Finally, Chelsea!
It took nine long years, eight different managers (and more than £60 million in compensation for the termination of their respective contracts), innumerable player signings worth millions and several occasions of heartbreak, but at long last, Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea have finally gotten their hands on the European Cup. A penalty shoot-out victory over Bayern Munich ensured the illustrious trophy went to Stamford Bridge (or indeed any London club) for the very first time. The talismanic touch of interim coach Roberto Di Matteo worked again as his team defied the odds to win ...
Read Full PostHow Milan defended Barca’s attack
Stop Lionel Messi and you’ll stop Barcelona. Or at least that’s what many people think is the ultimate solution to stop the unstoppable machine that is FC Barcelona. It was a rare occasion in which the little genius was frustrated for 90 minutes as AC Milan held out for a goalless draw at home to the reigning European Champions in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie. It was Milan who had the best chance of the game from open play, while it was Barcelona that had the most contentious decision of the game ruled against them. ...
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Sweet victory, sour grapes: Bangladesh’s almost win
Although he is not my first Bangladeshi friend, Rohaan is definitely the first diehard Bangladeshi cricket fan I have ever met. He reminds me of how I used to be about cricket: crazy, emotional, passionate and frustrated. This March, the Bangladesh cricket team went all out to give their millions of fans, including Rohaan, a reason to cheer; something they have been longing for for a very long time. At the Asia Cup 2012, the Bangladeshi team crossed all sorts of hurdles to make it to their first big final. On the final ball of a nerve bursting over, they were just ...
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Pakistani politics, a messy affair
Why is Pakistani politics so insipid? With no charismatic leaders to look up to after the country’s founder, parties floundering in their unkept charters and distinctions between left and right shrinking, it is no wonder that a majority of Pakistanis give the ballot box a miss. Coupled with the irregularities in the electoral system that have finally been identified and being worked upon, the prospect of voting in elections seems daunting, to say the least. Right leaning parties are abundant but most of these are just reactive blocs who have found it difficult to provide real services to people, thereby failing ...
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Ten reasons why football is better than cricket
1. It is a game of one single format rather than four formats. You don’t need a test football or a one day international, T20, first-class, second class, third-class or umpteen class football, just a simple game of 90 minutes and a nail-biting penalty shootout. A timed game is acceptable to a game that lasts for days. 2. It garners more television coverage. The 2010 FIFA World Cup was watched by an estimated television audience of 700 million people around the globe compared to a meagre 65.6 million people (out of which 80% of the viewership was from India alone!) ...
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5 modern day video games you should be playing
Having worked for five years as a video games journalist, when I learned that I could do a top five blog on video games, I was quite excited. Initially, it started as a list of the greatest games of all times, but the comprehensive list grew too unwieldy to be any fun. I then decided that a personal top five would work better, but realized that talking about ten year old classics like Deus Ex and Baldur’s Gate served little purpose. For similar reasons, I decided against a ‘top five games of the past decade’ list, and it was too ...
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Scholes’ last game
The earliest football match that I can remember with crystal clarity was almost ten years ago. It was Manchester United vs Everton at Old Trafford. United won the game 3-0. But what made that trivial encounter a monumental memory, was a ferocious Paul Scholes’s injury time strike from 20 yards into the top corner of a diving Richard Wright’s goal. On the basis of this little football watching experience I expected him to take a crazy round of the whole stadium or may be take his shirt off and jump into the crowd. And yes, he had the all the right ...
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Confessions of a gamer girl
Clad in a conventional kameez-shalwar, hair pulled back in a tight braid, earphones in place and laptop sitting snugly in my lap – there I was, an ordinary young lady merely going about her daily computing routine. However, one might easily overlook the bunched muscles in my tense shoulders, clenched teeth, taut jaw and furrowed brows. Or even miss the flaring emotion in my eyes. I would not hold it against anyone if they missed these details. After all, it takes one to know one. And not everyone is a gamer. I have honestly nothing to hide: I have a gaming fetish, one ...
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Is Test cricket dead? Not by a long shot
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is desperately looking for ways to reignite interest in Test cricket. With the advent of Twenty20 cricket, which captured the fancy of cricket enthusiasts around the world, Test cricket is in danger of extinction. Ideas are aplenty including the introduction of a World Test Championship and holding day and night Test matches. It appears as if administrators have lost faith in the traditional game’s ability to remain contemporary and feel that changes are necessary to keep it relevant. However, on closer scrutiny the game with all its nuances and idiosyncrasies is still loved by the ...
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Zardari’s political masterstroke gone wrong?
In all the noise that followed the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the nation seems to have lost track of the blood sport that is politics in Pakistan. For us political junkies, however, the game is still being played and several developments, some that have not gotten quite as much attention as they should have, are still taking place. The PPP’s formal alliance with the PML-Q was being interpreted by many as a masterstroke that managed to isolate the PML-N and cripple any chances they may have had of even calling, let alone winning a general election ...
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