I AM A STUPID COMMON INDIAN

So shifting my focus away from cricket , as our Indian team is busy packing their bags , i thought of writing this post . I come from a suburb in Chennai which is almost like hell called PORUR . Why i call this place a hell because , standing to cross this road from one end to another needs lots of skill , one must be good at extreme sport ! , a good runner , should have good eyes , and to add on you must be half deaf !!( so you do not hear the blaring horn of any vehicle ) .

This is how my day starts
7:15 - Start my bike and reach "THE HELL"
after that
7:20
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7:27 : i still keep waiting on one side of the road and watch the buses go by on the other side !!

Finally a traffic police enters from no where and puts his long hand (white gloved --- looks to be not washed for a very long time !!) the vehicles come to a halt , then comes the action scene .

Usain Bolt can be challenged to run here sure he will not clock 9.69 seconds here, people around me start running for no reason , so no other go i have to burn my calories , run for a few yards and reach the other side of the road . Once when i turned back and saw the path i came it looked like a war field !

So you may be wondering what i do in those 7 minutes ( 7:20 - 7:27 ) , have a chat with the guy who puts his hand , the commander in chief ( traffic police ) poor guy indeed he gets the blame when a traffic choke occurs . Last week was utter chaos , when it rains in this part of the world , two eyes are not enough to take care of oneself . One has to show some jumping skills in order that he finds a safe landing spot else he lands himself into a pool of water .

I once suggested an idea to the traffic police , this was that , i asked why not an overhead crossing structure can be built so it helps people to cross easily . He smiled at me and walked off . The same time the next day i was shocked to see a structure , no it was not the overhead crossing that was built instead a huge hoarding in the middle of the road welcoming a very famous politician for an inaugural function(i should cross the road tomorrow alive!!) . The same traffic police smiled at me again and said , eppudi irukka !!

So i think some day the overhead crossing structure comes up , so that i watch from there all the vehicles go below me . Hah , will be great indeed .

You may be wondering will these things happen , i think this way because
I AM A STUPID COMMON INDIAN !!!
-dialogue courtesy A WEDNESDAY

WHO ARE DUCKWORTH AND LEWIS ??

I was really interested in writing this post , but i did not get a right event to describe the non understandable people Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis . Yes these two were the kings who devised the D/L method , which not even a greatest cricket follower or king commentator say Tony Greig can understand .


It was a pity that Yesterday`s (28.9.09) match between India and Australia was abandoned due to thunder storms . I was following the text commentary in Cricinfo , where the calculations started for the D/L method , before the watch was officially called off . If India had to bat again given the conditions were good and rain stopped , India had to chase down 166 in 20 overs .

I was puzzled on looking at those numbers , this is what complexity can do to you ! Luckily it rained and the match was called off . So what is this D/ L method all about , i did a small search and found out these .

The essence of the D/L method is 'resources'. Each team is taken to have two 'resources' to use to make as many runs as possible: the number of overs they have to receive; and the number of wickets they have in hand. At any point in any , a team's ability to score more runs depends on the combination of these two resources. Looking at historical scores, there is a very close correspondence between the availability of these resources and a team's final score, a correspondence which D/L exploits.

Using a published table which gives the percentage of these combined resources remaining for any number of overs (or, more accurately, balls) left and wickets lost, the target score can be adjusted up or down to reflect the loss of resources to one or both teams when a match is shortened one or more times. This percentage is then used to calculate a target (sometimes called a 'par score') that is usually a fractional number of runs. If the second team passes the target then the second team is taken to have won the match; if the match ends when the second team has exactly met (but not passed) the target (rounded down to the next integer then the match is taken to be a tie.

The D/L method is relatively simple to apply, but requires a published reference table and some simple mathematical calculations. As with most non-trivial statistical derivations, however, the D/L method can produce results that are somewhat guessable, and the announcement of the derived target score can provoke a good deal of second-guessing and discussion amongst the crowd at the cricket ground. This can also be seen as one of the method's successes, adding interest to a "slow" rain-affected day of play.

Applied to 50 over matches, each team has to face at least 20 overs before D/L can decide the game. In twenty20 games, each side has to face at least 5 overs.

	Wickets lost
Overs left	0	2	5	7	9
50	100.0	83.8	49.5	26.5	7.6
40	90.3	77.6	48.3	26.4	7.6
30	77.1	68.2	45.7	26.2	7.6
25	68.7	61.8	43.4	25.9	7.6
20	58.9	54.0	40.0	25.2	7.6
10	34.1	32.5	27.5	20.6	7.5
5	18.4	17.9	16.4	14.0	7.0

Reading the table

The single table applies to all lengths of one-day matches from 50 overs-per-side downwards. Because this length of match is by far the most common, the resources listed in the table are expressed as percentages of those available at the start of a 50-over innings. Thus when there are 50 overs still to be received and no wickets have been lost, the resource percentage available is 100%. A 40-over innings starts with a resource percentage of 90.3% relative to a 50 over innings. An innings shortened to 25-overs before it starts commences with a resource percentage of 68.7% relative to 50-over innings. (Although such innings have only half the overs of a 50-over innings they have all 10 wickets and so have much more than half the resources.)

In order to determine the correct resource percentage the batting side has remaining at any stage of its innings, the number of overs left must be identified. This number of overs left, in conjunction with the number of wickets lost, is then used to read the resource percentage remaining from the table.

For example, suppose that after 20 out of 50 overs a team have lost 2 wickets. They have 30 overs left. From the table you will see that the resource percentage remaining is 68.2%.

Suppose now that there is an interruption in play and 10 overs are lost from the innings. When play can resume there are only 20 overs left but there are still, of course, 2 wickets down, and the table now tells us that the resource percentage remaining is 54.0%. Thus the shortening of the innings has caused the team to lose a resource percentage of 68.2 - 54.0 = 14.2%.

Having started with a resource percentage of 100% and lost 14.2%, then if they complete their innings with no further loss of overs, they will have had a resource percentage available for their innings of 100 - 14.2 = 85.8%.

My god , i did not think cricket was such a complicated game . Cricket still needs a better system to manage rain affected matches and in a way common man can understand that . Till that happens one can pray that rain does not play spoil sport !!

Champs Trophy --- India VS Pakistan

This is one of the most fiercest rivalries of cricket . An encounter between India and Pakistan makes people to finish their jobs soon , or leave the work what they are currently doing and make them glued to their television sets . This rivalry started way back in Sharjah when Javed Miandad scored a last ball six of Chetan Sharma to ensure a win for Pakistan . Till date the intensity continues and a win for either teams makes sure that the entire nation celebrates .

India held the upperhand by beating Pakistan in all major matches of ICC World Cup , but it lost the last time when they met in the Champions Trophy last time . So September 26 was a red letter day for both the cricketing giants as they met after a gap of fourteen months . India received a serious blow by missing the services of Yuvraj Singh , who injured his finger during the practice . Pakistan started playing mind games , where the Indians have been a victim on many occasion , stating that the team looked vulnerable without Yuvraj . True it was . Young Mohammed Ameer of Pakistan openly said that Tendulkar would be his target . These sort of statements made sure that Pakistan held an upper hand even before the match had begun.

So it all boiled down to the bull ring at the Centurion . This was the very same venue where India thrashed Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup , in which Sachin Tendulkar played a stellar knock of 97 . Pakistan Captain who returned from an injury commented that he would be happy if he would play a similar knock for his country .

M.S.Dhoni who is always lucky with the tosses was not to be this time , as his counterpart won the toss and decided to bat .
The pitch was flat and as it was a day night encounter , the sun was baking down . Pakistan started briskly , but soon lost its way . They were tottering for 60 by giving away three wickets .

This was the time Dhoni missed the ploy of not bringing Harbhajan , instead he tossed the ball to Virat Kohli , who bowled gentle medium pace . The flow of runs dried but this ensured , the pakistani pair of Shoaib Malik and Mohammed Yousuf settled and got their eye in .

Shoaib Malik is a big game player , here again he proved his mettle . The kind of acceleration he showed in the middle overs shocked me . Dhoni was clearly a bowler short , the inexperience of the bowlers were clearly seen as they were bowling too short and wide , but my greatest shock was Harbhajan Singh , he looked like a bowler who forgot bowling his off - spin . Better luck next time Bhajji , you are one of my best cricketers , but this was not your day really .


Mohammed Yousuf played second fiddle to Malik , but ensured the flow of boundaries . There were too many short balls as i had mentioned above and they were cut with disdain , Malik reached his century and it was one of the memorable one day innings you can see .

India pulled things back by taking wickets during the batting powerplay but the damage was already done , Pakistan set a mammoth 303 , for India to chase , a daunting but a possible target.

Mohammed Ameer who looks like a school boy lived up to his words , he picked up Sachin Tendulkar , a priceless moment of this kid`s career .
Gambhir counter attacked , free hits sailed over the ropes , but a moment of madness cost his wicket . He backed up a lot and found his stumps shattered by a direct hit from Younis Khan .

This was the moment i switched off my television and walked off . Dravid as always was struggling as he saw men come in and walk out . Suresh Raina can be called unlucky as he was given leg before where the ball had taken a clear edge before striking the pads .

My friend messaged me , it was half past one , saying that India lost badly . Yes it was acceptable , India did lose badly . There were no positives to carry forward to the next game and it was a day to forget for the Indian bowlers really .

So today ( 28 .9 . 09 ) India face the ever challenging Aussies .Dhoni has indicated he will be going with 5 bowlers , a nice ploy given the bowling should click !! Yusuf Pathan looks like a man who has forgotten to play cricket , it is good on Dhoni`s part by giving him the confidence and waiting for him to deliver . The problem is that he should deliver at the earliest else India will be packing their bags and watching the rest of the tournament in their respective drawing rooms !

ARCANE QUIZ - ROUND 3 - LONG VISUAL CONNECT

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