Top 4 = 1

I regularly follow 'Ask Steven' column on Cricinfo. His answers on May 26, 09 has something pretty good I thought.

There was a time in Bollywood industry Amitabh Bachhan would fill all slots on Top-10 list and other heroes would start from 11, in cricket that would be Sachin Tendulkar - Only difference from Mr. Bachan is that Mr. Tendulkar's achievement is backed with hard-evidence not just perception.

Here is the question and answer by Steven:

Qst: I often use the search at the bottom of Cricinfo's pages to look at players. I noticed that the top five searches almost always include Sachin Tendulkar's name. Who are the most-searched players on Cricinfo over the years? asked Rohit Sinha from the United States

Ans: I asked Jonathan Hungin, one of Cricinfo's technical wizards, for the answer, and he told me that the 10 names most frequently entered in the player-search box over the last few years have been: "1. Sachin Tendulkar. 2. Tendulkar. 3. Sachin. 4. Any of the first three spelt incorrectly. 5. Dhoni. 6. Ponting. 7. Dravid. 8. Ganguly. 9. Afridi. 10. Imran Khan." So there you have it: Tendulkar the clear winner!

The one that I enjoyed most was 'any of the first three spelt incorrectly'

PS: Anil Bonala said it would be good if my blog posts have some relevant pictures. So, here I start.

Symmo repaid the faith I had

I have never been a great fan of Symmo (Andrew Symonds) and, worse still, developed a great deal of animosity towards him after India's tour to Australia in 2008, but strangely - It is Symmo that I said, to all my friends and colleagues, will win Deccan Chargers the IPL trophy in 2009 and so did he - Thank you Andrew!. (Yes its just not Symmo alone, but his contribution is very vital)

Symmo joined the Chargers late this year and in the very first game he played he sent the ball to all parts of the park - not many runs were made (around 30) but a big statement was made - at least to me. One sensed he is boiling inside, wanting to prove to the world that he still is a potent force. One could see in his eyes and face deep desire to make a telling statement and get that baggy green back on his head (Its a different matter that Aussie selectors did think otherwise).

He has been the 'Bull' that represented Chargers!

As much as I did not like him earlier, I must admit this dislike is more because he was playing against India and it was nothing personal. Deep inside and very next to dislike, there was fear and respect. Feared because I knew he could take the game away with bat in few minutes, feared because every time ball goes near him there could be a run out or a brilliant catch. Respect because he has always been a team man. He would do everything in the book to make his team wins (some times bit more than what's in the book - possibly due to adrenaline and for sure not because its his nature).

On the day of finals, he displayed every bit of the reason for which I feared and respected him. He appeared to be taking the game away from Challengers while batting (got unlucky and got out), fielded ferociously and bowled intelligently enough and the two important wickets that he took, in the end, proved to be the turning point in the match. He did everything in the book to get under the skin of Manish Pandey and Roelf Vd Merve (sure he did much more but I did not have anything concrete to write here).

More than all these, he has been a team man. Did you watch how involved was he when Harmeet was taken for few runs in his first over, how he kept on egging him when he came to bowl after strategic time out. Did you notice that Gilly, Gibbs, Rohit and RP Singh always turned to Symmo whenever they felt something needed to be done to stem the flow.

For a guy who has spent more than a third of his life in Hyderabad, being a loyalist of Chargers is a no brainer. But as far as Symmo - His heroics meant that I am convert now, and for good.

Bravo Chargers - waiting for your victory parade in Hyderabad!

Trust Me Its Trust says a trusted source

I wasn't feeling all that good as I type this. I fall under a category of 'business executives' - 5th least (out of 21) trusted profession (I bet it wont be any different if this survey is done in India too)

In the Gallup's Honesty and Ethics ranking 'Nurses' are at the top and 'telemarketers' are at the bottom



Aptly enough Infosys puts the following as foreword on its FY 08 - 09 Annual Report:

“Once revered financial institutions have fallen from their pedestals, stock markets and financial indices around the world have sunk to previously unimagined lows and there has been an erosion of the very factor that makes the world tick: trust"

What if

What would you have done if you come across this (below) at a junction?

What is the best price? (To buy or sell)

Note: This is not my idea. I read it somewhere and I tried hard to recollect who said this so that I can appropriately credit him/her for this profound thought, but my memory failed me!

[Inserted on May 27, 09 - Seth Godin said this]

What is the best price? (to either buy or sell something):

If you are selling - an amount at which you will not buy that particular thing. Imagine you bought movie tickets of Rs. 50 each for Rs. 250 each and someone comes and offers you Rs. 500 each. If you yourself are willing to pay Rs. 500 to watch the movie, you should not sell. But, if you are not willing to buy at Rs. 500, you should immediately sell. Its not about how much you have spent already, it is about how much are you willing to spend that should decide whether or not to sell.

Vice versa if you are buying.

This applies to a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g!

Ferrari blows first salvo on F1 new cost-cap rules, Renault follows suit

Ferrari has said if the proposed regulations for 2010 will not change, then Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula One World Championship - As I wrote in my previous post, Ferrari is not a loose end and it will be interesting to see what will FIA do now.

Later, Renault followed suit and said it is reconsidering its participating in 2010 season.

Boy-o-boy, its heating up bigtime!

Here are the excerpts of Ferrari's statement:

The Board of Directors also examined developments related to recent decisions taken by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile during an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on 29 April 2009. Although this meeting was originally called only to examine a disciplinary matter, the decisions taken mean that, for the first time ever in Formula One, the 2010 season will see the introduction of two different sets of regulations based on arbitrary technical rules and economic parameters.

The Board considers that if this is the regulatory framework for Formula One in the future, then the reasons underlying Ferrari’s uninterrupted participation in the World Championship over the last 60 years - the only constructor to have taken part ever since its inception in 1950 - would come to a close.

The Board also expressed its disappointment about the methods adopted by the FIA in taking decisions of such a serious nature and its refusal to effectively reach an understanding with constructors and teams. The rules of governance that have contributed to the development of Formula One over the last 25 years have been disregarded, as have the binding contractual obligations between Ferrari and the FIA itself regarding the stability of the regulations. The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of the FOTA’s endeavours to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula One are the priorities for the future. If these indispensable principles are not respected and if the regulations adopted for 2010 will not change, then Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula One World Championship.

Ferrari trusts that its many fans worldwide will understand that this difficult decision is coherent with the Scuderia’s approach to motor sport and to Formula One in particular, always seeking to promote its sporting and technical values. The Chairman of the Board of Directors was mandated to evaluate the most suitable ways and methods to protect the company’s interests.

Here are the excerpts of Renault's statement:

The decision of the Federation International de l’Automobile (FIA) to introduce two sets of Formula One technical regulations for the 2010 Formula One season has caused the Renault Group to reconsider its entry in next year’s FIA Formula One World Championship.

There is frustration that FOTA’s constructive proposals, including major cost saving measures to be adopted progressively between 2009 and 2012, which were carefully constructed by FOTA members, have been completely ignored without any form of consultation by the FIA with the teams.

President of the ING Renault F1 Team, Bernard Rey, commented: “Renault has always considered Formula One as the pinnacle of motor sport and the perfect stage to demonstrate technical excellence. We remain committed to the sport, however we cannot be involved in a championship operating with different sets of rules, and if such rules are put into effect, we will be forced to pull out at the end of this season.”

ING Renault F1 Team Managing Director, Flavio Briatore, commented: “Our aim is to reduce costs while maintaining the high standards that make Formula One one of the most prestigious brands on the market. We want to achieve this in a coordinated manner with the regulatory and commercial bodies, and we refuse to accept unilateral governance handed out by the FIA. If the decisions announced by the World Council on the 29th of April 2009 are not revised, we have no choice but to withdraw from the FIA Formula One World Championship at the end of 2009.”

T20 World Cup Calendar

We are not done with IPL 2nd season and ICC T 20 World cup is just around the corner - It will start on 5th June and will last through 21st June and for guys like me its time to get hooked on to TV, again! (ESPNSTAR network will broadcast matches live in India, sparring us from Mandira Bedi & co).

Here is a calendar that fits into your Outlook (All times are Indian Standard Time which is GMT + 5 1/2 Hrs) (As teams which will go through to Super-8 matches are not known at this time, teams are identified as A1, B2 etc)

Tournament format is not changed from the last edition which India has won:

• Group Stage (4 groups, 3 teams each in a group)
• Super-8 Stage (2 from each group will qualify and will be divided again into 2 groups of 4 teams each)
• Semi Finals (Top-2 teams from each group will play)
• Finals

Groups

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
India	Pakistan	Australia	New Zealand
Bangladesh	England	Sri Lanka	South Africa
Ireland	Netherlands	West Indies	Scotland

Super-8 Stage

Group E	Group F
A1	A2
B2	B1
C1	C2
D2	D1

Semi Finals:

1st Semi Finals - E1 vs F2
2nd Semi Finals - E2 vs F1

Finals is on 21st June and we have Silverstone F1 race also on the same day - Fortunately though race ends at 7 pm India time and T20 Finals starts at 7.30 pm India time.

Most matches start at 6 pm & 10 pm India time and on most days there are two matches - which means little time to sleep, gaalia from wife & mother on match day and from boss next day!

Who do you think will win this time? (I am going with South Africa)

F1 - 2010 budget/cost cap rules

FIA (body that governs Formula 1) has announced new rules on cost cap for 2010. In essence, here is what new rules say:

• As a participating team, you have the option to sign up for cost cap.
• Not signing is also OK but comes with other limitations (explained later)

If you indeed sign-up for cost cap,

• You can not spend more than £40m per annum (Jan 1 - Dec 31)
• £40m per annum is all inclusive but doesn't include expenses incurred on the following:

1. Marketing and hospitality
2. Remuneration for test or race drivers, including any young driver programs
3. Fines or penalties imposed by the FIA
4. Engine costs (for 2010 only)
5. Any expenditure which the team can demonstrate has no influence on its performance in the Championship
6. Dividends (including any tax thereon) paid from profits relating to participation in the Championship

Signing up for cost cap also brings the following additional technical freedom (they say freedom because these are available only to those team that sign-up. Teams that do not sign-up will not have these benefits and this is what I termed as 'limitations' at the beginning of the post)

1. Movable wings, front and rear.
2. An engine which is not subject to a rev limit (and more powerful KERS and four-wheel drive)
3. Unlimited out-of-season track testing with no restrictions on the scale and speed of wind tunnel testing.

The following are the other few changes that apply irrespective you sign-up for cost cap or not:

1. Refuelling during a race will be forbidden in order to save the costs of transporting refuelling equipment and increase the incentive for engine builders to improve fuel economy (to save weight).
2. It was also confirmed that tyre blankets will be banned and that the ban on other tyre-heating devices will be maintained.

Here is my take on these new set of rules:

1. These are not the perfect rules but I will give FIA benefit of trying. Obviously as we get into the season - we will learn more and make refinements to these rules.
2. At a time when new teams are few and far, FIA is desperately trying not to loose any of the existing (they want to limit more Hondas) teams. Thats the real objective behind cost-cap - not those world-saving gospel statements by Max Mosely etc.
3. There has been give-n-take between Ferrari (most vocal opponents of new changes) and FIA. But I would put it this way to Ferrari (or any team opposing) - Why do you want to spend more and make your car less competitive when you can spend less and make your car more competitive? (Remember by signing up you get freedom to innovate around aerodynamics, more powerful engine, more KERS time, more testing. What are you complaining against? - Is it against bringing down the amount of checks you write?)
4. Forbidding refuelling and banning tyre heating devices are the most dubmest ideas I have ever come across - first you say you want to make the sport more competitive and then you say all cars should have same fuel levels (no refuelling in between almost means that all cars will start with such levels of fuel to complete the entire race). Pit stops will now be only tyre change stops - leaving very little for teams to gain places or make an inspired strategic choice (Ross Brawn can go to sleep once race starts or, worse still, he need not come to circuit at all on race day). Banning tyre heating devices will mean slower outer lap and mayhem if weather conditions change - imagine changing to a wet tyre that is not warmed - good luck you drivers!
5. Finance guys - welcome to Formula 1. Yes, cost cap means policing every team on how much it spends to check if they are within limits. F1 teams are large, complex units. Specially so if you are a Ferrari or BMW or Toyota. FIA said it will put together a team to check all teams. Watch out FIA - Finance guys are god damn intelligent, definitely more than the engineers. They can create such complex transactions that you guys will have no clue whatsoever (If you do not believe - Google Enron, CDS, Sub-prime or read the book or watch the film titled 'Smartest guys in the room')
6. Teams will have to communicate one way or the other by May 29, 09 - it will be interesting to see if no team signs-up.
   

Overall, a good move by FIA though there few loose ends to touch up. (Sorry - Ferrari is not a loose end)

Random thoughts

Crowd upsets me big time - irrespective of the situation, place! Crowd = 'That extra individual whom I can't stand'

On my twitter on 29th Apr I left a message - 'Wont be at work tomorrow'. Arun Aakula hits back at me 'As if you work everyday' - Very good one, not only because it made me laugh quite a bit but also because it is true - I don't work everyday! (Uday are you listening?)

@Arun - Notice that it is every-d-a-y. There is also n-i-g-h-t. Was my hit back good? hehehehe

BTW I forgot - Its been a week, Thanks Kimi! Ferrari is finally on the points table. Hopefully with the punishment that McLaren got today (3 race suspension) for 'lie-gate' Ferrari could still be in contention. Pity Hamilton though.