The wicket-taking genius that claimed 800 Test victims

Muttiah Muralitharan, who played his last Test on Thursday, may have been the greatest bowler to spin a cricket ball. Sports writer Suresh Menon reflects on the career of a remarkable cricketer.

Before the start of the Galle Test, Muttiah Muralitharan’s last, India’s ace spinner Anil Kumble paid him one of the warmest tributes from one great bowler to another.

“When you see that Murali has played exactly the same number of Tests as me and taken 173 wickets more,” he said, “you begin to understand the magnitude of his achievement.”

Spin bowling is about masks and disguises, sleights of hand and tempting arcs.

Batsmen reach for the ball that is not there, or adopt a superior air, ignoring the one that seems set to go past but then inexplicably changes course. They are rendered illiterate – unable to read the spinning ball.

Muralitharan’s greatness lay in the fact that even when batsmen read him, there was little they could do to keep him out.

Test cricket’s most successful bowler is 38, and even if the spirit is willing there is only so much a body can do.

Defining the delivery

Murali’s record 800 wickets are likely to stand forever given the diminishing interest in Test cricket, but figures do not tell the full story.

Murali was responsible for cricket’s first proper attempt to define the legal delivery.

Thanks to his action, umpires know there is a difference between what the eye sees and the computer calculates.

That he reinvented the art of spin bowling tends to be forgotten in the light of this fundamental contribution.

While studying Murali’s action, it was noticed that some of the finest bowlers known for their smooth actions did, in fact, send down illegal deliveries.

By the earlier system – the naked eye – someone like Australian fast-bowler Glenn McGrath was seen as picture perfect. Then technology showed that he too fell outside the demands of the legal.

That led to a new world order where a flexion (the act of bending) of 15 degrees of the bowler’s arm was allowed.

Those who criticise him base their observations on the naked eye; those who absolve him go by the definition. Murali’s action is legal, but he has suffered more than anyone needs to.

Few cricketers have had to shoulder his burdens – as a minority Tamil in a strife-laden country, as a bowler worshipped and reviled in equal measure, as a player in a team whose fortunes rose or fell according to his performance.

In nearly two decades at the top, he won over everybody – both sides of the ethnic divide and both sides of the bowling-action divide.

His work after the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka released him from the narrow confines of a sporting hero and anointed him a national icon. Through it all he has remained rooted, a charmer who finds it hard to believe that by merely doing what he loves the most, he has rewritten the rules of his craft.

Unlike most spinners, Murali didn’t appear on the international scene a finished product, every trick in place, every nuance worked out.

It took him 27 Tests to claim 100 wickets; the hundreds thereafter came in 15, 16, 14, 15, 14 and 12 Tests respectively.

This wasn’t a genius that was created behind closed doors, but one that evolved out in the open, in front of thousands of spectators.

Symbol

Every ball, every wicket, was tucked away in that remarkable mind; nothing was forgotten, nothing was useless. Muralitharan is the man who remembers everything.

He brought to the craft a new way of doing things, converting a finger-spinning exercise into a wrist-spinning one. He remains the symbol of a resurgent Sri Lanka, a talented side from its pre-Test days but one that needed a touch of iron to perform consistently.

Sri Lanka have won 61 Test matches in all. Muralitharan has played significant roles in 54 of these, claiming 438 wickets at 16.18, taking five-wicket hauls an incredible 41 times.

He might have finished with the best-ever figures for a single innings, but after he had claimed nine wickets against Zimbabwe at Kandy, Russel Arnold dropped a catch at short leg. Then, while bowlers at the other end tried desperately not to take a wicket, Chaminda Vaas accidentally had the last man caught behind amid stifled appeals.

Murali has taken 10 wickets in a match four games in a row. Twice.

That record alone would have ensured Murali a place in the pantheon.

But his influence is not restricted to his country’s improved performance.

With better bats, shorter boundaries and tougher physiques, batsmen have threatened to eliminate the offspinner from the game.

Murali has kept the craft alive with a simple ploy – being successful at it. By developing the doosra – a ball which turns the opposite way to a traditional off-break – that was invented by Saqlain Mushtaq, he widened its scope.

He expanded the horizons of the game, bringing in elements that make it more complex, and therefore more interesting, and providing challenges in the meeting of which international batsmen made their reputations.

Nobody bowls like Murali; sadly, not even Murali towards the end, and the time had come. But he will be missed, as any one-of-a-kind performer will be.

There is no “Murali” school of bowling, no successor who bowls in his unique style. Murali stood alone, and now that he is gone, only memories – and video replays – remain.

Taken From BBC UK. Suresh Menon is a leading sports writer who is based in Bangalore.

Chennai is home to global and Indian auto majors like BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Ashok Leyland, TVS Group, et cetera. It also has almost 35 per cent of India’s share of auto ancillary units.

So why has Chennai emerged as the Detroit of South Asia? There are many reasons, not the least of which is the Tamil Nadu government’s investment-friendly industrial policy.

With an impressive growth of 26.42 per cent last year, India is the second fastest growing auto market in the world, next only to China that grew at a scorching 42 per cent.

There is a lot to cheer about for India if you look at what the Confederation of Indian Industry survey of auto ancillary companies (Q2FY2010) says: ‘India is estimated to have the potential to become one of the top five auto component manufacturing economies by 2025.’

‘The Indian auto component industry is moving rapidly towards grabbing the global auto component outsourcing market, which is expected to be worth $700 billion by 2015. With the spiralling demand from the domestic and international auto companies, the industry is emerging as one of the fastest growing manufacturing sectors in India and globally,’ the survey notes.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers’ statistics show that auto exports from India rose by 49.59 per cent last year. The CII survey also says that India’s exports of auto components would grow to $4.5 billion this year, compared with $1.8 billion in 2005.

Tips:
With no disrespect, Mate!!! you should stop imagining you as MGR, Rajni, political leader, CM candidate, puratchi thalabathi, puratchi tamilan, venkayam etc… You are good at acting and dancing just do that.

Full review, Courtesy oneindia.in

Nowadays actors who always prefer super action hero roles seems to be transformed slowly to normal and natural roles. At the same time superstars like Rajinikanth are trying their level best with convincing roles like Sivaji and sci – fiction Endhiran with maximum entertainment guaranty.

Buzz up!
But there are few actors, like Vijay, still living in the world of myths and not ashamed for giving half baked films like Kuruvi, Villu, Vettaikkaran, Sura and cheating the so called die hard fans continuously.

Sura, the 50th film of Vijay is surely a disaster in his 19 years old career. The story is as old as hills and the sequences are stale and repeated. Vadivelu is the only plus point in this two and half hour horrible experience. Another important point is, S P Rajkumar, who always made some B grade films, wasted a golden opportunity to establish himself as a front line entertainment filmmaker.

The story goes like this…

Sura is a good hearted young man in a Fishery Village called Yaazh Nagar (Yaazh is the name of Srilankan city Jaffna!?). He does good things to the villagers. He fights for the rights of the villagers. Every one loves his mischievous, humour sensed activities. Simply, he is the ‘Chella Pillai’ of the village!

He wishes to marry a girl only after solving all the problems of fishermen in the village. One day Tamanna try to kill herself near the village’s sea side, due to loss of her pet dog! As usual Vijay comes to her rescue and instead of jumping into the sea, in the very next scene, Tammu jumps to his heart and goes for a duet in some beautiful locations.

In the mean time, Dev Gil, a local minister try to vacate the village and occupy the entire land. Knowing this Vijay starts his fight with him. At a stage, Minister plans to destroy Vijay. How Vijay escapes from the plot and save the people and join with Tamanna is the predictable, boring climax!

Nothing special to mention in Vijay’s action, stunts and even his comical scenes irritate a lot. The only change from his earlier flicks is…his bubbly face! As usual he delivers half a dozen meaningless punch dialogues, in the climax some peppy dance numbers with Tamanna.

For Tamanna, it is one more film in her acting career… Thats all!

Vadivelu tries to save the film till the interval. But the post interval sequences (Except the one with Vennira Aadai Moorthy track) totally kills the interest of the viewers. Manisharma gives the Tamil coating for all his 5 songs which took place earlier in some Telugu films like Billa!

S P Rajkumar totally failed to cover even some of the die hard Vijay fans with his unimpressive narration, expected twists and amateur direction.

Sura – May be Golden (jubilee) in number, but fails to earn the same for its quality!

Looks like Kushboo has a keen interest in politics. When a popular daily questioned the actress on her desire to join politics, the actress said that she is interested in politics but has not decided on the party. Kushboo had also said that she is a believer in Congress ideals and a fan of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi.

With all the cases against her being quashed by the Supreme Court, the lady’s five year court battle for expressing her views on premarital sex came to an end recently. Following this, there is a strong indication that Kushboo would enter politics.

Godd!! Save India from lunatics

Paramhamsa Nityananda, who is considered close to God, was caught in a sex scandal which infuriated his devotees. The Godman, 32, originally from Tamil Nadu, was caught on camera with two women, indulging in sexual acts, a forbidden passion as far as spiritual gurus are concerned. One of the two women is a well known Tamil Actress Ranjitha, who has worked in a number of movies as well as TV serials.

It is said that you can see a person’s soul by looking into their eyes. Gestures can convey far more than what words can. And this is more true in the case of 19 year old Abhinaya, whose name means ‘to perform’ and she is a performer, an actress. And what is special about this youngstser? One might ask. Abhinaya has worked against all odds and overcome her disabilities to become an actress. Abhinaya is deaf and mute by birth.

Born to Mr Anand Varma , an ex serviceman with the Indian Air Force and , Mrs Hemalatha ,a house wife, Abhinaya did not cry or react to any sounds for almost two weeks after birth. Even though her parents informed the doctor about this their pleas were not heard. For two years Abhinaya did not stand, crawl or even sit by herself. It was only after consultations with many doctors that her parents were guiding along the right path. Abhinaya was enrolled into the Oral School for the deaf at Marredpalli where she was rehabilitated. Abhinaya went on to study at the Montessori School and St Ann’s School in Taranaka. “Even though I studied in normal schools I could not complete my education. I have studied only up to the 7th standard because of difficulties that I had faced. But I intent to at least finish 10th standard” says this chirpy girl with the never-say-die attitude.

It was Abhinaya’s father who encouraged his daughter to act, an unlikely field for a girl with her kind of challenges. “On the day she was born I knew that I wanted her to become an actress and that is why I named her as ‘Abhinaya’”, said the visibly proud father, who has acted in a couple of films himself “I used to take her to film shootings. Every time she would see a film poster she would gesture that she wanted to be on them. We have only encouraged her thereafter”.

After a Cochlear Implant surgery at the age of 12 years Abhinaya was able to distinguish beats of different sounds “I can make out different beats. We speak English at home, mostly. So I can make out the difference in the sounds in that language.” said Abhinaya, who communicates with the help of her mother’s translations. In fact it is Mrs Hemalatha , who reads and translates the scripts to Abhinaya. Before a shoot Mrs Hemalatha translates the dialogues and explains what expression is needed and what lip movements are required.

Her first movie break came when Tamil film director Samudra Kanni spotted her photographs and asked her to star in his movie ‘Nadodigal’ “My father would meet with directors and producers he knew and tell them about me. Once he had given my snaps to Malayalam director Sleeba and it was near him that director Samudra Kanni saw me. After knowing about me he wanted to prove that nothing is impossible and signed me on to act in his movie.” Both director Samudra Kanni and Abhinaya were lauded for their work by the audiences as well as the critics. “I owe it all to my parents. My mother has worked hard. A day before the shoot my mother sits with the director and asks him what needs to be done. She then tells me the dialogues and how to perform. The first time I saw myself on screen I touched my parents’ feet and cried. It is only because of them that I am what I am today. When they see my pictures in the paper and posters, the happiness that my parents and brothers feel, knows no bounds”.

Abhinaya is presently on a roll, having acted as actor Ravi Teja’s sister in the formers latest film ‘Sambho Siva Sambho’ also starring Allari Naresh and Siva Balaji. Abhinaya is now getting set to work in her second Tamil film to be directed by Shashi Kumar. “Once I have achieved what I have set out for, I would like to help the poor live a better life” saying this ever smiling girl who becomes an inspiration for whom ever she meets.

Distributors 20th Century Fox say it has earned more than $350m (£217m) in the US and more than $670m (415m) in the rest of the world in only 17 days.

The 3D science fiction blockbuster was directed by James Cameron, who also made Titanic, the best selling movie of all time.

The latest figures make Avatar already the fourth-biggest film ever made.

Ahead of it are Titanic ($1.8bn; £1.1bn), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.12bn; £695m) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($1.07bn; £664m).

Avatar – about a disabled marine who infiltrates a race of giant blue aliens – combines live action with digitally-enhanced performances.

It was reportedly the most expensive film ever made, with a budget of at least $300m (£186m).

Expensive tickets

“This is like a freight train out of control,” said 20th Century Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston. “It just keeps on going.”

“I think everybody has to see Avatar once, even people who don’t normally go to the movies, they’ve heard about it and are saying, ‘I have to see it’,” he said. “Then there are those people seeing it multiple times.”

Avatar has now reached most parts of the globe. It opened in China on Saturday and is due to reach Italy – its final market – on 15 January.

The huge box office takings are partly down to the higher cost of tickets for 3D performances, says the BBC’s Peter Bowes in Los Angeles.

But with Hollywood entering its traditional slow season, with few big films due for release, Avatar is likely to dominate the box office for several more weeks, he adds.

India moved to the top of the test rankings on Sunday by completing a second straight innings victory over Sri Lanka.

India won by an innings and 24 runs to claim a 2-0 victory in a dominant performance across the three-test series.

“It took some sustained effort to become the No. 1 team in tests, but the really tough task starts now in having to maintain this position,” India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.

“When we were pushed, the batsmen came up with some outstanding performances, and the bowler got wickets to put the opposition under pressure.”

Soundarya Rajinikanth’s Ocher Studios produced Goa is in deep trouble now. Directed by Venkat Prabhu, the producer is not able to release the film on her superstar father’s birthday. The Madras High Court has passed an interim order not to release the film till December 11, in a case filed by a Chennai based financier against the film.

According to the petition submitted by Varun Maniyan, Soundarya had taken a loan of Rs 1.60 crore from him, of which Rs 1.10 crore was given from office funds and the remaining Rs 50 lakh drawn from his personal fund.

In his petition Manian says that at the time of taking a loan Soundarya had signed only a promisory note and had not signed a loan bond. However Ocher had written to him acknowledging the receipt of the loan and to pay interest at 24 percent. Now as per Manian’s lawyer, she is not keeping her promise on the repayment of the loan
.

Now Varun is forced to move to the court and get back his loan, as Ocher Studio’s Goa is getting ready for a Pongal release. The Madras High Court has stayed the release of the film till December 11 and ordered to issue notices to Soundarya Rajini and Latha Rajini.