Why Ravichandran Ashwin did not take the final run...

By now, everyone and their grandmother have shouted at our poor Ashwin for not attempting the 2nd run in the final test against the West Indies. Ashwin has been having a hard time defending himself on Twitter (you should never do that since it's filled with morons)

Experts have quickly come to his rescue by analyzing the reasons behind the decision to not go for the 2nd. As a Tam Brahm, these reasons have not come as a surprise to me at all. After all, these are ingrained in every one of us - in our actions and in our value systems...

1. Very early on, we are taught by our parents to be good to our guests after you have gotten what you want. We should share our chocolate (after your 2-3 chocolates). And never be too greedy for anything (publicly at least). When India had already won the test and he was a sure-shot man of the match (with a 5-wicket haul and a 100 to boot) and man of the series, it was time to share the spoils. 
2. Our granddad and dad swear by Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Vivian Richards and the likes. Given their love for West Indian cricket and the abysmal position it is in today, there is a high chance that he was bombarded by calls from appa, peripa, chitappa, thatha, thatha's brother etc. the previous night to take it easy with them.  
3. In Chennai street cricket, you don't run much. Specially if you are his size. You hit your runs in fours and sixes. In school cricket, more so, since you have to stand in the Madras summer heat for a full day. Hence preserving energy is of utmost importance. Running the 2nd is not a default action that our mind understands. And most importantly, it was the last ball of the over, and we love our 'over-gaji' (though it does not hold good in the last over)  
4. Ashwin has just gotten married. Which means he has found a girl. At the age of 25. That is just plain rare! The probability of him meeting her at a puja at home is close to 95%. Given how difficult it is for us to interact with girls, the probability that he prayed to God during that puja that he will sacrifice something soon in return for her hand is close to 105%. And sacrifice he did, an inconsequential match... 
5. Last but not the least, we are brought up on curd rice - a high quantity of which he would have had during lunch-time given the other dish which was 'Gobi Manchurian' resembled something chicken. And his recent marriage means he has had food at his in-laws place just before the match started. With this kind of a gastronomic background, it is not fair to expect him to run so much. And at such a crucial time.   
6. UPDATE: A bonus one that was earlier missed - the 'poonal' certainly got in the way while running around!

 Now that these reasons are well established, experts believe that these nonsense accusations will die down soon and sanity will prevail...

P.S1: the above is just for arbit fun. He deserved his MoM and MoS. All those who are stupidly shouting around can seriously shut up given the match would have been long lost if not for his contributions.  

P.S2: Image courtesy - www.sportinglife.com 

10 reasons why eating in a buffet is similar to playing cricket

Yes. A pretty vague comparison. But if you look at it in-depth, you will realize that going for a team buffet is very similar to playing a cricket match. And here’s why…

	In cricket...	In a buffet…
1	The team-split between batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders	The split is between grass-eating veggies and non-veggies who only eat something that walks, crawls, swims or flies on earth. The fence-sitters are the ones who hog on both well enough.
2	The Abdomen Guard	Your guard is a paper towel – used around the same area to ensure that you are not mistaken for having an awry bathroom break
3	Taking stance to observe the field	Doing a quick survey of what food is present in the buffet so you can plan accordingly
4	The cautious opening to not lose your wicket	Ensuring you don’t eat only the starters and fill your stomach
5	Running the quick singles but saving energy with boundaries	Taking quick trips to take any good item twice but stocking up on two big plates so you don’t have to leave your seat often
6	Placing in the gaps for maximum benefit	Ensuring the correct distribution of food in the stomach so it can take in more
7	The bonus free hit	The complimentary mock-tail that is thrown in sometimes
8	The slog overs before the innings-end	The dessert round where you go for the kill because the buffet is going to end
9	The commentators. And the general public	The been-there-done-that folks who have already visited the restaurant passing expert comments on the food! And those ala-carte folks who are sitting around you passing comments on your eating capacity.
10	The umpire who finally gives you out	The waiter who gives you the bad news in the form of the bill

Any more similarities, please ensure you update them in the comments section...

An ode to Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings...
The whole city sings,
Cause you do great things...
As the yellow midnight rings!

To the year when everyone else we thulp...
In your presence all others gulp...
Cause they know you shall turn them to pulp...
A spectacular year with a double IPL and CL wallop...

The best local team,
The Indian superstars as the beam...
The outsiders on top as cream,
Together ensuring we never run out of steam!

Raina can swat but Vijay for the golden bat...
In the middle they chat, bowlers run off like a rat.
Murali just behind, Ashwin for the golden wicket..
To batsmen, they give you your pavilion ticket.

When Dougie hits the stump, the sweet sound,
Badri and Hussey the dependable, Albie all round!
Jakati Balaji Anirudh, confidence new-found...
Kemp and Hayden can pound anything out of the ground.

Dhoni you are always chill...
Forever your support we will.
To sign off we shall put the whistle...
Ending a night for world-over Tamilian thrill!!!

The top 10 characteristic cricket shots – and how the balls feel!

Whenever our favorite cricketer hits his characteristic shot, we are all elated. But have we for once thought about the cricket ball. And what the cricket ball feels about the whole episode? The ball has its purpose in life – to go hit the stumps of the batsman. When it is not able to do that, it feels best if it is well left and goes inside the cozy comforts of the wicketkeeper’s gloves. Instead, when it gets a pounding as it does from some of the world-class batsman, it feels like being kicked out or hit hard.

With this in perspective, let us analyze some of the most characteristic shots in modern day cricket, and how this equates to anywhere from a polite send-off to a rude dumping for the cricket ball.

• Cricketer: Thilakaratne Dilshan
  Shot: Bend and send the ball back over the head of the wicketkeeper for four and completely change the trajectory of the ball
  Feeling: You are dressed handsomely. You have a fine accent. You know you can talk you way to the American visa for which you have come all the way from Bangalore to Chennai. And you believe you have all the documents that are required. The visa officer talks very nicely to you. Except that he feels that your personality might pose a bigger threat to the USA than 10 Osamas put together. And to put you off in a completely different direction, he asks you for a document that he knows you would have probably used as a tissue paper substitute some time in your life. You are sent back to Bangalore with the next appointment a month away.
  

• Cricketer: Chris Gayle
  Shot: Spread out legs (pun intended) and dispatch out of the stadium over long on or mid-wicket with a big heave of the bat
  Feeling: You hit upon a girl in a pub. She was speaking nicely to you. You thought this was your chance. You decided to go in for the kill and ask her out on a date. ‘Pat’ comes the reply in the form of a tight slap. The last you remembered before you awoke at the hospital - some big fat guys were lifting you up.

• Cricketer: Gautam Gambhir
  Shot: A constipated bend and nudge towards third man presumably for a clever four but ends up usually in a dumb single
  Feeling: You have decided to land up on Saravana Stores to buy a shirt. All you know is that you entered the shop sometime back. The crowd pushed and shoved you towards some person who was showing shirts. Without any signaling or pointing, a cloth piece was packed. Again as you stood wondering what just happened, you are pushed towards the billing counter. When you took the kerchief out to swipe off your sweat, the purse came along with it. With the bill and the apparel in hand, you are now standing outside the shop still wondering what just happened. When you open the box, you realize you have a saree instead of a shirt.

• Cricketer: Ross Taylor
  Shot: Moving across the stumps to offer an LBW chance but heaving the bat quickly to send the ball from outside the off-stump to out of the stadium on the leg side
  Feeling: You had the right focus. You had prepared well. You had beaten the others to it. You got your dream Day 0 job. Until the week after when the global stock markets crash. And the company plunges into recession. And they say that your appointment is deferred by 6 months. And of course, you have the choice of finding a job elsewhere since 6 could extend to 12 as well.
  

• Cricketer: Yuvraj Singh
  Shot: The complete kneel down on one foot as if to show respect and then launch a massive six over mid-wicket
  Feeling: – You go into the marriage reception to greet a couple you hardly know. You are there because it is a ritual and someone asked you to come along. The couple is already tired of smiling for the last couple of hours. But however, you know you are in the public eye. The couple greets you with all the respect that you can ever get from unknown persons. And asks you to go and eat your food. At the back of their mind, they would be happy with one more good riddance. At the back of your mind, you know you are happy to get into the food hall. But unfortunately for you, there is such a long waiting line and at the end of the waiting, the food was so bad that it has started making sounds in your tummy. You now want to exit the place and attend nature’s dual call. But there is a long queue there as well…
  

The other top 10 characteristic shorts – you can contribute how the balls feel during these...

• Mahendra Singh Dhoni – The small spread of the legs to hit a straight drive that sizzles past the bowler
• Virender Sehwag - Extremely powerful cover drive on the off-side where point and cover are still looking at the batsman while the ball has sailed past the cover boundary for a six
• Sachin Tendulkar – The paddle sweep invented to counter Shane Warne’s spin during the test series in India
• Ricky Ponting - The front-foot movement, short bend and majestic pull over square leg with super-fast hand-eye coordination
• Kevin Pieterson: The elaborate movement across the stumps and a glance to send the ball from outside off to across the leg side mid-wicket region for a boundary
  

A poetic letter to Sachin Tendulkar

Oh Little Master Blaster whose effort yesterday went in vain...
I write this poem requesting you to wipe out a small stain.
As I am debating here between ecstasy and pain...
Your inning was the main, but eventually the match gave us no gain.

From the day you hit those sixes off Abdul Khadir,
We knew you would be Indian cricket's modern day father.
And in New Zealand when you went behind the leather,
We knew any storm you could help us weather...

Against Warne the famous paddle sweep,
In Chennai and Sharjah when the targets where steep.
Against Akhtar and Murali you had us leap...
And made the opponent bowlers and the captains weep!

I have defended you with gusto many a time,
Even when there was no reason or rhyme...
Fighting tooth and nail, I did not give a dime...
Until it seemed as though you were going past your prime.

Over the years when you neared your hundred,
Amidst the shouting as the whole stadium thundered!
You used to take your own sweet time lest you blundered,
As everyone sitting around grudgingly wondered...

Even when Dravid won more matches than you,
The blind joy and faith waited for something to chew.
One big 4th inning overseas win from you was due,
But it never came as happy moments outside were far and few.

Last year, when people asked you to retire...
You came back with more fire.
Australia and England were objects of your ire,
Winning matches showed us you never tire!

Despite all your records and holding the nation together for 20 years...
When you getting out, more than death, is what every grandmom fears.
Your every shot or wicket the entire nation hears...
Defeat when we could have won because of you plunges us into tears.

So Sachin, please take us to victory every time even though our wish might be flawed,
Despite all these trivialities we continue to be awed.
Cause we know you are specially created by the Lord...
You will always be India's universally worshipped cricket God...

From a Fan...

The Srilankan Cricket team inside a Tamil love story...

Overheard, a proposition, from Sekar (our hero), a pakka namma Chennai youth, trying to seduce Jaya (our heroine), a Madras baashai KD girl from Gummidipoondi...

S: Hi sexy girl, naan thaan sekar... Autokaara Sekar..
J: Vanakkam Ba. Naan thaan jaya, thotti jaya... Matter sollu...
S: Vandhu, ... Adhu Vandhu....
J: Ada, chattu puttu nu sollu da badhil shani yane...
S: Mudhalla... indhaanga poo, mothama arali tharen ungalukku... evalvu poo paarunga...
J: Cha nalla set malliga poo thara maata...
S: Adutha dhaba tharen... Naan vandhu ungala loves pannrenga...
J: Adada, enna loves pannrathukkellam oru thagudhi venum pa... Inna vandi otra nee?
S: Auto... Share auto...
J: Thoo share auto va...
S: Appadi korachu eda podadheenga. Unga mela total feelings nga, neruppu mela sathiyama...
J: Neruppu nu sonna thaan nyabagam vardhu, Kannu dham beedi etha pudippiya...
S: Cha cha, andha bad habits laan kadayaadhu...
J: Cha waste ba nee...
S: Naan waste a irukkalam, aana haste a decision edukkaadheenga...
J: Indha maari dialogue vittu nenjaya soriyariyepa...
S: Karpu god ram oda wife sita mela promise, en love no galeej and tremendous...
J: Cha, indha kosu tholla thaanga mudiyala pa...
S: Aan chellam mat use pannriya...
J: Dei unna thaan da sonnen...
S: Last and final time, kenji ketkaren... Emma, Ela, Jaya, Vardhaane ennoda...
J: Dei kulla sekara, ingendhu joot vidu, illa unna naalu kummu arai En sanga kaarana kudukka solluven...
S: OK saari. Next meet pannren... Vartaa....

And that is how the short love story between Jaya and Sekar ended...

Supporting Cast
dhil shan = Tilakaratne Dilshan
mothama arali tharen = Muthiah Muralitharan
la set malliga = Lasith Malinga
Thoo share = Thilan Thushara
Kannu dham bee = Thillina Kandamby
jaya soriya = Sanath Jayasuriya
Karpu god ra = Chamara Kappugedera
ej and tremendous = Ajantha Mendis
Aan chellam mat use = Angelo Mathews
ma, Ela, Jaya, Vardhaane = Mahela Jayawardane
kulla sekara = Nuwan Kulashekara
kummu arai En sanga kaarana = Kumara Sangakkara, the captain

Top 10 new advertising slots in IPL

DLF Maximum. Citi Moment of Success. Etc. Etc. The IPL organizers are getting queries from new advertisers increasingly for more ad slots. So they have decided to take every inch of space available on the ground, on the players' bodies and in the spectator area to create the following 10 new brand associations -

• Colgate smile - Players who have hit a 4 or a 6 or a 50, or bowlers who have taken a wicket need to smile with all their teeth; Such a moment is called a Colgate smileeeeeeeee; If a player does not smile or he does not brush his teeth before the match, he is fined 20% of his match fee.
  
• VIP underwear knockout - Since every other part of the player's attire is taken, all teams will introduce a Superman-type dress code where the underwear would be worn over the trousers; Bowlers get bonus points for hitting that area, and such a delivery is called a VIP knockout ball.
• New York Mutual Life Insurance - Whenever the balls goes to the cover region, the commentator claims that it was 'absorbed' by the NYML cover. Future regions on the ground include Veet fine leg etc.
• Jet Frequent Flier - The bowler who gives the maximum number of DLF maximums is called the Jet Frequent Flier...
  
• Kellogs Breakfast - Every time a break ends before the 1st ball of the next over starts, such sympathetic breaks are brought to you by Kellogs Break'fast'
• Kiwi polish ball - The shiny new white ball will be branded as "brought to you by Kiwi polish" with the black bird image; if the Newzealanders take offence, they will be asked to shine all balls using natural means.
• Sony Music Bhangra Special appeal - Bowlers and fielders who raise an appeal for a dismissal have to instantly break into a Bhangra number (both hands pointing towards the sky) with constant shouting and dancing; umpire would be giving out only if he is impressed with the dance.
  
• Tata Steel helmet - A "T" symbol painted on the batsman's helmet grill, if he does not wear a helmet, the symbol will be painted on his nose; If the ball passes through the grill and breaks the player's nose, player says Tata / Bye Bye to his IPL.
• Five Star Fruit & Nut - Bollywood stars who are being shown on TV whenever their team is playing - The players of the star's team are total fruits while the star is a complete nut.
  
• Dev D Extra Inning - For the 'Emotional Atyachaar' song...In honor of what Mr. Samir Kochar and Arun Lal commit every day.

Any more such innovative brand associations, please use the comments section...

Thank you Anil Kumble...

One of the legends of the game retired today. Anil Kumble, take a bow! You truly are one of Indian cricket's gems. For the last 18 years, you have been instrumental in providing some of India's finest moments in cricket. You will certainly be missed a lot... Having watched you for a good part of the last two decades, I just thought I should thank you in the only way I could think of - on my blog! And not without reason...

• You made millions of Indians get back the faith that their team could win. Right from the time the demoralized team came back home in 1992-93' to face England, you have injected the team with the necessary confidence to win. The thumping series win against England was just the start of many series wins at home... In ODIs as well as tests...
• You were one of the key reasons why India became a tiger at home! Sure, the 4 batting stalwarts of India scored tons of runs. But we needed someone to take 10 wickets every inning. And 20 wickets in the match. And you sure took the first statement to heart, when you bagged all ten against Pakistan in the same venue that would become your last as well... Not one in the 10 test playing nations has been spared of your tremendous effect...
• You have infused terror in the minds of many an opponent batsman. And made them sit up and take notice of a thin tall bespectacled man who could only bowl straight balls without an iota of turn. Yes, so many were apprehensive on how long you would last with that one delivery. But you put paid to all their doubts by sending back batsmen 600 times in test cricket with literally that one single type of ball...
• Your amazing energy to bowl at the stumps even in your fiftieth over in the inning is just awesome - as Steve Waugh once famously said, the batsman can never rest when you are bowling to them because they know if they miss, you hit the stump or the pad...We sure knew we could expect you to always be tight and bowl a deadly line and length at any point in the match.
• Your child-like glee when you get someone out with your rare googly, or when you specially position VVS in a second wide slip for that leading edge to be caught, made the layman viewer emotionally attached to your every single move on the field.
• You gave us the lighter moments too. We know you don't like fielding as much as your bowling. (But for that matter, just one or two people in the Indian team ever took to fielding properly!) The way you dived at the ball only to let it always pass, or the way you run towards the ball only to raise your hand to warn the fielder in the deep that it is inevitably coming to him... These are mannerisms that have sure lightened our cricket watching!
• But you were a lot more adept at batting to save India the blushes quite a few times! With an exaggerated forward movement even to the fastest of bowlers... Specially when you made that fighting half century against South Africa in Eden Gardens along with Azhar, or when you stuck around with Srinath to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against Australia in the tri-nation prelims, or the time you struck your first hundred against England last year... Or even the fighting 40 to take India past 600 in your last test match...
• Not resting on your laurels at home, you finally proved your detractors wrong by wrecking havoc overseas as well. You were instrumental in our away wins too, and thus kicked all your detractors in the butt! Though Dravid did get the most of the honours for the wins deservedly, somewhere unsung were your contributions to that series win in Windies, or the great Adelaide win in Australia or even the last test series win in England.
• Your passion for cricket, and your unflinching resolve to try and take wickets probably of every ball. More importantly, every time you had the ball in your hand, you made India believe you could get a wicket, no matter what the match situation was... Or who the batsman was... Just that impending feeling of the opponents getting out caught to Dravid at silly point or getting plumb in front or seeing their middle stump knocked off, gave sheer delight to the millions of Indian cricket fans...
• Your never say die spirit needs to be embodied in every single Indian cricketer. With a bandaged jaw, you came back and took Brian Lara's wicket in a test at West Indies. And even in the last test match, with 11 stitches on your left hand and visible pain on your face, you ran back all the way to take a fantastic catch to dismiss the last man... These are qualities that Indians don't normally see even in the other great cricketers of this era who prefer to sit inside the dressing room with the slightest of injuries.
• Above all, you have been a gentleman in this era of the over-the-top Harbhajans and the perennially vocal Australians. A gentleman, and a thorough professional. Be it when you were a player, or when you were the captain. And the game of cricket needed people like you to balance out the ruffians in the game...

Hats off to you Kumble, please do take a well deserved rest now. And let all of us hope the next generation of spinners has at least one of your kind... Some day maybe...

All Rash Abuses

God, it was a really bad day for me.

I started the morning very late. Hence I could not even take a bath. Unshaven, I took the bus to office. It was crowded and hence I was sweating and smelling bad. I reached office and immediately caught a very bad cold. I was not able to breathe properly and started making puffing and panting sounds that one may consider irritating even if they were the ones contributing to them! The guy sitting in the next cubicle had a hard time, hence he was mumbling something to himself – I was already pretty irritated. I made faces at him and asked him to politely go and attend to other freaking duties. The effect of the missed bath had started spreading to my various areas and I had started itching bad. One hand on my nose, another hand on different parts of the body, a vaguely sounding voice and a twitching face - In utter desperation, I uttered to myself “Oh God! Please give me Than ki shakti, Man ki shakti to bear this pain”…

I returned home and slept thinking that the worst was over, until I came back to office the next day.

My company sued me on 6 counts of racism towards Andrew Symonds and I am now facing so many law suits…

When I go to office tomorrow, I fear they will pull my hair, remove my badge and sing farewell to me…

If only India had daylight savings time...

Today, as I sit at a vague time of 3:00 am in the night on my computer, I experienced something unusual – the clock on the Windows tray turning back to 2:00 am on its own even though it had reached 3:00 am. Of course, this was the end of the daylight savings time here in Europe. We were reverting back by 1 hour to normal time. This now means that we are 4.5 hours behind India instead of 3.5 hours… The biggest benefit for now is that I get 1 extra hour of sleep on the weekend!

However, I was just wondering how this 1 extra hour would be of such great benefit though for us back in India… Here is a look at the tremendous benefits it offers to a wide cross-section of people…

1. Our politicians – The junior Gowda who had in the evening agreed to support the Janata Dal, decided to create the 50th twist in the whole (a)pisode. He is in talks with esteemed madam Mrs. Sonia Gandhi Jee to share power at the center in return for supporting a Congress govt. at the state level. Mrs. Sonia Jee in the meantime has given 7 more instructions in the additional hour for Mr. Manmohan Singh to carry out. In parallel in Gujarat, somewhere in collusion with the same people who were exposed on the Tehelka video, Mr. Narendra Modi is trying to figure out more means to block all access to the entire internet, print media and radio so that the Tehelka expose does not reach his people.
2. Our film personalities – 5 more trailers of Om Shanti Om were shown on around 25 different channels thus increasing the number of total impressions by 125 and the effective headcount of the mega marketing reach by around 2.5 people. The Big B meanwhile has signed up for 5 more brands to advertise this year, having had to compensate for giving up his claim on the farm land.
3. Our sports heroes – Current captain M S Dhoni has once again managed to get a new haircut – this time a 70s style haircut aka Shah Rukh in OSO, to woo model turned actresses who act as 70s stars. At the same time, ex-captain Dravid is utilizing the 1 hour for figuring out how the fortunes have completely turned for him – from producing India’s best, to be given a rest* (E.g. of * -. Teachers picking out “volunteers” in school to do stuff). Sehwag was last seen laughing all out for this 1 hour thinking about how many series he has been persisted with despite his “spectacular” form.
4. Our IT Services companies – Revenue-wise, there is no addition for the year since they lose this 1 hour in March when daylight savings time comes back in. However, they utilized this time to recruit 20 more people each and train them on the basics of computing. The overall training period has gradually shortened from 3 months to 2.5 weeks now.
5. The educated gentlemen and ladies – Most of our grads and multi-national employees are using this 1 additional hour to figure out how to make more money, progress in career, marry their darlings, take care of their babies or buy that splendid new apartment. The rest (like yours truly) are doing the same things at a place away from India (or trying to get 1 more hour of sleep).
6. The common man – He gets to see one more hour of all the above drama unfolding in front of him on the various news channels as more “sensational breaking news” fills up this hour. He cringes about how bad the politicians but knows though that the opponents are no less crap. He is hoping that some of the educated classes will save India someday. He does not know that this educated class is more foolish than him to depend on some politician saving them.

Any more such activities people can do in that 1 hour, please do post in the comments section…

The Indian cricket team in an IT company

After the extremely dismal performance in the world cup, our cricket team is back and cooling its heels amidst stone and tomato throws at them and their houses. Let us look at a hypothetical situation where this Indian cricket team is recruited into any IT company… The following article looks at the different characters we have in the team and how well they fit into the different roles and people that any IT company services would have!

• Sehwag: Kicked around resource - Was moved around in six different roles in one year to give an indication that he improve his work or quit; Has lost a lot of hair in moving around the different jobs but it has still not got into his head to go and find a different job.
• Tendulkar: Technical Career Path (TCP) Member - Long-time member of “Tendulkar Cricketing Path (TCP)” which is very strong on paper but is very weak practically; High time something is done to also show results practically else at least the hype around the whole path can be reduced.
• Dravid: MBA grad - He is the front face of the team and talks very well but actually does not have a clue what to do with the team; Is the wall of the team many times in client facing roles abroad and has helped the team conquer a lot of foreign lands
• Laxman: Module leader – Too slow to run and do any work and typically watches from one end as associates come deliver their work from the other end and go; Stays on till the end but does not seem to do any useful work.
• Ganguly: Company alumnus – Was a bad performer initially, got the message, quit and went off somewhere else before returning soon at a higher post and much better pay and recognition for a perceivably higher value though the quality of work was how it should be for anyone part of the team.
• Kaif & Raina: Forced Attrition - Got two consecutive lowest appraisal ratings after miserable performances over lengthy times and have been kicked out of the company.
• Dinesh Karthick: Fresh trainee - All enthusiastic after topping college and performing very well in all entry trainee tests and is also shining in his first project.
• Zaheer Khan: Onsite return - Pretty useless initially at offshore and was hence packed off to onsite but has now returned and is working with fresh vigor after having faced solid bashing by client at onsite.
• Irfan Pathan: Rejected trainee - Rejected after the training program on account of extremely pathetic performance even in the training grounds leave alone actual projects and hence sent back to college to re-learn his fundamentals.
• Anil Kumble – The typical IT company technical associate – The old warhorse of the whole team and keeps fighting in all encounters year after year despite win or loss however old he gets; Signifies the true fighting spirit of the team always… But has now retired after being dumped all work as well as the blame when things didnt go well.
• Harbhajan Singh – Offshore great but onsite hate – Has performed splendidly at home turf winning a lot for the team but then performs so poorly at client site that he’d rather never be shown in front of the client and better left at offshore.

Others

• Greg Chapell: Project Manager – Talks a lot and promises a lot but when it comes to final delivery has a special knack of goofing up. Realized that he was going to be fired for the huge goof-up and so put in his papers immediately!
• Krishnamachari Srikanth: Quality Group Member – Analyzes every bit to the utmost unnecessary level of detail and is very good at finding fault with everything…

Any more of our Indian players that you can think of in such situations, do post in the comments!!!