Author: Pran Kurup

Pran Kurup is founder and CEO of Vitalect, Inc.

New Pope

I was surprised at the euphoria over the announcement of the new Pope. Radio and TV networks dropped regular programming to focus on the announcement. I was really surprised that NPR dropped its morning program to report live on the announcement. Its possible that media acted in a similar fashion in Europe, or at least parts of it. I can understand a quick announcement followed by return to regular programming, but this was not the case! Maybe this is an extension of the red states-blue states split facing the US, maybe the majority are in favor of this from the media.

Viru the new Bradman

Woolmer thinks Viru is like Bradman. That’s quite a compliment especially coming from a shrewd thinker like Woolmer. The irony is that every few years we produce a Bradman-like player — it was Gavasker in the 80s, Tendulkar in the 90s, and Viru is the 2000s — the team as a whole can never unfortunately deliver consistently. I wish everyone especially Indian cricket fans stop praising individual team members to the skies by making such pointless comparisons and instead focus on the team performance.

Its time to open the flood gates and romp in youngsters to form a new look ODI team in preparation for the next world cup. Viru has to play a big role in grooming the team for the next world cup (perhaps as captain). Pak has come so far only because they invested in their youngsters and dumped 7 of their top players after the last world cup. Its time India did the same.

Adobe-Macromedia acquisition

I think this is a smart move on the part of both companies. Macromedia is reaching a point were an imminent threat from Microsoft is inevitable. Adobe on the other hand has always seen Microsoft as a threat. Coming together of these two companies gives Adobe a solid installed base of users and whole bunch of new products. Macromedia on the other hand can develop a more comprehensive strategy to counter the threat from Microsoft by being part of Adobe’s suite of products. Besides, Macromedia has so many products now accumulated from so many acquisitions over the years, that its a good time to evaluate its long list of products. The only downside in my opinion is that historically large mergers have never worked. And of course, some users will suffer because Adobe is sure to end of life some Macromedia products. While Microsoft is all focused on IE and Search, its nice to see parts of the software industry joining forces to beat them in other areas.

Final ODI: Pak wrap it up

Good show Pak. Well deserved. On their way to a fine series win. India clearly has lot of talent but lacks spine, good leadership and most of all good strategy. Time for a fresh start with John Wright’s departure. Personally, I think India must make some drastic changes to the one day side.
The senior players must be phased out in favor of younger promising talent. This would require some tough, careful decisions to be made with an eye on grooming a team for the 2007 world cup.

Final ODI: Golden chance for youngsters

India is struggling at 65-3 — huh! So what’s new about it? Our top celebrities Sachin, Viru and Dravid are cooling their heels in the pavilion after playing useless knocks. The good news is that it opens up a golden opportunity for the next generation of Indian celebrities (Dhoni, Yuvraj, Kaif, Agarkar, Mongia) to rise to the occasion and take India to victory. It certainly sounds good to hear but a tall order to accomplish. If you are a die hard Indian cricket fan, this is a great chance for you to raise your hopes.

Final ODI: India likely toast

Pak did well to run up 303. To give credit to the Indians, I think they restricted Pak to a smaller score than they should have reached given the flying start from Afridi. Given Indians recent performances and our typical lack of spine when it comes to chasing big score, a defeat seems very much on the cards. I hate to be so pessimistic, but that’s how India has performed lately.

India-Pak Fifth ODI: India Grilled

India was thrashed by Pak. Shahid Afridi was at his best. Throwing his bat at all the juicy deliveries being sent down, Afridi piled on a rock solid 102. Even I could have batted at the other end! Indian bowlers were so badly demoralized.

Balaji was celebrating the new year by serving Afridi pongal like deliveries. Dravid soon decided to serve Afridi a full course meal by bringing in Kumble whose full tosses and leg breaks served up like bissibela bath only to be promptly slammed across the fence. It was a battle of sambar, pongal and bissibela bath vs raw halal beef.

Lets hope the last one day match is more balanced and not like a trip to the slaughter house. I hope India at least has a plan for Shahid-bhai, though this might turn out to be a match for Razzack who has looked very dangerous but hasn’t fired in a big way.

Fifth ODI: India struggle

Pak has a gett-able target. India struggled and then recovered to put up 249. It hard to see how India can defend such a small score against the solid Pak batting line up. To start with India never really has a plan for Afridi. At a min India must knock out his wicket early if it even stands a chance.

Fourth ODI: Hats off to Pak

A fighting perfuming from Pak. Man, these guy are true fighters. Its amazing how Pak comes together as a team, especially against India. Thoughts from the match and after.

Ganguly:It appears as though the selectors were in a hurry to get rid of Ganguly. The appeal has not happened as yet and the selectors almost instantly named the new team and captain. Sounds like they were in a hurry to bid Dada “bye-bye”. His decision to come in at number 4 has come in for a lot of criticism. Personally, I think he did the right thing. The spinners were on, and he is very capable of belting the spinners. Unfortunately, he never really tried to force the pace. For this he certainly deserves plenty of criticism.

Dravid: This could be a make or break for his captaincy hopes. If he delivers two victories and some of the younger folks shine, Ganguly’s fate may be sealed for ever from the one day side. He has a lot at stake here. Its also a chance for him to set things right and show his ideas with regard to the ideal team combination. Kumble is back, Dhoni appears to have grabbed number 3 slot, Kaif is a terrible misfit at number 7, Murali bowled well in the last ODI, our opening bowlers suck repeatedly, he has a new deputy in Viru. All in all he has an opportunity to make some interesting decisions. Besides in addition to these two games, he has four more to go before Ganguly is back in the reckoning. In short, there is a lot at the stake for India’s most reliable batsman. Will he scale the wall?

Sachin: Played a superb innings. I only wish he had retired hurt once he was hit by cramps. It was a painful site to see him struggle and bring down the run rate along with Ganguly. This is a pitiful example of a complete lack of strategy on the part of the Indian team management. Either Sachin should have attacked and given Ganguly the time to settle. Or Ganguly should have attacked from the word go and had Sachin rotate the strike. Unfortunately neither of the two scenarios happened, and both perished leaving India with a loss of momentum. But for the super cameo by Yuvraj India would have ended up with a score lot lower.

In the final analysis, India never played as a team. A few super performances and that’s about it. As always we continue to create celebrities out of individuals in the team for their personal performances, while the team as a whole continues to languish as a totally unpredictable bunch.

As for Pak, they are a terrific team, but equally unpredictable, especially when the opposing team is not India.