Yogi's Corner

 https://cricmaze.com/mumbai-indians-registers-a-much-needed-win-in-the-2nd-leg/ Mumbai Indians registers a much needed win in the 2nd leg September 29, 2021     Yogesh Kamat (Yzen) Saurabh Tiwary (Image source: Twitter) Mumbai Indians  137 for 4 (Tiwary 45, Hardik 40*, Bishnoi 2-25) beat  Punjab Kings  135 for 6 (Markram 42, Bumrah 2-24) by six wickets Desperate to register their first win in the 2nd leg of the IPL 2021, Mumbai Indians (MI) limped past the finish line and kept themselves in the hunt for the top 4 slots for the play-offs. Rohit Sharma won the toss & had no hesitation to bowl first on a batting wicket. He was banking on MI’s batting depth to chase down any target set for them. Saurabh Tiwary found himself back in the playing XI at the expense of out-of -form Ishan Kishan while Coulter-Nile was given the nod ahead of Milne. For Punjab Kings (PBKS), Mandeep replaced injured Mayank Agarwal. Surprisingly, Gayle did not open especially in the...

 https://cricmaze.com/mi-bamboozle-rr-in-a-do-or-die-encounter/ MI bamboozle RR in a do or die encounter October 6, 2021     Yogesh Kamat (Yzen) MI vs RR (Image source: Twitter) Mumbai Indians  94 for 2 (Kishan 50*, Rohit 22) beat  Rajasthan Royals  90 for 9 (Coulter-Nile 4-14, Neesham 3-12, Bumrah 2-14) by eight wickets. In what was a do or die encounter for Mumbai Indians (MI), the defending champions not only secured the vital 2 points but the emphatic margin of victory also meant that they significantly improved their NRR. MI were aggressive from the team selection itself where they packed the side with 3 pacers on a sticky slow wicket while the temptation would have been to go with the slow spinners. They relied on the experience and ability of the pacers to vary the pace and bowl off cutters. Rohit won the toss and elected to bowl and though he looked unsure of his decision at the toss, it was also backed by the fact that in the last games on this gro...

https://cricmaze.com/axar-and-avesh-choke-mi-shreyas-sees-dc-home/ Axar and Avesh choke MI, Shreyas sees DC home October 3, 2021     Yogesh Kamat (Yzen) DC vs MI (Image source: Twitter) Mumbai Indians 129/8 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 33; Avesh Khan 3-15, Axar Patel 3-21) lost to Delhi Capitals 132/6 in 19.1 overs (Shreyas Iyer 33* Rishabh Pant 26; Trent Boult 1-24) by 4 wickets . In most of the matches in this edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), teams have floundered or found themselves in tricky situations while chasing a low total. It seemed almost as if the art of batting according to the situation and rotating the strike had got lost in the glamour of extravagant stroke making. However, Shreyas Iyer (33* in 33 balls) in good company of Ashwin (20* in 21 balls) exuded confidence and displayed some sensible batting to take Delhi Capitals (DC) home with 4 wickets & 5 balls to spare. Chasing just 130 to win, the DC batsmen seemed in a hurry. Prithvi Shaw hit a bound...

  How can I say good-bye to someone who has been a part of my life for over 40 years? How do we reconcile ourselves to the heart-breaking reality that our beloved Tiku is no longer physically with us? As I gathered memories together in my mind over the past several days, my grief-stricken thoughts & moist eyes, invariably painted an image of a very cheerful, vivacious, smiling friend, mopping back his long hair and convincing me that all is well with the world. Tiku’s life was taken away from us too soon and it is hard to understand why such tragic things like this happen to such good people. However, this is a question without an answer and we should not dwell on the loss of our dear friend. Today, let’s celebrate his life and remember all of the remarkable things he accomplished and how wonderful his life was. One of Tiku’s best traits was that he always lived his life to the fullest and loved to laugh and smile. Tiku was an extraordinary, truly wonderful human being. His ...

Last night, I binged on Shantit Kranti (SONY LIV – Marathi web series) which unabashedly is a take-off on Dil Chahata Hai (DCH) and almost a tribute to the iconic movie of 2001. Before I continue : YZen Rating : 4.5* Stars (not sure why I cut that 0.5*) Yzen says : This is a MUST MUST MUST watch for any guy who understands a bit of Marathi. This 6 episode series, is too rollickingly funny. Miss it & you have missed a huge-huge chance of complete set of funnies; that will have you burst out in laughter, spill your drink, smack the pillow. It’s insane . Have not watched this kind of comedy in a long long time ! Well timed & superbly executed punchlines & insults, fly thick and fast between the chaddi buddies. Very much like the 3 buddies from DCH, Sameer, Akash & Siddharth; our 3 protagonists Shreyas (Abhay Mahajan), Dinar (Alok Rajwade), Prasanna (Lalit Prabhakar) plan a road trip to Goa. These characters are so wonderfully sketched that they are as common as an...

  Bhuj : The Pride Of India – Movie Review YZen Rating : A very poor 1 star. The movie is set in the backdrop of a very famous story of courage & valour of 300 Bhuj (essentially from village of Madhapur) women who risked their lives to restore the IAF airstrip. This had to be done so as to get the landing strip ready, almost overnight , for Indian troops to land and counter Pakistan’s air & land attack on Vighakot. This act of courage assumes greater significance as the regular contractors had fled due to the war situation & these brave women actually tore down their own homes for the materials to be used for the reconstruction of the airstrip. In middle of all this is Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik (Ajay Devgn) who is marshalling his wounded troops as well as motivating these women. However, the movie miserably fails to bring any of this real story to life . At the very beginning, we have a battle in the skies with war planes bombing the Bhuj airbase. Now when the...

Gatari – The misnomer?   Every year, whether you celebrate it or not, this festival of Gatari is always spoken about with tongue in cheek remarks, followed by knowing laughter & smiles all around. Even the most conservative of Maharashtrian families will not shy to say, “So what’s special for Gatari tomorrow?”    …. outwardly referring to non-veg delicacies but implicitly suggesting the consumption of alcohol. The Uncles knowingly winking & the youngsters trying to avoid their gaze, is a far too common sight. The very concept of eating, drinking, making merry and falling off in a “gutter” was completely unacceptable to me and so it would seem to a lot many more people like me.  Hence, I decided to Google search – “ Gatari meaning”  and the immediate response that came back was: “Gatari Amavasya is  essentially a celebration to drink and eat to your heart's content  so that you don't have the urge to do so during Shravan. It falls on a m...

  Haseen Dilruba : Movie Review One of the awaited OTT releases of 2021, Haseen Dilruba was finally aired by Netflix on 2 nd July. The movie has been widely touted as a murder mystery, edge of the seat suspense thriller and fans of this genre have been eagerly awaiting its release. So as usual, the judgement before the review. YZen says : Save yourself 5 mins & don’t even waste time in reading a review of a movie, as despairing as this. Do your most hated task for 2 hours, instead of watching this flick & you will still end up being on the happier side. Word of caution : Despite the warnings, if you do feel desperate enough to watch this film, make sure that there are no objects around you, that you can fling at the TV. ( Tangent thought : Come to think of it, Hindi cinema has never been able to really throw up good movies in this genre. Only a very select few, come to mind.) The movie starts with a blast, literally! There is an explosion right in the first...