Gaurav Kalra's blog from IBNLive.com http://ibnlive.in.com/index.html Thu, 9 Feb 2012 12:21:01 +0530 IBNLive.com IBNLive.com en-us http://ibnlive.in.com/pix/common/ibnlogo.jpg http://ibnlive.in.com/index.html Feed provided by IBNLive. http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/63149/the-squabbling-conjoined-twins.html I have never met Mr. N Srinivasan. In fact, I have never even had a conversation with him. But I do enjoy hearing him talk at press conferences or in editor@ibnlive.com Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:19:11 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/63124/the-convenient-ipl-bogey.html Let me get this straight. Every time a ball crashed into Rahul Dravid's stumps this Australian summer, it was because stints with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals had editor@ibnlive.com Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:40:42 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/63091/in-adelaide-shock-it-up-and-shake-it-up.html I know a man who was once ravaged by a vicious depression. His doctors tried it all. Tweaked the dosage of his medication. Attempted various combinations of mood stabilizers and editor@ibnlive.com Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:58:53 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/63049/why-the-100th-is-a-worthy-obsession.html Television news is the whipping boy of choice these days. It gets accused of every possible digression. Of playing judge, jury and executioner. Of stoking unrest. Of reducing public discourse editor@ibnlive.com Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:58:51 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/63032/losing-with-the-winners.html Chew on these numbers for a minute. Just re-read them. Rub those eyes and do your own searches for confirmation if you are still in disbelief. When the last editor@ibnlive.com Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:51:43 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/62921/damn-you-vinod-kambli-we-are-believers.html Aakash Chopra likes to call himself the '245th Indian to represent India in Test cricket'. It is a statement of fact. But it is also a medal, a badge of editor@ibnlive.com Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:43:57 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/62904/the-peter-i-knewonly-too-little.html As the spot-fixing trial was ending, I was starting to waver in my loathing for Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. So they had bowled a few intentional no-balls. editor@ibnlive.com Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:44:50 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/62777/is-cricket-the-new-porn.html First, an admission. I have never really enjoyed pornography. Contrived situations all leading to a familiar climax (pardon the expression!). There is never doubt about how it would end. While editor@ibnlive.com Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:44:35 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/62709/when-the-child-was-and-the-parent-is.html I have often wondered why I wept at the birth of my child. Tears are usually logical. When my favourite uncle passed, his body ravaged by a vicious cancer, I editor@ibnlive.com Thu, 15 Sep 2011 10:28:09 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/62680/douse-the-drs-fire.html For those of us who have been vehement supporters of the Decision Review System, the last few days have been illuminating. Incidents at Durham and Galle have highlighted flaws in editor@ibnlive.com Mon, 05 Sep 2011 08:44:06 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/62600/cash-for-comment-the-moral-crisis-in-our-cricket.html "Frivolous and trivial" and that was it. The BCCI's self - appointed spokesman and now a honourable minister Rajiv Shukla had done what he does best. Waved off another stink editor@ibnlive.com Sun, 07 Aug 2011 03:09:32 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/62577/stench-of-drs-compromise.html For every leader that inspires, there is one who derails. Power can enrich but also cripple. A demagogue can benefit his constituents but chooses instead to stifle them. He snarls editor@ibnlive.com Sun, 31 Jul 2011 11:24:38 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/62507/drs-without-balltracking-a-sugar-free-candy-bar.html The leg before decision is a unique cricketing animal. Unlike any other mode of dismissal it relies as much on 'opinion' as fact. An umpire is called upon to adjudicate editor@ibnlive.com Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:23:02 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/62474/udrs-the-time-has-come.html While the Indian Cricket board's rejection of the Decision Review System for the series in England isn't really a surprise, its timing is rather intriguing. The series doesn't start till editor@ibnlive.com Sat, 11 Jun 2011 03:45:53 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/62321/gaurav-kalra-msd-from-a-distance.html In journalism fancy headline writing is a much admired skill. But in the aftermath of India's World Cup victory, the phraseology to describe Indian skipper MS Dhoni has been borderline editor@ibnlive.com Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:17:51 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/62303/cricket-needs-to-preserve-its-arrogance.html Masquerading so called noble causes is a popular occupation these days. One such noble cause is the dictum of spreading the game far and wide, to corners of the world editor@ibnlive.com Tue, 22 Mar 2011 08:20:44 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/62163/conflict-of-interest-or-interest-in-conflict.html In a cosy club, squabbles too are comfortably cosy. My millions up against your millions and a bit might cause the occasional scuffle but it remains largely uncombative. Resolved quickly editor@ibnlive.com Wed, 12 Jan 2011 09:46:44 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/61996/pak-matchfixing-devoured-by-deceit.html A blind man's love for a woman is a flight of imagination. The fullness of her lips, the glint of her eye, the contour of her breast are all flawless editor@ibnlive.com Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:38:00 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/61842/national-flag-on-sleeve-looks-rather-nice.html Flogging a dead horse is fraught with danger. After all, the line between opinion and missionary zeal can be a tricky one. Keen as I am to avoid the trap, editor@ibnlive.com Sat, 05 Jun 2010 08:47:46 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/61834/who-let-you-snatch-my-medal.html In the Gavaskar household, the bragging rights on cricketing matters rest with Sunil Manohar. How do you retort an argument that goes along these lines; "10,000 Test runs, 34 Test editor@ibnlive.com Wed, 02 Jun 2010 10:15:34 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/61819/ipl-cause-effect--afterthoughts.html So we know now don't we that the IPL parties weren't really to blame for India's premature exit from the T20 World Cup. Anyone with half a mind found the editor@ibnlive.com Fri, 21 May 2010 09:56:36 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/61803/blood-sport-in-silly-season.html In an inquest the first victim is often sanity. And since rabble rousing is a blood sport these days, the borderline between today's Kasab and tomorrow's Dhoni has thinned so editor@ibnlive.com Thu, 13 May 2010 10:17:39 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/61769/there-still-are-a-few-good-men.html It is when all is crumbling around us that we seek shelter in solidity. Integrity is reassuring when scoundrels who previously masqueraded as pioneers are exposed. Like an onion editor@ibnlive.com Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:33:40 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/61754/can-we-have-our-game-back-please.html The fan is cricket's cotton wool. It is the wide eyed admiration of a 12-year-old standing in line for his hero's autograph that ambition is spawned. It is the devotion editor@ibnlive.com Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:33:13 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/61708/yuvraj-prince-destined-never-to-be-king.html The allure of the great game in this age are well known. Big bucks, adulation, women, fame; all available at the snap of a finger just because you can cover editor@ibnlive.com Sun, 04 Apr 2010 12:04:07 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/61639/lalit-modi-battler-beyond-compare.html Multi-tasking, as the wife always reminds me, is the sole preserve of women. Give men more than one task to do at a time and they are more than likely editor@ibnlive.com Sun, 14 Mar 2010 06:35:40 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/61587/sachin-i-asked-you-so.html How often have you heard the phrase, "I told you so!" in a cricket conversation. Over a beer after the defeat in Nagpur, several grown men would have editor@ibnlive.com Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:30:00 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/54073/ipl3-auction-lies-damned-lies-and-other-such-balderdash.html Wealthy people amuse me. Usually hired hands do the spin-doctoring for them. But left to their own, the very rich and the famous are quite capable of being struck down editor@ibnlive.com Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:35:39 +0530 http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/gauravkalra/260/52957/angst-of-the-elite-the-new-antiterror-weapon.html Watching a captain of industry in a television studio on Saturday night find higher decibels in his voice than he probably did when his net worth declined in the recent editor@ibnlive.com Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:17:42 +0530