CITIZENS MARCH

                                                CITIZENS MARCH
Another day dawns,another citizen's march beckons,only this time around jurists and citizens combined are marching in forty cities to raise their voices against the rampant corruption that seems to be well entrenched amongst our babudom, netadom,mafiadom and every other real and imagined dom in whichever shape,size and form it exists.
Candle light vigils and marches holding up placards and banners seem to have become the in thing ever since Rang De Basanti hit the screens way back in 2006. These vigils,marches begun with the activities involved in ensuring that the killers of Jessica Lall are duly sentenced and get the punishment that they deserved,then came the activities attached with the Priyardshini Mattoo,Ruchika Girhotra and last but not the least the inaction on part of the infamous Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the now eyeball grabbing Aarushi Talwar case.
The crowning glory of them all were the marches organised by various citizens rights groups and Non Governmental Organisations (NGO's) to raise their voices in protest against the apathy displayed towards the victims of the dastardly terrorist attack on 26/11 and to ensure that the perpetrators were bought to justice and were duly punished under the relevant/applicable sections of the Indian Penal Code for their heinous crimes.
But,what boggles the mind is whether these vigils,marches and other forms of protest really have the desired long term effects and force the authorities that be to do a rethink and formulate user friendly policies/laws/strategies/theorems and so and so forth.Lets' critically examine the difference these measures have made/had on the government/relevant authorities.
Vikas Yadav and his co-conspirators,cohorts in crime find themselves theoretically incarcerated within the four walls of the capital's Tihar Jail for life but have already stepped out of the jail premises more than sixty times on one flimsy pretext or the other as a Right to Information query succintly and rather cruelly revealed.The murderers in Aarushi Talwar's case are yet to be identified by the CBI sleuths even after two and a half years of so called intensive investigation,lie detector and brain mapping tests and all the other bunkum and hocus pocus.
S.P.S.Rathore is out on bail and cocking a snook at the law and the citizens who raised their concerted voices against his sins of omission and commission thanks to his being hand in glove with the very authorities who are vested with the powers of investigating his crimes and building up a fool proof case that ensures that he gets the due sentence he so richly deserves.Ajmal Aamir kasab is busy enjoying an extended lease of life in Mumbai's Arthur Road jail, wolfing down biryanis and kababs as if there was no tomorrow, occasionally making highly illogical and absurd claims pertaining to his innocence and his not being involved in the tragic events that unfolded on 26/11 that send the entire law and order machinery into a tizzy and sending out the wrong signals about the inherent weaknesses/loopholes/maladies and contradictions that continue to plague our criminal justice system.
Yours truly is of the informed opinion that the afore mentioned measures though both highly desirable and welcome pale in significance to the right to recall that should be enshrined within our constitution,let's all join hands and force our lawmakers into incorporating the right to recall our elected representatives in the face of non-performance,being tainted by the tinge of corruption or wrongdoing, indulging in any corrupt,immoral or dubious act that serves to undermine their stature as the people's elected representative, or any other sins of omission or commission covered under the various sections of the law.
Let's immediately begin a citizen's movement demanding the right to recall,clamour for an additional choice to be included in ballot papers that gives us the right to abstention in the face of political parties failing to nominate candidates with squeaky clean backgrounds, begin casting our votes with alacrity and due diligence at any and every given opportunity,begin signing and framing petitions with crores of signatures that would go a long way in guaranteeing us the rights denied to us for the last 65 years. Let's amalgamise these measures with the stereotypical marches and vigils and then see what stops us from ushering in an India where anybody and everybody would be accountable and answerable for any and every act.
VANDE MATRAM.
SUNDEEP CHOPRA.    

AN OPEN LETTER TO MR P CHIDAMBARAM

AN OPEN LETTER TO HOME MINISTER P.CHIDAMBARAM

Dear Mr.Chidambaram,

              India is burning, the scourge of terrorism is wreaking havoc, threatening to tear the country asunder, traitors like Raj Thackeray and Chandrashekhar Rao are running parallel governments with their distinct divisive agendas, naxalite and maoist cadres are running amok, cross border terrorism  has the run of the land within the Kashmir Valley yet you chose to remain a mere bystander.

You assumed charged promising the sun, moon and earth, nay the dawning of a new era free from the demons of corruption, favouritism and nepotism, within the police, intelligence and paramilitary forces and cadres, made a time bound commitment regarding the implementation of the long delayed police reforms, dissemination and discussion of the Sri Krishna committee report pertaining to the aftermath of the Mumbai 26/11 attacks and initiating the era of  modernisation within the police and paramilitary forces alas these and many others have continued to remain mere promises.

The recent Varanasi terror strike has once again underlined India’s sheer lack of collective will and sheer ineptitude towards nipping the heinous designs of terrorists and their indigenous and foreign sponsors, a eleven month infant and sixty year old senior citizen lost their lives due to the sheer indifference and callousness shown towards the due discharge of their duties by the forces entrusted with the onerous responsibility of protecting the life and limb of the common man.

The blame game is afoot once again, the concerned state government  blames the centre for its abject failure to provide precise, concise, clear and time bound intelligence inputs pertaining to the designs of the terrorists and turning a blind eye towards its oft repeated demand for adequate funds to train and modernise the state police force thereby enabling it to act as a suitable deterrent.

The centre on its part blames the state government for its failure to act upon adequate intelligence inputs, lethargy, somnambulism and insomnia towards the maintenance of law and order within its boundaries, lax and Nero like attitude towards the sanitisation and combing of the ghats that were targeted by terrorists on two earlier occasions in 2005 and 2007 thereby causing a massive loss of innocent lives and paranoia about the abject security failures in the minds of the denizens of this hallowed city i.e. Benares or Varanasi as it has come to be known.

Your dilly dallying attitude towards the initiation of sedition and treason proceedings against the likes of Raj, Uddhav and Bal Thackeray, P.Chandrashekhar Rao, Arundhati Roy, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other separatist elements has seen a quantum leap in their highly desirable and divisive piccadilloes, utterances and theatrics which continue to threaten the unity, integrity, ethos and secular fibre of this hallowed land.

Respected Home Minister  the hour of preaching, sermonising and chastising is well past us the need of the hour is for a concerted effort by both the centre and states towards ridding us of this scourge once and for all, the common man is more than willing to be your foot soldier in this epic battle but are you willing to summon up the will and fortitude to tackle the terrorist, separatist and Maoist menaces?

STOP SERMONISING AND START ACTING BEFORE THE SCEPTRE OF TERRORISM ANNIHILATES THE BLESSED VIRTUES OF INNOCENCE, TRUST, FAITH AND GOODWILL TOWARDS MANKIND.

WE THE CITIZENS OF INDIA SOLEMNLY AFFIRM THAT WE SHALL ACT AS THE EYES AND EARS OF OUR INTELLIGENCE FORCES PROMPTLY REPORT ANY UNSEEMLY ACTIVITY OR INCIDENT TO THE CONCERNED AUTHORITIES, ISOLATE,INDEMNIFY AND IDENTIFY ANY INDIVIDUAL, GROUP OR ORGANISATION THAT THREATENS THE UNITY, INTEGRITY AND SECULAR FIBRE OF OUR GLORIOUS MOTHERLAND. ARE YOU WILLING TO EMPOWER US AND CREATE A CONDUCIVE ATMOSPHERE, Mr. HOME MINISTER.

                                                                   

                                                YOURS FAITHFULLY,

                                                    A CONCERNED INDIAN.                                           

MAGIC OF CRICKET

                                    MAGIC OF CRICKET

Few things unite India like cricket,bollywood,,politics and the big fat Indian wedding. What is it about cricket that has us tearing our hair out in consternation everytime a catch is floored or a run our opportunity goes abegging,roaring our lungs out with unbridled gusto everytime an Indian batsman either reaches the boundary or then clears it with consummate ease,appeal in unison with our bowlers at the faintest chance of eking out an opposition batsman's wicket and last but not the least break out into an impromptu jig every time our national team betters it's opponents,if you're seeking the right answer then kindly look up your friendly neighbourhood cricket fan.
Cricket has been a unifying force ever since India made it's maiden sojourn on the international cricket scene under the able stewardship of the indomitable Colonel C.K.Nayudu,we have spent sleepless nights in front of television screens whenever India is playing Australia or New Zealand at home sat up cheering our boys exploits well into the wee hours whenever we either play the Proteas or the English in their respective backyards,we conveniently bypass all artificial or man made distinctions between rich and poor, caste,sect and creed,language,region or last but not the least the divide as wide as the grand canyon that exists between vegetarians and non-vegetrarians and come out as one to celebrate on the streets every time our national team notches up an epochal triumph.
One of my earliest memory is that of my grandfather distributing baskets of motichoor laddoos when India notched up it's maiden and only Triumph till date in the 1983 Prudential World Cup,my grandfather was primarily a wrestling fan and far more well versed with the Dara Singh's and Randhawa's of this world rather than the Kapil Dev's, Jimmy Amarnath's,Sandeep Patil's and Roger Binny's of this world, yet I distinctly remember him waking up our neighbourhood mithai wala at the unearthly hour of one in the morning,placing a massive order for five basketfulls of motichoor laddoos and then parking himself in the shop till seven a.m.in the morning so that he could collect the delivery and subsequently distribute the laddoos to all and sundry with his own hands.
Another distinct memory uppermost in my mind is that of the sheer frenzy that enveloped Bangalore's streets when the Indian team notched up a memorable triumph against the arch enemies,namely the Pakistanis in the quarter finals of the 1996 cricket World Cup.One could well have been mistaken into thinking that India had at long last annexed the World Cup after a long and rather unseemly wait if the spontaneous celebrations that broke out in every nook and cranny of the garden city at fall of the last Pakistani wicket at around 10:45 p.m. were anything to go by. Yours truly headed for the safer and familiar shores of his home at around 12:30 p.m. after duly having filed all the relevant match related reports was stopped and fed sweets on atleast three separate occasions during the tumultuous ride of eleven-twelve kilometres between M.G.road and C.V.Raman Nagar where one used to reside during those intoxicating and heady days and only ended up reaching home after a good 55-60 minutes after having stepped out from the office.
The Indian cricket team embodies the very spirit of the Indian pathos of "UNITY IN DIVERSITY", the team more often than not comprises of Hindus,Sikhs,Muslims,Christians,Jats,Marathas,Iyers,Iyengars and Agarwals coming together with the common cause of uniting as one in the face of all odds thereby ensuring that India rises above the rest of the cricketing fraternity more often than not and this irrepresible spirit of unity in diversity is solely or then largely responsible for our having achieved the glorious heights of number one in the International Cricket Council's Test rankings and occupying the much coveted number two slot in the ICC's ODI rankings.
Why don't we then remain united everyday of our rather mundane,dull,dreary and rather menningless existences rather than wasting our precious time,energy,spleens and minds on quarelling with all and sundry on the flimsiest of pretexts,breaking off long standing relationships at slights more imagined than real,drawing artificial boundaries between ourselves on the rather silly grounds of caste,creed,religion,sect,language and economic status.Let's all resolve and take a pledge to take a leaf out of our cricket team's book and remain united in the face of unsurmountable odds thereby putting paid to the nefarious tendencies of the K.Chandrashekhar Rao's,Raj,Balashaeb and Udhhav Thackeray's,Vatal Nagaraj's,Syed Ahmed Shah Geelanis' and others of the same hues misplaced and rather heinous attempts at dividing us in order to stoke their own political fires.
Let's all stand united like the mighty Himalayas behind the Indian team no matter whatever the provocation render a resounding slap ion the face of the separatist elements that exist amidst us and begin praying to the almighty for India's World Cup after a rather lengthy interval of twenty eight years.JAI HIND, MERA BHARAT MAHAAN.
SUNDEEP CHOPRA.    
       

ON MIGRANTS

                                 ON MIGRANTS, REFUGEES AND INDIANS

Our irrepressible home minister namely P.Chidambaram has done it again, his recent remarks on Delhi being India’s crime capital primarily due to its’ migrant population has given a fillip to the utterances and shenanigans of separatist and diversive elements of the likes of Raj Thackeray, P. Chandrashekhar Rao, Vatal Nagaraj and others of their ilk and also opened a pandora’s box regarding the status of Indians within their motherland.

Who is a migrant, the Chamber’s dictionary defines a migrant as a person who wanders from place to place in search of refuge, livelihood or then simply a place to live in. India’s migrant population has mainly been shifting from place to place primarily to provide a better standard of living to their families and brethren back home or then because of the nascent fear of persecution be it religious, social or any other kind.

The insiders versus outsiders debate has been repeated ad nauseam and even gone on to become the bedrock on which many a political party has pitched its tent be it the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) which styled itself as the self proclaimed defender of the Dravidian identity, the Shiv Sena which gave us the clarion call Mumbai is for Maharashtrians and MEE MUMBAIKAR or then the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) which is hell bent upon dividing the burgeoning state of Andhra Pradesh in two to fulfil the repressed chief ministerial aspirations of its founding father.

If being a refugee or migrant within one’s own country is a disqualification, then the whole of north India would fall foul of this reprehensible tendency as more than 97% of the population of north India comprises of Indians who migrated to the northern climes to escape from the persecution that  threatened to befall them had they remained back in Pakistan. In fact, a majority of Delhi’s colonies comprise of migrants from Pakistan and yours truly is sorry to put paid to the foot in the mouth syndrome afflicting our home minister by pointing out or reiterating the fact that a majority of Delhiites do not look upon their brethren from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh as a nuisance but somebody who has an equal right to share in the spoils.

The solutions to this perennial problem of migration afflicting most of our prosperous cities lies within our midst and someone just needs to attune one’s finer sensibilities in conjunction with the silent pleas of these so called migrants who are crying out for the basic necessities of Roti, Kapada aur Makaan or then Bijli, Sadak aur Paani as our apologies for leaders like to put it. One fails to understand why these basic problems have not been addressed even after 64 years of independence. Is it simply because we lack the requisite political and economic will or then because these so called backwards or deprived sections of our society constitutes a bludgeoning vote back that can be exploited by our politicians to quench their insatiable thirst for a share of the gargantuan political pie.

Our glorious motherland was built brick by brick on the sheer dint of the blood, sweat, tears and the selfless spirit of sacrifice exhibited by the generations that preceded  us. One just has to look back in history to sight upon the sterling sacrifice of SHAHEED BHAGAT SINGH who smilingly embraced the gallows at the ripe young age of 23 as he was convinced that his sacrifice would not go in vain but prove to be a cornerstone ion our freedom struggle and can any self respecting Indian forget the sacrifices and struggle of Gandhiji, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Lala Lajpat Rai and others of their ilk.

Why have we conveniently forgotten the travails of our predecessors and reduced ourselves to a squabbling multitude of self serving apologies or then caricatures of self serving human beings who cannot look beyond our own narrow sectarian ends. Whatever happened to the concept of a glorious India wherein all Indians would live forever in peace and tranquillity with their heads held high.

LET US ALL SET ASIDE OUR PETTY DIFFERENCES UNITE AND STAND FIRM AGAINST ALL ILL TIMED AND INTENTIONED ATTEMPTS TO DIVIDE US ON THE BASIS OF CASTE, CREED, SECT, RELIGION, REGION OR LANGUAGE. INDIA IS FOR INDIANS AND NOT FOR ANY REGION SPECIFIC CITIZENRY. MESSRS CHIDAMBARAM, THACKERAY, RAO, GEELANI, MIRWAIZ, ROY AND NAGARAJ ARE YOU LISTENING.?

                                                                                     SUNDEEP CHOPRA.                 

ON REFUGEES

                                                ON REFUGEES

There has been constant talk off late within the print as well as visual media about the rather alarming trend of many a regional leader threatening to label non locals (so called outsiders)as refugees and calling upon their followers to turn out such citizens from within the city's/state borders as these so called outsiders are usurping the jobs meant for'insiders'and thereby proving to be the biggest impediment in the economic progress of the real populace of the state/region/city.
Have these very same leaders conveniently sidestepped the fact that we are all refugees in the real sense of the term and will have to vacate our respective abodes whenever the lord of death knocks on our doors."Zindagi Ek Kiraaye Ka Ghar Hai, Ek Na Ek Din Badalna Padega,Maut Jab Tumko Awaaz Degi Ghar Se Bahar Nikalna Padega". Well the fact remains that a majority of us are refugees who migrated into India after the tumultous events that unfolded in the name of the partition of India and Pakistan.
Who is a refugee? any body who migrates/wanders from one place to the other seeking avenues of livelihood and better living standards is a refugee, however what yours truly fails to understand is how one can be labelled a refugee when the Indian Constitution guarantees all it's citizens the right to own property, reside,move and take up livelihood within the territory of this gargantuan monolith called India.
This meaningless debate about insiders versus outsiders primarily seems to have arisen in the face of a paucity of issues and newer and better governance related ideas that could fire the imaginations of the electorate within a constituency,city, state and also serves to keep the divisive fires assiduously stoked by many a two bit politician alive in tha face of rising unemployment,inflation and a sense of insecurity amongst the citizens regarding their bright and prosperous futures.
Yours truly is off the view that each of us gets as much as he or she deserves,"Waqt Se Pehle Aur Muqadar Se Zyada Kisiko Nahin Milta", so then are we always clamouring for more,why bdon't we take a leaf out of our animals friends books or then bother to observe those who are lesser mortlas and learn the nuances of the sublime art of sharing the spoils equally.
Why have we become so self centered and obsessed with oneselves all of a sudden whatever happened to the dictums of Atithi Devo Bhava or Jyot Se Jyot Jagate Chalo, Prem Ki Ganga Bahate Chalo, Raah Main Aaye Jo Din Dukhi Sabko Gale Se Lagate Chalo. If this is what so called economic prosperity and better standards of living reduce us to then we are better off without it. The Lord sent us down here as his/her manifestations, is this how the manifestations of the good lord conduct themselves, we should be ashamed of ourselves,introspect,meditate,seek salvation and find a new meaning and substance that would better our spiritual lot and bestow upon us the divine right of calling ourselves "HUMAN BEINGS".
The uncrowned king of psychologists/philosophers, Bertrand Russell succintly remarked,"Man is a dangerous animal and an educated man is even more so",why are we hell bent upon proving Bertrand Russell right and reducing ourselves to mere caricatures or abject apologies for the glorious human beings that the good lord meant all of us to be.
In the meanwhile, let's all take a leaf out of the books out of our progenies books and beging to learn the arts of sharing and co-existing in relative harmony with our neighbours, no matter whatever be their caste,creed,sect,religion,or last but not the least whichever nook and cranny of the country they belong to.
The creator didi not differentiate between each one of us while creating us so who has bestowed on us the right to differentiate between each other and draw up artificial borders and abrriers where none exist?
SUNDEEP CHOPRA.

OPINION POLL ON INDIA

                         OPINION  POLL  ON INDIA’S CHANCES IN SOUTH AFRICA

ANOTHER LACKLUSTRE,SPINELESS AND ABJECT FAILURE TO COPE WITH THUNDERBOLTS DELIVERED AT   140+ kmph SPEEDS HAVE MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE INDIAN CRICKET TEAMS SOUTH AFRICAN SOJOURN. NEWS AGE HERALD GOT DOWN TO BANGALORE’S STREETS AND ASKED ITS CITIZENS TO ASCRIBE REASONS FOR INDIAN BATSMENS PRONOUNCED INABILITY TO HANDLE SHEER PACE.

DEBASHISH DASGUPTA: SOFTWARE PROGRAMMER; To be blatantly honest and forthright, I don’t think any other batting line up with the notable exception of the West Indians during the heady seventies and eighties has shown any kind of marked consistency in the face of a constant barrage of leather whizzing around your ears and throat.

I would blame the rotten system for India’s debacle for India’s failure rather than pointing fingers at our batsmen. As the great Aussie Ian Chappell once said it is always easier for a batsman accustomed to high bounce pitches to adjust to a lower bounce environment rather than the inverse. The abject lack of  bounce in India’s pitches render our batsmen impotent against pitches that are conducive to fast bowling. India will always continue to struggle abroad unless we start producing fast and furious pitches in our own backyard.

NEETU DHADWAL:CENTRE HEAD :A surfeit end surplus of T20 cricket is to directly blame for India’s rather sorry state of affairs on its current tour to South Africa

While T 20 cricket may provide an impetus to innovative and breathtaking stroke play it  has sounded the death knell of the old fashioned virtues of grit, gumption, dedication, perseverance technique and temperament  .The current lot of batsmen with the notable exceptions of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar do not have the requisite techniques and mindsets to cope with a sustained barrage of short pitched deliveries .One shudders to think of the fate of the Indian team once the above mentioned stalwarts hang uo their boots for good

SHIRAZ MOHAMMED IBRAHIM:  ENTREPRENUER : I think we are making a mountain out of a mole hill ,one failure does not mean that the Indian batsmen do  not have the where with all  to cope with an all  out pace attack.

India has started promisingly in its second innings and managed to reach a score of 190 odd for two at the draw of stumps on day three .I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Messrs. Tendulkar , Dravid ,Laxman and Dhoni  will be more than successful in pulling India’s chestnuts out of the fire and succeed in  drawing  the test match currently underway at Super sport park , Centurion.

SHWETA SHARMA : HOMEMAKER: I am more at home in my kitchen, supermarkets or malls rather than in front of the television watching the trials and tribulations of our cricket team.

Yes , I did  manage to catch a few fleeting glimpses of India’s subjugation in the face of the unrelenting South African pace attack and the monkey like attacks of our woeful apologies for batsmen did certainly make me hang my head in sorrow and shame.

PRADEEP KURUP:FORMER FIRST CLASS CRICKETER: Our batsmen have more often than not found themselves reduced to sitting ducks in the face of a fast and furious pace attack that allows very little respite and space for comebacks.

While the utter lack of application and abject surrender of our batters in the face of what is basically a two man South African pace attack did catch me unawares. I think it would be totally unfair to apportion the entire blame at the doorsteps of our batters as some amount of blame needs to be apportioned to a system that continuously fails to produce fast and bouncy pitches in our backyard despite numerous warnings to the contrary.

HANAN ANDRABI: EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT; I have always believed that this exotic game of cricket is more or less a mirror image of our lives. This glorious game of uncertainties has its ebbs, flows, vicissitudes and high points a la life. While the Indian team finds itself down in the dumps right now, I am more than optimistic about its ability to rise from the ashes sooner rather than later and deliver the death blow to the domineering South Africans in their own backyard.

So there you have it folks, Bangalore’s denizens have expressed a range of divergent views on the fates awaiting to befall this Indian cricket team. Will India rise from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix, let’s all hope and pray that this miracle does occur during the course of the second test match of this tour.

                                                                                        SUNDEEP CHOPRA.   

World Cup Team

                                                WORLD CUP TEAM

The five wise men, namely the Indian selectors have done their bit by picking a team that they firmly believe will be more than able to bring back the World Cup to our shores after a rather long interim period of 28 years.Is the selectors new found confidence in the fifteen selected by them in their infinite wisdom sheer bravado or total balderash, let's pick holes in the arguments tendered by them and find out for ourselves.
Eleven out of the fifteen cricketers selected by the men in the hot seat would walk into any team or rather be automatic selections in any Indian One Day International squad, it is only the four diputed or unwise selections of Suresh Raina,Praveen Kumar,Ravichandran Ashwin and Piyush Chawla that raise the hackles of yours truly and coerce him into questioning the cricketing wisdom of the so called five wise men.
Messrs Srikanth and Company have so far been basking in reflected glory thanks largely to the inspired leadership of Mahendar Singh Dhoni ,indubitable and rather impressive man management skills of Messrs Gary Kirsten and company and last but not the least the irrepresible team spirit and self belief displayed by the Indian team over the last three odd years. A period where we assumed the mantle of the best test team in the world and the number two ODI team in the world.
The nagging feeling that something seems lacking in this mix of fifteen players selected to represent our motherland in the World Cup 2011 in our own backyard yet continues to persist and seems to be gnawing away at yours truly innards akin to a rather virulent form of cancer.The contestable selections of R.Ashwin and Piyush Chawla seem to have been made to please their regional satraps rather than really reinforcing the bench strength of the present team as one fails to understand the cricketing rationale behind these two selections as the Indian team management has always favoured a three seamer and one spinner formula and these two afore mentioned gentlemen seem to lack the wherewithal to step into Bhajji's shoes unless in the case of a debilitating injury or prolonged illness.
If picking a second spinner in the spin friendly conditions prevailing in our backyards was an absolute necessity, then pray why did the selectors overlook the claims of an Amit Mishra who has wonderfully acquitted himself in the limited opportunities accorded to him in the longest version of the game.Apart from being the best leg spinner on view by far,Mishra is safe fielder and a more than useful lower order batsman who would have ably complimented the off breaks and doosras of Harbhajan Singh.
Praveen Kumar seems a luxury in these rather seamer unfriendly conditions.Praveen's forte is swing rather than seam bowling and the fact that he struggles to exceed the 130 kmph mark regularly at his best reduce him to nothing more than cannon fodder for the marauding batsmen of the opposing teams who must be licking their lips in anticipation at the very thought of mauling a bowler who struggles to swing the ball at speeds not exceeding 127-28 kmph in fast bowler unfriendly conditions.
One fails to understand why the selectors choose to overlook the claims made by Shantakumaran Sreesanth, he was the best bowler on view by far during the New Zealand and South African series succeded in picking up a handful of wickets at the time when the team most needed them,was constantly at the throats of the opposing batsmen and proved to be more than a handful for them on most occasions ,more than proved his value on the field with some breathtaking stops and acrobatic catches and last but not the least consistently swung the ball at pace exceeding 135 kmph per hour more often than not,what more does poor Sreesanth have to do to en-sure his longevity within the Indian ranks.
The now more or less automatic selection of Suresh Raina in very form of the game continues to baffle both conventional as well as cricketing logic, here is a man who has struggled for form in all forms of the game after his sterling exploits In Sri Lanka six-seven months back.His struggles against short pitched bowling are well documented in the minds of the opposition bowlers and captains and one can be sure that he will receive more than his fair share of "parfum"balls whenever he comes out to bat,his technique and temperament are highly suspect and his rather innocuous off spinners would put many a club cricketer to shame.The mind boggles as to why the indomitable Manish Pande who has strode like a colossus on the domestic cricketing stage for the last two seasons and shone like a beacon in the Indian Premier League seasons two and three in the thankless role of an opener was not considered in Raina's place. It is clearly evident that Raina has the backing of a few sugar daddies both within the selection committee as well as the team management.
The most absurd of them all was the selection of Piyush Chawla here is a man who has been languishing in the cricketing wilderness for the last two seasons,not exactly set the stage aflame with his sterling deeds in domestic cricket or the IPL and is still selected overlooking the claims of a Parthiv Patel who performed creditably in the rather unfamiliar role of an opener in the two opportunities that were provided to him against the black caps and all this when Dhoni's acute back and finger related problems are the subject of many a national debate centering around the glorious game of cricket, strange are the ways of our selection committee.
ell, our Five Wise Men? have made their choices logical or not and it is our sacred duty as Indians to unconditionally back and support the team through it's two month long campaign to regain the World Cup, Hail Team India, may all your world cup related dreams come true.

SUNDEEP CHOPRA