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Monday, May 20th 10:43 PM IST

Gautam Viswanathan

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Gautam Viswanathan

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Gautam Viswanathan has a very simple dream: he wants to commentate at the finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. A die hard football fan, Gautam's love for the game borders on the fanatical. Give him a choice between an all-expenses paid trip to Europe and Champions League final tickets and he will choose the latter without the slightest flicker of hesitation.

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Here’s what Manchester City can learn from PSG

Mar 11, 2013

Last night, I was watching Manchester City systematically disassemble Barnsley in the FA Cup on Al Jazeera Sport. At half time, the channel aired the highlights of a Ligue 1 game between Paris Saint-Germain and bottom of the table Nancy Lorraine. The capital side had won 2-1 at home courtesy a #David Beckham #KickingAround #Manchester City #PSG #Qatar
Bradford epitomises all that is good about cup football

Feb 24, 2013

“Bradford City are going to Wembley,” screamed an exultant Martin Tyler as the final whistle blew at Villa Park in Birmingham on the 22nd of January. Just to make sure the message sunk in, he repeated it once again, as did pundits and commentators the world over. The scoreline might have read #Bradford City #English football #League Cup #OnOurMind
Real Arsenal fans will remain loyal to Wenger’s vision

Feb 23, 2013

Arsenal may have lost to Bayern Munich at home early Wednesday morning if you are in India, but the dust will definitely take time to settle on recent results. Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and Mario Mandzukic have surely made Arsenal's chances of progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League rather #Arsenal #Arsène Wenger #English Premier League #InMyOpinion #KickingAround
Only experience can save famous Aston Villa from relegation

Feb 8, 2013

“It's unbelievable, seeing Aston Villa in the relegation zone,” said one of the commentators overseeing the Newcastle United – Chelsea game which saw Moussa Sissoko make headlines on his English Premier League home debut. Yes, it is unbelievable that a club with so rich and storied a history such as Aston #Aston Villa #English Premier League #KickingAround #Paul Lambert
Sneijder’s not in Galatasaray just to eat shawarma

Jan 28, 2013

In the wee hours of January 22, Turkish football club Galatasaray AS announced the acquisition of Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneijder from Italian giants Internazionale Milano. The Dutch midfielder has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal at the Turk Telekom Arena, but surely, the thought of him moving to Turkey was remote to begin #Didier Drogba #Galatasaray #KickingAround #Turkey #Wesley Sneijder
Why hasn’t a team from Africa won the FIFA World Cup?

Jan 22, 2013

Does the future foretell an African FIFA World Cup Winner? “Them can't play,” said England coach Bobby Robson about his opponents in the tunnel before his side's game against Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. The Cameroonians had surely overheard him, what with them lining up #Cameroon #Ghana #KickingAround #Nigeria #OnOurMind
Is Beckham the messiah that Arab soccer needs?

Jan 16, 2013

David Beckham revolutionised football in North America. Attendances at Major League Soccer games were trebled in his time in the United States and the franchise further expanded into Canada with the arrival of the Vancouver Whitecaps last season. A few days ago, British newspaper The Sun broke news of a bumper #David Beckham #football #OnOurMind
Message to FIFA: Here’s the real team of the year

Jan 11, 2013

Madrid 6 – 5 Barcelona. No, it's not a legendary scoreline from a game between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. It is, in fact, the number of players who have been chosen from Barcelona and Real and Atletico Madrid in this year's FIFPro Team of the Year. But that doesn't leave room #FIFA #FIFPro #Gianluigi Buffon #InMyOpinion #Robin van Persie
Have QPR turned the corner under Harry Redknapp?

Jan 7, 2013

Harry Redknapp has one job at Queens Park Rangers: save them from relegation. To finish the Barclays Premier League season in seventeenth place is his most pressing goal. Anything above that would be nice, but at this point is only an added bonus. Under Redknapp's predecessor Mark Hughes, Rangers looked a side #English Premier League #Harry Redknapp #InMyOpinion #Queens Park Rangers
Football in 2012: The top five EPL signings

Dec 25, 2012

With Europe's leagues reaching their halfway mark and several of them going into the winter break, here – in my opinion – are the five best players signed by clubs in the Barclays Premier League: Santi Cazorla, Arsenal Arriving from Spanish club Malaga, who were suffering a cash crisis, the arrival of #Arsenal #English Premier League #EPL Transfers #KickingAround #Santi Cazorla

The best from the blog

Need your self-esteem shredded? Come on a makeover show in India

Sep 6, 2012
We don’t have the stomach to watch Tendulkar fail

Sep 6, 2012
Why Mumbai’s prime office rates are rising in a depressed mkt

Sep 6, 2012
Does a disrupted Parliament mean electoral reforms are in the offing?

Sep 7, 2012
Was Arsenal’s win over Chelsea down to sheer luck?

Oct 31, 2011

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Editor's picks

Not just niceties, China and India need to focus on thorny issues

India’s discourse with China has traditionally been trapped in the Mao-ist maze that defines how “friends” ought to conduct themselves. But Chinese statecraft has evolved, and India too must up its diplomatic game.
Why the Indian media gives a damn about poverty

In that sense the poverty line of India is cruel. It is merciless and doesn’t allow the majority of Indians any money for shelter or access to education or healthcare or sanitation or anything else that civilised nations would consider as essential as food.
Goa meet: Will the BJP finally find a way out of its troubles?

Can the party resolve internal discord and take a call on Modi’s PM candidature?
Why Dhoni, Tendulkar can't distance themselves from spot fixing

Try following a game on twitter or with friends or at the ground. At every step of the way, the spot-fixing question raises itself.

Movie Review: 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' leaves you dissatisfied

If you forget the politics and just look at the film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist doesn’t fare much better. It’s a thriller that lacks tension and suspense.
Here's how the Delhi Police stumbled upon spot-fixing in IPL

After monitoring a phone call, the investigation had virtually turned pan-India with some of the bookies based in Gujarat and Mumbai.
Ex-Citi CEO Vikram Pandit, JM Financial join hands for banking foray in India

JM Financial will nominate Pandit as the non-executive chairman of the proposed bank. Pandit and Aiyar will have the right to purchase shares up to the amount prescribed by the RBI in this entity.
Movie Review: The Great Gatsby is the most Bollywood of Baz Luhrmann's films

The great American dream is an integral part of America. It’s ‘great’ in that it symbolises not truth, but hope when the truth is disillusioning; it symbolises not facts, but ideals when facts are unnerving; it symbolises not likelihood, but promise when likelihood is all but bleak.

Google I/O 2013 keynote: New Maps, Search, Plus, and S4 with 'pure' Android

We’re tracking the Google I/O conference 2013 live – what will be unveiled?
Hero worshipped in Kerala, Sreesanth still innocent in his state

The summary of the response in his Sreesanth’s home turf is that of incredulity. They are unwilling to believe that the pacer is guilty.
Why return of Dreamliners won't change Air India's fortunes

The original promise of the Dreamliner has failed to materiallise due to limitations in its flying range. Will Air India continue to pay a price for this?
Did Indira abolish bonded labour or Sonia? NREGA's tall claims

The UPA ads eulogising MGNREGA as a a huge success needs to be taken with bags of salt. The scheme did make a difference, but not as is claimed.

Angelina’s breast surgery possible in India, but there's a catch

So can we test in India and gain from the same treatment privilege that Jolie had? Yes, but there is a catch.
IPL 2013 KKR vs PWI Live: Yusuf kicks KKR out of the IPL

Live detailed updates as KKR take on Pune in a must-win game at Ranchi.
Wrong on Ghaziabad: The Kiran Bedi argument for moral policing

Bedi’s argument that we should focus on the legal wrong committed by the girl slapped by cops is technical, disingenuous and enabling.
Cloak but no dagger: The awfully mundane world of spies

There’s an endearing quality to reports that a CIA spy was arrested in Moscow: he comes across as a bumbling amateur who represents the lost Age of Innocence in the world of espionage.

From here on, Sonia-Manmohan dyarchy is a slow train wreck

The “two heads” power arrangement between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is coming apart at the seams.
Lessons from Karnataka: Cong must stop backing corrupt leaders in Andhra

The fact that it has allowed individuals named in chargesheets to continue as ministers is evidence that the Congress runs Andhra Pradesh as if it is its fiefdom, without a care for ethics in public life.
IPL 2013: How Isa Guha is changing perceptions about cricket presenters

Isa Guha is not your usual female cricket presenter. Apart from being an ex-player, she’s highly educated and injects a breath of fresh air on Indian screens.
Android and Chrome aren't merging for now, says Google's Sundar Pichai

Pichai has emphasised that Google is embracing both Chrome and Android is investing in both at least for now.

Ashwani to be shifted, Bansal to be booted? PM will decide

The fate of the two ministers is reportedly in the hands of the Prime Minister who has been told to take a final call.
How the Sarabjit-Sanaullah episode diminishes India

The Sarabjit-Sanaullah episode shows that for all of India’s attempts to project itself as an emerging global power, with a footprint larger than just the South Asian peninsula, it is unable to break out of its hyphenated relationship with Pakistan.
Changing dynamics: Is low-cost flying becoming really high cost?

Consumers may have to pay a high price for both the lower price and increased choice.
Star Trek Into Darkness is a perfectly adequate popcorn film

Star Trek Into Darkness is a perfectly adequate summer blockbuster film. It is impeccably tailored to please both the Trekkies and the non-geeks, genre lovers as well as the average moviegoer.