There was another cricket achiever, who also had as great a horoscope as Dhoni. His achievements may not have been less spectacular but, surprisingly again, not many speak in such glowing terms about his successes as they do about Dhoni’s. I have always found this very strange. I feel that this player has probably been the most under-appreciated player in the Indian set-up.
Well, you know that we are talking about Gautam Gambhir, right?
As a team player he won two World Cups for India. In both the tournaments, his knocks in the final match were crucial, though they seemed to have been conveniently forgotten. Someone else always took the credit away from him. In the T20 World Cup final, he made 75 runs off 54 balls that helped India post a good score, but the man of the match was Irfan Pathan for his three wickets. The match, too, is remembered more for Dhoni’s logic-defying decision to throw the last over to Joginder Sharma and his dismissing Misbah-ul-Haq to win the game for India.
Even in the 2011 World Cup, after the quick dismissals of the Indian batting mainstays Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, this batsman went on to score a nerveless and classy 97 and laid the foundation for Dhoni to finish the game. But Dhoni’s 91 is spoken of with high eloquence, and his winning-six remembered, more than Gambhir’s vital knock.
He has done even more as a captain. I could see that he would lead Kolkata to their maiden title in 2012. I wrote[19] the prediction in DNA. Derek gave me a knowing smile and a wink when I sent him the prophecy. Yes, Gambhir did it. He united and led a troubled Kolkata Knight Riders to not just one but two tournament victories in the IPL, always leading from the front. He proved over and over again that he had enough fire power in him as a captain.
What I see in Gambhir, and some other players in Indian cricket, is that they could have achieved much more in their lives but couldn’t because they were not allowed to spread their wings. No, I’m not talking from a cricketing perspective or even a political point of view. Politics is an inherent part of any kind of establishment. I’m talking purely from the perspective of astrology. When I see Gambhir, I wonder how much India has missed out on by not utilising his full potential.
Gautam Gambhir could have achieved the cult status of Iker Casillas, Roger Federer, Abhinav Bindra or MS Dhoni. Alas, his stature was cut short. He ended up underachieving due to factors beyond his control. If you can see the anger and frustration palpable in him at times…well, it is understandable.
Alas, certain things are not meant to be. Because they are meant for someone else or perhaps something else is meant to happen instead. Perhaps.
19.
The Prediction Against a Billion Wishes!
14th February 2015. Mumbai.
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 was hosted in Australia and New Zealand, an event about which the entire cricketing world was excited, especially us Indians. As we were the defending champions of the Cup, the excitement of this cricket-loving nation was at its peak. Slogans everywhere went: We won’t give it back! Hashtags of various types were doing rounds on Twitter and Facebook. Anticipation was visible throughout the nation. Marketers made hay while the sun still shone, by introducing the ‘mauka mauka’ theme around the World Cup. And why not? It was a mauka for India to create history again. It was a mauka to win back-to-back World Cups for the first time. It was almost as if the entire population of a billion would will India to retain the Cup somehow.
Is there really great power in collective belief and prayers? If so, we should have won every World Cup in every sport imaginable. If not, we should at least have never lost a single cricket match. After all, we are a population of a billion plus people, and that too who consider cricket a religion.
The World Cup itinerary had been clearly chalked out to offer India every chance to reach the quarter-finals. Being a country with the second largest population in the world, and BCCI being the richest board amongst the cricket-playing nations, does have some perks after all. India was clubbed with South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, Ireland, Zimbabwe and UAE! Even if they lost to SA, PAK and WI, they could still make it to the knockouts. It was a win-win situation for ICC as well as for India. It was now only a matter of winning the next three matches. The further India went into the tournament the more venue tickets and TV viewership.
But would India go further into the knockouts? Could they win the next three most important matches?
I wrote an article even before the first ball was bowled in the tournament. It was titled, ‘Stars Not in Dhoni’s Favour and India is Unlikely to Defend the Crown[20]’.
And, as expected, all hell broke loose.
I was almost called a traitor. How dare I predict India would not win the Cup?
The same people who hero-worshipped me when I predicted in 2011 that India would win the World Cup, snorted at me now. And boy, did they react! I could feel the rage and backlash through their online comments.
Some milder messages went like this:
‘Hey, I respect your prediction and knowledge, but I think India will win this time.’
‘Don’t you think a billion prayers would help India win?’
‘Would Dhoni’s daughter’s birth change his luck?’
‘I think you are going to get it wrong this time. No one can beat Dhoni.’
‘Dhoni has something about him and the World Cups. He will win again.’
Others were less generous.
‘You traitor—go and live in Pakistan!’
‘Baldie, have you lost your brain with your hair too?’
I had some non-astrological, hard facts to support my analysis. In the just-concluded tri-series held before the start of the World Cup, India had fared very badly. They couldn’t score a single victory after landing in Australia in 45 days. It was as if India had forgotten what winning felt like. Indian bowlers, especially, had disappointed everyone beyond expectation. Historically, not many expect India to fare well while touring abroad anyway.
However, India defied all logic and started off rather well. They brushed aside a hapless Pakistan side (thus, taking away their mauka) and even beat South Africa emphatically for the first time ever in a World Cup. Against all expectation, India actually became the table toppers at the league stage. And, more importantly, the bowlers managed a clean sweep in every match they played. The factor considered the weakest point in the Indian set-up actually turned out to be the X-factor. And now they were to take on the humble Bangladesh in the quarter-finals thereafter, a berth in the semi-finals was a given. And then, finally, just two more games to yet another historic World Cup victory! This was what many people thought.
Most Indians had probably begun fantasising about Dhoni lifting the World Cup again. But I was cent per cent sure that it wouldn’t be him again. Another 1981-born would win the World Cup this time. It had to be Michael Clarke and, at the most, Brendon McCullum. Dhoni—never again.
Based on my calculations I recorded a YouTube video[21] and posted it online before the knockouts started. Now this was something very serious. I had put my reputation as an astrologer on the block by going ahead with the bold prediction that India would not win the World Cup this time. In India, a prediction about cricket, and that too about the World Cup, can make or break your career. Yet, I had trusted my research and gone ahead. I had to do it, as I saw this as the biggest opportunity to make the non-believers believe in the science of astrology. Bad news does catch eyeballs quicker and I knew this would too. But I was sure I was doing this for the right reasons.
The euphoria was high, the expectations even higher. I had mentioned in the video that Dhoni was destined to win only two World Cups (the 2011 WC and the 2007 inaugural T20 WC) and he had already won them. His karmic quota of success was over. To win this World Cup, he would have to do something that no human being had done before—beat his karma and his destiny. He would have to play God. I had minutely analysed more than 25,000 horoscopes by then and I was yet to see one man who had beaten his fate and achieved something not in his destiny. I
f India won another World Cup, Dhoni would just do that. He would be God!
Alas, India lost the World Cup semi-final to the eventual winners of the tournament, Australia. In the end Dhoni showed that he was human after all.
My video attracted many nasty comments. While some courteous people preached to me about how I was fuelling regressive thought processes, the not-so-polite ones blasted me with uncouth language. So, this being a country with the second largest population in the world has some disadvantages as well. I had done this video, not for personal glory or happiness but because I knew that this was my best chance to show the world that astrology worked. I could understand all the feelings, including the wave of hatred towards me.
I couldn’t write a goody-goody prediction this time. This was a chance to establish the fact that everything that happens is pre-planned. Everything is destined. And destiny cannot be changed. This was also a time to prove how astrology can actually foretell events accurately—even the outcome of the adrenaline-driven events, which appear to rely on the abilities of great sports stars.
Who would believe that it was destined in Dhoni’s birth chart that he would take the bull by the horns and play that match-winning innings of his life in the final against Sri Lanka in 2011? Every shot of his, including the final six with which he sealed the fate of the match and made the entire nation erupt with joy, was also predestined. He was the Chosen Man in 2011, but there was someone else destined to lift the Cup in 2015.
20.
The Cup that India Could Have Won—2016 World T20
12th March 2016. Mumbai.
It was really painful to keep predicting more and more World Cup losses for Dhoni. But, as an astrologer, I had to do the job[22].
This time around I was only sure about one thing—that India would not win the World Cup. I wasn’t sure about who would win it though. Nor did I know how the sequence would pan out this time.
After the World Cup was over, it was all clear. It always is once it is over. The 1983-born Darren Sammy had won it yet again. The German captain, Phillip Lahm, a November 1983-born won the 2014 football World Cup. There were no major cricket captains born in 1983. Darren Sammy was born just a month apart from Phillip Lahm. It is important to note here that Dhoni was born just a month apart from his football twin, Iker Casillas. Greats come in patches. Proved yet again!
A football World Cup comes once in four years. A T20 World Cup once in two years.
So, One Football WC = Two T20 WCs?
Maybe.
But amid all this, it was clear that Dhoni was past his prime and that India was still persisting with him regardless.
We didn’t have a 1983-born with a good horoscope—unless you made Joginder Sharma the captain. So, no regrets.
Well done, Sammy and the Windies.
Yes, my mind does toy with the possibility that India might have won this if either Gautam Gambhir or Rohit Sharma had been the captain of the Indian contingent. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
21.
Ronaldo and the Twist in the Tale in the 2016 UEFA Euro
10th June 2016. Mumbai.
The knowledge of who would win the 2016 UEFA Euro and the 2018 FIFA World Cup was extremely important from cricket’s perspective. The winner of these two tournaments would tell us which captain would be the best possible to win the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
As mentioned earlier, I arrived at the conclusion that the 2016 UEFA Euro would be won by a 1985-87-born. When I fine-tuned the research further, I could see that Hugo Lloris of France, Wayne Rooney of England or Ronaldo of Portugal could win this tournament. Though in the official prediction[23] I mentioned all the three countries, I was positive that only a 1986-born could win the final. In the year 1986, especially around October–December, Planet-Z entered deepest exaltation in 12 degrees and I guessed someone born in that stretch should win the Cup. I had studied many World Cups in the past and I could see the Planet-Z phenomenon there too. So, I was more inclined to believe that the 1986-born Hugo Lloris would win the UEFA Euro.
Some extraordinary events occurred during the final match between Ronaldo’s Portugal and Hugo Lloris’ France, which showed how magical it is to see planets at play.
Just a few minutes into the game, Ronaldo, the captain of the Portugal team, was injured and had to limp out of the match. Ronaldo, the talismanic Ronaldo, one of the greatest footballers on the face of earth, and probably the only notable player in the Portugal squad, wasn’t playing the match any more. Instead, it was Nani who took over.
What happened next was unbelievable. France could not score a single goal in the match. Ronaldo cheered the Portugal team from the sidelines, and the motivated team went on to score a goal through Eder and won the match. They were the underdogs, but won a memorable night, without their revered skipper! Yes, the history books still show Ronaldo as the captain of the Portugal team that won the 2016 UEFA Euro. Long after the memories of this match fade away, the match will still remain officially captained by Ronaldo on paper. But all those who witnessed the match will remember that it was not Ronaldo but Nani who was the captain of the Portugal team when they won the match.
After the match was over, Ronaldo had taken the armband from Nani, worn it round his arm and lifted the trophy too. But no one can snatch away the fact from history that Nani was the captain at the time when Portugal won their maiden UEFA Euro. And yes, Nani was born on 17th November 1986! Who knows, had Ronaldo played that match, Portugal might have lost!
I always placed a 1986-born in a better position to win than a 1985-born. Ronaldo was also born on a full-moon day, hence he featured as a favourite player in the top three on my list to win the Cup. But, even in my wildest dreams, I never anticipated that the planets would cause another 1986-born to win the UEFA Euro in such a strange manner. Well, nothing can escape the purview of the planets. Things happen exactly as they are ordained.
The UEFA Euro 2016 clearly established that there was something about this patch of 1986-87. More precisely, October–December 1986.
Hugo Lloris, the captain of France, who was Nani’s opponent in the finals, was born in the same year too—December 1986. Well, I don’t blame you if you think it was just a coincidence.
22.
The 1986 Theory Confirmation—Football World Cup 2018
14th June 2018. Mumbai.
Suddenly I found competition for my prediction business from an unexpected quarter. Forecasting had become a big business. Investment banks wanted to showcase their market-predicting tools. They wanted to demonstrate that their way of investing was more correct compared to the other banks. And they extrapolated from it that the sophisticated computer simulations that helped them take investment decisions could also help them predict football results. So, the investment bank UBS ran 10,000 simulations and calculated that Germany would win the football World Cup. Goldman Sachs ran 1,000,000 simulations and predicted that Brazil would be the champions. Alas, if they just added 76 more algorithms to their calculations, they would have got it dead right.
I used 12 planets and 64 horoscopes (captains and coaches) to arrive at France or Argentina to be the world champions in football in 2018. On 14th June 2018, before the tournament began, I wrote[24] in DNA that either Argentina or France would be the eventual champions. Conviction about the planets made me do a video[25] too, on the same subject a week before the tournament.
The FIFA World Cup 2018 was quite significant from the perspective of Indian cricket. In fact, to cricket in general. Or, more specifically, to the cricket World Cup 2019. The outcome of the 2018 football World Cup would indicate who would win the 2019 cricket World Cup.
Thankfully, we can make such extrapolations from other categories in sports. The planets that work in one sport will work in the other too. A great planetary arrangement that makes someone win a World Cup in football will make someone else win a World Cup in cricket too.
When the French team, led by Hugo Lloris, was stunned by Portugal, led by Nani, in
the 2016 UEFA Euro final, it was a vindication of the power of the planets. It was a clear indication that the time of the 1986–87 borns had arrived.
The only question was, would it be France or some other country? There were as many as twelve 1986–87-borns captaining different countries in this World Cup. How easy was it for Diego Godín of Uruguay, Manuel Neuer of Germany, Sergio Ramos of Spain, Christian Fuchs of Austria, Igor Akinfeev of Russia, Ashkan Dejagah of Iran, Andrés Guardado of Mexico, Balázs Dzsudzsák of Hungary, Hugo Lloris of Spain, Arda Turan of Turkey, John Obi Mikel of Nigeria or Lionel Messi of Argentina? The last three players were 1987-borns and the rest were born in 1986.
I followed a simple elimination process by looking only at the captains who had Planet-Z, the one which would eventually make one a winner of the World Cup, in the strongest position. The captain who had Planet-Z in about 12–13 degrees, the deepest exaltation point of the planet, would eventually be the winner. Just five captains qualified that first elimination round—Diego Godin, Manuel Neuer, Sergio Ramos, Hugo Lloris and Lionel Messi.
The coach of the German team, Joachim Löw, had already won the World Cup, just the previous time, so he could not repeat the feat, since there were so many other coaches with fairly good horoscopes around. So, Manuel Neuer was out. Sergio Ramos, Spain’s captain, had won three Champion League titles as captain with Real Madrid. This was exactly like Rohit Sharma winning three IPLs for Mumbai Indians. Ramos had utilised his quota of success in winning the three big tournaments hence another such title wouldn’t be possible.
We were left with Diego Godín, Hugo Lloris and Lionel Messi. I named them and the countries they captained as the top three to win the World Cup with France and Argentina being the top two. And France went on to win the World Cup with Hugo Lloris as the captain. Simple analogy, extrapolation and logic helped locate the right winner.
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