My earlier writings (published on Rediff and other sites)

Hi guys
Yes, blogs aren't supposed to be for marathon posts but this is special, at least for me. Here I am giving a record of all my cricket writings that were ever carried on the internet.

I write a lot of articles but not all of them are good; not all of them are carried on some site; sometimes they get carried on loser sites that close two months after I join them (www.madhurbharat.com was one such site).

I am diving my articles into two categories -

1. My personal favorites - These were carried on www.rediff.com and people gave me feedback by email; geez, and I thought my vocabulary was colourful. I am providing here the actual links to the articles as originally carried.

• For want of a shoe - The first ever article written by me that was every carried on the internet. It was written when India toured Australia in the year 2000 and laments the Indian performance that lacked pride, commitment and anything called self-respect.
  
• Hail the Prince of Calcutta - Written a couple of days after Ganguly was selected as captain of the Indian cricket team. I was glad to see the change and I wrote why I thought it was a good move.

• The men behind the microphone - People who read this told me I oughta try my hand at writing comedy. Anyway, people liked it and I am happy. A spoof of the commentators of today, their particular styles and idiosyncracies ... an imaginary match in South Africa being commentated on by the likes of Gavaskar, Boycott, Sidhu, Shastri, Bhogle, Kapil and Maninder.

• Open with Sehwag in tests - Not joking here. The first article on the net (that I saw, at least) that suggested that Sehwag would make a great opener in test cricket. This was written just before the England tour when Sehwag did actually open ... and the rest is history. Rediff editor, Prem Panicker, wrote an article on the same topic a week after my article was carried. U know ... great minds and all that.
  



• Give the dog... Hang him - During the Australian tour of India in 2001 (yep, the Bhajji and Laxman one), the media (international and Indian) was totally anti-Ganguly, just waiting to rend him and scratch him at every chance they got. Of course, Ganguly didn't help much by having an absolutely lousy run with the bat. In this article, I defend Ganguly and give my opinion on why Ganguly actually was so valuable to the Indian team even when he wasn't scoring too much.

• Wanted - Sachin of Old - This article was written on September 24, 2004 when Tendulkar was just diagonosed with his tennis elbow injury. Here I talk about the change in Tendulkar as he moved from being an attacking, dominating batsman to one who prods, pokes and nudges and somehow doesn't look the great batsman we know he is.

• Sachin disappoints - After the CBI report on match fixing came out, I expressed my disappointment at the actions (rather, "failure to act" would be a better phrase) of the demi-god of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar. This article got me about a 100 mails from people all over the country / world, around 95 of whom thought I should go to prison.



• A socking for sledging - So what do you do when someone sledges you on the cricket field? Break his legs, I say.
  

2. The rest of the Rediff stuff - It is not that these articles are bad. Fact that Rediff carried them shows that they must be pretty decent ... lets put it this way; I wouldn't count them among my best but I like them; Hey, I wrote them after all. I am providing here the actual links to the articles as originally carried.

• No playing Pakistan - This was carried in November of 2000 when the Indian government refused permission for India to tour Pakistan. I supported the move.
• Why Sodhi or Robin? Why not Sodhi and Robin? - This was carried in November of 2000 and discusses the choice of the Indian selectors to remove Robin Singh from the one day squad, replacing him with Sodhi. I ask why replace? Why not play them together?
• Sauce for the Goose - This was carried in December of 2000 and discusses the one match suspension against Indian skipper Ganguly and the general tendency of the brown cricketers to get the rough end of the stick in decisions by authority.
• Play hard with the Aussies - This was carried in January of 2001 and discusses the strategy the Indian team needs to beat the Aussies in the upcoming series at home. Yep, this was the Laxman and Bhajji series.
• Louts, jerks and a gentleman's game - This was carried in February 2001 and discusses the meaning of sledging and the choice present before the player being abused.
• Experience counts; or does it? - This was carried in September 2001 and discusses the tendency of the Indian team Management/Selectors to go for name and fame rather than current form. Written just before the team to South Africa was announced.
• It'll take Tendulkar to triumph - This was carried in October 2001, just before the tour to South Africa, and discusses why Tendulkar of all Indian batsman on this tour of South Africa will turn out to be the key.
• An Open letter to Malcolm Speed on Rediff - This was carried in December 2001 and is on open letter to Malcolm Speed, ICC Chief Executive, after the settlement of the Denness controversy.
• Mediocrity at its best - This was carried in the December of 2001 during the English tour of India and talks about the mediocre play of the Indians who are not showing any spirit or pride in their performance. This is particularly in reference to the fifth day's play of the final test against England in India.
• Horses for courses - This was carried in July 2002 and talks about the new trend on the part of the Indian team management to bench unsuitable players irrespective of seniority and play the people who are more suited. Talks about the players giving more to the team.
• Australia's magic potion runs out - More of a frustration let out than an article of merit. This was carried in December 2003 during India's tour of Australia when India exceeded all expectations in going into the third test 1-0 up in the series. Doesn't happens often, so lets gloat ... ;-)
• Open with Tendulkar and Ganguly in ODIs - This was carried in June of 2004 and advocates a "back to square one" policy for the opening slot in ODIs for India, giving the slot back to Ganguly and Tendulkar and moving Sehwag down the order.

There was a third category that I planned for my articles; those not carried on Rediff but on other sites like Madhurbharat (www.madhurbharat.com) and The Wicket (http://thewicket.com). Sadly both sites went bus and I was planning to print the articles as is on the blog itself. But that wouldn't be too much fun, I think. So .... that is it.

Anyway, Cheers

The Chuckster