Even in a life riddled with troubles, life presents golden opportunities.
See, learn, , appreciate the good things and be happy ! Other option is – be upside
down, lament, criticize and fid fault !!
thoughts
of ‘Aasami sirippu sinthanaiyaan’
24.8.2026
"ஒத்தையிலே
பெண் குதிரை நிக்குதய்யா ! தனியா, தனியா
!!
Horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus
ferus. It is an odd-toed ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family
Equidae. Humans domesticated horses and needed them to perform a variety of
duties. There is an extensive,
specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering
everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors,markings, breeds,
locomotion, and behavior. One type of horse-powered work was the hauling of
heavy loads, plowing fields, and other tasks that required pulling ability.
Horses have featured
elaborately in Ithihasa, History, movies and more … Other than
my self-professed love for elephants, the horse that used to go in front in the Temple procession at
Thiruvallikkeni was also a hit... there have been horses at the temple,
mostly white majestic ones – have heard from the erstwhile keeper Velayudham
that it was a colt retired from racing !
Here is a different
version – a horse appearing suddenly on a busy Triplicane road, [Singarachari
street near Gangaikondan mandapam market] taking people by surprise !!
"ஒத்தையிலே
பெண் குதிரை நிக்குதய்யா ! தனியா, தனியா
!! " என்பது 1984 ஆம் ஆண்டு வெளிவந்த
'நல்ல நாள்' திரைப்படத்தில் இடம்பெற்ற பாடல்.
மலேசியா வாசுதேவன் மற்றும் எஸ். ஜானகி இசைஞானி
இளையராஜா இசையில் பாடியிருந்தனர்
Unlikely you have seen or
remember this movie that tells in a flashback that the father of Chinna
Durai is assassinated by the father of Kaali. Chinna Durai takes revenge, kills
him and goes to prison leaving his mother and sister to see him leave. Furious, Kaali promises to kill Chinna Durai
on his way out. However, Kaali meets Chinna Durai's sister, Shenbagam. She
wraps her heart to marry him knowing the story, that he is looking for Chinna
Durai, who is his brother protecting him from murder.
Nalla Naal (transl. Good day) directed
by R. Thyagarajan and produced by Thevar Films was released in 1984 and perhaps
did not do well. . The film starred Vijayakanth, Thiagarajan, Nalini and Viji.
Regards
– S Sampathkumar
24.8.2026
டெலிபோன்
மணி போல் சிரிப்பவள் இவளா....
மெல்போர்ன் மலர் போல் மெல்லிய மகளா....
டிஜிட்டலில்
செதுக்கிய குரலா எலிசபெத் டெய்லர் மகளா
சாகிர்
ஹுசைன் தபலா இவள்தானா.... சோனா.. சோனா..
Likely that song rings a
bell and you imagine seeing Kamal & Manisha Koiralla dancing !! and start thinking of Australia.
For Cricket fans – if it’s
a 5 test match series [especially Ashes] – tests would take place, at WACA,
Perth; Melbourne; Sydney; Gabba, Brisbane
& Adelaide. Traditionally the Boxing day test on 26th Dec would
be played at Melbourne.
Likely you
are following Bangladesh tour of Australia and the improbable win that happened
in First test.
Bangladesh's
bowling has been their most impressive department in the last five years. It
was time that their batting stepped up on the big occasion. And step up they
did in the historic win in Darwin, which will be remembered as much for the
contributions by Bangladesh's batters as their bowlers. Bangladesh were playing
their first Test in Australia in 23 years, and in it, thoroughly outplayed the
hosts for a nine-wicket win.
Bangladesh's 426 in
the first Test, batting out 138 overs, was their third-longest innings outside
the subcontinent. It underlined their domination after the Bangladesh bowling
attack had dismissed Australia for 198 on the first day. The batters secured a
228-run lead to set Australia back further; the hosts couldn't cross 300 in
their second innings either, and the target of 57 they set became a mere
formality.
Australia have the
best pace attack in the world, even if an ageing one, with Pat Cummins, Josh
Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. Batting against them, the Bangladesh line-up
continuously took good decisions, led by a century from opener Tanzid Hasan,
and fifties from captain Najmul Hossain Shanto as well as Mehidy Hasan Miraz. .. and it was a historic 9 wicket win for
Bangla. It was their first Test win in Australia in
only their third attempt, although they were playing a Test in the country for
the first time in 23 years. Bangladesh had beaten Australia in a Test at home
nine years ago.
The win is a huge
moment for Bangladesh, especially in a year when they missed the T20 World Cup
for political reasons. Hasan Mahmud
taking nine wickets in the match, and Tanzid Hasan scoring his maiden century
was complemented by Mehidy Hasan Miraz's half-century and five-wicket haul
later in the game. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto starred with the bat, and as a
captain too.
Now Aussies
have made a strong comeback .. bouncing
back and leveling the Test Series with an innings-and-51-run win in under two
days. Mitchell Starc led the onslaught with his fourth 10-wicket haul which
made it the second-shortest Test on Australian soil.
Starc finished with 10 for 51, as Nathan
Lyon wrapped up Bangladesh with two quick wickets shortly after tea. Having
being bundled for 64 and 95, it became the first time Bangladesh got bowled out
for under 100 in both innings of a Test, while Australia's 210 is the
fourth-lowest total in an innings win. Shoriful
grabbed career-best figures of 7 for 47 in a match that will otherwise be
remembered for Starc's haul that made it an otherwise forgettable game for
Bangladesh.
On a different
note, the way Bangladesh are treated – the tests are not played at Brisband,
Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne or any other centres. References to the Gabba, which will be
demolished after the 2032 Olympics, had never been far away as Great Barrier
Reef Arena became the 12th venue to host men's Tests in Australia
The first test was
played at Marrara Stadium, Darwin - (known
under naming rights as TIO Stadium), a
multi-purpose stadium in the Darwin suburb of Marrara. Darwin is the
capital and largest city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of HMS Beagle was
the first British person to encounter Darwin harbour on 9 September 1839, 51
years after the first European settlement of Australia. The ship's captain,
Commander John Clements Wickham, named the port after Charles Darwin, the
English naturalist who had sailed with them both on the earlier second
expedition of the Beagle
This second test
which Bangla lost badly was played at - Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, a
multi-sports complex located in the Queensland city of Mackay. It includes
multiple ovals for Australian rules football and cricket, and facilities for
athletics, tennis, croquet, basketball and table tennis. Harrup Park was owned and developed by the
Mackay Cricket Association in the 1940s. It was named after Mr A. L. Harrup, the
president of the association at the time, and the main ground was named after
the vice-president, Ray Mitchell, who was also one of the people who bought the
land for the development. Mackay is a
city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland,
Australia
Bangladesh's
prospects had taken a big dent in their first tour game after they were rolled
for just 54 to lose by an innings and 38 runs against a CA XI in Darwin with
left-arm quick Campbell Thompson claiming 8 for 25.
The Thompson
submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy gun", "Chicago
typewriter", or "trench broom") is a blowback-operated,
selective-fire submachine gun invented and developed by Brigadier General John
T. Thompson, a United States Army officer, in 1918. It was designed to break
the stalemate of trench warfare of World War I, although early models did not
arrive in time for actual combat. The weapon was also sold to the general
public. Because it was so widely used by criminals, the Thompson became
notorious during the Prohibition era as the signature weapon of various
organized crime syndicates in the United States in the 1920s
Now the
song at the start ‘Telephone manipol’ from Indian movie was a red herring,
though it mentioned ‘melbourne’ – the one that appears in view is famous Sydney
Harbour Bridge.
Test
no. 2633 got off to a start this morning at Sinhalese
Sports Club Ground, Colombo – with India winning the toss and opting to bat
first !
A post on
debutant Saransh Jain – but before you proceed – can you connect : Yadavindra Singh, Dhiraj Parsana, Dilip
Doshi, Sandeep Patil, Ashok Malhotra, Pranab Roy, Arunlal, Rakesh Shukla,
Narendra Hirwani, WV Raman, Sadagoppan Ramesh, MS Dhoni and few more others
!!!
Winning the toss, Shubman
Gill had no hesitation in batting first, and his counterpart Dhananjaya de
Silva conceded he would have done the same. For Sri Lanka, Kamil Mishara takes his first
steps in the Test side on the back of some scintillating recent form, albeit in
the white-ball formats. Pasindu Sooriyabandara has also been given an opportunity
to avenge his golden duck in the first Test, where he entered as a concussion
substitute for Dinesh Chandimal. India meanwhile have made just the one change,
with the speculation finally confirmed that debutant offspinner
Saransh Jain replacing Kuldeep Yadav.
The Board of
Control for Cricket in India announced that Kuldeep Yadav missed selection for
the second Test against Sri Lanka due to an incomplete recovery from a viral
illness, though he remains eligible to take the
field as a concussion substitute if needed. [the latter coloured part is eerie !]
India was hailed as
land of spinners – there was the famous quartet Bishan Bedi, Chandrasekhar,
Erapalli Prasanna and Venkatraghavan spinning out opponents – there were the likes of VV Kumar, Doshi,
Shivalkar, Goel, Hans, Dhiraj Parsana, Ramnarayan, Shukla, Raghuram Bhat and more – who could
not make the cut over the dominance of the quartet and Ranji matches were
‘bowler-dominated !’
If one were to make
a list of Off-spinners who donned Indian cap, that will include : Ghulam Ahmed; Nirode Ranjan Chowdhury; Jasu
Patel; V. M. Muddiah; E. A. S. Prasanna; S. Venkataraghavan; Shivlal Yadav; Gopal
Sharma; Arshad Ayub; M. Venkatramana; Rajesh Chauhan; Aashish Kapoor; Nikhil
Chopra; Sarandeep Singh; Harbhajan Singh; Ravichandran Ashwin; Jayant Yadav; Washington
Sundar and … now - Saransh Jain
Saransh Jain a consistent performer for Madhya Pradesh,
the allrounder is coming off his most productive Ranji season is considered to
be a handful against a left-hand-heavy Sri Lanka side.
Saransh Jain is a
33-year-old allrounder from Madhya Pradesh who bowls offspin and bats
left-handed. In 54 first-class games, he has scored 2223 runs at an average of
31.75 and taken 188 wickets at 27.30. He has also featured in 67 List A and T20
matches but red-ball cricket is his strongest suit. Son of former first-class cricketer Subodh
Jain, Saransh has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket over the last
few seasons. He is a late bloomer: he made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2014 but
came into the limelight only in 2022. Having played just eight first-class
games until then, he starred in the knockouts for Madhya Pradesh, taking 13
wickets and scoring a half-century to help his side clinch their maiden title.
The latest Ranji
Trophy was his most productive season: he scored 518 runs at an average of
57.55 and took 30 wickets at 20.43. It came on the back of a successful Duleep
Trophy campaign. Playing for Central Zone, he scored two half-centuries and
took 16 wickets in two games to be named the Player of the Series.
For this Lankan
tour, Washington Sundar was unavailable for
selection for the first Test due to a hamstring injury. The presence of several
left-hand batters in the Sri Lanka side meant the selectors wanted an
offspinner in the squad. Jain happened to be in the right place at the right
time. Earlier this month, he was in Sri Lanka for an India A tour. In the first test, India played Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav & Manav Suthar.
Remember the bespectacled
Dilip Doshi playing against Kim Hughes Aussies.
Dilip Rasiklal Doshi, was one of
only two Test bowlers who played in their first tests after the age of thirty,
yet went on to take 100 wickets, the other being Clarrie Grimmett. Dilip Doshi, the slow leftarm spinner with
spectacles, was born in Rajkot in 1947, debuted in 1979 when he was 32+, went
on to play 33 Tests and 15 One dayers.
Having waited for so long, he didn't waste any time in making his presence
felt. With figures of 6/103 & 2/64 he was India's best bowler in that debut
match. He performed well in a One dayer
at Australia too and won Man of the Match.
Yet
Dilip Doshi was not the oldest debutant – it was Rustomji Jamshedji —@ 41 years 27 days in Dec
1933 against England at Bombay Gymkhana. The left arm spinner played
in a solitary test taking 3 wickets.
All the best to
Saransh Jain !
Ans to the Q
at the start : the list of the players (there are some more) who started their
Test Career at Chepauk ground !!
With
regards – S Sampathkumar
23.8.2026
