Cricket season for India is just a week away. One of the toughest year for Indian Test Cricket is about to begin. 4 Test Matches against Australia , 3 against England and 3 against Pakistan @ Pakistan is what Indian Test Team is going to play in the next 6 months.
New Group of Selectors will certainly bring new hopes and new ideas. Selection Committee Chairman, Kris Srikanth was known for his aggressive shot selection and one of the bravest test captain which was thrown away after controversial India's Tour of Pakistan in late 80's.
One of the Talk in Town during the selection would certainly be: Ganguly. It has been that way ever since Indian Cricket hired Greg Chappel. I was one of the greatest admire of captain courageous Ganguly in early 2000 till 2004. India needed someone who can just give it to Australian Attitude and English Posture. It was Ganguly who gave birth to this new outlook of Indian Cricket Team. He inserted to "give it back to Opposition" stance. No One can Take Away, What Ganguly has given to the team of India and no one can argue about his fighting quality to faught back and get back in the team.
However, I think Time has come now that he himself switch off his "Test Match career" to give chance to Younger Generation. IPL 2008 has given so many young stars who could prove themselves at the test match arena and I certainly think they are ready to take on the World. Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and S.Badrinath certainly deserve a chance and should be given a chance now.
Easiest decision for the selectors is going to be to choose the 3 Opening batsmen's for this upcoming Australian Tour. Virendra Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are not only the best combination for One Dayers but also for Test Matches. Back Up Opener in case of any injury would be Akash Chopra.
Middle Order group of batsman should be : Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Suresh Raina. With Dravid and Tendulkar being at number 3 and 4 is no brainer, many would argue the selection of Laxman. Laxman can be given a chance looking at his past career against Australia. Lately, he is not in his best form but this series could be an Utlimatum for him. Also, Sitting Out Ganguly should be a clear message to Laxman that he or Dravid could be next if they dont perform. Now Why Suresh Raina and not Yuvraj Singh. Answer is Simple: Look at last 12 months and compare Yuvraj's Performance and Suresh Raina's Performance. This kid Suresh Raina is all-round player. He can play both spin and swing bowling, He can attack and play a long inning as he has shown in his small Ranji Trophy career. Also, Giving Suresh Raina a chance will be a clear message to Dravid and Laxman that Yuvraj is knocking the door. Also this would be a message to Yuvraj Singh, Perform or Youngstars will take charge. Back-Up Option in the Middle Order should be given to : ROHIT SHARMA.
Selection of Dhoni as a wicket-keeper is no brainer as well. Spin Department will be in the hands of Kumble and Harbhajan. Many has hinted Kumble should retire but I think he is still the best bowler in the subcontinent pitches to take the wickets. Perhaps, this would be the last 10 test matches, he could play and I think He will feature in all of the 10 test matches unless he is injured. Entire Year, Piyush Chawla should be kept in the team so that he can learn few things from this Master Spinner and then perhaps end of 2009, he is ready to take over the responsibility of Spin Department from Kumble.
IPL 2008 has also gave too many fast bowling option to Indian Team. Zaheer Khan, R.P Singh, Irfan Pathan and in form Ashish Nehra are left handed fast bowling Option.
Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Gony, VRV Singh etc. Top 3 Bowlers in current form and experience are: Zaheer Khan , Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel.
Final Squad: Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Raina, Dhoni,Kumble, Harbhajan,Zaheer and Ishant Sharma.
Reserved: Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla and S.Badrinath/Rohit Sharma.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
India Aus Fantasy Cricket
Dear Friends,
I would like you to join a League in the game 'India v Australia' at Cricinfo Fantasy Cricket.
To join the league,
Step 1: Go to Cricinfo Fantasy Cricket
Step 2: Login with your Cricinfo ID (you will need to register if you do not have one)
Step 3: Create a team for yourself (this step is optional if you already have one)
Step 4: Click on 'Join a League' on the Left Hand Navigation
Step 5: On the page which appears, select your team, copy and paste the unique invitation code(LPIN) generated for you as shown below
Step 6: You are now a member of the league - all set to play Cricinfo Fantasy Cricket
Your Unique Invitation Code:
--------------------------------
57417-3de500ce12ce32db
--------------------------------
Looking forward to have you as part of the league
Warm Regards,
Cricinfo Fantasy Team
I would like you to join a League in the game 'India v Australia' at Cricinfo Fantasy Cricket.
To join the league,
Step 1: Go to Cricinfo Fantasy Cricket
Step 2: Login with your Cricinfo ID (you will need to register if you do not have one)
Step 3: Create a team for yourself (this step is optional if you already have one)
Step 4: Click on 'Join a League' on the Left Hand Navigation
Step 5: On the page which appears, select your team, copy and paste the unique invitation code(LPIN) generated for you as shown below
Step 6: You are now a member of the league - all set to play Cricinfo Fantasy Cricket
Your Unique Invitation Code:
--------------------------------
57417-3de500ce12ce32db
--------------------------------
Looking forward to have you as part of the league
Warm Regards,
Cricinfo Fantasy Team
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Immigration Guru McCain
If immigration is your number one political priority, whatshould you do this election? The answer to the question is simple for the ILW: if McCain wins, we win,and if Obama wins, we lose. That's because both Democrats and Republicansare almost unanimous in the belief that we need to import more foreignworkers, and to give amnesty to the ones who came to this countryillegally. Unfortunately immigration is one of the few issuesboth parties agree on, but it is true that their rhetoric on immigration isalmost identical.
We begin with the observation that Democrats will likely consolidate andexpand their control of the Senate and the House. This is good news for theimmigration cause. However, in spite of controlling Congress for the pasttwo years Democrats have done virtually nothing on immigration benefits andhave continued massive spending on immigration enforcement. So, even thoughmost political analysts are agreed that Democrats are poised forsignificant gains in the House and the Senate, that alone does not portendany immigration benefits in the coming years.
With that background, let us examine the difference in prospects forimmigration benefits on Jan 20, 2009 if we get President Obama or if we getPresident McCain.
If we get President Obama, Democrats are going to be euphoric on Jan 20,2009, and rightly so - being back in the White House, at last, after 8 longand bitter years. Democrats have not been able to pursue their prioritiesfor 8 years and we can expect them to act aggressively on their bigpriorities immediately after a President Obama takes office. There are atleast four Democratic priorities ahead of immigration: the Iraq war,universal health care, budget/taxes and energy policy. These are all large,complex issues and Congress will take most of a President Obama's firstterm to work on these. In such a scenario, we will not see any significantimmigration benefits in the foreseeable future.
If we get President McCain, we will still have a powerful Democraticmajority in Congress on Jan 20, 2009. This Congress will be at loggerheadswith him on all the major Democratic priorities. Democrats will want tobring the troops home whereas Mr. McCain wants them in Iraq for 100 years;Democrats see a health care crisis whereas Mr. McCain sees none; Democratswill want increased taxes whereas Mr. McCain would like to cut them;Democrats want to conserve oil and work on alternative sources of powerwhereas Mr. McCain would like to drill for oil all over the map. Democratsand a President McCain will be 180 degrees apart on all major Democraticpriorities. In this bitter fighting hardly anything will get donelegislatively, and both Democrats and Mr. McCain will be looking foropportunities to show the country that they can work on something together.
While there are a few areas of agreement between Mr. McCain and Democrats,immigration is the largest issue on which Democrats and McCain agree. Whilethe current Republican Party platform is the most anti-immigrant one inmemory, there were news reports that Mr. McCain, who has a long trackrecord of being pro-immigration, tried to make it more immigration-friendlyand failed. This is the issue on which he is most likely to stab hisparty's anti-immigrationist wing in the back both in his politicalinterests and due to his own convictions (Mr. McCain had to fight hisparty's anti-immigrationists tooth and nail during the Republicanprimaries). We expect to see almost all of the original McCain-Kennedy billbecome law during the first six months of a McCain Presidency.
The Bush era has been the worst in memory for immigration advocates.However the combination of a powerful Democratic majority in Congress withMr. McCain as President offers the best hope for speedily obtainingdesperately needed immigration benefits.
We begin with the observation that Democrats will likely consolidate andexpand their control of the Senate and the House. This is good news for theimmigration cause. However, in spite of controlling Congress for the pasttwo years Democrats have done virtually nothing on immigration benefits andhave continued massive spending on immigration enforcement. So, even thoughmost political analysts are agreed that Democrats are poised forsignificant gains in the House and the Senate, that alone does not portendany immigration benefits in the coming years.
With that background, let us examine the difference in prospects forimmigration benefits on Jan 20, 2009 if we get President Obama or if we getPresident McCain.
If we get President Obama, Democrats are going to be euphoric on Jan 20,2009, and rightly so - being back in the White House, at last, after 8 longand bitter years. Democrats have not been able to pursue their prioritiesfor 8 years and we can expect them to act aggressively on their bigpriorities immediately after a President Obama takes office. There are atleast four Democratic priorities ahead of immigration: the Iraq war,universal health care, budget/taxes and energy policy. These are all large,complex issues and Congress will take most of a President Obama's firstterm to work on these. In such a scenario, we will not see any significantimmigration benefits in the foreseeable future.
If we get President McCain, we will still have a powerful Democraticmajority in Congress on Jan 20, 2009. This Congress will be at loggerheadswith him on all the major Democratic priorities. Democrats will want tobring the troops home whereas Mr. McCain wants them in Iraq for 100 years;Democrats see a health care crisis whereas Mr. McCain sees none; Democratswill want increased taxes whereas Mr. McCain would like to cut them;Democrats want to conserve oil and work on alternative sources of powerwhereas Mr. McCain would like to drill for oil all over the map. Democratsand a President McCain will be 180 degrees apart on all major Democraticpriorities. In this bitter fighting hardly anything will get donelegislatively, and both Democrats and Mr. McCain will be looking foropportunities to show the country that they can work on something together.
While there are a few areas of agreement between Mr. McCain and Democrats,immigration is the largest issue on which Democrats and McCain agree. Whilethe current Republican Party platform is the most anti-immigrant one inmemory, there were news reports that Mr. McCain, who has a long trackrecord of being pro-immigration, tried to make it more immigration-friendlyand failed. This is the issue on which he is most likely to stab hisparty's anti-immigrationist wing in the back both in his politicalinterests and due to his own convictions (Mr. McCain had to fight hisparty's anti-immigrationists tooth and nail during the Republicanprimaries). We expect to see almost all of the original McCain-Kennedy billbecome law during the first six months of a McCain Presidency.
The Bush era has been the worst in memory for immigration advocates.However the combination of a powerful Democratic majority in Congress withMr. McCain as President offers the best hope for speedily obtainingdesperately needed immigration benefits.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Obama Hater
Barack Obama discussed the economy and jobs at the Schott Glass plant inDuryea, Pennsylvania on 9/5/2008. I haven't been able to find a transcriptbut you can watch the entire video online at: http://www.c-span.org/search.aspx?For=obama%20Duryea
At 22 minutes into the video, Obama talks about jobs and how to improve oureconomy. He repeated the standard industry line that we need more Americanborn PhDs. Wrong! Wrong! We need more good paying jobs for the Americanborn PhDs, but of course he never offers that as a solution.
27 minutes into the video, Obama answers questions from the public. That'swhen he really blows it!
Somebody from the local bricklayer and craftworker union is concerned aboutH-2B visas. The union guy voiced concern that Bush wants to streamline thereview process for granting H-2B visas. His concern is well founded (seethis newsletter for more info: "H-2B Oil Riggers from India protest in DC,No. 1897 -- 7/30/2008"). Not only does the Bush administration want to makeit easier for companies to get H-2Bs, they want to implement a de factoincrease in the number H-2B visas as well. Bush plans to do these things bypassing a DOL regulation instead of asking Congress to pass legislation.
<<< FACTOID and QUESTION >>> Did you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger came to the U.S. asan H-2B bricklayer? If not, read the newsletter"Schwarzenegger is NIV Scofflaw", October 01, 2003".
Obama didn't understand the bricklayer's question -- perhaps because hedidn't understand what an H-2B visa is, and he obviously has no clue aboutthe wide variety of foreign workers that use guest worker visas. Obamatotally confused H-2B and H-1B, so to avoid getting myself mixed up, I willuse "H2B" when Obama meant H-1B, and H-2B when appropriate.
Obama explained that "H2B" is used for highly specialized workers and thenwent on to say: "we really do have a shortage of PhDs, scientists, andengineers." Compounding his errors, he said that we have: "a continualnursing shortage" that is caused by a lack of teachers who can instruct newnurses. What Obama fails to understand is that the number of nursingteachers appears to be dwindling because it's much cheaper for hospitals toimport nurses from the Philippines than to run nursing schools in the U.S.
To prove his point Obama used an example of an employer who couldn't findan American for a specialized position, so an Indian with an "H2B" wasimported to take the job. I hate to accuse Obama of racial stereotyping,but that's exactly what he did! Fact is, only about 50% of the H-1Bs areIndian, and very few H-2Bs come from India. Obama seemed to buy into thesomewhat racist notion that Asians are smarter and more educated thanAmericans.
NOTE: If you don't understand the difference between H-1B and H-2B, go tothis page to learn more: http://www.jobdestruction.info/ShameH1B/VisaTypes.htm
Rewinding a little, at about 19 minutes into the video, Obama talks aboutcreating energy jobs that can't be outsourced. Uh, what types of jobs arethose, considering that H-2Bs are being used as oil riggers? Obama's jobcreation plans are superficial because he doesn't comprehend that almostall jobs can be outsourced or insourced,
Obama never answered the bricklayer's question. Instead, he voiced a fewvague generalities about how we have to make sure "H2Bs" aren't used tohurt American software engineers. I would pay good money to see the puzzledlook on that bricklayer's face when Obama was rambling about high-techworkers. LOL! Obama alluded to wanting to reform "H2B". As Norm Matloff explains in hisnewsletter, which is included below, if Obama really wanted to changethings he could support the reform bill from the other Senator fromIllinois -- Richard Durbin. Obama has yet to sign up as a co-sponsor ofDurbin's reform bill that really would be a "Change We Can Believe In". News stories in the U.S. about Obama's Duryea speech on "H2B" arenon-existent, but on international websites, and particularly those basedin India, the stories are propagating. Americans that depend on domesticmagazines or newspapers would have no way of finding out what Obama saidabout "H2B".
I find it rather interesting that the Obamite youtubers didn't think toinclude Obama's "H2B" comments. Instead they posted a heavily edited andsanitized version of Obama's speech. To see what I mean, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L31go6-LAs0 The article below by Sridhar Krishnaswami is being repeated on many Indianand foreign websites. He got his facts straight, which proves he watchescspan, but I disagree with his contention that Obama said that he wanted tostreamline the H-2B process. If anything Obama was suggesting that we needbetter enforcement to protect American workers, which is the opposite ofstreamlining since it would involve more bureaucracy. Actually, since Obamadoesn't know the difference between H-1B and H-2B it's unlikely he has anyidea what needs to be done to solve the many problems with these visas. Onething for sure, Obama thinks there is a shortage of high-tech workers, socount on him to push for increasing the visa cap. HELP NEEDED: If any of you happened to record the entire interview pleasecontact me. I would like to edit it down to just what Obama said about"H2B" but unfortunately cspan streaming video quality is too low to editproperly.
At 22 minutes into the video, Obama talks about jobs and how to improve oureconomy. He repeated the standard industry line that we need more Americanborn PhDs. Wrong! Wrong! We need more good paying jobs for the Americanborn PhDs, but of course he never offers that as a solution.
27 minutes into the video, Obama answers questions from the public. That'swhen he really blows it!
Somebody from the local bricklayer and craftworker union is concerned aboutH-2B visas. The union guy voiced concern that Bush wants to streamline thereview process for granting H-2B visas. His concern is well founded (seethis newsletter for more info: "H-2B Oil Riggers from India protest in DC,No. 1897 -- 7/30/2008"). Not only does the Bush administration want to makeit easier for companies to get H-2Bs, they want to implement a de factoincrease in the number H-2B visas as well. Bush plans to do these things bypassing a DOL regulation instead of asking Congress to pass legislation.
<<< FACTOID and QUESTION >>> Did you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger came to the U.S. asan H-2B bricklayer? If not, read the newsletter"Schwarzenegger is NIV Scofflaw", October 01, 2003".
Obama didn't understand the bricklayer's question -- perhaps because hedidn't understand what an H-2B visa is, and he obviously has no clue aboutthe wide variety of foreign workers that use guest worker visas. Obamatotally confused H-2B and H-1B, so to avoid getting myself mixed up, I willuse "H2B" when Obama meant H-1B, and H-2B when appropriate.
Obama explained that "H2B" is used for highly specialized workers and thenwent on to say: "we really do have a shortage of PhDs, scientists, andengineers." Compounding his errors, he said that we have: "a continualnursing shortage" that is caused by a lack of teachers who can instruct newnurses. What Obama fails to understand is that the number of nursingteachers appears to be dwindling because it's much cheaper for hospitals toimport nurses from the Philippines than to run nursing schools in the U.S.
To prove his point Obama used an example of an employer who couldn't findan American for a specialized position, so an Indian with an "H2B" wasimported to take the job. I hate to accuse Obama of racial stereotyping,but that's exactly what he did! Fact is, only about 50% of the H-1Bs areIndian, and very few H-2Bs come from India. Obama seemed to buy into thesomewhat racist notion that Asians are smarter and more educated thanAmericans.
NOTE: If you don't understand the difference between H-1B and H-2B, go tothis page to learn more: http://www.jobdestruction.info/ShameH1B/VisaTypes.htm
Rewinding a little, at about 19 minutes into the video, Obama talks aboutcreating energy jobs that can't be outsourced. Uh, what types of jobs arethose, considering that H-2Bs are being used as oil riggers? Obama's jobcreation plans are superficial because he doesn't comprehend that almostall jobs can be outsourced or insourced,
Obama never answered the bricklayer's question. Instead, he voiced a fewvague generalities about how we have to make sure "H2Bs" aren't used tohurt American software engineers. I would pay good money to see the puzzledlook on that bricklayer's face when Obama was rambling about high-techworkers. LOL! Obama alluded to wanting to reform "H2B". As Norm Matloff explains in hisnewsletter, which is included below, if Obama really wanted to changethings he could support the reform bill from the other Senator fromIllinois -- Richard Durbin. Obama has yet to sign up as a co-sponsor ofDurbin's reform bill that really would be a "Change We Can Believe In". News stories in the U.S. about Obama's Duryea speech on "H2B" arenon-existent, but on international websites, and particularly those basedin India, the stories are propagating. Americans that depend on domesticmagazines or newspapers would have no way of finding out what Obama saidabout "H2B".
I find it rather interesting that the Obamite youtubers didn't think toinclude Obama's "H2B" comments. Instead they posted a heavily edited andsanitized version of Obama's speech. To see what I mean, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L31go6-LAs0 The article below by Sridhar Krishnaswami is being repeated on many Indianand foreign websites. He got his facts straight, which proves he watchescspan, but I disagree with his contention that Obama said that he wanted tostreamline the H-2B process. If anything Obama was suggesting that we needbetter enforcement to protect American workers, which is the opposite ofstreamlining since it would involve more bureaucracy. Actually, since Obamadoesn't know the difference between H-1B and H-2B it's unlikely he has anyidea what needs to be done to solve the many problems with these visas. Onething for sure, Obama thinks there is a shortage of high-tech workers, socount on him to push for increasing the visa cap. HELP NEEDED: If any of you happened to record the entire interview pleasecontact me. I would like to edit it down to just what Obama said about"H2B" but unfortunately cspan streaming video quality is too low to editproperly.
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