India Vs Australia – Day 2

Celebrating his hundred

Celebrating wickets

Pace up

Hussey bowled out

Partnership building

Day 2

 

Good morning everyone.

 

Let’s begin the proceedings from where we left it yesterday. Australia closed the day yesterday with a score of 254 for the loss of 4. India managed to clinch two wickets in hurry just before the closure. Pitch looks little uneven today, let’s see what purchase does India get out of it. Hussey reaches to his half century as he does most of the time. Bowled!! Ishant claims another victim, Shane Watson Out Bowled just after a LBW appeal turned down in his favour. Ishant bowls a fantastic delivery to pierce through Watson’s solid defence. What a start again. Yesterday Zaheer and today Ishant Sharma has done the trick for India. Can India snatch another wicket here?

Australia 259 for the loss of 5 at the start of the second day.  

 

Australia would be happy as they as inching toward 300 runs mark. India need to pick up a quick wicket if they want to restrict Australia under 400. Hussey and Haddin are growing in confidence and stroking the balls clearly. Sound of willow growing loud, it was hard to put a bat to ball this morning. Both the batsmen are nudging the balls for one and two; they are picking up on Ganguly to steal runs. As these two batsmen consolidating their innings, Australia score 307 for the loss of 5. India need to stop leaking runs and put pressure on these batsmen, otherwise match will runaway from their reach.

 

Damn!! Cable network shuts down due to power cut. Hold on guys.

 

It is back on and what I see doesn’t look alright to me.

 

Is it a repeat telecast from yesterday’s play? Damn!! Like yesterday, early break followed by Hussey and Haddin building partnership. I don’t want to see another partnership of or around 166 runs. Kumble’s defensive approach is not helping India by any means. Fielders are placed deep to protect boundaries and giving away non-stop ones and twos. Yet another partnership for Australia and it looks formidable.

 

At lunch Australia scores 357 for 5.

 

 What a comeback after lunch. Ishant Sharma clinches two wickets in a quick succession. Haddin plays a slower delivery and Ganguly grabs it on the cover point area. He makes his way to the dressing room after adding 33 to the total. But Ishant is not over yet, he strikes Cameron White out caught on the extra cover region. He goes out after making 6 runs. Australia 362 for the loss of 7 wickets. Can India wrap up the rest of the players under 400?  Mind you, Hussey is still batting and he is looking as solid as Rock. India losing its way providing easy singles, it has been a problem from day 1. Partnerships after partnerships, Hussey and Lee have added another 50 runs to the total.

 

When the partnership between Hussey and Lee look dangerous, Zaheer strikes back and creates sweet sound of Timber, Bowled. Zheer pitches bowl just shot of good length and squeezes Lee in his backlift to knock the stump out.  Australia 421 for 8 wickets down. Zaheer Khan puts venom to his bowling and knocks out Johnson and Hussey quickly. It was brilliant to see Ishant and Zaheer taking up the challenge and bowled furious spells after spell. Zaheer picks it up just after tea to wrap the things up below 450 for India. Australia must be happy to put hefty score on the board especially on the pitch that is deteriorating fast. 

 

Australians have put up 430 on the board. It will be good to see how India answers back to the Australian handsome total.

 

Sehwag and Gambhir look good as they hit the ball in all different parts of the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Brett lee and Stuart Clark try really hard to get a break through but these two batsmen look determined to put up a decent total on the board by the end of the day proceedings. India score 58 while rain getting heavier in the background, I hope wicket falls down in the weather. Rain has reached the stadium in full force and it is pouring heavily. Umpires have decided to walk off the ground and that brings covers on the field. As the rain looks unstoppable, India have put up 68 runs on the board. All thanks to Sehwag and Gambhir solid partnership at the end of the day. What a day of cricket, highlighted by a great hundred from Hussey and top level pace bowling form Ishant and Zaheer. Ishant clinched 3 wickets and Zheer has managed to achieve 5 wicket haul which is as good as scoring a hundred.

 

That should be it for the day, will catch you back tomorrow on day 3 with India fight back.

Are we ready yet?

Natural Buses in Beijing

Traffic jams during peak hours

Learning languages

Delhi’s drainage system

High beam

Metro Station

Delhi-Gurgaon highway

The other day, Discovery Channel was showcasing a documentary on Beijing Olympics; the preparation was overwhelming. Beijing Olympics was a success and it didn’t happen in a day, weeks or months but it was continuous hard work of 6 to 7 years. China was hoping to see more than a hundred thousand tourists during the event and to manage such a big number never seemed too easy. The Olympic committee expressed their concern regarding the air pollution which was five times above World Health Organisation standard for safety. Nearly US$17 billion was spent to clean the air and Beijing implemented a number of air improvement schemes for the duration of the games. This included stopping work on all construction sites, closing many factories both in and around Beijing, closing some gas stations and cutting motor traffic by half. Two new subway lines were opened and thousands of old taxis and buses were replaced to encourage residents to use public transport. China added 3800 natural gas buses in Beijing, which is the largest fleet in the world.

 

I loved their passion for their country, everyone volunteered in their best possible way to make it a glory. Local people to car drivers started learning different languages and retired officials took the ownership of guiding tourists on the road. To address maximum people, schools started to teach children so the message can be sent to their parents as well. It was a heartfelt moment when engineers and labours working in the deepest tunnel said, ‘We are not working hard for Olympics but for China’. Very true, during Olympics people will travel to China from all over the world and there would be no better time to present modern and high-tech China which is not less than any other developed country.

 

Comparison

 

If I start to compare the preparation between India and China, then I would sadly say there is yawning gap. I don’t want to find an escape route by saying that was Olympics and this is Common Wealth Games. In both the cases huge amount of bidding and planning are involved, as Olympics and Commonwealth committee take the country’s infrastructure and readiness very seriously. Below is the reality check for all of us, including me.

 

Delhi

 

Most of the people driving in Delhi have no civic sense; they would over take your car from any side, change lane frequently and to make it worse, drive with full high beam during night hours. I wonder when government would initiate action against such insanity and when would people learn to follow the traffic rules!

 

Humble request: Do not switch on high beam during night hours, it turns people completely blind and jeopardise their life.

 

I have been driving in Delhi roads for quite sometime now, but the pain and agony while driving on the bumpy road is relentless. Before accelerating I literally plan the route to avoid uneven road. Just think what a heavy cost I would pay for driving in Delhi and NCR roads if car servicing falls under monthly tasks list. Every month a chunk of money goes out from my salary as TAX to government but, what do I get in return? Power cuts! Roads from hell! Useless drainage system falling apart in rainy days!  

 

NCR

 

Staying in Gurgaon, one can imagine the worse when it comes to infrastructure. Gurgaon is a corporate hub where all the multi national companies are strengthening their roots. This is where property rates are at its peak for designer villas and apartments. Haryana government claims Gurgaon to be another “Singapore” but I wonder if they have ever thought of the basic needs to a well maintained city! All the lavish villas and apartments have to pay a huge amount for power back up and it is a reality check for a resident to step out on the road, where half constructed roads, water logging and traffic jam await.

 

Overall

 

Thankfully Metro work is going fast; it has covered all the major parts in Delhi and NCR. In the process, roads in Delhi have taken a good thrashing by rain with huge construction trucks and daily traffic grilling on it. However, it doesn’t excite me any bit if new flyovers, Metro connectivity and a few natural gas vehicles are added to present India to the world in Common Wealth Games, 2010. On the contrary China did a fabulous job in improving overall infrastructure for Beijing Olympics, 2008, it was a complete facelift.

 

Hope

 

I read an article somewhere, the Indian government is pouring an estimated $37.5 billion into the city for it to be ready in time for the 2010 games. I pray to god, the amount such as this reaches to the right people through the right channel; otherwise we will be caught napping and bring shame to our country. We have exactly 24 months to go for Common Wealth Games and I hope we would make our country proud. Let’s come together and contribute in shaping up our ever loving city, Delhi, at our on level.

 

I am changing myself from today, saying no to littering, spitting and leaking in the open. Promise to follow the traffic rules religiously.  Can I expect the same from you my fellow citizens?

Here I come

Welcome to my debut into cyberjournalism!

Finally I have joined the rest of the world and started to blog, it is an addictive task. I am excited to write my thoughts and display it to the entire world to read, so I want to keep it proper. In the afternoon I work with a travel firm as a content manager and during the nightfall I become a writer. After writing things for someone else’s site, now, I have decided to write for my own self. It will be interesting to see how good I am in writing the general stuff that boils inside my head. Hopefully I don’t mess up with my thoughts and put something irrelevant on the weblog.

You are most welcome to join me on my writing expedition and in my new addiction to cyberjournalism.

 

Have fun

Praky