Lion-hearted cricketer

The third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Series between India and Australia was meandering towards a tame draw and attention was gradually shifting to the fourth and final match of the series at Nagpur starting on November 6. However, an unexpected announcement by one of cricket’s legends – Anil Kumble – changed all that in a hurry, as the former India captain shocked the cricketing fraternity by stating that he would retire at the end of the Delhi Test.

However shocking this announcement may have been, it was delivered with the same poise, elegance and class that became synonymous with Kumble through his 19-years long international career. Kumble will go down in the record books as a gentleman cricketer, which is by no means an ordinary feat in the modern era. He will also be remembered as a lion-hearted player and a star performer who never backed down from challenges or was fazed by the criticism that was directed his way.
Citing Kumble’s impressive statistics at the international level really aren’t needed to prove the value he brought to the Indian team – but for the record, ‘Jumbo’ as he is called by his teammates, took more than 1,000 international wickets in his long and distinguished career.

Kumble finished his Test career with 619 wickets in 132 matches, and in doing so became not only the first Indian bowler to take 600 Test wickets but also had the satisfaction of being the second-most capped player for his country in the longest version of the game.

These numbers are the best answer that Kumble could have given to those detractors who wrote him off throughout his career for either not being a turner of the cricket ball or the fact that he was a medium-pacer in a spinner’s garb! It is a tribute to the man’s dedication to the game and his self-confidence that he went back to the drawing board and worked on his action and deliveries until he turned himself into a silent assassin on any pitch across the world. If Sachin Tendulkar has borne the pressure of shouldering India’s batting fortunes for most of his career, Kumble was a match-winner with the ball for the country – his performances won India 43 of the 132 Test matches he featured in — as he turned his arm over and over again despite the body niggles and injuries. Who can forget the inspirational sight of Kumble bowling with a fractured jaw in the Caribbean as he tried to bowl his side to an elusive win in the West Indies and took the prized wicket of Brian Lara in the process?
Kumble was successful not only as a bowler, but was also more than a useful lower-order batsman, who didn’t really do justice to his talent with the bat. But, he did make one Test century and the delight on his face and that of his teammates when he achieved that feat will be one of the indelible memories that will be etched in my mind.

‘Jumbo’ had always harboured dreams of captaining India, and that wish came true late last year when he was appointed India’s Test skipper. If one thought Kumble was Mr Cool and carried himself with self-assurance and commanded respect from opponents and teammates alike, the grace with which he handled himself during India’s acrimonious tour of Australia earlier in the year, only reinforced that fact. He came out of the episode with renewed confidence in his abilities as a cricketer and a leader, and also with the increased respect of is teammates.

However, in recent times, Kumble was feeling the heat as his abilities to take wickets appeared to hit a brick wall. To compound matters, there were increasing calls for him to quit international cricket, and allow Mahendra Singh Dhoni to take over the reins of the Test team as well. Kumble hit back at his critics through his syndicated newspaper columns in which he said he will go on his own terms. Well, that’s exactly what he did on the afternoon of November 2, as a country of a billion people began to understand the implication of that decision.
And, to be honest, I was one of Kumble’s critics, who felt he was overstaying his welcome, not because of his age but mainly because of his loss of form with the ball. But, the sight of Kumble being carried around the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi was a reality check in that the team would now be without a champion bowler who had shouldered the burden of carrying India’s bowling fortunes all these years. India does have replacements for Kumble in Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla, but the duo would know they have huge shoes to fill.

Kumble leaves behind a legacy of not only being India’s most successful Test bowler, but through his stellar career he demonstrated that there is no substitute for hard work, self-confidence and determination, and more importantly that one can reach record-breaking heights without resorting to under-handed tactics on the field. As he bids adieu to the international stage and leaves a void that will be hard to fill, we have decided to make Kumble our Cricketer of the Week as a salute to the lion-hearted cricketer from Karnataka, who was respected and admired not only by his teammates and Indians around the world, but also by the global cricketing fraternity. Thank you for the memories, ‘Jumbo’!

Middle East is the new market for India's small IT firms

Dubai: With the financial crisis hitting the US economy badly, the Middle East is emerging as a key market for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of India's IT sector as they seek to reduce their dependence on the US market.

"The US accounts for almost 76 percent of India's total IT exports, but with the slowdown in the US economy, it is very important that we look at alternatives to the US market to diversify the basket," Sunil Vachani, vice-chairman of the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) of India, said.

He is here for the ongoing Gitex-2008, the Middle East's largest technology show.

Thirty-five Indian companies are participating in the show under the ESC banner. India's Consul General in Dubai Venu Rajamony inaugurated the ESC section of the show here Monday.

Stating that the current global financial crisis is going to hit India's IT exports, Vachani said ESC was trying to reduce dependence on the US market.

"The Indian companies have to be proactive and diversify to other countries and reduce their dependence on the US market so that they are not badly affected (by the economic crisis)," he said.

"That is why we are looking at the Middle East as one of the major markets."

Apart from the Middle East, Europe, South America, Japan and southeast Asia are now the focus markets of the ESC, he added.

Over 2,300 SMEs in the IT sector are members of the ESC.

Of India's total IT exports of $46 billion in 2007-08 - around $43 billion in software and over $3 billion in hardware - the Middle East accounted for $1 billion, an increase of 17 percent from the previous year.

"Of this $1 billion, software exports accounted for $600 million while electronic hardware's share was about $400 million," the ESC vice-chairman said.

Electronic hardware comprises IT hardware, consumer electronics and electronic components.

"In the Middle East, we are now looking at a growth of 25 percent," he said, adding: "At Gitex, we want to showcase that there is a huge strength in India's small and medium IT companies also."

Compared to the share of IT biggies in India like Infosys, Wipro, Satyam and Tata Consultancy Services, SMEs have also emerged as significant players when it came to exports.

"Of India's total IT exports (in 2007-08), SMEs accounted for 40 percent of the total electronic hardware exports and for software, the figure is 30 percent," Vachani said.

Source: IANS

Yahoo to announce more job cuts next week

Los Angeles: Yahoo is expected to announce more job cuts when it would present its third-quarter earnings next week, officials said.

The Internet portal giant is likely to lay off at least as many employees as it did in January, when it sacked 1,000 workers, people familiar with the industry said on Saturday. Yahoo currently has around 14,300 employees.

Leading online auction and shopping website eBay announced earlier this month to lay off 10 percent of its 16,000 workers, while search engine giant Google reportedly has been quietly trimming its contractor workforce.

Google has a total workforce of around 30,000 people, including around 10,000 contractors. However the company declined to disclose how many contractors it has let go.

Industry analysts said that the Internet companies, which typically have large overhead and staff numbers, are bracing themselves for a tough economic situation in fears of a global recession.

Source: Xinhua Internet Site

Rising from the ashes ... Again !!!!!

Am jus referring to Ganguly here....

When Sourav Ganguly was left out of the Rest of India squad for the recent Irani Trophy tie against Ranji champions Delhi, a few cricketing experts started predicting the end of the road for ‘The Prince of Kolkata’. But, as is his wont, Ganguly proved his detractors wrong yet again when the new selection committee headed by K Srikkanth named him in the Indian squad for the first two Test matches against Australia – at Bangalore from October 9-13 and at Mohali from October 17-21.

Many of Ganguly’s supporters felt that the former India captain was made the fall guy for the team’s Test series loss in Sri Lanka, when in fact the rest of India’s Fab four – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman – failed to do much with the bat either. But, this was just another instance when Ganguly had the right to feel aggrieved.

Ganguly was one of India’s most successful batsmen in 2007 – the year in which he made another of his comebacks to the team and scored 1,106 Test runs at an average of 61.44 and 1,240 runs in one-day internationals at 44.28. Ganguly was the second highest run-getter in Test cricket and the fifth highest run-scorer in ODIs last year. Though Ganguly is no longer a part of India’s ODI team, he still has a bit to offer to the Test side, and will be looking to prove a point to his critics in the first two Test matches against Australia.

Ganguly has made a habit of making his detractors eat their words, and he has achieved this not only because of his cricketing talent, but also thanks to his mental strength and character. He is a very proud and self-confident individual, and these traits have stood him in good stead when faced with tough situations.

Ganguly’s inclusion in the team for the Tests against Australia led to speculation that this was done to give him a honourable exit from Team India and he would be the first of India’s senior cricketers to take up BCCI’s so-called “VRS” offer. This was a most preposterous suggestion, and has been dismissed as such by India’s Test captain Anil Kumble. And, Ganguly himself has rubbished reports of such a suggestion. It is ironic though that Ganguly, who is India’s most successful captain ever, is now made to feel unwanted.

But, when it’s time to get down to business, one can be assured that Ganguly will not only be looking to prove a point to the critics, but he would also want to prove to himself that he still has a lot to offer and deserves to play international cricket....