‘I’m not half as good as Tendulkar --Sewag

He had once said in jest that the only difference between him and Sachin Tendulkar was in their wealth, but Virender Sehwag said today that, as a batsman, he could never be “half of what the maestro is.” He said he would be honoured if Tendulkar was viewed as his guru. “I," he said, "am his shishya (disciple).”
Asked how soon India would become the world's number one Test team and what he thought of the International Cricket Council's recent list of the game's all-time greats, he said: "If Australia lose to South Africa in an away series next month and we do well in New Zealand, it might cost the present world champions their top spot. I think India will be the world's consistently best team by 2010. As for the ICC list, all Team India members are disappointed at how low they have placed Sachin Tendulkar. I am nowhere near him. I grew up watching and idolising him; his style, his shots I always tried to copy."
Asked which of Tendulkar's attributes he wished he had himself, Sehwag said: "Everything. And it's not just his unique style of batting. It is also his humility, his entire persona. I really feel his records will never be broken. For somebody to do it, he would not only need the talent and longevity but also rare luck with injuries. And that still might not be enough! He started his career at 15-plus. Somebody would have to start at 14 years! The equations you need to have in your favour to get past his 83 international centuries, nearly 30,000 runs and all that he has achieved are an impossible act."
Told he was just as calm on the field as Tendulkar, he said: "At the core of it is a sort of philosophy which I have learnt from my parents. They have always emphasised: if somebody teases you, you reply with a smile or a laugh. That would irritate him."
He recalled some of his close encounters with Shoaib Akhtar, saying: "I remember him verbally attacking me during my triple century in Pakistan. He kept bowling bouncers and taunting me. He said: 'Hit them if you are that gutsy' and 'You can only hit in the third man area.' I said: 'Say that to my partner.' My partner was Tendulkar. I also said: 'How come I am getting runs from third man if you have a fielder there?' And when I hit him straight down the ground, I told him this wasn't a shot square off the wicket!"

Satyam Bank Documents at Issue

Satyam Computer Services Ltd., the Indian outsourcer embroiled in a fraud scandal, used forged documents from at least four major banks to claim a cash balance in excess of $1 billion, according to a person close to the investigation.

Investigators have sent Satyam's account-balance statements and letters of confirmation of account balances to officials at HSBC Holdings PLC of the U.K., Citigroup Inc. of the U.S., and HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank Ltd. of ...

Is Satyam staring at Ctl+Alt+Del?

Thu, Jan 8 12:51 PM
As the Satyam drama unfolds, more clarity on its financial standing will emerge once the auditors recast the books after accounting for the fudging. At the first glance, it looks like Satyam as a corporate entity will not go under and capsize. It does have a sound operational base and has created a place for itself in the market. However, the dastardly acts of the top management have put a cloud over the enterprise that was created with a lot of effort. The fraud has not only brought the board members of the company under scanner but also the bankers, auditors and the analysts who kept on reviewing the company four times a year. The future prospects look truly grim.
"Satyam will now be enquired under civil and criminal laws not just in India but in the US as well. Though both the countries have similar laws, we have seen that the enforcement in the US is quite stringent. The new board and leadership will matter a lot to its relationship with the clients," said industry veteran, Deepak Ghaisas, former CEO, India Operations and CFO of I-flex Solutions. Industry experts also feel the chairman's admission of guilt comes in the wake of something worst coming for the company.
The possibility of a takeover from private equity investors is also in jeopardy. Industry players feel that Satyam will not get buyers as the acquirer will have to face the legal liabilities. Moreover, the company may find it difficult to get suitors as even its client list and deal flow is under scrutiny. The fact that Satyam could be forging the number of clients is not completely ruled out by experts.
"Clients are the biggest assets for an IT company. For any suitor that Satyam may have, its deal flows will be the biggest consideration. However, as admitted, Satyam showed bloated revenues in its second quarter results," said an analyst with a Mumbai-based brokerage. He added that there could only be two ways of doing it. Either the company was showing more revenues from its existing clients or it could be having dummy clients.
"Considering that IT companies are in no compulsion to reveal the names of their customers or give a break-up of individual clients, this could be possible. However, cooking up the names big companies as their clients could be a little remote," said an IT analyst on the condition of anonymity. "It will be difficult for any company to evaluate Satyam as there is no clarity on any subject, be it its client list or the number of clients it has," said Ashutosh Gupta, vice-president, investment research, Evalueserve.
Harish H V, partner, Grant Thornton, said, "People want to wait and watch what else is there before they take it up." Apart from this, their woes could be added by client migration. Religare Hichens Harrison said, "In short term we will see lot of Satyam's clients migrating to competition like Infosys, TCS and Wipro. Also, this development would make Satyam unattractive for any competitor or a PE player to take over the company." Kaustubh Dhavse, deputy director, ICT Practice, Frost and Sullivan, South Asia and Middle East, said, "Satyam will be in an uncertainty phase during the coming months. All its existing contracts might be in jeopardy. Satyam needs to put confidence among its clients, as there will be thoughts among their clients of moving away. "
For employees it remains a wait and watch situation as well. "We have been asked not to panic but it remains a concern for us in terms of the brand value we are connected to," says a Satyam employee. Another employee adds that around 400 employees at the Delhi office have been asked to look for a job on Wednesday.
At the same time industry experts feel there could be more to the situation. According to a source, "There is an air of uncertainly and if things should be believed Satyam may be on the sale block." The source said the sequence of events look like the minds are played to beat down Satyam shares to a level that it becomes an attractive catch. The source added that Satyam, the fourth largest IT company in the country, may interest service providers, or even for a financial firm who may look at fixing the finances and keeping profit as it may look at diluting stake after the buy or selling the business in bits and pieces to service providers.
HR managers in the industry say this comes as an added woo to the IT industry which is already reeling under the pressure of attrition, retention, rupee fluctuations, economic slowdown etc. HR managers believe that Satyam has deeply hampered the morale of the employees and going ahead company will not be able to attract talent for quite some time. "More people from the top management will leave following the resignation of few directors in the past," said Atul Srivastava, Sr. VP and head, Corporate HRD, Datamatics. According to Shiv Agrawal, CEO of ABC consultants said, "Most of the senior employees have money in the form of ESops which is now as good as nothing. Hence there is a real loss for them as far as money is concerned." Had the market been good today we would have heard people quitting Satyam in thousands, say experts.

Reliance Capital to Replace Satyam Computers in Nifty : Effective from January 12 2009

Breaking News : Reliance Capital to Replace Satyam Computers in Nifty : Effective from January 12 2009.

Will soon update this story. Visit again

- CNBC TV 18

Sachin Tendulkar - Defined by others

"Sachin is cricket's God"

- Barry Richards.

.

"He is 99.5 per cent perfect. I'd pay to see him"

- Viv Richards.

.

"I have seen God. He bats at number 4 for India"

- Mathew Hayden

.

"There is no shame being beaten by such a great player, Sachin is perhaps only next to the Don"

- Steve Waugh.

.

"I still think Tendulkar is the best batsmen in the world ahead of Steve Waugh and Lara"

- Glenn McGrath.

.

"You take Don Bradman away and he is next up I reckon"

- Steve Waugh.

.

"Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime, and I am privileged he played in my time"

- Wasim Akram

.

"Sachin Tendulkar is a genius. I'm a mere mortal"

- Brian Lara

.

"Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours"

- Michael Kasprowicz.

.

"It's scary, where the hell do we bowl to him"

- Allan Border.

.

"Yeah mate, but that's with all great players"

- Ian Chappell.

.

"He's better than Ben Hur"

- Paul Wilson.

.

"There's no doubt about it. He is the best"

- Tony Grieg.

.

"Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow - nothing is a problem"

- Geoffrey Boycott.

.

"Destined to be a great"

- Barry Richards.

.

"You have to watch India in India truly to appreciate the pressure that Sachin Tendulkar is under every time he bats. Outside grounds, people wait until he goes in before paying to enter. They seem to want a wicket to fall even though it is their own side that will suffer"

- Shane Warne

Sachin Tendulkar and 'yeh hai youngistaan meri jaan'

10 years long bond come to an end when Pepsi decided to end their relation with great Sachin Tendulkar. As the young players are dominating the field and recently Pepsi also came with the young generation theme than this is going to happen.

But I think Pepsi should add some senior guidance too in 'yeh hai youngistaan meri jaan' as in Sachin Tendulkar and I am sure this will be more hit. But may be they are looking for fit and long innings player which can carry the brand name of Pepsi with his/their success to the long run.

Its really surprised for me that how a company can cut off their 10 years long relations. Sachin is most respected and down to earth human being and I am sure this decision will effect Pepsi adversely.

Yeah you can say that this is my respect and love which forced me to write this but can't help it ...

Please guys share your thoughts on it ...

Tendulkar hits century; India closes in on first-innings lead

SYDNEY (AP) Sachin Tendulkar posted his 38th test century Friday, defying a two-wicket burst from Brett Lee and keeping India in the reckoning for a first-innings lead in the second test.



India's master batsman, who now has four more centuries than anyone in test cricket, pushed a Stuart Clark delivery past cover point and ran two to reach triple figures just before tea.

He arched his back, raised his helmet and bat up in each arm and looked to the sky to celebrate, then embraced batting partner Harbhajan Singh in mid-pitch. He was given a lengthy standing ovation by the Sydney Cricket Ground crowd.

Singh gave able support, scoring 41 in an unbroken 79-run partnership after going in at the fall of two quick wickets with India at 345-7 and Tendulkar on 69.

Tendulkar was unbeaten 106 at tea on the third day and India was 424-7, just 39 behind Australia's first innings of 463.

Tendulkar's eighth hundred against Australia, which includes an unbeaten 241 the last time he played at the SCG four years ago, contained eight boundaries and a 6 from 160 balls.

Lee had India in trouble at 345-7 when he combined with Adam Gilchrist to remove Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2) and Anil Kumble (2), giving the Australian wicketkeeper his 400th and 401st test dismissals.

Gilchrist, who had a day to forget with two dropped catches and a missed stumping opportunity on the second day, is only the second wicketkeeper to reach the 400 mark.

Lee had trapped Yuvraj Singh (12) lbw four minutes before lunch, the second wicket of the first session.
S. Africa's progress

CAPE TOWN (AP) South Africa reached 125-4 by tea Thursday on the second day of the second test, after bowling out West Indies for 243.

West Indies medium-pace bowler Dwayne Bravo took 2-31 in his 15-over spell after lunch, including the prize wicket of Jacques Kallis, who was caught behind by Denesh Ramdin for 36.

The gratest innings for all time

As soon as the ink was dry on last week’s column extolling the virtues of Virender Sehwag, he not only played another astonishing innings, but one that rated higher than his other two mentioned last week. And so, to answer all the requests, here is the definitive list of the top ten innings of all time - in reverse order - as rated by the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings computer.

10 - Virender Sehwag, IND, 319 v SA, Chennai, 26/03/2008

The second triple-century of his career, this may have come on a featherbed Chennai pitch, but it was against the same attack who bowled South Africa to a series win over England this summer - Steyn, Ntini, Morkel, Kallis and Harris

9 - Len Hutton, ENG, 364 v AUS, The Oval, 20/08/1938

He broke Bradman’s Ashes record of 334 and Walter Hammond’s Test record of 336 not out, while leading England to victory by an innings and 579 runs. He also had to face 85 overs from the bowler the Don rated the greatest - Bill O’Reilly.

8 - Virender Sehwag, IND, 306 v PAK, Multan, 28/03/2004 Pressure? What pressure! Batting against his side’s fiercest rivals, he brought up India’s first Test triple-century with a six, and the match was won by an innings.

7 - Brian Lara, WI, 213 v AUS, Kingston, 13/03/1999 The first of two mind-blowing innings in the same series from Lara as he lifted his side to a first-innings lead and eventual ten-wicket victory against the might of the Australians and McGrath, Gillespie, Warne and MacGill at the peak of their powers.

6 - Len Hutton, ENG, 202* v WI, The Oval, 12/08/1950 Until last week, England’s first-innings total of 344 was the lowest in Test to include an individual double-century. Hutton carried his bat right through it, but was powerless to prevent an innings defeat as those two little pals of mine - Ramadhin and Valentine caused havoc.

5 - Bill Ponsford, AUS, 266 v ENG, The Oval, 18/08/1934

It was not a bad effort to outscore Bradman, but that is what Ponsford did - if only by 22 runs in an Ashes-clinching partnership of 451. Australia piled up 701 for a mammoth 562-run triumph and England wouldn’t see The Ashes for another nineteen years.

4 - Don Bradman, AUS, 270 v ENG, Melbourne, 01/01/1937

Caught on a vicious "sticky" wicket, Bradman opened the batting with his tail-enders and batted at number seven. Coming in at 97 for five, his innings is still the highest-ever at that position. O’Reilly and Fleetwood-Smith did the rest.

3 - Virender Sehwag, IND, 201* v SL, Galle, 31/07/2008

Where to start? He carried his bat, scoring over 60% of his side’s runs against two men with more than a thousand Test wickets, not to mention wonderkid Ajantha Mendis. Only two other batsmen reached double figures as his innings was the difference between the sides.

2 - Don Bradman, AUS, 299* v SA, Adelaide, 29/01/1932

Ian Bell was gutted to have been dismissed on 199, but how would Bradman have felt to have been stranded on 299 when last man Pud Thurlow was run out? He added over two hundred runs for the last five wickets which helped Australia to a ten-wicket triumph.

1 - Garry Sobers, WI, 365* v PAK, Kingston, 26/02/1958

I know what you’re saying. 'What about Gooch?", "What about Botham?", "What about Laxman?". Well - how about setting a World Test record against two of the top ten Rated bowlers at the time and leading your team to an innings victory? All that at the age of 21.

Apologies to Messrs Gooch, Laxman and Botham, who didn’t quite make it, but now all that remains to be said is "let the debates begin".

Leaving on a batting high

Donald Bradman’s final Test innings constitutes one of the greatest stories in cricket folklore, despite the fact that it only lasted two deliveries. As far as his Reliance Mobile ICC Player Ranking was concerned, it dropped him a mere three points from 957 to 954, but his batting average dropped far more significantly from 101.39 to its final resting place of 99.94.

Despite that disappointment, Bradman ended his career at the top of the Batting tree – the same position he had occupied since he dislodged Herbert Sutcliffe from the number one spot in January 1933 – 61 points ahead of Denis Compton in second place. However, another noteworthy achievement was the fact that Bradman ended his Test career ranked top, a feat matched by only one other man in the history of Test cricket.

It is someone equally remarkable who shares this distinction with the greatest batsman who ever lived – Colonel The Honourable Sir Francis Stanley Jackson.

During his time at Harrow School his fag was fellow parliamentarian and future Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and he made his England debut in 1893 while he was still studying at Trinity College, Cambridge. He scored 91 against the Australians at Lord’s and in his next Test later that summer at The Oval, he made 103. He was unable to tour abroad as the months away would have come in the way of his business commitments and so all twenty of his Tests were played on home soil.

The epitome of the so-called ‘Golden Age’ of cricket, it was in 1905 when Jackson was really at the peak of his powers. He won the toss in all five Test Matches against the Australians and scored more runs than any other player on either side with 492 including two centuries and two fifties, topping the averages with 70.28. Not content with that, he also topped the bowling averages with thirteen wickets at an average of just 15.46. Unsurprisingly, England won the series 2-0 and had much the better of the other three drawn games.

He was elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament in 1915, representing Howdenshire in Yorkshire until resigning in 1926. He served as Financial Secretary to the War Office 1922-23 and in 1927 he was appointed Governor of Bengal. In 1932, he was shot at close range by a girl student named Bina Das in Calcutta University, but escaped unhurt. He later served as chairman of the Test Match Selection Committee, and in 1943 presided over the special committee appointed by M.C.C. to consider Post-war Cricket.

A Ratting year in review 2008 -Cricket

As the old year comes to a close, it is time to reflect on the Ratings year and who were the biggest movers and shakers.

Five batsmen managed to achieve Test batting Ratings of more than 900 points over the course of the year: Mike Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. In contrast, Muttiah Muralitharan was the only bowler to break the 900 barrier in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings in the twelve months of 2008. Dale Steyn narrowly missed out, peaking at 897 in April.

Virender Sehwag played the two highest-rated innings by the Ratings computer over the year – his undefeated 201 against Sri Lanka at Galle is rated as the third-greatest innings of all time, and his Indian-record 319 against a formidable South African attack at Chennai rated second-best. AB de Villiers’s undefeated 217 at Ahmedabad, Chris Gayle’s match-saving 197 against New Zealand at Napier and Simon Katich’s undefeated 131 against New Zealand at Brisbane round up the top five.

Jason Krejza’s debut performance of twelve for 358 was the best match performance of the year. Perennial number one Muttiah Muralitharan rated second for his eleven wickets against India at Colombo. Dale Steyn’s match-winning haul in the Boxing Day Test, Mitchell Johnson’s eleven wickets at Perth, and Harbhajan Singh’s ten-wicket haul against Sri Lanka at Galle complete this top five.

In the shorter format of the game, only two batsmen crossed the 800-point barrier during the course of the year. Ricky Ponting peaked at 822 back in February, and Indian skipper MS Dhoni reached 803 in August during the series with Sri Lanka. In terms of bowlers, the only man to crack 800 was Shaun Pollock, who reached 899 points during the home series with the West Indies before retiring. Daniel Vettori and Nathan Bracken were the only other bowlers to achieve a Rating of 750 or more over the course of the year.

Adam Gilchrist played the highest-rated One Day International innings of the year with his 118 against Sri Lanka at Perth back in February before retiring a month later. Yuvraj Singh’s whirlwind undefeated 138 from just 78 deliveries against England at Rajkot was rated just behind. Rounding off the top five were Sachin Tendulkar’s 117 not out against Australia at Sydney, Sanath Jayasuriya’s 125 against India at Karachi and Kumar Sangakkara’s 128 against the Australians at Adelaide.

Stuart Broad’s match-winning five for 23 against South Africa at Trent Bridge was the bowling performance of the year as rated by the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Ranking computer. Next up was Sri Lankan wonderkid Ajantha Mendis’s six for 13 against India at Karachi. Zaheer Khan managed two of the best five bowling performances of the year – both achieved in a five-day stretch against the Sri Lankans – four for 21 at Dambulla and then three for 23 at the Premadasa. Shaun Pollock’s two for 13 against the West Indians at Cape Town enabled him to end his ODI career on top.

In terms of all-rounders, no-one could touch Jacques Kallis at the top of the Test rankings as he maintained the number one position he has held unbroken since May 2006. However, six men shared the ODI number one spot for all-rounders: Shaun Pollock, Sanath Jayasuriya, Andrew Flintoff, Jacob Oram, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi.