What makes Chennai Super Kings so consistent?

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 5/8/2013 11:39:00 AM

'They have never failed to make semifinals of the IPL.NEVER.IPL 2008: 2ndIPL 2009: 4thIPL 2010: ChampionsIPL 2011: ChampionsIPL 2012: 2ndIPL 2013: Table toppers as of nowAll this and a Champions League Championship trophy in 2010.In six editions of the Indian Premier League, none of the other franchise even comes close to this record. Twice champions. Twice runners-up. And once fourth. They have never failed to make semifinals.NEVER.In this post, I try to find out what makes CSK such(...)'

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Trademark Cricket Shots

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 4/9/2013 12:42:00 PM

'There are some shots in every great innings. Then there are some great shots in every innings. Some of the batsmen bring their own flair to the game with their trademark shots. Here, I walk down the path to give the list of some of those shots.Straight Drive Sachin TendulkarA straight drive is a great shot in itself. It gets more delightful when this man plays it. It can be called the perfect shot of the most perfect batsmen. It is a shot that indicates that Sachin is in top fo(...)'

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Drought and Flood

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 4/3/2013 1:31:00 PM

'Two waysWe end up with alwaysA barbed wireOr some roses.A wily smirkOr a little grin.A little cautious footOr a plonk down the trackAn open confessionOr a concealed truthA little weak dabOr a strong knockwhen in doubt between the twoChose the one that opens gates.Yes. A flood ain't wiseBut a drought cowardice.We die both waysWhy not then the bolder one anywaysThe rain is what we wish for not As the fear of flood makes us bear the drought.The fear of flood makes us bear the drought.'

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Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 3/28/2013 10:52:00 AM

';Vocab Can Be Fun QuizLevel-1 Test of vocabulary+3 for correct0 for wrongTip: Be honest to yourself :) Barbaric is:JejuneTriteHeinousSavage Terse is:ConciseObscureGrateLance Heresy antonym:OrthodoxyUrchinTipsyLaity Deleterious is:HilariousBarbaricNoxiousSumptuous Garrulous is:TalkativeEpicureWreatheFeverish CreviceRantFissureTrotCanter Pallid is:VivaciousPaleAngryhappy Trite isPallUsherBalkCliche Crux isBottomlineHeinousGrossurchin Sedentary is characterized byeatingsittingstandingS(...)'

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Confidence outscores talent

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 3/24/2013 3:03:00 PM

'You could have done all the hard work in perfecting a thing.You could have nailed the practice drills with a supreme aplomb. But what matters in the end,  is how you deliver at the biggest stage. In the recently concluded India-Aus series, there were two debutants for the home side: Shikhar Dhawan (277) and Ajinkya Rahane (278). Both of them have grinded their way to this international level. Still there was a slight difference in their paths.A comparative analys(...)'

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The atheist Dhoni

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 2/27/2013 5:35:00 AM

'I might have raised some conservative eyebrows and ruffled some conservative feathers with this audacious title. The connotation is well-suited though. In India, where cricket is a religion, Dhoni is surely an atheist. This is his way of playing cricket; of treating it as a mere game. Yes, just a game and nothing more. He always plays with this ‘no frills attached’ style, with minimal emotions involved. And that was apparent at M. Chidambaram Stadium, where he played that aggressive(...)'

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New Twitter handle for one-liners

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 2/21/2013 6:56:00 PM

'Find me here: https://twitter.com/UnbridledN'

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The lost 'zeal' of New Zealand

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 2/21/2013 5:50:00 PM

'As a kid brought up in the 90′s, the memory of that decade’s ODI cricket still clings to memory like a vague yesternight’s dream. Australia was an invincible unit that invoked fear and respect. India was an underperformer with some majestic individuals. Pakistan was a mercurial and dangerous team. South Africa was a well-balanced powerful ODI line-up. Sri Lanka was a formidable team. West Indies showed glimpses of class. And then there was New Zealand: Sharp and agile, a team I admi(...)'

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First test match preview

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 2/20/2013 7:59:00 AM

'Australia announced its eleven which will take the field on 22nd at Chennai's MA Chidambram Stadium. India, generally, announces the final eleven at the time of toss.Here's a preview of how both sides could match up. AustraliaDavid WarnerEd CowanPhillip HughesShane Watson,Michael Clarke (capt)Matthew Wade (wk)Moises HenriquesPeter SiddleMitchell StarcJames PattinsonNathan Lyon. India (likely)V SehwagM VijayC PujaraS TendulkarV KohliMS Dhoni (c &wk)R JadejaR Ashw(...)'

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Know the pace battery

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 2/19/2013 5:42:00 PM

'Mostly in cricket, people judge a team by the reputations of its players. But sometimes, lesser known names are equally dangerous. The new Aussie pace battery might be a less formidable attack than the McGrath-Gillespie-Lee attack, but it has no less acuity. In modern context, this new attack can be considered as second-best after the South African deadly troika of Steyn, Morkel and Philander. But when it comes to variety, South Africans fall short of bench strength. This is where t(...)'

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The Australian squad analysis

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 2/1/2013 2:28:00 PM

'The inspired team. (Image: Cricinfo)On Thursday, when Australia announced the squad that’ll come to the Indian shores to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, majority number of opinions from ‘experts’ dismissed the line-up as a weak and ‘inexperienced’ squad. Yes, it might not have the heavyweights like Hayden, Langer, Warne, McGrath, and Ponting, but it has players who have been performing well and are in good form. The names aren’t intimidating, but don’t judge a book by its cover. (...)'

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Strong, Livestrong and Armstrong

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 1/30/2013 9:18:00 AM

'Armstong's Livestrong made people Strong; inspired them a lot,After all, the 'cancer hero' had  won seven titles on the trot.For many, he made sports more than a game.Until one day, the gallant took the blame."It isn't humanely possible", he admitted he had lied.Across the world, for millions, a hero had died.We seek our heroes in the ones who stand out among rest,Maybe, most of them, never went dope test!No, No ! some outstanding athletes aren't  that strong.The fan who m(...)'

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If tennis, why not cricket?

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 1/27/2013 4:49:00 PM

'“Who scored the first ODI double century?” asks the reporter.“Sehwag!” says one of them, confidently.“No, its Sachin!“It was Belinda Clark of Australia who scored 229 not out against Denmark in Mumbai,” says the reporter, leaving both amazed.“But how would I know if you don’t show women cricket?”Revive the gameA Star Cricket campaign that aims to spread the word about Women Cricket World Cup, is an eye-opener. In a country full of cricket pundits who brag with precise three-decimal (...)'

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Growing up with them: A fan's saga

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 12/31/2012 7:15:00 PM

'A memory of past nowIt was just another day. All seemed normal and clockwork. I was coming back from my coaching class when I checked my phone. A message flashed  " The greatest ODI batsman has retired". Words were pointing to the end. I took time believing that it was him. I read twice and many times over,  convincing my heart it can't be him. It had to be him. It was him. Sachin Tendulkar had retired from ODIs. Yes, he had just walked away partly.He decided to play only (...)'

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Michael Clarke: Best modern captain?

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 12/27/2012 12:21:00 PM

'1)Teamplayer :No other captain would have dared to declare on individual score of 329 even having a chance to go past Lara's 400  and still win the test somehow. He decided against individual feat and defeated India heavily.2)Proactive:His fields are impressive and proactive.He cleverly managed to get Sachin out in 90s in SCG,which could have been his 100th hundred.3)Weak rebuilding team:He manages to win test matches without McGrath, Gillespie, and Warne. The batsman aren(...)'

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The Sixth Batsman Puzzle

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 11/2/2012 7:28:00 AM

'BATSMAN BATSMAN EVERYWHERE, NO BATSMAN TO STAY!!Since Ganguly's retirement, India have struggled to find a permanent number 6 batsman for quite a long time now. It is worth mentioning that Ganguly retired in November 2008 and since then it has been musical chairs between Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, both of whom have failed to impress. I researched a lot on ESPNcricinfo and found some puzzling statistics related to this. Although stats are no exact measure of quality, but numbers (...)'

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Fun

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 9/10/2012 11:05:00 AM

'The other day while studying i randomly saw a  pic online and sketched it subconsciously thinking something else. interestingly, half way down i liked it. And became very conscious of each detail. That is when i ruined it.  i found the outcome little related though :Pps: My apologies to Ajay Devgan. '

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A hero deserves to walk out as hero.

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 9/3/2012 3:59:00 PM

' In Dark Knight, Batman says "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."Somehow it is unfortunately apt for Indian Cricket God. I just wish I haven't seen the last of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar in test matches- a sight of Southee rattling his midddle stump, then a pang of anger controlled before it was to erupt-you knew the man with many highs was feeling low. In a career that had peaked again in last few years, one coul(...)'

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The Fab Four Series: Part2

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 8/27/2012 6:17:00 PM

';;;; Part1: The ‘Change the trend’ tour down under Part2: The World Cup debacle Part3: The Controversial Oz tour. Part4: The Sunset, losing streak and what lies ahead. Note: A slight change in Part-2: Only World Cup debacle will be covered due to its lengthy narrative.Part2: The World Cup Debacle I left the last part of this series, here, (click to see the last part) calling the Australian Tour the start of downfall of Saurav Ganguly’s batting form. With the wins on Aust(...)'

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Has Facebook made you a narcissist?

Author : Paritosh Anand      Blog : Unbridled Notions      Date : 8/23/2012 10:53:00 PM

'Yes, You. You might have fanned the narcissist in you by regularly coming on Facebook. To be frank, there is a narcissist in everyone of us, deep-down. We love to have attention and become celebrities among our own friends, given an opportunity.But this might have become a NEED and a DOSE that you need to be regularly fed upon. And the social network FACEBOOK might just be waking that monster in us and making it greedier each day. You like many might be obsessed with your perso(...)'

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