What a BLUNDER Dhoni!

If you asked me, I would say Dhoni gift-wrapped the game and gave it away to England.

Sure, we didn't deserve to go through, given the batsmen were so hopeless at managing short-deliveries, even in a form of the game where there aren't 10 people around your bat. Windies showed the world how fragile the much-vaunted batting lineup is. Save for Yuvraj, it would have been an embarassing loss against Windies.

No gripes how they lost to Windies, we were out-thought by a Windies side that planned and executed brilliantly - they took unbelievable catches, bowled with un-Windies-like discipline. On the top of it, it was a great knock by Bravo. Classy, absolutely match-winning. We couldn't have done much there, it was not a bad loss, we were outplayed.

Now the match against England. Indian batsmen knew exactly what the bowlers were going to do. Were there no nets? Ok, there was maybe no time between the matches, but I would disagree if you told me that batsmen of this calibre had no clue how to get rid of the shortish balls. They were stuck to the crease, no aggresion shown.. Brought back painful memories of how we were peppered by the Aussies 3-4 years back. Thought those days were left behind.

Infact, when we lost 2 wickets, the match was still in the balance. Guess who comes out - the newbie 20-year old batsman who has hardly seen the English conditions or played in pitches where 50% of the deliveries shot at your ribcage. I won't blame him at all, he tried his best. He was painfully lacking the skills needed to take the barrage on. Wasn't this the time Gambhir should have taken the initiative and walked down the pitch or moved around the crease, pat it down the fine leg or glide it over keeper etc etc.. No, he got the singles. He is one selfish b******.

But the biggest question is, what was Dhoni thinking sending in Jadeja ahead of an in-form Yuvraj?? He carted the Windies around to give India a fighting chance. No, he was "protected". From WHAT ??? Dhoni didn't want Yuvraj to come in at high-pressure situations always.. Guess what, he came at a point where they needed a miracle to win! A COMPLETE MELTDOWN.. so much for the vaunted "cool, calm, composed" Dhoni.. Bullcrap! Its unfair to say that Jadeja should have sacrificed his wicket, it was a disaster to send him in before Yuvraj. Even if he was sent in as a pinch-hitter, he showed no signs of it.

On the top of all this, Dhoni comes out to give reasons for his gaffe. Ok, everyone makes mistakes. He had his chance to make amends for it. India needed around 11 per over when he came in.. He was with Yusuf Pathan. Dhoni hit one boundary in his whole innings (please don't include the 2 profitable edges he got), that too from the last ball when there was no point.. Such stupid paddle shots directly to short fine leg, for a single. SERIOUSLY?? I was so furious seeing him bat, absolutely no conviction that he could pull it off.

I swear, so much for the euphoria of IPL etc etc. A good reality check. Wish they learn from this.

Susan Boyle - Britain's Got Talent

Oh My! I got this link as a forward and I'm sure this is kind of setting some records day to day on youtube. In just 3 days, it has logged in more than 3 MILLION views. The view count has doubled since yesterday night when I received this forward from my friend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

I've never seen Britain's Got Talent show before. When I started seeing this video, I had very low expectations (but had a feeling a surprise was coming).. No offense to the lady, but there are so many crack-pots who come on these kind of shows, just to get air-time. Just search for worst american idol performances on youtube and they all kind of resemble to the first few minutes of this video (till she starts performing that is..).

The video shows the cynicism among the crowd and judges when she introduces herself, she's 47 years old, certainly one of the oldest maybe to participate in any such talent show on TV. As I mentioned before, having seen many crazy self-proclaiming folks on stage, I can't really blame the initial reception from the audience or the judges. But, once she sings her first note, almost the entire crowd and judges rise up to their feet, applauding all the way! Man, what a voice, surely a surprise, very opera-like. Strong voice, huge high-pitches and smooth low pitches. The fact that I couldn't understand much of what she was singing is another thing! :D

Apart from these, man isn't the female judge on the show SO MUCH CUTER than the one we have on American Idol!! Maybe instead of Simon, we must get that chick on Idol! ;)

Airtel Calling Rate - 1 cent per minute to India

Since last saturday, my balance suddenly jumped from 1900+ minutes to 7600+ minutes.. I thought maybe there was some accounting error, wanted to see how long it would last :P .. It kind of kept track of the minutes correctly from that point, assuming starting point of 7600+ minutes, which is unusual, if there was an accounting error in the system.

Recently a friend of mine pointed out that Airtel are having 1 cent per minute calling to India! There is some fine print, please read it carefully, but I mean, its a steal!

https://www.airtelcallhome.com/

Read it over and see if it works for you..

English Premier League - Turning points of the week (probably of the title race)

2 matches during the last weekend had the potential to change the title race for the Barclays Premier League on its head. Its a race between the Reds and the Red Devils (Liverpool and Man United).

Fulham vs Liverpool

Fulham hosted Liverpool on Saturday. It was a match Liverpool absolutely had to win to keep up the pressure on Man United. They trail them by 1 point (with Man U having 1 game in hand). If they won against Fulham, it would send them to the top of the table (albeit for a day, till Man U played on Sunday). Fulham on the other hand, don't score too often, but defend with their lives. They are capable of pulling off upsets like defeating Man Utd last week. With this pressure on them, Liverpool took field and played the first half like world beaters. They tore open Fulham defense on numerous occasions, but 4 times, FOUR TIMES they hit the post in just the first half. If it had hit the post just half-ball width aside, it would have gotten in. Everyone was beaten except for the stupid post which seemed like it was growing!!

Same in the second half, some good saves by Schwarzer and some bad luck, pushed the game into the last few seconds with score at 0-0. It was the story of Liverpool before their recent surge of form. They drew so many games they could have easily won if not for some bad luck. It cost them their pole position earlier, now it was coming back to haunt them - to cheat them of a well-deserved position on the top of the table. In the last few seconds, literally - Yossi Benayoun pulled out a goal - A GOAL finally! It ended 0-1, in favor of liverpool. Yes they won! It was a HUGE win, hugely important for this year's title race. It meant that if Man U lost or drew their match on sunday, they were going to see their lead dramatically go down.

Check out these highlights:

Fulham v Liverpool


Manchester United vs Aston Villa

After the 0-5 drubbing last week at Liverpool's hands, Villa needed a comeback, to retain any hope of appearing at the European stage. Everton are hot on their heels and have been for a few weeks. Man U on the other hand, needed a win! They had lost 2 games on the trot, to an outstanding Liverpool at home 2 weeks back and a shock loss against Fulham the last week. To make matters worse, they were a hugely depleted side, Ferdinand, Berbatov being sidelined by injuries, Scholes, Rooney, Vidic on red card suspensions.. Liverpool were breathing down their neck, threatening to sneak up on them. Liverpool put added pressure by winning away at Fulham and taking the top position on the league table, just the day before. Would Manchester United survive this rare pressure??

The match started pretty briskly. Aston Villa seemed the more threatening side, but out of nowhere, miscommunication between James Milner and Freidel gave Man U a freekick inside the penalty box. It was a no-brainer for C.Ronaldo. A good finish and to be fair to Freidel, he was blinded by the wall in front of him. But almost immediately, some great work on the right wing by Barry gave Villa hope. He fooled 3 defenders and sent in a delicious cross, which wrong-footed the defender marking Carew and all he had to do was nod in the ball, which he obliged to. Score 1-1.

After the break, Villa took the lead with another great cross and headed over the line by Agbolanhor. Ronaldo was so careless to lose possession and he didn't even bother to chase back. It was a huge shock for Old Trafford and the stadium fell silent - the last 2 losses came back to haunt them. However, the match was far from over. It was just the 58th minute. They could still come back, but needed to show the character. Macheda, a 17 year old, came on instead of Nani. He made an instant effect on the morale, creating more problems for the Villa defenders. Some shrewd passing gave Ronaldo another whiff at the goal and he placed the ball beautifully behind the keeper at full-stretch. 80 minutes over, match was at 2-2.

One final roll of the dice, Fergurson brought on Danny Welbeck in the place of Tevez. He had a great opportunity almost immediately but Villa survived. The clock ticked over 90 minutes. I was elated to see that Man U might drop 2 points, shrinking the lead on the top. 5 minutes were added on. My joy was short-lived. 3 minutes into added-time, an AMAZING piece of work from the teenager Macheda gave Man U the all-important lead. He was on the end of a good pass from Giggs, turned beautifully towards goal and in the same turning motion, curled the ball around a diving Freidel.

It was one of the best goals of this season, considering his age, the pressure of the situation and the gravity of the result. From nowhere to a hero in his first match, Macheda might have just given Man United its season back.

See the highlights below. Don't forget to see the 93rd minute goal!

Manchester United v Aston Villa
by Doleymai

Sachin Tendulkar's interview before Windies tour Jan 1989

I came across this video recently, one of the earliest interviews of Sachin Tendulkar, before he was leaving to West Indies for his first test in the Carribean. This was the era of Courtney Walsh, Ambrose, Marshall - searing pace and bounce.

Have a look below, look at him sipping chai, his still-unchanged-oh-so-teen voice. Listen keenly to what he says in the end about facing Kapil Dev in the nets.. :)

Vintage stuff.

Tiger Woods Remarkable comeback victory

Yesterday, the final day of Bay Hill 2009 tournament, Sean O'Hair had a 5-shot lead over Tiger Woods. Tiger made remarkable strides forward while Sean O'Hair was plagued by mounting pressure from Tiger, falling self-confidence and weak shots. It was still very close, going into the 18th hole (last hole), both were equal. Tiger needed a birdie putt to win the tournament and what a way to win it - a birdie putt from almost 16 feet away. Just stunning..

Take a look at this video below - you will find more videos on youtube.

Tesla Motors - Prescience or Indulgence?

Tesla Motors is a Silicon Valley automobile start up, who have been innovating the art of making high performance, practical electric cars for about 5 years now. They were first founded by a couple of engineers and their initial venture funding came from PayPal founder Elon Musk. It has since received investments from firms like JP Morgan and from well-known entrepreneurs such as Sergey Brin and Larry Page (of Google).

Tesla Roadster

Their first production vehicle was the Tesla Roadster. It is a stunning sports coupe, just take a look at a couple of photos below.

This is a completely electric car, hardly looks like the Priuses (which aren't even completely electric) on the road these days! It has the following vital stats:

• Purely electric
• 0 to 60 mph (100 kmph) in 3.9 seconds
• 220 + miles per charge
• Full torque, all the time, thanks to the electric motors.
• Can be recharged at ANY regular electric outlet.
• $109,000 price tag isn't shocking :)

3.9 seconds is just remarkable, especially at this price. Take a look at the list of top 10 fastest cars of 2009, it gives you an idea of what kind of cars this keeps company with.

According to wikipedia, within 2 months of the first sale in March 08, more than 600 Roadsters were reserved and 400 more were in waiting list. For more details and photos, click on the links.

Tesla Model S

This is the new model that has been announced recently by Tesla motors. It is a big jump from a high-performance coupe to a family sedan (almost a 7 seater - capacity of 5 adults and 2 children). It looks awesome though, its front grille very much like the Maserati GranTourismo. Check out a few pics below:

You can find more details and pics here.

Salient features:

• Upto 300 mile range (they are planning to offer options of 160 mile, 230 mile or 300 mile range options per charge)
• 0 - 60 mph (100 kmph) in 5.6 seconds
• Seats 7 people

It can be charged at any power outlet, as the previous car. It uses Lithium Ion rechargeable battery technology, which doesn't have the memory problems like other battery technologies. They claim it will cost only $4 per complete recharge, which is peanuts compared to what we pay for regular gas fuel. They are estimating the price would be around $57,000 for this sedan. It however qualifies for a $7,500 federal tax refund.

Tesla Motors CEO, Mr. Musk, claims that offsetting these rebates and assuming that gas per gallon is around $4 (which is nearly true for California atleast), would result in the car's actual price being similar to a $35,000 gasoline car. Furthermore, President Obama has been hinting at levying extra taxes / surcharges on fossil fuel usage in the near future, which would only make this a better deal.

GM is also releasing its gas-electric car called Volt in 2010. It has a 40 mile range on a full recharge, however, has a small 4-cylinder gas engine which can generate electricity beyond this and can either charge the battery or provide electric power directly to the drivetrain. This, they claim can increase the range to almost 640 miles (on a full charge and full tank). It is expected to be priced around $40,000. With the $7,500 federal refund, it will bring it closer to $30,000 range. This does seem to be a more practical solution, especially for weekend trip situations and when you just forget to charge the battery.. But is this good enough?

Model S, on the other hand has a very handsome base range of at least 160 miles per charge. But its solely dependent on electric power, no backup gasoline engine. I wonder if you get stranded, if you could call AAA and say "Hi, I need a battery charge" :D.. I'm sure that Tesla will provide backup batteries etc etc.. but it won't happen automatically like Volt, at least from the way I understand the design.

So, is this prescience or indulgence? Only time will say I guess..