The lastest drubbing in an election for the Indian National Congress was not a surprise but what did surprise even the strongest critic of the Grand Old Party was the level to which it was decimated. The party now has lost the only large state it had in power, Punjab and has been relegated to the smaller states. The relevance of the party at the national level has been on a decline in the past decade with many loyalists starting to speak up or switch camps.

After the recent debacle, the usual storyline continued to play out with every single news outlet predicting the outcome. Some even went on record to predict the step by step process that would be followed during the CWC (Congress Working Committee) meeting that was held earlier this week. The Gandhi family with other members of the CWC met and decided to work on finding out what the issues were that people have lost trust in them.

Indian National Congress President Sonia Gandhi offered to resign along with her children from the helm of the party. Before any member at the meeting could accept or even acknowledge the offer, an almost premeditated hue and cry started with members begging the Gandhi family to continue with their role and not give up on them. Some senior leaders even went on to say that it was the Gandhi family that held the party together and without them, the party would disintegrate.

What seems like an eternity ago, a group of senior Congress leaders had written to Sonia Gandhi for full-time leadership and sweeping changes in the organisational structure of the party. This group led by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Sashi Tharoor and a few others were branded as the G-23 by the media and as rebels by the Gandhi loyalists. A few members of this group were also part of the CWC meeting and it is said that they were not able to get much of a word in.

As the speculations rise over what the course of action would be taken, Sonia Gandhi has demanded the resignation of the party chiefs of all the 5 states where they lost the elections, putting the onus firmly on the shoulders of the state leaders and absolving Rahul and Priyanka of all accounts of the loss.

The Congress may have a new issue on their hands as the murmurs for a leadership change have increased to a rattle and more and more senior leaders are demanding action. While reports have said that the G-23 list has been growing, there have also been reports of a dinner meeting of these members being organised at the residence of Ghulam Nabi Azad the other day. They don’t seem to have taken Sonia Gandhi’s promise of introspection very seriously.

It did come as a surprise to most that Rahul Gandhi has not “voiced” his opinion on the matter. We launched a full investigation into the matter and we found out that the former Congress president and MLA from Wayanad is on his path to becoming ordained as a monk.

Read full article at https://thedailyvanilla.com/2022/03/17/rahul-gandhi-to-be-declared-an-honorary-buddhist-monk/

Shah Rukh Khan created ripples in the entertainment world after he posted a cryptic tweet on Twitter that said that something new was coming within the OTT space and also shared the presumed logo of SRK+. This had initially sent the SRK fans into a tissy who anticipated this to be a bare-all interview after the saga of his son, Aryan Khan, being arrested and jailed for the possession of marijuana and other banned drugs.

The whole situation soon reached a frenzy when the other Bollywood superstar Salman Khan responded to SRK’s tweet by congratulating him on the launch of the new OTT platform. This revelation was met with excitement among the fans and also sent the regular Twitter trolls into overdrive. They tried to point out that Salman Khan spoilt the whole hype and promotional strategy of SRK’s team who wanted to keep the whole world guessing on what this was all about.

Shortly after Salman Khan, another announcement that added to the euphoria that was developing in India came from Anurag Kashyap.

To the cinema purists, Anurag Kashyap and Shah Rukh Khan could not be further apart. SRK was the epitome of commercial, big-budget, production house backed cinema while Anurag Kashyap was the symbol of independent, low budget cinema that focussed on the craft. When Anurag Kashyap tweeted congratulating SRK on the new OTT platform and also announced his collaboration with King Khan, it threw everyone off their tracks and are now trying to wrap their heads around what could all this mean for the future of Hindi cinema.

Many of the Bollywood stars have tried their hands at moving to the OTT space with Saif Ali Khan and Ajay Devgn having a decent run with their series and many stars have had COVID fueled OTT releases. Even Bobby Deol and Abhishek Bachhan were able to restart their careers with the help of OTT content but the whole idea of launching their own OTT app is a master shot and if anyone could pull it off, it was SRK.

While the whole film fraternity was still trying to come to terms with the announcement and its implications, there was another major news that came out of Bollywood. Our sources tell us that Rakhi Sawant, who was inspired by this move, has decided to launch her own OTT channel as well.

Read more at - https://thedailyvanilla.com/2022/03/16/after-srk-rakhi-sawant-announces-her-own-ott-app/

The whole world was finally letting its guard down and working towards establishing a new sense of ease and normalcy when news of a highly dangerous mutation of the COVID19 virus was discovered in South Africa. The Omicron variant also wrongly referred to as the “South African Variant” is considered to be far more easily transmittable than other existing versions.

New studies from South Africa also tell us that the newly discovered variant has been responsible for the increasing number of hospitalizations in the country. There have also been reports that the age group of those that are being affected by this virus is comparatively younger than previous versions.

The United Nations has tried to quell fears about the variant by putting out an official statement that read – There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants. Initial reported infections were among university students—younger individuals who tend to have more mild disease—but understanding the level of severity of the Omicron variant will take days to several weeks. All variants of COVID-19, including the Delta variant that is dominant worldwide, can cause severe disease or death, in particular for the most vulnerable people, and thus prevention is always key.

With the lack of clarity in the symptoms or direct effects of getting affected by the new virus, speculations and rumours are running wild with misinformation being spread faster than the Omicron variant.

What had added to the fears among the general public has been reports that the current vaccines which a good chunk of the general population around the world have taken might not be effective against the new variant. While almost all major vaccine producers around the world had confidently claimed that their vaccine was effective against the earlier Delta variant, they do not seem too confident against the Omicron variant.

This has added to the argument being put forward by the anti-vaxxers that vaccines in general are ineffective and that no one should be forced to take them. The discussions around booster shots for those who have been fully vaccinated have also come to a standstill until governments receive a formal statement from the medical community on what the most effective way forward would be.

As of now, countries are beginning to close borders, restrict travel and have been doing contact tracing to identify travellers from high-risk countries. They have also been advising people to continue to wear masks, maintain social distancing and wash hands regularly or use sanitiser.

In between all this uncertainty, a group in the United States of America who call themselves the Proud Rednecks of America (PRA) have decided to take to the streets to demand an American version of the COVID19 virus.

We talked to the leader of the group of 15 people who had decided to step out into the street of Huntsville, Alabama in their Ford trucks and play Kid Rock songs at a disturbingly high volume.

“We love ‘Murica. We believe that we are the best country in the world but we have been slipping. It takes a lot of courage and love for your country to accept that we are not where we should be,” said 44-year-old Rodney Jackson who also refuses to wear a mask.

“What we have been doing does not make sense. The Chinese created the original virus and gave the world SARS. Saudi Arabia then launched their version called MERS. The Chinese then launched a better version called the Wuhan virus which we are all still suffering from 2 years later. Seeing the success of the Wuhan Virus, India launched their version and called it Delta. Guess what, now South Africa also has their version.”

Rodney told us that he was not racist but can’t help see a pattern. He used a few terms which we find highly derogatory to publish here even with...

November 30th marked the end of the deadline where the existing 8 teams had to submit their list of players they would like to retain for the IPL 2022. With the addition of 2 new teams into the mix in the form of Lucknow and Ahmedabad in next year's tournament, there seems to be a new excitement going around on some major shake-ups in the team composition next year.

The Mega Auction is all set to happen next year with all teams being given a salary cap of 90 crores while teams who opt to retain 4 players use up 42 crores of the allotted amount. The new teams will go into the auction with the full amount and some predictions are already in place with regards to a changing of the guard at some of the teams.

While some of the retentions like Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni for CSK, Virat Kohli and Maxwell for RCB, Andre Russell and Sunil Naraine for KKR, Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler for Rajasthan Royals and Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah for Mumbai Indians were quite expected, there were a few surprises in the mix as well.

Sunrisers Hyderabad chose to release David Warner, Rashid Khan and Johnny Bairstow while choosing to retain Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad and Umran Malik. Delhi Daredevils also raised a few eyebrows when they chose to retain Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Andre Nortje and Axar Patel while letting Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin go. Even Punjab Kings let K L Rahul and Mohammed Shami go while choosing to retain Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh.

Fans have had a mixed reaction to these decisions but it is believed that most of the surprise non-retentions are because the players themselves wanted to be released in the hope of fetching a higher price in the auctions for a different team. It is also rumoured that players like KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer have made the switch to cement their possible candidacy for team captaincy.

Apart from the fans, the players themselves have had a mixed reaction with some of them being extremely surprised by their exclusion from the retention list. We talked to many players who expressed their displeasure, shock and in some cases relief at the announcement. We have chosen not to report any specific names of the players to protect their identity and ensure that any comments they make do not affect their chances in the auction.

A player who had consistently topped the highest bids in recent IPL's at the complete bewilderment of the fans seemed disappointed when he told us, "This is madness. I was the highest-priced player a few years ago and now the team does not even want to retain me? In a way it is good, I am sure there will be other teams who will be fighting it out, as usual, to have me in the team. The pressure to live up to the price tag while playing less than half the games is massive and only I have been able to live up to the hype."

A sibling pair who played for the same team felt that this move was perhaps a test to ensure that their combination is broken and to be used as an excuse for the management to show that they need not be picked together for the Indian team. The younger of the two brothers told us, "I and my brother have always played for the same team and it became a good thing when we were both picked for the national team. Now that we are pushed to the open auction, it might be the end for one of us in the national team as they will understand that we can perform even if we are not in the same team."

"Who wants to work for peanuts man?" asked a senior cricketer who is currently one of the leading performers for India in terms of bowling statistics. "I prefer to work for pride, success and job satisfaction. If they want loyalty, they can hire a dog or you know who. I just want a team that will give me the freedom to revolutionise the game and maybe make me captain."

"I am just happy to be selected for the Mega Auction," said an international player who plays for...

Black Friday is the popular term given in the United States of America for the Friday following Thanksgiving Thursday and usually marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. The day is marked by stores offering huge discounts and deals that prompt people to line up throughout the night to get their hands on the seasons top products.

While most stores open their doors at 6 am, the trend has been to open the doors for customers as early as 4 am and keep them open till late at night. This has contributed to the trend of people having an early Thanksgiving dinner so that they can camp outside stores like Sears, Target, Toys R Us etc. The discounts usually last only on Friday with some retailers trying to introduce what they are calling Black Saturday to extend the shopping spree.

Marketing for Black Friday begins right after Halloween and it precedes a period of a lull for most retailers as most people do not shop after Halloween as Christmas is around the corner. The concept of Black Friday is believed to have been introduced as Thanksgiving is not traditionally a gifting holiday. This ensures that retailers and sellers have 3 good months of sales before they close their books for the year.

The term Black Friday stuck despite attempts by multiple PR and marketing firms in the USA trying to give a more positive spin on the name. The name Black Friday was originally coined to commemorate the abnormally high pedestrian traffic on the day after Thanksgiving with people taking to the streets to celebrate the holiday. With so many people out of their homes, the retailers started having a special sale to entice them to shop and the rest is history.

In recent times, the term Black Friday has been used to refer to the various shopping rage-induced deaths that have been recorded in the USA. There have been instances of people being trampled, shot, attacked and even gruesome fights breaking out since 2000. In the last 10 years alone, there has been over 50 recorded Black Friday shopping induced deaths in the USA.

Many countries have their versions of Black Friday and are usually on different dates. The UK, Mexico, Canada, Romania, France, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, South Africa and many other countries have seen a growing trend of adopting this American tradition. This has mainly been fuelled by American retailers introducing the concept and other local sellers following suit.

China has a similar concept known as Singles Day which falls on the 11th of November or 11.11 signified by the single digit 1. This day which was introduced and popularised by the e-commerce giant Alibaba and its sub-brands is now the biggest shopping day of the year all around the world in terms of actual sales.

India has also been introduced to the concept of Black Friday in recent years but it has failed to catch on as the idea of a Black Day translates to being inauspicious according to the culture across religious beliefs. Online retailers like Amazon and Flipkart have tried emulating this online with mega discounts and offers but have been forced to rebrand the shopping occasion as Great Shopping Days or under some other moniker.

With the pandemic forcing people indoors for the past couple of years, more urban Indians have been exposed to American culture via sitcoms and TV series on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Hotstar. The concept of Black Friday is gaining popularity but although many retailers have been aware of it, they have decided to wait it out.

“I want to do some major shopping and get a lot of stuff at discount but can’t seem to find any place that offers a Black Friday sale,” said 28-year-old Sonam Puri from Mumbai. “It would have been fun to run into an H&M or Mango store and try and get the best deals while fighting other girls for it. It would have been such an exciting experience.”

Thanksgiving is one of the biggest holidays in the United States of America and is unofficially marked as the start of the Christmas Season. The standard procedure dictates that once the Thanksgiving decorations come down, the Christmas decorations will go up. The whole country then gets into the holiday season while also welcoming the winter months.

The traditionally family event where the whole extended family and friends get together to have a large meal while saying thanks for all the amazing stuff that happened in the past year, has been commercialised quite a bit in recent times. The modern Thanksgiving is more about shopping, mega deals and the Super Bowl.

Along with commercialisation comes the establishment of certain icons which generally have very little to do with the holiday in general. Just like the mistletoe has no place in the biblical sense behind Christmas or the Easter Bunny has for Easter, pumpkins and turkeys which are synonymous with Thanksgiving have no historical relevance whatsoever. The original Thanksgiving meal consisted of freshly killed deer, assorted wildfowl, fishes like cod and bass and corn.

The history of the Thanksgiving meal itself is quite tragic. The Europeans who landed on the shores of America were invited to share a meal with the Native Americans. The White Europeans then went on to kill all the members of the Native American tribe and have a meal by themselves. They were thankful for the bounty that God had blessed them with. It is the tradition of this meal that is carried on even today. The context of the meal has changed over time and it’s more about coming together rather than the gruesome history it represented.

The “woke generation” or the proponents of “cancel culture” has other ideas about Thanksgiving. Despite being recognised as a national holiday and with heavy economic implications behind it, Thanksgiving’s existence is threatened.

Many people across the USA have taken offence to the gross misappropriation of a historical event and the significance it holds for the Native American people. They argue that this event should be a more sombre event where we pay homage to the fallen Native Americans on that fateful day rather than celebrate it with nauseating excess.

“It should no longer be called Thanksgiving Day, it should be called Apology Day. What we owe the Native American people is an actual apology for what transpired that day,” claims 22-year-old history student Marie Stevens. “I don’t understand what we are being thankful for on that day. This is a chance for us to repent our mistakes and observe a day of shame for what our ancestors did.”

20-year-old Nick Grahame also voiced similar concerns while saying, “What we are doing is rubbing salt on the wounds of the Native Americans. Why can’t we come together and accept the fact that we stole this country from them? We have enough celebrations that glorify us anyways. As a straight white male in America, I am sick of all the privilege that is being shoved down my throat.”

We spoke to the 24-year-old blogger and the leader of the protest that we were witnessing and she had some interesting observations. “First we loot them, then we sideline them, then we try to wipe them out. When nothing else succeeds, we throw ourselves a victory party. This is what the true meaning of Thanksgiving is. We are celebrating the genocide of a race of people. this should be stopped and we as a group are taking this nationwide this year.”

“We are going to occupy Wall Street and demand that the corporate honchos, the investment bankers and entrepreneurs who have made this holiday to become this pathetic commercial monstrosity stop what they are doing. We will mobilise the youth from all parts of the country. Wall Street must answer for the condition of the Native American people.”

We continued to probe why they were targetting Wall...

The investor market has been on the edge in recent weeks with strong signals coming from the government that the future of cryptocurrency is not safe. The RBI had made its stand a long time ago that cryptocurrency is not legal tender in India and cannot be used for any transaction. The latest reports were that steps were being put in place to ensure that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dogecoin etc will not be an asset class either.

The main argument that the RBI was putting forward is that the deregulated nature of the market makes it difficult to monitor and ensure that the funds were not being used for illegal activities like funding terrorism or the purchase of illegal material. There is also the possibility of using cryptocurrency as a mode of diverting funds from India to abroad or vice versa without going through any of the regulatory procedures.

The advocates of cryptocurrency strongly counter the arguments of the RBI by stating that cryptocurrencies should be treated as stocks or bonds which are legal in India. As any kind of transaction is not allowed anyways, there is no danger of actually using crypto to “purchase” anything directly. The various apps out there that work as crypto exchanges also function only when linked to a bank account so once again, unregulated funds will not enter the market.

Many investors woke up to the news that the proposal to ban crypto will be placed in the parliament during the winter session which is scheduled to begin on Monday, 29th November 2021. The proposed ‘Cryptocurrency & Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021’ that will be tabled next week will facilitate the launch and functioning of a digital currency that will be regulated by the RBI and will effectively ban all private cryptocurrency in India.

This news has triggered a series of panic selling on the various crypto exchanges with apps like WazirX showing an average fall of 15% in the prices across all cryptos at the time of this article going to press. Netizens have taken to Twitter to rant about both the Indian government, the RBI and also about the WazirX app which is suddenly not a hot platform to sell on. The future of apps like WazirX and crypto unicorns like CoinSwitch Kuber and CoinDCX is unknown.

The smarter or seasoned investors are using this as an opportunity to either “buy the dip” and sell it on the international market with USDT or they are looking at using this uncertainty to boost their overall portfolios or even better still, looking for an arbitrage. The ones that are sure to end up losing money is the naive or beginner investor who was probably just testing out the market or slowly looking at diversifying their portfolios.

The whole “coolness” or the trend of everyone investing in crypto will take a big hit and almost everyone is in a scramble to get out with the least loss possible. International investors are looking at this as an opportunity to get their hands on sought after coins at a much cheaper rate as the market now will be flooded with Indians trying to sell.

One question that had propped up was that of what next? The investors who managed to exit with a decent profit margin are looking at the next big thing to invest in. The stock market is not an attractive option for many people as the amount of research and time that needs to be spent there is massive.

One of our sources who work closely with a lot of such investors told us that he has facilitated the investment requirements of over 35 investors in the past few days. The commodity that they are investing in at the moment is tomatoes.

The price of tomatoes has skyrocketed and have overtaken petrol. This is a seasonal high and many parts of India face the brunt as it is a crucial element in Indian cooking. Tomatoes, along with onions have regularly seen these seasonal price fluctuations for many decades.

“This is just...

The Narendra Modi led BJP government has finally decided to repeal the progressive farm laws that were met with protests from farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Although most of the other parts of the country did not actively participate in the protests, there were numerous cases of political parties from around the country lending support to these protests rather than farmers themselves.

Many experts have claimed that the protests have long lost their organic composition and the whole current agitation seems to be more structured and organised with ulterior motives. Unfortunate incidents like the deaths of farmers during the protest and the running over of farmers by a BJP MLA’s son has only added fuel to the fires. The farmer’s representatives claim that over 700 farmers have died during the protest but have refused to substantiate their claims with any proof.

Despite multiple meetings and negotiations, the Central government was unable to convince the representatives of the farmers that the 3 farm laws that were passed were revolutionary and will ultimately benefit the farmers immensely. Although no official reasons were given on the individual laws, the farmers union stuck to their demand that all 3 laws have to be repealed unconditionally. This left very little room for negotiation as the whole protest had changed tones to become a threat rather than a request.

After trying to agree for over a year, the government finally relented. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a nationally televised broadcast confirmed that the 3 farm laws although very essential in reforming the farming sector and taking it into the future, will be repealed. The constitutional process of cancelling the laws will happen in the monsoon session of parliament.

While most pundits believed that this will signal the end of the 300 plus day protest, it was not to be the case. The farmers have now come up with a new list of 6 demands that include raising of the MSP (Minimum Standard price) of crops, compensation to families who lost a member during the protest, arrest of MoS Mishra, repeal of the new Electricity Act etc. The demands have been issued and the protest has now moved to Uttar Pradesh where the BJP will be fighting an election next year.

The list of now demands has not been officially acknowledged by the government but our sources within the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) have told us that there is a list of further demands as a backup. Many farmers are coming with their own set of demands which will be democratically added to the list.

He also told us that the most common demand that the farmers have been pushing internally is for the government to compensate the farmers for a years loss of crops.

“Many of them became so involved in the protests that they forgot to sow seeds or do any farming activity in the last year. So even if the farm laws are repealed, they will not be able to get any benefit as they don’t have any crops to sell. A group of over 150 farmers have demanded that the SKM and its leader Rakesh Tikait add this to the list of demands. The farmers are demanding compensation that is equivalent to a bumper crop year as a one-time settlement. The economists who are working behind the scenes to support the protest and the demands are working on the formula that will be used to calculate the exact amount that will need to be reimbursed.”

A few other demands are also being pushed by the protestors but have not managed to make it into the higher levels of the protesting management committee. Our source told us that these demands were already being proposed by the protestors once the government decided to negotiate and hold talks with the farmers but were kept back due to various reasons.

Our source continued by telling us, “Some of the other demands include:

BBC documentary narrated by Sir Richard Attenborough

While the footballing world and especially the English Premier League is still reeling with the expected sacking of Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the hunt for the next person to take up the role is underway. Manchester United are currently 8th in the league and have lost 4 of their last 5 matches.

The sacking of the current coach was not a surprise to the Man United fans who were expecting this to happen and after the 4-1 defeat to Watford, it was considered to be just a formality. The club has struggled to find a long term solution even since the end of Sir Alex Fergusson’s 27-year stint at the helm. After the Fergusson era, the club has had 5 people in the position with the likes of Jose Mourino, Louis Van Gaal and even former player Ryan Giggs being shown the door.

Our sources tell us that of all the names who are being considered for the post, the most surprising one is that of former Indian cricket team coach Ravi Shastri.

Shastri is an avid football fan himself and is known to be a supporter of FC Barcelona in La Liga. His success with the Indian cricket team and the rapport he shared with his players was some of the reasons why his name was being considered. Our sources also told us that of all the candidates, Ravi Shastri has the most experience playing in England and his insane skill of not antagonising players or the management while miraculously leading the team to multiple wins puts him ahead in the race.

“He can easily fit in with the pub culture in England and connect with the fans as well. The only issue we foresee is if he insists that we sign Virat Kohli into the team as well.”

Mumbai, 19/11/2021

The most dreaded batting lineup of the 2000s was that of the Indian cricket team also known as the Fab 5. With Virendra Sehwag and Saurav Ganguly opening the batting, Rahul Dravid coming in at number 3, Sachin Tendulkar at number 4 and VVS Laxman at 5 every opposition bowling attack had their hands full. This was what many cricket purists believe to have been the golden period of Indian cricket.

This period was abruptly brought to an end with the appointment of Greg Chappel as the head coach of the Indian cricket team. A phase that many would like to forget and not all team members at that point in time like to talk about.

The baton of the famed batting lineup has been passed onto the younger generation with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane taking up the slots but don't seem as intimidating as the Fab 5, even on paper. They have achieved their own levels of success nevertheless and any comparison to some of world cricket's all-time greats might be a tad bit unfair.

The Fab 5 have since moved on from cricket to commentary and then within the framework of Indian cricket in various capacities. All of them had roles within the IPL with various teams and have recently given up the lucrative paying jobs for something more mainstream within the BCCI. 

Rahul Dravid was the first to break the mould and give up his role with Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils take up the role of coach of the Indian A and India Under-19 team. He coached them to amazing success on the international level and helped in mentoring many of the new faces who are making their mark in the senior team. After his stint as coach with the junior teams, he took up the role of the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy or the NCA where he focussed on nurturing talent for the various teams. He has now taken over as the Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team from Ravi Shastri.

Saurav Ganguly is undoubtedly one of the most elegant left-handed batsmen to play the game and India's most successful captain. He is credited with the resurgence of Indian cricket and converting the team to an aggressive unit that went all out for wins. Also beginning his non-playing days as a mentor/coach with the IPL, he soon realised that the administrative skills he developed as captain could be put to better use and joined as the President of the Bengal Cricket Association. In 2019, he took over the top spot in Indian cricket as the President of the BCCI.

VVS Laxman was the mainstay of the Indian batting line up especially when the team played against Australia. After being heavily involved with the coaching unit with the Deccan Chargers and later with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, even VVS had decided to make a move into the BCCI structure by giving up his roles with the IPL to take over the post of Head of Cricket at the NCA vacated by his former teammate Rahul Dravid.

Sachin Tendulkar has been busy with the Mumbai Indians at the IPL and also with brief commentary and television stints while Virendra Sehwag has kept himself busy on similar lines with commentary and being part of the Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab. They have so far stayed away from any official role with Cricket India.

This is however set to change according to our source who has inside information on the wheels that are in motion. Our source tells us that although retirement life has been great both Sachin & Sehwag have been feeling lonely lately as their friends have moved onto jobs with the Indian team and have less time to hang out and chill like old times.

She told us, "Viru has been keeping himself busy with his Twitter account and the friendly banter with Shoaib Akhtar and other cricketers. He is using that as a medium to keep his mind fresh and sharp as usual. Sachin on the other hand has been focused on the...