The first ever formula one Grand Prix is here. Yes, the Indian Grand Prix will be held in Delhi from 28th – 30th October, 2011. The event is organized by Jaypee group under a group company called JPSI. They have created an international standard circuit called Buddh International Circuit at Greater Noida. Forumla one has always been an expensive sports and Indian Grand Prix is no different. So to be there and experience it you will have open your wallet – simple.

Date: 28th – 30th October, 2011
Venue: Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida (near Delhi)
Ticket cost: Various denominations starting from Rs 2500 to Rs 35000. To buy tickets visit Bookmyshow.com.

Tickets are also available at:

MERCEDES BENZ SHOWROOM
107, Kasturba Road, Bangalore

Parking: parking is available but at a premium. For car Rs 1500 and for two wheelers Rs 150. Also, one can buy shuttle tickets at Rs 600 for all three days from various parts of Delhi.

This is billed as one of the biggest sporting event in India. The recently concluded Common Wealth games might have been the biggest. But formula one Indian Grand Prix is definitely would be the most in terms of glamour.

The effort to bring formula one to India is quite old. In 1997 there has been an effort to organize the event in Kolkata. Since then many contenders came like Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai.

Check some more resources on Formula one Indian Grand Prix:

1. http://indiangrandprix.net/
2. http://www.indian-grand-prix.com/

The 4th edition of Indian Premier League started from 8th April, 2011. Check complete match schedule below. Lets see if IPL can drive the cricket fever this time.



Since creating the biggest upset by defeating the then unchallenged West Indies in the 1983 world cup, India has been waiting for its day under the sun. India came within striking distance of the world cup in 2003 but lost to Australia in the final. 2007 world cup was a disaster greatly due to great management tactics of then coach Greg Chappel. 2011 world cup was special for India in many ways. First it was played in India, second it was probably Sachin Tendulkar’s last world cup and he wanted to lift it badly. The present world cup has few players from the 2003 world cup final like Zaher Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Shewag, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh. But one man who will be very thrilled with this will be Saurav Ganguly and he will definitely miss not be on the field.

India started its campaign not a very positive note. The high scoring match with England was a draw. In another high scoring match Bangladesh did gave a scare. The batting power play overs started to scare India as they can neither score in those overs and wickets keeps falling. Eventually lost to South Africa. The biggest match of the tournament was against Australia in the quarter final. India did good here by restricting Australia at 260. Indian went on to win it by chasing 261. In 2003 world cup final in Australia batted out India of the final by scoring 365. After the match Australian captain Ricky Ponting said, that India will beat pakistan in the semi final and will eventually win the World cup. So this basically said, Australia, hold India as one their stumbling block for their bid on the world cup.

The India – Pakistan semi final at Mohali was billed as the most thrilling contest. It was indeed a thrilling match. In the final India had a good start with the ball but a gritty century by Mahela Jayawardane took Srilanka to a fighting total of 274. The last 5 hours of batting power play India conceded 64 runs. India could have put few screw to slow down the flow of runs in the death overs. However, the start India got with the bat was horrifying. Shewag was out LBW for 0, Sachin for 18 and India were then 22 for 2. Both the wickets were taken by Lasith Malinga. Then the consolidation work was started by Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli. However, Virat Kohli was out caught & bowled by Taranga for 35. India was 113 for 3 then. In a surprising move Dohni decided to elevate himself at number 4. This partnership almost saw India home until a Ghambir decided to step forward for a shot on the off side and his middle stamps where shattered. Gambhir was out on 97. The death overs were quite tense as India had to take the batting power play. However, the pressure was released largely due to one six and 2 consecutive fours from Dohni. When India needed only 4 runs Dohni finished the game by hitting a six.

India is the world cup champions again after a gap of 28 years. The emotions were running very high. I could see Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Sachin crying. Sachin’s dream of holding the world cup after 6 attempts was successful. It was amazing to see India enjoying the glory of holding the World cup 2011.

Interesting stats and facts

Celebrations were galore all over India. Here in Bangalore, fireworks started even before the match finished. I along with few friends decided to go to MG road. I took the Tricolour and we rode. On the way it was shouting and answering slogans. MG became jam packed soon. We took few pictures with the tricolour and decided to ride back. Had hot smoked Kabab at Empire, 80 feet road, Indiranagar. Finally back home after 1.30 am.

Glorious India, jai jo!!

The India Australia World Cup 2011 Practice Match took place on 13/02/2011 in Bangalore. That was a day night match on a Sunday and my friend told she will arrange ticket in discount. We got three tickets. This was my first visit to Chinnaswamy stadium though I have been in Bangalore for many years now. The match was slated to start at 2 pm. We reached the stadium around 1.30 pm and had food at Hotel empire at the nearby Central Street. Parked my two wheeler at the parking ground besides the stadium. Parking free is Rs 30 per two wheeler. We entered through gate 16 and sat at H stand. The view from there was quite good. Slowly the teams started to come out. India batted first and they played like a practice match. Not much of big hitting except for few fours and one six from Shewag and 2 sixes from Yusuf pathan. India struggled to make 214 in around 43 overs. At one time they were 150 for 8.

Australia started good and they were 115 for only 2 wickets. However, after that their downward spiral started. The Indian spin duo of Harbhajan and Piyush Chawla picked up most wickets. India won the match after all. The ground is very nice and quite clean. Note that for security reasons these days many things are not allowed like food, camera, etc. The H stand has plastic chairs. If it is a day night match I suggest you buy tickets for C – stand as that will have shade through the afternoon. It was a nice feeling after the flood lights came on. One see the white ball more clearly under flood lights. During the twilight time, one can see the top of the UP city, can make for a nice picture. Also, soft drinks like Pepsi was not good as it was tasting like just cold sweet water and cost Rs 20 per glass.

As camera is not allowed inside all pictures taken there was by a 2 mega pixel cell phone camera. To view the complete set of pictures visit: TravelingBeats Photo gallery.

Check videos of the Common Wealth Games Delhi 2010 Closing Ceremony:

Common wealth games 2010, Delhi was brought to India it seems after paying $1 million to other countries. It was supposed to boost India’s image as a good organizer. India won the bid way back in 2002. But event in October 2010 has became a hall of shame with corruption allegations, missing deadlines, shabby works, collapsing bridge and what not. Countries raised concern about the hygienic conditions at the Games village which was still incomplete until few days before the game started and threatened to withdraw and some of them did withdrew due to security concern or something else.

However, with central government pressing the panic button to save its face internationally. The Delhi government got into act and it seems they have been able to muddle through. The opening ceremony celebrations seems to have surprised everybody with extravaganza fireworks, lighting, stage work etc. The opening ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium had 500 tonnes weight of stage, 25 stacks of speakers producing 500,000 Watts of sound, overs thousand moving lights, 100 plus space cannons etc.

Check a video of the Delhi Common Wealth Games 2010 opening ceremony:

The opening ceremony was not spared from gaffe by the organizing committee president Suresh kalmadi. He told prince Charles was present with Princess Diana – princess Diana is dead more than a decade ago and prince Charles is now married to his former lover Camilla Parker Bowles. There was also a fuss over the sitting arrangement of prime minister Manmohan Singh. The magnificent opening ceremony deflected the hall of shame moments. Lets see whats the final judgement as the game is coming to close soon.

Official song of CWG Delhi 2010:

Logo of CWG Delhi 2010

Official website: http://www.cwgdelhi2010.org/

India won the first test of the 2 test match series at Mohali in a thrilling way. The match went down to wire and viewers were left nail biting until the result was out. These days India – Australia matches are a standard of rivalry in world cricket. Well I am not discounting India – Pakistan matches but India – Australia matches are a rivalry purely for cricketing reasons. In the first innings Australia made 428 runs, Indian followed by 405 with Tendulkar being the highest scorer of 98. Australia in their 2nd innings made just 192 runs. Soon after the opening pair of Shane watson and Simon kaitch fell, the Australian innings crumbled. They set a target of 216 run for India to win.

India started their 2nd innings on a very bad note and were soon reduced to 54 for 5 at the end of play of the 4th day. On the 5th day India’s misery continued as India was reduced to 124 for 8. But it was then the real game begin. Ishant Sharma with his gritty 31 supported VVS Laxman (73 not out) to guide India to win. It was thriller till the end and it is very rare to see such a thrilling test match these days. Ishant Sharma fell at 205 and there was still some ground to cover. Pragyan Ojha was the last man in and probably he had put all he had in him. Tension was telling on his face. And his little waywardness has brought sharp reactions from Laxman.

The drama of the 6 balls is worth watching. Mitchell Johnson bowled a delivery which took Pragyan Ojha and it was a close call for LBW. But Pragyan Ojha survived as the umpire felt he touched the ball a bit and on to stop his endeavor to steal a run, Australian fielder Michael Clarke threw for the stamps which missed narrowly and went for 4. Following this Pragyan glanced a ball and took to 2 runs to give Indian a famous and historic win. Laxman was the sheet anchor in this match’s win.

Watch the drama of the last 6 runs:

The match showed it nature of tough competitions in the form of little jeers between Zaheer Khan and Ricky Ponting when Ricky Ponting was adjudged run out and he was leaving the filed. Watch the video:

Scorecard

Spain won the 2010 FIFA world cup beating Netherlands 1 – 0. The first 90 minutes of the match was dry. But both sides fought hard, with the Spanish retaining around the ball over 55%. Andres Iniesta of Spain scored the only goal at 26th minute of the 30 minute extra time. Both Spain and Netherlands were playing to win the world cup for the first time. Netherlands has already lost twice in the finals in 1974 and 1978.The recent emergence of football powerhouse Spain came into force after they won the Euro cup. They are the second team after the then West Germany to hold Euro cup and World cup simultaneously.

This match was a record of a sort in terms of yellow cards 5 Spanish players and 9 Dutch players has been handed yellow card. Dutch player Heitinga was handed a red card and the Dutch team was reduced to 10 in the second of the extra time of 30 minutes. The match looked destined for a penalty shoot out but Andres Iniesta’s goal saved it for Spain.

Spain won the world cup as the 8th nation followed by 5 times by Brazil, 4 times by Italy, 3 times by Germany, 2 times both by Uruguay and Argentina, once each by England and France.

Catch a pictures

Group A – Pakistan (A1), Bangladesh (A2) and Australia
Group B – Sri Lanka (B1), New Zealand (B2) and Zimbabwe
Group C – South Africa (C1), India (C2) and Afghanistan
Group D – West Indies (D1), England (D2) and Ireland

Schedule

Fri 30 17:00 GMT, 13:00 local	1st Match, Group B – Sri Lanka v New Zealand Providence Stadium, Guyana
Fri 30 21:00 GMT, 17:00 local	2nd Match, Group D – West Indies v Ireland Providence Stadium, Guyana
May-2010
Sat 01 13:30 GMT, 09:30 local	3rd Match – India v Afghanistan Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia
Sat 01 17:30 GMT, 13:30 local	4th Match – Pakistan v Bangladesh Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia
Sun 02 13:30 GMT, 09:30 local	5th Match, Group C – India v South Africa Providence Stadium, St. Lucia
Sun 02 17:30 GMT, 13:30 local	6th Match, Group A – Pakistan v Australia Providence Stadium, St. Lucia
Mon 03 13:30 GMT, 09:30 local	7th Match, Group B – Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka Providence Stadium, Guyana
Mon 03 17:30 GMT, 13:30 local	8th Match, Group D – West Indies v England Providence Stadium,Guyana
Tue 04 13:30 GMT, 09:30 local	9th Match, Group B – New Zealand v Zimbabwe Providence Stadium, Guyana
Tue 04 17:30 GMT, 13:30 local	10th Match, Group D – England v Ireland Providence Stadium, Guyana
Wed 05 13:30 GMT, 09:30 local	11th Match, Group A – Australia v Bangladesh Kensington Oval, Barbados
Wed 05 17:30 GMT, 13:30 local	12th Match, Group C – South Africa v Afghanistan Kensington Oval, Barbados
Wed 05 17:30 GMT, 13:30 loca	13th Match – A1 v D2 Kensington Oval, Barbados
Thu 06 17:30 GMT, 13:30 local	14th Match – C1 v B2 Kensington Oval, Barbados
Fri 07 13:30 GMT, 09:30 local	15th Match – A2 v C2 Kensington Oval, Barbados
Fri 07 17:30 GMT, 13:30 local	16th Match – B1 v D1 Kensington Oval, Barbados
Sat 08 13:30 GMT, 09:30 local	17th Match – C1 v D2 Kensington Oval, Barbados
Sat 08 17:30 GMT, 13:30 local	18th Match – A1 v B2 Kensington Oval, Barbados
Sun 09 13:30 GMT, 09:30 local	19th Match – C2 v D1 Kensington Oval, Barbados
Sun 09 17:30 GMT, 13:30 local	20th Match – B1 v A2 Kensington Oval, Barbados
Mon 10 13:30 GMT, 09:30 local	21st Match – B2 v D2 Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia
Mon 10 17:30 GMT, 13:30 local	22nd Match – A1 v C1 Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia
Tue 11 17:00 GMT, 13:00 local	23rd Match – B1 v C2 Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia
Tue 11 21:00 GMT, 17:00 local	24th Match – D1 v A2 Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia
Thu 13 15:30 GMT, 11:30 local	1st Semi-Final Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia
Fri 14 15:30 GMT, 11:30 local	2nd Semi-Final Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia
Sun 16 15:30 GMT, 11:30 local	The Final Kensington Oval, Barbados



World Stunt Biking Champion Chris Pfeiffer will be visiting India next month and performing too.

India seems to be finally on everyone’s circuit map, not long ago it was Rossi himself who walked this ancient land and now comes another two wheeler star prodigy – The World Stunt Biking Champion Chris Pfeiffer. And we all should thank Red Bull from the longest strokes of our engines for getting this supercharged performer to our shores.

We have all seen the fantastic stunts he has been performing on video including the recent BMW tower stint which left us breathless (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gLknpv9Ksc ). Now it will no longer be just virtual for us Indians, he will be right here with us in 5 cities in flesh performing on his incredible BMW F800R.

It is time to show him and the world that we are a motorcycle mad country and it’s just the starting. Let us give him a very warm welcome by being present in big numbers in all the cities he is performing (see list below).

Lets hope that everyone can understand that doing stunts on public roads, without permissions and without riding gears can put an abrupt end to your life (or even worse maim you for life! ) YOUR HEAD IS NOT STRONGER THAN THE ROAD! So we request you to only do stunts, if at all, in controlled conditions, private parks or tracks and with complete riding gear. Chris did not reach where is he is today by being irresponsible.

Where will be Chris Pfeiffer performing and what dates?
•Delhi April 29th : 5 PM : DLF Place, Saket
•Mumbai May 01 : 5PM : Inorbit Mall, Malad
•Hyderabad May 04 : 5 PM, Prasads
•Bengalooru May 06 : 5 PM Kanteerava Stadium
•Chennai May 07 : 5.30 PM Besant Nagar Beach

Important Links:

Official Facebook Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=100846549957013&index=1

You can visit this Facebook page and confirm your attendance.

Check a video: