PRG's Thoughts

Yes, I am writing a blog. It has been more than two months and I don't have an excuse on why I haven't written, at least not a good one. But with so much sports going on, I finally decided that I am writing again. So here is my take on Roger Federer and the sports event that has had me glued- the World Series of Poker. I haven't written on the World Cup because we are well in to the tournament. May be I will write when it is all over. Here goes... Roger- I have heard so many random theories on Roger Federer's early departure from Roland Garros and The Championships that I figure why not share mine. I am a die hard Roger Federer fan and it pains me to say this, but it is time we stop expecting him to win or reach the final of every grand slam he enters. That period is done. He is the greatest player to ever play the game but even he must lose eventually. Do I think Roger has a couple of more slams in him? Yes. I think he will win a few more, may be even this years U....

As quickly as it came, it went. IPL III is over and like all great sporting events it left us with joy, sadness, anger, controversy and uniquely for this event, it left us with the question, will IPL survive? Here is my take on IPL III. Let me start with the final. SRT has been a god for years. There is no debate on what he can do with the bat, but I doubt the mans ability to lead an all star team against the Harris Shield champions. Fine, I know Raina was dropped twice, and yes Chennai did put up a good score, but sending Pollard in at # 8 is a sign that the captain had no clue what he was doing. That decision alone could have changed last nights outcome. Some men thrive in leadership when they are under pressure. Our hero is not one of them. At the toss when MS Dhoni was asked about pressure, he said the most pressure he had felt regarding the final was the pressure from friends who were hounding him for tickets. While I am sure that was exaggerated, he just demonstrated how cool and...

When the lead story in the Economic Times is about the IPL spat and not about the RBI's credit policy it is safe to say that things have become a little bit cuckoo. But that is what cricket does to us and the truth is, this entire fiasco has a lot more to with economics than with cricket. After waiting a few days to let things unravel. Here is my take on the latest controversy to hit the IPL. If you don't know what is happening in this saga then either you have been away on an island or haven't picked up a newspaper in the past week. This has been nothing short of chaos. I could have written on a number of things related to this mela, but I chose these three. Lets get right in to it. Bye Bye Shashi Tharoor This man didn't know what hit him. He took on the king and got clobbered. Here is my issue with him. Fine, he did what he did. But why is he still talking about how his conscience is clear and claiming innocence? I mean seriously, give me a break. His girlfriend was ...

I am sitting at Delhi Airport waiting to board my flight and barely have time to write but I wanted to get this out before Jack and Arnold tee off at Augusta. I can't remember a sports event that I have looked forward to more than "The Return". If you haven't been asleep for the past six months you know what I mean and who I am talking about. If you don't, then please don't read on. This return is one of the most anticipated in sports history for reasons too obvious to list. Not only is the man in question one of the greatest athletes of all time, his global presence and power may have eclipsed even Michael Jordan (may be). His absence from the sport was not an injury, a drug problem or premature retirement, which are more often the cases for a return. His absence was something personal, which makes things even more exciting. In these past 6 months he has become a cocktail joke, the basis for many email forwards and sms's across the globe. People who haven...

With over a quarter of the games of this seasons IPL done, here is my update. Bowlers dominating, best players, new teams worth 1700 crore. Here are the top 5 things so far (in no particular order) 1) Who said it is a batsman's game? I mean we all know that this format is tailor made for the batsmen but what is interesting this year is that the teams that are topping the points table are the ones with good all round bowling attacks. Bangalore with Steyn, Kallis, Kumble, and Praveen Kumar. Mumbai with Malinga, Zaheer and Bhajji. Deccan with Vaas , Symonds (who has bowled well), and RP Singh. On the other side of the table you have Punjab who has Sreesanth (struggling and inconsistent) and Irfaan Pathan who is suffering from a major crisis of confidence. Sure, the top teams have batsmen that are in great nick, but if you have bowlers who can pick up good wickets or bowl some really tight overs at crucial points, then the entire unit becomes that much stronger. 2) New Teams - When La...

Hi, I am a Tiger. Yup, one of the 1411 that are left in India. Normally, I would not make such a bold move of writing on a blog but frankly I am pissed with you humans. I am not pissed with you guys because my race is dying, because lets be honest, you humans haven't done anything for us in a while, so why should we expect it now? I AM however pissed that there are several of you useless humans who actually think you are doing something but in reality you aren't helping at all. That my friends is something that I will not tolerate. Everyday I read some nonsense in the paper about what a great effort you guys are taking. All this news and hype is rubbish. Here is why. Let me start of by saying that I have watched the "saveourtigers.com" commercials on TV. You guys have put one of your heroes MS Dhoni in the ad to get some attention. Oh great people, you got attention, thanks a ton (note the sarcastic roar in that). I went to the website. IT HAD NOTHING. Nothing for you...

IPL is back baby!!! And I love it!! You know, test cricket is the best form of the game and one day cricket has its moments, but IPL T20 has a different charm altogether. Season 1, Rajasthan Royals are the cheapest team with a bunch of no names and they win it all. Season 2, the Deccan Chargers who were the worst team in season 1 come back to win it all. The best part about this tournament so far has been that no one knows who is going to win. Could the Knight Riders pull off a Deccan Chargers? Will the Mumbai Indians finally make it to the semis? Will Delhi play well through the season and then crash again before the big game? Will Gilly be Gilly again? Will Bangalore go as far this year? The frenzy has caught on so much that a buddy of mine who takes any opportunity he gets to "bitch out" T20 called me this morning to find out if I will be at the match tomorrow. You can't escape it, IPL is back baby!!! And I love it!! Here are 10 things I want to see this year (in no ...