ON THE FAST LANE!!!!

Whether it’s Micheal Schumacher or our very own Narain Karthikeyan, all of them started their motorsports career as Kart drivers. With the growing popularity of the sports last weekend even I thought of trying what it takes to be on the fast lane as I reached the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. And it was time for me to take part in the two day pro karting training run by Former Formula 3 driver Akbar Ebrahim and rub shoulders with the professional Kart drivers.
The training started with Akbar first taking me through a theory session to make me understand the basics of karting. Once we were through with that, then came the most important bit - the seating. It's very important for one to what is the perfect way to get in and out of the kart as a small mistake can cause damage to the kart as well as the body. However, after a couple of attempts, I finally managed to get in alright. And then as the engines warmed up, it was time for me to ride a machine, which neither offered me the cushion comfort of my car nor had the power steering to ease off the pressure of maneuvering. To start with, Akbar had given me the task of driving on the straight line to get into the hang of the throttle and the brakes. As I slowly picked up on my pace and confidence, a satisfied Akbar gave me the green signal to get onto the practice tracks before the day came to an end.
The second day was the D-Day as I had to hit the race track. This was my opportunity I realised as I followed the two young Kart drivers onto the track. Once on the track, I got the real feel of what it takes to drive on the fast lane. It was a back-breaking experience and with the two stroke karts going upto a speed of 109 km/ hour, it was getting difficult for me to get a hold while at the curves and secondly, with my body close to the ground and no sort of protection available, it was as if I was always on the edge. However, with every completed lap I started gaining on confidence. And as I ended my first outing, I was quite familiar with the track. My timing was a 1 min 5 sec, way below Akbar's expectations. But the real test was yet to come. In order to get the perfect maneuvering line, Akbar had now put cones on the curves and here I was, out on my second and final session. 1 min 3 sec, 1 min 1 sec, 58 secs….. I had finally done it. A lap in the fifties…Wow. I was more than relieved. But when I saw the timing of the other drivers on the track, I knew I had a long way to go as drivers were doing rounds of forties and fifties on the same track.
Suddenly I realized that Sitting in the gallery, it's always exciting to see karts speed by at over 100 kmph and drivers maneuvering the curves of the high-speed racing tracks. But one you are in that kart how difficult it is to maneuver that small but powerful machine…Hats off to all the racers for the grit.

DIL(HARA)JEETA RE!!!!!!!

What might have been going in Dilhara Fernando's mind when he came to ball against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. In the last match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) , Dilhara last over not only cost Mumbai Indians (MI) the match, but also knocked out his team's chances of making to the semi finals of the inaugural IPL. But in the very first over he showed his character and gave RCB a double blow including getting the wicket of Birthday boy and dangerous Pakistani Batsmen Misbah Ul Haq. RCB never really recovered from this blow and ended up scoring just 122 runs in 18 overs. Fernando ended with his best figures of 4/18, his best ever in T20 format.
A target of 123 in 18 overs never looked difficult with the batting line up of MI which includes Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasurya, Robin Utthapa. And the way Sachin and Sanath started the innings, at one point it seemed that MI would cruise to a 10 wicket victory. Sanath was at his best sending the RCB players on a leather hunt. Well not really as he hit four huge sixes and four dashing boundaries leaving the RCB players standing on their spot. However he got after scoring his 50 but Sachin and local lad Robin Utthapa ensured that MI cruise to victory.
Well the match was an inconsequential one as both the teams were already out of reckoning for semis, but match for pride for the skippers of both teams-Sachin(MI) and Rahul Dravid (RCB) who wanted to end their IPL campaign on a winning note.
Dravid couldn't but later he admitted that he has learnt a lot from this tournament and that he is here to stay despite his team finishing second from bottom this year.
But undoubtedly this match belonged to Dilhara who despite being the culprit just two days ago, proved his mattle to give MI a deserving victory.

2008: Year of Indian Badminton?

Well the IPL fever is undoubtedly caught the imagination of the entire country. But just thought of thinking beyond cricket and who know that 2008 may just go on to become the year of Indian Badminton. The dream seems to be realistic specially after meeting India's all time great Badminton player Prakash Padukone, who believes that this year in the Bejing Olympics, India might spring a surprise in form Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal. Well speaking about Prakash Padukone, he could well be regarded as the most unlucky Indian sportsperson. In Badminton he has won all, whether its the World Cup or the All England Championship and in the early eighties he was the man to beat in the badminton world. However he could not participate in the Olympics as Badminton became an Olympic sports only in 1992 at Barcelona. Who knows Prakash would have won the gold at Moscow (1980) or LA (1984). But he doesn't regret, but he feels that he would loved representing the country in the Worlds biggest Sporting extravaganza. But since 1992, India has represented in every Olympics, however the best ever result came only in 2000 when Pullela Gopichand reached the Round of 16. But no one ever came close to winning a medal. However this year could be different, both Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal are known to be world beaters and both of them have defeated top ranked players on their given day. So all eyes including that on Prakash Padukone will be on them and who know that they may turn 2008 as the year of Indian badminton.

Royal Challengers Bangalore V/S Mumbai Indians in 2 days

Well my first day of blogging and just two days left for the Mumbai Indians (MI) to take on rejuvinated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their last match of IPL in Bangalore. Well for RCB captain Rahul Dravid, he would obviously want to end a disappointing IPL season with a win just like Dada did for Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) last night, but for Sachin's MI it will be crutial match if they want to reach the semis. (Provided they win tonight against Rajasthan Royals). An exciting match on the cards. Infact RCB are already in town, but are resting today (A much needed one after their back to back victories against Chennai and Hyderabad).
As its my first day of blogging, I would like to introduce myself. I am a Sr. Sports Correspondent of NewsX, India first HDTV news Channel am based out of Bangalore. I will be covering sports in the South, so to catch up all the action of sports activities in the region, one could visit this site.