Ricky Ponting- My favorite captain, Ill miss your captaincy!

"You can hate him or love him, but you just cannot ignore him" This cliched statement suits this man the most- Ricky Ponting, Ex-Aussie Captain. Yes, ex because he just announced his retirement as a captain from all forms of international cricket, he will still continue to provide services as a cricketer to his country though.

I started loving the Australian cricket team right after Ricky Ponting led the Aussie Side against England in 2002 and won the ODI series. This was right before the World Cup 2003 and Aussies won it yet again. Since then till now my impression about Ricky Ponting has not changed at all- A great Captain, a great Batsman and a superb fielder. The most important part- a great team binder. I have seen the Australian team under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting and have tremendous respect for Steve Waugh. But, the team under Ricky Ponting was different. A Mix of progressive aggression and a tinge of winning humour along with it. I liked it!

My countrymen hate Ricky Ponting but I admire his talent, his zeal to chase excellence, his multitasking capabilities, his witty sense of humour, his body language, his prematch mind games, his strategies, his fielding, his upright collar (smarty!), his sense of team binding and building, a sane captain thats what he was. He had that little madness in him which made him a successful and an envied captain. But as it is said, that little madness is necessary to get what one wants to achieve. And Punter, we like you being like that!

A brave captain, he did not leave his captaincy to break some records which he could have broken and claimed to be the numero uno Batsman. But instead he took up the captaincy and maintained his batting record also very well for which I admire him a lot. Ricky Ponting was always looked with a negative eye in other countries especially India. I have heard many calling him a Cheat, Sledger etc etc ignoring what brilliant entertainment he provided us for years. He made us see some great centuries and some great catches. My favorite of his-

1. 140 against India 2003 WC finals
2. 257 against India, MCG, 2003
3. 104 against India, 2011 Quarters WC
4. and the best 164 against South Africa, 12th March 2006(the best ODI ive ever seen in my life)

Thank you Punter for the great captaincy...Will always miss you action on the field :)
Cheers!

MovieZonked- 127 hours

127 Hours- Starring- James Franco. Directed by Danny Boyle

Every second counts and it actually does. 127 hours is a brilliantly made film with a brilliant message at every second of the movie. Most of the film reminded me of another masterpiece, CastAway. The only unrealistic thing in Castaway was the period of time Tom Hanks spent on the island--4 years. 127 Hours is real because it is a true story. The film, made by Danny Boyle, is adapted from an autobiography- Between a Rock and a hard piece, written by Aron Ralton. My next target is to read this book. I am sure it will be as inspiring as the film since it is a true story written by the person who experienced it.

James Franco plays Aron Ralston and has done a great job. I felt each emotion Franco felt in those 127hrs and even the last bit when he is crying for help and word do not come out of his mouth. Too intense! Danny Boyle has kept the reality untouched and has made a masterpiece! Hats off!

Its just that Aron Ralston survived for 127 hours without human contact, hand stuck in between the rock and the mountain, mind filled with regrets, 1 litre water, one chicken roll and here we crib just because summer has showed up 1 month before usual. As we call it in psychology terms, Low frustration tolerance!

a must watch!!!

Cheers!

MovieZonked

Hey all!
I am going to start a new project on my blog. Previous posts and write ups were pretty random. So I thought of categorising a little bit and start a new project called "MovieZonked". I am a Total movie buff and would like to review some films that I watch henceforth. Seeing the reviews, you will know my taste in movies too.

Cheers! and Have a great day!

Dry Summer and No Humidity -- So not Mumbai!

Its just mid-March and here we are! experiencing horrible summer already. The most surprising element of this is the dry heat which makes you feel like a dry fish getting cooked in the oven (!). Mumbai v=never had this kind of heat. We have humid heat, where we sweat and remain hydrated to slog for the rest of the day. But this heat-- eh! I hate it, it makes you tired even before you start your work for the day.

Yesterday, roaming in the heat with friends was fun. But the dry heat killed me! I thought of ways to keep up with this dry heat. We follow most of it in summer but some of the following would be off that humid summers-
1. Most obvious- Keep yourself hydrated, drink loads of water day in and out.
2. While playing outdoors, make sure you drink water as well as some sports drink like Glucose water/ Gatorade. It is essential to replace the lost salts.
3. Since we dont sweat a lot in dry heat, we need to sweat it out either by exercising or playing a sport. This will keep the body salts in balance.
4. Moisturize yourself regularly. Skin gets as dry as it can get in winter. So its better to keep a chap stick/ lip balm and moisturiser handy.
5. Eat a lot of citrus contained fruits which will kepp the body hydrated.
6. Try and remain cheerful and happy in the summer instead of cribbing about it, it will make a huge difference.

These are a few things that I feel will keep us going during the dry, hot -air summers. So keep healthy and soak in the sun doing your favorite things :)
Happy Summers!
Cheers!

Mother Nature's Fury

Yesterday morning yet another shocker from mother earth's angered soul. 8.9 Richter scale is a huge one. The earthquake was followed by a tsunami. The CCTV footage and the helicopter footage are too scary and I cannot even imagine what the situation must be right now in Japan. All we can do sitting here is pray for everyone there.
Japan is a earthquake prone area and the amount of destruction caused is great, but they are well equipped to face the consequences. But no one can control the consequences that are caused by mother nature's fury and we are bound to face it.
Let Peace be followed in Japan!

Have a great and a safe weekend! Cheers!

The Drug called Cricket

Cricket fever is on for all the cricket lovers throughout the year. But when the Cricket World Cup comes once a year, that excitement takes another level. If the World Cup is in your country, then the level is another one. Those days are like a carnival. We enjoy all the matches-Be it your own nation's or someone elses. Be is Australia or Ireland, TV is on, match is on and all are glued to the TV.

Going to the Stadium and watching a World Cup match is a dream. Especially if you are living in a city like mumbai where cricket is on everyone's mind- Mother or daughter, son or father, Grandmother or grandfather. And also because Mumbai is such a place where most of the stadium seats are reserved for the glitterati. Hardhitting, but the truth, you will not get tickets for less than 20,000 Rs, which is like a months salary for a person who works in an MNC and a 4 month salary for an average, lower middle class true blood cricket fan. Either spend that much or develop contacts withing the Cricket industry and beg for complimentary tickets. Or sit at home and enjoy the match with family. Call friends over and enjoy with them I do that. Or the best thing, watch it on the big screen with all your mates and get a stadium feel with many more unknown Cricket fanatics. Sports bar is always an option too. Grab a Beer, watch a great cricket match with your mateys.

However you watch the match, you watch it as a true cricket fan. Wherever you watch it, you watch it with the same excitement and joy. Whoever wins, you discuss some unfortunate decisions and some great wickets. If you watch the match alone at home, you phone your mate and have a huge debate whether the ball was bat first and the pad or the other way round. If you do all of this, you are a true blood cricket fan. So am I, because I do all the above mentioned. This is where the sporting spirit of a fan comes and because a true fan knows where to draw the line and where to cross.

Enjoy the cricket season in the right spirit. Cheers to the game :)

Happy Cricket!

Getting out of my comfort zone

Its been a while since i wrote. I dont know how many people read this blog but I do it for my satisfaction. I thought I should continue and blog like everyday. Lets see how much response I get from today onwards.

I live in my comfort zone, do things that please me and in the last few months, its taken a toll. I need to do some things so that I can have a better career,future and in general, a better life. Blogging, more precisely writing is always a passion. Let me convert my time which i spend on social networking sites into doing some fruitful. If I wrote once a while when my 'mood' said YES, I am going to start writing everyday. That is from today!

:) So cheers and happy reading some of my thoughts and idea
Have a great afternoon India :)