10 year revenge served sweet amidst emerging coincidental patterns

This was the 6th time that India was hosting a Cricket World Cup - ODIs (1987, 1996, 2011, 2023) and T20's (2016, 2026) combined and 5 times prior to this one they have reached at least the semifinals every single occasion. It seemed like this hallowed home record which was on the line may finally slip up this time as they were facing a rampant West Indian line up who infamously took them out in the semifinals of the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Coming to this match, there were eerie similarities to what happened in 2016. India played West Indies at Mumbai on March 31st 2016 for a place in the final and came a cropper despite putting up a size able total in excess of 190. A similar story looked like unfolding this time on March 1st 2026 especially on account of abysmal fielding by India allowing the Windies to notch up a score similar to the total put up by India in 2016. India did lose important wickets at regular intervals while chasing but Sanju Samson played the innings of his life keeping his calm & composure guiding India to a famous win and avenging revenge from 10 years back.

Just to summarise these 2 matches involving India & West Indies which were held 10 years apart, first one in 2016 and now in 2026. Both the matches were held in the month of March. The first one being on the last date of March - 31st March 2016 and the current one on the first date of March - 1st March 2026. Last time it was a semifinal played at Wankhede, Mumbai with the winner booking a place in the final at Eden Gardens Kolkata. This time it was the reverse. It was not a semifinal but a virtual quarter final knockout clash being played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata with the winner booking a place in the semifinals at Wankhede, Mumbai. Also interestingly both times, the team chasing won the match and on both occasions the team batting first set up a total in excess of 190 but fell short of the 200 mark. Both matches can also be known for their fielding mishaps and all the 4 totals set up and chased by West Indies and India across the 2 matches all fall in the range of 190's.

The date March 1st is also remembered to have a knock etched in gold as Sachin Tendulkar produced a thunderous 98 on this very date vs Pakistan in the ODI World Cup of 2003. Sanju Samson's fabulous 97 on 1st March 2026 can certainly draw parallels with respect to the class and brilliance of that sterling knock by the great Sachin Tendulkar. Both these knocks would be in the reckoning to go down in the annals as two of the greatest 90's ever scored in limited overs cricket with both coming on the same date though 23 years apart.

This win by India allowed the host nation to get to a semifinal placement once again for the 6th time running in an ICC Limited Overs World Cup. The cricketing patterns continue to get interesting as India will be meeting England for the 3rd straight time in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup having played them in 2022, 2024 and now once again in 2026. It is 1-1 a piece and it's certainly going to be a juicy mouth watering clash. Ironically the winner of this clash from the last 2 instances also went on to capture the coveted T20 World Cup.

Also for the uninitiated and especially the old timers, India and England will be clashing in a World Cup Semifinal in Mumbai after almost 4 decades as they incidentally contested in the 1987 ODI WC semifinal at Wankhede which was also the first ever World Cup hosted by India termed as the Reliance World Cup back in the day. That game didn't go to India's plan thanks largely to Graham Gooch sweeping aside India on the way to a famous win. This is a chance to avenge revenge for the acrimony of 1987. Fingers crossed and if India does get through that they have another score to settle at Ahmedabad, a ground famous to have given Indian crickets biggest teary eyed heartbreaking moment in it's rich cricketing history.

Still a long way to go but at this time savouring this epic win against the West Indies thanks predominantly to CSK recruit Sanju Samson whose blitz earned a place for India in the semifinals for the 6th consecutive time in World Cups at home. Adipoli Chetta! Hoping the magic continues for India over the next 2 games. May the divine be with Bharat Mata.

'Kalyani' with a Twist - Sundari Kannal Oru Seyidhi & Nee Oru Kadhal Sangeetham

Whenever Raaja touches the raga scale 'Kalyani', there is an eerily divine human intervention that is so magical and totally transports you to experience an elevated phenomenon that simple feels out of this world. Every stroke of it is seeped in mastery that exudes magnificence. 

The thing with Kalyani songs of Ilaiyaraaja is that they also tend to be experimental at times. Kalyani is a very pure ragam and used to denote auspiciousness especially. It doesn't really offer scope for twitches as it can go woefully wrong when not handled in the right fashion. But that's not applicable to the Maestro at least.

He has used it in it's most pristine form as well as broken the mould to convey various emotions through this mellifluous ragam that harps largely on the Prati Madhyamam (second Ma). The two songs showcased are not refined Kalyani's by any stretch of the imagination but yet the base of the ragam comes out in full furore due to the strong foundation created.

'Sundari Kannal Oru Seidhi' uses an alternative phrase of Ga and changes to 'Kosalam' for a wee bit which is a pretty rare ragam especially from the film songs parlance. 'Nee Oru Kadhal' breaches upon the Hindustani angle and borders on something called 'Shyam Kalyan' which has a robust Kalyani pedestal yet infuses it's own independent flavour. 

Just attempted a little portion of the charanam of these songs that can be christened exceptional experimental 'Kalyanis' with a twist. The music played maybe pretty amateur but the brilliance is certainly unquestionable.

Iconic Piece of Re-recording from Nayagan!

This is an iconic piece of re-recording from one of the most talked about movies in the annals of Indian cinema. There is something about this fleeting bit of music that spirals right through the center of the heart. The feel generated is so reverberative and filled to the brim with outpourings of passion. It just touches you so densely that you can actually sense the magic that is so captivating and inherently prevalent.

The BGM piece starts off with an arpeggio piece constantly whirring to give an intense emotion and then the melody unfolds played in a recorder with violins unfurling at the background in the form of a call & response pattern that will shake, stir and split the soul to smithereens. Just tried a couple of lines of this Magnum opus re-recording on the veena. It was certainly not possible to bring the desired effect but just a small takeaway that I tried 😊.

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This is an iconic piece of re-recording from one of the most talked about movies in the annals of Indian cinema. There is something about this fleeting bit of music that spirals right through the center of the heart. The feel generated is so reverbrative and filled to the brim with outpourings of passion. It just touches you so densely that you can actually sense the magic that is so captivating and inherently prevalent. The BGM piece starts off with an arpeggio piece constantly whirring to give an intense emotion and then the melody unfolds played in a recorder with violins unfurling at the background in the form of a call & response pattern that will shake, stir and split the soul to smithereens. Just tried a couple of lines of this Magnum opus re-recording on the veena. It was certainly not possible to bring the desired effect but just a small takeaway that I tried :). #bgm #rerecording #nayagan #1987 #Kamal #IR #music #bit #piece #whirr #recorder #veena #violins #background #unfurl #takeaway

A post shared by Rajiv Shankar (@rajiv_revel) on Apr 20, 2020 at 6:36am PDT