5 questions on the ongoing DRUGS probe in Sushant’s case

September 26, 2020 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

The Sushant Singh Rajput death case was handed over to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) after continuous demand for the same was raised by his family and a large section of the population.

But soon after that, the chaos in media and on social media have left many of us confused as to where is the whole thing headed. It makes me wonder whether all that is happening is actually related to Sushant’s death.

These 5 questions are lurking on my mind these days:

How SSR’s death probe got transformed into Bollywood drugs scandal?

It all started with the aim of giving justice to the late Sushant by handing over his death case to the CBI. So far so good. But as soon as the NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau) got involved, the focus completely changed from #JusticeToSSR or #SSRMurder to exposing the drug racket in Bollywood.

Those noisy news channels that were shouting murder just a fortnight ago are now only aiming at exposing the drug nexus in the film industry. In a latest update, Sushant’s family itself is unhappy with how the focus has changed ever since the drug angle cropped up.

Why only female actors being named?

It is strange to see only female actors’ names cropping up in the drug investigation. Are drugs taken only by leading ladies of the industry? What do the male stars use? Glucon D? None of the noisy news anchors are finding anything fishy in this.

What is the final aim?

With the speed at which one actress after another is being called up for allegedly consuming drugs, it leaves us wondering as to what is the final aim of all this. If they continue reading private chats of actors, more names are expected to crop up, which will be a never-ending process. So where is it supposed to end?

How do these screenshots reach news channels?

A former director of the NCB said on a news channel that the anti-narcotics agency is expected to try and catch the main peddler from the names of film stars that come up in the investigation. But what they are actually doing is leaking chat screenshots to the news channels, so that they can carry out tamasha every night.

People don’t seem to be questioning how every screenshot, which is an evidence, is being handed over to the news channels. We can understand if they get leaked once or twice, but daily?

Also read: ‘Anti-nepotism’ brigade has created a TOXIC atmosphere online

Who exactly is on drugs?

In the last few days, we have regularly seen visuals of reporters banging the shut windows of various actresses’ cars and repeatedly asking if they consume drugs. They clearly know that their voice would be hardly audible and they won’t be able to hear anything in case they get an answer.

What took the cake though was one reporter screaming and forcing her driver to overtake Deepika Padukone’s car, whose windows are shut, and asking the actress in the highest pitch possible, “Kya drugs leti hain aap?”

Well, who appears to be on drugs here?

Additional reading:

SSR case: Why is KARNI Sena forgiven & shown respect?

Forgotten spells: When Srinath singlehandedly rattled South Africa

September 20, 2020 by Keyur Seta 5 Comments

Indian cricket can’t boast of many fast bowlers who bowled really quick and played for a long duration. Javagal Srinath was an undisputed leader of India’s pace bowling for years. Cricket fans who started following the game in the 1990s have fond memories of him.

But somehow his best spell in test cricket hasn’t been discussed much and it seems as if it has been forgotten.

Srinath started his career in the early 1990s and made a mark in India’s tours to Australia and New Zealand during that period. He changed his bowling action a bit early in his career, making it not as high arm as it was earlier. But that didn’t affect his quality of bowling. He soon became India’s strike bowler.

One of Srinath’s impressive bowling spells during his initial years

Srinath was someone who enjoyed hitting the deck and using the bounce to full effect. Most of his deliveries came inside the right-handers which weren’t easy to handle. At times he used to fox the batsmen with balls that left the right-handers.

This particular feat of his came in the 1996-97 season. India was all set to play a three test series against South Africa. This was right after the Titan Cup which India won by defeating SA in the final. The first test was at Ahmedabad.

It was a low scoring match where batsmen had to work hard. India batted first and scored only 223 with not a single batsman reaching 50. It looked as if SA would be bundled out on a score much lower but Fanie de Villiers had other plans as he scored a fighting 67 to take South Africa to 244.

India fared worse in the second innings and were 124 for 7 at one stage. But the debutant VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble showed some fight and helped the team reach 190.

This was the first proper test series I followed as a child. I wasn’t pleased with this ‘new player’ Laxman in the first innings. In that age I was quick to judge and said he has no future. But he made me eat my words in the second innings when he scored 51 in extreme pressure and I was glad.

South Africa were given a target of 170. As the Indian players went on to the field, not many would have thought that Srinath was all set to deliver the most defining moment of his career. Being a fourth-day pitch in India, it seemed the spinners will take the bulk of the wickets if India has to win.

But Srinath delivered from the word go. In the first over itself, he reduced SA to 0 for 2 when he got Andrew Hudson and Daryll Cullinan off successive balls. I remember going mad with excitement as those were my initial days in test cricket and I had never seen a side being 0 for 2. [As I write this, I remember England were 0 for 2 this week against Australia]

Srinath returned for his second spell when the opposition was 96 for 4. He reduced them to 96 for 6 as he again got two wickets [Dave Richardson and Jonty Rhodes] off two balls.

There was more to come though. In his third spell, he bowled Allan Donald and Paul Adams off successive deliveries to finish with tremendous figures of 6 wickets for just 21 runs. [See the whole scorecard HERE]

It is too rare to see a bowler being on a hattrick thrice in one innings. In other words, whenever Srinath got a wicket in this innings, he got another one in the next ball itself.

Forgotten innings: Nayan Mongia’s historic feat vs Australia

The rare feat coupled by the fact that he singlehandedly won the match for India makes me wonder why this effort isn’t spoken about much. In fact, I have never read posts about this spell in any of the cricket groups on Facebook and I wonder why.

Luckily, there is this little video below which has captured all his wickets in the innings.

Srinath’s career too has fared an almost similar fate in terms of remembrance. He hardly gets a mention in a discussion on the best Indian players. When he played his last test match in 2002, he was the second highest wicket taking fast bowler with Kapil Dev being the first.

Additional reading:

When Australia played against Australia in this World Series

Dhoni could have scored more 100s but…

Yuvraj Singh’s 3 heroic TEST innings that have been forgotten: See videos

How Kangana’s comments exposed FAKE patriotism of these people… again

September 14, 2020 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

One Bhakt was ill since last few days, so he hadn’t kept track of any news. Mr X decided to have some fun with him.

Mr X: You know, Aamir Khan compared Mumbai with Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Pakistan

Bhakt: WTF! Such a ba***rd! How dare he say such a thing for the city that gave him name and fame! I always felt these anti-nationals and traitors should be thrown out of India and be united with their ilk in Pakistan!

Mr X: Lol. Thoda masti kiya tere saath. Actually Kangana Ranaut gave this statement. See here (shows his mobile)

Bhakt (shocked): What!!!

Mr X: I will be sharing this conversation on Facebook. I will attribute your reaction to Kangana. Chalega na? (Starts typing on FB)

Bhakt (tensed): Arre wait!

***********************************

The above conversation is imaginary but it is based on the real ideologies of Bhakts, whose fake patriotism has once again got exposed. Last week, Kangana Ranaut compared Mumbai with Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and, later, with Pakistan. This triggered anger among the people from India and outside.

However, there was no outrage visible from Bhakts on social media. These are the same people who consider themselves more patriotic than anyone else. They slam any film star raising a voice on an issue India is facing left, right and centre and ask him or her to leave the country and migrate to Pakistan [their biggest fantasy].

Compare Kangana’s comments with that of Aamir Khan where he quoted his wife Kiran Rao merely suggesting that India has become unsafe. All hell broke loose and the actor was lynched on social media for months to come. There was a demand from Bhakts to boycott every Aamir movie in the future.

But somehow they didn’t troll Kangana, whose comment was much more alarming than that of Aamir. The answer to this is simple – she is a die-hard fan of BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party]. Plus, the place she criticized is in the state which is not ruled by BJP.

Time and again we have seen Bhakts criticizing and being okay with criticizing a state which is not ruled by their favourite party. The biggest example is how they indulge in all types of name calling to Kerala, a state where their party has been struggling to find any landing.

But this isn’t the biggest hypocrisy of Bhakts. Their fake love for the country was exposed last year when BJP leader Pragya Thakur hailed the death of the late ATS (Anti-Terror Squad) Chief Hemant Karkare at the hands of terrorist Ajmal Kasab during the 26/11 attacks.

Also read: Kangana’s war against Shiv Sena v/s SRK’s: Similarities and dissimilarities

Here was a politician openly applauding a terrorist for killing an officer who laid down his life while fighting for the country. But she wasn’t trolled by Bhakts or their IT Cell or the loud-mouthed anchor who shoves the party’s ideology down your throat each night. The same anchor who is allergic to the very mention of Pakistan.

Somehow, the patriotism of Bhakts goes on a sick leave if a supporter of their favourite party gives a derogatory comment against India.

Remember this the next time they slam any famous personality for allegedly hurting their patriotic sentiments.

Additional reading:

SSR case: Why is KARNI Sena forgiven & shown respect?

Expecting MIRACLES from CBI in Sushant case isn’t smart

Forgotten innings: Nayan Mongia’s historic feat vs Australia

September 6, 2020 by Keyur Seta 3 Comments

Perhaps Nayan Mongia might not feature in the list of best Indian wicketkeeper-batsmen when we have the likes of Budhi Kunderan, Syed Kirmani, Farokh Engineer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni etc. But for those who grew up watching cricket in the mid-1990s, Mongia’s name was synonymous with the word ‘wicketkeeper’.

The cricketer from Baroda played continuously for team India in both test matches and one-day internationals in this period and proved to be good enough. It was impossible to miss his presence whenever India was bowling. His constant chatter with the bowlers and his trademark expression ‘Aai ga!’ ensured he was always in the game.

Indians have just witnessed the entire career of the legend MS Dhoni. Hence, in front of him, Nayan Mongia, the batsman, won’t appear much impressive. But the chirpy cricketer did have one major achievement with the bat.

Unfortunately, his biggest feat as a batsman is something cricket fans seem to have forgotten. In all these years, I don’t remember that innings being discussed online and offline by anyone.

It came in the only test between India and Australia in Delhi in October 1996. This test was the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Apart from Mongia’s innings, another reason why this match is special for me is because this was the first time I properly followed a test match ever.

It was a good test for India as they easily defeated Australia by seven wickets. Mongia was India’s test opener in those days. He was considered competent but I don’t think anybody could have expected him to score as many as 152 runs.

Short highlights of the match

Mongia showed his patience as he batted for 366 balls and 497 minutes. He applied himself and got his eye in. He showed respect to good deliveries and in between took risks by playing few lofted shots. It was a high quality innings which played a major role in India winning the match.

Also read: Only time Tendulkar was NOT selected in team India, neither injured nor rested

Shane Warne was out injured during that Australia tour of India [which continued with the Titan Cup after this match]. But the Aussie line-up still had the likes of Glenn McGrath and Paul Reiffel; the latter was moving the ball at will. Hence, it wasn’t an easy bowling attack by any means.

As hardly anyone remembers this innings, it is obvious that the relevance of this knock is also unknown. Mongia got his name included in India’s batting records. At that time, he was just the fourth Indian wicketkeeper to score a test hundred after Budhi Kunderan, Farokh Engineer and Syed Kirmani.

Read the list of centuries by wicketkeepers HERE

Highlights of Mongia’s match-winning partnership with Sourav Ganguly

And Mongia’s score of 152 was just the second highest by an Indian wicketkeeper after Kunderan’s 192 versus England in 1964. Likewise, he also became just the second Indian wicketkeeper to reach the score of 150 in tests.

Maybe because this knock hasn’t been as popular as it should be, there is no video on YouTube with the complete highlights of Mongia’s innings.

Additional reading:

When Australia played against Australia in this World Series

Dhoni could have scored more 100s but…

Yuvraj Singh’s 3 heroic TEST innings that have been forgotten: See videos

SSR case: Why is KARNI Sena forgiven & shown respect?

August 29, 2020 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

The coverage of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has been taking place in the media 24/7 over the last many days. In this period, numerous people who claimed to have been close to the late actor are interviewed, in some cases without any verification.

Among hundreds of such interviews, one which has grabbed a lot of eye-balls is that of Surjeet Singh Rathore. He spoke about his experience on Republic channel of him being one of the few ones to have gained access to Sushant’s dead body soon after his death.

He was the one who claimed that the actor’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty said, “Sorry babu,” as soon as she saw his dead body. The founder of the channel and anchor Arnab Goswami believed him at face value.

During the show, the anchor and Rathore came out with the theory that since Rhea said, “Sorry” to Sushant, it meant that she definitely did something wrong to him.

Now whether or not they are right in their interpretation is not something that I wish to discuss here. An important aspect about the interview is the two identities that Surjeet Singh Rathore possesses. One, he is a film producer.

More importantly, he is also the Vice President of the fringe group Rathriya Rajput Karni Sena.

It was one of the few Karni Sena groups that had been up in arms against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat in late 2017 and early 2018, alleging that the film distorts the history of Rajputs and thereby hurts their sentiments.

So the big question that emerges here is why a member of such a group was given access to Sushant’s dead body. Mind you, only a selected few were given entry there. The anchor Arnab Goswami, who is always eager to ask tough questions, didn’t ask this to Rathore.

But Rathore himself revealed on the show that he is a member of [one of the] Karni Senas and he was allowed because a member of the ‘Rajput community’ was dead.

This makes it more interesting. As we all would remember, Goswami had slammed Karni Sena members numerous times on his channel back then because of their stand against Padmaavat which lead to violence in various places in the country.

And here he not only believed everything that this Karni Sena member said at face value, but also thanked him profusely more than once for being on his show.

Interestingly, what wasn’t pointed out on the show was that Sushant had subtly made his stand against Karni Sena clear during the Padmaavat controversy by dropping the words ‘Singh Rajput’ from his name on social media. During that time, the same Karni Sena members and followers had trolled Sushant for his act. (Read about it HERE and HERE)

Also read: Expecting MIRACLES from CBI in Sushant case isn’t smart

After doing this, Sushant had also tweeted saying, “We would suffer till the time we’re obsessed with our surnames. If you’re that courageous, give us your first name to acknowledge. #Padmavati.” This clearly indicates that he was against the division of humans into different communities, castes, samaajs and what not.

If you feel this is hypocritical, here’s more. Rathore is the co-producer of a film inspired from Rajput’s death titled ‘Shashank.’ The poster of the film, which you can see below, has words like ‘Nepotism,’ ‘Depression,’ ‘Suicide,’ ‘Murder,’ etc, scattered over the image of a man who is about to hang himself to death.

Let that sink in…

Also read: ‘Anti-nepotism’ brigade has created a TOXIC atmosphere online

Expecting MIRACLES from CBI in Sushant case isn’t smart

August 23, 2020 by Keyur Seta 2 Comments

Few days back I saw a video of the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) team arriving in Mumbai after they were handed over the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case once the Supreme Court (SC) gave its nod. They were hounded by tens of journalists screaming out the same question repeatedly – “Will Rhea Chakraborty be arrested in the Sushant case?”

The CBI team had just taken over the case at that time. So, how can these journalists expect them to take a decision as major as arresting Rhea just less than a day after they started working on it? This isn’t a case of a driver jumping a signal in which an instant challan is issued.

When the media behaves this way, you can well imagine the state of the mind of the keyboard warriors; the ‘die hard’ fans of Sushant who feel they are fighting for the truth by typing out orders on social media for the CBI to arrest Rhea Chakraborty or anyone else in the case.

I have seen countless posts where people have just assumed that the CBI will perform instant miracles now that they have taken over the case. I can understand primary school kids having such expectations. But these are educated grown-ups working at senior levels who are impatiently expecting results in the case.

Sushant Singh Rajput and Rhea Chakraborty

All such expectations aren’t surprising though when a large contingent of social media users can start believing that disliking trailers of films starring ‘insiders’ can give justice to Sushant [about which I have written HERE]. These people were literally dancing in joy when the CBI was given the nod to take over the case.

And they were given massive encouragement to go wild by a ‘news anchor’ who considers himself to be the only judge in the nation who matters. He and his panel on the debate literally clapped with wide smiles when the SC allowed the CBI to be involved in the case. Have we forgotten that the very foundation of the case is a tragic death of a talented artiste?

It is also funny to see this anchor put pressure to get the CBI involved and then applaud the same when he has already solved the case on his channel and concluded the suicide to be a murder, much before the CBI got involved. In fact, he refers to the case as ‘Sushant Singh Rajput murder’ after a series of sting operations his team carried out.

Also read: ‘Anti-nepotism’ brigade has created a TOXIC atmosphere online

Right now nobody would like to be in the shoes of the CBI team which is assigned the case. I hope the super excited media and the social media let them work in peace without pressure. I don’t have much hope though going by the crazy expectations from them.

In case, the results of the CBI investigation don’t bring the same results that the media and social media are expecting, it won’t be long before the CBI too is targeted from the studios and the keyboards.

What will they demand then? A CBI inquiry on the CBI itself?

(Additional reading)

An open letter to Arvind Kejriwal

Fact check: Was Deepika Padukone was paid Rs 5 crore to attend JNU protests

‘Anti-nepotism’ brigade has created a TOXIC atmosphere online

August 18, 2020 by Keyur Seta 6 Comments

The debate around nepotism in Hindi film industry has been going on since last few years, ever since Kangana Ranaut accused Karan Johar on his show for favoring star kids.

The incident triggered never-ending debates on social media on whether star kids are plain lucky to get an easy entry into the film world and more chances than someone who isn’t from a film background.

Despite the controversial nature of the subject, the star kids debate was still under control. But Sushant Singh Rajput’s sad demise a couple of months ago has made things go completely out of control. In fact, that’s a mild way of putting it.

Sushant didn’t come from a film family. In today’s times, he is known as an ‘outsider,’ who made it big in the Hindi film world, where there’s cut-throat competition. Slowly after his death, theories started cropping up that he was depressed because a number of big producers from the industry had boycotted him. Strangely, there is no such proof of this except those What’s App forwards and unverified ‘news’ reports.

This thought has become so deep-rooted in the minds of a large number of people that they have started hating any artiste who comes from a film family. Negative comments are being posted against them almost every second, just because someone from their family had made it big in the industry.

This didn’t start immediately after Sushant passed away. It has gradually increased since last one month and has now reached an unimaginable level. These trollers are making it look as if it is a crime to be born in a film family.

So now films are categorized as those starring ‘nepo kids’ and those with a cast which doesn’t come from a film family. Leave alone general public, I can see such divisions even made by few journalists, who are expected to be neutral and unbiased.

And if you don’t like a film starring an ‘outsider,’ you get judged for being a supporter of the ‘nepo gang’ and an enemy of self-made actors. For example, recently a reviewer didn’t like Khuda Haafiz and the person was judged for the same, not just by Twitterati but also the film’s lead actor Vidyut Jammwal.

It looks like it has also become a crime to judge a film objectively instead of being heavily biased by taking into account whether it has any star kids.

Also read: You might be triggering DEPRESSION in someone without even knowing it

The dangerous levels to which this anti-nepotism feeling has reached became clearer last week when the trailer of Mahesh Bhatt’s Sadak 2 released. This anti-nepotism gang pounced on that trailer like a hungry wild animal pounces on its prey. In just few days, the trailer has got over 60,000 likes and 1 crore 10 lakh [or 11 million] dislikes!

Sadak 2 trailer with 11 million dislikes

But there’s more. Sadak 2 has a Google rating of just 1.1 after as many as close to 20,000 votes.

You don’t even need to be a regular internet user to know this is a powerful campaign against the film because it has the likes of Alia Bhatt, Pooja Bhatt and Sanjay Dutt, who are now addressed as ‘nepo kids.’

Average rating of 1.1 for Sadak 2 on Google

Although the trailer hasn’t been lauded by large section of the audience, having so many dislikes and low rating is not normal by any means. Race 3 (2018) and Joker (2012), two of the most hated trailers in recent years, didn’t receive an iota of such negative ratings.

Also read: Fact check: Was Deepika Padukone paid Rs 5 crore to attend JNU protests?

This is clearly a planned strategy which has spread like wildfire. I hate to say this but this is exactly how political trolls and their IT cells operate. They target a film and start spreading negativity through dislikes, down votes and toxic personal attacks on people related to the film.

Believe me, your ‘dislikes’ isn’t going to give justice to Sushant Singh Rajput but I guess common sense is not very common, especially when the minds are brainwashed so deeply. Also their rude comments and intolerance for a different opinion instantly remind me of these political trolls.

Then there are people like KRK who are making full use of the controversy to gain popularity by trending topics like #JusticeForSSR and #CBIInquiryForSSR. He is the same person who used to personally attack Sushant in his ‘movie reviews.’ On more than one occasion, he also went onto say that Sushant is just a TV actor, he shouldn’t consider himself a film actor.

Just like these political trolls this anti-nepo gang too believes in the false notion that they are warriors fighting against injustice. But instead they are making things go chaotic and toxic online.

And the world is watching us.

(Additional reading)

An open letter to Arvind Kejriwal

Why people in their 30s should stop believing they are 70

Dhoni could have scored more 100s but…

August 16, 2020 by Keyur Seta 3 Comments

India and the cricketing world is overwhelmed with emotions right now as former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has announced retirement from international cricket. And why not? He was not only one of the greatest players to have played for India but also one of the finest in the world.

Dhoni achieved such greatness also because of him being a terrific captain of team India. As we all know, he is the only captain to have won the 20-over World Cup, 50-over World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy, along with various other series victories.

But the one quality in Dhoni which we rarely find in other captains is his selfless attitude as far as one-day internationals are concerned. He considered the team above his personal interests in ways we hardly see in other players and that deserves tremendous applause.

Let’s go back to the period when Dhoni was relatively new in the Indian team in 2005. It was in one of his earliest series itself that he made his announcement through a powerful 148 against Pakistan in Vishakhapatnam. In the same year, he smashed 183 not out against Sri Lanka in Jaipur, which remains his highest score.

In both the innings, he batted at number 3. There were times when he opened the innings or batted in the top four and had scores of anywhere between 70 to 90 under his name. In other words, Dhoni had made a name for himself as a quality top-order batsman.

Soon after winning the 2007 T20 World Cup, his first stint as a captain, he was also made the captain of the ODI side. Being the captain, nothing could have stopped him from continuing to bat in the top four and score many more runs for himself.

However, after being made the captain of the ODI side, Dhoni realized that the team has enough batsmen to bat in the top four or five. Sachin Tendulkar and Virendra Sehwag were fixed openers and there was Gautam Gambhir too who had to be played in the top three. Plus, there were the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina.

So, Dhoni humbly accepted his role as the number seven batsman. You don’t need to be an expert in cricket to know that someone batting at 5-down doesn’t get too many opportunities to score centuries. He could have scored many more hundreds but he chose to keep team India ahead of his personal interests without even mentioning this anywhere.

Records also tell us that that Dhoni has scored just one century each while batting at number 6 and 7. The second one came against Pakistan in 2012 only because the top order collapsed at 29 for 5, so he got ample overs to bat. [You can check HERE]

Although Dhoni never made a show of his selflessness, there’s one symbolic moment where it was for everyone to see. He was the winning captain of the 2011 World Cup Final against Sri Lanka. Plus, it was his innings of 91 not out that helped India lift the cup. The 6 he hit to see India home is one of the iconic moments in India’s sports history.

Also see: Only time Tendulkar was NOT selected in team India, neither injured nor rested

However, as soon as the World Cup was presented to him, he gave it away to his team-members to enjoy. He is nowhere near the trophy in the below picture of the team celebrating the 2011 WC victory. He chose to stand in a corner and cheer.

When Kaluwitharana scored 0 in 70-run partnership

August 8, 2020 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Long before the format of T20 came into existence, Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana of Sri Lanka batted in the 50-over format just like batsman do in the shortest format of the game today. They started batting this way in the 1996 World Cup, which Sri Lanka won against various odds.

This was a rare sight then to see both batsmen attacking the bowlers. In those days such jobs were generally given to pinch-hitters. For those who don’t know, a pinch-hitter is a bowler who is sent up the order just to slog and increase the run rate. But in the case of the two Sri Lankan openers, both were proper batsmen who batted like pinch-hitters.

In the 1992 WC, New Zealand’s Dipak Patel started a new practice of a spinner opening the bowling. The antics of the two Sri Lankan batsmen did the same in the 1996 WC.

Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana soon became known for demolishing bowling attacks in their style. It is believed that the Indian pace bowler Manoj Prabhakar’s career was ended by the duo in the league match of the 1996 World Cup.

As expected, the duo continued their style after the ’96 WC too. The next series Sri Lanka played was the Singer Cup in Singapore which also had India and Pakistan. Jayasuriya was considered more destructive of the two. This was proved after Kaluwitharana couldn’t do much with the bat in the series.

In the first match of the Singer Cup, Jayasuriya blasted the Pakistani bowling line-up as he set a new world record for the fastest hundred in ODIs in just 48 balls [this record was broken in the same year by Shahid Afridi in 37 balls against Sri Lanka]. He broke the record of Mohammed Azharuddin by a long way who had reached the triple figure in 62 balls against New Zealand in 1988.

Sri Lanka won the match and it seemed they would clinch the series. The team met Pakistan in the final who were all out on just 215. It seemed the chase would be a cake-walk for Sri Lanka considering their form. I remember commentator Charu Sharma wondering if the match would end in just 30 overs.

When Jayasuriya was batting, it looked like Sri Lanka would reach the target even before 30 overs as the batsman, this time, broke the record of the fastest 50 in just 17 balls! The previous record holder was Simon O’Donnell who had scored half century in 18 balls against Sri Lanka in 1990.

While Jayasuriya was batting as if he the opposition is a school team, Kaluwitharana, his partner, was kept quiet and away from the strike as well. He was eventually out when the team score was 70.

Also read: When 2 part time bowlers opened the bowling for Australia

Strangely, Kaluwitharana’s contribution in the 70-run partnership was 0 in 11 balls! I am yet to see any such incident where two batmen, especially openers, had a partnership of well above 50 and the contribution of one of the two is nil! [In case somebody knows about any such occurrence, please enlighten me].

But there was more surprise in store. The match turned out to be a major surprise for everyone as Sri Lanka were all out for just 172 despite Jayasuriya scoring 78 in just 28 balls. None of the batsmen could do much and Pakistan made a dramatic comeback to lift the Singer Cup.

Additional reading:

The only time Sachin Tendulkar was NOT selected in the team, neither injured nor rested

When hearing issues stopped India from winning against England

Fact check: Was Deepika Padukone paid Rs 5 crore to attend JNU protests?

August 1, 2020 by Keyur Seta 4 Comments

Deepika Padukone visited the JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) in January to show support to the students’ protest for atrocities committed against them in the campus. Now, ex RAW (Research and Intelligence Wing) officer NK Sood has alleged in a video shared few days ago that she was paid Rs 5 crore from a Pakistani businessman to attend the protests.

As soon as the video was out, a large contingent of Indians on social media started hateful messages against Padukone, labelling her as traitor or anti-Indian. They believed the claim made in the video to be 100 percent truth. Why? Simply because it goes with their ideology. We all know on which political side they are and which party and its leaders they worship.

Because of their ideology, they didn’t pay heed to the fact that the person in the video has NOT shown even an iota of evidence against Padukone. If there is some allegation against someone they hate, which in this case is Padukone, it is considered to be the truest thing in the universe.

Well, if they can believe any random What’s App forwarded message sent by unknown people, it is not surprising for them to believe a video shared by an ex-RAW officer.

Deepika Padukone at JNU protests in January

I have nothing against Sood. He has served the country by being an important part of RAW and he should be respected for his work. But that certainly doesn’t mean he is above proof. Nobody is, irrespective of whether or not you have served the country in any way.

This might sound childish but it needs to be spelt out to a lot of people out there that an allegation made in front of a camera without presenting any proof or document whatsoever isn’t enough to be called true. Law or legal procedure is equal for all.

Also read: An open letter to Arvind Kejriwal

This doesn’t mean I am giving any clean-chit to Padukone. If it can be proved that she indeed took money from someone to attend the protest, there should be action initiated against her.

Funnily, those who are blindly believing the allegations made in the video are the same ones who defend their favourite political leaders when they are accused of committing any crime by stating that there is no evidence.

For them, law is as per their convenience.

Watch the video: