Action at the IPL Auction -- 2009

The IPL 2009 season kicked off with the much awaited auction at Goa where Bollywood beauties rubbed shoulders (not literally though) with hard-nosed businessmen.Though there plastic smiles for the flashbulbs, the bidding in some cases was really close.Unlike in the first edition, this time all the teams were not too liberal with their purse-strings and seemed to have come to the auction with clearly though out strategies. The 5 most costliest players were:

• Kevin Pietersen : US$ 1,550,000 -- Bangalore Royal Challengers
• Andrew Flintoff : US $1,550,000 -- Chennai Superkings
• Jean Paul Duminy : US$ 950,000 --Mumbai Indians
• Tyron Henderson : US $ 650,000 -- Rajasthan Royals
• Mashrafe Mortaza : US $ 600,000 -- Kolkata Knightriders

Absolutely no flaw in Vijay Mallya's strategy to get Pietersen at whatever be the price. Bangalore Royal Challengers desperately needed a big-hitter who can turn matches around on his own. The side which was widely regarded last season as a team fit for Test cricket but not for T20. With batsmen like Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Shivnarine Chanderpaul & Wasim Jaffer, it indeed looked a Test side. Pietrersen's inclusion gives the team undoubted strike power PLUS he is a great crowd-puller PLUS he can take over the captaincy as is expected, given Dravid's below-par performance at the helm.The ostensible reason which could be cited is Dravid's possible 'leave of absence' to be by the side of his wife welcoming their second child. With US $ 1.55 million being his price, Pietersen surely will be one of the 4 foreign players who will be in the Royal Challengers' playing eleven in all matches, unless he has national duties or is hit by injuries (God forbid).

If Mallya's purchase is understandable, totally inexplicable is why N.Srinivasan and his Chennai Superkings spent US $ 1.55 million on all-rounder, Andrew Flintoff. He is a class act, no questions about it and any team would like to have him. The Superkings however have a problem of plenty. Remember only 4 foreigners can be in the playing eleven for any match ! The Chennai team has Mathew Hayden, Michael Hussey,Stephen Fleming, two class all-rounders who did well last season-- Albie Morkel & Jacob Oram apart from the bowlers Makhaya Ntini, Muthiah Muralitharan, Thilan Thushara and now we have Mr.Flintoff. How will they fit Flintoff into the playing eleven in every match is the question.Given his high cost, he will be expected to play as much as possible and that will be the test for Dhoni and his wise men--who will sit out?

Jean-Paul Duminy is certainly in rip-roaring form as the series in Australia showed and his fielding is a huge bonus. However, one swallow does not a summer make and by and large he is an unknown commodity and his inexperience of Indian conditions will go against him. Appears Tendulkar plumped for him and Nita Ambani obliged leaving even Duminy shocked at his own value of US $ 950,000.We have to wait and watch to see if Tendulkar's hunch turns out to be right or not.

The magician Shane Warne, who moulded Rajasthan Royals into such a fine unit that they went all the way to be champions in 2008, has pulled out a new trick from his bag.Little known South African all-rounder, Tyron Henderson. At 34 years he is neither a promising youngster nor a internationally acclaimed star. A bowling all-rounder, he has shown with the bat for Middlesex and a few T20 sides in South Africa.No great performance at the international level. Will Warne's Midas Touch work on Henderson? Shane Watson too was not a great performer at the international level, but what a season he had for Rajathan Royals in 2008, both with the bat and the ball! Henderson is expected to fit into Watson's shoes given the fact that Watson may miss a greater part of IPL 2009 (if not totally) due to injury.

The biggest, biggest surprise of all--Mashrafe Mortaza snapped up by the Knightriders for a whopping US $ 600,000 which left everyone gasping.No doubt, Mortaza has improved by leaps and bounds and is a much more complete bowler now.He also takes his batting quite seriously. But is he worth the high price? Possibly something more than cricket--Sharukh Khan's shrewd business-sense maybe.With a Bangladeshi in their ranks, the Knightriders brand could catch up big time in neighbouring Bangladesh. If and when IPL goes international, possibly next season, the Knightriders could play matches in Dhaka or Chittagong in front of huge crowds apart from the selling the team souvenirs and other branded stuff.

Exciting days ahead in April and May! Recession be damned!

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

If the General Elections don't get you, IPL Must.

TEN TOXIC TRAITS

Books, articles, websites, blogs on self-development or how to become better individuals, managers, familymen, etc are a dime -a -dozen.In short these inputs are all aimed at 'How can one become successful be it in the office , within the family or in life as a whole.

Here we take a look from the other side.

Ten Toxic Traits or attitudes/behaviour which will give you guaranteed failure. While others churn out recipes for success,here is a recipe which is 'toxic' and hence should not be eaten or followed.

1. BE NEGATIVE/ EXPECT TO FAIL
2. HAVE NO GOALS OR OBJECTIVES
3. LISTEN TO EVERYONE
4. ALWAYS CRITICIZE/BLAME
5. NEVER TAKE INITIATIVE
6. BE ECONOMICAL WITH THE TRUTH
7. ALWAYS ASK ' WHY SHOULD I?"
8. AVOID CHANGE/ MAINTAIN STATUS QUO
9. ALWAYS LOOK FOR A SHORT TERM FIX
10. AVOID POSITIVE PEOPLE

End of an era?

There was a time, the heady days of 2006 and 2007 when Roger Federer had only to enter a tournament to emerge victorious. His opponents took for granted that they had to try for the runner-up position.Federer was the master of all he surveyed.A classical right-hander with a single-handed backhand, he never grunted or snorted while executing his shots.His smooth and silky groundstrokes and the almost impossible angles he created were a treat to watch both for the connoiseur as well as to the uninitiated.He was grace personified on court and his slim build belied the power he could impart to his strokes and serves.

So what, if one of the Slams, the French Open eluded him and continues to elude him till today? Clay was never his favourite surface and on all other surfaces--grass, hardcourts,indoor or outdoor, Roger was The Master.In Wimbledon, which was almost like his fiefdom, it appeared as if he would never ever be beaten.

All was well in Federer's world till an 18 year-old upstart answering to the name of Rafael Nadal burst on to the international tennis circuit in 2005 and knocked out Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the French Open.No big deal was the refrain, Federer was never really comfortable on clay. The upstart went on to win the French Open in 2005 and repeated it year after year in 2006,2007 and 2008.In all these 3 years Federer lost to Nadal in the finals of the French Open and what was amazing was the big gulf in standards on clay between the two, with Nadal proving more and more superior.In the 2008 final, Federer , wonder of wonders lost one set 0-6.

Nadal's rise certainly seemed to affect Federer. In an exhibtion match in Spain in 2007 slated as the 'Battle of Surfaces',Nadal beat Federer again.The peculiarity in this match was that the court was half-clay and half-grass.

Still, the diehard Federer fans and Federer himself believed that on the Wimbledon grass, he was simply peerless.Not for long, his nemesis Rafael Nadal caught up, and how? In the 2006 final he lost to Federer in 4 sets.In 2007, Federer won again but in a hard-fought 5 set battle.Come 2008, and there was a new Wimbledon champion in Rafael Nadal.In what was arguably the greatest Wimbledon final ever and certainly the longest, Nadal won in five sets, the final set margin being 9-7. The myth of Federer's invincibility on grass was broken and it appeared that Federer's confidence also took a huge dent.

Not that Federer's performance on the courts dipped,No, he seemed to develop an inner fear of Nadal.The very presence of Nadal on the other side of the net was enough to defeat Federer, people started whispering.With Nadal not in the way, Federer cruised to the 2008 US Open title defeating Andy Murray in the final.

A new year--2009--The first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, at the end of which Federer was totally shattered. Another five set final with Nadal and a loss yet again--5-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 2-6.

Another epic final where both the palyers matched each other stroke for stroke.Federer displayed his mastery in the first four sets which were split. The strokes from Federer were spectacular moving Nadal from one end of the court to another. Wonder of wonders, Nadal had so mucg power in his legs that he ran all over the court and knocked back everything which Federer hurled at him.When I saw the huge, powerful figure of Nadal hitting back almost everything from any corner of the court with awesome power, the only name I could think of was The Great Retriever.

Federer's spirit appeared broken in the fifth set, almost as if he had resigned to the fact that his best shots could not get the better of Nadal.He appeared to cringe before the towering presence of Nadal.Error after error followed from Federer's racket and soon it was all over--Nadal was the new Australian champion proving that he could beat Federer be it on clay, grass or hardcourt.

At the prize distribution, Federer burst into tears and it was a sad sight to see a man who had ruled the tennis world for years go to pieces before millions of television viewers round the world and spectators in the stadium.

It appears Federer has now developed a fear of Nadal,maybe we can call it Nadalophobia.There is nothing wrong with Federer's game.It is just that his mental strength is gone.His confidence while facing Nadal is virtually non-existent. Can Federer come back and regain his Number 1 ranking? Can he beat Nadal ever again? The heart says 'Perhaps', but the mind firmaly says 'No'.What Federer needs now is someone more than a coach, a mentor or a psychiatrist.Wonders never cease. If Federer wills and he picks a team which can work on strengthening his mind and help rebuild his confidence, who knows there may be another twist in the Federer-Nadal rivalry, which has bettered the ones between Borg-Connors, Borg-McEnroe or Sampras-Agassi.

If it happens, tennis fans all over the world will be ecstatic and understandably so.