Long weekend

We are the beneficiaries of a long weekend, courtesy the Cauvery Tribunal's decision. Bangalore (& the rest of Karnataka) is shut down today. Traffic is sparse & the silence in the colony is palpable.

Anyway, there are a lot of cricket matches going on around the world at this time & here's my assessment of the results & the action.

England vs Australia is 1st up & what a surprise it's been. England, rank outsiders in the lead up to the Australia vs New Zealand vs England tri series, not only won their last 2 must-win league games to reach the finals, but also managed to upset the Aussie juggernaut spectacularly by winning the 1st 2 of the best of 3 finals! This is the 1st Aussie defeat in an ODI tri series in 14 years! The look on Ponting's face at the presentation was priceless ..... heh heh.

Pakistan & the Proteas are slugging it out in their 5 match ODI series in South Africa & predictably, the Pakis performances are ranging over the entire scale, from the sublime to the ridiculous. One match, they score 350 odd batting 1st & the very next match they're at 8 for 2 after 10 overs! South Africa lead the series 2-1 with 1 ODI washed out & 1 still to go.

Meanwhile, here in mere desh ki dharti, the Sri Lankans are showing ominous signs of solid form right before the World Cup. India as usual are experimenting without much success, although the final 15 for the World Cup has been announced.

The teams to watch out for at the World Cup then would be South Africa & Sri Lanka, on current form. Of course, on past reputation, one would have to go for Australia & Pakistan ..... & these 4 are the likely semi finalists too. India, ..... well, I don't see them going past the Super 8 stage, to be frank.

That said, I've been listening to Pentagram's newest single, Voice. It raises hope for the Indian rock scene ..... things aren't as bad as they seem. For those interested, it's available as a free download on nokia.co.in.

#77 wears a shoud of silence these days since Ajay left for good on Thursday & Sid flew to London on the way to Mexico. It's just Arni & Prav & me for now with occasional visits by Anu & Soumya & Salil. That's how it's gonna be all February.