Predictions 2.0

Second round of matches - if you think it is the third round - collaboration is something that you want to discuss in your next leadership status. For those who are not in the know - the matches were pushed last week because calendars of some people became strangely and unreasonably busy. But, let's get to the main business:

a. Vandals vs. Challengers: Vandals should probably win this one. Challengers slammed a lot of runs in their last match but against a nothing bowling attack. It should be difficult this time around. Given that Challengers lack depth in all three the departments - should be a good start to the day for the Vandals (remember they are playing two games as are Challengers). It has been rumored that Craydit has been very unhappy with Byra's leadership in the one match and Craydit himself wants to get on the field as a captain. Just one advice - having a non playing captain is probably worse than choosing a woeful side.

b. Intimidators vs. Raptors: Interesting match up. Intimidators might win this one as well though. They are confident coming back from the win in the first round and the importance of players who can field cannot be overstated in any form of cricket - which they have (compared to the other team, of course). The Raptors will again be heavily dependent on See-na, Takla and Betaal. If Intimidators are able to take care of See-na's bowling they should be fine. The news from the dugout is that Einstein has been very encouraged to see Betaal cheerleading other players and he has 'earmarked' him for future 'mentor' roles in the team. Again one advice - don't take until round 5 to decide that because you might not play the playoffs but that might be a good thing for the players welfare.

c. Challengers vs. Ravens: Easiest match to predict. Three reasons: One, Challengers must have come off a defeat from their earlier match in the day. It is easier to defeat the already defeated by any measure of cricketing standards. Second, not sure how the leadership heavy team can play two matches in the sun. Most likely they will be ready give away their wickets while batting or ready to give away the runs while bowling, whichever proves to be the fastest way to lose. Third, Ravens' leadership had been in an "Engage and Inspire" mode for the last two weeks. It seems they are ready for all round sledging with the occasional cricketing help from Mansi, Aksar, Padega and Chota Shane.

d. Supernova vs. Vandals: Should be a good one, isn't it? I will change tack on this one from my previous stance on Supernova. They should win this - Hey Ram was in solid form last time and he should be able to do it for Supernova. It is also Vandal's second match which will make it harder for them. Vindaloo has to actually play cricket if they are to win this one which seems unlikely. Plus I hear Vandals will be missing their important bowler - Pupte.

So, lets watch!! Sorry, for the last minute update and I think I must bring up 'manage productivity' to my next leadership status!

2/3 on first Predictions....Not Bad eh!

ACL had a decent start then. One tight game, two close games – it was a good advertisement for ACL. It just makes you wonder if Lalit Modi had all this planned out! Back to the action though and let’s get on with what really happened on the field:

a.       Intimidators vs. Challengers: For Intimidators Damru scored big ably supported by BR Hills. Not only did Damru bat, he bowled as well. After Intimidators had scored almost 150 it was always going to be a matter of time before the Challengers’ batsmen perished trying the big shots. However, if there was an award for the worst bowling performance of the season – we got two strong nominations already. Going by the looks of it, they are sure to put in more such award winning performances!

b.      Supernova vs. Ravens: Ravens lost because of two reasons. First, they forgot to bring their prime competency to the game – which is as you know is sledging – and suffered an easy defeat. It is not all their fault though as Lalit had smartly got CM to officiate which made it terribly hard for Ravens’ to sledge freely. Second, they let off Hey Ram and paid the price. Curiously Another Bun quietly hid himself at long on. While Kallizaaban did attack the opposition (and massaged them back by dropping catches), Another Bun was happy sledging his own players.

c.       Vandals vs. Raptors: Raptors got the strategy wrong. They did not send in Betaal alongwith Takla at the top of the order. Raptors played as if they thought a 50 would be a good score. By the time Betaal joined Takla (and both excited themselves enough to play a few shots) any hopes of a decent score had already vanished and it was always going to be tough to defend. Vandals played exactly like an over – confident Indian team against Bangladesh and it required 58 balls to chase it down with half the side out. Vindaloo as usual was seen giving plenty of moral support, free advice and unwanted aggression without doing anything with the bat or ball.

Now that the first round it is back to the drawing board for some teams while other teams who have scraped might do them a favour by going back to their drawing boards as well. Let’s see what happens - will be back for Friday morning predictions!

(P.S.:

Raptors were seen wearing Yellow jerseys with an outline of a lizard on the front. I am sure they would have started out with Raptors but then would have broken it down to its principal components to make it a lizard. Can someone tell them that the time spent in getting weird jerseys might actually be better spent in practicing cricket?

Pyscat was emotional charged after registering the first win. I knew it – was the emotion. Firstly, ‘I knew it’ has already been patented by someone. Secondly, do you know that Supernova has as much chance of winning the ACL as N. Srinivisan resigning from BCCI office on moral grounds?

Craydit and Gladrags were conspicuous by their absence. Gladrags it seems wants to distance himself from the ‘sledging’ team. Someone reminded him that as a ‘leader’ he cannot condone these things. We might see him in an avatar of quiet sporting personality in the coming matches which would be interesting. Craydit for all purposes has resigned himself to the fate that in all certainty his team is doomed.

As you know ACL was also – I am a little emotional myself – ‘Inaugurated’. Given the massive importance of the event in the history of mankind it just made so much sense. I hear that multiple leaders blessed the ACL and encouraged the players in the presence of all the teams - represented only by either the owners/icon players. We might be receiving CDs of it in the coming weeks to have a piece of the history for ourselves.)

Round 1: Predictions

Match day! Predicting the outcome of the first 20% of matches (excluding the knockout stages) in any tournament involving 6 teams is always tricky. This calls for expertise and using the sophisticated technique of rolling the dice, here are my predictions:

      

     a. Intimidators vs. Challengers: This is going to be the closest match though an unexciting one. With both teams lacking good players and having a lot of unnecessary leadership, the outcome will be dependent largely on whether Byra plays better than BR Hills. I will go with Intimidators on this one though. With a lot of players who can field and bowl, they should surely win by a wicket or by a run.

b. Supernova vs. Ravens:  Supernovas are a team which is obsessed with maintaining the heritage and consequently they inherited players past their prime. With all round sledging capability of Ravens combined with a couple of good players in their prime they should win this contest. This is the best game to watch with Hey Ram’s cricketing skills and Another Bun’s/Kallizzaban’s different set of skills on display.

c. Raptors vs. Vandals: This match is between See-na vs. Vandals. If See-na fails, Vandals win. If See-na clicks and is supported by Takla and Betaal, then it could be a content. I am predicting a Vandals victory as it is very rare for a player to click both while batting and bowling which See-na has to do for this match to be a contest.

I will be back with post match debrief. Until then, bye!

Latest from the teams!

As you must have seen, an official ACL blog has come out with the explicit (read superficial) intention to communicate official (read censored) updates and messages. Given that bulk of the ACL machinations happen behind closed doors or private discussions it is no surprise that no official updates have made their way to the official blog. Clearly with ACL beginning this week a lot must be happening. This takes me to the purpose of this blog – to share with you all the updates that official updates cannot ever provide. So here it is:

a.     Craydit’s Moan: Craydit was moaning towards the end of last week. It is rumoured that he has been off to lift his spirits in a very relaxing place on the west coast of India. The reason for that has been two fold. A – The sponsorship deal with Iodex Pain Relief fell through. He is estimating the loss at ½ a box of pain balm for each person plus a cap that each player would have got for the dancing during strategic time-outs. Somebody needs to help him understand the difference between potential earnings and losses. B – All of his matches have been slotted to happen during the first two slots (i.e. in the heat). The chances of this accidentally happening is slim but that is how it goes in Lalit Modi’s ACL. The last match incidentally is against Supernova which means that Supernova has the best chance to do whatever they need to do to go to the knockouts against arguably the weakest team in the competition. Craydit, alongwith all the leadership in his team – Bypa, Ennit-IIMB, Bevda Bihari, No Shake Sutra, Raja Murad (DQ), etc., did appeal to Lalit Modi but after ‘due consideration’ it was squashed.

b.     Einstein’s Surprise: It is only this week that most of the teams owners/icon players realized that most of the players on their teams do not know each other/that they have to get real practice with a bat and ball. Einstein was really perturbed when Takla (he has joined back which has the drawback that everyone has to be careful about Betaal’s public displays of emotion for Takla) mentioned about real practice. He was of the opinion that as players have attended his and Basanti’s intense data mining sessions about cricket they should be able to do perfectly well on the field. Takla, witnesses say, really would have plucked out any hairs if he had any left. Sumi was looking lost all throughout; his role in the team is still work in progress.

c.     Let’s learn to sledge: That has been the mantra of Gladrags these days. Apparently he has been so happy with Another Bun’s and Kallizabaan’s sledging one on ones that he has entered into a dialogue with HR folks about launching an A&R LMS module on it. It is his contention that sledging can prove useful in having difficult conversations in many scenarios. Team members in Gladrags org beware – you might hear interesting words in the middle of a conversation. I support him in the noble effort – at least for the sake of watching it from the sidelines.

d.     Vandal’s Goal: Vindaloo has been proving himself to be an adept leader. He has been setting only one expectation with his players – defeat Supernova. By setting the bar so low, he has, in one masterstroke, set his team for exceeds expectation (in all probability Vandals should do it easily) and taken off all pressure of the ‘settled team’ tag. Strategic, but disappointing, don’t you think?

e.     Supernova’s Surrender: They know that they are one of the weaker teams and they have given up any pretence to competing. They are now looking up to Lalit Modi to deliver his value (8x the base price). He has been at it as documented in this post but how far it can go? Except for Heyram’s brilliance nothing can save the team from a bottom 2 spot. The only thing going for Supernova this time has been Psycat’s lack of involvement; I hear his enthusiasm is very dispiriting and disturbing for others. I would agree having heard of him running after ACL 1 finals.

f.       BR Hills steady steps: I love this team and they are doing all the right things. They started with the training earlier than others and it seems their players are already good at blocking the ball with the bat (while batting) and pitching the ball on the pitch (while bowling). This might seem fundamental but given the disorganization in others teams it gives them a great chance. The only worrying factor for BR Hills has been the unsolicited advice that team owner Black Label is freely distributing to him and his players. It is known that BR Hills has to take additional therapy sessions (himself and for his players) to remove the unnecessary advice.

As you know now a lot of things are happening. I will back for you on Friday morning with match day predictions. Until then thanks for tuning in and adios!

Buzz in the Camps!

Hello fellas!

A week to go before the ACL begins and this post will help you know get upto speed on what each team has been doing. Also, more has come to light about the ‘transparent’ auction process which has to be shared with this community. Without further ado then:

a.       Psycat’s Supernova: Psycat has officially entered into the Limca Book of Records for being able to make happen one of the most incredible events in the history of mankind - bagging Hey Ram, again, and the ACL supremo, again, for Supernova. Data scientists are busy calculating the chances of that but initial reports suggest that it is at least as impossible as Sreeshant quietly celebrating after taking a wicket. To add to it, if we check the probability of Psycat bagging two key Supernova’s members - Anti Jonty & Unclekar, again in this auction, reports conclude that it is as unlikely as Manmohan Singh smiling. So, congratulations to Psycat. After this exciting event and a few parties thrown by Lalit Modi at the cheapest ‘hotspot’ it seems Supernova has forgotten that they also have to come out and play their matches. Given that their current approach to training is to have no training  at all they might be better off forfeiting their matches. But as is always, with Lalit Modi onboard, any sudden revision of rules to prop up his team is a distinct possibility.

b.      Kalyan’s Intimidators: Easily the most inclusive of all teams. Their strategy was to buy any player who no team was interested in. With 90% of their buys costing 20% of the purse they had half of their auction money left when they were asked to stop bidding after they had got 14 players for themselves. It was a good strategy but they missed the fine print of ACL rules where it says that they can only play 11 players in any match. After coming to know of this – Intimidators have gone into damage control mode and BR Hills is offering weekend conditioning sessions on the basics of cricket like holding a ball, fielding a ball and holding a bat. It is left to be seen how much they learn from it though and how much the Intimidators can intimidate on the field. My favourite team though because of the inclusive culture!! Go Intimidators!!

c.       Vandals: The most settled team. They have a top 3 batting unit and a top 3 bowling unit in the ACL. The inside story that is emerging is that Vindaloo and Nerdy have been devising ways to get the better of others for quite sometime now. Nerdy has been seen making ‘casual’ talk with team owners and icon players before the auction week as an outsider to the ACL. Armed with the choices and bets that other teams had in mind and Vindaloos knowledge of players, little wonder it is that all of Vandals bids came just about correct (although why frustoo madrasi was bought is subject to much speculation). However, the ‘settled team’ thoughts have perhaps gone to their heads. It has been talked about they just need to turn up for a match to win. If they keep this up, surely they will be like rabbits caught in the headlights when the ACL starts.

d.      Raj’s Raptors: This team has got a couple of good players with a couple of absolutely rubbish players. How they are going to perform is anybody’s guess at this moment. Einstein has been busy teaching decision trees and algorithms to its team to be able to distinguish a bad ball from a good ball. It is also rumoured that Basanti has been hired by Einstein as a data researcher to mine insights from opposition players’ social networking sites. Innovation is an admirable trait but as you can tell, it can easily become a nuisance. Players are, it appears, already disillusioned and are thinking about creating self - help conditioning camps for themselves under the guidance of the obscenely enthusiastic and ‘fun loving’ Betaal.

e.      Ravi’s Ravens: This is the team that has good belief in their abilities and are very focused on using it. In the auction, Another Bun was grumpy throughout and with most of their first choices taken by other teams there were valid reasons for it. However, they immediately started team development conditioning and coaching. Kallizaban and Another Bun are having closed doors one on one mentoring statuses with their team on A- being a team player and B- sledging hard. Given the limited cricketing skills in the team this is undoubtedly the best possible approach. This makes sure they sledge throughout the match as a team and even if they lose, who cares – they did their best (sledging is independent of cricketing skill, experience and match conditions, you see). Not every team can come back from a defeat with the same feeling. My second favourite team!

f.        Chirags’ Challengers: Craydit was a happy man throughout the auction. What he was happy about though nobody knew especially with the fantastic buys he got. Recently, from trusted sources, it has come to light that he has been able to bag two big sponsors. GWS Sweet Chariot has agreed to give half a samosa to each player if they reach the semis and one samosa each if they reach finals. The second sponsor is Iodex Pain Relief subject to the condition that they promote this product during the strategic timeouts. Craydit has been heard referring to these as significant stepping stones to the team’s success. The current team building exercise that the team is involved in is preparing the skit/snap dance that they will be presenting to the Iodex Pain Relief in their final round of negotiations. I like this clear sense of purpose – my third favourite team.    

The rumor is that managing communication through streamlined channels has been suddenly added to G&Os of a lot of people. Do prepare yourself to hear lot of ‘official’ statements and press releases. So typical!

Adios

(P.S.: You know where to tune in for the truth behind the statements.)

And what did we miss ?

Hey folks, me back from a short weekend trip…and what did me miss ?

Well  after the clandestine build up the auctions are done. In a day!! WOW! The spicy nuggets are all over the place now, so didn’t have much trouble to put the pieces together.

Solly Bhai, as usual had no clue of the names in the list and all he was keen on was saving some money for the LED. Kappa had to do it all by himself, and bro-Kappa, if you didn't know that’s the sign of things to come! They believe Kamalnath is their prized catch, who will do the thinking while Kappa does the playing.

Psychat’s game plan was a no brainer. With Heyram already in kitty, just get  Modi  &  whatever remains of his lost pride Supernova and nothing else matters! Me heard he almost broke the table in ecstacy! Modi, how much did you spend to rig the roulette?

With Big Vindaloo out of action, Vandals put in a lot of trust on the Nerdy , who I hear had a tough time getting himself heard. While Khalsa was their moolah and at a hefty tag, they have their fair share of thought leadership in vintage Dushman and electric Shikari Shambhu. And man!  Frustoo Madrasi again finds his way to Vindaloo.

Einstein expectedly chose to delegate the hard work to Sumi, who, as everyone believes, did put up a brave show. Managed to bag Asoka and Baldy. And Betaal perhaps came in free with Baldy as an entertainment factor.

Gladrags & Nandi Bull but off course was a comedy of errors. They’ll have high hopes with on Kaalizaban who again has turned a pilgrim.Hey, me hears, Gladrags had a custom Van Heusen stuff  just for the auctions!

Black Label , they said was full of intimidation with BR Hills picking up the occasional duel with Kappa or Nerdy. In the end they created a good stage where we can expect to see Prince Foreigner (name unchanged!) in  some cricketing action.

The DK guy today was seen giving his never ending final touches , to what they call, a Teaser  which will reveal the complete line ups…..

Let the tamasha begin!

Clandestine Build-up

Some quick mid-week news heard from the floor....

So, based on some loose talk near the pantry, I overheard that the "auctions" will be held THIS Friday...!!!!!!

And each team will have an icon player decided by lucky draw. Smells like another one of Modi's conspiracies. I bet the auctions and icon player selection are already decided in 2G camp! In fact I won’t be surprised if Modi ends up with Heyram in his side.

Solly Bhai (aka Craydit), chose a new name for himself, that goes with his style. He was excited that some virtual money will be given to the owners, so that he can save up and buy an LED tv. Solly Bhai - where did the money you saved last time land up? Definitely not for buying any bowlers or batsmen.

Gladrags was excited I hear to be given the choice of being an owner. As with his management style, Gladrags is already started rehearsing his motivational speech. He was also seen shopping online a new jacket he will wear on match days. Gladrags, a piece of advice. Focus on auctions and team selection rather than which jacket will you wear in which match.

Basanti was overheard saying he will apply text mining to this blog to predict who has the most chances of winning. What a LOSER!

Psychat has been suspiciously following this blog to understand who his rivals could be. This way

he can start tearing apart their sanity even before a single bowl is bowled.

Still Ready, has refused to take part in games which are only meant for old people. Still Ready - you still don't know and have no idea.

Vindaloos is braving the responsibilities of an owner and star player all over again. Vindaloos, isn't very excited these days...Most of the time I see him on the floor he gives an impression of a guy troubled by something serious....is it the reviews, who knows!

Rest, the action is building up. OK, one last breaking news….heard Einstein is also joining as the owner of a team! Woo hoo, now we will be all using nano data in a kaddu environment to analyze how fast Heyram can hit the ball. That’s it from now…till next time.

  

Oh BTW, STOP trying to guess who I am...it's not something you'll know or ever find out. Don't bother.

Just ENJOY the blog.

Who Am I?..Who cares ?

WOW!

Man, didn’t we touch some raw nerves there!

Friends, I am equally frustrated and fuming inside, but I’d rather not trudge into obscenity and encourage you not to do the same. Yes we have point to make and Yes we will make it, but in the right way!

Does anyone disagree ?

Glad that at least some of us have taken out  time and intent  to connect. Lets have the thoughts flowing freely….the advantage of a forum like this is it really brings the real you out….like we  saw a poet budding in 2009. For new comers see the comments here : Supernovae

C’mmon Psycat, where that glory that reverence now ?

I'll follow the previous blogger and say - Who Am I..Who cares ?

BTW…did you see the mailer from Shikari Shambhu. SO, its out in the open now!!!!… Question is  - will people warm up to it ?

As I said in my previous post..Modi & Team carefully planted some teaser events in a desperate attempt to create excitement. Question is  - will that be enough ?

My hunch in these early days  - Modi will definitely try and push Psycat and Craydit to retain their old teams. While Psycat carries the label of two time winners, Craydit is yet to taste a win in the history of the tournament. And the irony is that both have to give in tamely to Modi’s dictat. Vindaloo & Dushman are still around.We’d surely see some new names in the block.

One of you wanted to know about the characters…well some characters they had in the tamasha , who have now grown older..alas not yet wiser…its like reintroducing characters for a reunion movie –  

·         Heyram : Who was once an icon player and now is Modi’s trusted outbound problem solver

·         Kaalizabaan : Once a veracious sledger (that’s how he got his name)…has taken a distance form playing the game

·         Stylebhai : Once a style icon both on and off the field, now lost in oblivion

·         Betaal : Never had it then nor does he have it now

·         Anti-Jonty : Someone who never missed dropping a catch…may be he is the one who is consistent

·         Vindaloo : So called Mr Cricket …. caught up with age!

·         Frustoo Madrasi : Well no longer a Madrasi…not sure about the frustoo part

·         Boraag : Once an icon player….buried in his own weight today

·         Lalit Modi : Of course I said a lot about him in the last post and more to come

Check with any old timer…you’d know who we are taking about here…

Curious who they tag as icons this time…. don't be surprised if you see Big Shiva in action!

Enjoy the weekend friends...and stay out of cricket!!

Unfortunate Madness

Friends......

After confronting  anger and disgust for a few weeks now, couldn't hold on to it further. Never thought that, I’ll take this clichéd channel to speak out….but unfortunately so, this is the safest and convenient option as of now!...until we find another way to connect :)

Lets rewind back to the 2010 era in A&R , where the A and R were very distinct, where A was desperately “innovating” ways to do everything apart from what they were supposed to do!

ACL was one such, hugely hyped event, whose so called success came from its doctored marketing gimmicks rather than the event itself which was a sheer waste of productivity. If you have seen/been involved in the event, you’ll know what I am trying to say and if you were not there around…man you’re so so lucky!

I was lucky then..to see the whole hullaballoo from a distance, but not too distant to stay away from the madness. And thanks to that so-called-famous blog. I did join the bandwagon of its followers, (after Big Mam endorsed it). But what a shame, it was another doctored gimmick !

Unfortunate it is, that I chose the same channel to talk, and probably I’ll end up using a similar language. But surely its much less unfortunate than the return of the megalomaniac leader, too desperate to teeth into quick glory in a fake hope of reviving his hay days! That’s what angers me, frustrates me!

For the last two weeks, I have been patiently hearing stories – how Lalit Modi…(its easier to stick to the already coined names..and honestly nothing has changed for this name and role)….made desperate attempts to invoke his disciples even before he revived himself…how he organized shady meetings…as if to resurrect sleeping mummies from dungeons. I heard of some “starter” events with desperate marketing (that DK guy with slides, camera & no-action !) and I hear of some high-headed ambitious plans in days to come …huh!

Cricket, I always believed to be a silly game. But this blasphemy in the name of fun and engagement is disgusting! And we cannot let this happen.We should combine all efforts to stop this unfortunate and terrible madness.

Modi & team , you have NO IDEA what mess you are getting into