The Indian Sub-continent Times

After 0-8: Tough task ahead for World Champions

ashok — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:19:10 +0000

By Ashok Kumar:

Well, the obituaries are already written and ready howsoever the seniors may put up a show of defiance in the wake of widespread criticism in the aftermath of double debacle overseas. Laxman had said even before the Adelaide Test that there are no plans to retire and now Dravid too is talking in the same tone.
In cricket, score speaks and not reputation. Because, the reputed batting line up wilted under the novices’ attack. In the post-mortem conducted so far by the bigwigs of sports journalism, the pointer is that the first head to go on the chopping block is Captain M.S. Dhoni.
Dhoni , the captain cool failed to instil the enthusiasm in the team before the match that resulted in defeats, one after the other. The confidence was not there in the after match statements. After the first Test match, Glenn McGrath had predicted a 4-0 whitewash and Aussie captain Clarke said that they will make sure that Sachin does not score his hundredth ton in Australia and both saw to it that happened.
There was no such statement from any Indian player to show that level of confidence. All that could be seen was the focus on Sachin’s hundred and not on their game. Instead, what came out were the reports of the team falling apart after the alleged difference of opinion between the captain and the vice-captain. How can you play leave alone winning a Test match with such a low team confidence?
I would rate the West Indies team touring India better since they at least succeeded in drawing the last match to avoid a brown wash.
This was a team with a lot of name and talent. The talent was wasted and the name was of no use and in the end became the unknowns. Rohit Sharma, the batsman in form was made to sit out for the entire series while the famed failures had been given chance after chance. If only once a senior was dropped from the playing eleven, it would have done some good to both. Dropping a senior would have instilled at least realisation of a sense of responsibility in him and playing a youngster would have given him a chance to prove himself. Wridhiman Saha is the best example. The way he joined Kohli in building the innings after all the seniors failed showed that he didn’t want to let the opportunity go waste.
The way the team India management persisted with the failed seniors, showed its stubbornness. They should have shunned the thought soon after the first Test that they are the best. Come to think of it that no one displayed a semblance of fight and crumbled under its own weight.
Well, reams have been written about the performance now we should think about stemming the rot. The first step should be to ask the national selection committee to take the blame for the debacle and resign. Second, a fresh look at the seniors be given to consider their respectful departure. It is not just failure in the last two away series alone that should be the reason for their dismissal but also the fact with the age their performance is not improving and hence, the young blood.

Still the ODI series is there and no senior except Sachin and Sehwag is there and the much needed young blood is there to prove the selectors wrong. And, moreover , we are now playing with a tag of world champions, so more is at stake.
Australia, fresh from the Test series win over India and Sri Lanka coming after a debacle in South Africa and Dilshan quitting as captain is likely to make the contest interesting. It gives the World Champions a chance to prove its standing and redeem some reputation in Australia.
Australia is pitted against the World Champions and World Cup runners up but on their own soil. The latter two will be hard pressed to defend their reputation.

After Perth Shame: Groom Kohli as future Captain

ashok — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 10:19:22 +0000

The worst Australian team in 25 years has beaten the best Indian team in 25 years. Why?
The Australians turned their weaknesses into strengths and the famed batting of the Indian team crumbled from overconfidence. The Australian new bowling attack should have been under pressure to perform but it was Indian bowlers who were looking hapless in front of Clarke, Ponting and Hussey, the last two being on the verge of losing their place before the start of the series.
The top scorer at Perth David Warner said after receiving man of the match award “in the Test match most of the fielders are behind the wicket so I thought of playing in front of the wicket.” While the Indians played to those fielders and Australians made merry by scoring in front of the wicket.
The Perth test exposed the fragility of the Indian batting though the bowlers did well. In both the innings, the Indians couldn’t even reach the 200 mark. The Indians couldn’t even match the highest scorer of the match in both the innings.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni said after the match we were unable to adapt to the conditions both in England and Australia. The BCCI should be blamed for this tight schedule in there are hardly any tour matches. The thrust of the Board’s planning is on more matches and more revenue. But still how many Test matches one needs to adapt to a condition. If the top batsmen in the world are unable to adjust to the conditions then they are not world class.
All experts are calling for the sack big four but Dhoni doesn’t feel that way. The seniors have the class and experience so they can’t be dismissed. Sehwag gets out in only one fashion: caught in the slip cordon or point. The opposition knows the way Sehwag bats and lay a trap by bowling him constantly on or outside off stump and he succumbs. Dravid and Laxman had opened the gates more often, Dravid being cleaned bowled for a fifth time in the series in a similar fashion. Tendulkar being unfortunate in the second innings at Perth, being given out to a doubtful decision. Evidently, Zaheer could be seen vociferously reacting in the pavilion to the replays.
Kohli tried to delay the inevitable but succumbed to pressure as he ran out of partners. Three wickets fell in one Hilfenhaus over and all was lost. In the next over, Kohli also edged a Siddle delivery to the keeper.
Till the Perth Test everybody was after Kohli’s head and wanted to replace him with Rohit Sharma and before the series the media thought of introducing a competition between the two. Well, Kohli has answered to all of them. In my opinion, Kohli should be groomed as the future captain as he has the right technique and temperament not to forget that he has led the India under-19 team to the World Cup title. He is the captain material. After all, Mansoor Pataudi was made captain at a very early stage of his career.

I think, in the Adelaide Test, if the team management still has no plans to replace one of the seniors then it should try and reshuffle the batting order. Dravid and Laxman should be batting lower in the order and Dhoni, Virat can be better at number three and four if India is batting first. It can be hard for Dhoni to bat up after keeping the wickets.
All said and done, the Adelaide Test has to be won whatever it takes.

Will Dhoni do a Kumble at WACA?

ashok — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:00:47 +0000

By Ashok Kumar:

In the 2007-8 series, Anil Kumble went to Perth 0-2 down after some bad umpiring decisions at SCG and Harbhajan’s “Monkeygate” scandal. And, Kumble made use of the fast track of WACA through Ishant, Pathan and R.P. Singh to win the Test match.
Dhoni is under similar pressure but the difference this time being an abject surrender by his batsmen at the SCG while the Kumble’s men were fired up after some bad decisions and brought some simile on the faces of Indians.
Dhoni’s problem is compounded with some out of form experienced and famous batsmen whom he is finding it hard part with.
The manner in which all the three were bowled out in the two Test matches clearly shows that their time is up. It’s hard to find a batsman today of the calibre of Dravid, Laxman or Tendulkar allowing the ball to go through their defences. And, Dravid has done it four times in a row.
Of the three, only Tendulkar still seems to be commanding the morale boosting presence. Team India desperately needs to induct Rohit Sharma into the playing XI. And, we have three failures in the form of Dravid, Laxman and Kohli. Of these three, Laxman gave a semblance of his true form and took his score past 50. Dravid seems to be getting into shape but soon he opens the gates. Kohli, on the other hand, is new and needs some more exposure against the bounce. He had showed some ability against the fast bowling of the West Indies albeit at home.
The track at the WACA is green and promises a lot of bounce throughout. Of the three seamers used the last time, only Ishant Sharma is in the present lot. Zaheer Khan, who left the team after the Adelaide Test in 2007-8, would love to exploit the conditions and of course, the fastest of them all Umesh Yadav’s abilities and temperament will be tested here. It will not be out of place here to say that Kohli, if retained, can be utilised in these conditions as he has some pace.
It is likely that the Australians will be deploying a four-pronged pace attack with the inclusion of Ryan Harris in place of injured James Pattinson and New South Wales’ Pat Cummins, if he is fit or Mitchel Stac.
Well the conditions are still stacked in India’s favour and they should go into the match forgetting the 0-2 defecit.

Voting Rights: Who is an NRI?

ashok — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:33:36 +0000

By Ashok Kumar

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at the 10th Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas in Jaipur, asked the Non-resident Indians now to vote in the coming elections.
He told a gathering of 1,900 Diaspora from 0ver 60 countries that the notification for registration of overseas voters had been issued by the Government under the Representation of the Peoples Act and amended in 2010.
According to media reports, only one NRI registered for voting in the last round of Assembly elections.
Who is an NRI? When the Parliament issued notification in November 2010, there was a lot of confusion among the NRIs and Indians who have relinquished their Indian citizenship and became citizens of another country. The Indian Sub-continent Times, in a news report on November 25, 2010 had clarified on this issue.
According the Election Commission website that clarifies on the matter in an answer to a question:
Q2. Can a non-resident Indian citizen become a voter?
Ans. Yes, according to the provisions of the Representation of the People
(Amendment) Act, 2010, a person who is a citizen of India and who has
not acquired the citizenship of any other country and is otherwise eligible
to be registered as a voter and who is absenting from his place of ordinary
residence in India owing to his employment, education or otherwise is
eligible to be registered as a voter in the constituency in which his place
of residence in India as mentioned in his passport is located.
The Indian Sub-continent Times had in its report on November 25, 2010 had quoted a report from Parliament session:
“Parliament had in the monsoon session passed the
Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to allow NRIs
to vote in Indian elections and now government has issued a
gazette notification in this regard.
Gazette notification has been issued giving voting
rights to Non-Resident Indians,” the then Overseas Indian Affairs
Minister Vayalar Ravi told Lok Sabha, replying to a question.
An estimated 20 million NRIs are living in various
countries across the world.
However, the person will be able to exercise the
franchise only if he or she is present in the constituency on
the polling day.
Ravi had said NRIs, “who have not acquired citizenship of
any other country and are living abroad owing to employment,
education or otherwise, are now eligible to register their
names in the electoral rolls” in their places as mentioned in
their passport.

India vs Australia, Second Test Match, Day 1 @ SCG

ashok — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:37:56 +0000

Community Health Seminar

ashok — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:40:02 +0000

GOPIO Health care seminar informative, says community

A Close Encounter with Dev Anand

ashok — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:25:32 +0000

It was nearly 25 years ago, on a winter afternoon, the Press Club in New Delhi was overflowing with members and guests, when the young Secretay-General of the club Chand Joshi led the stylish,debonair, ever young and evergreen guest of the day Mr. Dev Anand into the lawns where we all were waiting to catch a glimpse or shake hands with him.
And, to my excitement, I had my favourite actor and idol, Dev Saab standing at a hand-shake distance from me, his face glowing and exuding the youthfulness of a 25-year-old man. He mingled with the crowd before being led to the private dining room of the club and then to the main hall where a makeshift podium was erected for his talk.
One of the questions asked was obvious one, about his age. With no qualms or hesitation, he told the gathered media persons of the Capital that he never kept his age a secret and proudly declared,” I am 64 years old and born on 26th September 1923.”
While speaking, he displayed a great knowledge of varied subjects and answered questions from politics to culture and his personal life.
One day, while shopping at the Janpath, I stumbled upon his A0 sized poster in black and white and it was so attractive that I bought and displayed it in my bedroom and it remained there till I moved from the country.
I was not expecting to wake up to the sad news of his death. The first thought came to my mind was that he is evergreen and ever youthful how can he die! But even Dev Saab once said in one his interviews that everyone had to physically die and he would too but till that day comes, he will keep on working. And, he kept his word — he died with his boots on. He will be with us through his films no matter hits or flops.
He was a visionary and all his films were ahead of times. While I don’t watch the new generation movies but whenever I get a chance, it would be either of Dev Saab or my other favourite, Shammi Kapoor. Both of whom shared some great moments in their hey days. We learnt through Shammi ji that he got at least two movies because Dev Saab had either turned down or couldn’t do them. And, one of them propelled him to super stardom.
Incidentally, Shammi Kapoor died two months before his 80th birthday and Dev Saab departed two months after his 88th birthday. Both the legends died on a Sunday morning.
I had procured his autobiography Romancing with Life while I was in Sydney and it was so interesting that I read it five times and remember on what page what was written. One felt that every page we read brought us closer to him, his family and his work. Like, he mentions in the book of his fling with a woman when he was doing his first film and the daily trips to corn fields in Pune with her. Later, he used that incident in his movie Teen Deviyaan with him and Nanda singing “likha hai teri aankhon mein.”
He openly wrote about his affairs with Suraiyya and Zeenat Amman and how deeply involved he was with them. And, just when he was about to express his love for Zeenat, Raj Kapoor signed her for Satyam Shivam Sunderam and the relationship ended there and then.
His brother Chetan was not doing very well so he took some advance money from his producer to open a production house for him Navketan International. Under this banner, he produced and his brothers directed several memorable hits. Among the notable ones are Guide and Kala Paani that gave him two Filmfare awards. When Chetan walked away to set up his own company, Dev then roped in Vijay to direct Kala Bazaar. Although he ghost directed Teen Deveeyan but once Vijay bowed out of Navketan, Dev turned director with Prem Pujari, he wrote in the book. But as he described in the book, theirs was a very close-knit family.
Dev Saab gave break to so many newcomers under his production, including his best friend Guru Dutt, Balraj Sahani, S. D Burman, Kishore Kumar, Tina Munim, Jackie Shroff and Waheeda Rahman to name a few.
He tried to launch his son’s career but he couldn’t match his charisma and later went to manage Anand studio.
Dev Saab’s message of life ” main zindagi ka saath nibhaata chalaa gayaa” became the motto of so many of his fans and followers. One line in this song “gam aur khushi mein fark na mehsoos ho jahan, main dil ko uss mukaam pe laata chalaa gayaa,” was a true reflection of his film-making process. He never rued about his films being flopped and embarked on another one. Films was his life and lived films. Chargesheet, his last film released and he was ready with his next film– A sequel to Hare Rama Hare Krishna.
Rest word was not in his dictionary hence, it will be wrong to say rest in peace for the departed soul. I would say may his soul “work in peace.”

Dev Anand: The dying moments

ashok — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 07:54:41 +0000

Aussies out for 47

ashok — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 18:07:26 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Simran named National Youth Ambassador for Health Research

ashok — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 17:37:28 +0000

Year 9 Penrith High School student, Simran Dhaliwal, has been named Research Australia’s 2011 National Youth Ambassador for Health Research. Simran has been chosen to represent Australia’s youth voice for health and medical research, says a Research Australia media release.
Simran’s winning essay in the national schools competition highlighted the growing need for communities to get informed and educated on healthy eating options. “There is a lack of knowledge in the general public (regarding scientific interventions, advancements and innovations) and education is the key to achieving an overall better quality of life,” said Simran.
The Research Australia National Youth Ambassador for Health Research competition challenged year 9 and 10 students from around Australia to submit essays or YouTube videos focusing on scientific interventions in food.
Simran, along with state and territory winners from all over Australia, recently took part in a special teleconference to develop a consensus statement as the voice of Australian youth on nutrition and health research. This communiqué was sent to members of parliament, state health ministers and Research Australia stakeholders.
The Chief Executive Officer of Research Australia, Elizabeth Foley, congratulated Simran for her outstanding contributions.
“The Research Australia Youth Ambassador Program provides an ideal avenue to draw out the observations of some of our finest young students and introduce them to the wide array of career
opportunities in health and medical research – ranging from the traditional lab roles to new areas
such as health economics, science engineering and biomathematics,” Ms Foley said.
Simran will be presented with her award at the 2011 Research Australia Awards, which will be held
at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne on 16 November 2011.
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