Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts

What does India need to do to participate in FIFA world-cup

            The official FIFA rankings states  that India ranks 164th in the total 209 football playing countries of the world. A half a century old question still persists as why Indian football team can't be able to participate in the world cup?  Why a country with some  125 crore people and some 40 crore youth population can't master such a game? What are the real constraint when raw talent is abundantly available in India.

Lessons to learn from India Vs Australia series

                So the record breaking series between India and Australia just ended. The series was really a milestone for cricket. When the series started no one was interested in it. Everyone thought that India will make a complete white wash of young Australian team. However, the spirit they showed and courage they encountered just put them in the list of mighty brave hearts. Psychologically the highest score of 300 has just vanished and new benchmark of 360 has been set up. People were not able to understand as what do players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan would eat to become  the robotic run machines.

            Jaypur, Nagpur and Bangluru saw the threshold broken and public got worth of every single penny they spent on the match. However, we have to analyze as what was that thing which made batsmen to score so much of runs. First thing was the fact that these were Indian pitches and plane one like concrete, so it  gave freedom to batsmen to wipe out bowling. Second thing was that weird rule of ICC which permits only four fielders outside thirty yards circle. This rule is criticized by all commentators and even by some batsman such as Virat Kohli. No one can understand as why every rule which ICC makes is against the bowlers. Third thing was the weak bowling from both sides. Though pitches were just plane but no bowler was in form and no one bowled on correct line and length. No yorkers were tried from any side and no variations of pace was observed.

           Another thing which many of us were unable to understand as why Johnson went back to Australia before the final match. Australian gave the reason that he went for preparing Ashes series. However, as final at Bangluru was important match and he was spearhead of bowling attack, he should have stayed back. To win the final match is always important for any team as it increases team's confidence and helps team to go confidently  in the next series. This was the basic mistake which Australians made and it will definitely going to cause them in upcoming Ashes series.

           The series was positive in some aspects. It gave Australia some new typical blood players such as Faulkner and some other batting talents.Young players took experiences of playing on subcontinent wickets. Last but not least it gave a mindset that anyone can chase any total on any ground in India.

          Now Australian team went back for preparing Ashes and Indian team is preparing for biggest event on the planet. That event is the farewell to their greatest hero of all time and that is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. News coming from Mumbai are astonishing. Only four thousand tickets are available for general public. Postal tickets have been printed in the name of Sachin. Nearly four hundred million is on the bet with Sachin. The ticket of Wankhede will have photo of Sachin. The match will going to be the Macca-Madina of all the events. We all are welcome to celebration of god's retirement.

Last time when I saw the god named Sachin Tendulkar






                I was at VCA cricket stadium in Nagpur. It was a second match which I watched on the VCA cricket stadium at Jamtha. First international match was between India and Sri Lanka and it was a worst match to watch as India lost this match. Only sixer that any of the Indian players hit came from Ashish Nehra. 
             So you can guess what kind of feeling it gives when you go for watching T20 match and end up watching only sixer of the match that too by the bowler. So like millions of Indians I was upset and eager to watch another cricket match. Lottery of the life came in the news that there would be a test match in the Nagpur and Sachin is going to bat at Jamtha.
    
           

          Finally the day came and we found ourselves in the area of Vidharbh cricket association ground. It was six am in the morning when we entered ground and we got the tickets  after three hours of hardwork.




   
            Dhoni elected to field first. So it was nice chance to watch Indian players. When pacers were bowling, Sachin was fielding at mid-on so we were unable to view him closely. After some time Dhoni introduced spin. To our surprise we saw Sachin coming on the boundary line. There was no limit for our joy. We danced like  small boys.
             The concentration of Sachin was fully on the batsman. However, whenever ball was bowled he used to come closer to the boundary and used to please crowd. This was the time when his greatness was seen by us. He knew that people do come here only to watch him. He is their hero and he has to respond. So without any attitude he was taking crowd's wishes and was wawing his hand in the response. 
              Someone from the crowd was shouting "Long live Bharatratna Sachin". He heard it but his humble behavior showed that he was not overheated by it. There has been a lot talked about Sachin Tendulkar. Now he is retiring after a series with West Indies. From the Last 20 years he has entertained India. 
              Sachin's contribution to Indian cricket is immense. For nearly 20 years youngsters targeted only 10 Indian seats as they knew that 11th seat was reserved for god. For the most part of twenty years he was only dependable soul of Indian cricket. 
              When the name Sachin comes in our mind we remember Sharajah series when he just outplayed mighty Australians. The fear which Shane Warne showed was real and unavoidable. We also remember the previous day press conference when Andy Caddick said that Sachin performs only against the weaker countries. I bet Caddick will never forget the next day pull shot six to his ball. And who will forget that 200 run great inning with South-Africa. At that time all the main bowlers of Africa were present in the match and Sachin just showed them different parts of the ground. 
             Whenever he will retire, lot of people will cry. The love of Indian people with Sachin will never going to vanish. He has given them courage when their heart was weakest. They will going to give him courage when his heart will be weakest.

Top ten apps and games for android 2013

                 

            
                The most important thing an app must have is that it should not be lagging one. A game or app gives frustration when it is slow. Second thing, an app must be well synchronised with net speed, it should be able to optimize itself so that key function of website should not be missed. OPERA MINI has done wonders with mobile handling capability of millions of 2g customers across the globe. Based on my observation of Android apps here is a list of most reliable and smooth running apps and games

1l Swift Key trial -- 

      This is perfect typing app. It predicts the word 90 % correct. It helps in writing long massages and mails in short time without having much trouble to tiny fingers. Includes some 18 languages including Hinglish, English and Hindi. 

2) Armageddon squadron-

      This is my favourite game among whole series of Android games. It feels great riding a plane in 3d environment. Controls are great with multiple weapons and most important thing is that it never lags  .

3) Evernote-

      This is famous app for notes writing, works well without lagging. We can categories notes according to the tags and subjects. It has capability to synchronise notes with online account so that even if we delete app for some reason our notes are safe.

4) Tiny football-

       This is a perfect game for soccer lovers. It is well designed and algorithm designer has very small details of the game intact. You can't take ball forward unless you try for small passes and back pass on the defence line. Another important thing is that not all the player are same in case of agility, speed and power so it gives great pleasure to select players for long tournament. It has  capability to operate o league basis so oe feels like a manager of a team.

5) Raging thunder-
        Polarbit presentations are great in all the aspects. This is perfect car game with great graphics and without any lag. 3d environment is super and its great pleasure to play with seniors.

5) Quick pic-

This is awesome photo handling app it loads pics at least seven times higher than other apps. Pics get categorised automatically and works smooth. The size of the app is small less than two MB which makes it even better.

6) Exion fly-

This is again a fighter plane game with great graphics and and great control works super and easy to handle. Area to play game or battlefield is large which makes it even more beautiful.

7) Photo Effects.-

This is lovely photo editing app. I would say it's a best alternative if you got bored with Instagram. It gives some 60 plus different effects and photos can be shared so easily. There is no lag and photos get easily loaded from gallery.


8) Guns n glory-
This is best strategy game a programmer could develop. It will work great on mobile with higher versions as game is more than 15 MB in size and requires high speed processor probably 1.5 GHz.

9) Photo grid -

It's awesome for bringing photos on single frame. Just shake and grid will change. One can adjust the shape size and individually zoom photo. This feature is awesome. One important thing is that it loads photos from gallery very fast. This app along with quick pic, and photo Effects can take photo handling experience to new levels.

10) Virtual table tennis-

Awesome sliding game with 3d experience just need to concentrate and every thing will come on. Programmed well without any lag and force close.

MS Dhoni: Story of one of the greatest analysts of all time

                                 
                      
                   The period between 1996 to 2006 was a kind of era which saw very attacking cricket. From 1996 to 2006, It was Australia which dominated world cricket. Looking closely at Australia's team three reasons have gave them victory in the past. First, it was a their world class fielding. Second, their ability to handle pressure. Third, the kind of leadership they got due to Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting . Some other factors like Cricketing style, in which they used to take a single after every four and six and their dodging style and calculation of on field tactics gave them title of world champion. 
             In India the period between 1996 to 2005-06 was based on Tendulkar and techniques. A more traditional cricket was played in this era. This includes tricks like keeping mid-on and mid-off player on even after fielding restrictions are off. The reason behind this was simple as to try to take wicket as batsman will go for lofted shot. For that reason giving some extra run was OK. At the same time there was tendency to believe on traditional player who were sound in techniques.
              However, MS Dhoni's entry in the Indian cricket team just revolutionized not only Indian cricket but also world cricket. More sophisticated and calculated cricket is being played in his era. This includes inclusion of fielding centered all rounders. He believed in more pressure handling players than the technically sound players. His ability to analyze the situation according to the game earned him respect of greatest ever captain in world cricket.
              Inclusion of Aashish nehara in world cup semifinal even after harsh opposition, Constant belief in Sir Ravindra Jadeja, at the same time taking Cricketing abilities of Shikhar Dhaan, Suresh Rains, R Ashwin to next level , has helped Indian team a lot. His ability to remain calm at critical situation and ability to believe in his own tactics put him far over the managing capability of other captains. 
               Inclusion of ICC  Champions trophy in his long list of achievements  has put him above all the standards. When Sanjay Manjarekar asked him "what's next? " He simply smiled and answered "I am not here to prove anything to anyone, I just wanted to concentrate on my next tour."
                Dhoni's media handling capability is also exceptional because many captain find it very difficult to deal with media during worse time. He has established a new culture where a breed of pressure handlers are emerging. A culture of fielders, never die attitude oriented batsmen, and calculated risk taking bowlers has emerged in India which is certainly taking India's Cricketing future ahead.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Story of the greatest coach of all time


               Termed as a 'Wizard of  Westwood', John Wooden was the most successful basketball coach of all time. He was a inspiration to all the underdogs across  the globe. ESPN called him the greatest coach mankind  has ever seen from among all the sports. John Wooden was awarded Presidential medal of the freedom, highest civilian award in America by George Bush. The coach is remembered for his great teachings.

             
               In the year 1970 his team UCLA Bruins ( University of California Los Angeles ) won the continuous 88 matches in a row. From the year 1963 to 1975 his team won the 10 NCAA championship including seven in a row. For the period of 27 years he won 620 games as a coach and coached the basketball's living legends such as Bill Walton and Abdull Karim Jabbar.  

              "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is what other think what you are"

               Born on October 14, 1910 he led Martinsville high school to championship in the year 1927. Nicknamed as the 'Indiana Rubber Man' for his skills over the hardcourt, his team Boilmaker was the champion in his senior year. He was Basketball player of the year during his college time.



               He used to give three point advice to his players. First, never come late on the ground. Second, never criticize your fellow players. Third, no profanity, that is never curse for good or bad reason. One of the lesson his player always learned from him was exceptional.

             " It's not whether you win or lost, it's if you played yo 
ur best game"

             Wooden brought his teachings mainly from the conversation with his father. His father used to tell him seven points which are important " Be true to Yourself, Help others, Make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books, build a shelter against the rainy day, give thanks for your blessing and pray for guidance everyday"

           
             Wooden would teach his players everything from how to wear up a socks to how to behave in public. This is the reason why he was so much successful. In his book 'pyramid of success' he gives details about his teaching. His definition of success was simple. 

               "Success is a piece of mind which is a direct result of self satisfaction   in knowing you did the best to become the best you are capable of becoming" 

                   


IPL the game of bookies

                 
                         In India, watching cricket match is a second profession after the first profession of earning money to watch cricket. An average Indian spends one year of his life watching cricket. There is nothing wrong in that because It gives us a subject to interact at tea stalls, local street ground, lobby of cinema theaters and many other places. Indian Premier League ( IPL ) a T-20 format of the game gave opportunities to many players from India and from worldwide to earn the money. Starting in the year 2008 the league got huge amount of success in a small interval of time. 

                        The league gave us star players whose name we never  heard of. It gave  players a kind of ex-poser which they truly deserved. However, there is other side for the league. A huge network which works day and night to convert black money into white money. Wherever huge amount of money is involved, it attracts heavyweights from all corners of the society including Mafias and bookies. 

                         In India betting is legally banned. The casinos are banned across all the states. So the network of bookies did not have any game or thing to bet on. It was Mahalakshmi Racecourse where bookies had a chance and the horse-betting really took place a tipping point during the nineties. Then came betting for Indian national team where bookies did their business. As the technology became more advanced, the chances of fixing match became rare except for the cases of Mohammad Ajharuddin and Ajay Jadeja who were caught for match fixing.

                         Recent controversy in IPL where Shanthakumar Sreesanth  a  player of Rajasthan Royals was involved shocked the nation. Police investigation showed that how he signaled the bookies by  keeping towel in his pant. Why Sreesanth and other low profile people were caught is an interesting question.

                         Bookies always fish a weak player. The involvement of other teams has not come in aimelight. I am sure from the history of  Sreesanth that he will take the name of other players and will create controversy. I think Sreesanth is a mere victim of the game. The involvement of franchise can not be ruled out.

                         What concerned me was suspicious death of investigation officer Bardish Dutt and his girlfriend at Gurgaon where they were shot dead. Police have given hint that bookies were working on the instruction of oversea Mafia. If this was a case then media attention should shift on the investigation of his death.  

                        Twitter and Facebook pages have flooded with curses directing at Sreesanth and IPL. The haters and critics of game are demanding to ban the league. Some twits also showed anger towards the politician as when cricketer commits mistake they are banned then why not politicians?

                         What we need to do is to have some patience let the culprit be given strongest possible punishment. Banning IPL is not a solution and it will never going to happen. We need to  strengthen the vigilance so that this kind of incidences never happen. The most important would be to enjoy rest of IPL as a game not as a game of life. 

How does cricket ball swing


         
                So really how does a cricket ball swing? the answer lies in the aerodynamics of physics. Basically there are three types of swings
1) In-swing - In this type of a swing the ball goes towards leg stump after it pitches , One has to keep rough side of the ball on the right hand side.At the same time the seem position inwards.
2) Out swing - In this type of the swing the ball goes towards the sleep corner after it pitches. One has to keep rough side of the ball on the right hand side. At the same time seem position outwards
3) Reverse swing -In this type of the swing the ball does exactly opposite phenomenon than the above two cases . One has to keep the shiny side of the ball on the right hand side in order to get reverse in-swing and vice verse.
                   Let us physically examine what exactly happens in the process of swing bowling . For that I will take the example of conventional out swing.
1) Conventional out swing- In this category bowler keeps the ball slightly angled towards the sleep corner and rough side on the right hand side as shown in figure below.



                     There are two concepts which needs to be understand, the first one is laminar flow of air. In this the movement of air is smooth and air sticks to the ball for shorter time as surface is smooth and hence separation of the air from the ball is earlier. On the second hand there is rough side so the movement of air is disturbed or simply turbulent. In this case because air strips from the seem and sticks to the ball for longer time and separates later. So there is a low pressure on the top and high pressure at the bottom which results in the out swing because of of resultant force. The direction of the resultant force is as shown in the figure.

 2) Reverse swing-  The concept of reverse swing is a bit difficult to understand. Reverse swing starts happening around 30th over in the match. At this time the both side of the ball are rough. So the bowler can't take out the conventional swing but if someone starts bending his back and generating speed the ball moves exactly opposite of conventional swing.
 

                    In this case since there is turbulent flow of air on the both hand side hence a thick layer of air forms at the seem position at the top level. The resultant force now turns towards right and the ball moves in the reverse direction.
3) Straight seem bowling at high speed / contrast swing
                    In this case the seem is straight facing the batsman straight.At low speed the ball will move towards the rough side but at the high speed the ball will move towards the shiny side.
                   Same mechanism of aerodynamics also happens in this case. So the conclusion can be drawn that the effective swing bowling depends upon the bowling action of the bowler, the wrist position while delivering the ball  and most important the speed which one can generate. If the bowler can generate the speed up to 90 mph at the start, the ball will start reverse swinging from the first ball of the over.