How Gilchrist's squash-ball trick has helped Venugopal Rao get going

Adam Gilchrist's brutal century against Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup final - an innings that single-handedly won Australia the trophy and restored his image as one of the most destructive opening batsman the world has ever seen - will remain etched in the memory for a long time.

The fact that the innings ran into a brief controversy after the wicket-keeper-batsmen had used a squash ball in his left glove tends to get forgotten. The Sri Lankan team had lodged a complaint, but the International Cricket Council had cleared the batsman.

Now, in his stint with the IPL's Hyderabad team Deccan Chargers, Gilchrist has not only used the little squash ball for his own batting exploits, but has also advised the rest of his team members on the advantages of doing so. When his team mates in Hyderabad had asked him to explain the use of the ball, he said "it provides me with a better grip."

Among those who listened to what Gilchrist had to say, only Venugopal Rao decided to try it out. Whether it's a direct co-relation or not, the right-hander from Andhra Pradesh has managed an impressive 242 runs in nine IPL innings at an overall strike rate of 147.56 and is the team's third-highest scorer after Rohit Sharma and Gilchrist.

Rao's exploits in IPL have taken bowlers by surprise. Not known as a batsman who strikes the ball hard and clean, Rao has hit 14 sixes and 19 boundaries in the tournament so far, taking Hyderabad agonisingly close to victory from hopeless situations in two games.

"I am using the ball in my right glove. It gives me the advantage of a better grip. I took Gilchrist's advice and it's actually working well," Rao told The Indian Express.

Big impact

Rao says he'll continue using the squash ball as long as he's comfortable with it. In the match against Delhi at the Ferozeshah Kotla last week, Rao's 34 off 18 balls contained two sixes and three fours - and one six in particular, off Farveez Maharoof over long-on, was an example of Rao's comfort factor with the squash ball in his glove. The shot was played as late as possible and close to his body and the timing, says Rao, is reflective of the grip he enjoyed.

While none of the other members have made use of the golf ball yet, New Zealand's Scott Styris, who has witnessed the change in Rao's batting, is now trying to experiment with it himself.

Reacting to the Lankan team's complaint after the World Cup final, the ICC has legalised the use of a ball saying "it is not against the laws or the spirit of the game".

"Since there is no restriction in law even on the external form of batting gloves, let alone the interior thereof, no law has been breached," the ICC said.

In fact, the ICC representative had said at the time: "It's been suggested that if shoving a squash ball into your bottom glove makes you bat like Adam Gilchrist, then perhaps the ICC should make it compulsory".

Looking at the way Rao's batting, that day may not be too far away.

what is DEATH and what happens aftermath ?? - a scientific vantage point...

At times i keep wondering myself about death. What is death? What happens when we die? Do we enter a different world aftermath ?

There are many theories that tell there is nothing after death..... Maybe death is just a machine fails to run and all the organs just stops..... all the memories and feelings lies no further.... But the fact still remains that these are just assumptions without any proof .

But what about those whose tell about NDE's (Near Death Experience). Are they just fake or some kind of illusion ceated by Human brain What exactly happens after death. What happens to our memories? Is it similar to destroying the hard disk of a computer?

One of my friend said hey none of them can say after death wat happens??? as much as science is concern but according to religion they have diff beliefs and if sum one who belives in god can belive in these things and their r many books which co relate wat happens after death but most of them i had read r with out proof .

And then i somehow reasoned to myself Or may be life is just a form of energy present in this universe and when someone dies, this energy beomes a part of the net energy of the universe because what ever that is present in the universe is in the form of Mass-Energy. Mass occupied by that person is somehow converted into energy and then it becomes a part of this universe.

Maybe yes when we are eaten by worms and our mass is utilized as energy by worms and then it travels the whole universe by changing from one form to another.

Having said that, dont think of afterlife stories and heaven n hell it's ofcourse not you who is travelling, face it man! you are dead! which means DEAD. No, dont think of stories to reconcile you of a beautiful heaven, with 72 Virgins waiting for you.

Here I am talking about energy not about myself. There is no life after deathits all an illusion of mind for example an Englishman will see a Satan speaking english in his dreams while an indian (hindu to be more precise) will see a yamraj speakin hindi or sanskrit its all a trick of mind... get well oh man...

Feeling Sick? Stay Home

Courtesy: shiftingcareers

Last week, one of my New York Times colleagues canceled a lunch meeting because he was sick and wanted to go home to rest. It was a Friday, and it was raining heavily outside. Even though I was looking forward to that meeting, I was delighted. His canceling meant that I didn’t have to leave my apartment. (I work from home.) And I also wouldn’t be at risk of catching his cold.

I don’t know why more people don’t do this. Instead, as winter moves along, many of us are surrounded by sick co-workers who show up in the office, at lunches and at meetings, determined (or so it seems) to infect the rest of us. This behavior is so prevalent that it now has an official name, “presenteeism,” and it costs companies a lot of money because it makes other people sick. The good news is that some companies have started to recognize the high cost of presenteeism and encourage sick employees to stay home and rest (or work from home if they are up to it).

I recognize that some employers may not be enlightened enough to embrace this way of thinking, and that some people don’t have enough sick days or feel secure enough in their jobs to stay home even when they are sick. But here are a few reasons why you should stay home if you can.

We all know that you can often accomplish more work in a few hours at home with no interruptions than in eight hours in the office. If you have the flexibility to work from home, then days when you are brewing a cold or dealing with a full-blown one are the ideal time to practice your telecommuting skills.

Since people are most contagious in the first two or three days of a cold, you will help your whole organization by not getting your colleagues sick.

Putting aside those who are legitimately fearful of losing their jobs, the people who show up while sick tend to be the ones so arrogant that they think work cannot go on without their presence. You don’t want to be one of those. (If this sounds like someone you know, you may want to print out this post and leave it anonymously where that person can find it.)

If you rest, you will probably get well faster. So by taking some time off, you will probably improve your overall productivity.

In these days of meeting overload, you will probably make someone very happy if your absence means that a meeting has to be canceled.

As for my colleague, we rescheduled our lunch for the following Friday. When I saw him, he said that his cold turned out to be not so bad after all. Perhaps he nipped it in the bud by going home early. Most important, he didn’t get me sick. My opinion of him (already pretty high) is ever so higher.