India finally wins  2-1 after a hard fought series against gallant Australia

Finally India shows their all round strengths and wins the series. Australia winning the toss at the beautiful Dharamshala were 131/1 at lunch with their captain motoring along. However the Indian think tank made a big call after Virat Kohli was out of the game with his shoulder injury...instead to taking a batsman they went ahead with unknown chinaman Kuldip Yadav...& kudos to standin captain Ajinkha Rahane for introducing Kuldip ahead of Jadeja-Ashwin when Aussies were romping away...Kuldip started to rip in his chinaman variations to telling effect in post lunch session to take 4 wkts(Ashwin accounting for Smith for 111) & ripped out Warner, Handscomb,Marsh & Maxwell in a match & series turning post lunch session & aussies were 208/6 & their core batting back in the hut. Wade's strong effort (57) took aussies to 300..but the great chance to bat India out of the match was gone on the best pitch of the test series.

India looked all poised to take a big 1st innings lead till tea on 2nd day until Nathan Lyon using the bounce of the wicket suddenly put pressure on the Indian middle order and reduced them to 225/6 after Rahul & Pujara hit half centuries..Then came the big moment of the match when Matt Renshaw in slips dropped a sitter of a fast & hostile but unlucky Pat Cummins to give Saha a reprieve which proved very costly for the Aussies as on next day Jadeja(63) with Saha(31) added invaluable 96 runs for the 7th wkt to give India a 32-run 1st innings lead....enough for a hostile Umesh Yadav with Bhubaneswar Kumar to strangle aussies to 32/3 in 2nd innings...Renshaw & Warner copped some serious chin music before being dismissed & Kumar knocking over Smith's off stump after conceding 2 boundaries...then the big boys Ashwin & Jadeja stepped in & spun out Australia for 137 in 2nd innings..leaving India to make 105 to win on a pitch still playable...& India duly knocked off the runs to win by 8 wkts & end a highly contested series.

While this series had seen some great on field cricket , off the field there were plenty of happenings ..with Smith getting away without been banned after trying to take dressing room support for review in Bangaluru..and Virat Kohli's continued on the field antics & off the field comments causing lot of bad blood with Aussie media & team  & comments & tweets were flowing thick & fast from Himalayas to Down Under & viceversa.  Kohli should be more sensible before making such comments which are bound to generate media attention..& helps the media to sell more copies but these are not helping Indian cricket at all...Virat should reflect on this & concentrate on his batting & fitness more.

By contrast Smith was more understanding & even apologised for his wrong doings after the series which was good. Rahane in the 1 match that he captained looked unflappable & made right moves...great sign for India.

India was widely expected to win the series but they had to struggled against a spirited Australian side...KL Rahul,Pujara, the spinners , keeper Saha & Umesh were standouts for India in this series.Jadeja deserved Man of the Series award...For Aussies Renshaw showed great promise but needs to be more tighter around offstump..Handscomb looked good without getting big scores..Warner has to find a way to perform well in the subcontinent - he was all at sea..Bowlers all had their moments..Lyon was very good....& Cummins playing his 1st test after 6 years bowled 77 overs in this series proving his fitness..bowled at great pace, was very hostile but unlucky as catches went down off his bowling...Aussies did miss Starc however-both his bowling & late order batting in last 2 tests...but with Cummins fit with Starc, Hazlewood & Pattinson (doing currently very well in Sheffield Shield) they will in all likelihood field a formidable pace attack come the Ashes 2017-18....but Australia's best was offcourse Steve Smith- 3 tons on difficult pitches..some glorious batting this..he should have been joint Man of the series with Jadeja...The aussie skipper performed outstandingly in this series & helped his side to fight very hard against all odds.

Australia's weak lower order batting & their inability to drive home the advantage on more than 1 occasion ,not been able to bat India out after dismissing them at 189 at Bangaluru & again failing to score 550 plus after batting 1st at Ranchi & Dharamshala proved costly..they had some good chances to win this series but could not take them when it mattered..

The Great Escape -  India v Australia   Ranchi

So with series 1-1 the 2 most competitive cricket teams locked horns for 3rd test in the Eastern region town of Ranchi- The abode of the great M S Dhoni.....and what a match it was...

Deciding to bat on a pitch which turned out to be the best in the series..Australia after struggling at 140/4 laboured to 451 thanks to another epic by Steve Smith...a near chanceless & neat 178 notout under pressure and shepherding an unsure Glen Maxwell in the process...Maxwell..a doubtful starter to this test and an explosive batsman played solidly controlling his aggressive instincts for a neat 102..However late wickets prevented Aussies from reaching a more intimidating score of 550plus.

India started well with the 2 openers before Pat Cummins flown in for an injured Mitch Starc extracted good pace & bounce from a docile pitch to dismiss KL Rahul for 67..which paved the way for Chateswar Pujara to start his epic innings..Vijay hit 82 but his dismissal opened up the middle order & some fine bowling by Cummins & Hazlewood reduced India to 326/6 and under big pressure to save the test now. But enter Wriddhiman Saha...short on runs in the series till that point. Saha & Pujara put up an absolutely stunning long partnership to take India well past 451.Saha completed a fine 100 and Pujara played excess of 500 balls for an epic 202...what an innings it was by the unsung hero of the Indian batting...a man of the match performance....So from a potential danger of losing the match the Pujara-Saha stand of 199 took India to a winning position end of 4th day...India 601/9decl. Australia with 8 ovrs of high pressure situation lost 2 wkts (one of Warner) end of 4th day with Jadeja looking extremely dangerous using the rough patches outside lefthanders offstump.

Enter 5th day and with 30 minutes to go for lunch Australia were 63/4 (Smith bowled Jadeja 21)..and now staring at a certain defeat.  However Shaun Marsh was playing stubbornly and Peter Handscomb proceeded to play his most important innings of the series using his feet to score & played rock solid defence...no wickets fell in post lunch session and till about 20-30 minutes from the end of the day when Marsh finally was out for 53 & Maxwell soon after  but with Australia already taken a lead ended at 204/6 as Handcomb played an outstanding innings of 72 notout and he & Marsh were rock solid & took Australia out of jail from a certain defeat at the hands of Indian Spinners & kept the series 1-1 with 1 test to play...thus setting to rest all pre-series forecasts of 4-0,3-0 series win for India.

Thus this was a test match which ebbed and flowed...with India staring at a possible defeat in 1st half  and Australia escaping from a certain defeat at the end on a last day difficult pitch which should give them lots of confidence ahead of the last test....Cant wait for Dharmasala Test  !!!

From above: Smith on the way to 178no,   Jadeja 9 wkts in the match  ,Pujara 202no, Saha 117
Marsh- Handscomb 100 plus runs partnership to save Australia

Want to get rid of your specs?...read this......

Lasik Eye Surgery - for curing eye vision

If you want to get rid of your eye- glasses which you are using for farsightedness or nearsightedness,you should look at Lasik eye surgery- a modern method of completely curing nearsightedness, farsightedness & astigmatism (seeing destorted images).

However before availing of this option, you are required to meet the eye surgeon who after carrying out the required tests will pass the verdict whether lasik surgery can be carried out in your eyes. Only after the green signal is given by the doctor ,you can proceed with this surgery.

The lasik procedures typically take around 15-20 minutes but you are required to spend around 2 hours to complete the full procedure.  Some eyedrops will be given at the start of the process to numb the eyes..Lasik reshapes the cornea to allow the light entering the eye to be focused on the proper part of the retina to obtain clearer vision. .At times you may feel some mild pressure on the eyes but it is not painful  and is a comfortable operation for the patient. 

After the operation ,the surgeon will recheck the eyes before you are alowed to leave...but no driving allowed.

The Lasik process will start to take effect within hours...You will be asked to visit the clinic within next 24 hours for the eye surgeon to check the improvement process. Within 6 months the Lasik will have its complete healing effect on the eyes.

The cost of this procedure is high depending on the clinic and standard of surgery..should be around Rs 1 lacs or few more.

Your Lasik Surgeon will give you specific instructions for rest,eyecare,level of activity, and follow-up. These instructions will be vitally important to the healing process and the effectiveness of your Lasik procedure

So you like to get rid of your eye glasses to look younger or like to wear sunglasses to look stylish…then go for Lasik treatment

Down Memory Lane....Soft drinks in India over the years

We all love having softdrinks...arent we ?...Since childhood I am sure there are hardly a soul who were never fascinated by the sight of softdrinks bottle by the roadside stalls...For people in the age group of 40& more , they must have seen & had the Cocacola of earlier days along with Goldspot, Fanta & Limca.  Cocacola got restricted from India way back in 1977.....this prompted Parle Exports P Ltd to introduce Thums Up immediately after that....Thums Up became a rage in late 70s & early 80s with the slogan ''Happy Days are here again '' & of course still very much a popular cold drink till date....during early 80s cricketers in India as well as foreign teams had Thums Up logo fixed on their cricket attires.  Around the same time we had Pure foods of Delhi coming up with another cola Campa Cola & Campa orange & lemon..which also was popular for some time till early nineties..Other manufacturers came up with Double seven, Thrill which also had a good market briefly...during that period of late seventies who had many other soft drinks like Drinko etc which had a brief stay...In Kolkata city Milkos (processed chocolate milk) became very popular and is still available in some areas in the city.   

However Cocacola made a strong comeback late 80s . Soon after Pepsi also got introduced in Indian market....later their Diet versions also arrived.  Fanta has also made a comeback .  Mirinda has become a popular orange drink .The Mango drinks...Maaza, Frooti have also become popular subsequently along with lemon drinks Sprite. & 7up.

As far as I can remember one 200ml used to cost Rs 1.25 around late 1970s...now it has gradually increased to Rs 9+... Nowadays we have higher quantities in 600ml plastic bottles which we may carry with us for longer consumption  and 1 lts for group usage.

At present Cocacola, Pepsi & Thumsup are coexisting strongly in Indian soft drinks market along with Limca, Sprite, 7up ,Mirinda & the Mango drinks.  Lately we observe that Campa cola is also making a comeback in some Departmental Stores........

Some images of Older version bottles of Coke,Thumsup,Limca, Goldspot,Fanta etc....

Below some current version bottles

The most sensational comeback in World Sport !!!

The most unreal soccer match of the century: Barcelona V PSG (2nd leg Champions league)

FC Barcelona -6 : PSG- 1  (Aggregate 6-5)

The number 1 sport in the World roars again...& how ?.....Down 0-4 after their 1st leg away game ..the star studded FC Barcelona now had their work cut out against a quality Paris Saint Germain side on their home turf in 2nd leg...They now have to erase a 4 goal deficit in 90 mins...Messi & Co started in style with Suarez opening the a/c within 2 minutes..but they had to wait till nearly 40th min to score the 2nd- a sameside deflection on Iniesta's backheel...Early 2nd half..Neymer tripped & Messi scores from penalty(agregate 3-4)...PSG realising now the importance of scoring started to storm the Barcelona defence..& missed chances..Cavani hitting the post..Dmaria shoots wide...but finally Cavani scored (5-3) in 61st minute...game now slipping away from Barcelona.?....now comes Neymer..87 min..freekick outside the box...Neymer curls it in (aggregate 4-5)....89th Minute Suarez is tripped (?) or he dived inside the penalty box ?..penalty..Neymer scores(aggregate 5-5)...but in this match 1 away goal will win it for PSG if Barcelona does not get one more...last minute of injury time..Neymer lobs one inside the penalty box..over the crowd of defenders ..& Sergei Roberto times his run perfectly to stab the ball home (aggregate 6-5)..& Barcelona wins in an epic finish..in one of the most sensational comebacks in the history of World sport......& the whole stadium going berserk.

and Neymer Jr was absolutely sensational in the match ,specially in last 4 minutes...I am sure that he is now taking gaint strides to become the World's best player sooner than we expect...this was a heart stopping performance by him....

Finally. this match was a lesson never to give up...no matter what

India V Australia    Border- Gavaskar Trophy…Test series  2016-17

We have finally come to the last leg of a long home cricket season. After some woefully one sided test series between India vs New Zealand (3-0 to India in 3 tests), India vs England (4-0 to India after 5 tests) & India v Bangladesh (1-0 to India in 1 test) we are now midway into a strongly contested series between India & Australia which is 1-1 after 2 tests & 2 to play.  The earlier visiting sides this season did not have the bowling attacks to challenge Indian Batsmen on home pitches. The wickets prepared were good wickets taking spin 3^rd day onwards & Indian batsmen made merry. Even Karun Nair new to test cricket got a triple 100 against some ordinary England spin bowlers who would struggle to make into any Ranji team.(must add here that Karun is a very capable cricketer & not to take away any credit for his 300).

But enter Australia…this team poccess pretty good bowling resources and much better quality spinners. Starc-Hazlewood are the best new ball bowling pair in the world at present..followed by offie Nathan Lyon 200+ test wickets ..most of them on unresponsive Australian pitches. Steve Okeefe is a left arm spinner who bowls tight & spins it just enough. In batting Australia have Smith (renowned player of spin) & Warner (devastating at the top but struggles with spin). They have recently discovered 2 very fine youngsters in Matt Renshaw & Peter Handscomb who have already made a mark in test cricket before coming to India. However batting still looks their main worry with lack of depth..when you compare with England..who had a better batting unit but struggled in bowling.

Well, the series has started on a rousing note & not free from controversies  as one would expect India v Aus showdown to be in last 15-16 years.  On a poor wicket at Pune Australia won the all important toss & batted first scoring 260 in the 1^st innings .Judging the wicket a very impressive score which India soon found out when they were bowled out for 105  with Okeefe spinning the ball just enough & running through the Indian batting wih 6-35. Australia with a huge lead of 155 batted very positively in 2^nd innings to get 285- the right attitude on this pitch where mere defending would have been fatal..Renshaw the 20yr old batted very impressively on his 1^st Indian tour on such trecherous pitch getting 68 & 31. But it was Smith who scored a brilliant 100 in the 2^nd innings on an impossible wicket to bat on… attacking the Indian spinners..but his 100 was aided by 3 dropped chances by Indian team early in his knock which made lot of difference.  With 441 to win no team was going to survive on this pitch let alone win..& India duly folded for 107 losing by 333 runs & Okeefe taking 12 wkts for MOM award.Therefore it was poor thinking by Indian think tank to prepare a rank turner which played into Australia’s hands as aussies were having better spinners to exploit than any of the earlier visiting teams this season.

Steve OKeefe wreaker in chief at Pune

So onto Bangaluru,the garden city…for 2^nd test & would you believe it Aussies 1-0 up .  Pre series predictions were in favour of India winning 3-0 or 4-0  but here we are 0-1 down..as if the weaker football team turning out an impressive & unexpected performance against the fancier side in a 1^st half of a soccer match.

This time India won the toss & batted…most vital considering another substandard pitch…but the momentum the Aussie spinners had carried into this match and India meekly folded up for 189 with Rahul scoring a brilliant 90 with a shoulder strain…& this time it was the senior spinner Nathan Lyon getting good bounce & turn who became unplayable with 8-50…Aus ended 1^st day at 40/0 with all possibility of them taking unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series with another solid batting performance on 2^nd day.

But it was here that Indian bowlers bowled disciplined line & restricted Australian scoring to such an extent that they were suffocated all day & could score only 197 in the whole 2^nd day losing all their top batsmen, also Indian sledging of aussie batsmen & egging on the crowd helped a lot in India clawing back…on 3^rd day before lunch the Indian bowlers cleaned up the tail with Aus all out 274 with an 87 run lead..which was very crucial in a low scoring game but it was now a matter of 1 or 2 good partnership to wipe off the deficit for India(mind you Australia were to bat last)... Very good performance by all Indian bowlers but the one guy who bowled least got most wkts..Jadeja got 6 wkts & more fancied Ashwin only 2.

Indian 2^nd innings was a roller coaster ride…good start (Rahul 51) followed by few wickets & a crucial moment of the match…Smith drops Pujara on 4 .With India’s lead not too many at 4 down…Rahane joined Pujara & had the most significant partnership as it may turn out for this series..Their 100 runs stand put India firmly on top with Pujara getting 92 & Rahane 52.  Though Stark-Hazlewood (6 wkts) bowled brilliantly towards the end to restrict India at 275..188 will always going to be tough on this 4^th day pitch for any team..let alone Australia’s brittle batting.(and Aus have a tradition of messing up small target chases in the past- MCG 1981 ,Leeds 1981 etc)

Karun Nair's stumps knocked over by Stark

Renshaw ..who was proving to be a thorn in India’s flesh this time went cheaply to Ishant..Warner had no clue to face Ashwin & after scrapping for some time was dismissed..the Smith-Marsh stand looked threatening for a while till Marsh padded up & was given out  & more surprisingly did not review. Then came the big moment when Smith was lbw fr 28 to Umesh & consulted non stricker Handscomb for a review who indicated Smith to look to the dressing from for DRS help…against the rules of the game.  Umpire Nigel quickly stepped in & asked Smith to leave with some Indians complaining…Smith left & the rest of the batting meekly folded to Ashwin who had 6-41. India won by 75 runs, series 1-1… Once again the lack of depth of Australian batting got exposed…which may be a problem for visitors for rest of the series.  KL Rahul for his 90 & 51 was the MOM in 2^nd test.

Saha's brilliant catch on final day off Wade

So now we await Ranchi test from 16^th March…but it must be said that this present Australian side will not be pushovers anymore…they have got the required bowling ammunition & some decent batsmen to compete…Their main issue is lack of batting depth after top 5 which may cost them this series as it did cost them the 2^nd test.  India needs to have a more consistent opening partnerships & should go with 6 batters as 4 bowlers option seems to be enough on Indian tracks.  However the main issue is preparing proper pitches ..the pitches for both test matches were substandard and its not clear why Indian think tank is going for such pitches where winning the toss becomes more important. And as good as a lottery…If India had lost the toss at Bangaluru they would have lost this game…same with Australia at Pune…visitors would never have won at Pune if they had batted 4^th.   However it must be said Australia have found a way to compete in this series so we expect  a competitive last 2 tests. India did have a scare at Bangaluru..as Aussies were just 1 good day away from sealing the series but the Indian bowlers fought back.

Moreover although the pitches on view were substandard , it at least led to two gripping contests..the average viewer will always prefer exciting matches over one  sided run fests we had earlier in the season...& this Ind v Aus series is already attracting large crowds in the grounds & higher viewership in TV & media.

I still back India as favourites to win the series

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My Artwork...sharing ideas of creating good artwork

My first Blog....My work of Art

Dear viewers,

I have always had a knack of creating artwork of various images.  My favourite subjects of Artwork are Wildlife & Landscapes & Buildings. I also have my small profiles created in 2 websites: artpal.com & boomboomprints.com.  In order to potray natural images of Art it is very important for the artists to observe their objects of art very carefully with relation to their physical features, extent of measurements , colours etc.   In order to illustrate the above point further...I would take the example of drawing an elephant...where I will be concentrating on the elephants physical features...his trunk,tusks,legs, whole body,tail etc...I will try to observe here the extent of his trunk...how far is its length going downwards...where the trunk ends with respect to his legs...how big his legs & tail with proportionate to his body...how big his ears in proportionate to his body etc...here I will not go by scale measurements at all...it will be a case of observing the animals whole physical frame & the making an idea of imaginary ratio of his body parts with respect to his whole body.

Similarly for drawing landscapes example mountains...need to observe the scenery in front of me ..imagine the ratio of sizes of mountains...the bigger or smaller peaks.along with adjoining landscapes.  Also in coluring need to be as natural as possible with respect to the actual image.

Artwork is real hardwork...main virtues which can make a good artist  are imagination, patience,good hands and of course the undying ability to create more images of art effortlessly. Viwers can visit artpal.com & type amitava0112 in search option to view some of my artwork. There ,the viewers can also buy certain objects which will have my artwork printed on them. Posting images of some of my artwork as under.