Cricket World Cup 2019 Week 1

The Cricket World Cup 2019 is off  to a great start and I believe that it is going to be the most competitive one in the history of World Cup cricket. Let us briefly look at all the matches that have taken place till date.

England vs. South Africa
After seeing this match, I felt that this World Cup will be a one-sided one. (But, I have changed my opinion after seeing the last two matches.) England lived up to their billing and got a clinical victory against the 3rd ranked side in the World. The pitch had some bite in the morning, but England overcame the early wobble with some grinding cricket and put up a competitive total. Even though South Africa has come into this tournament with a relaxed mindset, England applied the choke on the run flow and cantered to a comfortable victory.


Australia vs. Afghanistan
This game was an improvement from the 1st game. Afghanistan, debuting in the World Cup, came up with an under-par but a respectable score. Australia's chase was directed by David Warner--who looks like a man willing to go the extra mile--for the team and his country. The top order of Australia looks strong with the return of Smith and Warner and I will rate them as the second favorites to lift the World Cup.

West Indies vs. Pakistan
I billed this match as the mercurial battle of the World Cup. Both the sides are a joy to watch during their days, but at the same time they can be ugly to watch on their off days. On this day, the calypso of West Indies was in full flow. It feels like Jason Holder has rejuvenated the entire team and they are looking the dangerous dark horses of this World Cup. The mystery component of the West Indies bowling line up is Oshane Thomas. He was billed as the find for the West Indies during the India series last year and it looks like this young man has loads of confidence. The worrying factor with this West Indies line up is Chris Gayle. Even though he blasted the entire Pakistan attack out of the park, he was hobbling with an injury during his entire innings.

Sri Lanka vs. New Zealand
This was the most one-sided affair in the World Cup so far. The entire game was completed well before the mid lunch break. Even though New Zealand dropped Southee, they have potent seam bowling options that can dismantle any kind of batting order. Considered as perennial underdogs, New Zealand will definitely punch above their weights during this World Cup as well. It is sad to see Sri Lanka's state of cricket right now. Mahela Jayawardene turning down an opportunity to act as a consultant during the World Cup should serve as a wakeup call for many decision makers. Hopefully, Sri Lanka will pick up under the leadership of Dimuth Karunaratne and reach the heights of the 90s Sri Lankan team.

Bangladesh vs. South Africa
I believe that this match is the one that woke up everyone from their slumber. Put into bat, Soumya Sarkar gave a stroke-filled start to the innings. After the openers departed, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan played some excellent attritional cricket to haul Bangladesh to a competitive score. South Africa chased well but in the end Bangladesh's passion won the match. I felt that South Africa were a little disinterested in the game. (Chris Morris's misfielding off Mushfiqur Rahim was a testament of South Africa's lack in interest.) Even though many people term this win as an upset, I believe that Bangladesh have come a long way. Their execution was clinical and no one in the World Cup should take them lightly.

England vs. Pakistan
Pakistan lived up to its billing as a mercurial side by securing a hard-fought win against the favorites, England. First, the batting was steady and justified Pakistan's strategy of going with only 4 specialist bowlers; Mohammed Hafeez (who replaced a specialist bowler, Imad Wasim) played a cameo knock and chipped in with an important wicket as well. During England's chase, Butler threatened to take the game away from Pakistan. However, Wahab Riaz had other plans. I was joking in the office that Wahab Riaz did not take any wicket after the last World Cup. He proved Mickey Arthur (and me)  wrong with excellent bowling. This match has brought in a sense of evenness in the world cup.

What does the life of Judah teach us?

In the entire month of August 2016, one man from the Bible has constantly been in my thoughts. The man is Judah, Son of Jacob or Israel, and the reasons why he has been in my thoughts are listed below.

1. He is the man who pushes his brothers to sell Joseph to Midianite merchants. (Genesis 37: 26-28)
2. He is the man who sleeps with a prostitute, who happens to be his daughter-in-law. (Genesis 38: 15-21)
3. He forgets to keep his word to his daughter-in-law. (Genesis 38)

Even after the above-mentioned reasons, God honored Judah. The list of honors is shown below.

1. Our King of Kings Jesus Christ was from the tribe of Judah.
2. King David, the most successfully human King of Israel, was from the tribe of Judah.
3. Judah was the biggest tribe in Israel as seen in 2 Samuel, 1 Kings and 2nd Kings

After reading through these honors or blessings, I was wondering “How can a sinner like Judah be blessed after generations and generations? I know that God likes sinners but isn’t this a little too much?”

For this thought, God showed me few verses in the Bible from Genesis. (Genesis 44: 16-21.)
When Joseph, the Prime Minister of Egypt, falsely accuses Benjamin of stealing his silver cup when Judah and his brothers visit Egypt, it is Judah who falls at Joseph’s feet and begs to take him as a prisoner instead of Benjamin. Joseph after seeing Judah's humility decides to reveal himself to all his brothers.

These verses from the Lord our God touched me. This clearly shows the reason why God decided to honor Judah with the above-mentioned blessings. Judah had clearly repented for his earlier sins and had become a totally unselfish man. This did not go unnoticed by Joseph, too.

After reading and meditating on these verses, it dawned on me that God does not honor every sinner. He honors sinners who repent, who become unselfish and change their ways.

Dear brothers and sisters, you and I can be sinners today but it is not too late to change. Look at the areas of your life where you are sinning and turn your ways to the Lord. Once you repent, do your best to not go back to your old ways and lead a God-fearing life.

God Bless you all.

Case of the blind fish

My dad got an aquarium in the year 2005. In order to lift his spirits he just stares at the fishes swimming from one end to the other. I never understood my dad's admiration of these fishes, but now I know what he sees in them.

He got 10 pairs of gold fishes last year (2010). These gold fishes messes up the tank big time. I know this because I just lend my hand to wash the aquarium. My sister noticed last April that three fishes had lost their eyes. My cousin, who is a pro when it comes to pet care, gave us insights on how the fish would have lost their eyes. He said that their eyes would have just peeled away and the other fishes would have gobbled them up. His description gave us the chills. My pop and sister were sure that these three fishes won’t survive for a long time. I volunteered to give them an honorary funeral, for which my sister shouted at me.

It has been 13 months since we realized that these three fishes were blind and still they survive. When ever my dad feeds them, they swim to the surface rapidly and beat out the other healthy fishes. These three fishes have really amazed me, even though they have no eyes and all they do is swim inside a 5 feet tank day in and out. They still survive and go about their business without any complaints. If I was in this scenario, blind and to swim inside a closed premise of 5 feet, I would have cursed everyone around me for the rest of my life. I don’t know what exactly these fishes think, but I am sure that they are not complaining about their weaknesses.

I am trying to pick up this important lesson from these three fishes.

"Never loose hope, don’t crib about your weaknesses, keep swimming, and one day everything will be alright."

How lethal can the Miami heat be?

What a crazy week it has been in the NBA. Lebron James is not leading his team in scoring, yet the Heat look like a juggernaut.

James is playing more of a facilitator role, more in the mold of Scottie Pippen. Wade has taken the scoring load off James, which has allowed him to concentrate on defense and playmaking. I have drawn some things parallel to the Bulls dynasties from the 90’s with this Heat team. Wade is playing more like Jordan, while James is playing like Scottie Pippen. MJ and Scottie Pippen were known as the pit bulls for their tenacious defense and Miami’s defense is pit bull like with James and Wade manning the wings. The scary part of this Heat team is the other member of the Big 3, Chris Bosh is still hitting the straps. Once he gets his rhythm back and the scoring load is distributed evenly, Heat can be a scary proposition to handle for most of the teams. Heat’s bench is average right now, but when Mike Miller, an efficient long range threat returns from his hand injury, opposing teams will be having nightmares. I will put my neck out and say this. Even the Lakers will have trouble stopping this juggernaut. The most impressive part of this team is that, when James and Bosh signed up in July they were speaking about sacrificing and they have lived up to their promise by not only sacrificing more money, they have sacrificed their dizzy stats also. The Suns still remain my favorite team but it’s a pleasure to watch the Heat this season.

Rise of the Phoenix

Rise of the Phoenix

(This blog will be incomplete if I do not thank Nisha and Ni-et, who reviewed my blog before I posted it. Thank you Nisha and Ni-et.)

I have been a die hard fan of the Phoenix Suns ever since they reached the 2005 Western Conference finals (the last time they went so deep in the playoffs). Even though they lost in the conference finals, experts predicted that the Suns had what it takes to win a Championship ring. However the Suns have stumbled every year, losing to their arch nemesis, the San Antonio Spurs twice and even failing to qualify for the playoffs the last season.

A small recap about the toughest period the Suns had to endure to reach the conference finals again. Just before the trade deadline on Feb 18th 2008, Steve Kerr the President of basketball operations traded temperamental swing man Shawn Marion to the Miami Heat for Shaquile O Neal, to counter the threat of Tim Duncan. The experiment flopped as the Suns were beaten comfortably in the first round of playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs. Mike D Antoni decided to walk away from coaching due to problems with Kerr’s style of functioning. For the 2008-2009 season Kerr hired his former teammate, Terry Porter, known for his hard nosed defense during his playing days, to instill a sense of defensive discipline and a more conventional half-court style to suit Shaq’s game. Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire had trouble adjusting to the new strategy and the Suns started losing their identity as a fast paced team. Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley were brought into the team via trade for Boris Diaw and Raja Bell from the Charlotte Bobcats. Suns did show sparks of their potential but were inconsistent. Porter was fired midway into the season and was replaced by interim coach Alvin Gentry. Things started turning around for the Suns; Gentry let his players express themselves and let them play their natural game. Still the Suns were not able to qualify for the playoffs. Critics started tearing into the franchise from the top to the bottom. Trade rumors were swirling around that the Suns were looking to trade Stoudemire in order to cut luxury tax. I remember reading an article that ripped apart the Suns’ owner Robert Sarver, blaming him for the entire debacle.

2009-2010 has been the season of the Suns and they have taught me the true meaning of the phrase “Rising like a Phoenix from the ashes.” The only constants from the 2005 team have been Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, and Leonardo Barbosa, yet the 2010 version of Suns have played better basketball compared to that of 2005. Kerr started putting things in order, traded Shaquile O Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers for cash considerations, signed Channing Frye, a power forward who can play center and knock down three pointers with consummate ease, and gave two year extensions to veterans Nash and Grant Hill. Experts laughed at the extensions given to these two veterans who turned 34 and 37 respectively this season. The Suns started off brightly with their run and gun style with Frye spreading the floor with his perimeter threat. They stuttered a bit with a win-loss record of 12-18 after a strong 14-3 start. Then came a crucial change in the strategy of the Suns, Doran Dragic who was picked up in a salary dump in the previous season, was given more playing time along with Jared Dudley, who was a lost soul in Charlotte Bobcats before arriving in Phoenix. The Suns finished as the hottest team after the All-Star break with a 39-8 record and ended up as the 3^rd seed in the playoffs. Yet fans, including me, were pessimistic about their chances, especially when the injury-prone Portland Trail Blazers snatched home court advantage from the Suns with a sound thrashing in game 1 of the first round. Suns came roaring back to win the series in 6 games. Their next opponents were their arch nemesis, the San Antonio Spurs, against whom the Suns swept by 4 games.

Eh, did I hear it right!!! The Suns swept the Spurs? Yes it has finally happened the Suns had done it after failing to the get past the Spurs. Credit should go to the coach Alvin Gentry for letting the Suns play their fast paced game and yet maintain defensive pressure on their opponents. Stoudemire, a lazy defender before Gentry took over the reins, has tightened his defense. Dragic, who exploded with 23 points in the 4^th quarter of game 3 in the second round playoff series against San Antonio, is being groomed by Steve Nash to take over the starting point guard role, once Nash decides to call it a day. Grant Hill has taken Jared Dudley under his wings. Experts who criticized the extensions to Nash and Hill are now forced to eat a humble pie. Robin Lopez, who was upstaged by his twin (Brook Lopez, New Jersey Nets) last season, is being looked up as a center of the future. Jason Richardson, only 29 but with 9 years of league experience can still explode when the opposition defense concentrates on Nash and Stoudemire. Even if Stoudemire decides to leave during the postseason, expect the Suns to win a championship in three years. The swagger is back, Go Suns Go.