what a disappointment !

India lost to Srilanka ... Terribly !! A 'Do or Die' match ... As far as I am concerned, India is out of the world cup ... Rather I should say, this Indian team does NOT deserve to play in the next round of World cup ! thats for sure ... Even if by some miracle if Bangladesh does 'manage' (there are many ways you know ;) ) to lose to Bermuda and India gets through, my money (and support) will not be for India for sure ...

The best team of paper, seven specialist batsmen .. but still more than its bowling, batting is what always suffers ... one after other all the batsmen return to the pavellion and its a disaster to watch ... the stalwarts like Sachin, Suarav(recently he is the only one in form), Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni - everyone ! no one can rise to the occasion ... no one who can sail Indian ship safely ashore ... its just pathetic ...

Look at Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal against SriLanka in the last game ... Is he a newcomer to cricket ? The basics of batting - no gap between bat and pad ... ok it was a good ball but then its Sachin we are talking about ! At one time, the world's best batsman !! If Yuvraj gets out on such a ball, I wont feel so bad but Sachin .. yaar tu bhi ? come on !! His lovely games ab sirf ek history ban ke reh gaya hai ... I am not saying that Sachin is responsible for India's defeat but everyone has to do their job ... and Sachin has a higher responsibility given the cirsumstances ...

Both Bangladesh and Srilanka games, we all got up at 6 am ! and sat there in front of the screens, cheering our throats out !! and what do we get ? a loss of 6 hours of valuable time and disppointment !! loads of it !!! I have not seen a more unreliable team than India man ... I am done supporting India ... Patriotism is one thing and supporting a weak unreliable team is another ...

May the best team win !!

Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham !

Last 10 overs - 40 runs to win and 5 wickets in hand !! NWCL Regular seasons champions and without a doubt the best team in the NWCL league - 'Microsoft Blues' looked like they were set for yet another victory (which they had gotten so used to by this time) to clinch the NWCL season championship by winning this all microsoft finals !! But destiny had something else in mind !! As Siddhu would describe it - Blues team fell like a bicycle stand, you push one and all the others fall down ! Just 151 required in 42 overs ... looked like a very easy task especially after scoring at 9 runs an over for the first 8 overs ...

But it was a disaster really ... four run outs, a few misjudgements by the umpire (bad LBW decision, docking 3 overs etc) and well it was clear - luck wasnt favouring them either ... so ultimately MS Blues (My team) lost the finals by 18 runs !! 'Microsoft Greens' became the NWCL 2006 season champions and Blues had to be satisfied with the runner-up position ... I had taken a break and wasnt playing for Blues last few weeks but it hurt !! especially just watching the game standing outside the field hurt really bad ... such a helpless situation !! The team which deserved it and lost just 2 games (those losses by the way were returned to respective teams with compound interest thru' convicing victories in the next games) in the whole season !! A great great season and only when it mattered - we couldnt convert it ... It was a pretty sad moment for all of us ...

Its funny but any game - espcially finals you see all types of mixed emotions - one team at the top of the world celebrating and jumping with joy whereas the other deep down, hiding their tears, heads down ... one team has tears of joy and the other team can not believe they lost !!

Anyway, we all put our loss behind us (so to say) and enjoyed the end of a great 2006 NWCL cricket season ... another thing was that the championship had come back to Microsoft ... may it be any team (MS has 3 teams by the way - Blues, Greens and Reds) ! So we gathered at one of our teammate's house - went back in time to cherish a few memories, played pool, celebrated our captains birthday ! It was all great fun !!

At the end of the day, you know what it feels like, its like a thorn in your body ! if you look from outside everything is fine ! you are enjoying and happy that the trophy remained with Microsoft but then it still hurts you from within and only you know the pain and how badly it hurts !

Ending this post with the hope that next 2007 season, I will have a post to write with a title 'Khushi hi Khushi' ...

Badminton is NOT (only) girls' game !

I have heard this enough number of times now to put it up on the blog ! ... 'Badminton ! you play badminton ? dude, only girls play badminton !! ' ... I am sick and tired of convincing them and laughing back at them for such a blunder in thinking !!

All I would like to tell these people is come with me and play singles (or even doubles for that matter) from 8.30 to 11 pm every tuesday and friday (after playing cricket from 5.30 to 8.30pm) and you will know whether its a game for girls or boys ! After one game suddenly the small court will feel like a football field ! Suddenly 'aankhon ke saamne andhera chha jayega' ! Then you will understand why I turn deaf ear towards such useless comments ! It might look like the easiest sport from outside the court but try stepping in for once and then you will know ... Its such a nice and whole-body exercise ! A challenging game which brings the best out of you, helps you get in shape, improve your judgement, placement while giving you the entertainment ... its a great game !

Microsoft Office Intern !!

As usual another Friday evening - 8.30pm - time for Badminton at Pro club ... yesterday wasnt any different till I entered the badminton courts ... as usual I started looking for an empty court to play on ... and there she was !

*Mohabbatein theme playing in the background *

Gorgeous, attractive, slim - her black T which read 'Microsoft Office Intern' and black shorts were showing (or hiding :) ) her very well maintained figure .. I started thinking..

is she american ? ... ummm.. naah ... dont think so ... something like Romanian or something ... and she is alone as well .. she isnt with a guy ... thats one more good news ... Oh what a smash !! she plays also well ... she is athletic also ... what a complete package !! Oh wait ... whats the name of the package ? I sure have to find out ... After all I also work in a sub-branch of Microsoft Office ... so we are branch-buddies ... right ?

Ok .. so.. should I go now ? .. yes lets go ... shubh kaam mein deri kaisi ? but wait .. on second thoughts no ... her game is still going on ... going in between the game would sound too obvious and too rude ...(and too desparate .. but yeah believe me Seattle is no place for a single guy .. there are no single available girls ...anyway thats going off the topic :) ) let me just stand here I told myself and watch the game (yeah right ... the game !! :) )... I think her team was ahead like 11 - 6 or something ... so in about 5 minutes, the game is going to be over ...

* dhak dhak karane laga ... oh mora jiyara darane laga *

I was getting all ready for the intro ... but man proposes and another man disposes ... Just then my friend called me on this other empty court .. on the exact opposite end from my 'no-name' to-be-friend ...shaaa ... with heavy legs, I went there and started my game ... I even lost a couple of points as I was trying to find out the whereabouts of her ... but in vain ... So, I decided to get on with my game ...

* 20 minutes past *

I was playing another game .. and there she was .. waiting for a court ...right behind mine - right in front of me ! I had to impress her somehow. OK ... I knew what I was gonna do .. I was going to smash the next one right back at the opponents ! smash - the shot I was best at ... ok .. here she is ... she is looking .. she is looking ... hit it .. smash it ... and I smashed it .. smashed it hard !! how was that !!! I smirked ... looked at her ... she cried 'ooooohhhh ' and looked at the net ...and started smiling ... oh what a smile !! I found very hard to take my eyes off her .. but after some effort I looked at the net ... birdie was right at the top of the net ...hanging there ... the birdie had gone like a rocket but only managed to find the mesh of the net ... I had smashed it into the net !! *sigh* how dumb of me !! I couldnt even do this ... that point was mine .. I should have got that ... what must she be thinking ? so I looked back at where she was standing ... she wasnt there ... oh ! where did she go ? where did she go ? I have to find out after this game I told myself ...

* Jaane Ja Dhoondhta Phir raha hoon tumhe raat din (read court court).. tum kahan ! *

Another game and then another and then another ... I never got a chance to look for her ... and it was 10.45 already ... time to go home .. I had almost given up.. head down & I was walking back to the mens changing room .. right then I saw her again ... a glimpse of her .. walking with her friends back home .. still no sign of a guy .. whoosh ... ok .. you were lucky today girl or should I say unlucky that you didnt get introduced to me today ! But its gonna happen next time .. intern or fulltime ! ;)

Now waiting for Sunday for the next badminton session ... woh aayegi na ?