Uncorck the Champagne!!

Better late than never!

Gotta Hand it to Ganguly

His place in the side is under scrutiny. Yuvraj is breathing down his neck. Laxman has already top scored in the first innings and taken the pressure off himself. India has lost 3 wickets and there is more than a day left to get about a 100 runs. So even if Ganguly had dug his heels in and played a dour innings, no one would have faulted him.

And yet, he is the one showing positive intent even as Sachin Tendulkar tries his best to resemble a statue. Ganguly is cantering along at a strike rate of 85, even as Sachin struggles to keep it in the 30s. Ganguly has clearly learnt the lessons of shutting down the hatches in Bangalore, and other places.

With both Laxman and Ganguly having done so well, Yuvraj will have to cool his heels a bit longer.

In Defence of Shivam Vij

Nitin Pai at The Acorn has launched a series of blistering attacks on Shivam's latest article in Tehelka. I find that very unfair. Nitin is clearly guilty of shooting the messenger. If he has issues with the article, he should direct his attacks towards Avinash Kumar, a development worker mentioned in Shivam's article whose "unpublished report" is available here. Shivam's article is paraphrased reproduction of Avinash's article. Ideally, one would have expected Tehelka to include Avinash Kumar's name in the byline, but although they haven't, the ideas and the presentation of the statistics (selective or otherwise) are clearly his doing. Nitin should stop attacking poor Shivam.

Supermodels and Finance Ministers

Doesn't it seem like Giselle Bundchen knows more about exchange rates than Chidamabaram?.