Williamson and good old Luteru taking the kiwis home would be the perfect fairytale finish to this. Kinda like how arjuna and aravinda took the sri lankans home in lahore in 1996. #WTCFinal
If you love test cricket, isn't this the happiest you've ever felt? #WTCFinal
If you're not rooting for a New Zealand win right now, who hurt you?
Me to all fellow desis still hoping for an India win. This is so New Zealand's moment. This tiny country on two remote islands with as many people as Pune is about to win the first every world test championship! Let's just politely sit back and applaud.
I wonder who at @nytimes will write the inevitable piece about New Zealand winning this. And who is directing the Netflix documentary of their journey..
Theater! He was the prime minister, with political capital as well as the constitutional power to remove Modi. And Modi had zero base outside delhi news studios. In 2002, ABV could have got rid of Modi before morning tea even. He didn't want to. Modi is his kinda guy.
People forget that Gujarat was NOT this default BJP state we think of it as now. Through the 80s and 90s, the congress was very much relevant. And the state BJP was full of infighting. Vajpayee sent Modi to try and saffronize the state. And he succeeded.
Don't tell me about the goa conclave nonsense. Theater! ABV, Advani, Modi, Bisht are all, as we say in hindi, one same only bag's snacks-vacks.
There is no difference. Modi is basically BJP and vice versa. He is not an opportunitic anomaly like Trump or Bolsonaro. Modi is a lifelong swayamsevak and is like he was made in a lab by the BJP ideology.
And they have a deep bench. I've seen many IIM dudes go from being reluctant "modi cos TINA" guys in 2014 to full fledged "modi is too soft, we need yogi" this year. That's how fascism spreads. It is often waiting under the surface like cicadas. They're out now.
That is why there was a big #NeverTrump movement in the republican party but there is no such #NeverModi or #NeverYogi thing in the BJP other than maybe yashwant sinha. There can be no indian lincoln project.
Even within the bombay pune expressway. Water boils at 100C in bombay. 98C in pune. 97C in Bangalore. 92C in Simla! In india we usually pressure cook anything to boil it so we don't realize these differences.
It's an easy thing to miss because the boiling water is still hot and boiling and bubbling and will of course scald you if you touch it. It's just not as hot as it looks at higher altitudes.
If you ever feel like your pasta or noodles weren't perfectly al dente following the time in the recipe or why maggi seems to take longer to cook in some places, check your altitude.
I love #jackfruittwitter. And while people rightly gush about the sweet pulp or the umami filled sabji or biryani or burger made with raw ones, let us not forget the core/seed! Boil in salt water, peel and eat. Somewhere between a pecan and water chestnut. 😋
Image - @SavorySpin
Or roast. Roasting works too. Boiling is just my favorite, for jackfruit seeds and also peanuts. But then my doctor tells me to eat MORE salt so YMMV 😏.
Some folks think that's harsh on Waugh to call him nasty. But look at his own words and actions and thoughts and takes. He mainstreamed this view that snarling at the opposition, "mental disintegration" etc were what made you world champions. A generation grew up buying it.
Ponting, Haddin etc are his protégés. Ponting who hurled abuse at Srinath who ran over to check on him after hitting him on the head with a bouncer. Haddin who said in public that he hates the niceness of kiwis. Even the aggro in this indian lot. All from Steve waugh worship.
Williamson's team are not daisies by any means but their success along with the nice guy narrative is a good thing for cricket.
Nice that New Zealand cricketers are nice. But please remember that they are the champions because they play intense hardcore high quality smart cricket. Don't let the niceness distract you from what a great cricket team that is. Not every captain has to be steve waugh nasty.
And it's really really astonishing that a nation of less than 5 million has done this against a nation of 1.3 billion which did nothing wrong in the whole test match. India brought their best. New Zealand's best was just better!
For me, @BLACKCAPS winning the WTC is one of the greatest sporting triumphs of all time. Especially after the last 2 world cups. There will be books written and movies made about Kane Williamson and gang.