1. Get a good boomerang. A boomerang is a precise object and is difficult to mass produce.^[1] Do not assume that all boomerang-looking objects will return if thrown. There are several cheap versions on the market which will not work properly, or may be dangerous to throw. A good boomerang should cost around $5-10, or £5-10.

2. Find a large, open area. (i.e. a baseball or soccer field) There should not be any trees or other obstructions around the distant area. You should know the estimated distance the boomerang will fly (which should be supplied by the manufacturer) and throw in the middle of an area with twice the area of the boomerang’s range. Never throw a boomerang in a crowded area. Warn onlookers before you throw the boomerang so they will be watching the flight.
3. Watch out for wind. Wind is a big factor in the proper return of a boomerang. The best flights will be achieved in 0-5 mph winds, however, after some practice you will be able to adjust for many wind conditions (within reason, of course) by throwing more into the wind, turning the boomerang, or by adding weight or flaps. The suggested angle to the wind is between 45° and 90° to the right or left of the wind in direct relation to the throwing hand. To get this angle, face directly into the wind, turn about 60 degrees or so to your right (if you are right-handed) and throw your boomerang in the direction you are facing.
4. Start with the proper grip. The two main grips are the cradle grip and the pinch grip.
   • The cradle grip is where the boomerang is grasped like you would a tennis racquet. The flat side of the boomerang is to the palm of the hand and the fingers wrapped around the shaped side. The thumb is either over the fingers (like a fist) or just above the index finger. Hold the boomerang as close to the end as possible to get maximum spin.
   • Use the pinch grip for better spin and control. Place the boomerang between the thumb and forefinger with the thumb on the curved surface. Cock the boomerang back toward the wrist at about a 45° angle. Pinch tightly so that the boomerang “pops” from the fingers as the arm straightens out. This makes for a cleaner release and better spin which helps the boomerang return.

5. Keep the layover angle (or angle of release) slightly less than perpendicular to the horizon. You’ll want to throw the boomerang overhand, like a baseball. A boomerang that is thrown horizontally like a flying disk or a frisbee will not return. The proper layover is normally 75-80°, but each boomerang will have its own “proper” layover. Start with the suggested angle and work from there. You must throw your boomerang nearly perpendicular, with the flat side of the boomerang away from you!

   

6. Throw the boomerang horizontally, or up to 20 degrees above the horizon. Most beginners will want to throw the boomerang up too high. This is not necessary, since the boomerang will naturally climb as it progresses through the circle of flight. If you throw too high, the boomerang will land behind you. If you throw too low, the boomerang will fly in front of you.

7. Catch the boomerang. It should be spinning relatively horizontally (if it is thrown properly). The easiest and safest way to catch a boomerang is to reach out both hands and attempt to clap them together on it. If the boomerang is moving too quickly, do not try to catch it! Later, after you have a better understanding of how the boomerang will react, you may try some trick catches or one-hand catches, but exercise caution. Wear cycling or weight lifting gloves, especially if you are attempting trick catches. These have open fingers for gripping the boomerang while throwing, but have extra padding in the palms, which will give you more confidence to catch the boomerang!

The ICL seems to be on its last legs. And what I am writing below is its obituary although the owners claim it is not dead yet.

Yes – the venture which began with much hype finally seems to have run out of steam with the exodus of 79 Indian cricketers and a few others.

Before anyone points out that I am doing a volte-face by changing my stance towards the ICL, I need to note that I still support the cause for which all the above mentioned cricketers joined the ICL. Those who know me can vouch that I am one of the biggest non-conformists around.

However, the ICL was a doomed battle from the beginning.

Lalit Modi and the BCCI – throwing their might and millions behind the IPL, roping in high profile industrialists and movie stars as team owners and attracting the top players by paying them unheard of salaries made sure that Subhash Chandra and the ICL would be throttled right from the beginning. What was Subhash Chandra thinking??

The monopolistic policies of the BCCI are still unacceptable. Banning the players in the ICL and not letting them use cricket grounds were policies which are no less than the monarchical rule of Saddam Hussein where there was only one supreme being.

I would have loved the ICL to succeed but one has to accept that Modi and his men packaged the IPL beautifully. The flamboyance and grandeur of the event was unheard of in cricket circles.

Other than the commercial, marketing and financial aspects, the one thing that could have kept the ICL afloat would have been the quality of cricket. This is where the ICL failed. The quality of cricket played was never top-rung. Having top players didn’t help. Other than a handful of Pakistani cricketers, most of the players in the ICL were in the twilight of their careers and were using the ICL as a sizeable pension scheme. Plus there were no standout performances which caught the headlines.

On any day, any cricket fan worth his salt would prefer to watch Sachin Tendulkar or MSD in full flow rather than watching Dinesh Mongia or Hemang Badani.

The writing was definitely on the wall. And the moment amnesty was granted to the ICL players, they bolted for the exit.

And why blame them? The ICL offered little or no cricket plus the advent of IPL offered good money.

One could say that the ICL was strangled and IPL used its clout to arm-twist its way to success. But one has to accept that even both the tournaments were recommended to be cancelled or postponed by the Indian government in lieu of the impending general elections.

While the ICL promptly cancelled the tournament, Modi took the tournament to South Africa where he ensured that the tournament was an enormous success. I cant believe I am saying this but hats off to Modi and his marketing genius!

I don’t claim to be in awe of Modi today but one has to accept that he has done a great job and put cricket on the world map. Even my Vietnamese colleague talks about the IPL. That is some testimonial to how well this has been marketed.

As of now, all we can say is that the ICL was an effort with the best intentions and was indeed laudable. But the standard of the game was something which needed to be looked into seriously. Without that, there was no way the ICL could have survived.

So, Mr Chandra and Mr Kapil Dev – well tried.

And RIP – ICL….

Day before yesterday, while watching the Indian Premier League (IPL) coverage on television, I couldn’t help but ponder on the fact that how brittle the Kolkata Knight Riders’ team looked in totality. Kolkata Knight Riders had just won their match against the ‘injured’ King’s XI Punjab via the Duckworth-Lewis method and they were showing Mandira bedi’s interview of Shah Rukh Khan (SRK), the owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders team. One loss and one win from two matches. According to SRK, it wasn’t bad. The team started slow on the first day against Deccan Chargers. Deccan Chargers looked the hungrier side. He defended his team beautifully setting the multiple captaincy saga, Gavaskar lash behind. He can be excused for that. After all, I can imagine what amount of hate mail he must have got when Sourav Ganguly a.k.a. Dada was removed from captaincy. But when he said that his dream was to bring the IPL trophy home to Kolkata, was he really serious?
Don’t get me wrong! I have my loyalties set correctly. My heart is for the KKR team. I have the KKR wallpaper on my laptop wallpaper. I have the KKR theme on my orkut profile. I listen to the ‘Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo’ song on television atleast once a day with much pride. I follow KKR on twitter. I plan to buy the official t-shirt too. When any discussion comes up over the team, I defend it religiously. But then the mind does not believe in the team. It would definitely bet upon Delhi, Mumbai or Chennai for that matter for the IPL ‘09 trophy. Continue Reading »

Lalit Modi may have misread the Election Commission’s moves while planning the second season of the Indian Premier League. Obviously, the thought process behind scheduling the matches in this fashion is to make the most out of the summer vacation and also wrap up the tournament before severe summer sets in. As soon as the Election Commission announced the elections, a clash seemed inevitable. The men behind the IPL must have tried all permutations and combinations of holding the tournament alongside elections. Eventually they had to concede and now it has been made official that they are looking at other venues to host the tournament according to its original schedule. By any yard stick it appeared to be a tough proposition. 

The alternative proposals put forward by IPL did not impress the government and thus IPL has been moved out of India and the organizers are exploring other possibilities. Simultaneously the political blame game has started and political parties are trying to make this an election issue and score political mileage, which is really unfortunate. The BJP fears that the inability to host IPL will give a wrong signal about the security establishment of the country. The claim that IPL season 1 was conducted with the Karnataka state elections is not valid as that situation was different from the current, post Mumbai, post Pakistan 3/3 attacks. On the other hand, the ruling central Government could have been sterner in ruling out the possibility of holding the tournament during election season but with some of its coalition partners being the cricket czars, its decisions were also backed by political considerations.

“Due to the Government’s attitude that they can’t provide us with proper security, especially in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, we have moved the IPL out of India,” said Shashank Manohar, President BCCI. IPL is a tournament organized by private players and by all means it is nothing but a purely commercial venture. It is unfair on the part of the organizers to criticize the attitude of the Government, when some of the cricket matches in the past have been given Presidential level security and extending the same during general elections may very well result in diversion of resources.

The TV commercials claim that IPL involves a billion people and commercially its worth a billion, but the elections are no lesser as it is going to decide the fate of a billion people. The sheer scale of the elections is massive. It involves approximately 714 million voters and 8,28,804 polling stations set up across the country and spanning over 5 months the process is monumental and comes at the cost of thousands of crores of tax payers money. More than anything else, it requires coordinated action between a number of central and state level institutions to ensure a smooth election process. Shuttling the security forces for both IPL and the elections is not only a difficult task but also would lead to overburdening of our security forces and is sure to cause excessive administrative burden.

Gone are the days when we claimed politics be kept out of cricket and we have come to a stage where cricket needs to be kept out of politics.

IPL can wait, if need be, but elections cannot. Constitutionally the 15^th Lok Sabha is required to be constituted before the 2nd June, 2009 as the term of the 14^th Lok Sabha expire on the 1^st of June.

Gone are the days,when we used to spend full 90 minutes infornt of the TV set gulled to every pass made by Dhanraj Pillai,Prabjot Singh and likes.Gone are those golden moment between twenties and fifties when India dominated the Hockey world.The Golden Era of hockey in India was the period from 1928 - 1956 when India won 6 consecutive gold medals in the Olympics. And today,leave playing in the main Olympic draw,we even fail to come out with flying colours in the qualifying matches.

Today we can afford to miss a hockey match for Cricket.Cricket is held in high esteem and people have started to worship cricket and cricketers. We have high profile cricket tournaments like the IPL,ICL to name a few,lucrative sponsorships for cricket and cricketers not hockey or any other sport.

India is a country of a billion people and I’m really surprised to find to why we have failed to raise a quality high breed of hockey players who can complete with any champion team on earth. What would you call – lack of awareness about this sport,inadequate sponsorships,infrastructure or lack of interest.Today’s generation seems to be less interested playing Hockey as not much glamour or incentives is associated with this sport. For a sportsman, playing for the country is the ultimate thirst. But,It’s also necessary to note that to domesticate this sport you need to give out proper honorarium cum incentives to the players.

Parents today encourage their wards to take up cricket but no hockey or any other sports as they see a mist infornt of hockey.

So,how do we improve the sport and encourage the youth to take up the hockey stick.

1. Better infrastructure

2. Appropriate sponsorships and incentives

3. And importantly,proper respect and honour for the players.

The Government must increase their budget for the promotion of hockey and come out with attractive offers to attract and retain hockey players. Hockey associations should be provided with all the necessary resources to help this sport propel. Today, BCCI is the richest cricket body in the world and hats off to their blueprints for popularizing cricket in India.

I’m happy with the fact that people still love and play Hockey.But,may I tell you that there is drastic decline in the popularity associated with this sport. So,if urgent steps are not initiated at the earliest,the day is not so far when Cricket will overwrite Hockey as the National Sport of India.

Indian ODI Squad (Image Courtesy : MSN India)

It all started with the Win at the T20 World Cup. That set the tone for Dhoni to be viewed as serious captaincy material for other versions of the game.

The Indians then took the tri-series down under and later had a great run at home against the Pommies. Now the Kiwis have been mauled in their own den.

The way this team is going, there seems to be no stopping them.

The fielding is fantastic, the batting doesn’t depend upon an individual who answers to the name of Sachin and the bowlers are doing a decent job irrespective of pitch conditions.

So, who is to be credited for the success?

a) Dhoni

b) Gary Kirsten

c) Selectors (for choosing this team)

d) All of the above Continue Reading »

I have wanted to write about this from the time I noticed foreigners representing India in sporting events. Yes, they hold foreign passports and yet they represent India through their Overseas Citizenships (OCI) and Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cards.

Why do they do it? Simple. They are not good enough to represent the countries they are citizen of. So they try to get international exposure by trying to play for India. They don’t change or give up their citizenship, they just use their brown skin as a short cut to hit the international circuit.

According to the Sports Ministry:

The issue is being raised only by four tennis and a junior squash player, who live either in the US or UK and swear allegiance to either American or British flag and not the tri-colour. The Sports Ministry’s duty is to promote Indian talent from the hinterlands who would swear allegiance to the Indian flag. Players who are either PIO or OIC should prove their mettle by representing the country they are citizens of. Giving a slot to PIO or OIC player amounts to back door entry in a competition, in which he or she is not otherwise good enough to represent the country of which he or she is a citizen. The new policy will encourage the available talents within the country to enhance a sense of belonging and patriotism and will encourage many more to improve their performance to get the slot in the future to represent the country.

Continue Reading »

It was quite amusing to see the reactions to the innings that Dravid churned today. Some were in for some heavy criticism, for having scored so slow, the kinds who obviously have little or no consideration to the tight line by Flintoff and a Mohali track that is far from dead. Others glorified it as a comeback of sorts, going as far as to suggest that the Wall had returned to form. And perhaps one innings does separate you from being in-form and out-of-form. Although form is not exactly what you would think of when you consider Mr. Rahul Sharad Dravid.

The Sehwags of our generation are the kind of players who rely on form, timing and seeing the ball well to score big. Dravid, however, is reliant on his disciplined approach to accumulating runs coupled with good technique. His horrid performance this year has been a result of poor decisions - partly on the umpires’ part as well, but poor shot selection. When you’re “in-form”, even a reckless shot can fetch you runs. Dravid is hence what you would call a class-player and not a form-player.

I’ve previously suggested that Dravid needs to quit his game, and I think it’s fair to say that I must retract my statement. Looking at today’s innings, the one good thing about it is the fact that he grew in confidence and started middling the ball well, seeing it early. Whether Dravid has returned to form or not is irrelevant. Whether Dravid must quit is also irrelevant. But there is no doubt in the fact that the batsman that goes to bed today is the same he was yesterday, except that he sleeps with the knowledge that, in words immortalized by of a newly elected President, ‘yes he can’. And it is with this little knowledge that Dravid has, and hopefully will, make his bat do the talking and strengthen the Wall that until yesterday seemed fragile.

Meanwhile, spare a thought for Kevin Pietersen who now cannot discount the Dravid factor anymore. Couple that with his rib injury and Stuart Broad’s flawed radar (or genuine intent to bowl wide outside off) and things look gloomy as ever for the visitors.

As Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag shape up to form a consistent, positive, opening pair, the left-right combo and the blend of aggression and moderation in place, terrorism, for Kevin Pietersen atleast, might’ve just added a new meaning. And you can’t blame him: when you declare with 350+ on the board and the opposition score 100-0 in one session itself, you really ought to be scared.

I had earlier blogged about the Sehwag factor following his triple-ton earlier this year on a similar wicket that refused to deteriorate on Day 5. And what a paradise it was for the batsman, as flat as Ms. Sherawat isn’t. And not much of turn for the spinners: perhaps the only turn you could attribute to Monty Panesar was his reaction as he turned to see the bail sail into the crowd off a certain full-toss that was begging to be hit anyway. Getting bad balls is one thing: putting them away is another.

In spite of the centuries, it was only fitting that Sehwag won the Man-of-the-Match award. Pietersen has had a miserable tour, and can’t be blamed for being snappy, but even the English captain couldn’t help but applaud the aggression shown by the Indian opener.

It might be perhaps relevant to quote a number of people who had previous written Sehwag off, and for good reason too. He definitely lacked technique. Vulnerable against the short delivery (although, of late, many-a-tall-bowler have bowled fast and short only to find a sphere of leather deposited over third man). Lack of footwork, and on a skiddy pitch, and leg-before’s a beckoning. Yet, in spite of these flaws, Sehwag continues to perform in all forms of the game. Like all great batsmen of our times, Sehwag too will go through a bad phase, what they call being out-of-form. And then, it isn’t his technique that will see him bounce back: nope. Rest assured that when he gets back amongst the runs, he’ll do it in a way only he can: thump the ball to the fence.

Still, Sehwag is by no means a ‘fluke’ player. No, that would be the Afridis of our generation, reminiscent of a suicide-bombing squad that bombs away before self-destructing. Sehwag, on the contrary, has the backfoot punches, the straight drives, the whallops over midwicket, the cover drives and even the cheeky uppercut over the slips or the leg glance.

However, Sehwag’s ability will really be tested on skiddy, fast wickets. And it would be important for him to retain this similar approach and attitude towards getting runs. For now he can bask in the glory of another key innings, one that laid the foundations of a memorable Test victory.

In the current light of things, Sehwag isn’t too far away from the kind of player that MS Dhoni is. Both are similar in attitude: a no-nonsense approach, and while Sehwag can get carried away (let’s blame it on his talent for now), Dhoni has evolved into a master tactician, a strategist of sorts, who doesn’t go by the book but a mixture of advice, hunches and some very, very good luck. It might be safe to say that, as long as Dhoni is at the helm of affairs, Sehwag and his attitude will thrive, and terrorise the opposition.

After nearly 15 years of watching him run back to his run up, skip, hop and fire some googlies, it’s finally time to bid adieu to Jumbo.

Easily one of the most humble as well as gritty players on the field, Anil Kumble never made his presence felt since he wasn’t the flamboyant kind. You would never see him lead any of the endorsements on TV, yet when it came to the field, he’d take charge and always deliver (pun intended).

Kumble was the studious kind. He was the checked shirt clad guy who would love devouring problems in your IIT-JEE class. It was simply impossible to hate him because he just put in so much effort into his work.

Never a huge turner of the ball, his biggest strength was line and length, deadly accurate. The number of times the batsmen missed and were bowled or caught leg before the wicket is simply difficult to count. And then there was the faster one. Kumble could easily pass off as a medium bowler. No wonder Nayan Mongia   (India’s then wicketkeeper) started wearing a helmet while keeping to his deliveries during the late nineties. The bounce he extracted was also one of his secret weapons. Very often would a batsman attempt to play a defense stroke and be caught off guard with one that come right at him, snicks the glove and falls into the hands of one of the nearby fielders.

If asked about the three greatest performances of Anil Kumble, I’ll list them as:

Firstly, his awesome spell in the finals of the Hero Cup. At the end of it, he came out with figures of 6/12 against the West India. Here he just tore through the West Indies middle order.

Then the 10 wicket haul against the Pakistani Team at the Ferozshah Kotla. There was a little controversy surrounding this performance, the reason being the first wicket of Shahid Afridi was not out. However, such is the game of cricket. It’s about capitalizing on the opportunities that come your way.

And of course thirdly, one of the most memorable photos to have ever been shown on Indian Television. A bandage clad Kumble jubilant after capturing the wicket of Lara.

This particular performance in the West Indies wasn’t really anything spectacular as far as the result of the game was concerned nor did it bother the statisticians much, but the amount of patriotism that it spread throughout the country was extraordinary. Kumble was suddenly a war hero.

Over the years, he just kept on picking up wickets here and there. Little did one realize that by the time the sun had set on his career, he had accumulated 619 of those.

His departure from international cricket couldn’t have been more fitting.

It was a very tough decision, especially when you have performed for 18 years and been so competitive,” he said at the presentation ceremony after the match had ended in a draw. But the body helped me make the decision. This injury also helped.

-Anil Kumble, Jumbo.

Thank you for the memories!

Crossposted