But we did not exactly know what happened proceeded to G18 and went inside and sat.30000 people and it was rather subdued…..no music no hungama and it was 3:30 and no sign of toss.Then it began to sink in…..It was a Bomb blast which we witnessed 15 mins back…..Quickly we made a plan as to how to exit inc ase of evacuation and escape from possible stampedes….But I think the authorities handled the situation very well.

1.All the policemen in the stands told the people,the generator blasted and hence there will be a delay.

2.The screens flashed “the match is delayed” and no reason was flashed.

3.The star players like Sachin,Pollard,Shikar Dhawan and the entire MI team kept practicing with Jhonty Rhodes.But the key foreign players were conspicuous by their absence.

4.While there were hectic parleys between B rijesh Patel,GR vishwananth,Vijay Mallya and other officials,near the pavilion,which not many took notice off.

5.As luck would have it the telephone lines got jammed preventing the fans from getting the information about the blasts which was now confirmed by NDTV as Low intensity Crude explosions.It was 445 pm then.

6.And as the players withdrew to the pavilion,we pretty much lost hope…Bingo the screen flashes the match will start at 5 with no reduction…and the entire crowd went berserk with Joy

7.It was all in all a scary experience for some of us who knew it was a bomb blast….but hats off to all those security and administration officials and of course the players…..They did their job very well.Silence is Golden under such situations and they did that precisely.If there were to be a stampede there would have been many lives lost!!Thank YOU.

8.After all this RCB was bombarded in all departments by Mumbai Indians and were reduced to a sad sight….That was another matter altogether!!!!If your strength is batting,as is made to believe,in a home ground situation you dont choose to bowl after winning the toss.Sincerely hope they would now positively play to their strength.

9.May those people injured mentally and physically by this yet another cowardly act,recover fast with God’s grace.

10.Finally terrorism and bomb blasts are not anymore a distant happening which you see only on NDTV,it is happening in your neighborhood….true reflection of our times where every one is fighting with every other in the rat race.

It is so refreshing to see the flourish usually associated with West Indian brand cricket….400 degree swing of the bat and superlative trademark flicks(not the elegant chapati variety)…delight to watch.

While the whole world is celebrating the only international cricketer in the team(another irony!),Dwayne Bravo’s,swash buckling fifty,the real winner is the last over bowled by RamPaul to Cape Cobras even as Philander and Duminy was in full flow….he conceded just two runs! In the context of the Cobra’s scoring 37 runs in the previous two overs,this was THE ONE ! To me it was equivalent of scoring some thirty runs in an over!!!

Folks pl go for T&T in the finals against the NSW Blues!

How will you otherwise categorize the decision of  dropping Rahul Dravid after picking him up for Champions Trophy ,he scores two fifties and he is dropped promptly!!!

I was with a bunch of youngsters- in their mid 20′s -gave them the situation-Some one was a leader of man,,,sacked….comes  back as a team member performs diligently,dropped again and no one bothers…..I asked them to touch their heart and answer if they were to be in this situation in their corporate lives-how they would react….all of them agreed they could not have taken it easily.

Now see,in that light the feat of Rahul Dravid(For Indian ODI team and RCB) and VVS Laxman(For Deccan Chargers)-consistency amidst such treatment!.Men of steel truly….People of substance raise their game beyond all the cheap politics that men in power play all the time,be it corporates or sports.

And May them continue their good work despite the BCCI and their owners,to set self less examples of professionalism for the ‘youngsters’ today.

His untimely departure at the peak of his career,came as a shock to every one.No other news touched my heart as much as this in the recent past.

42 followers of the great leader die,hold your breadth,purely on account of his death….Apparently 30 of them due to heart attack on hearing the news of their beloved leader and the rest committing suicide.While I condemn this fanaticism of suicides…30 people die of heart attack…Now take this, a great leader dies and his followers 30 of them die of shock and grief….Does not that say something about his leadership…..How many will lay down their lives for their leaders???

May all their souls RIP along with their beloved leader and those other official who lost their lives in the tragic incident.

and India moves on with another committee and another enquiry. Jai Hind!

T20 is increasingly becoming ,all about one batsman making a 40 odd at 150/100 strike rate….more often than not that team would win…..

All credit to Shahid Afridi for his match winning performance… after a series of ducks….

That one over from Botha which went for 20 runs made the difference…..Congrats Pakistan!!!!! after what ever they have been going through on and off the field,this will give their case a boost as far as international standings go…

Chikmagalur is not a scenic place-It is crowded and hot

Reality is it is not….The town has two fairly large commercial roads with all brands being there-Therefore it will be crowded. The catch is you need to stay away from this town in one of those home stays on Mallandur road or on the way to Mulliangiri hills.It is just beautiful.

On the road and route,

From Bangalore-The best route is Kunigal,CR Patna,Hassan,Belur,Chikmagalur-takes 245 kms and 4.5 hours including a 20 min breakfast enroute.

Started at 6 am-845 breakfast in Kamat Upahar about 5 kms after Chenna Raya Patna.You also a have a cafe coffee day next to it with clean toilets alongside BPCL pump.

The road surface is just good throughout and scenic after Hassan.It had rained last week and it was beautiful and lush.

Halebidu is a detour of about 15 kms-I recommend you visit Belur and Halebidu  on your way back.

Reached the town around 1045 and had to find our way towards the Nature craft Homestay on Mallandur road.This was around 9 kms from the end of town in a north west direction on the way to Muthodi nature camp-also known as Badhra wildlife sanctuary.More information here-NatureCraft

I personally liked this place-with a fantastic host Ansar and his entire family including his mom and dad ensure that you feel good and homely.But please don’t expect a star hotel like room service,pool,spa etc.,-What you can get is a clean room with clean washrooms amidst plantations with sumptuous foold cooked by Ansar’s mother-I have not had better biryani’s all mylife.

The places you should visit are.

1.Mulliangiri Hills.

This is the highest peak in Karnataka standing at 2010M tall.You need to take Tarikere road from Kimera junction(left) at the end of IG road on the northern side.After about 5 kms or so you need to take a left turn where the signboard says Mulliangiri-18 kms.This road also leads you to Kemmangundi-More on that later.

After about 10 kms you have to take a left yet again-From here on the drive gets very exciting with hair pin bends etc.The road is very narrow and you have to honk continuously as many cars ply through this road.About 1.5 kms before the top you get a place Seethalayngiri on a plain hill.The drive from here to the top is very steep,a dn worse still the tar road ends after 400 meters,leaving you to drive on a mud road for the last half kilometre-This is steepest of all.If there is rain and/or the road is wet I strongly recommend not to drive and instead walk this distance.There is no barricade,no firm grip.So unless you are very experienced driver in a powerful car,please walk !I had a close shave as it was raining foggy and my innova started sliding the slope!

2.Muthodi Sanctuary.

To reach here you need to take a the mallandur road and just follow Muthodi signage-There are many ,after you cross the second forest check post-Immediately you will find a board –Nature camp 2 kms-Pl take that road,if that can be called one!

From there the forest department will take you around in a Swaraj Mazda or Jeep depnding on the head count.They charged us 80 rs/head.The safari is awesome,not from a point of view of game sighting,but the forest is pristine-Wow the smell of nature is irresistible-We spotted Monitor Lizards, Malabar  Squirrels,Deers,Antelopes,Langur and peacocks .The vehicle stoops briefly at a point where there is a 400 year old teak tree standing at 32 mtrs tall.As a bonus he takes you through a shallow stream,to get back to the road.

3.Kemmangundi.

This is called the Ooty of Karnataka-I did not go there because of my previous day experience-But seems like a good place to visit.Hebbe and Kalhatii flas are nearby where you have to travel by hired jeeps from Kemmangundi town for about 45 mins.I will write about this after I visit.

4.Kumargiri Murugan Temple.

This temple is located at the 20^th KM from Chikmagalur on the Tarikere Road-Worth a visit if you are religious-The place also is beautiful and empty.

Photos below-1-Mulliangiri Hills,2.Halebidu Lake,3.Deer in Muthodi forest,4.Nature Camp 5.400 year old Teak Tree inside Muthodi forest.

1.Benson and Hedges tri series in Australia-For the double headers-I have seen 8/10 times the team that had done well in a Saturday match.collapsing with out a trace on Sunday -Double headers can be crazy and test the mental strengthth of cricketers -It is a test of Who can hold the highest level of intensity over an extended period of time

2.The Indian team of late 90′s and Early “00

They were famous for committing "Hara kiri"-and often have managed to lose from very strong positions.

Coming back-Bangalore had a double header for the final-which even in this so called professional era teams find it hard-They collapsed!And at 74/3 at 10.2 overs who would have thought it would turn out the way it did !

Most Bangalore batsman-played School Boyish cricket -Getting out to irresponsible and reckless shots-Kallis-He thought the ball had to be hit out of South Africa for a six.

The strangest one is that of Dravid-who attempted a paddle sweep of a medium pacer when there was deep fine leg-He should seriously contemplate quiting all forms of cricket-After being given such a long rope of 30 matches in IPL,being the cricketer he is,he is yet to play a match winning innings with authority.

Ross Taylor-He tried clearing the boundary too often-Totally unacceptable indiscretion of attempting pull off Symonds to be caught-In fact this was the turning point of the match.Praveen,Kohli(He was unlucky-he was out but in an unusual manner) and the list goes on.Vd Merwe as the top scores with 32,who was sent in to whack the ball at 3,says it all

Finally our great Uthappa-who looked like a 11th man batting….and coolly had dot balls in 17th,18th overs-I think he should consider selling pea nuts in MG road very seriously.

Finally the real difference-DC dropped no catches-and fielded like a possessed team-Where as Bangalore,Rahul Dravid dropped sitter from Symonds when he was on 7-He went on to make 33 including a 20 run over against Praveen.This really was the turning point of the match in hindsight-If the catch was taken DC wud have been 3 dwon for 30 with Glichrist,Symonds and Suman gone-it wud have been a different game.

PS:Kumble’s 4/16 which included Gilchrist,Symonds,Venugopal,Rohit Sharma,ending up in the losing side is the saddest moment for an RCB fan-The batsmen responsible must be sacked.

1.Aspect 1 :Umpiring

A.Brilliant umpiring by Simon Taufel.Look at the vociferous appeals of Muralidharan in his first over one very close call-But he stood his ground and said no-What brilliance and calmness under  pressure!

B.Again when he gave Kallis out-Everybody including the batsman and the “Commentators” thought he was not out-But he had other ideas,as proved by the technology later-Sheer brilliance.

C.Again-His decision to give Rahul Dravid out LBW-Oh Boy ,Taufel will remain the best in the world for sometime to come.

2.Aspect 2.Dhoni’s Captaincy.

Dhoni proved in his career that nothing succeeds like success-Everything he touched turned into a pot of Gold-including the last over 2007 T20 world cup final -Bowled by Joginder Sharma.Now he has entered a phase where”Everything fails when you are failing”-

A.Look at his “roll of dices” today-First not bringing in Murali when Manish and Rahul Dravid(yeah good old test cricketer!) were on the rampage was a cardinal sin.

B.Persisting with Raina-Longer than it was required-He had it-Raina conceded 15 runs in his third over which was the 16th over of the game which swung the match back in RCB’S favor.

C.Look at this to believe this-19th over to Jacob Orum-who has not had any great time with either bat or ball so far this year-He promptly bowled a juicy full toss first up above the waist of  Ross Taylor -hit for a six and warned by the umpire for dangerous bowling-End of the match.

Compare this to the last over(read above) in the final of the T20 world cup against Pakistan-what a contrast!

3.Aspect 3:Kumble’s captaincy.

A.Winning the toss and to everyone surprise he inserted the so called batting heavy Chennai-He threw the dice this time-He asked Chennai to bat them out of the Semi final-It was a master stroke.

B.Sending in Rahul Dravid to calm the nerves of Manish Pandey at NO 4-This was coup de grace-What it did was forced Dhoni to hold back Muralidharan for later as he knew Murali has to be used as a wicket taker in this match and also he can not get Dravid-Brilliant.

At a over all level-This IPL getting shifted to South Africa-meant all those “aaya rams and gaya rams” can not go on the rampage and only class would prevail-It did indeed-All those teams which had class batsman for all occasions only made it to the semi finals-In Chennai’s case it was only Hayden all the way-A statistic-Hayden played with 6 opening partners and scored 500+ on his own and all his six partners scored 119 in total!!!

Well,I am not going to say bad luck Dhoni-He is learning hard lesson-Form and good times are temporary but class is permanent!

Thanks Taufel and Kumble -for being the good mascots of this great game-I still feel like watching thanks to greats like you!

Finally what a poetic justice-Team no 7 and 8 last year-are the finalists-It still is cricket and it will prevail-Hail the great game of Cricket-The game of glorious uncertainties!

Set Max is solely responsible for taking cricket commentary to such so and at times obscene levels of on field coverage.

The icing on the cake was yesterday’s interview of Katrina by Mandira-LOL- Two geniuses(definitely not on cricket-but on flirt index and undressing!)Mandira asked Katrina several times “Are you happy with your team’s score?” in several possible ways and Katrina ended up saying all the time Yes I am-What an intellectual bit of conversation for the viewers-I suspect we need a law to prosecute those so called glam girls-questioning basic intelligence of the viewers all the time.

And commentators-Danny Morrison seems just short of making love in camera-Thank God he did stop before that.

Our LS one can see utmost discomfort when ever he is asked to do funny things like sliding down etc…Poor LS…

If this is allowed to continue,I am afraid in the 2012 IPL commentators may end up discussing how their previous nights were and whom they slept with etc….I think BCCI must do something to ensure that coverage quality is restored to the erstwhile days of pure cricket!!!

What do you say?

I am immensely happy that my wish had come true yesterday-Both Chennai and KKR won and made it easier for RCB to enter the S/F.

Now they need to play for a tactical loss-They should lose to DC but not by a huge margin-In general They have to ensure while batting second they dont lose by a difference of 60% of DC total.Or if batting first DC should not finish the job any time sooner than 12.3 overs.These two scenarios will ensure Punjab still can not sneak through on NRR.

Why any sane fan would want his team lose?Now look at the table

Team Standings

The S/F line up would be Team 1 Vs Team 4 and Team 2 vs Team 3.If RCB wins today they will become no 3 and be thrashed by Chennai in the S/F.Let DC take that honor!!!In my personal opinion Chennai looks much better than Delhi.

So if they lose,but not by a wide  margin-they increase their chances of being in the final!!!!

So yet again RCB fans-shout for your opponents today!!!! but only today-If this happens I would have the guts to predict a Chennai Bangalore  final!1!!

PS:I am not a proponent of statistical fixing of matches-But now a days -win at any cost seems to be the order of the day and I am trying to change and also change RCB The world will only remember who wins and to a lesser extent the runner…(For eg can you tell me S/F line up last year-w/o blinking your eye ?THATS ABOUT IT.