Kauai Hindu Temple

I was blessed to visit Iraivan temple in Kauai, Hawaii recently. The place is truly amazing both from its location and history. It was hard to believe that such a place would exist in remote parts of an island in Pacific Ocean. The atmosphere in and around the temple was wonderful and very relaxing. Amazing experience!

Neeya Naana

I am one of the regulars when it comes to Vijay TVs Neeya Naana, the chat show that is designed slightly differently from the usual Arratai Arangam or Patti Mandram. The topics are usually very interesting and there is a good mix of youth and old when it comes to participation. The highlight of the show is of course the anchor Gopinath, who not only speaks good, easily understandable Tamil, but is very intelligent in just acting as catalyst on most debate. He doesn'y try to steal the limelight or show any bias during the discussion. The other thing that I like about the show is that there is no judgement given at the end. This show is definitely a must see.

Ganguly's New Found Form & Tour to Australia

It is not surprising to see Ganguly making too many statements right after a good series. The fact is he still struggled against quality pace even in this series and he will no doubt be troubled in Australia.

Another great column by Anand Vasu in cricinfo on the selection of Sehwag and how India will struggle to fit him in playing XI in Australia. For the Boxing Day test, I would love to see Yuvraj in final playing XI. India might do one of the following:

1. Have either Dravid or Yuvraj open the innings to leave Karthik out of the team.

2. Have Pathan in team as opener and leave Ishant Sharma and Karthik out to have Yuvraj in the middle order.

India are probably better off doing option 1, but they will probably end up taking option 2.

The final playing eleven for Boxing Day test will probably be:

Jaffer, Karthik(or Yuvraj), Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, Dhoni, Zaheer, RP Singh, Kumble, Ishanth Sharma (or Pathan)

Magical Murali and India's new coach

Magical Muralitharan becomes the world leading wicket taker. Absoultely fantastic cricketer! He continued with grit and determination after all the tough moments in career (action under scanner, no ball'd in tests) and achieved this feat in fine style. It's high time all those ex-cricketers and peers stop talking crap on Muralitharan. He's truly a champion bowler.

Gary Kirsten, tipped as India's next coach, has taken a step back at the time of accepting offer and has asked for more time to interact with senior cricketers before accepting the job. Our BCCI is totally a crappy organization which is not capable of delivering anything professionally. In first place, one has to question the decision to recruit Gary who has no major international/national coaching experience. BCCI is probably looking for a "YES" man and foreigner is only an added advantage in case the team fails. I am also not ready to buy Ajit Wadekar's crap that only an Indian can work wonders with Indian players. The selection should be based on who can deliver. I believe that if our cricket SUPERSTARS start to show some respect for coach and support staff, it would benefit everyone.

Remix Music

Happened to hear BILLA 2007 songs that just got released. Yuvan is slowly making the same mistake that his father did a decade or so back, quantity over quality. There is a title song remix of "my name is billa", which seriously could have been better and powerful. Other numbers of the album are average and now it is really up to the director Vishnuvardhan to come up with good picturization for this much hyped movie. Other remix that I heard recently is "Engeyum Eppodhum" from Polladhavan. Using SPB to render the remix number is little disappointing, especially since SPB has done various versions of the same song in the past which gives some kinda sameness in this song.

Kolkata Test

I was watching Kolkota test, day 2 yesterday and I was absolutely awed by the way Laxman played. Here's a guy who is extremely positive in test cricket, plays fairly consistent, yet was constantly under the gun at the beginning of every test match.

Interestingly there was another article where former Indian coach John Wright has written that India should play Yuvraj Singh in tests and there is a debate on who he should replace. Personally, I think Ganguly is a luxury in test cricket under Aussie conditions and even though Yuvraj may not be great (he is still susceptible early on in his innings and very vulnerable to spin), we are at least rewarding this talented guy a chance to prove under tough conditions. I am also very curious to see how Dhoni performs under Aussie conditions in both forms of the game.