World Cup Cricket 2007 - My guess of the 15 men Indian Squad

30 Probables have been named from whom 15 would be picked to make it to the Carribean. I would like categorize them into four sections.

1. My Guess - should be 85-90% true based on my instincts

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar - Blind Pick (I will stop following cricket if the selectors fail to ink him - more than that loss would be the revenue loss to the ICC and the BCCI from the World cup if he isn't available).
Rahul Dravid - Blind Pick (Developing into a great skipper - has transformed completely different person than I imagined after becoming the captain - can never come close to Saurav Ganguly in aggression).
Saurav Ganguly - Blind Pick (I greatly appreciate of the persistence of this man for staging a great come back to both Test and One-Dayers)
Robin Uthappa - Possible opening option - But Gautam Gambhir may make the cut over him due to experience at the higher level (It's either or as having both of them will cause confusion with too many openers)
Yuvraj Singh - Blind Pick (got back fit in time from the injury)
Virendra Sehwag - Blind Pick (Even though risky based on his current form, he's a potential MVP - Most Valuable Player - such a demolishing batsman)
Suresh Raina - Will most likely make the cut above Mohammed Kaif and VVS Laxman - fit, consistent and a live-wire fielding option in the 30 yard circle.
Mahender Singh Dhoni - Blind Pick
Dinesh Karthik - Backup Keeper with such a wonderful batting and fielding options developed off late that we need not be surprised if he is in the eleven with Dhoni and can provide Dhoni some rest whenever needed.
Zaheer Khan - Blind Pick (I greatly appreciate him working very very hard and coming back fit and strong).
Ajit Balachandra Agarkar - Most likely will make it ahead of Rudra Pratap Singh as he is bowling good nowadays (especially improved on the economy rate) and most importantly provides an all-rounder option when needed to the team.
Anil Kumble - Should be picked according to me ahead of Ramesh Powar (For all the services he performed to the country at the highest level going through one humiliation after against by the Board and the Selectors, this platform should be dedicated and will most certainly be the ideal platform for retiring from the One-Dayers).
Harbajan Singh - Blind Pick (His economy rate is very very handsome in this form of the game off-late).
Irfan Pathan - Blind Pick (even if he is low on confidence) - provides a dynamic all-rounder option.
Shanthakumaran Sreesanth - Most exciting player to be missed out of the equation. Hard worker but sometimes may find difficulties finding place in the eleven - but worth providing the exposure as he can be the future of Indian Bowling attack for years to come - I'm able to see another Javagal Srinath in him - giving his heart out 110% every single time.

2. Options to replace three from the above list (likely hood is 50%)

Gautam Gambhir - Might make it in place of Robin Uthappa as Robin would be too young a commodity to try in a very prestigious tournament like the World Cup.
Ramesh Powar - Might make it in place of Anil Kumble (if this happens it would be heart breaker for Anil Kumble as he waited for this World Cup to retire from one days even after being humiliated by the Board for a long time now).
Rudra Pratap Singh - Might make it in place of Ajit Agarkar but the possibility is less. Agarkar is proving his capability after a long long time now and will be providing a crucial all-rounder option.
Ramesh Powar - Very least chance of he making it over Anil Kumble (for all his hard work and selfless services offered to the country, I'm praying that this doesn't happen). Both cannot be there as three spinners are not needed for the world cup with the kind of tracks that we are going to play.

3. I feel for these guys - But that's all I can do as they do not have a spot

Mohammed Kaif - Hard Luck man - this might be a costly miss for you as you might never be able to return to the Indian team again - but still, making a come back is possible. It;s worth a miss as you have been out of the form for a while. Even Johnty Rhodes was questioned when he demanded a place with fielding alone.
Munaf Patel - Fragile fitness. Should not be picked. But, can be part of the future equation of the team's spear-head attack.
Dinesh Mongia - You started taking the place for granted. Worth a miss this time. Come-back might be difficult as competition is a lot now for a spot (especially your spot).
VRV Singh - Certainly can be considered for future.
Parthiv Patel - Sorry, going ahead of MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik is very difficult at this time, Last time, you visited South Africa with the team just to throw a B'day Party to the rest of the team as Rahul Dravid took care of your job too on the field. You are too young - so, come back later.
VVS Laxman - For only reasons better known to the Indian Selectors and the Board - we are loosing a player who once had potential to become the skipper - that;s all I can say. Probably, the board wants you to retire now.

4. Future Prospects - All guys below - Even you guy's are 99% sure that you won't be picked in the final 15. But hard work earned you a great opportunity to get involved at drills the greatest and greatest. Should be able to utilize it to be part of the future core of the team when Sachin, Saurav, Rahul, Laxman and Kumble retire.

Rohit Sharma
S Badrinath
Ishant Sharma
Rajesh Pawar
Joginder Sharma
Cheteshwar Pujara

Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Race

Well!! Well!! Well!!... Even though everyone knew that Hillary is going to run, nobody denies that it would still be big news when she officially joins the party... It has happened now and as expected, it is big news today. "I'm in and I'm in to win" is what she states in her website. It's good move to reach out to people using technology (this weekend, she has scheduled a video conference chat session with the voters online). From now on, every move of hers would become news and would be carefully watched not only by the Republicans but also the fellow runners among the Democrats. The first female President, the first former First Lady to become a President - would she achieve these tags? - well, it looks like she would with effortless ease, if the current wave towards her continues. The anti-Republican wave caused majorly due to the "So Called" War on Terror would help her and her own exposure to core American Politics, Representing People and the Popularity of Bill and of her own are the major factors which I feel keeps her on course to cruise through the race. Let's see... (If Osama is captured around the election time - might be the margin would reduce - she should still manage to pull it off)...

The Internet - Are we compromising something?

There has been a lot of debate on whether the Internet has been a boon or a curse to the world. It doesn't stop in from being one of the phenomenons of the twentieth century. It has completely transformed the lifestyle a major section of the world. Blogging and reaching out to communities would have not been possible without Internet. Utilization of time more efficiently is due to the assistance of the world wide web.

You could book a table at your favorite restaurant, buy tickets of the game you like, wire money to your family abroad, chat with your friends, submit feedback to a news item, here your favorite music, check out deals for the weekend shopping and perform office work (the list is endless) - imagine the time and efforts spent for all the above without Internet. I know - it invokes a WOW from your mouth. Hold on - Money Laundering, Planning and Execution of Terrorist Activities, Pornography, Hacking, Denial of Service, Forgery, Cheating (I'm afraid this list is endless too) - hasn't the opportunity for these things that compromise the integrity and security of the international community increased at a steady pace with ease with the growth of Internet and it's allied technologies? Hasn't the youth community of the world got exposed to these negative factors of the Internet Revolution much faster?

It is time for an International Organization like the UN to come with a standard across the world for "The Cyber Security and Internet Fraud Prevention" with enough trained technical force from across the world to combat the negative factors of the Internet Growth. This force should form a closed network with National Security Organizations such as the Homeland Security and the likes and promote the International standard so that a huge international barrier is set up against such negative forces.

For that force, It is not only enough to keep countering negatives and fore-see and prevent future frauds - I'm afraid they need to do a lot catch up. Better late than never...

Race - Who are actually Inferior?

The "Big Brother" has been the talk of the world following the infamous racial comments (on an Indian Bollywood actress) issue spreading over the world for the last couple of days. It portrays the face of the Western Culture to the world - that's what an Indian Film Director feels. The issue has reached from within the four walls to the Highest Stages such as British Parliament and the Indian Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Good that majority of the world is now standing by the anti racist policies - thanks to the huge struggles for the same by Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Lutherking and the likes. Parallely, there is another issue going on in South African Cricket where Herchelle Gibbs has been banned for a couple of matches for his so called "racist" comments about a section of the fans - this event has drawn a little media attention - though. It is time that a message is sent across to people responsible for such discrimination on behalf of the international community. Those morons are already isolated and are supposed to be today's actual inferior races in the otherwise balanced world.

War on Terror - UN hiding under the "BUSH"

The outgoing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had referred to the US premiere as an "Incorrigible Bastard" in his farewell speech as the UN Supremo in Michigan. I'm happy that he came out with guts. But - the irony is that he spoke out a little too late. I do not fore-see the new Secretary General to make efforts to make United Nations an independent body either. It's high time that UN should stop acting like a subsidiary of the United States and recognize it's importance. I'm not advocating that what Osama did and Saddam did were for the well being of the world. But - Is Afghan and Iraq safer now that the "So Called" democracy has been installed there. I would rather say that it is becoming even dangerous for people living there. After realizing that they cannot make Afghan worser, US handed over control to the NATO forces. But, for Iraq, that freedom seems to be too far as the world leader feels there is room for worsening the case further. May god save the world from the President's policies as the UN that is supposed to do that is hiding behind the "BUSH".