Impact of Australian Opening Batsmen in the WT20 2016, India

The Australian openers are a fearsome sight as they stride out in to the middle. There is a sense of anticipation in the crowd and quiet prayer on the lips of the opposition captain that his bowlers can somehow get it right to them in the opening overs.

David Warner

The pocket sized dynamo from New South Wales was always a fearsome hitter of the cricket ball but he was terribly inconsistent when he began his career. But in the recent times he has flowered and flourished and turned in to one of the most destructive batsmen across all formats. He recently cracked a double ton against the Kiwi’s in a test match which was followed by two tons he had hit in the same series in the previous test. He is in superb form against the Indians in the ODI series and has cracked a 90 and a ton already in the two matches that he has played.

He hits the ground running and makes hitting the ball look quiet effortless. When in mood it is almost an impossible task for the bowlers to stop him. He plays innovative shots like the switch hit and the switch cut with ease and this helps him unsettle the line and length of the bowler. He is also a superb cutter and puller of the ball and is quick on his feet when facing the spinners. He is a superb runner between the wickets and is a tiger in the field.

The best that the opposition can do is try opening the bowling with a spinner and hope that it comes off. There is no definitive weakness in his game at the moment otherwise!

Impact Rating – 8.5/10

Aaron Finch

The opening partner of Warner, Aaron Finch is from Victoria and has a T20 strike rate of over 150! He is a right handed batsmen and compliments Warner perfectly. He generally tends to start slowly but catches up when he gets his eye in. Finch caught the eye of the Aussie selectors with his big hitting during the Big Bash League and he has not looked back.

He hits the ball straight most of the times and that is his biggest strength. He has enough muscle to clear the field and he might also come in handy as a part time spinner on the slow Indian wickets.

He is most vulnerable in the opening few balls that he faces and just like Warner he might have issues facing up to spin early in the innings. That might be the best time for the opposition to put pressure on him and snare him early.

Impact Rating – 7/10

The impact of their blazing starts results in Australia being able to set huge totals for the opposition team to chase or making huge totals look ridiculously easy while chasing. Australia will be hoping that these two can lead the run charge for the Aussie team and provide them with a solid platform to launch from.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Aamchi Mumbai - The City of Dreams!!

Mumbai, The city of dreams... The city that never sleeps... The city whose 'Never Say Die' spirit runs in the blood of the people who live here... The financial capital of India... The adda of Indian Film Industry 'Bollywood'... The home of Indian Cricket...

I can continue my post in this way and still I won't run out words to describe my beloved city but I'll try to do full justice to Mumbai as half-baked efforts are not something that this city appreciates!!!

Mumbai is named after Goddess Mumba Devi before which it was known as Bombay!! Life in Mumbai starts in the wee hours, when the whole country is sleeping, Mumbaikar's are already up and about, ready to catch the local train which will take them to their place of work or study! The humble 'Local Train' is the lifeline of this great city which connects every citizen to one another! It's a thread that binds all of Mumbai together, the link between the different parts of this huge city. It does not only link the vast city it also links the very hearts of Mumbaikar's, no wonder it's also referred to add the 'Heart of Mumbai'. It is also very well connected with Auto-rickshaws, Kaali Peeli Taxis, BEST Buses and Metro Rail System!!

The food of Mumbai is something that drives it! Literally! In a city where a huge amount of energy is spent on traveling to and fro between two places, there are a lot of hungry souls. People of this city are food mad and the city offers enough variety and choice to satiate everyone. From the delicious Indian burger 'Vada Pav' to the spicy 'Pav Bhaji'... From Bhel Puri to Pani Puri to Samosa, to exquisite high class dining options.. There is something for everyone no matter what your budget or taste!!

Mumbai is a city which is designed to enthrall anyone who lays his out her eyes on it. Take a walk along the Marine Drive for sheet beauty, take the blessings of Lord Ganpati at the famed Siddhivinayak Temple, listen to sufi songs at Haji Ali Dargah, marvel at the architectural wonders of the Gateway of India and the CST Railway Station, watch the kids play a game of cricket at the numerous maidans that dot this cricket crazy city, visit the Prince of Wales Museum or the Hanging Gardens... Or just sit back and relax at the Chowpaty or Girgaum beach and watch the sun set gloriously in the horizon. You will never run out of options in Mumbai, your bucket list of 'Things to Do' will keep on burgeoning until it bursts at its seams!!!

There are so many aspects of this city that I want to talk about, I feel I have barely scratched the surface! There are so many things which are unique to this coastal city of India. It's reverence of its Bollywood superstar's, the 'Tapori Bambaiyya' language, the daily trials and tribulations of its people, the maddening hurry of its people but still them finding the time to help others when needed, the killer traffic, chants of ‘Sachinnnn Sachinnnn’ reverberating through the Wankhede stadium, the Ganpati Festival, etc... The city embraces all with a smile, a reason why it’s also fondly known as ‘Aamchi Mumbai’

All I can say is that it is the best place to live in India, a person who has lived in Mumbai will not like any other city in the whole world. There is Order in Chaos, Symmetry in Disorientation... Something in its humid and sticky air makes the person cling to this magnificent city like a magnet!!!

PS - This Post is Written for the Tata Motors #madeofgreat Zonal War

Hashim Amla brings out the Dead Bat!!

As South Africa suffered humiliating loss after loss in the 4 Test Match Series, another big defeat was on the cards and another 4 day finish loomed large as India set South Africa a mountain to climb.

But their captain, Hashim Amla, batted and batted and is still at the crease with 23* off a staggering 207 balls. Giving him company is Superman AB De Villiers who is himself playing a stone-walling innings and he is 11* from 91 balls.

It is set to be a classic final day at the Kotla tomorrow, will the South African resistance last or will the Indian spinners have the final laugh?

Choco Chips and Strawberry Ice Cream Sugar Free Milk Shake!!

Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like

 and let the food fight it out inside ~ Mark Twain

Food – It is something that triggers a wave of goodness, joy and happiness coursing through the body and mind, like electricity, when it satiates you completely. It is probably my saviour when I am in a bad mood and I need to elevate my mood, it is my good friend which gives me company when I am happy! In short, we share a very unique relationship, Food and Me, we love each other deeply, madly and truly and have been through many thick and thins but our bond is too strong to be broken by a few stray incidents when we have been at loggerheads with each other for days on ends!

I am a self-proclaimed foodie and though my love for cooking may not be as high as my passion for eating but I still love to get my own hands dirty on some occasions. It is in these moments that I realise that cooking and creating a dish, which, when appreciated, can be such a fulfilling thing in itself! While making the main course can be tiresome and requires some level of expertise, making a dessert is where you can really let your imagination run wild and experiment to your hearts content. Even a novice like me and someone who is short on time can really get in to the thick of things when a dessert is considered.

Now, I love having Milk Shakes after eating like a horse and that makes my stomach feel much lighter and I am filled with a sense of happiness and joy when the sweetness effused in the shake is transferred in to my body!

Here, I will share with you one of my favourite Dessert recipe’s – The Double Trouble (Chocolate Chips and Strawberry Ice Cream) Milk Shake!!!

Main Ingredients:

2 medium scoops of Chocolate Chips Ice Cream.

2 medium scoops of Strawberry Ice Cream.

1 glass unsweetened milk.

2 teaspoons of Sugarfree Natura.

Optional Ingredients (for Garnishing):

1-2 square broken in pieces of any chocolate of your choice (I used Lindt Intense Strawberry and Cadbury’s Bubbly). You can also opt for 2 Fresh Strawberries finely chopped when available.

1 scoop of Chocolate Chips Ice Cream.

1 scoop of Strawberry Ice Cream.

Directions

1. Blend all the main ingredients (2 medium scoops of Chocolate Chips Ice Cream, 2 medium scoops of Strawberry Ice Cream, 1 glass unsweetened milk, 2 teaspoons of Sugarfree Natura) till you achieve a smooth consistency and a thick froth.

2. Fill the Shake in two glasses and place them in the freezer for 30 minutes.

3. Garnish with 1 scoop of Chocolate Chips Ice Cream and 1 scoop of Strawberry Ice Cream.

4. Garnish with broken pieces of Lindt Intense Strawberry and Cadbury’s Silk.

5. Serve Chilled!!

Drool over my Double Trouble and get down to making yours, now!!

Try a Variation!!

You can also play around by first blending only Strawberry Ice Cream scoops with the milk and Sugar Free Natura and filling only half a glass and letting it set in the freezer.

Till this sets, you can blend your Chocolate Chips Ice Cream scoops with the milk and Sugar Free Natura.

You can then pour this over the set Strawberry, garnish as you wish and can enjoy a layered Double Trouble!

I am sure that when you will all try out this Double Trouble and you find that all your troubles are blown away in a jiffy!!

PS - This Post is written for the Sugar Free Dessert Challenge contest being held at Indiblogger.

The Real Joy of Togetherness

We live in a world that has been spiraling towards digitization at a maddening pace. Out on the roads or indeed inside the homes or even the schools and colleges, wherever we cast a glance all we can see is people of all ages and genders immersed in their mobiles or laptops. School children, instead of playing on the streets or playgrounds are spending more time with their heads immersed in a mobile phone. College students, when they should be enjoying their best days talking and interacting with their friends in real time are instead wasting time 'Liking or Re-Tweeting or Updating their Status' on various social media sites. Colleagues in offices are submerged in either writing long drawn e-mails or worthless chatting.

Two of my very close friend's celebrated their birthdays just last week. The best that I could do for them on this special occasion was WhatsApp them a 'Happy Birthday' message. Throughout the day, I thought about calling them and wishing them but office work had consumed me so much that I kept putting it for later. By night I thought it was too late to call anyway and dropped the idea finally. And they were my very close friends, people with whom I have practically lived in a single room for 4 straight years.

Last night, I remembered what birthdays meant to us in those heady engineering days when we lived in a hostel and when upcoming birthdays meant an almost festive like atmosphere amongst us. I remembered those Birthday bumps where the Birthday boy co-operated with a large heart. Those dinner parties where the amount of cake applied on the faces was much more than what was left to eat by the end. Those short trips to a beach where we would spend time playing cricket or just sit on the warm sand, watching the sunset and saying nothing as if silence and nature was everything that was needed to magically transfer our thoughts to each other. Ah!! How I miss those beautiful days, when we connected with each other by talking to one other and by being there physically in times of both joy and sadness or indeed madness!!!

Today I feel both, the warmth of happiness and the pang of sadness inside me - happiness because I have been lucky enough to have lived a life when we were not slaves of technology and sadness because I know that however hard I may try I will never be able to replicate those good old days again.

It is imperative that we give more importance to face to face communication, where we spend time with our family and friends and where we laugh and cry together, where we increase our happiness by sharing them and reduce our sadness, where we discuss our problems and try to lend a helping hand to others. We must live a life where we are still connected to people around us as indeed with our own selves!

Do watch this beautiful video of Kissanpur that talks of bringing back the 'Real Joy of Togetherness' :

The Final Walk Into the Sunset

Kumar Sangakkara was given a rousing welcome by the crowd and a respectful guard of honor by the Indian Cricket Team and the Umpires as he made his way out to the centre for his Final Innings...

Browsing Internet with Airtel 4G: Are You Ready?

Cricket and Mobile Internet: Where is the problem?

I am a cricket freak, as you all know. Caught between a full time grueling office job during the day and a busy cricket calendar, it is the internet that often comes to my rescue. That’s how I satisfy my cricket cravings in office or on the move.

Sounds perfect, right?!

Wrong. Imagine the disappointment when the same solution also doubles up my problem. Thing is my internet browsing network, which works at 2G internet data plan, is horrendously slow. This means I am left with videos that keep buffering endlessly only to stream at low resolutions, making it difficult to track the ball and the scores, when refreshed, take an eternity. Leaving my dream of matching matches LIVE just that – a dream…

Saying hello to high speed internet - Airtel 4G:

If you find your own story mirrored in mine, worry not, my friend - The power of 4G service is now here to our rescue! Get ready to jump to the next generation because gone will be the days of  ever-buffering cricket downloads & low resolution video streams. Thanks to India's leading service provider Airtel 4G, is the first telecom operator to do a nationwide roll out of high-speed 4G internet services across 296 cities in India! Isn’t that exciting news?!

It definitely is, for me! You know what this would mean -

Living all my cricket dreams with Airtel 4G data services:

This would mean now I can watch cricket matches – LIVE – yes, you got that right - LIVE that too in high resolution videos. No frustration of the low buffering speeds, so I get to watch the game as it is happening.

This would mean ball-by-ball commentary refreshed in mind-blowing accuracy and timing. As on TV, so on my mobile. Seriously, that is the only way a game like cricket can be enjoyed.

This would mean browsing at a neck-break speed! Faster than any available network out there and swifter than any we have previously known. Videos, text, graphics – everything at the touch of my fingertip, in full clarity and with no lag time whatsoever.

This would also mean more of blogging and keeping my beloved blog, CricketWise updated with all the latest in the news. No excuses any more after watching a game and getting on the job right away - bang-on with my analysis and opinions!

Am I dreaming or is this really REAL?

Such speed sounds almost unbelievable, right? All I can say is that it’s a boon and the prices that the service is being rolled out is very reasonable as well (4G available at 3G prices). You just need to grab a 4G device from the market and request for a 4G sim - Airtel will do the rest for you. For Free!

So yeah - It is REAL. And for all of you skeptics out there, there's something in store too - Airtel is offering a free demo in their stores to experice 4G first-hand. You can even challenge them and if your network is faster, they will pay your mobile bills for life!

About me, well, I am already convinced and can’t wait to upgrade my services - so here's to my cricketing passion and here's three, umm... nah - Four cheers to Airtel 4G! Hip Hip... Hurray!!!!

Important features: Quick Glance and How you can activate?

•  Airtel 4G is the first telecom operator to roll out 4G services

•  Nationwide rollout across 296 cities

•  4G available at 3G prices

•  Getting a 4G SIM is just a tweet away - #GetAirtel4G

•  Free home deliverey of 4G SIM

*Image source credit: iservice.co.in