I learn a new sport theoretically -,Cage Cricket

 Last Friday I got an invitation to watch on YouTube a demonstration Cage Cricket match between two sports teams from Jyväskylä.

This was followed  on Saturday and Sunday by a men’s snd women’s tournament called  Cage Cricket.

Most Valuable Player of the Tournament - Ritu Ghanghas

I had not encountered this form of cricket earlier  and even an AI Search did not yield much data. However, it did say that the  Finnish Cricket Association was organising a tournament on Cage Cricket as part of its schedule! 

With great interest I watched the first demo match. Not knowing the rules of the game,it seemed a very messy game to me me. Having been a  Cricket buff all my life,  I soon worked out the issues with the sport.

As two Oulu teams were taking part in the tournament, I did send a message to a friend who was attending the event that if Oulu weanted to do well, they had to develop a new startegy in keeping with the rules of this game.

For instance, I noted that if a bowler bowled a perfectly good ball, it could yield between 3 and 7 runs for the batting side, whereas, if the bowler bowled  a wide ball, it would yield just 2 runs. So the incentive on the first four overs of every batting pair would be for the bowler to bowl wides and give away just 30 runs.

As I watched the games unfold, there was just one lady captain who had understood this and I could hear her telling her bowlers  to bowl wides to good batters!

There were several other inconsistencies in the rules showing that this sport was in its infancy and would have to be developed condiderably to be considered to be an interesting sport! 

Of the teams, only one player, a young lady from Oulu, Ritu Ghanghas, was head and shoulders above everybody else.

I had seen the cricketing genius of Ritu Ghanghas  when I had attended the launch of the Oulu Women's Cricket inauguration last year. Her skill was not because of cricket but because she had a super eye based on her skill at frisbee.

Others may play Cricket but this is a new sport and it is not  traditional  cricketkng skills that are important,

I hope that organisers of cricket understand  this and make their decisions of choice of teams and leaders based on the skills necessary. Even in normal cricket there are totally different skills that are required by players of T20, one day Cricket (T50) and 5 day test matches. Even the selectors have to have different skills. The Cricket Boards should  understand that no size fits all.

Me sitting on the floor!!

Cage Cricket in Finland

The Jyväskylä tournament was well organised and my congratulations to the Jyväskylä Cricket Club which won the Men's Cage  Cricket Trophy. 

The last time they visited Oulu, the whole team turned up, after the game, at my house with flowers! Thank you guys.

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Ravi Shastri wrong, Harsha Bhogle right!

 Australia walked away today with the ICC World Cup today.

Before the semifinals of the tournament, Harsha Bhogle, India’s No. 1 cricket commentator, made a statement that he thought India had peaked too early. He was shot down quickly by Ravi Shastri.

Today’s final was exactly as Harsha, )and I), had predicted. 

Rohit, Virat and Rahul, played their roles. but Gil, Iyer, Jadeja and Suryakumar were exactly the disappointment that I knew would occur.

I was happy to see that even in a non-traditional cricketing state in India, Kerala, people had turned out to sit under the trees to watch the final, and this was beautifully covered by Manorama TV.

My grandfather, late K. C. Mammen Mappillai, would have been proud that when he translated the very first article I ever wrote, when I was just 9 years old (71 years ago), which he translated to Malayalam and had it published in the newspaper, has now resulted in Sanju Samson hitting the high spot in Indian Men’s Cricket, closely followed by Minnu Mani, in the Ladies game. 

Minnu Mani

Minnu is the first Kerala lady player to play for India  and was the leading wicket taker in the series against Bangladesh.

Coming back to World Cup final, the brave decision to choose to field after winning the toss was credit to Pat Cummins. 

Gil never got going. This was a clear sign  of what lay ahead. Rohit and Virat played their roles well, but Rohit as captain, should have shown some more maturity. 

The absolutely fantastic catch by Travis Head showed that the Australians were not going to roll over. 

The Australians were throwing themselves everywhere, reducing 4s to 2s and ones. 

Fielding was exceptional and as I have said earlier, it is the fielding that wins games.

With Rohit going, closely followed by Iyer, it was becoming clear that India was not going to reach the par score of 300. 

Thi brilliant catch by Travis Hesd to send off Rohit showed the mood of the Australians. They were playing TO WIN.

The procession that followed with the absolutely outstanding team work of the Australians. meant that the Indians could not put a foot in the door.

Restricting the Indians to just 240 meant the Australians did not have a dagger over their heads and they could go about their work with a precision that they are renowned for. 

No heroics were necessary and the confidence shown by Travis Head in his batting, which earned him the Player of the Match Award, was an example of cool composure.

I am sad that India lost, but I concur fully with Harsha Bhogle who said that the Indian side had not been exposed fully and, therefore, they were unprepared for a reversal of fortunes in any game.

I do not blame the Indian bowlers, as the pitch turned in character at the innings break. Even if they could bowl at their best, they were in the sights of clever Australian batting which had sufficient depth not to be rattled by a couple of reversals, exactly the opposite to the under-exposed Indian side.

In my humble opinion, Ravichandran Ashwin, who is one of the most well-read players in Indian history, should have been in this side. Not only would he have been an asset in the batting, he would have read the pitch and adjusted his bowling better than any of his colleagues

You may have on paper the best side in the world! However, knowledge was what was lacking in today's performance by India.

Cricket World Cup - May thebest team win

Two fabulous catches by Sanju Samson

Being a Sanju Samson fan, I was greatly disappointed that he was not chosen in the Indian World Cup squad. He sadly has no godfather in Indian Sport!

I was also saddened that my school alumni from Bishop Cotton School, Bengaluru, Mayank Agarwal was not in the squad.

Pathetic turn out for World Cup games.

As I have already blogged, I was also very disappointed with the organisation of the first match and lack of a decent opening ceremony. As I asked is India a truly cricket loving nation?

However, as the tournament progressed, I was happy to see some excellent performances from new entrants, especially the young Afghani team. They really made a good step forward. I was taken aback by their loss against Australia when they were in the driving seat. 

There have been several reports of match fixing. I hope that it is not true as they are a great young squad and I have always been a fan of Rashid.

K. M. Mammen  (cousin Vinoo) giving the Man of the Match Award to K. L. Rahul.

My cousin, the Chairman of MRF Ltd., gave the Man of the Match to another favourite player of mine, K. L. Rahul. He did  give another such award in another game but I was slow to get my camera out.

I was disappointed with the performance of the English team especially as I am a fan of Moen Ali. Jos Butler has had a bad run right from the IPL onwards. 

The Indian team have been cruising. Harsha Bhogle, who is usually a good reader of the game,  had raised the point that it may be that the Indians have peaked too soon. This opinion was knocked down by Ravi Shastri, but I have never been a fan of Ravi Shastri, so his opinions do not matter to me. He is usually wrong!!

The players that have impressed me most are Rachin Ravindran of New Zealand, and Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada of South Africa, whose bowling run up is like a cheetah. I hope another favourite of mine, Ken Williamson, is coming back to form.

No Australian players are in my list of favourites. So I hope that South Africa gets through to the final.  I hope the better team wins in the India and New Zealand clash.

The persisting with Hardik Pandya shows that the BCCI is corrupt to persist with a player who is unfit on several grounds to play in the Indian squad. Always excuses to keep him alive in the squad.

I am sure the same situation will arise when it comes to Rishabh Pant!

The four semi-finalists have booked their places as I had expected. We hope all the teams show their fighting spirit and the best teams get through to the finals.

I will blog my opinion prior to the finals.

Cricket World Cup - Is India a Cricket Loving Nation?

 Here I am, sitting in Finland watching the opening game of the 2023 Cricket World Cup being played in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India.

Looking at a sparsely populated stadium and an opening ceremony which was totally lack lustre, for the starting point of an event of this magnitude, which takes place only once in 4 years, it is difficult to believe that Indians are cricket loving and also whether the Indian Cticket Board has any competence to host an international event of this significance.

The opening ceremony was Sachin Tendulkar walking out with two Quatari Air Hostesses to place the World Cup on a stand. 

End of opening ceremony.

Shots of the stadium which is supposed to hold 110000 people was hardly a third full!

Does that speak of a country which loves cricket or one which just loves itself and the money which may be lining the pockets of the administrators?

As I watch the cricket on one of six 20 streams available to me, the streams are breaking up every two minutes!

The match goes on but I am sorely disappointed with the Indian organisers and the Indian cricket fans  who are just partisans who love nothing but themselves.

I return to theWorld Cup which was held in 1987 and was run by my family owned company, MRF Ltd. 

It went like clockwork and there was not a single hitch. 

MRF took on the task by telling the Indian Organisers that that would not accept any interference in the organisation. It was tun totally professionally with my two cousins, Vinoo and the late Ravi Mammen, and my good friend S. Rama Ratnam, himself an ardent sports lover, putting together a team of professionals to run the event.

In 1989 I attended a International Semiconductor Conference in Delhi. When I went to the registration counter with my Professor, the lady asked my local address. I told her we were staying at the MRF Guest House in Sundernagar. On hearing this she asked for my relationship to MRF. When I told her of my roots, she did not take any money to register us and we were given pride of place at the conference, much to the amazement of my colleague! 

She told me that MRF had brought great credit to our country in the way they had organised the World Cup!

Shame today on my country.

 I am ashamed on the organisation of the present Wotld Cup, an insult to sports loving cricket fans around the world. .

Cricket in Oulu takes a new turn

Yesterday we had a cricket tournament for local Oulu cricket lovers. For the first time we used the matting so kindly provided by Asheesh Kumar of Medipolis GMP.

There was a small problem of carting this large matting roll around and also fixing it to the ground. The use of the hammer was necessary on several occasions to keep the bowlers end firmly fixed down. Also some small adjustments will also be required to have the sides not curl up.

Three teams took part in the 10 over format. The teams were married, bachelors and University student players. The games were thrilling.

From New Album 16/05/2010 06:40

Venkat Reddy bowls while Rajesh backs up.

In the end the Bachelors walked away with a victory over the married players.

The official training session and season will start shortly. This was a good forerunner to what we can expect in the coming summer months. Some discipline as bowling less wides and no balls, etc. will have to be the outcome of the training sessions if the Oulu XI is going to make it big in Finnish National Cricket tournaments.

After the matches, we all adjourned to India House where we broke up into smaller groups, some playing carroms (on the only carrom board in Finland), others enjoying their new experience of cycling in Finland, some playing cricket, some playing shuttle, and a lot of people just gettng to know each other.

India House was in its element as we had over 40 Findians, men, women and children having a wonderful time. We ordered pizzas, kebabs and salads from Oulu's best and largest pizzeria, Goreme (owned by keen sportsmen Hasim and Kasim from Turkey) and everyone enjoyed sitting in the sunshine of 8 pm and just being friends. A few newcomers arrived to take part and generally the whole day was a rip roaring success.

Kudos to the organisers and hope we have several more just fun days this summer.

Learning morality as a child....

In Finland, the situation is amazing that if you drop or lose something somewhere, even after a week or a month, it is likely to have been left there. The ordinary citizen does not want to take anything that belongs to someone else.

If anyone finds some money or a wallet, or even a key, on the street, he / she will hand it over to the Police. There could be a reward, but the wallet and the contents are not given to the finder. It stays in the Police Station till the rightful owner turns up.

When I was just 10 years old, we had a great cricket side in Bangalore. We used to play almost every evening after school. I was a slow right hand leg spin bowler. I could really turn that ball over a metre. If one recalls an entry on my Cathedral school pages, Jimmy Jameson (of MCC XI fame) used me to get some wickets in the House matches way back in 1954..

In Bangalore, we played cricket on a disused level graveyard very near Richmond Circle, which used to be right  in front of the present Republic Nursing Home. No tennis ball for us as we had a real hard cricket ball to play with!

We were about 15 of us, ranging from those who were 12 years to the youngest, who was probably 5 or 6. But we were all cricket mad well before the days of Sunil Gavaskar or Sachin Tendulkar.

And we really played serious cricket for our age. Not just knocking the ball around. We had fielding practice, bowling practice and batting practice, before we set up teams and played a match.

One day, as I was walking home from school, I found a Rs. 10 note lying on the pavement. I had never held a Rs. 10 note in my hand before.

As I walked home I wondered what I should do with it. My natural impulse was to hand it over to my mother. But something stopped me doing that.

That evening, while we were playing cricket, a thought struck me. I suggested we should organise to play a cricket match against another side. I felt I could use the Rs. 10 to celebrate our victory hoping, of course, we won!

So I organised a two innings match with a team on the other end of Bangalore, the team of one of my school classmates, for a Saturday morning.

We had 11 players and we set off early morning equipped to play and win. We did.

Then I revealed my cunning plan.

As it was only around 2:30 in the afternoon, I suggested we would go to the matinee show in a theatre, as the movie "Ivanhoe" had just been released. I did not reveal where I had got the money or how much, and no one asked me.

The boys were excited as some of them had never ever been to the theatre.

At that time, entrance to a cinema hall used to cost 4 annas for a seat (4 seats for rupee) for a child. The cost for all 11 of us was less than Rs. 3.

We sat through the first half, which in those days was usually Indian News Documentaries, a Walt Disney cartoon as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto or Bugs Bunny, and trailers of coming films.

We were really having a good time. I got chips for everyone during the interval. Another half a rupee!

When the lights came on before the real movie started, I looked back, and there, sitting a few rows behind me, were three of my cousins (the George Matthan family of Ammnikochamma, Baluchachen and Anand), and several friends.

They were as surprised to see me as I was to see them.

I knew I was sunk, as they would surely tell my mom, as we lived just a stone's throw from their house.

We enjoyed the movie as it was a real classic - I cannot remember the names of the stars but I certainly thought I had seen a good film. Lots of jousting and fighting. Ideal fare for children.

As soon as I left the theatre, I knew I had better come clean with my mom.

I knew my dad would be furious, but I knew if I handled my mom right, maybe I could get away with a scolding and a serious telling off.

After the movie I reached home around 5:30 in the evening.

My mom asked how the cricket had gone. I told her that we had won. Then I blurted out what I had done.

She looked at me very gravely and asked whether I understood what I had done. I told her that I fully understood. Igave her the rest of the money. (The value of Rs. 10 in 1953 would probably be equivalent to about Rs. 5000 of today!)

She decided that she would not tell my dad, who was still at work. (Yes, he worked till almost 7 pm even on a Saturday!)

She said she would deal with this matter on Monday.

Sure enough, it was lucky I had been quick, as no sooner had I finished with her, the phone rang. It was cousin ringing to tell my mom what she had seen.

Mom was sporting enough to tell her that I had told her what had happened and that she would handle it, but on no account should my dad know.

That taken care of, on Monday after school, she took me to the Police Station where one of our family friends, Doug Wilson, was the Police Inspector.

The Wilson family were very close family friends. Besides Doug and Marge, they had 5 children - Abner, Beverley, Cedric, Dinky and Zena.

Marge was a Protestant and went to the same church as us, St. Mark's Cathedral. Doug had been a Roman Catholic but had been ex-communicated as he did not agree to bring up his children in the Roman Catholic Church. He did not attend the Protestant Church, but he was a example of a wonderful Christian man as he was always happy and smiling.

His five children and us four kids were closer than most, as when we lived in Mysore, Inspector Wilson was also posted in Mysore. Dinky and I were the same age and she was the one who looked after me when I went to kindergarten for the first time. We used to walk back from the Good Shepherd Convent every afternoon.

When we moved to Bangalore, Doug was also transferred and our family friendship continued.

At the Police Station, my mom she gave Doug Rs. 10 and told him that I had found the money and was returning it.

Doug was astonished at the honesty of my mom (and by inference, me). He told her that he would file a report. If the money was claimed within 14 days, I would be entitled to a small reward. If it was not claimed within 14 days, the money would be mine.

The money was not claimed. After 14 days Doug sent a Police Constable round to our house with the money and a signing off form.

My mom took the money. She kept what had been remaining from my adventure. She told me I could give it to any charity that I wanted.

I do not remember which charity I chose. But it felt good at that moment that I was now not an official robber in the eyes of my mom.

This lesson has stood me in good stead all  these years. Thanks mom!

Oulu Cricket Club leaps out

(Also posted on the CHAFF Blog.)

From 090604 Cricket starts in Oulu

The Finnish Chaírman of the Oulu Cricket Club,
Joose Kankare, takes to the crease!

Yesterday saw the first practice session of the Oulu Cricket Club. I am not a player but ready to support this northernmost cricket club in any way possible. So I turned up to show my support. Only, due to other engagements, I was a hour behind schedule.

From 090604 Cricket starts in Oulu

No floodlights required here.
Plenty of Natural Lighting available till 11 pm!

I do not know what they did for the first hour, but when I arrived I saw two teams grouped together talking strategy. They were about to commence a game.



The background was idyllic, but that could not be said about the gravel pitch they chose to play on. A nasty wind was kicking up a lot of dust and playing conditions were not ideal.

From 090604 Cricket starts in Oulu

There are a couple of good cricketers in the midst of the 18 persons who turned up for this first practice. There was a Pakistani, a couple of Australians, a Brit, a Finn, while the rest were a spread of Indians from almost every part of my great country - India.

From 090604 Cricket starts in Oulu

With the strong wind, playing conditions were cold and quite difficult. But I saw some good bowling and also some interesting batting - which means that with this sort of talent available, Oulu may really be able to turn out a good team for the nationals in a year or so.

But that will mean serious practice - not just having fun hitting the ball around.

Besides physical fitness, to be generated by jogging and running a fair bit at the beginning and end of a practice session, there must be batting practice, bowling practice and fielding practice during each practice session.

From Cathedral School, Mumbai

My cricket team, Cathedral School, Bombay - 51 years ago!

I also remember my days at St. Stephen's College where we had a a stickler for fitness as our Captain. With the likes of Siddarth Singh, the wonder from Doon School whose fame preceeded him, Prem Bhatia, Ajit Singhji, Sunil Thakurdas in our midst, it was good to have someone like Vijay Singh as the Captain. He demanded and got respect.

I turned up a few times for cricket practice but as hockey practice was at the same time under an equally fastidious captain, none other than the journalist Arun Shourie, I had to choose between one and the other - and I chose hockey!

Remember 14:00 hours on Saturday at Alppila is the next Oulu Cricket Club practice session!

Oulu Cricket Club (OCC) formed

(Also posted on the Seventh Heaven Blog.)

Finally it has happened.

Three enterprising cricket enthusiasts in Oulu, one Finn (Joose Kankare) with Australian enthusiasm, and two Indians (Prabhu Sundar and Prasadh Ramachandran), got together and quietly formed the OCC (Oulu Cricket Club) as a Registered Association.

They called the first meeting for yesterday afternoon to announce their hopes and plans starting with a summer season of training, practice and matches.

There was indeed a healthy turnout of people for the meeting - mainly Indians, but there was a Pakistani also present.

After the tea and introductions, there was a very lively discussion, showing that there are several who are keen to play cricket in Oulu.

The membership fee for a summer season is just Euro 30 (June till August).

I asked that they make a life membership category so that I do not have to pay year in and year out and the Club can drive some benefit by getting a lump sum when it needs it most.

I also drew attention to the importance of having player insurance if the Club is to avoid serious financial problems due to injuries incurred while training or in play. I suggested a similar approach followed by the Finnish Football Union, where no player is allowed to take part, irrespective of age, unless he / she holds a valid insurance from the union.

I also suggested that besides being under the wing of the Finnish Cricket Association, they should become a member of PoPLi (Pohjois-Pohjanmaa Sports Association), which is the umbrella organisation which looks after interests of all sports organisations in this northern region.

Since I did work for them (as well as the Oulu Sports Department), a good ten years ago, I did know that they would get substantial benefit in being a member.

I also suggested that they become a member of Liikkuka ry, a multicultural sports federation which is run by my friend, Christian Thibault, Executive Director, which could help them with closer relationship with the Finnish Sports Federation.

From Seventh Heaven

The Cathedral and John Connon Boy's High School (Bombay) Cricket Team, 1958-59. I am the one sitting on the ground with the score book.

Although I cannot play any more, as my bones have dry rot, and I cannot be an umpire or scorer (I have difficulty in seeing my nose, as my eyesight has failed), I still have great interest in the sport and will certainly go out of my way to see that this club in my home town of the last 25 years, the northern-most cricket club in the world, sets off on the right track.

It would be great if any of you out there from the great cricketing nations as Australia, Bangladesh, England, Kenya, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe, who would like to sponsor this northern-most Cricket Club in the world. It does more than just introduce the sport in this area as it also give expats from these countries to interact with the lcal population and cause the exchange of culture.

I am, in my old doddering age, with you all the way. Good luck guys.

It is on a day like today....

Annikki and I have been back in Finland for the last 24 years. We have relatives and friends, and our lives are full of work, friendship and family. (Joanna and family have gone to a friend's summer cottage to celebrate the Midsummer, so we do not have our grandkids around us at this time.)

Yet, as I sat down at this computer wondering what to write, a feeling of loneliness, not mine, but of those in Oulu who have no relatives or friends, crept upon me. I thought about Subramaniam Paneer, the brave young man who was handling the bodies after the tsunami in Tamilnadu and what he told me about how a CHAFF meeting on a Sunday afternnon was an event he greatly looked forward to as it changed a long lonely sit in his room into a wonderful day to meet up with friendly people.

My mind flashed back to the wonderful people who have graced our CHAFF meetings over the years - a Nobel Prize recipient, a visiting US professor, many conference delegates, CEOs of several international companies, and many many simple ordinary folk looking for companionship and a place to talk to someone else on a cold and wet holiday.

It brought my mind back to my days as a Rotarian in the wonderful Madras South Rotary Club where just an hours meeting on a Friday evening meant so much in the life of several tens of us.

There was a call for cricket yesterday by the Indians of Oulu who have settled in so wonderfully in our city. They prayed to the Rain Gods to move the dark clouds on Friday afternoon. They transformed the quiet Ahmatie field into a hub of sporting activity while all the Finns headed out to their summer cottages to have a midsummer ball. They town was empty, but the Indians played and laughed and had fun.

As I sit and watch the rain on this Midsummer Saturday morning, I can hear all those Indians chanting their prayers that this Saturday afternoon the rain clouds will simply disappear and their cricket can continue again, making their fellowship with one another an important aspect of their mental survival!

I have not heard lately how other ethnic communities are celebrating this day, and that I would love to know.

As Annikki's mother, Hilja, is back at home, our heavy work schedule will start as soon as she wakes. I will forget all the lonely people in Oulu for a moment. But that forgetfulness, I assure you, is only for a moment, as my heart goes out to all of you, so far from home and loved ones, that I do wish that the new CHAFF would somehow get back on track to fill that void in the lives of strangers to this city of Oulu.

Talking of Hilja, we have a new chair for her.



She used to have two chairs, a regular wheelchair for transport outside the home and a special chair for her mobility at home (shown above). However, this second chair had very limited functions, especially that there was no reclining position which is important when she wants to rest, not necessarily in bed.



The new chair which we received combines these two chairs - the wheel chair and the standard chair, but it has several more functions such as support for the calves, a reclining position, a good head support, and better mobility in the home.

At present we have all three chairs while Hilja (and Annikki) get used to using the new chair.

In the meantime, Happy Midsummer's day to all of you.

A new sport in Oulu, Gilli Dandu Cricket....

If one was walking around Oulu and looked in the direction of the Väliväinö Green, a delightful small park area adjoining India House in this quiet and peaceful suburb, the last few weeks strange things have been happening there.



The local residents watch with awe as grown men, Indians,



a faithful Finnish convert and



a well trained Finnish dog, (to do the fielding), make efforts to introduce a new sport to the region.




Looking at the handmade objects stuck into the ground, it reminded me of my days of playing gilli dandu in Bangalore in the mid fifties.



The large misshapen object being whipped around to hit a fast moving projectile had some resemblance to something they call a cricket bat.



And the ballerina like poses that the person throwing the ball at this misshapen broad blade stick reminded one of a Swan Lake performance in Covent Garden, London.

A new sport culture is coming to Oulu - and we must thank the Indian Software Engineers for bringing it to us.

Sports on TV this last weekend

Now that the leaves are fallen and the satellite antenna is providing us with some 200 channels, I am able to watch many sports channels, which is not possible on Finnish channels unless you pay to watch the sports, live. (I dislike watching recorded sports, especially if I already know the result.)

This last weekend was full of "sport" with many unusual results. Here are some personal observations about what I witnessed.

First the Madrid ATP Tennis Championship, where I saw the unranked David Nalbandian of Argentina first whip the No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal of Spain on Friday, Serbian Novak Djokovic in the semifinal on Saturday, and this afternoon he showed phenomenal form to beat the World No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland. David Nalbandian became third man to beat world's three top players en route to a title.

I can understand Nalbandian beating Rafael Nadal, as Nadal had a tough match against Andy Murray of England. I could see that this unbelievably fit human being, nadal, was tiring, but his quality tennis pulled him through against Murray.

Against Nalbandian, Nadal was overpowered by this stronger fitter individual as the signs of the strain of the week showed through. Nalbandian then beat Djokovic in the semifinal.

But the win against Federer, who is such a superb tennis player, probably the greatest I have seen in my lifetime, was quite difficult to understand. It seemed to me that Federer was giving up in the second set.

Then to Cricket, where India beat Australia in the Twenty20 match on Saturday. Although I was not able to see the match live, using CricInfo text commentary and YouTube rapid uploads by some dedicated cricket lovers, I was able to see this exciting win by India, almost live.

Then there was the World Rugby Union Championships. First Argentina whipped France for the third place. Yesterday, I watch South Africa beat England without a single try being scored in this game.

I have watched a lot of Rugby in my life. I always have thought it was a rough sport. But when I watched this final on tv, the realisation was this was probably the most violent of all field sports dawned on me. There were bleeding faces, cut eyes, dislocated shoulders and almost every minute of the 80 minutes was brutal. The tv conveyed this brutality right into the living room. I was in the centre of all this violence. I really wondered how these grown men could subject themselves and others to this degree of sheer physical torture.

It was interesting to see that when a player was ordered off the field by the referee, with blood streaming from both his eyes, he was back on the field at the first opportunity to take further part in this gladiatorial sport.

And finally, I watched the Formula 1 Championship which was held at Interlagos, Brazil. There were 3 people with a chance of winning the World Championship, and the one with the least chance was the Finn, Kimi Raikkonen, known as the "Ice Man" as he hardly displays any emotion on his face or in his voice, driving the Ferrari.

But win the Brazil race he did, and with  Fernando Alonso of McLaren in 3rd place and Lewis Hamilton, also of McLaren, in 7th place, the World Championship went to Kimi, with Alonso and Hamilton getting joint second place, each with 109 points against Kimi's 110.

Almost every tv in Finland was probably tuned to seeing this race. As Finland celebrates this victory, my weekend of sports viewing taught me much!

The finesse of great tennis, the fantastic action of Twenty20 Cricket, the endurance and skill of great driving of Formula 1 cars and the intolerable physical violence of Rugby.

I did watch some football and handball over the weekend, but give me Twenty20 cricket and tennis as the two best sports to watch to pass the time away as we grow older.

Blogged with Flock

Two faces of sport in India

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, the Mumbai Cathedralites Seventh Heaven Blog and the Delhi Stephanians Kooler Talk Blog.

Cathedral School Hockey side in 1959:
I am the goalkeeper!

I have always been a hockey player and enthusiast.

(My interest in hockey, especially to be a hockey goalkeeper started in 1952-53 when I was a 10 year old living in Bangalore. I used to live opposite the St, Joseph College Hostel and sports grounds.I had many friends studying in the college. One was a guy called Abe Tharakan. He was the hockey goalkeeper for the college. I used to watch the team train and watched all their games. Abe inspired me to take up the game and the position of goalkeeper after I moved to Bombay in 1954. Today, Abe and I are good friends and he runs a popular blog Song of the Waves - I repaid him by bringing him into the world of blogging at which he has become a real expert and writes beautifully!)

I played for the First XI of the school for two years. I played for St. Stephen's College, Delhi, till injury cut short my further prospects to play for the College, the University and higher. When I played for the College, I played alongside some of the future greats of Indian Hockey, with Arun Shourie as my Captain.

In London, I played for my college and then played in the trials for London University. Injury again kept me from progressing my hockey career.


Shrewsbury Town Hockey Team:
I am fourth from left.

Then when I started my professional career in Plastics at Shawbury Village near Shrewsbury Town, I played for the Town team regularly, first in my preferred spot in the goal and then as the centre half in the line up.

I loved to play hockey. Though I wanted to see good hockey, I never got to watch it on TV as it has never been a popular spectator sport to merit much TV time.

I love football equally, and though I played it at school, I never progressed much, as my love for hockey was over-powering. However, as it was on TV in England, I watched a lot of it and learnt much about strategy and the game from the hours spent in front of the box. The real highlight was watching such greats as the Portuguese wizard Eusebio and the Brazilian Pele along with the English household names of Bobby More and Charlton, with England winning the World Cup in 1966.

I used much of what I learnt of the sport from watching the best players on TV to help me manage youngsters getting into the sport. I became a master of strategy in a game that I hardly played, even though, if I had played, I would have progressed as far as I did in the sport of my choice.

I played many other sports as table tennis, badminton (right up to the age of 55). I was active in athletics. I enjoyed TV coverage, however limited of each of these sports. My last sporting exploits was when I skied for the first time in my life at the age of 57 and finished the 20 km course tearing every ligament in my body. And then at the same age I raised a crew of long boat rowers to row the 30+ kilometers from Muhos to Oulu.

I enjoyed my gym training doing as much as 2 hours of intensive gym work to ensure all my muscles were kept fit and also helping me to solve serious problems with my back and also avoiding operations on my knees.

Now at 65, I keep fit by walking whenever I can, sometimes as much as 20 km keeping my pulse rate at as high as possible for my age - 140 to 150 pulse beats per minute!

My interest in cricket was generated by the excellent radio commentary that I used to listen to when I was just 7 to 8 years old. England playing against Australia and the Commentary broadcast by Radio Australia and BBC were the starting point, later followed by following the fortunes of the Indian Cricket team with stars such as Mushtaq Ali, Vijay Merchant, Vijay Hazare, Ghulam Ahmed, Polly Umrigar, S.P. Gupte, Bapu Nadkarni. And we had some good Indian Commentators too, but some exasperating ones, as well.

I did not liked watching cricket on TV as the sponsors hogged so much of time that I hated sitting through the irritating ads. However, when the International Cavaliers played the Sunday afternoon 40 overs, with great names as Sobers, Lloyd and others showing their unbelievable poweress with bat and ball, as well their superb fielding, and with NO ads intervening, I really took to watching ad free cricket on TV.

What I could, however, not understand was the super star status given to the Indian Cricket players. Yes, they may have been good players, and Kapil Dev's team winning the World Cup certainly gave the players the boost.

But considering that the Indian Hockey side dominated the Olympic and World Hockey agenda for generations, I could never understand why they were never given the super star status of the cricketing counterparts. It was no wonder that Indian Hockey sunk into the toilet.

This year was no exception. The Indian Cricket team won the Twenty20 Cricket Tournament and the whole of India and the politicians have been all rolling over to be seen with the cricketers.

In the same period the Indian Hockey side won the Asian Hockey Tournament against major rivals, and it was difficult to even find this mentioned in the headline news.

The news that the State Bank of India was doing something to correct this by giving each hockey player in the winning side $ 12,500 for the world beating performance was news, but in comparison to what has been showered on the cricketers, the air coverage time, the print space given to each sport, it really makes my heart sink.

India can quickly produce the best hockey players of the calibre of Dyanchand if it wants. It can beat other world sides if the Indian side was given only walking sticks to play with. But when the sport and its players are treated so shoddily, can we ever expect the Indian Team to ever become the real world class they are capable of being!

On a final note. the commercialisation of sport where one has to pay money to hear a cricket commentary between two country sides, unlike the time when I was a small boy, will only destroy the sport in the long run.