Michael Schumacher finishes in style

The last race of the 2006 Formula One season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, turned out to be an emotional one. Felipe Massa won his home race to give Ferrari a well deserved finish at the top of the podium. Fernando Alonso retained his driver’s title with a well-controlled race. But above all, Michael Schumacher gave us a stunning display of driving by finishing fourth after some disastrous moments beyond his control in the final race of his brilliant career.

It seemed like luck had deserted Schumi when a fuel pressure problem forced him out of the 3rd round of qualifying pushing him down to 10th place on the starting grid. As the race began, Schumacher applied pressure on Fisichella and overtook him in the 9th lap. However, he soon pitted to replace a tyre that was probably damaged by debris left behind by Rosberg’s crash. He fell down to 19th position, but what followed was some superfast, record-setting laps. In due time, he passed Barrichello and with 9 laps remaining, he forced Fisichella to make a mistake and go wide and overtook him.

But immediately he seemed to lose speed and it felt like the fuel pressure problem had kicked in again, but he soon got back upto speed and challenged Raikkonen who did well to block him on one lap. However, Schumi pushed hard again and squeezed his way through the inside as Raikkonen desperately tried to close the small opening between his car and the pit wall. That move right there was proof enough that Schumacher was still at his peak.

One can only wonder what the result would have been had engine trouble not hit Schumi during qualifying. Though not a fitting end to an illustrious career, the race was a fitting end to the 2006 season.

As for Schumi, well, let’s all wish him good luck for his future and thank him for all the wonderful racing that he has treated us to.

Passion for Cinema

Do you get into the nitty-gritty of cinema such as story writing, screenplay, songs and music, acting, direction, special effects, editing…? Do movies mean more to you than just a weekend entertainment? Are you passionate about cinema?

Then get ready to be treated to some amazing insights from other folks who share a similar passion for movies. My friend Oz of Desitrain fame has launched a portal for all of you called Passion for Cinema. And among its contributors is none other than the genius film-maker Anurag Kashyap himself.

Happy Diwali

Here’s wishing all my readers a Happy Diwali and a prosperous New Year.

Savour the delicacies, indulge in the sweets, enjoy the festivities and be safe. Have fun with the firecrackers but try to keep the noise and smoke levels down.

Keep rocking…

Surviving Taliban

No, I don’t live in Afghanistan or anywhere close to a nation run by religious fanatics. In fact I live in Mumbai, a city that’s as cosmopolitan as they come. But even in this crowded city, in one small corner of a bustling suburb, there is a place whose policies are inspired directly by Taliban. That place is my workplace!

I work in an IT company, that too in one of the most technologically challenging and fast growing domains. And like almost all of us in the IT industry, I cannot survive without trolling various technology forums to keep myself updated with the latest developments.

You must be wondering by now that how does this in anyway relate to Taliban?

Well, I like challenges and my company does its best to keep throwing new challenges at me. Here’s how they do it:

1. You cannot send/receive mails to/from yahoo, hotmail, gmail and a gazillion such mail programs from/to my work email. Brilliant I must say! It doesn’t sound that bad right now, but remember this point for later reference.
2. Came to work last week and saw my colleagues discussing something. I thought it must be some client issue. But what do you know? The USB ports on their work machines had been disabled! What the fuck? The hardware team had raided our machines overnight and blocked the ports. Great! So I can’t transfer the documents I had laid my hands on while surfing at home.
3. I don’t have any internet access from work! Holy shit! I pinched myself enough to bruise both my forearms. The last time I checked, I was working in IT and I DON’T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS? Oh wait! I’m sorry, I have limited internet access. I can open Google and Yahoo and any search engine you can think of. Cool! I enter a search term…and wait. FUCK! I can’t open any of the result links. So what do I do with Google and Yahoo? Stare at the screen and wonder what theme Google will have on the next major holiday?
4. Now let’s combine points 1, 2 & 3. I cannot mail any interesting thing I found while trolling the tech forums from home to my work email. I cannot copy it onto my pen-drive and transfer it to my work PC since the USB is disabled. I cannot access those forums from work as we don’t have internet access.

And then I’ll have my seniors telling me during my appraisals that I do not contribute towards knowledge sharing!

Apart from this, we also have a dress code. Employees are supposed to dress in appropriate business attire. No jeans or t-shirts. Now who the hell decides “appropriate”? Is a bright orange or flourescent green shirt acceptable over my dark blue polo t-shirt from Gap just because it’s a shirt? Is a black belt worn with brown formal shoes acceptable? Since when did corduroy become formal wear?

I won’t be surprized if in due they time block guys and girls from emailing each other! Forget that…they might just shutdown emailing altogether. You have to write letters, then take a dozen permissions before you can affix a stamp and mail the letter to the client to report bugs or status. They will have a team to open and read all communication travelling back and forth from the employee to the client. For all you know, the employees will be given huge books and pens or blackboards and chalks to do their daily work. No PCs! Naa rahegi baans, naa bajegi baansuri!

Phew! Are those American troops that I see caught in the traffic jam headed towards my workplace?

10 Reasons why you should leave work at 6:00p.m

I got this in my mail a couple of days back. I found it quite funny as well as insightful and above all, very true (especially point 5)! Here you go:

1. Employment letter stated that working hours finish at 6:00p.m

2. Work is a never-ending process. Even if you stay back till next morning, you will never finish it.

3. Humans are not robots. Even robots/machines need rest to prevent a breakdown.

4. You love your career, but your family is even more important in your life.

5. If you fail in your life, your boss is not going to be the one who gives you a helping hand whereas your family will definitely offer help.

6. You do not want to screw up or make your life miserable because of your job.

7. Monthly salary = Work from 9:00a.m – 6:00p.m

If 6:30p.m = $0.00 + 0 bonus + 0 appreciation + bad health + bad social life + poor family relationship

That equals to: Unproductive employee + performance drop + company reputation drop + increase in retrenchment rate + increase in resignation rate

8. If any person disagrees with the above formulation, we think he/she is a LOSER who has no life, is heartless, doomed, workaholic, etc. He/She deserves the “Best Employee of the Year” award!

9. You don’t give a damn if your boss fires you.

10. For the chinese, remember this “If the house in the East no longer keeps you, then just move to the West house” (apparently in Cantonese its stated as – “Dong Ka Umm Da, Da Sai Ka!”)

What have I been upto?

Some of you must be wondering as to where I have disappeared and what I have been upto? So here’s what has kept me away from blogging for a while:

- I have started taking my drum classes again. It’s been close to 3 years since I last played the drums and it took its toll on my speed and hand-feet coordination. It’s almost like starting all over again. But I’m picking up fast and should soon be upto speed in due time.

- I am in the initial stages of starting a rock band. An old friend who is also a brilliant guitarist floated this idea and it’s moving in a positive direction.

- I was also feeling a bit low after I cut my long locks that had grown to my shoulders in about 9 months time. Everytime I look in the mirror, I hate the short hair.

- I am completely frustrated with my current job and desperately need a change. My organization doesn’t know how to value and retain talent and there has been a slurry of resignations in the past 2 months. My job hunt is warming up too.

So that’s the update from me. I will soon be back to blogging so keep checking for new posts.

Sizzling Sachin

How does God announce his arrival?

He goes about doing his thing as if it’s business as usual.

It was touted as Sachin Tendulkar’s comeback game. After recovering from a shoulder surgery that kept him out for what seemed like ages, today Sachin Tendulkar was at his vintage best – caressing the ball to third man, flicking it off the stumps to square leg and effortlessly launching the cherry into the crowd towards the end of the innings. More importantly, he returned unbeaten with a big hundred scored at almost a run-a-ball.

As always, the little master let his bat do the talking for him by getting his 40th ODI century. That surely won’t stop the detractors from reaching for his throat, but hey, it’s a free world and even the village idiots have the right to voice their opinions right?

Welcome back Sachin!

Lage Raho Munnabhai: Movie mein thaa dum

Yeh part 2 kya hota hai bhai?

Part 2 bole to, part 1 se better hota hai Mamu!

Munnabhai MBBS brought about a lot of freshness and set a benchmark. As is always the case, part 2 got a lot of pre-release attention and hype that actually made you wonder if it would even be half as good as part 1.

As the movie starts, a smile starts appearing on your face and stays on through the end of the movie. Hirani does a great job in keeping it simple and honest. The viewer is entertained with interesting scenes and the complete absence of any dull moment. In the middle portions, just when Hirani gets tears out of your eyes (and not through laughter), it seems like the movie might be slipping, but he gets it back on track with the snap of a finger.

Boman Irani as always gives a 110% in his performances and is a class act as Lucky Singh the sardar.

Arshad Warsi is as natural is you can get when it comes to playing Circuit. At times it makes me wonder if he is acting or he is just being himself! Bole to ekdum hit!

Sanjay Dutt is the only person who can fit the bill of Munnabhai – the big burly ruffian with a heart of gold.

And if you want to get lessons in acting, look no further. Vidya Balan is here! Here is a girl who is not just another pretty-face. Here is an ACTOR! Her every dialog is punctuated by her eyes and body.

But the show-stealer for me was baapuji himself. Dilip Prabhawalkar does an amazing job playing Gandhi. He helps maintain the aura of the Father of the Nation and at the same time giving him a common man feel that the viewers can relate to. More simply stated he gives Gandhi a fatherly feel rather than the awe-inspiring feel that all other movies portray. Hats off to Hirani for utilizing this brilliant actor.

Another person who I feel needs a mention is Jimmy Shergill. I believe its high-time that this actor gets roles that have more substance. He shines even in the small role he has in this movie.

The music in the movie goes with the flow and stands out not for it’s intricacies but for being simple and sticking to the entire feel-good effect of the movie.

Overall Hirani does a great job in making a feel-good movie. Ekdum Gandhigiri se movie banayela hai bhai. Hindi me bole to the movie has been made with honesty. Especially with such crap as KANK doing well at the box-office, this movie definitely deserves a rating of A minus. To think of it, the movie also manages to deliver a strong social message without looking like a documentary!

Arre Mamu once more!

Rock is Noise Pollution

So often we come across “music aficionados” (I’ll refer to them as MA through this article) who always know anything and everything about music. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, these conversations are quite intriguing and enlightening. I had one such conversation with a MA.

Dinner was done, people were sitting and enjoying dessert and our MA was charged up. He starts off quoting some great singers, giving details of their songs, the music, the ragas used, lot of trivia about the song, singer and music director, etc. Folks were mesmerized by the abundance of information that this MA’s head could hold and recall at the press of a button. There was an occasional input from someone or the other, but mostly the response was just of tacit approval and appreciation.

I barely had any response because the MA was talking only about Hindi and Marathi music. Yes, I listen to a lot of Hindi music and occasionally some Marathi stuff too, and I know who Lata Mangeshkar or Kishore Kumar is, but that’s about it. MA was Buddha delivering his sermons under the Bodhi tree while I was a starry-eyed disciple.

Things were going good until MA decided to enter the touchy territory of Pop and Rock music. At this point, MA started to take liberties in defining music itself. It was time for starry-eyed, long-haired, black-tee-clad disciple (i.e. me) to shine and teach the master some lessons. Here is what followed…

MA: …and this pop and rock is crap. It can’t be called music. That Jackson fellow just keeps shouting “oww” and grabs his crotch as if he has ants in his pants. And those rock guys make so much noise and just scream out loud.

me: Jackson is a multi-platinum artist! And what you call noise is distortion. It’s an effect to go with the intensity of the song.

MA: Why do you need intensity in music? Listen to how melodious Lata sounds even at this age. (He always refers to these great singers by their first names as if he was their langotiya yaar (underwear friend i.e. childhood friend))

me: She sounds like Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler in Veer Zaara! (Ha ha! Got you there didn’t I buster? Do you call a rocker bad now or good? Coz you are definitely not going call Lata bad! me:1 MA:0)

MA: (neglecting my previous statement) They just jump and run around on the stage screaming and making noise.

me: You expect a rock band to sit cross-legged and perform? How do you think “Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh” would sound if Lata didi jumped around the stage? Wouldn’t look good right? So you have to give a performance that matches the genre of music.

MA: Are you trying to say Lata is not good?
me: Hell no! I respect her and she is hands down an amazing singer. But that doesn’t mean that other singers are not good.

MA: Rock and pop stars are not singers…it is not music!

me: What IS music?

MA:  ummmm….errrr….songs that have melodies and rhythm.

me: The black metal band Children of Bodom uses keyboard melodies and rhythm! (me:2 MA:0)

MA: (after a long pause) I mean…uhhh…well…they don’t use ragas and don’t have control over their voices like Lata, Asha, Kishore, Rafi…

me: You are kidding me right?? Heard about chords, keys, modes?

MA: (oozing sarcasm) Right! Rock bands use notes and stuff to create noise.

me: Man! Do you even know how hard it is to actually co-ordinate the lead, rhythm and bass guitars with the drums? It f——-riggin (checking myself as parents are around) takes years of practice!

MA: But…

(I am in high gear and cut him off and continue)

me: Do you know how much stamina it takes to play a 2-3 hour show shredding your guitar, plucking those bass strings and pounding the drums at speeds reaching 200+ bpm (beats per min) at times? Do you know how difficult it is for the singer to keep jumping around and still having enough breath to sing in tune? I’m sure Lata didi can’t do that and most importantly, I wouldn’t want her doing that either. She is a great singer…possibly the greatest, but she is not a rockstar. Period! That doesn’t mean she is not good. She is good at what she does and rockstars are good at what they do. You definitely wouldn’t want to hear Alanis Morissette singing “Didi Tera Dewar Deewana”, do you??

MA: …ummmm….

(Cut!!)

me: Learn to appreciate all forms of music. You love the Hindi oldies…more power to you. But that doesn’t give you any liberty to criticize other music forms and musicians. I played drums and bass in a rock band and I know how many hours of practice I put in to go and give my best on stage. You won’t find me sitting and listening to Hindi songs, but you won’t find me criticizing them either. Because I love music! And to truly love, appreciate and enjoy music, you need to open up your mind and free it from your biases. It’s only then that you can truly call yourself a music aficionado. I’m done!

An eerie silence was followed by an approving nod from MA and smiles and murmurs from the other folks present out there. I winked at my brother as the topic shifted to cricket and I took a backseat.

ROCK ON!!!

Andre Agassi bids adieu to Tennis

On Sunday, Andre Agassi played the last match of his illustrious tennis career when he lost in the 3rd round of the U.S. Open to Benjamin Becker.

His groundstrokes were as powerful as ever but in place of that faint smile and that peppiness around the court, you could often see Agassi wince after serving and pull up short instead of reaching out for that passing shot. He was clearly struggling due to his injury but he was not going to go down without a fight.

Agassi has always been a fighter, right from the days of being a long-haired, denim clad youngster out to have fun to the present day eight Grand Slam winning, shaven headed, tennis-white clad champion. He did not have the booming serve of Ivanesevic nor the agility of Becker or the speed of Chang. He was not uber-talented like Sampras or Federer. All he had was powerful groundstrokes, the best service return and a lot of fight! And it is this that helped Agassi become only the fifth player to have won all the Grand Slams.

Agassi has been my favorite tennis player, not for his talent but for his sheer determination. He reached the top in an era that was dominated by the big servers and bore a lot of semblance to my other favorite – Ivan Lendl.

I watched the first set of his final match and when he lost it to a double fault; I was almost in tears and could sense that this was going to be the end. Half-way through the second set, I just couldn’t watch it anymore and though I may never get a chance to see him play again, I believe I made a good choice by turning off the match as I am sure that I would not have been able to control my tears at the end.

Thank you for treating us to some of the most colorful, vibrant and mesmerizing tennis ever. Take a bow Andre!

Independence Rock 2006: Indian Rock becomes legal

It was that time of the year again for the rock and metal fans to celebrate Indian Independence in their own special way. A baby known as Independence Rock (better known as I-Rock) was born in 1986 for the rockers of Mumbai to come together and treat themselves to some good old rock n’ roll. Over the years, rock music has undergone a lot of changes and the Indian rock scene has adapted and matured over the years.

Till about a decade ago, the rock scene in India comprised of only a handful of musicians and bands – Gary Lawyer, Indus Creed, Parikrama, Brahma, Agni and Pentagram. However, the introduction of a contest at Independence Rock along with the boom in music channels and globalization of the Indian market has seen a sudden rise in the number of rock bands. Bands are appearing not only from the big cities like Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore but also from far off places like Guwahati and conservative cities like Pune.

The current breed of rock bands in India span the entire spectrum of rock from pure rock n’ roll to alternative to melodic metal to hardcore death metal. The musical influences are as varied as the genres and include Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Children of Bodom, Slayer, Slipknot, Rage Against The Machine and many more.

However the most impressive fact is that the focus of these bands has changed from just performing cover versions of songs to performing their original numbers. This change in focus has put the Indian rock scene in high gear allowing the bands to actually express themselves and be creative. The biggest indication that the rock scene has matured in India is the fact that the crowd now sings along with the originals compositions of the local bands and prefers the bands performing their originals rather than playing covers.

Some of the current bands that have impressed me are: Sceptre, Zero, Pin Drop Violence, Human Abstract, Demonic Resurrection (Mumbai), Brute Force (Pune), Them Clones, Orange Street (Delhi), Clockwork Orange (Bangalore), Evergreen (Cochin), Faith (Guwahati)

This year too, I made it a point to attend I-Rock. Day 1 featured a contest between 6 bands:

1. Nemesis kicked off the show with an awesome rendition of Iron Maiden’s “Fear of the Dark” followed by their originals whose names I didn’t quite catch. They finished their set with a cover of Megadeth’s “Hangar 18”.
2. Next up was Evergreen who performed a set of 3 originals. The lead singer had a great voice and their basslines rocked. Their performance was quiet tight but seemed to lack a certain punch.
3. Brute Force from Pune took the stage next. This hardcore metal band performed like a well-oiled machine – heavily distorted guitars, some amazing shredding, a growling bass and brilliant double-bass drumming. Their originals kicked some serious ass. Their rendition of Testament’s “Return To Serenity” (a favorite of mine) was brilliant. They finished their set with Megadeth’s “Holy Wars” (another favorite of mine).
4. Next up were Split from Mumbai. They performed a long 5 or 6 song set that included two covers – one by Marilyn Manson and one by RATM. This band has some of the best musicians in Mumbai, but they didn’t seem to have that chemistry that would set the band apart. The joke of the evening was that the fifth band – IIIrd Sovereign – had mistaken the contest day as the next day and hence was unable to make it.
5. The final band to take the stage was Faith from Guwahati. They started off with an original and it was a welcome change to hear some 70s style rock in an evening dominated by hard-hitting, bone-crunching metal and alternative performances. They then performed Deep Purple’s “Burn” and completely blew the crowd away. Another brilliant original was followed by a marvelous rendition of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”. They already had the crowd begging for more and they obliged by performing Van Halen’s “Jump”. This band was the most impressive in terms of talent and stage presence. The lead singer hit the high notes with ease, at times reaching frequencies only audible to dogs! The two guitarists were brilliant and the bassist played some killer slap bass on their originals. The drummer was excellent on both the ultra-fast as well as the groovy tracks. The star of course was the keyboard player who rocked on the solo pieces of Highway Star and Jump.

The contest was jointly won by Faith and Brute Force. The statement of the evening was made by Farhad Wadia, one of the main organizers of the show. He said, “I-Rock turns 21 today and can legally get drunk”. I don’t know about the others, but I was definitely on a high that night, thanks to the wonderful live performances by some of the best musicians from around the country.

Long live Indian Rock!

What’s the big deal about Hitler’s Cross?

Okay, so a new restaurant opened in Mumbai and they named it Hitler’s Cross. So what’s the big deal about it? Why is everyone creating a ruckus over it? Why is everyone just jumping on the bandwagon to condemn it?

Before getting into any further discussion, let’s get one thing straight. I completely condemn the Jewish genocide committed by Hitler and his Nazi regiment. But it’s high time that we look at things a little more objectively. It seems like most of the posts and news items about this restaurant are just out there to show how righteous we all are. Well, let’s get to those points one-by-one.

First point is that it infuriated the Jews. Ok, point taken. But hey, what about those countless bars and pubs all over US, Europe and Australia that everyone knows are hangout places for Neo-Nazi elements? Why isn’t anyone taking any action against them? Why aren’t they being discussed in the media?

Let’s take another fact into consideration related to the first point itself. How big is the Jewish population in India? It’s definitely not as big as in the western world. Now the important question – what is the strength of Neo-Nazi population in India? I think it would be safe to say ZERO! And how big is the Neo-Nazi population in US, Europe? More than the population of Mumbai for sure! So where the Jews should feel threatened and where should people start condemning the hangouts? This is just a simple restaurant!

Second point that some idiots raised was about starting a restaurant mocking Bal Thackeray’s name and some blogger wrote “Will the Shiv Sena now take arms against the restaurant and burn it down because it hurts the sensibilities of a certain community. I don’t think so.” To begin with, why should you drag Shiv Sena into everything? Are you insane? Do you even know that Shiv Sena openly supports the cause of the Hindu community and not Jews? That’s a totally senseless argument.

And third point. You are all so concerned about the sentiments of the Jewish community being hurt just because someone used Hitler’s name for their restaurant and created a theme based on him. But let me ask you folks, where were you when one M F Hussain painted a canvas of Hindu Goddess Saraswati depicting her in the nude? I am sure most of you were screaming hoarse in support of him saying its ART!

Let’s just give up the double standards and talk some sense. It is just a name of a restaurant. They are in no way deifying Hitler or supporting Nazi beliefs. The Nazis used the Swastika as a representation of their core beliefs. However, I believe you all know that the Swastika is an extremely sacred Hindu symbol. So if I start sporting a big Swastika on my car or paint it on my house during some auspicious occasion, would I be labeled as a Nazi supporter and would I be hurting the sentiments of the Jews?

And the last point. Someone said “Look to what Jews are doing TODAY to the innocent people in Lebanon” and in response a person said “Please be region specific and not religion specific! Is it fair enough to target an entire community due to the wrong doings by some people? Whatever the case might be, you never say that ‘Christians’ invaded Iraq do you? You say USA did! Do you notice the difference?” To this second person, I would like to ask – why do you say Nazis and not Germans? And in that case, you should still be condemning the Germans right? Shouldn’t Auschwitz be razed to the ground instead of making it a memorial where thousands of visitors throng each year? Isn’t that more hurtful to the Jewish sentiments that a place where millions of Jews were exterminated is kept for public display?

It’s just a restaurant name in a neutral country. Flame all you want on my post. But it’s just a name.

Why I call myself FenderBender?

Many friends and readers on my blog asked me one or all of these questions – “What does FenderBender mean?” or “Why do you call yourself FenderBender?” or “Have you had any accident that you always remember?”

Let me answer the third question first. Well, according to Merriam-Webster, here is the definition of Fender Bender: A minor automobile accident

But my answer is no, I have not had any accident and has got nothing to do with me using this screen-name. However, I am crazy about cars and driving, so in some weird manner, yes, it does relate to my personality.

The real reason though has got something to do with my other passion – music. When we say guitars, the first name that comes to our mind is Fender – the guitar manufacturer who gave the world the first solid body electric guitar. What’s that got to do with me? I am one lucky bastard who happens to own and play a Fender bass guitar. There’s half the mystery solved.

Now let’s move to the second part. Bending is a technique used in guitar playing where you either push the string up or down to change the pitch of the note. It’s a fun thing to do and can make your guitar/bass scream. And I like to bend. Put together Fender and me i.e. the bender, and voila! You got FenderBender!

England awarded Test match win

The latest news about the 4th Test match between England and Pakistan is that Pakistan has forfeited the match and England have been awarded a win. According to the laws of cricket, this is a correct decision in the event of Pakistan refusing to take the field after the tea-break on the fourth days play.

However, this incident has completely marred the entire series and the spirit of cricket in general. It is rather shameful that a match in which Pakistan has had an upper hand since the very first ball that was bowled, should be lost in such a manner. England, though in a good position, were still far from posting a challenging target for the Pakistani batsmen who seem to be in great touch – especially Mohammed Yousuf.

The way I see it is that no team would wait to lose the series and then tamper with the ball in a game that they were headed to win comfortably. At this point of time and from the way the match has progressed, I just refuse to accept that Pakistan tampered with the ball. No bloody way!

Is it just me, or do you see a pattern here? Good ol’ Darrell Hair is almost always the instigator of a controversy involving Asian cricket teams.

Hope the truth of the matter becomes clear as soon as possible. Seems like a bad week for cricket with South Africa pulling out of the tri-series in Sri Lanka and the series eventually being washed out by rains and now the resurgence of a ball tampering controversy.

Pakistan caught in ball tampering controversy…again!

With England trying to save the 4th and Final Test match, controversy struck in the afternoon session. At the end of the 56th over, umpire Darrell Hair went over to his colleague and the two seemed to discuss the condition of the ball. They then asked for a box of balls to replace the current ball. It seemed a routine change till Darrell Hair indicated a 5-run penalty awarded to England. This upset Inzamam-ul-Haq considerably as it directly hinted at ball tampering by Pakistan.

After the tea-break, the umpires and the English batsmen walked out on the field but the Pakistan team refused to take the field. The umpires took off the bails to indicate end of play and left the field. After some meetings, the Pakistani players appeared on the field. However, the umpires now refused to take the field and the players left the field again.

I don’t think this match is going to restart. No one knows for sure as to what exactly materialized out there in the middle, but whatever happened, it is definitely a shameful incident for the game of cricket. Keep checking to watch the story as it develops…