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There’s a lot to be said about the cricket tournament, especially our match against India. And it has a lot more to do with Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Gul’s bad luck, and Sachin Tendulkar’s good fortune. Cricket speaks to our nation in a way our government never has. And Shahid Afridi addressed the nation in a way our president never has – unselfish, genuine, modest. So when Afridi apologized to Pakistan, millions listened and were humbled by the gesture. Our eyes filled with tears and our hearts with love and a strange kind of sorrow. Shahid Afridi, you need not apologize to the nation. We are proud of you and our entire cricket team! You didn’t bring back the cup, but any excitement, any happiness, any hope that Pakistanis have felt in the past few months is because of your brilliance. We’ve been hearing a lot of “Pakistan needs something to celebrate,” but what Pakistanis really needed was something to look forward to, and the green team gave us that with the anticipation of each game p...

For Indian television and print media, the world seemed to have ceased. Every TV channel is competing with another in screaming vociferously about India Pakistan Semi Final at Mohali . No Japan, Bahrain, Libya. Everything is match centric. Life will be standstill from 230pm. Where do I watch a match? In Pub or at home. I would rather do both. If India goes great guns, pub atmosphere is exhilarating. If the match is absorbing, home TV is the best. India’s collective and individual happiness revolves around the outcome of Cricket Match. So far, India has not tasted defeat in the world cup from Pakistan. Would this trend continue? Greg Chapel – ex coach of India, was impatient in making changes in the team and the batting order while Gary Kirsten – is making change only if they have reasonable degree of success. Which way Dhoni would go? This is the only chance and any of his decision that back fires would be scrutinised, dissected and pilloried for rest of his life. During 1996, India P...

India is the land of the possible; a land where anything is feasible, and frequently actually happens. It is not a country that you can ignore, it is not a land from which you can stay aloof. It is vibrant, tumultuous, colourful, aromatic, tangy, terrifyingly friendly and unbelievably involved; it is chaotic and noisy, but most of all it is tangibly, viscerally real. And nowhere is India most visible in all its splendour and mind-bending complexity as at a game of cricket. For cricket is truly the subcontinent's sport. It may have been invented on the green lawns of a different and more straitlaced land, but it is in the Indian subcontinent that cricket finds its soul.

Could mental depression lead a person to coma ? and be in a state of comatose over 8 months. I am keen to study the factors that led to this state , treatment given and mindset of a person after the person is back to lead a normal life. I learnt about this and felt that this could be a perfect story for Readers Digest for people who go through similar grind and become vulnerable to be pushed into depression. Depression Guide website gives information about this. Sweep – an elegant cricket stroke has now become a part of regular armoury in modern day cricket. Reverse sweep is an innovative mirror image of regular sweep and often employed against a spin bowler whenever third man fielder is brought into the circle. Graham Gooch in Reliance Cup decimated India by employing regular sweep in the semi final at Mumbai . Today, England persisted with reverse sweep against Sri Lanka spinners and perished. They could not execute the stroke, but in the process lost wickets and the confidence to...

I am not too sure if what I say would typify a man. Being a man myself, I must say what I have conviction in. I feel and realize the effect of my upbringing, societal pressures, ethical or moral issues, fear of god etc. There are so many complex variables whose denominations keep on changing through external influences and my audacity to question them. I have gone through various phases. Starting with the refusal to change from the conformed beliefs, to watching with awe and surprise those who dared to do something different, slowly conditioning the mind to simulate what the after effect be, challenging and questioning the validity of so called established principles in the face of mind and body desires, probing and searching for right answers through books on psychology, physiology, behavioral science and spirituality. At this past mid age, the synthesis of all that has led me to the conclusion that ' the only truth of our existence is our mind and the body'. Rest is all super...

In every one's life there lay a turning point that changes the course of one's life journey. My life had many such moments but first such event that set others to follow was an 'Admission to Agrawal classes' at Harganga Mahal at Dadar TT . Those days admission to Agrawal classes was more important and prestigious than securing an entry to university affiliated college. They would announce qualifying bench mark for admission. You fill up the form, pay the fees and get enrolled. What was that magic formula that made Agrawal classes so successful? I can think of few. They never taught fundamentals of any subject nor did they make any attempt to let student assimilate the purity of a subject. Instead they went on solving questions. The basics were automatically unfolded during the solution that was explained step by step. The objective was simple : Get good grades than burn your energy on overall knowledge. They had mastered the weaknesses of examination paper setter...