How to Kill the Last 2 Hours Before the Boxing Day Test
Strychnine.
Oh you meant, pass 2 hours. In that case, I have no idea.
Deep Backward Point
Blog against the machine.
Month: December, 2011
December 18, 2011
Phi·lan·der (verb)
Phi·lan·der (verb)
- to have casual or illicit sex with a woman or with many women; especially : to be sexually unfaithful to one’s wife.
- to have casual or illicit relationships with the corridor of uncertainty; especially: to be unfaithful to one’s off stump.
Usage: Boucher caught Dilshan philandering without footwork.
Philandered: Vernon Philander Destroys Sri Lanka Inside 3 Days
December 16, 2011
Best of DeepBackwardPoint 2011: Comics and Infographics
I collected all the comics and infographics I’ve built in the 11-ish months the blog has been running for your Friday/weekend pleasure:
Read the rest of this entry »
December 15, 2011
Insidious Dravid
I don’t care if you’re Rahul Dravid or God, every line in this passage from Dravid’s “Bradman Oration” is indefensible. I hate it:
Cricket’s financial success means it will face threats from outside the game and keep facing them. [..]As players, the one way we can stay ahead for the game, is if we are willing to be monitored and regulated closely.
Even if it means giving up a little bit of freedom of movement and privacy. If it means undergoing dope tests, let us never say no. If it means undergoing lie-detector tests, let us understand the technology, what purpose it serves and accept it. Now lie-detectors are by no means perfect but they could actually help the innocent clear their names. Similarly, we should not object to having our finances scrutinised if that is what is required.
Imagine if one of your co-workers said this about your work-place. Or, admittedly stretching the analogy too far, if one of your fellow citizens said it about your country.
Also read Subash’s critique of and Kartikeya’s disappointment in the entire lecture. Or “oration”, if we’re being pretentious.
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
– William Pitt, House of Commons, 11/18/1783
December 13, 2011
Leaving a Little Bit of Myself on the Page
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got about writing was “leave a little bit of yourself on the page”.
That’s what I’ve done in my latest piece for The SightScreen titled Test Cricket and the Insecurity of Old Cultures:
Is Test cricket like India? An old culture, defensive about its flaws, over-celebrating its achievements, aggressive about its culture and history, and yet, if it only focused on what was so good about its present, it could be so much more.
I really loved writing it. Hope you like reading it.
By the way, the second best piece of writing advice I ever received was “who needs to die before you’ll write your great story?”
Aside | December 12, 2011
Sehwag in the Fifth Dimension
This morning, Subash writes a great article on Sehwag: Realms of the Incomprehensible
He reminded me of a great Sehwag interview by Nagraj Gollapudi. The interview is great, but it also contains one of my favorite Sehwag quotes:
December 9, 2011
Best of DeepBackwardPoint 2011: Charts, Statistics
I collected all the charts I’ve built in the 11-ish months the blog has been running for your Friday/weekend pleasure: Read the rest of this entry »
December 8, 2011
219
438 is just a number. So is 400*. And 99.94.
As is 219.
∞
The running meme is that Tendulkar is God, and he’s made as good a case as any for divinity. In my book, however, he’s more the chosen one than an actual God.
Sehwag, on the other hand. I could make a case for Sehwag.
But I won’t. Sehwag is no God.
No. Sehwag is a prophet. Sehwag is a way of life.
∞
I wanted to show you the scale of this record. What 219 means. It took 26 years to go from Viv Richards’ 189 to Sachin Tendulkar’s 200. Gradual– 11 runs over 26 years. A year later, Sehwag blew the record out of the water by 19 runs. Tendulkar’s 200 was like breaking the four minute mile. Once others believed it could be done, they smashed past it.
Take a look:
Highest Individual ODI Scores Over the Years
December 7, 2011
In Which Mr. N. Srinivasan Interviews Mr. N. Srinivasan
Here at Deep Backward Point, we are very proud to bring you the first in our series of interviews with the power players of the world of cricket. Today, you are in for a special treat.
Our interviewer for the day is Mr. N. Srinivasan, renowned businessman and owner of the IPL champion Chennai Super Kings.
He will be interviewing Mr. N. Srinivasan, the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Let us begin:
CSK owner Mr. N. Srinivasan: Good morning, sir!
BCCI Secy Mr. N. Srinivasan: Good morning.
CSK owner Mr. N. Srinivasan: My you are a handsome gentleman.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: So are you, if I say so myself.
<awkward pause>
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Ahem. So let’s begin. How did you get involved in cricket?
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: I’ve always been a great lover. Of the game. What a sport it is. Chess is my favorite sport.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Chess? Two part question: one, did you mean cricket? And two, is chess a sport.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Err.. yes, cricket. Cricket! That’s right. Jolly good sport. Chess is for.. err… nerds.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: But you’re also the president of the All India Chess Federation, right?
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Nerds, I tell you! Golf. Now that’s a real sport. As President of the Tamil Nadu Golf Association, I always say-
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: You mean cricket.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Ah yes. The one where you swing at balls. That one.
<awkward pause>
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Don’t look so smug. How did you get interested in.. err.. cricket.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Well, I’m really a businessman. Got cement running through my veins. Really, a heart of cement– that’s what you want in a man. So anyways, a good friend of mine runs the BCCI– err, that would be you— and you told me they were selling some IPL teams and they would be a good investment for the company. So we put some money in to buy a team.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: That’s it?
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Yeah. And I always wanted to see Dhoni dressed in yellow.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Well of course!
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: And that was it. I don’t know why everyone thinks it’s a shady deal. It’s not like you benefit from this.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Of course not! I am an office-bearer in the BCCI.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Right. And I’m a simple managing director at India Cements.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Exactly, just a little managing director. Nothing more.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Err.. well, I’m the vice-chairman too.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: VICE chairman. VICE.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: And our.. that is, my father started the company.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Minor detail.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: And it’s not like I can do anything financially inappropriate with CSK. The BCCI would rake me over the coals, like Kochi and Punjab.
BCCI Secy Mr. N. S.: Well, I’d never let that happen.. honest.
CSK owner Mr. N. S.: Shush!
<tape goes silent>
Earlier on DeepBackwardPoint:
December 6, 2011
Pakistan’s Weakest Link, Revisited
In March, when this blog was a pretty, young thing, I wrote a short article titled “Pakistan’s Weakest Link”:
Shehzad has a career ODI average of 27.50. Barring his one (exceptional) century, his average is 20.0 for his remaining innings. But he’s young, he’s only played 13 matches. Hafeez, on the other hand, has an average of 22.22 after 68 matches. That is untenable.
Pakistan’s run of opening partnerships over the year until that article was:
26, 8, 12, 6, 82, 7, 31*, 2, 43, 20, 14, 11, 28, 16, 5
Since then, Hafeez has been part of two century , one double century and another three fifty partnerships. Hafeez in 2011 has been a revelation, scoring over 1000 runs at an average of 37. All his career 100s came this year, as did almost half his runs. And that’s before we get to his bowling. 32 wickets at 25 runs a piece this year, including his new role opening the attack. So I take back my words. Hafeez is tenable. Not just tenable, he’s necessary. ∞ And to the inevitable griefer who comes by to say “his runs/wickets came against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, West Indies”, let me tell you what a math teacher once told me.
See. <grand pause> Silly answers are infinite.
Previously on Deep Backward Point:
Deep Backward Point 