Kalarippayattu

Introduction

Kalarippayattu (Malayalam കളരിപയറ്റ്), pronounced  is an Indian martial art from Kerala, South India. Possibly one of the oldest fighting systems in existence, it is practiced in Kerala and contiguous parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka as well as northeastern Sri Lanka and among the Malayalee community of Malaysia. This martial art was practiced primarily by the martial castes like Nairs of Kerala. The word is spelled variously as kalari payat, kalarippayatta, kalaripayatt and many others depending on the dialect and romanisation system used.

It includes strikes, kicks, grappling, preset forms, weaponry and healing methods. Regional variants are classified according to geographical position in Kerala; these are the northern style, the southern style and the central style. Northern kalari payat is based on the principle of hard technique, while the southern style primarily follows the soft techniques, even though both systems make use of internal and external concepts.

Some of the choreographed sparring in kalari payat can be applied to dance and kathakali dancers who knew martial arts were believed to be markedly better than the other performers. Some traditional Indian dance schools still incorporate kalari payat as part of their exercise regimen.

Etymology

The term kalari payittru is a tatpurusha compound from the words kalari (Malayalam:കളരി) meaning school or gymnasium and payattu (Malayalam:പയററ്) derived from payattuka meaning to "fight/ exercise" or "to put hard work into".

Belying the assumption that the compound itself might have an equally antique use as the singular kalari and payattu, the unpublished Malayalam Lexicon notes that the earliest use of the compound, kalarippayattu is in Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer's early twentieth century drama Amba when it is probable that the systems of martial practice assumed a structure and style akin those extant today. M.D. Raghavan has suggested that kalari was derived from the Sanskrit khalūrikā while Burrow is of the opinion that khalūrikā (parade ground, arena) and its Sanskrit root, khala- (threshing floor) are Dravidian loan words.

History

Phillip Zarrilli, a professor at the University of Exeter and one of the few Western authorities on kalaripayattu, estimates that kalaripayattu dates back to at least the 12th century CE. The historian Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai attributes the birth of kalarippayattu to an extended period of warfare between the Cheras and the Cholas in the 11th century CE. From the 11th or 12th century the right and duty to practice the martial art in the service of a ruler was most associated with Nairs, Ezhavas and some Christians and Muslims were given this right and duty.

In addition, Among at least some noble families, young girls (unniarcha) also received preliminary training up until the onset of menses. We also know from the vadakkan pattukal ballads that at least a few women of noted Chekavars continued to practise and achieved a high degree of expertise.Ankam were fought on an ankathattu, a temporary platform, four to six feet high, purpose-built for ankam.

The earliest western account of this art is that of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa (c. 1518).

The more part of these warriors when they are seven years of age are sent to schools where they are taught many tricks of nimbleness and dexterity; there they teach them to dance and turn about and to twist on the ground, to take royal leaps, and other leaps, and this they learn twice a day as long as they are children, and they become so loose-jointed and supple that they make them turn their bodies contrary to nature; and when they are fully accomplished in this, they teach them to play with the weapon to which they are most inclined, some with bows and arrows, some with poles to become spearmen, but most with swords and bucklers, which is most used among them, and in this fencing they are ever practising. The masters who teach them are called Panikars.

The writings of early colonial historians like Varthema, Logan and Whiteway shows that kalari payat was widely popular and well established with almost all people in Kerala transcending gender, caste and communal lines. It is said to have eventually become as prevalent as reading and writing. Kalari payat became more developed during the 9th century and was practiced by a section of the Nair community, warrior clan of Kerala, to defend the state and the king. The ancient warrior spirit was also retained throughout the centuries by the warrior chieftains of ancient Kerala known as the Mamanka Chekavar. The iconic Thacholi Othenan Kurup was elevated to heroic status in all of Kerala. The Lohar of north Kerala were Buddhist warriors who practiced kalaripayat.

Kalari payat underwent a period of decline when the Nair warriors lost to the British after the introduction of firearms and especially after the full establishment of British colonial rule in the 19th century. The British eventually banned kalari payat and the nair custom of holding swords, altogether so as to prevent rebellion and anti-colonial sentiments. During this time, many Indian martial arts had to be practiced in secret and were often confined to rural areas. The resurgence of public interest in kalari payat began in the 1920s in Tellicherry as part of a wave of rediscovery of the traditional arts throughout south India and continued through the 1970s surge of general worldwide interest in martial arts. In recent years, efforts have been made to further popularise the art, with it featuring in international and Indian films such as Indian (1996), Asoka (2001), The Myth (2005), The Last Legion (2007), and also in Japanese Anime/Manga Series Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple.

Regional variations

There are several styles of kalari payat. The three main schools of thought can be distinguished by their attacking and defensive patterns. The best introduction to the differences between these styles is the book of Luijendijk which uses photographs to show several kalari payat exercises and their applications. Each chapter in his book references a representative of each of the three main traditions.

Northern style

Northern kalari payat was practiced mainly in the northern Malabar region of Kozhikode and Kannur. It places more emphasis on weapons than on empty hands. Parashurama, sixth avatar of Vishnu, is believed to be the style's founder according to both oral and written tradition. Masters in this system are usually known as gurukkal or occasionally as asan, and were often given honorific titles, especially Panikkar.

The northern style is distinguished by its meippayattu - physical training and use of full-body oil massage. The system of treatment and massage, and the assumptions about practice are closely associated with ayurveda. The purpose of medicinal oil massage is to increase the practitioners' flexibility, to treat muscle injuries incurred during practice, or when a patient has problems related to the bone tissue, the muscles, or nerve system. The term for such massages is thirumal and the massage specifically for physical flexibility chavutti thirumal which literally means "stamping massage" or "foot massage". The masseuse may use their feet and body weight to massage the person.

There are several lineages/styles (sampradayam), of which 'thulunadan' is considered as the best. In olden times, students went to thulunadu kalari's to overcome their defects (kuttam theerkkal). There are schools which teach more than one of these traditions. Some traditional kalari around Kannur for example teach a blend of arappukai, pillatanni, and katadanath styles.

Southern style

Southern kalari payat was practised mainly in old Travancore including the present Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu primarily by the Nairs and Nadars. It emphasises empty hand techniques. The founder and patron saint is believed to be the rishi Agasthya rather than Parasurama. Masters are known as 'asaan. The stages of training are chuvatu (solo forms), jodi (partner training/sparring), kurunthadi (short stick), neduvadi (long stick), katthi (knife), Katara a (dagger), valum parichayum (sword and shield), chuttuval (flexible sword), double sword, kalari grappling and marma (pressure points).

Zarrilli refers to southern kalari payat as varma ati (the law of hitting), marma ati (hitting the vital spots) or Varma Kalai (art of varma). The preliminary empty handed techniques of varma ati are known as adithada (hit/defend).[2] Marma ati refers specifically to the application of these techniques to vital spots. Weapons include bamboo staves, short sticks, and the double deer horns.

Medical treatment in the southern styles is identified with siddha, the traditional Dravidian system of medicine distinct from north Indian ayurveda. The siddha medical system, otherwise known as siddha vaidyam, is also attributed to Agasthya.

Closely related to southern kalari payat is silambam, the art of stick fighting. It supposedly originated in the Kurinji hills of Kerala some 5000 years ago where natives were using bamboo staves to defend themselves against bandits and wild animals. "Salambal" is a common word used to denote the sound of fast flowing rivers/springs, the chirping noises of birds, the murmur of leaves, the noise created by a talking crowd, the whooshing, whirring and clanging sound of weapons etc. When long sticks, swords and chain flails are used they produce the "sala sala" sound which is called salambal. Thus silambam became the name of the martial art that uses long sticks, swords etc.

Central style

Central kalari payat is practiced mainly in Thrissur, Malappuram, Palakkad and certain parts of Ernakulam districts. It is a composite of the northern and southern styles that includes northern meippayattu preliminary exercises, southern emphasis on empty-handed moves and its own distinctive techniques which are performed within floor drawings known as kalam.

Hope This Info Cleared Your Doubts on Kalari, Till Then. It's Me Ben Signing off Here!!!!!!!!!

Bloom Energy Servers

Last Week One of My Friend was talking to me about some  "Bloom Energy Servers". He told me to have a look at that article  when i had some free time. Well I had a look at the article and it was something really interesting. So I jus wanted to share some info on this topic with you

Bloom Energy, a startup company in Silicon Valley, claims to have made a breakthrough in the decades-old pursuit to develop fuel cells which can provide electricity that is affordable and relatively clean. The novel fuel cell, called Bloom Box (official name – Bloom Box server), is being tested by Bank of America, Google,   Wal-Mart and such other big corporations, according to Bloom Energy. A pictoral diagram of how it works is shown below.

K R Sridhar, an Indian-American rocket scientist and co-founder and chief executive of Bloom Energy, said the device that his company has produced is generating electricity, using natural gas, at a cost of 8 cents to 10 cents per kilowatt hour. That price is lower than the prices of commercial electricity in certain parts of the United States.K R Sridhar, a former scientist with NASA, said that Bloom Energy had raised around $400 million from investors and spent about a decade developing the new type of solid oxide fuel cell, which is considered as not only the most efficient but also the most technologically challenging fuel-cell technology.

However, an executive with UTC Power, a leading fuel-cell maker and a division of the United Technologies Corporation, said UTC Power has been working with solid oxide for about 30 years now, but the work is still in the laboratory. He added that none has so far been able to resolve the problem of “reliability.”

In a statement, Bloom Energy said that it has learned to make the solid oxide fuel cell devices from common materials, which will last for many years.

How the Bloom Box or Bloom Energy Server works

Fuel cells convert hydrogen, natural gas or some other fuel into electricity through an electro-chemical process. Many researchers think that these cells give cheap and abundant energy even while emitting lesser pollutants than conventional electricity-generating plants. At the same time, the need to use costly metals like platinum and rare-earth elements in certain fuel cells, and corrosive substances in certain other cells, have kept the costs of making fuel cells high and their lifespan short.

At the core of Bloom Energy’s fuel cell is a thin, white ceramic wafer that is made from sand. These cells look like floppy disks. One side of each cell is painted with a lime-green ink that acts as the anode, and a black ink on the back acts as the cathode. But, executives of Bloom Energy did not reveal the composition of the ink.

A larger device is made by stacking small cells. Electricity is generated through chemical reaction when a natural gas or some other fuel passes over the cell and mixes with oxygen from the air. Natural gas, biomass gas, landfill gas, and ethanol are some of the fuels that can be used for power generation using the Bloom Energy server.

According to Bloom Energy, even running on a fossil fuel, the Bloom Energy Server systems are approximately 67% cleaner than a typical coal-fired power plant. When powered by a renewable fuel, the Bloom Box can be 100% cleaner.

As you can see from the photos here, the Boom Energy server looks like a huge refrigerator – the miniature version will look, what, like a washing machine?

So does the Bloom Box / Bloom Energy Server work as promised?

No reason to doubt that it does not. After all, eBay, Google, FedEx and Wal-Mart have been beta testing them since the summer of 2009. The ones they have cost $ 700,000  $ 800,000; but Bloom Energy hopes that in five years time, a Bloom Box necessary to run a house will cost only $ 3,000. Even if it does not go down as low as that, it is hoped that the prices would come down to make them attractive to the average household.

The huge-ass Bloom Energy servers can save the companies $ 100,000 per year. Walmart’s units power 60% to 80% of the energy needs in the buildings where they are installed. Google uses its unit to power an R&D center.

If the same cost-value ratio holds when it is miniaturised for home and small-establishment use, it would be possible to recover the initial investment into a smallish Bloom Box ($ 3,000) in 5-6 years time. It is a big IF.

If Bloom Energy manages to fulfill its promise, this might be a practical mode of alternative energy generation than any other technology attempted so far.  Wind energy and solar energy tech pale before it – provided the Bloom Energy Server tech works as advertised.

Questions about the Bloom Energy Server

The lifespan of the Energy Server – unclear, so far. Ease of swapping the fuel cells. Time it would take to miniaturise. The speed with which Bloom Energy can scale up production and smoothen implementation.

Bloom Energy IPO likely?

Not likely. Sure everyone wants to invest in the next Google, or AT&T – and the hype so far points to investors that this just might be a pathbreaking technology. The list of VCs already invested in Bloom Energy, plus the bigshot companies beta-testing the products are confidence-inspiring for sure. However, word is that at least officially, the company will wait for a long time and possibly time their IPO with the small, home version of the Bloom Box.

Hope You Guys Found this interesting piece of information worth reading. Will post more info regarding this... Till then it's me Ben Signing off for the day....Bye.....Tc.......

Finally CSK Pull Off a Win!!!!!!!!!!!

Well Finally CSK Pulled off a win to set themselves and the fans calm for now. This was that elusive win CSK we’re looking out for in their previous encounter’s where they had lost marginally. It was indeed, a sweet revenge for CSK as they got back at RCB for the loss in Bangalore last week. Well to start with, it was an easy win for CSK as they had to work hard to get this win under their belt and broke the losing jinx of four games on the trot.  After CSK’s poor showing over the past week many people had written them off and some of my friends shifted their loyalties to MI, RCB, DC etc…  I was puzzled then on what to do and boy oh boy this win came at a right time for all. Now I’m happy that I did not do the foolish thing my friends did and hope that they too would return to support CSK before it’s too late for them. And in one of the news articles on the net, I read that because CSK had not been performing well, theatres in Chennai have stopped screening and many kollywood industry people said that it was a blessing in disguise for them coz now people would leave IPL to watch movies now. Yesterday’s result gave the public some hope of a revival of CSK in the tournament and would give those cinema people twice to think now before releasing their movies. To sum it up CSK is back to winning ways. Another Interesting thing I wanted to share with u guys is that Shane Warne tweeted on his profile before the matches to commence yesterday saying that “RCB had to beat CSK & They had to beat DD to get them a gap in the points table” coz everyone are jus separated by a margin of 2 points. Well after the matches ended, this was what he tweeted. “Sorry to Fleming and MS”. This was because what he had predicted for the day had all turned wrong in a big way. We thumped RCB and Delhi gave a solid pasting for Rajasthan. But let’s get to our match now.

Yesterday afternoon was a hot and humid afternoon and Kumble had won the toss and rightly made first use of the pitch which was a dry deck and had some spin in it. So Out walked the two royal opener’s pandey and Kallis who needed 8 runs to get back his orange cap from Sachin tendulkar. Our Bowling for the first time in many matches started well till the third over where we got pandey out by thushara’s surprise bouncer which was pouched by dhoni comfortably. Out walked robin uthappa and like the previous game in Bangalore he got a reprieve from gony who has completely lost all skills to play cricket. Wonder why dhoni picked him to play ahead the rest of the reserve bowlers.  Not that he put down robin uthappa to a simple catch, he obliged by givin 11 runs in his first over which gave RCB the momentum to step it up. In his next over he was smashed for 16 and he was taken off. By the time RCB had managed to put up 80 in 10. Left arm spinner Jakati was introduced and got uthappa holdin out to deep midwicket. Kohli walked in to everyone’s surprise while Peterson and white were in the sheds still to come and he too got going quickly. Murali was also containing at the other end even though not taking wickets. Gony came in for another over and went for 11 and finishing with figures of 38 in 3. I was really puzzled on his selection for this match. The turning point for CSK was the 17^th over of the match where jakati with a full toss got kohli to chip it to vijay at long on and the next ball got kallis run out and Peterson and white were new to the crease and jakati managed a double wicket maiden which none of the top bowlers had done & then as usual in the end over’s white and Peterson did what they worth for and got the score moving  and eventually ended up with 161 for 4. It was a Tricky score on a pitch which was offering some assistance for the spinners. Murali & Jakati combined together gave away 38 in 8 over’s and getting 2 wickets. Perhaps this was the best bowling spell for CSK in a Long time. RCB had the bowlers to defend 161 and given CSK’s poor record of chasing games (Except Chasing 185 against DD). It was a tricky chase awaiting CSK.

The Chennai Afternoon Heat had subsided by the time CSK had started their chase and the evening sea breeze from the nearby marina were making the players feel a little relief from the heat. So Hayden and Vijay set to chase and started decently in the opening 2 over’s which went for 16. It was the 3^rd over of the game when Praveen kumar was bowling to vijay and praveen’s  first ball in the over was a short one which vijay hooked and got the edge which went for a six. Next ball he angled into vijays pads and he flicked it between square leg and fine leg for four. The next ball was bowled short to him and he pulled it with ease over the midwicket for 6 and then next ball got a couple of runs and the last ball was plummeted for 4 at wide long-on and that over yielded 22 and at the end of that over the score read 38 for 0, Vijay 37(14) & Hayden 1(4). This was one of the rare sights you get to see another batsmen dominating hayden and it would have been something new for hayden to be watching this from the other end. The best thing about that over was vijay did not play rash shots to get those runs. He did not change his batting style and it was his pure sense of timing and shot selection which was glorious to watch. Kumble had to bring himself on and got hayden stumped of a googly. But vijay continued the good work and raina was the perfect foil for him. Kevin person was introduced and he was greeted for a 6 by vijay over long on. Vijay had reached his 50 of 29 balls and was still going hard for runs. Peterson came in for his second over where vijay smashed him for 2 more 6’s over midwicket and mid-on. While he attempted for the third one, he miscued it and manish pandey took it at long on. By that time vijay had amassed 78 of 39 and had made CSK at an hindsight of a victory at nearly a run a ball needed. Captain Cool Dhoni walked out and some quite overs from the RCB Bowlers keep the pressure on CSK and when dhoni got out trying to pull steyn we needed 44 from 30. Morkel came in and was foxed by his own countryman kallis to a perfect off-cutter which rattled his stumps. Badrinath walked in and he had no time to settle coz the run rate was climbing up every ball he missed. It all came to the 19^th over were 16 were needed of 12 and badri flicked one past fine leg for four of vinay kumar and the next ball he tried an ambitious pull and holed out to square leg. By then many in the stadium were brought back to the memories of the pun jab game where we had choked chasing a modest total of 136. Out walked ganapathy to the non-strikers end since they had crossed and raina was on strike. 10 were needed from 7 and vinay bowled a half volley on off stump and all raina did was move outside leg and opened the face of the bat to smash it over cover for 6 and what’s worse was it was a front foot no ball and the free hit was on. The next ball was a full toss which was hammered over cover again and the game was over but the umpires din think so and made vinay bowl another ball which was again hammered by raina for another boundary and finally CSK Won it (Little Unusual in the End) with an over to spare. But the damage had been don earlier b a so called “M.Vijay” who smashed 78 and swung the match towards CSK.

On the whole it was a good performance from CSK apart from Gony’s bowling and fielding. And as kumble admitted that they were stuck in the middle by the 2 spinners and that did not enable them to get up to 180 and a second spinner was missing for them. RCB have 2 losses in a row now and they are marginally above us with 2 points. With this win we move up to 5^th position which will be a better going into our next game. So hopefully for the next game we will have hussy and Bollinger available since the series in New Zealand was over yesterday. So Now CSK will have some bowling fire and some batting firepower as well. Rewardingly Vijay was awarded the man of the match and his wife and son were watching the game in the stadium yesterday and that was the reason vijay blasted those runs. One more piece of good news for us is that we play 2 to 3 home games on the trot which is better as there will be no travelling and home advantage is a definite plus. Our next game is against Rajasthan royals who got a pasting from delhi yesterday night.  We play them on Saturday in the afternoon again and since rajasthan had got a pasting from delhi yesterday night. They will look to set things right on Saturday, but Chennai need to win this which will shoot up them to no 3 or 4 with 8 points. So looking forward to a cracker of a game on Saturday afternoon. So till then this is Ben signing of for the day……..Bye….Tc………

CSK - Crumbling Super Kings??????????

Well  to start with, it’s becoming some sort of a routine for CSK to gift away matches after being in it and controlling it for most part. Well this trend had started from that super over loss to kings XI Punjab abd I think the guy’s have still not gotten over it. That has affected the team morale very badly. That’s why the four losses on the trot and as dhoni said the bowlers are lacking confidence. Well yesterdays performance was no different as we eventually lost to RR’s by 18 runs. I’m not gonna go into further details of yesterdays match coz it’s the same mistakes they’ve kept repeating again and I’m getting tired on writing the same thing over and over again. But there were some small positives in the match like the performance of left arm spinner Jakati and the impressive death bowling by morkel and thushara. It was the best for CSK in the ipl this year. They kept pressure on RR in the death overs which made them scramble for runs and eventually got either caught out or run out. Because of that we were able to restrict them to atleast 177 or else we would have been chasing more than 200. Considering yousuf’s early dismissal we should have kept them down to 160.

So the chase was on in pursuit of 178 and hayden fell early bur vijay’s classical shots in that over where he took apart narwal for 24 was a treat but that ended shortly by a foolish decision to run on a non-existent single. Raina ran out of patience and it was left to dhoni and albie to follow. But what happened in the 14^th over was one of the most absurd thing s in a cricket field and the casuality was Dhoni who rammed into badri and lost his bat and got run out and boy was he furious. This ain’t the first time they both ran into each other, during the 2^nd match against KKR Dhoni rammed into badri and that time nothing serious happened and we won the game. But here a game was at stake and such an incident turned the game on it’s head. From then on rajasthan believed that the had the match packed in their pockets. Badri really wasn’t doin anything to score and that put pressure on morkel to fire and did he with those 3 amazing 6’s from share warne itself which gave a glimpse of hope for us but shaun tait had other plans and that over he took out morkel and that signaled another defeat for us by a margin of 18 runs. Honestly to say if dhoni was there at the crease we would have won this game single handedly. But now we’ve lost 4 in a ro while rajasthan have the opposite and we’re languishing at the second last with kings XI for company.

So what went wrong in that game, infact all the 4 games we’ve lost so far. Let me summarize it game by game so that u can know the culprit who gifted the match to the opposition each of those times.

Game 4: CSK Vs KXI Punjab:

                         

 After Bowling  Well first and reducing KXI to 135, We should have had the game in the bag in no time but what turned out was a messy chase which went into the super over and then gifted it away to the opposition. The men who played the role in gifting it away to KXI were “Parthiv Patel” And “Gony”. Well Gony Did not know to Bowl, Field & Bat as well. He dropped a catch, Went for plenty in his 2 overs and wasted many deliveries by jus slogging and finally got out.  Parthiv patel was only keen on getting a half century for himself and then throw his wicket away at a crucial time to a simply horrible shot. If he had stayed there and played with responsibility we should have won the game. He was also eating up the strike and  was instrumental in getting hayden out, and the biggest blunder was getting raina out to a single which was’t there. If Dhoni Had played this game we would not had this situation and he would have won it by himself.

Game 5: CSK Vs RCB:

                     

Here the bowling started well but it was the death overs in which some clumsy bowling and some big hitting from Robin Uthappa Powered RCB to 170 which was looking very meek at the half way. Raina Made the biggest blunder of the night by giving a spinner like ashwin to bowl at the death. Balaji Was Another bowler who kept on feeding uthappa and he gulped 24 of that over and totally 41 runs were scored in those last 3 overs. Batting again crumbled with hayden and raina getting out early coz George Bailey was the star for this match like how parthiv was in for the Punjab match. He din score and made hayden run out andended up with 19 of 28. Nothing much could be said about the other batsmen as we ended up making only 135 for 8. Again Dhoni the Finisher was missed. Still in that Punjab Loss hangover I guess…..

Game6 : CSK Vs MI:

                  

Well Dhoni was back after his elbow injury and again haydos flopped but raina played well for his 84 and was well supported by badri with a 55 of 45 balls. We managed 180 but that was overhauled by MI with an over to spare. Our bowlers had no such confidence in defending 180. But I think we were 20 runs short as I thought we should have got 200 which would have made Mi’s chase tougher. One player who I would like to single out here is badrinath. He came in with 2 wickets falling quickly inside the power play. Supported raina and got himself some runs but after a point he should have got a move on or either get himself out coz there were dhoni, morkel and co waiting in the wings. But what followed was he was taking risks and managed only singles out of those. That put pressure on raina to score more runs and he had to score a lot and MI used this to their advantage. No one would have blamed him if he had gotten out at that time and we would have got a respected score to defend. He did neither score or get out.

Game7: CSK Vs RR:

                  

As I said earlier our opening bowling should have been good, but some happy news for dhoni was our death bowling was decent in this match which did not let them get to 200. Here again Raina and Hayden Failed But the turning point of the match was the run out of Dhoni. He was furious with badrinath who rammed into him a second time in this tournament  which faulted in the skipper getting run out and the game changed on from then as RR won it.  This Guy Badri Is not fit fot T20’s. I’ll give u a stat of yesterday’s match alone. Badri scored 25 of 27 while Morkel Scored 28 of 12 and his tamil nadu team mate vijay 42 of 28. Look at the no of balls he wasted. I know he isn’t a big hitter but couldn’t he have rotated the strike around. He did either and made dhoni run out. Dhoni would have reached if badri had not collided with him.  If u watch the video closely dhoni was literally shouting at him to get out of his way. Badri was ball watching and rammed into him and kicked his bat away and dhoni had to run without it and that resulted the end of things for CSK. It wasn’t dhoni’s mistake at all as badri was ball watching and wanted to get himself safe first which is a bit selfish on his side.  I Agree he’s a good fielder but fielding isn’t gonna win u matches..

CHANGES NEEDED :

         

Our Losing Streak started from last Sunday with the Punjab Loss and continued to this Sunday with the 4^th loss to Rajasthan. It’sall happened in a week where we have slipped from 3^rd to 7^th now.Really Some Immediate and logical changes should be made to have a team which has the intensity to bounce back.  I’ve heard that Mike Hussey and Doug Bollinger are joining the squad in early april but I think it’ll be too late then to make a turn around in this competition since now we have to win 6 out of the remaining 7 games. As they say Cricket is a funny game &  anything may happen,  so u cant say who would make it the semi’s.  The tournament is still open and for Chennai to make amends, we have to get a win first which should set the tone for our comeback in the tournament. If rajasthan royals can do it with a bunch of kids, So can we man. We have A Good Team and we’re too good a team to lie at the bottom of the points table. Some changes have to be done and I’m perplexed on why Ntini isn’t playin in the team. Our local bowlers aren’t doin good and it’s worth a try to get him in till Bollinger comes. The difference from our team and the successful teams in the competition is the teams which are winning have the local talent performing which is some what missing in our team. We rely heavily on Hayden, Raina and Dhoni a lot. If u see , the 2 matches we’ve won so far are because hayden, raina and dhoni fired. If they fail there is no one to back us up. I would replace Badri with either badani or allrounder ganapathy. Coz We need a player to rotate strike and even slog a big ones which badani is good at. Next we play the return leg versus RCB at Chennai on Wednesday. So Will we see CSK Bouncing back from their losing streak??? Well everyone wants to see them win and make a comeback big time in the tournament. Till then it’s me Ben Signing off for the day………..

Oops!!!!! They Did It Again!!!!!!!!!

                                       Well there you go again, CSK let down themselves another opportunity for a victory. This has been the story for the CSK team so far in the tournament. Either the batting or bowling has clicked in all the games so far. And yesterday night it was no different where the bowling and fielding looked completely out of sorts. The fielding yesterday night was one of the worst I’ve seen from them since the start of the first season. The Mumbai Indian batsmen were literally taking 2’s at will even when it was hit straight to the fielder. Like they didn’t have an off day, it was they completely let the competitive level down thinking that the opposition would choke like them chasing 180 which proved to be otherwise. Well it’s only themselves to blame after losing yet again and with this kind of performances one hope’s how they would make it to the semi’s from here on.  Well I’m not goin into much detailed analysis, but I would like to touch upon some issues which I hope you people may agree with.

                                           

Well I’m not gonna talk much into yesterday’s batting performance coz we did well on a track which was on the slow side and offered a lil bit of turn. The Biggest Plus was that raina was back into belligerent form with the bat considering that he had too much pressure on his mind when he went out to bat while he was captaining. Y’day the pressure of captaincy was off him and he was back to his best smashing the balls to the fence and cheeky in taking singles. His form is a good sign for India as well coz the world T20 in west indies is around the corner. Badri played a supposting role when 2 wickets were lost in succession and he did play a perfect foil to raina but after a certain time he should have accelerated his own innings to boost up the team score or rather get out coz, there was still Dhoni, Morkel to follow. But that din happen and a good last over from malinga  allowed CSK to reach 181 who were at one stage looking pretty good for 200. Hayden was looking in sublime touch with the normal willow and those 3 spanking boundaries of zaheer was a treat to watch. But soon when he got the mongoose bat out, Bhajji got him with a good ball which was pushed in by him and got him plumb LBW. Parthiv patel is a complete misfit in the opening position. I may be harsh on him but he isn’t getting runs from his end and that put’s extra pressure on hayden to score. I’m Wondering who named him “Chota Hayden”. Well that isn’t funny it’s bloody sarcasim at it’s best.

                                       After the batsmen gave them a good score to bowl at, you expect the bowlers to make some amends in but that was’nt the case here. It was the most shocking bowling in the opening overs and MI were easing at more than 10 runs per over. Albie morkel got some swing and bowled some good deliveries but he was also picked for runs and the most horrible of the lot was Balaji and Joginder in particular who went for 16 in an over and that set the tone for Mi’s chase. Jakati tried his best and got dhawan out but the initial damage was already done. CSK’s Only Bowler Murali was the one who looked like taking wickets, He got tiwary in his first over and then gradually reduced the run rate while the other bowlers around him were just bowling for namesake. The Biggest Mistake of the night was Dhoni Bringing on perrera for his first bowl of the match in the 16^th over. They needed 55 of the last 5 and the pressure got to the young man and he leaked 20 runs and then murali got pollard in his last over but the match was already in mumbai’s grasp. Tendulkar jus fell at the end but bravo and the others just saw that they reach the target in an over to spare. So if the bowling didn’t work out as planned the fielding was worst. As I said earlier 2’s were taken for granted and that just in all made the difference. Many of my friends and a Lot Of CSK supporters including me are very disappointed with this performance from our team. This game was also for us to win and we gave it away.

                                  After the Match got over yesterday night, many of my friends were frustrated, angered on the team selection and they were wondering why on earth do we have bowlers who don’t bowl more than 120kmph in our team except Ntini. I’m puzzled at why he isn’t playin, If it was an injury then he wouldn’t have been in the squad in the first place. He seems to be fit and raring to go but  I dono what’s stopping him from playin. We do need a bowler like him coz with his pace it’s difficult to score runs. Every team has one bowler who can hurl 140 to 150kmph constantly in their team. Since our local bowlers aren’t doin good it’s definitely worth tryin him out. Another change I would like to see is M.Vijay opening the batting and no more parthiv.  Poor Vijay was put in the middle order and every time he came in he had to slog from ball one.  Really he wasn’t comfortable batting in the middle order. And Moreover a Right-Left opening combo gives the bowler to change his line and length often which is not the case when parthiv opens. I would like to see Badani and  Chandrasekar ganapathy coz they are Tamil nadu’s best ranji players and they can play the waiting game and as well as slog in the end overs. Badani was a huge factor in Chennai superstar’s winning the ICL T20 in the inaugural season, While Ganapathy is a good allrounder much better than perrera. There is news that Doug Bollinger, the left arm aussie pacemen is being bought by CSK coz of their bowlin worries and he’ll be a good asset to our bowling line up. All said and done with the changes needed, We need to get a win under our belt to get our halted campaign back on track. We need to win 6 out of 8 to qualify for the semi’s now. It’s a tough ask but our boys are capable of doin that. It’s Jus that they need some confidence in them and some luck to go our way. So Will we bounce back against the Rajasthan Royal’s on Sunday?????  Let’s Hope we do so and that’s me signing off again for the day. Bye……

"A Half-Brick On a Stick"!!!!!!!!!

Well for the past week, Many people in India had a common point of talk in their conversations with friends, relatives, collegues etc... It was about this "Mongoose Bat" which had garnered a lot of interest after Hayden, a player of the Chennai Superkings team in the IPL had decided to use it in one of the league games against delhi daredevils. Hayden had successfully used the mongoose bat by smashin almost a century in 40 odd balls. The devastation he did with it was something the people had never seen before. Initially he had used d normal bat and when he got used to the pitch conditions he decided to have a go with it. CSK had won that game hands down due to that one man effort from hayden with help from the Mongoose bat.  Since then players from the other teams are trying to practice with the bat and tryin to get a feel of it.

  So for many of you who don't have an idea on what a "Mongoose Bat" is, The Mongoose MMi3 Cricket Bat is a cricket bat specifically designed for Twenty 20 cricket. The design is unusual in that the blade is 33% shorter than a conventional bat and the handle is 43% longer. The manufacturer claims that this provides 20% more power and 15% more bat speed and gives the batsman an advantage for clearing the boundary. This kind of a bat is smaller and lighter than the traditional cricket bat. The decreased length of the blade helps to reduce the bat's weight while the long handle allows optimum reach to the batsman. The lightness of the bat helps in increasing the bat speed and allows the batsmen to hit the ball harder while batting. The manufacturers claim the change in the length of the blade does not affect the performance of the batsman in any way since it is the middle of the bat(the part which is located on the backside of the thick scoop of the bat)that is usually used for hitting the ball. So this is technical part of how the mongoose bat is made to suit big hitting which is necessary for T20.

 The First player who came out and used a mongoose bat was the Ex-Aussie player Stuart Law. It was used in a T20 county game between Derbyshire and Durham on May 27th 2009. Stuart Law who plays for derbyshire decided to unveil the mongoose bat for the first time in a match. He Initially played with the normal bat, but once he was settled at the crease he called for the mongoose bat and even cracked a huge towering six over the mid-wicket area but perished shortly by getting run out. He calls it "a half-brick on a stick". But Law admits that he would think twice before using his sawn-off Mongoose against Fast Bowlers. When the ball is flying around your nostrils, the shoulders of the old-fashioned bat have an important role to play. But he believes that on slow, low pitches like the ones you encounter on the sub-continent, or in English club cricket the Mongoose can double your power.

The Marylebone Cricket Club declared the bat legal and permitted its use in India and worldwide. These Bats are priced between Rs. 17,000 to Rs. 23,000. For the moment, 100 bats in two categories will be launched in India and all of them would be signed by Mathew Hayden who has been signed as the Brand Ambassador of the mongoose cricket bat. And as far as i know West Indian All-rounder Dwayne Smith who plays for the Deccan chargers in the IPL has signed a contract with the makers of the Mongoose bat. So Now the big question everyone is pondering at the moment is will this new invention for the batsmen be a setback to bowlers or will the bowlers come up with some strategy against this mongoose bat, We have to wait and see in the matches to follow. So till then this is me signing off for today.......

CSK - Clumsy Super Kings???

Well What to say people, Another Chase all gone awry for CSK. The Runners-up of 2008 and the semi-finalists of 2009 weren’t at their perennial best, but they did show glimpses of their best in patches. CSK Controlled 80 percent of the RCB Innings when they were put in to bat by stand-in skipper raina. Things started really well for the CSK Bowlers On a Deck which had a tinge of green and some pace which offered a good carry to the wicketkeepers. So Solidly did they start that balaji dismissed the man in form for RCB Kallis with an inswinger which rattled his stups whe he shuffled too much across to flick it to square leg boundary. First blod was drawn and then entered jammy with all his flair to regroup the innings and then it was the wily old fox murali who then smashed for a boundary the previous ball just pushed it a little more and jammy fell for it and the result was d offstump uprooted.  Murali continued the good work by stifling the runs and eventually getting pandey out to a rashswipe across the line and getting kohli stumped by slowing the pace wid a doosra. At the other end tyagi had finished his spell with some good figures due to the help from the pitch. Hence the RCB Batsmen were finding it difficult to up the run rate and they were losing wickets regularly as well. So Then there was uthappa and morgan left at the crease given the task of getting RCB to a par score. Uthappa had jus nudged along then at a fairly steady pace and was lucky that night as the CSK Fielders dropped him twice when he was on 5 & 25. Both Chances were so easy that it had tyagi running into ashwin when he to take the catch and that would have given murali a go at the tailenders. The Second One was a Powerful Flat Hit To Long on where CSK’s best fielders didn’t judge the pace of that ball and tried to grab at it eventually putting it down. Little did they know that these two moments would be the decisive factor of the match result. Till the 17^th over RCB trailed to 119/5. Ashwin came in for his 3^rd over and gave a dozen runs and the 19th over uthappa cut loose to balaji and smased 24 runs of it including 3 back to back 6’s and aswin came on to bowl the last over which yielded another dozen runs and finally RCB who were initially struggling to reach 150 jus got to 171/5 at the end of the innings. Those last 2 overs had yielded 41 and that shifted the momentum to rcb. Till the end of the 15^th over none of the RCB batsmen had hit a 6, But “Robbie” (Robbin Uthappa) Smacked eight 6’s in those last 5 overs. So Clumsy were CSK that they had kept RCB in Check for most pasrt of the batting and when it mattered the most they jus gave it away. One couldn’t understand the tactic of bowling a spinner in the death overs. Apart from balaji & Ashwin the other bowlers jus gave around 6 runs per over.

So it was all set For CSK to Bat now and the batters had to rethink their strategy of approachin this big score as they were unable to chase down even 136 in their previous encounter to KXI. Herethe target was 172 and they had to go bang bang from the start and sadly that too didn’t happen as Praveen got parthiv out early which many would not react very heavily since his performance in the last game. Bailey who replaced kemp walked to the middle to join hayden and little did everyone know that it was George Bailey who had taken over from parthiv patel from the last match. He was uncomfortable against spin and that was evident from the way he had played and missed kumble’s googlies. Steyn was clockin 150 and it was more difficult to score of him with the extra bounce and carry of the pitch. Hayden tried his best with the mongoose but again bailey who was putting pressure on hayden to score finally did the inevitable of making hayden run out. It was a good piece of fielding from dravid who had a direct hit at the non-strikers end who found hayden jus short of his cease wid the mongoose. The Run rate was climbing up and up and raina ran out of patience and sliced a ball to third man of vinay kumar who had by then jus gotten rid of a struggling bailey who made 18 of 27 balls. Now I think parthiv was much better in dat last game.  Hence the match had already slipped out of CSK’s control and poor M.Vijay jus had to slog from ball one and eventually heaved across the line of kumble and gave his wicket away, really he’s not a pick in the middle order. He should remain at the top where he belongs. Badri and morkel tried out of desperation but all ended in vain as once again CSK Ended up on 135 /7. So now it’s been twice folks that CSK have not managed to go Past 136. It’s a Shocking stat but u have to digest the fact that without “Captain Cool” MS Dhoni, CSK really look out of sorts. They need to get their batting order right and the bowling except murali are a feeble attack on flat decks.

So What Now for CSK then u might ask. It’s not the end of the road for them. They Still have 9 matches left and since they have 2 already in the bag, a minimum of 5 wins is enough to propel them into the semi-finals. The news is that dhoni will be joining the CSK Camp for the match on Thursday against MI and hopefully if he’s fit then CSK Have a Chance of beating MI. It’ll be a tough game because MI Are a Tough unit with the international players and the local Indian players contributing to the wins. So To win Against MI I would personally take in Ntini Or Thissera perrera, the srilankan allrounder to sharpen up the bowling. Going by dhoni’s Instinct of preferring allrounders he might take in perrera who f u remember was the man who performed brilliantly with the bat and ball in the Dhaka tri-series and played a crucial knock in the final to get sri lanka the cup. I don’t foresee any other changes taking place further. So Can CSK Bounce back??? For that we have to wait till Thursday evening when they take on MI in their backyard. So till then Bye……

KKR's Woes.....

Well there you go again, SRK's KKR(Kolkata Knightriders) Losing one more match. It's become some sort of a routine for KKR to lose matches which they should have won right from the Inception of the Tournament in 2008. Yesterday night in mumbai at the Bradbourne stadium was no different. Saurav had jus called right after two wrong calls previously and decided to bat since he had gayle around. After flirting in the middle order Dada was at the top where he belonged the most. Dada had set his sights on 180 since it was a flat deck and was hopin gayle would start firing from the inset.

But the MI(Mumbai Indians) Had different plans for KKR. Their complete bowling of the innings was like applyin all plans into effect. First they stifled gayle with fast off cutters from "Slinga" Malinga and did not allow him to cut loose. While At the other end Dada knew he had to take things to control and smashed some good cuts to the fence through backward point and cover but the MI Bowlers stuck to their second plan of the night by bowling toe-crushers alias "Yorkers" and did not allow the run rate to climb to more than 8. By the time Dada Went, 70 runs were scored at a pace of a run-a-ball which wasn't ideal in a T20. Shah Arrived and desperately tried to release the tempo but those yorkers from zaheer, bravo and Mclaren were unable to score off. Not to forget malinga's & Bhajji's Change of pace which allowed the batsmen to take only a single. Nevertheless Something had to give in to score atleast some quick runs to get a total of respectability and shah did manage to crack some Boundaries which were too late and ended up with a modest total of 155. Not a Poor Total but One should have done better wid only 3 wickets falling for them.

KKR Slightly disheartened With Their batting effort took the field to defend their mediocre score they put up. One expected Bond & Ishant To Rattle MI's top order since Jayasuria was rested this game, But One Man Named "Sachin" Had another plans for tonight. KKR should have learnt a thing or two from MI's Bowlers but what followed was a riot of fours from the master blaster himself Sachin to set the chase on fire. He was very severe on Ishant and took him for a flurry of fours in his second over. poor ishant must have been thinkin what did he do to him to make him play so aggressively in his over. By the time the first powerplay was over, Mi had amassed nearly 60 without losin a wicket. Murali Karthik was introdced and got shikar dhawan to chip it straight to Dada at short mid-wicket. Dhoni's Left hand Clone "Saurabh Tiwary" walked out to the centre to join sachin and initally watchful tiwary started to play his shots and got the run rate further up.

Karthik came on for his second over of the night which he would have imagined at that time would turn out to be the most costliest miss of the match. He was Bowling to sachin and one of the balls gripped the surface, turned & Bounced took the leaning edge of sachin's bat who was trying to play it to square leg and flew to karthik who would make a mess of what would have been a "Dolly" of a return catch and blamed the sight screen light behind the keeper sayin it blinded hm and could not see the ball. You should have seen the disappointment on Dada's Face. He wasn't buying karthik's excuse to that drop catch. So these kind of setbacks were pushing KKR into more misery. Then KKR's Lone bright moment arrived in the form of Dada Himself takin one of the catches of the tournament which I really tell you would have not done that in his playing days for India.

After that Pollard had come and gone and Rajagopal Satish had entered to bat with the maestro who was still there and both of them jus finished the game with an over to spare. Sachin had stayed till the end and saw through that they won comfortably in the end. KKR inspite of havin a taste of how the MI bowlers bowled really did not even try to emulate the same or atleast try somethin diferent. It baffeled me that with a world class bowler Wasim Akram as a bowling coach they didn't even try to bowl a yorker. So KKR really have some soul searching to do now as their losing Streak of the past comes to haunt them again. On the other hand Mumbai Indians showed that with their local player talent pool they are a Force to reckon with in the games to come. So Congrats to MI And Better Luck next time for KKR.

Well That's it for KKR's Woes, and I hope the Chennai Superkings who gifted away a game at home on sunday night learn from how the Mumbai Indians Chased down a target. Well I'm signing out for today and lookin forward towards the CSK Vs RCB Clash Tonite at Chinnaswamy. Good Bye Then.......

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