SANIAMANIA! WHO'S REALLY BOTHERED? FROM SHASHI THAROOR TO SAYALI BHAGAT. EVARONE.

Omigo!! Sania's gonna be 'Pakistan ki bahu'! Now which country will she play for? How can she marry into a terrorist country? What about 26/11. And who's really bothered about all of this? I'm the first one, because it spurred me to write something after a long long time. And Shashi Tharoor.. in an attempt to be sarcastic, asked where are the Indian guys? And if it was a diplomatic/romantic failure? Agreed he was trying to be funny. Celebs and politicians feel the need to make comment on the issue because both of them require attention desperately. Their profession needs them to keep yapping about it. I for one, don't feel the need to take a stand. Because it's a strictly personal matter. They say people without opinions are jerks, but there are exceptions. When media is sad enough to bring such stuff into public domain and the society is 'sadder' to crave for such news, you'll find plenty of issues in public domain where having an opinion is not just unnecessary but foolish.

First up, even if she was to play for Pak, anyone who actually follows tennis knows that she's past her prime, done well, peaked, won her grand slams and now is gonna settle down. It's tennis for God's sake, no one but Martina Navratilova can carry on till 40. If the marvellous story about Shoaibs first(and blind) love wasn't funny enough, it just keeps getting better. Everytime some bright soul out there tries to show that models and actors aren't such a brainless species after all, you can find someone who does more than enough to prove the contrary. This time round it is Sayali Bhagat. Says she turned down a film with Shoaib Malik because of 26/11. And miss Bhagat that's as wtf as it gets. Worst of all is the Branjelina style branding for the couple some brainy fellow came up with.. SHONIA!!

SHONIO.... O SHONIOooo... Tu bas dede mera saath.

WORST PAKOMENTARY!!

Off late the Pakistani's have found a befitting reply to Sidduisms. In fact they go one up, cos they're so successful in missing the context completely! Here's the best of Pakomentary that I observed during many matches of the tri-series in Pakistan, courtesy Ramiz Raja with some help from Aamir Sohail.

Its not clear as to how complimentary it was of Ramiz to say that "Simon Toffel won't refer to the third umpire unless it was absolutely not necessary"!

Though the "halp from flet track" accent could be accommodated the basics for all curators went for a six, when Ramiz gave this expert comment during the pitch report,"Its as flet as a mirror, a nightmare for the bats.."!

Cut to the middle of a blazing Sehwag innings and the Pakomentric sense of humor cuts loose complimenting an in form Sehwag. A boundary past midwicket n Aamir Sohail says "Sehwag's lovin it" and Ramiz snaps back"cos he ate at Mcdonald's".

That's not all that they find funny. There's no stopping this duo from having a blast in the box as they get overjoyed to see Mohammed Yousuf bust his package while fielding, dragging they're giggles into the countless replays they relish.

There's no end to Ramiz's fantasies as he fancies branding the Dhoni-Rohit partnership which was decently consolidating the innings, "this Dhoni-Sharma relationship.."!

After analyzing the match (and taking tables for bar charts) our man arrives at the presentation ceremony, where he promptly cautions the presentation party to handover the correct trophy to the man of the match!

Top it all up as the match referee is called on to receive his memento, our man blurts out, "YOU CAN REMOVE YOUR GOGGLES, THE MATCH IS ALL OVER!!"

GREATEST T20 FOR A LONG LONG TIME TO COME!!

Couldn't have asked for a better Indo-Pak T20 encounter for the very 1st time! What a spectacular cliffhanger to be tied in the end. I believe that the committed fielding display with which our two subcontinental teams are not usually associated with.. was proof of how an Indo-Pak tie brings out the best in both of our teams.

And again, there couldn't have been a better icing on the cake for such a ferociously contested match- bowlouts. Its heartening to see that India actually prepared for this specific tie breaker contest, and came out with a surprise list of bowlout specialists. Its a great feeling to be wittness to such historic matches isn't it...

RETIRING A CHAMP... WE'LL MISS YOU SCHUMI

I'll miss this superb racer in action. He's someone you couldn't overtake, even if you are at the wheel of the meanest machine... He owned the tarmac in most races this season. Keeping the best machines at his tail, nudging cars if required to move ahead and going over the grass when he has to, just to stay right there at the top, he truely retired as the best driver his last season. Doesn't seeing a guy like him race, instill that hunger to win in you? But for the engine failure this would've been another schumacher year. Nonetheless this legend is leaving as a champ of his sport.

IS IT FRANCE OR ARSENAL PLAYING??

He! He! France were no where close to being any where in contention for the cup.. Proud day for baldies... but for Zidane n more importantly Fabien Barthez, France wud've got screwed.. i don't get why do they have 2 always build up so much aroud Henry alone.. they'r not not a stupid premership team they'r a national side and they have more players.. i'm afraid if they go on like this then the funda is simple.. mark Henry well n France can't do anything to you.. If teams are rallying around Euoropian gods like this... Brazil's gonna be all the more exciting to watch. Gonna watch it now...

WAY TO GO SCHUMI... THIS IS WHAT WE WANT FROM YOU AND F1

Perhaps last Sunday we saw one of the best races F1 had to offer for the season. This is the kind of stuff that people look for in F1. And believe me this view is not taken because of the human nature of getting excited on seeing the weaker outdoing the stronger. Oh yes, Alonso is definitely the boss in his Renault. But this race offered exactly the kind of comeptition we would want to see in F1. This race was not just about being fast for Micheal but about keeping the faster Alonso behind him. This was a race to remember because this time round, pure racing skill decisively overtook the technological advantage a better Renault had over the Ferrari.

Micheal sure did show that this was Ferrari's home. His relentless precision at every bend making the slightest errors in the chasing Renaults menouvers apparent. Champion Fernando Alonso provided optimum entertainment by not solely depending on the pitstop strategy to try and overtake Schumacher; giving a display of one of the best chases we'll see this season. However, it wasn't just Schumi but the whole team Ferrari showing thorough professionalism in making Micheal emerge out of his 2nd pitstop just ahead of Alonso. That was the breathtaking moment of the race after which one safely bet on the Ferrari, the intimidating performance of Alonso in the superb Renault on the Ferrari's tail not withstanding.

And of course,
Jenson Buttons comic showstopper in the pitstop made the race even more difficult to forget. Eh.. by the way Montoya grabbed the last podium didn't he?!

AWESOME PERFORMANCE BY TEAM INDIA TO DRAW THE SERIES!!

Mekya ji dil khush ho gya Indian team di performance nu dekh! Though at Calcutta, they were beaten up badly by SA, rather the pitch and the dew I should say, they came back strongly and gave, a performance worthy of the men in blue, and entertainment deserved by the electrifying crowds at Mumbai. A day n night match in winters in India makes winning and losing simply a function of the dew factor - an issue needed to be taken care of in the future. This was most evident at Calcutta. But it's quite heartening from an Indian standpoint to know that conditions in Mumbai were rather fair thus not making the toss all that important. The captain Dravid did well to highlight this fact at the presentation. All in all an awesome season for Indian cricket with many positives. The biggest positive being- the team of stars is still a team of both old n new stars but now, almost eveyone's firing to get us these victories much deserved by such a starry aggregation.