Common Man Files

Welcome to Common Man Files! I intend to talk about a bit of everything here. First and foremost, the everyday struggles of the common middle-class man. The bills, the responsibilities, the compromises and everything in between. India’s economy and how our legislature, executive, judiciary and administration function - mostly through satire. Cricket and football, of course. 🏏⚽ Stock markets, society, relationships and the things we don’t talk about enough. On most Saturday mornings, I also plan to share a detailed analysis of an interesting company that I may come across during the week. And sometimes, I may post some random absurd shit like anyone else. We may agree on some things and disagree on others. That’s absolutely fine. If any of this interests you, say hello. Let’s connect. 🤝

Who should be India’s third pacer against New Zealand in the upcoming test series ? Ravi Shastri has backed Anshul Kamboj as a potential workhorse in New Zealand conditions. It’s an interesting proposition, particularly considering Siraj’s ability to both bowl long, disciplined spells and attack when required. One option is to play Akash Deep alongside Siraj, allowing Bumrah to operate primarily as the strike bowler. Kamboj is an interesting alternative for Akash Deep. His speeds in the mid-120s during his England Test debut were disappointing, but his recent ODI performances suggest he has regained his pace and rhythm. The other option is Prasidh Krishna, whose height and extra bounce offer another attacking dimension. With Siraj providing control, India could deploy both Bumrah and Prasidh as strike bowlers. However, Prasidh’s fitness concerns and tendency to concede runs while searching for wickets make that approach risky. If Akash Deep and Kamboj are equally fit and bowling well, their lower-order batting could become a tiebreaker. For me, a fully fit Akash Deep offers the best balance as he has enough experience at this level, with Kamboj a close alternative. Who do you think should be India’s third pacer in the upcoming Test series?

Navjot Singh Sidhu scored 73 off 79. This match, is also remembered for a peculiar incident. Batting first, Australia’s total was initially recorded as 268/6 after 50 overs. During their innings, Dean Jones lofted Maninder Singh towards long-on. The ball appeared to clear the boundary on the full, but when umpire Dickie Bird checked with boundary fielder Ravi Shastri, Shastri indicated four. Bird accepted his signal. Jones was convinced it was six. During the lunch break, Australian team manager Alan Crompton raised the issue with the umpires. They approached Indian captain Kapil Dev, who agreed to the correction. The four became a six. Two runs were added, taking Australia’s total to 270/6 and India’s target to 271. Ironically, India were bowled out for 269, losing the match by just one run. One of the international cricket’s most memorable score corrections.

Here is Bumrah’s legendary slower ball that trapped Shaun Marsh LBW. Absolutely dead and buried. Poor batter 😂

On this day in 2021, Hasan Ali dropped Matthew Wade with Australia needing 20 off 10 balls against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup semi-final. Wade then hit Pakistan’s premier fast bowler, Shaheen Afridi, for three consecutive sixes to finish the chase with an over to spare. Let’s take a moment to laugh. 😂😂😂

Hardik Pandya for Arshdeep Singh: Who wins this blockbuster IPL trade? At first glance, Mumbai Indians appeared to have won this trade. Bumrah and Arshdeep bowling together is a great prospect. Two very good Indian fast bowlers capable of handling both the powerplay and death overs. But losing an Indian pace-bowling all-rounder like Hardik isn’t an easy fix. Let’s look at Mumbai first. Corbin Bosch could take over greater seam-bowling responsibilities, Will Jacks could contribute with bat and off-spin, while Sherfane Rutherford could get consistent opportunities as a middle-order power hitter. With Rohit, Rickelton, SKY, Tilak and Naman Dhir already in the batting lineup, MI could still have batting depth until No. 8. Their bowling combination could be Bumrah, Arshdeep, Bosch and an Indian spinner, with Jacks and Naman Dhir sharing the remaining overs. When pacer is required, Shardul Thakur could replace the spinner, giving them four seam-bowling options. But Hardik’s flexibility will still be missed. Despite Arshdeep’s arrival, MI could actually end up with a weaker overall bowling combination, because they would be relying more heavily on Bosch and part-time options to complete their overs. Hardik’s value wasn’t simply his bowling or batting individually. It was his ability to contribute meaningfully in both departments without occupying an overseas slot. Mumbai needs to find some blowing and fixes during the auction which is not an easy thing to do. Now look at Punjab Kings. Hardik joins an already strong Indian batting core featuring Shreyas Iyer, Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh. With top 6 almost settled, they could field all of Stoonis, Jansen, Bartlett and Lockie along with Chahal in the playing 11. That’s batting depth until No. 8 and six bowling options. Jansen and Bartlett could handle the new ball, Ferguson provides pace, Chahal takes care of spin, while Hardik and Stoinis offer additional bowling options. Replacing Arshdeep’s death bowling remains a challenge, and playing just one specialist spinner could be a limitation on slower pitches. But Punjab have Harpreet Brar and other Indian options to adjust their combination. So who has actually benefited? MI have acquired an outstanding Indian pace partnership, but Hardik’s departure could leave their overall team balance weaker despite the addition of Arshdeep. Punjab have gained a quality Indian all-rounder who gives them considerable batting and bowling flexibility, while having enough pace options to cover much of Arshdeep’s role. Initially, I thought Mumbai had clearly won this trade. After looking at both squads in detail, I’m now leaning towards Punjab, at least on paper. The real difference could come down to how effectively Bosch fills Hardik’s role for MI and how well Punjab replace Arshdeep’s death overs. Who do you think has got the better deal?

The trade is now complete. Hope both @hardikpandya7 and @arshdeepsingh rediscover their best IPL form and give us some great memories. 🏏 Wishing them all the best!

A few interesting US and related global developments this week could have implications for India. US inflation has come in higher than expected, increasing the possibility of another interest rate hike. That could mean more expensive capital and pressure on foreign investments into India. Meanwhile, Nvidia has suffered a sharp fall amid fresh controversies, adding to concerns over whether massive AI investments will deliver the expected returns. On the positive side, crude oil prices have eased a little following developments involving Iran. That is welcome news for an oil-importing country like India. And while the world is discussing clean energy, battery storage and climate financing at COP31, the US is staying away from the negotiations. For India, it is a mixed picture. Expensive global capital and AI uncertainty on one side, cheaper oil and opportunities in the energy transition on the other. Let’s wait and watch how this plays out.

The bowler is still running in when the batter starts walking towards him. A couple of steps down the pitch, and suddenly the bowler’s good length is a half-volley. There’s a particular joy in seeing him take that first step. For a split second, before the bat comes through, you know what he has in mind. Happy birthday, Robin Uthappa. Thank you for making a walk down the pitch feel like an adventure. 🏏🇮🇳

The bowler lands it on a good length. Sanju Samson plants his front foot and lofts it over the boundary. You watch the replay to see if the ball was fuller than you thought. It wasn’t. The bat comes through in one clean but gentle swing, and for a moment, from the sofa, batting looks like the easiest thing in the world. Happy birthday, Sanju Samson. Here’s to the sixes we replay just to watch you hit them again. 🏏🇮🇳

On November 11th in 2011, Uruguay beat Chile 4–0 in a World Cup qualifier. Luis Suárez scored the opener, added a second, completed his hat-trick and then got one more for good measure. Quite considerate of him to put together the entire highlights package himself. 😂⚽

Long before Harry Maguire joined United, Evra and Heinze had already started the tradition of tackling our own players. 😂😂

Ridiculous. Why would anyone do that 🤦🏻‍♂️

These judges are the same people who say women should not be forced to follow traditional family roles because they are independent individuals, not slaves to men. Fair enough. But when it comes to men, suddenly his traditional roles become mandatory, even at the age of 84. When women are expected to fulfil traditional roles, it is called oppression. When men are expected to fulfil theirs, it is called responsibility and “pious obligation”. For these judicial jokers 🤡🤡, equality means freeing one gender from traditional obligations while making sure the other never escapes them. And why does this continue? Because imposing responsibilities on men is the easiest thing to do when hardly anyone questions it.

Satire | Even robots are struggling with corporate work culture 😂 A Chinese robotics company recently put six humanoid robots through a 24-hour work shift at a convenience store in Shanghai. Their responsibilities included serving customers, preparing coffee, cleaning and restocking shelves. The experiment was ambitiously named “Robots Never Clock Out.” Unfortunately, nobody seems to have explained that to the robots. Of the six robots, only four passed their performance assessments. One cleaning robot encountered a full rubbish bin, apparently decided it had seen enough, wandered outside the shop and failed to return. Another robot was reportedly criticised for lacking initiative and failing to keep up with its restocking responsibilities. Imagine spending billions developing machines to replace human workers, only to discover that even robots cannot meet corporate expectations. 😂 At this rate, companies will soon establish Robot Resources (RR) Departments to introduce mandatory motivational workshops, performance improvement plans and team-building activities for underperforming robots. The robots might eventually form labour unions, demand weekends, paid leave and better work-life balance. Humanity invented robots to escape corporate slavery. Corporate culture is now preparing to enslave the robots too. 😂

Yashasvi Jaiswal to LSG: A move that could benefit both the player and the franchise. The rumours of Yashasvi Jaiswal moving to LSG have been around for what feels like an eternity, but there is still no concrete indication that the move is happening. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting possibility. At RR, Jaiswal was until recently arguably the biggest young batting star. But Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s extraordinary rise has shifted much of the spotlight away from him. He isn’t the regular captain either. While we don’t know how he feels, a young Indian superstar might understandably want to become the face of a franchise rather than gradually being overshadowed. And LSG could offer him exactly that. Jaiswal could form a credible opening partnership with Mitchell Marsh. LSG also have a strong Indian bowling core in Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Prince Yadav and Digvesh Rathi. This gives them the flexibility to use overseas slots to strengthen their batting at Lucknow, while accommodating a foreign fast bowler in away matches. Their biggest weakness, however, remains the lower middle order. Badoni and Samad are talented but haven’t established themselves as consistent finishers. Mukul Choudhary has shown promise, but still has plenty to prove. Jaiswal alone won’t solve all their problems. LSG still has some work to do in the transfer market and auction. Finding a reliable Indian middle-order batter who can finish games should be a priority. That would give them much greater flexibility in balancing their overseas players. And with Rishabh Pant gone, I would seriously consider making Jaiswal captain. He already has limited IPL captaincy experience and, at 24, could become the long-term face of LSG. Of course, everything depends on what RR would demand in return. But a move like this could give Jaiswal greater prominence while providing LSG with an Indian superstar to build around. Could this be a win-win move for Jaiswal and LSG? Share your thoughts.

Just as the Australian bowlers denied any prior knowledge of Sandpapergate, Usman Khawaja is at it again! Nearly eight years later, the controversy just refuses to die down. And looks like Khawaja wants to keep it alive. 😂

Aaryavir Sehwag is quietly putting together some impressive performances in age-group cricket. He smashed a massive 173 in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy last month. And he has followed that up with scores of 70* and 160 in the ACC U19 Asia Cup. What stands out is his apparent penchant for daddy hundreds. When he gets going, he seems capable of turning a good start into a massive innings. Today's knock was even more impressive considering the visibly green surface and the challenging batting conditions. He showed patience early on before accelerating brilliantly towards the end. Of course, the sample size is still small, and consistency against stronger opposition will be the real test. But there is something very encouraging about a young batter who already seems to enjoy batting big. Definitely a talent worth following closely! 🏏

Let me offer an alternate interpretation to this therapist madam. 😂 These men who are cheating are suffering from sexual impoverishment at home but still deeply love their wives. So they seek physical satisfaction elsewhere without emotional attachment and return to their wives. That’s why they don’t even remember the women’s names. Women who cheat, on the other hand, use emotional starvation as a convenient excuse to betray their husbands. They knowingly get involved with other men, develop emotional attachments and justify their infidelity by blaming their husbands for not meeting their emotional needs. In short, these men she is blaming are victims of sexual impoverishment, while women who cheat are simply using emotional starvation to escape accountability. See how easy it is to manufacture a narrative that excuses one gender and condemns the other? Imagine presenting such sweeping generalisations as professional psychological expertise. Unbelievable 😂.

Eight years after Sandpapergate, Australian cricket is once again facing some uncomfortable questions. Usman Khawaja claims the entire Australian dressing room knew about the ball-tampering plan in 2018. David Warner has backed his version of events. But Mitchell Starc has rejected the suggestion, maintaining that the bowlers had no knowledge of sandpaper being taken onto the field. Three players were punished. The original investigation did not implicate the rest. Now former teammates are publicly contradicting each other about one of the darkest chapters in Australian cricket. And Cricket Australia has already ruled out reopening the investigation. If the original investigation established the truth, why are there still such fundamentally different accounts eight years later? And if the truth was never fully established, why is Cricket Australia so reluctant to revisit it? Eight years later, it increasingly looks like Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft may have taken the fall for an entire team for their direct involvement.