Should they do it?

Pretty catchy title to pull those who read it into the subject. Ain't it funny? Who are they and what should they do? Now the hot discussion that is going on in the unofficial national game of India, cricket is about the senior players in the national team. The players who served the team for so long, who have very impressive records so far. Should they call it a day not giving chance to the selectors to make controversial decisions by excluding them from the team or Should they be given preferential treatment by letting them play as long as they want to?

First and foremost thing is that the players of such stature, they no longer play for money because they had enough. They no longer play to prove something because they had done it many a time. If not these two, if they are still playing with passion, for their love to the sport, if they still believe they give perform their best, I believe they should be accorded the second option. But passion alone will not be enough, scores on the board matter. If they are consistently failing to put runs on the scoreboard they should retrospect on the things no matter what their energy levels are and with how much passion they are still left with, it would be wise for them to take the tough decision.

The fans will definitely get disappointed if their icon players decide to retire. In a country like india, where people are mad about cricket, the team has some icon players like sachin, ganguly, dravid, laxman and kumble. These are the senior most players in the team who are in their late 30's. They have some finest records on their names. But still if are not playing like what they had played in their prime, it would be even more disappointing for the fans.

Some of the best australian players like steve waugh, adam gilchrist, glenn mcgrath and shane warne had retired when they were at their best. They know that the age is catching upon them and keeping in mind the fact that the next world cup is 4 years from now, they called it a day so that the young team gets enough experience so as to be successful in the next world cup. They were lauded for their decision and they received an overwhelming response when they played their last match and a great farewell too.

This doesn't happen with the indian team. Ganguly recently took the decision that the going on series with australia will be his last one. I think it is a very wise decision. Now the pressure will be on the other senior players and if they don't perform well they may follow the footsteps of ganguly. I think the players should be judged solely on their performance but not on their age. If a player performs well even in 40's, I don't find a reason to sack him. No wonder if we hear couple more retirement announcements at the end of this series.

Obama or McCain

Right now, the hot topic about which most people are discussing is about the present scenario in US. You may be wondering about which one am i talking about? Is it about the financial crisis or about the US presidential elections that are going to be held in 1 month from now ? Actually it a fusion of both. Confused? Read on. . .

Since the end of primary elections in US, both the presidential nominees did a lot of campaigning to articulate their stand on various policies and what would they do for the betterment of citizens once they assume the office. Of course there were war of words as well. There were lot of promises too which require a lot of spending. But now the financial scene in the US has changed. And so are the speeches they are giving of late. No more promises are being made. I wonder if they can fulfill what all they promised till now. There's a huge budget deficit in the US economy and there's not much money left to spend for the succeeding president.

Lehman bro's has filed a bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch was sold out to Bank of America and the situation of American International Group(AIG) is also somewhat similar. The stock markets fell and the Dow Jones has plummeted down the 10,000 barrier. There were losses all over the world with various economies linked tot the US economy. The government, last week, took a decision to provide a $700bn bail out package to the AIG to somewhat mitigate the effect. But the situation has not improved yet and the analysts believe that this will become more worse in the days to come. The present condition is being regarded as the worst ever since the Great Depression occured during 1930's.

So, be it either Obama or McCain, one would be in a very tough position from the very day they swear in. The road ahead is not a bed of roses but full of thorns. So both of you, watch out !!!