The IPL tamaasha

I love cricket.

And living in India means you cannot escape the Indian Premier League (IPL).

And how could you miss it? The silken drives of Dravid, the brilliance of Jayawardene and Sangakarra, the fiery pace of Dale Steyn and the fearsome accuracy of Malinga... these and many more cricketing delights are on offer.

Yet...

 There was this post by Tom Alter on watching Sunil Gavaskar, his cricketing hero, reduced to a gimmick on what they call 'Extraaa Innings'. "Cricket," writes Alter, "is reduced to a sideshow of a sideshow."

And that is when I realised that the game of "cricket" that I knew and loved had been lost.

In the last couple of weeks, when I had crashed onto my bed at night, excited tweets of "Chennaaaaaaiiiiii.....you rock!!!!!" didn't spur me out of bed to switch on the TV, but those describing the courageous declarations of Michael Clarke and the close finishes that the test matches of the West Indies vs. Australia were producing, did.

Someone wrote about how IPL is the perfect "timepass" for a country which loves "timepass". David Dhawan-Govinda movies worked because they were "timepass", so will the IPL. It is entertainment for the masses.

I realised today how true the "timepass" tag is for the IPL; I now keep the TV on mute and go about my daily chores as I normally would. The game is itself of little consequence; watch a bit of it when passing by and move on.

Mukul Kesavan in this article hit the nail on the head on a number of reasons why the IPL is more a farce than cricket. He compares the IPL to WWF; of how the two are nothing but orchestrated entertainment orgies. It has become a carnival of big hitting where all the audience wants to see are sixes. Sixes did you say? Well, let's sell that and make it a "DLF maximum". Stunning catch? Why not "Karbonn Kamaal catch"? And ultimately, it is all about stringing together "Citi Moments of Success".

Its like selling the soul of cricket to the devil.

Of course, you should completely forget how rules are tweaked and conflicts of interest are shoved under the carpet (and I'm talking about YOU Mr. N. 'India Cements' Srinivasan).

Where the question "Why Munaf Patel and Harbhajan Singh, team member and captain of Mumbai Indians (owned by one of the wealthiest men on the planet), should not be banned from subsequent matches after a behaviour like this?" is never asked.

It is not that the IPL doesn't bring forth moments of cricketing joy. There was *that* six by Sachin off Albie Morkel in the first game of this season's IPL, awesome enough to inspire Sidvee to write this post.

The "away" game that Saurav Ganguly played at the Eden divided loyalties in the city. Sidharth Monga aptly described the excitement and the anxiousness of the days prior to the game and during the match itself.

Then there was that over that Dale Steyn bowled to Richard Levi. Six balls of sheer brilliance, resulting in a maiden over. The last ball of that over was a perfect in-swinging yorker that bowled Levi. And here's what breaks my heart. When today I search for the words "Dale Steyn Richard Levi" on YouTube, all that is available is the last ball of that over. This is the perfect example of what we have reduced this great game to.

Not a game. Not a celebration of skills. But a tamaasha.

If it wasn't evident enough that this was a tamaasha, there are the "cheerleaders". Thankfully, a PR lady in Bangalore interviewed these beautiful girls and showed us how they are actually well qualified young girls from respectable families. Unfortunately that is not how the Indian masses switching on TV see them. Most of them, I'm sure, are waiting to ogle at the slow motion replays of these girls dancing.

But don't I watch the IPL myself? Have I too, like millions others, sold my cricketing soul to the devil? Have I too not defiled the sacred game that was handed over to me by Dad when he took me to Eden Gardens on a chilly winter morning to watch a Test match between India and England?

And then, it struck me. The answer lies in this ad for the 2012 IPL.

I was like the two boys who are discreetly looking for some entertainment. Some "tamaasha". The carnival. Where I can watch the greats of the game peddle their craft for a few coins. Where girls dance atop platforms in front of the crowds. Where the thrill is heightened by the sense of excitement at having watched something which I know was impure.

Is this cricket? Of course not.... "Yeh IPL hai boss!!"

Tiger tiger burning bright

As someone who enjoys hearing and reading cricket anecdotes, specially those of Indian cricket, it was impossible for me to not come across the trail the Tiger had left.

My earliest memories of hearing about the Tiger was when Mom (Pataudi Jr. was charismatic enough to draw her attention to cricket) told me India once had a captain who only had one eye. Apparently, this bloke had had a terrible accident and yet was good enough to play for the country with just one good eye. "Must be one heck of a fella," I thought.

It was much later when the legend of the Nawab of Pataudi started swirling around me. Everywhere I looked, article after article praised this handsome prince whose debonair style of batting suggested he was much better than the record books suggested. The phrase "his record doesn't do him justice" seemed to have been made for him.

I remember watching an interview of him on "Rendezvous with Simi Garewal" (hey, I was *very* young, ok?) and remember her asking him "Is it true that when you appealed for an lbw and if the umpire thought it wasn't out, he would politely tell you 'Not out, Your Highness'?". The impropriety (to him) of asking the question on national television seemed to have caught him by surprise as he paused for a couple of seconds and then without batting his eyelids said, "Yes."

In many ways, that interview told you a lot about the personality that this man had. Quiet, dignified, straight-laced humour, maybe a little snotty (he was a Nawab after all) but very certain about the opinions he had.

Before Pataudi came along as captain (at the age of 21, he was the youngest captain the game had ever seen at that point of time), it is believed that the Indian cricket team were still reeling from a sense of inferiority complex towards their ex-colonial masters. Test matches were played with the objective of somehow eking out a draw. It is to Pataudi Jr.'s credit who walked in with an attitude that said, "Hang on a minute, we should be playing to win and not draw matches." It is to him that the credit goes for bringing steel and grit into a side which once only knew abject surrender.

Not that we won too many matches under his captaincy. But the mindset had been changed. Here was a man who "with one eye and one leg" played a fighting innings at the MCG when India were, I think, 25 for 5. Indian cricket had found its Spartacus.

To him also goes the credit for introducing the spin attack of Chandrashekhar, Bedi and Prasanna. I am sure tomorrow morning's newspapers will be full of better praise from these fine cricketers than I could muster up.

But I will leave you with two quotes about the Tiger which for me epitomize what he meant for Indian cricket.

Asked to describe Pataudi's leadership style, Prasanna once mentioned "He wasn't the kinds who would have to shout at you to tell you what to do. Pataudi led by his eyes... he would just look at you and then look in another direction and you knew what had to be done."

Bishan Singh Bedi, the graceful magician Sardar, said that the greatest contribution of the Tiger to Indian cricket was that he was the first captain to forge an "Indian" team. He was the one, Bedi says, who taught us to think beyond Madras, Bombay, Punjab etc. You're playing for the country, he would say, so play as one.

RIP Nawab Sahab.

The roar at Eden

It is a very tough climb to the top… it is even tougher to stay there.

Ask the Indian cricket team; they did exactly that today.

What’s more, they almost faltered owing to one bearded gentleman who played a defiantly heroic knock.

To think that this thrilling Test series almost never happened… ~phew~

I was in office and even caught a couple of deliveries of the match on a colleague’s laptop who was watching it thanks to the wonders of wireless broadband technology. “Only 9 more overs to go in the day and Morkel and Amla don’t seem to be budging,” I told myself. Resigned, I returned to my desk.

A couple of minutes later, a whoop of joy was let out by the group which had crowded around that laptop. Even as I rushed with a grin towards them, I knew that Eden had once again worked its special brand of magic.

The sight of Harbhajan charging towards the stands like a warrior who has just won a battle will stick in my mind forever. He knows this ground reserves special love for him: the Eden crowd ooh-ed and aah-ed with every delivery of his that went past the edge of the bat or dropped just short of the man at forward short leg, they celebrated with the turbanned warrior with every wicket that he took. Bhajji knows how big a factor the crowd is at Eden and this was his moment of acknowledging his most vociferous teammates who sat in the stands.

Not to be forgotten is Laxman, the VVS in whose name Chappel says must stand for Very Very Special. 1000+ runs on a particular ground is no mean feat, but then, Laxman is no ordinary batsman and Eden isn’t any other ground. Ever since that Test match in 2001, Laxman has taken on the mantle of making this his home away from home, much like his fellow Hyderabadi Azhar did before him.

All those who fore-casted the death of Test match cricket... beware!! Test Matches have shown the sheer nail-biting excitement it is capable of delivering: first there was the England vs. South Africa series, then the Pakistan tour of Australia, and now, the roar at Eden Gardens.

Don ko pakadna...

Don ka record todne ka koshish to 10 test-playing mulko ke batsman kar rahe hain, magar ek baat samajh lo.... Don ke jitna mahaan banna mushkil hi nahi, namumkin hai !!

Happy 100th Birthday, Sir Donald Bradman.

IPL + Indy = Super Sunday

The IPL is over, the Rajasthan Royals have won and a day later, here I am eating an apple and wondering what to write.

Couple of things. Don't hate me for not being regular on this blog. I know you aren't too regular either, but then what the hell, it's my blog.

Second, I saw the second innings of the IPL final (don't be so eager to strangle me... give me a moment.. there's a perfectly simple reason for missing the first innings) and completely enjoyed it.

By the way, I'm a huge fan of Warne, and have been awestruck by the manner in which he has captained the Rajasthan Royals team. In fact, yesterday afternoon, I was all rooting for them. But having seen the way in which Dhoni and his band of merry yellow men went about defending that seemingly low total of 163, I feel that yesterday Dhoni was the better captain. It all went down to the last ball and you must give credit where it's due, i.e. to the Chennai Super Kings. Had the Rajasthan Royals been fielding second, I would've perhaps been more in favour of Warne, but as of now, Mr. Dhoni, I thought you were the better captain yesterday. Just bad luck that:

a) Raina couldn't hold on to the catch of Yusuf Pathan when he was on 13 (Pathan, obviously, went on to make a quick-fire 56 and winning the Man of the Match award); and

b) Balaji couldn't do a Joginder Sharma.

But no complaints. All said and done, the IPL has been a source of much entertainment (cricket + cheerleaders combined) and yesterday we were witness to a battle between the two best teams of the tournament.

Finally, the reason why I missed the first innings.

I went to see 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull'. I'd heard there were negative reviews about the film but trust me folks, this is one helluva enjoyable film. I loved it !! Indiana Jones is back...and how !! There was just the right amount of action, fun and romance in the film (In fact, today morning I commented to a friend that the film was almost like a blockbuster Hindi film minus the song and dance sequences).

Go watch it. It is AWESOME !!

Jhumri Talaiya

1. Received this SMS from a close friend today afternoon: "It is said that we know the meaning of being happy only once we've known what it is like being sad.. then how do we know that we are living till the time we experience death?"

Completely stumped, I could only recommend her to read up the works of Bertrand Russel and/or J. Krishnamurthi.


2. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is well and truly underway. It has been a much bigger hit than I had thought it would be; what with the damp squib that the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) turned out to be. I believe that after the opening match of the IPL (Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Bangalore Royal Challengers), Brendan McCullum has become an overnight sensation in Calcutta (I can't wait to go back to Cal to hear how they pronounce his name in the padas.)

And today, of course, they won at the Eden against the Deccan Chargers. Oh how I wish I were there!!!

3. I was speaking to Ravi today. He was complaining to me how terrible the heat and the humidity in Calcutta has become. I knew that he was absolutely spot-on 'coz only day before yesterday, a colleague whose parents stay in Cal was telling me the same thing. Moreover, Mom too was complaining about it over the phone today evening.

My mind rushed back to a few years ago when I was travelling around Cal in May and I was thinking to myself how awful it would become in a couple of years. And it has been that way!!! And I blame deforestation and unintentional ecology harming 'developments' for this.

I have resolved to do something about this as soon as I reach Cal. I've already asked a few friends and they too feel that something needs to be done urgently. It would be great if you could give me any inputs.

~folded hands~ Samaachar samaapt hue.

P.S. If you're still wondering why I mentioned the once major mica mining town of Jharkhand as my title post, it's because I couldn't think of anything appropriate for the disjointed post contents.

Hungry Kya?

This Christmas, it is very likely that I’ll be going off to sleep early. I would not like to stay up late and party for a very simple reason.

~big grin~

India takes on Australia at the MCG for the Boxing Day Test Match. Just the idea of listening to Richie Benaud and Bill Lawry commentate on what promises to be an exciting series is enough to make me get up early on the 26th of this month.

And I’m seriously hoping (and praying) that the 16 man Indian team is hungry enough. If they show enough intent, I’m sure that India can put up a very good fight and come close to winning their first series on Australian soil.

Let us have a look at who in the Indian team should have the hunger to succeed and why.

The Openers:

Wasim Jaffer has had a good run of late and the second double hundred of his career against Pakistan at Eden Gardens (his first double century was against West Indies in their back-yard) should give him all the confidence required to dig in his heels at the outset of the innings.

Sehwag is the guy who should look at this opportunity as a God-send. Not many were expecting him to be selected for the tour. Now that his name has come up, he should make the most of it and prove a point to his critics. Who could ever forget that Sehwag sixer at Multan to become the first Indian to score a triple century? If Sehwag shows even a glimpse of that triple hundred or even the 195 that he scored at the MCG, it will be worth all the effort to wake up early.

Personally, I will be disappointed if Dinesh Karthik isn’t given a look-in in this series. Except for his poor form in the home series against Pakistan, he has done very little wrong this year at the openers’ slot. I really liked the way he batted in England. Even if he gets a single Test to showcase his talent, he should grab it with both hands.

The Middle-Order:

How many times does Rahul Dravid need to prove to the Indian public and cricket-gurus that he is worth his place in the side? He was not nicknamed ‘The Wall’ for no reason. Dumped from the one-day series against Pakistan, he scored a brilliant double century in the Ranji Trophy. That prompted the selectors to give him a berth in the Test side and I don’t care what others say, he looked majestic when he played the cover drives at Delhi’s Ferozeshah Kotla stadium. Australia is just the kind of place where he could prove to the world and, more importantly, to the detractors in his own country that he is still a couple of years away from retiring.

To talk of why Sachin Tendulkar should have the hunger to do well is to ask why the sun should continue shining. Only extremely well disciplined cricketers would have the same passion and commitment towards the game after spending almost two decades at the highest level.

Saurav Ganguly, apart from being known as ‘Dada’ and ‘The Prince of Calcutta’ (a lot of credit due to a certain Mr. Boycott for the latter nick-name) is also known as ‘Maharaja’. He certainly has been batting as one recently. To march back into a team from which he was so unceremoniously kicked out shows the mettle that he’s made of. Now, he needs to continue the brilliance, starting with his 100th test match which will be the first of the Australian series.

It was Tony Greig (I think) who said that the VVS in Laxman’s name stood for Very Very Special and not Vangipurappu Vekata Sai (I doubt whether Tony Greig could pronounce that properly even once). I was reading Mukul Kesavan’s blog during the Delhi Test against Pakistan and he mentioned how the fans at the stadium thought that Laxman had unjustly been kept in the side and India should have played Yuvraj instead. Fact remains that there is much more to VVS Laxman’s career than the fantastic 281 against Australia at Eden Gardens. He brings even more solidity to the middle and is as stylish as they make them. A pure treat to watch.

Yuvraj Singh very, very desperately wanted to play in Tests for India. This was apparent when he was being interviewed by Rameez Raja. This was when Yuvi had just been awarded the Man of the Series award for the ODIs against Pakistan. Even in the midst of all the celebration, he mentioned that there was nothing he would like more than to represent India in the Tests. And boy, did he prove his point by the way he batted in the final Test !! If he maintains the same hunger and performs against what seems to be one of his favourite oppositions in the world, there’s no reason why the Brett Lees and Shaun Taits should have a couple of sleepless nights.

During India’s tour of England, Harsha Bhogle had pointed out something unique about Dhoni. He would walk in to the middle with a swagger and irrespective of how many runs he scored, on being dismissed he would still walk back to the dressing room with the same swagger. That was important, because that shows he has a calculated cricketing brain which doesn’t get rankled too easily. He just enjoys his cricket and focuses on making lots of runs…quickly. Also, he can stay put at the crease. This was of course apparent in the manner in which he dropped anchor on the last day of the first Test in England at Lord’s.

The Spin Masters:

Anil Kumble is by far one of the most respected cricketers in Test cricket right now. Like Ian Chappell once remarked, one rarely sees ‘Jumbo’ having a verbal go at the batsmen (I can remember only two such instances – one where he got into a dialogue with Inzamam-ul-Haq and the other one during the last Test at England…I think that one was with Kevin Pieterson). Yet, he remains one of the most aggressive spin bowlers in today’s day and age. Whoever doubt that he can be aggressive should be reminded of the Kumble who marched out to bowl against the West Indies with his head covered in plaster.

Harbhajan Singh needs to once again prove his worth and Sydney could well be the place where he could do it.

The Speed Department:

Zaheer Khan has been fantastic this season, and all that the Indian team needs to do in order to get him hungry is perhaps throw a couple of jellybeans on the pitch when Zaheer Khan goes out to bat.

RP Singh has perhaps been the find of the year in the bowling department for India. If he maintains his fitness, he’ll prove to be quite a handful to attack the Australians with Zaheer at the other end.

Irfan Pathan, in my opinion, has been doing well since his comeback. Of course he hasn’t had the pace with which he rocked the Test-playing nation when he first burst on to the scene, but good ol’ line & length bowling and he should do well.

Ishant Sharma impressed one and all with his second spell of the last Test match against Pakistan. That’s what got him his place in the touring party. Let’s hope the lanky youngster continues to improve and do justice to his raw talent.

On debut, Pankaj Singh should have all the motivation and hunger required to make a point to the cricketing bosses in India and the cricket loving public across the world. All the best, dude. ~thumbs up~

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I logged on to the Net after I’d written this post to realise that Australia too have announced their 12 man Test team. Here it is: Matthew Hayden, Phil Jaques, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait.


P.S. Arpz, I know that you can’t even think of supporting India when Australia is playing. Good for you. As far as I’m concerned….

Everybody in the house shout… “JEETEGA BHAI JEETEGA…INDIA JEETEGA !!” :D

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Now playing: A. R. Rehman - Dil Se
via FoxyTunes

The day we became World Champions

Much water has flowed under the Howrah Bridge since the events that I’m about to narrate. Yet, it is a story which must be told. It is the story of how India overcame Pakistan in the finals of the ICC Twenty20 cup to become World Champions.

Let that sink in… India - World Champions. I had to keep pinching myself when India recently played a Twenty20 international against Australia at Mumbai and the commentator very proudly announced, “Australia are playing against the world champions!” Now that is something you don’t hear very often and I felt particularly proud to be an Indian at that point in time.

But let me get back to where I originally started this post. Let me recount the events as they happened on that fateful day.

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24th September 2007

It is a dark and wet Monday evening in Calcutta as India takes on Pakistan in the finals of the Twenty20 World Cup at the Bull Ring at Johannesburg. Ravi, Harsh and I make our way to The Ordnance Club to enjoy the game on their flat screen TV. We are in a noisy dining room at the club and the table in front of us is filled with all the food that we have ordered: two pots of tea, cheese grilled sandwiches, a plate of paneer tikka, masala chips and Coke.

Harsh and I keep munching at a regular pace even though we are hypnotized by the match. Ravi, being his usual self, sips his tea in a manner which would’ve fooled you into believing that he was a MCC member having his cuppa on a bright Sunday morning at Lord’s where Somerset was playing Kent.

By the time the 19th over of the Pakistan innings gets over, Harsh and I can barely keep sitting. We are at the end of this long dining hall and thankfully so, because we both just keep pacing in tension. If there had been guests seated behind us they would certainly have been up in arms.

Last over and 13 runs required. Dhoni hands over the ball to Joginder Sharma who, let’s accept it, at his pace doesn’t really put the fear of the Lord into you. I look up at Harsh and he has this very nervous smile on his face, as if telling me, ‘Oh Dear!’ With a deep breath, I turn to look at the TV.

Wide.

Darn!! What the hell was Joginder doing??!! You already have a Misbah-ul-Haq at the crease who in the previous India-Pakistan encounter had almost pulled off an incredible win for his team. In any case, he’s also one of the biggest six hitters of the tournament with that massive 111m hit (only to be outdone by Yuvraj Singh’s monstrous 119m six). And then you bowl a wide to make it only 12 runs required to win the match and the trophy?!!

Dhoni runs up to Joginder and it seems whatever he’s told him has worked since the next ball is a dot ball, although it was outside the off stump and very lucky not to be called a wide.

I breathe easy for a moment…only just.

Joginder bowls the next ball and Misbah shuffles across his stumps and hits the ball high in the air. For a moment I’m hopeful that some Indian fielder at long on will get under it and take the catch. But all my prayers seem to have come undone when Ravi Shastri screams, “This is six! It’s a magnificent strike!”

Gosh! How could this have happened? We had almost won it…how could Misbah do this to us…again? Will he make amends for his mistake at Durban? Will he really pull it off this time? My mind is buzzing with possible scenarios, not all of them positive for India.

The dining hall has gone very silent…the only sound that can be heard is of the cutlery striking against each other. Even the waiters and stewards have been struck by horror as they stare at the TV screen and forget to take orders. What orders? Even the diners are staring dumb-struck.

Disappointed, I look at Harsh. The story is written all over his face: only one big hit and Pakistan could win this. Harsh shakes his head as he looks at me, his nonchalant smile vanished. I don’t know what to do and look at the floor. I turn to Ravi, but the idiot is happily sipping his tea and looking as if somebody has just paused reading ‘Alice In Wonderland’ to him. Nut!! How can someone NOT be affected by a tension situation like this? How can someone be so cool-headed? I shake my head in wonder.

Pakistan need 6 runs to win and have 4 balls of the last over to do it in. The only worrying factor, if there is any in the Pakistani camp at the moment, is that this is their last pair at the wicket.

Joginder runs up to deliver his next ball. Misbah tries to get cheeky by walking across the stumps and loops the ball up in the air behind the wicket.

OH MY GOD!! Is this the moment which will haunt our nightmares forever? Has Misbah just become the Javed Miandad for this new generation of Indian cricketers and Indian cricket lovers?

But wait a minute! There’s a man underneath it…and it is Sreesanth. Sreesanth, the man who can reduce to mockery his tremendous talent by letting his emotions take control of him. ‘Oh God, please, please let Sreesanth take the catch!’

Sreesanth fumbles slightly…but finally manages to hold on to the ball!!

THAT’S IT!! India has won!!!!! INDIA HAS WON THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!!! We are the CHAMPIONS… We have been crowned kings!!

The hall at Ordnance Club erupts with middle-aged pot bellied uncles jumping in joy and banging their beer glasses. High-society aunties scream and clap their hands in glee, all the while making sure their silk sarees are not out of place.

I jump and shout with joy!! I look at Harsh, whose reaction has been much the same as mine. I rush up to him and we hug each other and continue jumping while screaming ‘Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!’ My heart hasn’t beaten this hard in quite a while. We just can’t stop the momentum and keep jumping and shouting.

We pause to look at Ravi. He is still sitting in his stupid chair, grinning at us and clapping. ‘This is not the moment to sit and applaud like a Lord, you idiot. Be an Indian….SCREAM!!!’ Both Harsh and I run up to him, pull him up, and embrace him as well and then start jumping around in a huddle, much like the huddle that the Indian team is now getting into.

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I write this down because this is one moment of unimaginable joy for me as an Indian cricket fan. This moment will be one which we will remember the rest of our lives, much like our fathers remember the exact moment when Kapil Dev lifted the Prudential Cup at Lords.

---------------- Now playing: Amit Kumar & Chorus - Dekha Jo Tujhe Yaar via FoxyTunes

Cricket and Hollywood

Is it just me or does Kepler Wessels actually look a bit like Charlton Heston?

Kepler Wessels

Charlton Heston

Twenty20: A Bowler’s Game

Anybody who saw Chris Gayle and Herschelle Gibbs plonk the white ball to all parts of The Wanderers stadium at Johannesburg on Tuesday night might want to disagree with the title of this post. Let me explain why I respectfully disagree.

The thought struck me when I heard Ian Chappell mention a basic fact of the game, viz. a good batsman is a good batsman, period. Likewise, I thought, a good bowler is a good bowler, period.

It doesn’t matter if he (the bowler) is hit for many more runs in a particular over as compared to what he would have been hit for in a ODI or a Test match. What has changed is the definition of a good over. Whereas in a 50 overs game, a good over was one where the batsman could not score more than 4 or a maximum of 5 runs, in the 20 overs version of the game, this will become 7 to 8 runs.

This is where the bowler’s skill comes in to play. He now has to be more cunning than ever and use the sleight of hand in order to ensure variations in line, length and the pace at which he bowls. And that can get him great results, like it happened for Daren Powell who had figures of 4 overs, no maidens, 3 wickets for 4 runs in a warm-up game.

I disagree with those who say it is purely a batsman’s game. If the game has become uni-dimensional for anybody, it is for the batsman. All he has to do is think about tonking the next ball out of the park.

Yesterday, of course, it was great fun watching Zimbabwe beat Australia in a nail-biting finish. I couldn’t get to see the Australian innings, but the highlights package showed what a good fielding side the Zimbabweans were. They had thrown themselves at everything and had taken some good catches in the outfield, an area where, I am sad to note, India hasn’t done well of late.

Pros of Twenty20:

- Weaker-looking teams can do well in matches against ‘stronger’ opposition, since there is very little time for the ‘stronger’ team to recover if they fumble even once.

Cons of Twenty20:

- Watching the inaugural match (South Africa vs. West Indies) gave me a headache, what with so many sixes being hit, so much noise and very little time, as a viewer, to grasp the nuances of the game. [I know some might argue that this is a sure sign of ageing, but then…]

- Too many girls wearing bright-red sports bras (I don’t care what they’re said to be, they look like sports bras) and bum-hugging short chaddis while shaking their things on TV. Watching Twenty20 at home might be a problem.

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Now playing: Sukhvinder Singh - Chak de India
via FoxyTunes

A Few Magical Moments

Now, the following isn’t a verbatim account. Yet, an attempt has been made to capture the magic that a cricket lover feels when watching a ‘true’ cricket broadcast.

Magic Moment No. 1

(The opening moments of the live coverage of the first day of the India vs. England Test match at Lord’s. Camera pans out from the pitch at the Lord’s cricket ground to show Harsha Bhogle standing at the boundary ropes.)

Harsha: “In 1932, it was this very turf on which C. K. Nayudu led out the first Indian cricket team to play a test match on English soil. Seven decades down the line, Rahul Dravid will lead out his team to play yet another fascinating Test match series against the English hosts. ~pause~ Welcome to the nPower India vs. England Test series, the first match of which will be played here at Lord’s."

Magic Moment No. 2

(India’s opening bowlers, Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth, have been bowling either too wide or too short at the England opening pair of Andrew Strauss and Alistair Cook. Even as the commentators are discussing this, the camera catches Richie Benaud and his wife sitting in the member's stand. Richie Benaud is animatedly speaking to his wife with his hands moving in what could only be a bowling action.)

Alan Wilkins: "Oh look, there's Mr. and Mrs. Richie Benaud. ~pause~ (impersonating Benaud) You see Daphne, they're bowling too short..."

Magic Moment No. 3

(Lunch session on first day and the commentary team in the media box are speculating exactly how much the slope of the turf at Lord's can help or unsettle a fast bowler. Ravi Shastri, Nasser Hussain and Harsha Bhogle are in the media centre while Ian Chappell is standing at the boundary line.

The commentators in the box have just educated the TV audience that the ground slopes downwards from the Pavilion End to the Nursery End. Therefore, a fast bowler bowling from the Pavilion End would send the ball down with greater force.)

Ravi Shastri: "Now Ian, you were the captain when Australia toured here in 1971, and you had Dennis Lillee bowling for you. Which end did he bowl from, the Nursery End or the Pavilion End?"

Ian Chappell: "Actually Ravi, it was 1972. And to take Dennis Lillee AWAY from the Pavilion End would be like taking away a bone from a bulldog..."

~Ravi Shastri and Harsha Bhogle can be heard chuckling~


Magic Moment No. 4

Harsha Bhogle (reading out a piece of cricketing trivia which has just popped up on screen): "Andrew Strauss was close to scoring a century in both innings of his first Test match. He scored a 100 in the first innings and was run out on 83 in the second innings by Nasser Hussain. ~turns towards Nasser Husssain, who is also commentating at the time, with a wide grin~ Why did you do that Nasser?

Nasser: "'Coz he threatened my position. So I said, 'Off you go, lad', and back he went to the pavilion after getting run out. And by then, I too realised that my end was near so I retired that very match and walked back into the pavilion and retired into the sunset."


Magic Moment No. 5

(Quite suddenly, Lord's is enveloped in one of those silences which recur with regularity at English cricket grounds.)

Harsha: It's all gone quiet out there....even behind the stumps.

~camera pans in to show Matt Prior~

Ravi Shastri: "Not for long, Harsha, not for long. Wicket-keepers around the world are notorious for being vociferous. Sangakarra in particular... he can get very noisy. How about you Graham?"

Graham Gooch: "I don't know about noisy.. but when I used to be batting in the Caribbean, I used to look back and there I would have Jeff Dujon just look at me and smile. I mean, he would just look at me and smile. ~pause~ And why not, he could afford to. When you have the top four most fearsome bowlers on the planet playing on your side, all you need to do is smile at the opposite team's batsman."

Rants of an Indian cricket fan

India hangs on to a string of hope at Lord’s. As I write this, India is 282/9 chasing a target of 380. Thankfully, bad light has stopped play as of now but there’s no telling when the weather conditions will improve.

However, I’m pretty happy with this Test match. India’s precarious condition aside, this Test match was a joy to watch because of one very simple reason: the England series is being covered on the newly launched Star Cricket.

For someone like me who enjoys his bit of classic cricketing action, you have no idea how B-I-G a relief it is to see a proper cricketing show; a show which is hosted by Harsha Bhogle (someone who knows more than a thing or two about cricket) and an expert panel which boasts of names such as Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, David Lloyd, Nasser Hussain, Graham Gooch and (best of all) Ian Chappell. With a line-up like that, one doesn’t mind the odd snippet presented by Gautam Bhimani during lunch breaks.

This, as anyone who has torn his hair watching the cricket coverage on Set Max, is a great saviour. Let me enumerate the reasons why I disliked ‘Extraaaaa Innings’ (I hope I got the correct number of a’s in the Extra.)

• One no longer has to put up with Miss Always-Controversially-Draped Mandira Bedi. Apart from the fact that she is an eyesore during a program which is primarily supposed to discuss cricket, the lady, I am sorry to say, hasn’t significantly improved on her chest (pun intended) of cricketing knowledge since the time of the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

• There’s no more Charu Sharma around who concentrates more on constantly blabbering instead of asking cricket-related queries to people like Ian Chappell and Arjuna Ranatunga. Like my good friend Chatur pointed out the other day over a chat on the telephone, Charu Sharma would often cut short Chappell and others who were talking good cricketing sense. And oh, I almost forgot, there’ll be no more of his stupid grin when he stares/ogles at whatever cleavage Miss Bedi has on offer for the world.

• The painful experience of having to listen to Ma Prem Ritambhara and others of her ilk is now, hopefully, a thing of the past. There’ll be less of fat women in clothes with outrageous colour combinations holding a conversation on how the ‘omens seem to be against the Indian cricket team but if a 100 million Indians pray for our boys, the good vibes might influence the performance of 11 individuals in the Caribbean’.

• The cricket lover will be spared the expert comments of people like Atul Wassan, Ranjit Fernando and Ian Bishop. Oh trust me there are a lot more where these came from. It’s just that I’ve somehow miraculously (and thankfully) erased my traumatic memories of the mostly disastrous commentary team on Set Max. Personally, there used to be moments when I would mute the television while watching cricket when the aforementioned esteemed gentlemen aired their comments about what was wrong with the cricketing world.

• A BIG relief is the manner in which commercials are shown between the overs. Set Max was not only notorious, but they were shameful in the manner in which they showed these commercials. Hardly would the last ball of an over have been played by the batsman than when the commercial would start playing. There were even some ridiculous and extremely frustrating moments when the commentator hadn’t even mentioned the score of the batting team at the end of the over and the picture would fade away into a commercial break.

All I can do now is look heavenwards and pray for two things. One, please let Star Cricket get the rights to the major cricketing action for the next few years at least. And two, of course, please either let there be more ‘bad light’ or rain at Lord’s so that India may be able to save the Test match.

P.S. I was originally also intending to speak about certain moments during the current coverage on Star Cricket. These were what I would call moments of ‘glorious cricket coverage’, for instance, the occasion when the camera caught Mr. and Mrs. Richie Benaud watching the first day of the Test Match. More of such beautiful moments in my next post.