the time of impact. DON'T DO THAT! It can only lead to sore wrists within a couple of days. And then instincts, or no instincts, you don't wanna hit the driving range when it hurts with every swing.

So just like with most other sports, a good blend of technique and instinct will probably serve me better than either one alone. I guess somewhere along the way I had simply forgotten that Golf is also a sport!

...because, it's there!

On top of the peak, after an arduous 6-hr climb, I lay exhausted... soaking up the sun. And I thought...

Why did I want to climb this peak? Was it prove my fitness to myself? I could have done that in the gym or in the pool... didn't need to take a 3-day trip to Yosemite for that! Maybe I did it just to break the monotony of an urban existence... maybe. The simple answer is that I did it
- because the peak was there to be taken

Why do we want to surf gigantic 100 foot waves in the pacific?
- because the waves are there to be conquered

Why do we want to explore space?
- because it's all around us challenging us constantly

Why does one need to sail across the world?
- because the winds and the seas are there to be explored

Why do I want to trek the Himalayas one day?
- because it's there

The key to most adventurous undertakings in our lives is pretty simple.
We do it... because it's there!!!

Half Dome Conquered!

16 mile (25.6 km) round trip hike
8800 ft above sealevel
900 ft of almost vertical climb in the end
- 500 ft of knee-jarring foot high steps
- 400 ft of near vertical body haul supported by 2 cables
11 hrs of continuous walking
.
.
.

A breath of fresh air at the top to wipe out the fatigue
A dip in the cold stream to wash off the grime
The smile on my face along with the pain in my legs... PRICELESS!!!

The Trek
Pics from the Yosemite Trip

Moments on a green field

The simple joys of cricket...

1. A beautiful outswinger - pitched on middle, squaring up the batsman and swinging late to sneak past the outside edge to clip the top of off stump
2. A perfect toe-crusher hitting the base of middle and leg and toppling the hapless batsmen in a futile attempt to dig it out
3. A well-anticipated bouncer hooked perfectly to the fine leg fence
4. A wristy flick to send the ball soaring high over the square leg fence
5. An inside-out six over cover to a leggie
6. A backfoot punch beating the cover fielder in a race to the extra cover boundary
7. A high-backlift straight drive between the bowler and the umpire
8. A searing upper cut over point
9. A cherry plucked out of thin air at gully
10. A left-arm quick jagging one back in to take out the middle stump
11. A prowler at point pouncing on a square cut and breaking the timber at the non-striker's end in one smooth motion
12. A flowing cover-drive from a south-paw

There is skill, talent, instinct, intellect and above all a competitive spirit in every moment of this glorious sport...