Weight Loss Resolution in 2010

A very happy new year to all the readers of the blog. In this year, my goal is to weight loss, permanently change my eating habit and become more physically active. I have to change my sleeping habit too.

Right now, my weight is around 100 KG and my goal is to reach t 80 KG by the end of 2010.

Even if I can reach to 85 KG, I will be very hapy. Thus, in 12 months, I will try to lose 15-20 KG.

My second goal is to permanently change my eating habit. I will try to leave meat, sugar, coffee, soft drinks (coca cola, Pepsi etc), cake and pastry and of course fast food and outside food (restaurant foods).

Instead, I will try eat healthy food items. I will mainly eat rice, roti, vegetables, lentil, Bengal gram (Chickpea), fish etc. I will increase eating fruits and nuts.

I am going to start from zero amount of physical activity and I cannot even walk 10 minutes now. By the end of the year, I want to be able to walk for 2 hours at a stretch. 

It is a Daily Battle: Day 5

Losing Weight is indeed a daily battle. Today, I ate rice, thick lentil soup, mixed vegetable fry (potato, cauliflower and green bean), tomato bharta and brinjal bharta. Thus, I ate enough food but all of them are very light. Today, I could refrain from eating lentil chop. Lentil chop is very tasty and I have been eating for the last one month. However, it is fried in oil and thus, it is some heavy. So, one day, I could really eat light food.

These days, I eat just one or two meals. Rarely, I eat 3 meals. This has helped me a lot to decrease weight and come out of obesity. Yesterday, I ate just one meal and today, I did the same. At night, I may or may not eat the second meal. Even if I do so, it will be a very light meal. It is winter time here and I cannot tolerate cold like most people. So, I am not pushing myself anyway. In my city, January is the coldest month of the year. Every January, it has become like a annual ritual for me o catch nasty cold.

Anyway, I have to eat less every day to gradually decrease weight. I need to decease another 17 KG and it will take minimum 6 months. That is 6 months of daily battle. It is frustrating and sometimes impossible but I have to do it or else have to suffer for whole life.

Now, my philosophy is to lead a daily life. I try to fight with today. I try not regret for yesterday and not get worried for tomorrow. This is the lesson I learnt from reading Dale Carnegie’s books. I don’t want to influence anyone but myself.

It is a difficult war to win but failure is not really an option. 

How Vegetarian Diet is Bringing Hope: Day 4

Today is the fourth day that I have been following a vegetarian diet. I did not eat meat or fish or even most probably not any egg. Today, I ate rice, mixed vegetables fry (potato, green bean cauliflower) and  lentil thick soup and vegetable lentil mixed chop. I ate enough and I don’t feel hungry. I tool two cups of tea with powder milk and some jaggery. It is much better than sugar and of course, healthier. I drank the tea because today, I have to do some writing and some freshness is needed.

These days, rice consumption is limited to just one plate per day. Thus, it has become easier to control carbohydrate intake. Still, I eat white rice and from this Friday (1 January 2010), my goal is to eat only brown rice which contains more nutritional content. In the last 4 days, my weight did not increase but remained in 100 KG or 220 Pounds although I increased consumption of food amount. Now, I am not hungry but today I realized that my weight has started to decrease and after another 4-5 days I may come to 99 KG hopefully. This has brought some hope in my mind that gradually, I can lose weight but I wont become very hungry or weak.

At this point of time, I mainly eat mixed vegetable prepared with some oil, water, onion and garlic and green chili and lentil and vegetable mixed chop. I also eat thick lentil soup every day. Now, in the next level, the goal is to eat healthier items. Roti made of brown flour, brown rice, tomato and cucumber salad with lemon, Lentil watery soup and mixed vegetable fried or curry- I want to go to this kind of diet plan. It is healthier and will help to lose weight.  

Family Can be an Important Motivation: Day 2

At the end of the movie Jerry Maguire, we can find this memorable quote:

"Hey, I don't have all the answers. In life, to be honest, I failed as much as I have succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success".

Yesterday, I got carried away with very tasty and delicious traditional cakes and in the end, I ate 7 of them. My goal was to eat just two but it was very delicious and I could not resist it. Well, there was another reason too. I had to some intense brain work and this cake helped me. Anyway, today, when I got up, I said to myself that I will not eat any of the sweet cakes which were kept in the refrigerator. I said to myself that I am trying to lose weight and improve my health to live a long and healthy life with my wife. This idea helped me a lot today to keep myself under control.

You don’t have to be married like me to find motivation for losing weight. You also even don’t need to have a GF or BF. All you need to do is to think about the close people in your life. They can be your parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, friends or anyone that you care. Just think that if you can decrease weight then you can enjoy life with them more. If you are sick or suffering from any nasty disease, they suffer just like you emotionally. If you become healthy, if you get cured from any disease, if you come out of obesity then they will be happy just like you or even sometimes more than you.

My wife was very worried for my health. I was too much spoilt about eating and at the same time, I had all the habits of an unhealthy lifestyle. She did not have any problem when I become very fat. Fortunately, both of us think that love should be much more than just looks. However, when you become obese then it is not a matter of beauty or physical appearance. It is dangerous and puts life in jeopardy.

 Of course, life and death are on the hands of God. However, it is our duty to try our best. I did not like to see that my wife was always worried for me but I could not do anything either as changing eating habit it is perhaps one of the top 3 most difficult habits to change.

I hope this entry can help you to think and do some soul searching for yourself. If you are a selfish type of person then still, you can say to yourself that you must lose your weight to make your life smoother and more enjoyable. If you love your spouse a lot then do it for him or her. This is the best give you can give to your spouse. It is better than any expensive gift- really it is. 

Fighting with Temptation for Heavy Food: Day 1

Today, my aunt sent some delicious foods. There was two items. One was beef curry and the other item was Patishapta Pitha (a traditional cake of Bangladesh). After my wife, I am most fond of this aunt’s cooking. Even from the appearance and smell of the beef curry, I realized that it was very delicious. She sent 1 KG of beef curry. Beef was cut in to small pieces and was then cooked with onion, garlic, red chili powder, turmeric powder and many other kind of spices. I am more fan of mutton (goat meat) than beef but still, in the past, I would have eaten almost 200 grams of this beef with rice in a single lunch or dinner.

Since I started my efforts to decrease weight on 23 October 2009, I had to fight a lot with myself about eating as small amount of meat as possible. Today, I noticed that my heart, stomach or tongue did not cry for it. I was surprised and happy. There were nearly 30 pieces of this traditional cake. I am so much fan of this cake that I could easily eat 10 pieces in a single seating. Today, I controlled myself and just ate 2 pieces and that is the end of this cake. I am not going to eat it anymore in the next few days.

Instead, for lunch, I ate some lentil chop. First red lentil is soaked in water and then smashed with a stone manually. Then some chopped onion, garlic and green chilies are mixed with the red lentil paste along with some turmeric powder and red chili powder. Then in round shape it is fried. The lentil chop is full of protein. In our language, we call it Piyaju or daler bora. Anyway, today, I omitted rice intentionally in lunch as I ate that traditional cake.

I will be eating dinner after 30-40 minutes. In dinner, I am going to eat Chotpoti- perhaps the most favorite snacks in Bangladesh. It can be a very healthy or unhealthy item depending on how you prepare it. As I am on diet, naturally, I am going to eat in a healthy way. That means, I am going to omit red chili powder from the recipe.

Chotpoti is mainly made with boiled White pea, boiled potato and egg, sliced onion and green chili, tamarind water and to make it healthier, we added sliced cucumber and tomato and some lemon juice. The good part is that it does not contain any oil or nothing is fried. Here, people eat it as a snack in the afternoon or evening. However, I like it so much that I can eat it as dinner. If you are an European or American then you will perhaps include it in the salad category. Of course, you will need to omit green chili totally. Also, don’t eat it a lot because even in my city, most people get trouble with their stomach if they eat a lot.

I am talking a lot about food today because this is the number one problem for anyone like me who is hanging around the scale of obesity. As I told you, today, in my home, there is very delicious beef curry and cakes. Sometimes, I felt that if I ate small amount of beef with rice then it is no problem.

At the end of the day, I learnt one valuable lesson. The best way to combat with the temptation of heavy food is to find alternatives healthy food items. For example, today, instead of spicy and oily beef curry, I opted for red lentil chop. I am grateful to God for this kind of change. However, just remember that at the beginning it is difficult. You will fall and fail in your pursuit of losing weight. No problem, failure is pillar of success.
 

Disclaimer

Since, I decided to change the top of the blog and make it a blog in which I will write about my efforts to lose weight, I need to write this disclaimer.

First of all, I am not expert or no way qualified about giving medical advice or any kind of advice at all about weight loss, diet, fitness, obesity or any related issue. So, please, do not try to follow any of the things mentioned in this blog without consulting a doctor first. If you do so then you are at your own peril. You cannot blame me or this blog because I am again asking you to consult an expert person before doing anything.

Secondly, my goal is to increase my mental strength in this very challenging and tough journey of losing weight and trying to overcome overweight and bad eating habit. Just treat all the content for motivational and entertainment purpose. For learning about your health and body, just go to a doctor. 

Weight Loss Journey of an Obese Man

Yes, this will be tile of this blog from now. From the heading, you can easily understand that I am going to write about my fight against obesity and my efforts to decrease some weight. Well, in fact, I need to lose a lot of pounds. These days, I guess that millions of people around the world are suffering from this problem. Being fat is no longer an uncommon thing in any big city even if the city is situated in a poor country. Urban life has its many advantages but it has some disadvantages too.

No, it wont be a weight loss blog. I am not going to teach you anything because I am not a doctor or fitness trainer. In fact, I have no qualification or knowledge about diet, obesity, exercise or weight lost. I am just changing this blog topic only to record my personal journey and hopefully, some readers may get encouraged by it.

Today in my city, it was Christmas Day (25 December) 2009. Now, it is late night and thus 26 December 2009 has just started 4 hours ago.

First of all, I am going to tell you my weight and other factors:

Height: 6 feet o 72 inches or 1.83 meter (183 centimeters)

Weight Today: 100 KG or 220 Pounds

My BMI Index: 29.8 (Almost Obesity Level)

Weight on 23 October 2009: 110 KG or 242 Pounds

BMI Index of 23 October 2009: 32.8

Last week, I did my blood glucose test for Diabetes and thanks God that I did not catch this disease.

My Age: On March 22 2010, I will become 35

These are the conditions of my body at this moment. I caught Obesity at January 2007. I have been in and out of it for the last 3 years. On this October, it reached to very bad level and my health got seriously affected. So, I decided that something must be done.

In the past, I tried to decrease weight but failed all the time. The main problem was that I had very unhealthy eating habit and all the time, my goal was to decrease weight but starving for a few days and then again go back to the junk foods that I liked Thus, I could never become successful in losing weight and then keeping it.

This time, I had a do or die mentality and in fact at the age of 35, I felt like a 75 years old person. Anyway, this time, I did one very good thing. I started reading a lot about obesity and weight loss and healthy food. This reading opened my eyes. I realized that I must radically change my health or I have to suffer for the rest of life from bad health condition.

So, I decreased my amount of food and at the same time, totally changed my food. Here, I am giving you a list of the food items that I used to eat mainly in the past and the items I eat now:

Past	Now
Polao or Oily and Saty Rice	Plain Rice
Porota (Oily Bread)	Roti
Refined Flour	whole wheat-flour
Mutton (Goat Meat) cooked with a lot of spice and Oil	Lentil Soup with very small amount of oil and spice
Pizza, Burgher	Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Potato Chop, Mutton Chop and Beef Chop	Lentil and Small Shrimp Mixed Chop fried in small amount of oil
Coca Cola or Pepsi	Just Water
2-4 Cups of Coffee Every Day	Just Waster and occasionally a cup of Tea
Sweet and Sweet (traditional Bengali sweets	Apple
Cake, Pastry and Biscuits (Cookies)	Grapes
Ice Cream	Cold Water
Beef Curry cooked with a lot of Onion, Oil and Spice	Potato, Cauli Flower, Green bean and Cavage Fry with small amount of oil and almost no spice
2-4 Plates of Rice	Limited to Just one plate of Rice
Almost daily outside food	No outside (shop) food at all
Chips (Crisps)	I don’t miss them, really

Many of the food items are local but just do a Google search and you will get the picture. Thus, acting in a spoilt way, I made a complete mess of my health.

I could come out of Obesity this time too but I am still hanging around the danger zone. In fact, yesterday, I noticed that my weight reached to 101 KG and I went to Obesity zone. Then I became careful and I ate very light food today and thus, I am again back to the overweight zone. Believe me, changing food habit and losing weight are very difficult. Don’t believe those attractive advertisements that promise that you can easily lose 20-30 pounds in a month or two. Instead, try to read in Internet about diet and losing weight.

The most important thing is that never give up. Try to have a lot of mental strength. In my own personal Odyssey of weight loss, I have realized that will power is the most important factor. Just consistently tell yourself that you can do it, you can really do it. What I understand that most people think that changing food style is impossible. Or if you want to decrease weight then you will have to give a lot of time for physical exercise. Well, I don’t want to say that you don’t need any of or they are easy. However, when you reach to Obese level, you don’t have any choice. More than that, at first, it is really difficult. However, after a few days and weeks, it really becomes tolerable. The more time you spend, the easier it becomes.

At first, changing eating habit was really an impossible task for me. My belly was all the time crying from missing my favorite foods. However, after 9 weeks (64 days), I don’t miss any of the junk food items that I enjoyed in the past. Instead, I really like cucumber salad, bread made of whole wheat-flour, lentil soup and sometimes an egg fry. I wont lie to you. My heart cried a lot for Mutton curry for 55 days and I ate occasionally some meat (once a week). Then, in the last one week, my tongue has lost its attraction for mutton and I did not eat even one gram of meat in the last 7 days. My tongue now does not cry for it.

My heart is now functioning better; my weight has decreased 22 pounds in 64 days. This good feeling has motivated me a lot. I don’t go any party these days. If I have to go then I will eat a lot of salad and some rice.

Now, I have the second chapter in my weight loss adventure. I have to decrease another 17 KG or 38 pounds. If I can come to 83 KG only then my BMI will go under 25 for the first time. It is a very tough and long journey. It will take around 4-8 months. Of course, losing the next 8 KG will be the toughest. Then, it will be some easier because I can increase my physical activity.

Well, I have understood one thing very well, it is needs more mental effort than physical effort. Why am saying it?

In the next few months, some days, I will go out of my way and eat a lot. Some days, I may be tempted eat the old bad foods that I used to it or I may not able to control myself but eat restaurant foods.

These things can happen. After all I am neither God nor Machine. I know that in some weeks, despite all of my good efforts, weight can increase a KG or instead of decreasing. These things can happen very easily and naturally. However, I must keep my spirit high and continue my efforts. I basically need to do 3 things:

Eat some less amount of food each day

Eat just healthy food items and totally stop eating outside food and junk food

Do some physical activities like walking   

Well, unfortunately, I have another change to make. I have lost habit of sleeping at night because of blogging. Now it is time to go back to working at day and sleeping at night.

I hope that some of my readers can continue to be with me. I am again stating that I am not a doctor or I have no qualification about this topic. I am trying myself recording my personal journey to get some mental strength. Always consult a doctor before trying anything as far as weight loss is concerned. 

Pakistan and Australia Facing Each Other in Boxing Day Test

From tomorrow will start the three match test series between Australia and Pakistan. After a long time, Pakistan is going to face Australia and many people are looking forward to the series. Both teams have gone through some hard time recently. Pakistan did not look very strong against New Zealand in the recent series though they could level it 1-1, while Australia failed to show as much domination against West Indies as they are usually used to, even though they won it 2-0.

So, Australia and Pakistan would like to show some strong performance in the series. The first test will be held in Melbourne. Danish Kaneria and Ricky Ponting are doubtful for the first match. You can get the review of the first test between Pakistan and Australia here.

With both sides looking to feature some good performance, it seems that cricket fans are going to enjoy an exciting Boxing Day test in Melbourne.

Andrei Arshavin about Playing in Arsenal and English Premier League

Andrei Arshavin came to Arsenal almost a year ago and from first, he became the favorite player to the fans. He not only scored goals but also, he always supported others and he scored some very important goals in important matches. He recently, said to Sky Sports that surviving in Premier league is tougher than he thought.

"I expected before I moved to England, if you are a good player if you play for a big team it is easier. But even if you play against Burnley or Wolverhampton, it is not easy - you don't have time to turn or do any dribbling, if you get two touches you're lucky,” said the Russian playmaker.

He is right. English Premier League is now the best football league in the world. You can never take any match for granted here. Best example was that last week, Manchester United and Liverpool both lost while Chelsea could just manage a draw. 

Does Arsene Wenger has the Money to buy a Replacement for Robin van Persie?

When it comes to criticizing Arsene Wenger, many people are very quick to point out that his wrong policy of not buying top players has kept Arsenal trophyless for the last 4 seasons. Now, Wenger is eager to buy a top quality striker to replace Robin van Persie who is most likely to miss the entire season because of injury. Now, my question to the Wenger critics, Does he will get enough money from the club to buy a top quality striker. I don’t think that he will get enough money. In fact, he needs to buy two quality strikers and one midfielder.

He turned both Robin van Persie and Fabregas into world class footballers and if Arsenal wants to sell them then they will get millions of dollars.

Related News

Telegraph

Weight Loss Surgery: The Death of Kinnar Patel

Weight Loss Surgery is sometimes inevitable but it is risky too. Sometimes, people die and it is traffic. Kinnar Patel in India died from this kind of surgery.

Indian Express has the full story and I am giving an extract:

A 25-year-old man,who underwent therapy for obesity, reportedly died after liposuction at a private clinic at Navrangpura in Ahmedabad late on Tuesday.

Kinnar Patel (25) was assisting his mother, Jyoti Patel, in the administration of their school, Vallabhi Vidyavihar at Navrangpura, after his father’s death six years ago. Jyoti was the principal of the school. Kinnar, who weighed 160 kilograms, took the help of cosmetic surgery to lose weight.

The family members of Mr. Patel have complained about medical negligence. Police is investigating the complaint. 

200 pounds of Weight Loss: A Successful Story

These days, I am fighting with my health for losing weight. It is perhaps one of the most difficult things to achieve on earth. From now, I plan to write about Obesity, weight loss, diet and this kind of issues in this blog. I am going to do that because these days, I spend a lot of time reading about them. I have been trying very hard for nearly two months for getting out of obesity and I could do it after 50 days of trying. Now, the big fight is to lose more weight and get out of the overweight category.

CNN has a true story about Becky Griggs who has been able to lose 200 pounds (90 KG) in the last few years. I am myself losing weight and I know from my own experience that it is very easy to lose weight in a short period of time but it needs a lot of mental strength to stick to the regime over a long period of time. Becky Griggs had a weight of 352 pounds when she had worst condition. These days, she is hovering around 150 pounds.

CNN reported:

How she lost it: "Calories in versus calories out," she said. Like many overweight people, she had a bookshelf of diet plan books. But she needed to go back to what she called a super-simple plan of five small meals a day, focused on protein and something "God grew." About 80 percent of what she ate to lose weight was protein.

Weight loss success stories

Sugar and flour were out. She refers to it as clean eating. It sounds easy, she says, but when you start reading labels closely, you see how many foods have sugar in them. That includes most protein bars, which Griggs says are basically candy bars.

Becky Griggs is a source of inspiration to me. I hope that I can lose another 33 pounds in the next few months. 

Child obesity in UK and USA Alarming

I am not a child but I realized from my own experience that obesity is a devastating thing. I have been fighting with it for the last few months and I won the battle against it for the time being. Well, I am determined to push myself and go back to BIM index of under 25 as soon as possible. Today, I felt sad to see two reports about USA and UK. Children in both these countries are suffering from this problem now a days.

There is a strong warning that in UK, nearly 10% of children may become obese by 2010.

BBC reported:

Researchers said obesity rates among the lower classes were likely to be significantly higher by 2015 - for girls the levels may even be double.

They analysed data gathered by the government-funded Health Survey for England.

Currently 6.9% of boys and 7.4% of girls are obese - with the difference between the lower and higher classes 0.6% and 1.5% respectively for boys and girls.    

But using historical trends, they predicted that by 2015 obesity rates could be above 10% for boys and 8.9% for girls.

This will become a national problem for England in 2015. The economic cost will be too much. Well, I am not that much surprised because fast food culture is now very popular in the western countries.

The picture is not rosy for USA either. Children are bombarded with fast food advertisements every day and now, there is a growing call to do something about that.

CNN reported:

The proposals come on the backdrop of concerns expressed by public health advocates and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz that the food industry isn't doing enough to limit the marketing of unhealthy foods to children. Food and beverage companies spend $1.6 billion annually on ads aimed at children, according to an FTC report on food marketing and obesity from 2008. The FTC plans to update that report in 2010, and Leibowitz said he plans to send subpoenas to 44 food and beverage companies soon to get their marketing data. The FTC sent similar subpoenas to companies in 2007.

It is clear that both UK and USA are losing the battle against obesity. The main problem is that fast food industry has become very big and can easily afford to spend millions of dollars for marketing their products. 

Sol Campbell Ready to Join Manchester United in January Transfer Window

Former England international Sol Campbell is currently without a job and trying to resolve his contract dispute with Notts County. With Notts County, he signed a five-year contract last Summer, but came out of the contract, having played just one game for them. At this moment, Campbell is training with former club Arsenal to keep himself fit.

Reports out in the media claim that Manchester United, who are facing too much injury problems in their defense, could make a move for the 35-year-old defender in January in order to solve their defense problems temporarily. Campbell is also delighted to move to Old Trafford.

Usatoday reported:

"I have heard nothing officially from Manchester United, but there have been suggestions and, of course, it would be a great move for me, if it happens," Campbell told ESPN on Wednesday. "I shall just have to wait and see if a call comes through the right channels. Of course I would love to play for Manchester United, but I am not counting any chickens, just waiting to see what happens."

There is a possibility United might hand him a six months contract until the end of the current season in January. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson is now without some of his key defenders like Rio Ferdinand, John O'Shea, Jonny Evans, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, and Rafael and Fabio da Silva due to their injuries.

Chelsea Shows Interest to Ajax Striker Luis Suarez

It seems that Chelsea has become desperate to sign new players before the final verdict of their transfer ban comes. The West London club has now been linked with Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez who currently plays for Ajax. Reports out in the media claim that he has already agreed a January transfer to Chelsea. However, according to the Dutch club, the player himself is in the dark about the transfer.

Luis Suarez has already attracted interest from a number of European clubs for his excellent form so far this season. He has netted 17 goals in 16 games for Ajax this season. The 22-year-old has already shined for Uruguay national team as he helped his country to reach the world cup 2010 finals, scoring 5 goals in the qualifying campaign. Now, it would be interesting to see if Chelsea really makes any serious effort to land the striker in winter transfer window.

Related article:

ESPN Soccernet

India vs Sri Lanka 3rd Test 2009: Online Live Score Information

Third test match against Sri Lanka is considered as one of the most exciting and nail biting test series for host team India. That is why, Indian cricket team is taking hard preparation for the 3^rd test match which will take place at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. India’s victory by an innings and 144 runs in the second test match at Kanpur helped the host team to take a 1-0 lead. If they can finish the series with 2-0 then they will become the top ranked team in the ICC Test rankings. What will happen if India loss or draw the match? If India could not get any victory or finished the series with a draw then they will stay in the third position behind South Africa and Sri Lanka.

However, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his teammates not to take much pressure by thinking about the top test ranked spot. According to the Indian skipper, their main target will be win the series. He also said that if they continue winning test match then top position will come towards them. This match is scheduled to start from 04:00 GMT.

I am sure that fans do not want to miss the chance to see this competitive match live. People are now searching on net that how they can watch live cricket on TV. As it is the home test series for India so, Neo Cricket will broadcast it live. Other TV channels are –

Zeesports

Supersport

Skysports

Foxsports

However, you may not enjoy this game live on TV. There is no need to be upset. Here, in this entry, I am giving some websites name in below where from you can get live score and details information-

Stickiewicket

action8cricket

thatscricket

crictime

cricinfo

I hope you will enjoy the game live.

India vs Sri Lanka 3rd Test 2009: Who will win?

The most exciting third test match between India and Sri Lanka is going to be held from 2^nd December 2009. India will take on their rival team Sri Lanka at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. This match has created a lot of excitement to the fans of both teams. Fans are passionately waiting to see this game live. This match will start at 04:00 GMT (09:30 local time). Third and final test match against Sri Lanka is the golden opportunity for India team to reach in the top position of the ICC Test rankings for the first time in their history.

Do you know why this test match is exciting and much-awaiting? The first reason is that host team India has possibility to become top ranked test team. South Africa is leading the test rankings and Sri Lanka is taking in the second position. India is closer from them. Indian cricket team is leading the 3-match test series 1-0 after winning the second test match by an innings and 144 runs in Kanpur. If India can finish the test series with a victory then India will leapfrog both of them and stay in the top chart. I think one question may rise in your mind that if India finishes the test series with a draw or defeat then what will happen. If India failed to get victory or loss to Sri Lanka then they will stay in their position. They can not proceed in the rankings.

Just 36 years after, India is going to play a test match in Brabourne Stadium. This venue only hosted 17 test matches where last test match was played between India and England in 1973. Host team has good record in this venue. In their previous 17 matches they won 4 matches and lost only 2 matches. Other matches finished with draw.

The absence of Gautam Gambhir from 3^rd test match will put India team under huge pressure. Gautam Gambhir is one of the in form players in India team. He scored centuries in the last two test matches against Sri Lanka. He will miss the 3^rd test because he will attend his sister’s wedding on Thursday. However, this left-hander player will be replaced by Murali Vijay. I am not sure if Murali Vijay can fit himself for Gambhir’s replacement.

However, Sri Lanka is in good form. But the main problem is that their spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan can not play any effective role. You already know that this test series is the last away series for Muttiah Muralitharan. That is why, Sri Lanka should struggle hard to finish the series with a victory for Muralitharan dream farewell.

I am eagerly waiting to see this exciting and competitive match. Who do you think can win the match: India or Sri Lanka?

Time and Venue of India vs Sri Lanka 3rd Test 2009

Host team India is going to take on touring side Sri Lanka on 2^nd December 2009. These two strong South Asian teams will face each other to play the 3^rd and final test match of the 3-match test series. Indian cricket team will be eyeing for victory. If India can win the final test match and take a 2-0 lead of this series then they will become top ranked team in the ICC Test ranking for the first time in their history. It is sure that they will face a tough challenge against Sri Lanka because Sri Lanka has not won any test since their meeting. India is leading the series 1-0 after winning the second test by an innings and 144 runs at the Green Park, Kanpur.

Indian cricket team is taking third position in the ICC Test ranking. South Africa is leading the point table. Sri Lanka is in the second position. But the difference among them is close enough. So, India can overtake them by winning a match in Mumbai. No doubt that Indian cricket team will come on the field with the hope of climbing to the top spot. However, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is worried and much concerned about the 3^rd ODI match. He warns his teammates to give concentrate on the match and forget about the rankings.

Fans of both teams are already started searching to know about the kick off time and venue. This much-awaited test match will start from 04:00 GMT (09:30 local). This match will be held at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. This stadium was established in 1937. So, you can easily understand that it is one of the oldest stadiums in India. It is the home ground of Mumbai. It has only 20,000 sitting capacity. India has good record in this venue. Totally 17 test matches have been played in this venue where India lost only two matches. Their defeat came against West Indies and Australia. Most of the matches finished with draw. For the first time Sri Lanka will play in this ground against the home team. Let us come to see who can win the match and take the top position.

Related article:

The New York Times

Yaya Toure Could Leave Barcelona in January Looking for More First Team Football

Ivory Coast international Yaya Toure is currently struggling to get enough first team football at Barcelona and has recently revealed his discontent at not being given enough time on the pitch. Ahead of next year’s world cup, the midfielder is now aware of the fact that he must play regularly in order to show his character and clinch a place in the world cup squad of Ivory Coast.

Reports have it in the media that Yaya Toure is now seriously considering a move away from Barcelona in January and Arsenal could be his preferred destination. In fact, the North London side earlier showed their interest to the midfielder and tried to acquire his service. Now that Yaya, the brother of former Arsenal player Kolo Toure, is also determined to make a move in January unless he is assured of more first team football in the second half of the season, it seems that Arsenal would give another shot to land the midfielder at the Emirates stadium in January.

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Telegraph