What else can I say.......

Have we been silent for the past 10 days because of shock or remorse or disgust? I'm sure the answer is a combination of all the above emotions. But certain things also make our silence humorous. The funniest thing being that yesterday a nation of 1.1 billion people were supporting Bermuda, a country 17,000 times smaller! Hell, there are as many people living in Bermuda as there are in my neighbourhood. So, for them to be playing an international game is like us taking our evening cricket team to the World Cup! This to me is just hilarious. That a country with 66,000 people can produce a team while India with 1.1 billion people struggle to beat much smaller nations, nations which should have much smaller talent pools and so on. Something's grossly wrong with the world. Mind you, Bermuda put up a good fight and I'm sure when Bangladesh were 37/3, a few Indian hopes were rising out of slumber while Bangladeshi nerves must have been jangling.

India's performance against Sri Lanka notwithstanding (India should have beaten them; chasing 250+ against Sri Lanka has been like a walk in the park for India over the last 18 months), it is India's performance against Bangladesh that will come to haunt them. May be it was just the way the coin flipped at the toss that hurt Dravid's men the most. Two weeks into the tournament we know it's much better to chase a target (unless you are Australia), but at the time I'm sure the team decided to bat first: mainly because Bangladesh should be an easy team to win against and so batting first would give good batting practice to India's batsmen and then the bowlers would have an opportunity to bowl B'desh out cheaply and provide a huge boost to India's NRR. Similar to what India or SL did against Bermuda and Aus or SA against Holland. Unfortunately none of that happened as people with a combined experience of about 2000 matches and 40,000 runs buckled "under pressure" against a team with maybe a fifth or tenth of those statistics. Pressure cannot be an excuse. It is brought upon the players not only by 1.1 billion supporters, but also by the players themselves who have set a high standard in the game; make no mistake about that. They are 11 out of 1.1 billion because they can handle that pressure and still perform to compete with the best in the world.

The fact that they buckled two times out of three in this World Cup means that something in the system didn't encourage them to perform. I still think the biggest factor was that Sachin did not open the batting. Yes Sehwag, yes Uthappa, yes Ganguly, but when it comes to opening the batting in One Day International Cricket, only one man stands. As far as I'm concerned, you could do anything with the other three batsmen coming in at 2,3 and 4, but SRT had to open. He loves leading from the front. He also possesses the technique to attack and defend in the early overs and well, he has 15,000 runs and 41 hundreds, most of which have come opening. People talk about his fading days, but I'm not one to speak too early. He scores 100s after comebacks; in spite of Ganguly's return to the side, I think it was Sachin who looked the best and most accomplished batsman on India's tour to South Africa. He didn't score a 100, but scored two 60s and a 40 in 3 tests and that's pretty good going considering how the others performed. The main thing is, in ODIs he loves opening and can make the best attacks look pedestrian. It was a shame that after the WI and SL series at home, the two WC warm up games and the two WC group games, he still came in at No. 4 against Sri Lanka. Sadly, he couldn't perform. I think he'll play the next WC, but that's the least of my interests or worries. WC cricket and ODI cricket in general are over-rated and it's high time the BCCI gave more importance to the real thing: Test Cricket.

However, these happenings on the field pale into insignificance when we consider what this WC will really be remembered for. It may be remembered for Ireland and Bangladesh (even though they will both be steam-rolled in the Super 8s by the other 6 teams), but to me it will be one of the most tragic in modern sporting history. In a way it may be prophetic that cricket's two biggest countries won't be involved in it any further because who would want to tarnish their great sport by winning a WC that will always be shrouded under a cloud of murder! It is the most ghastly side of the sport that has shown its face and tragically, it is only these incidents that propel cricket to the banner headlines of espn.com or cnn.com or even bbcnews.com. When Lara scores 400*, does anyone outside the cricket-playing world know what's going on; when Sachin scores his 35th hundred in his Capital city, does anyone get to know; when Warne got his 700th wicket, did anyone get to know? Of course not! People will hear around the world about the Boston Red Sox beating the New York Yankees, but when it comes to cricket it is only ball-tampering, match-fixing, drug-abuse and murder than puts it on world view. What a wonderful outreach and popularisation campaign. Shame on one-day cricket. It is the main culprit in all this: there's too much money, too much commercialisation and the game has lost out in the bargain. So much so, the next time there'll be a cricketing frenzy in India, it will be for the Twenty20 WC in September, not for India's tour to the World's 2nd best test playing nation. As far as I'm concerned, I'm eagerly waiting for July 19 Lord's or may be a bit of revenge on the 10th of May.........

The hope of audacity...

Oh ... what a match we saw yesterday... Canada took on Kenya and gave us all what we have been thirsting for... hope.

Hope that we can still, somehow, under some pretext, find a way to emigrate to Canada, and resurrect our cricket careers. Careers that have been stubbed out, by bad selectors who never saw the potential, bad umpires who gave us out the day we were going to score a triple hundred and break all schools cricket records, and of-course the wretched 'system', that doesn't allow sportsmen to grow to there full potential, what with exams and other tests always interfering with the "peak form" of the season.

Damn it... why were we not informed of the desperate need for a cricketer who can bowl straight and present a straight bat. We would have all gladly excepted the challenge... of crossing the great seas, hook or by crook, to get an opportunity to play the great game, at it's greatest spectacle, against the best teams.

Oh Mr Bhatti, your gallant efforts to confuse the batsmen with your flight and guile are a tribute to your ability to find a way, you have filled us with hope. The tradition of deception of the 'left arm' bowler has been given a new dimension. The perfect blend of Wasim Akram and Bishen Bedi. Ganguly would have been proud of your ability to fox the batsmen with your change in pace, of your run-up.

We have to be most grateful to the great organization that governs this wonderful game. They have, more than any other team or individual, given cricket a great boost by giving every failed cricketer (a lot of cricket-fans) the chance to prolong there dream.

The 'dream' is beautifully designed. Designed as well as the great religions of the world, give hope, there is nothing like it.

The beauty of the system set in place by the powers that be, it has been created to be the opposite of every other sport in the world. In Cricket, unlike all other sport, the largest and most important tournament is used to give "exposure", "encouragement" etc, to the 'up-and-coming'. Who will, after the tournament is over for them, be sent back to where they came from, and asked to qualify for the next WorldCup, at which point there will be some votes required from associate members(as they are referred to).

In most other sports, the teams that need "exposure", are given the opportunity to play smaller tournaments and individual players of merit are encouraged to play in the best professional leagues in the world and take that experience back to there national teams and grow the sport with a long term goal of seriously wanting the sport to spread.

But then... where would we be today without hope.

Thank you sir... Mr Bhatti.

umpire |ˈəmˌpī(ə)r| noun(in some sports) an official who watches a game or match closely to enforce the rules and arbitrate on matters arising from it

The following is a post by Pro/Mark(Mr PCV Mallik)
Due to technical reasons he is unable to post it himself.
cheers Mark.


At last the games have begun. After all the hype, the drama, the injuries, the visa troubles, the unbuilt stadiums, the 16 teams, the arrivals, the Gavaskar-Ponting spat (I don't know what Ponting's going on about; he even admitted to being reprimanded more than anyone in history and yes, we still feel he's been let off easily!) and the 3-hr opening ceremony, finally the games have begun and West Indies have crushed Pakistan. A match between the two most mercurial teams could be anything, but this opening game was wonderful to set the tone for the cup. West Indies should now at least make it to the Super 8s and that guarantees local interest at least till the 4th week of April, so already we are better off than the last two cups, where the home-teams had failed to clear the preliminary stages. Commiserations to Pakistan but the tournament and cricket in general needed this sort of high-octane start from the home team.

Now for the real point I want to make. Over the past several weeks, analysts have written about every conceivable team, player, strategy, semi-final combination, injury (basically the drama I alluded to in the 2nd sentence of the previous paragraph), but they have forgotten what I think will (it always does) play a huge role in determining the outcome of matches and hence the tournament. And that, of course, is the umpiring. Granted they try their best and do deliver what they think is the correct decision on the field. However, that to me would suggest that all teams/players lose some and win some decisions in the end and it balances out. Even when I look at things in a completely unbiased fashion (believe me, I can!), I can't help but seeing the gross injustices that umpires carry out in the middle. Do they even realise they are playing with people's careers, dreams, aspirations and the most important thing, the correct decision. Here I'm not even referring to the Oval Test fiasco of last summer, but virtually every umpire on this planet is guilty of making some of the most shockingly blatant decisions. Sure they are human and can make mistakes, but this many, even humans can't be excused of so many errors. If the errors fell equally among all teams/players, then I wouldn't mind them, but their deterministically non-random nature is what bothers me.

Hence I think once more in the World Cup as well, it will be the X-factor, the factor (read umpire!) that determines who has the most luck and turns out to be successful in the tournament. How often have you seen Ponting edge the ball to 2nd slip off a no-ball (go on to make a 100), get caught the following game at square leg and another no-ball is called (this time the umpire apologises later for calling the no-ball wrongly; goes on to make a 100), is plumb lbw but not given (goes on to make a 100), asks Srinath to "go f****** bowl", is not reprimanded (goes on to score a 100), is dropped on 90-something in a test match they should have lost against Bangladesh (goes on to make a 100)........ the list goes on and on. Similar lists can easily be created for equally unlikable, not particularly talented, but hugely successful players: read Matt Hayden, Jacques Kallis, and even bowlers (Donald, McGrath) and they'll tend to come from predominantly two nations, the two most successful in recent years as well and the two that play the least attractive cricket: Australia and South Africa. Who are the top two favourites for this Cup??? Who are the top two ranked teams?

The other end of the spectrum talks of really great players who get the short end of the stick: how often have you seen Sachin given caught behind off the shoulder; dropped at point but given out; ball gone above his head given caught-behind; reached his crease, bat is kicked up, given out run-out; given out then called back by the umpire (gets out the next over, actually out surprisingly); heck, he's so used to being given out that he has even walked when he is not out!; given out lbw when the balls hits the middle of the bat and given out caught-behind when he's left the ball. The list is endless. Which is why I find it even funnier (or may be ominous) that Steve Bucknor took the umpires oath. Sachin has famously said that having Bucknor umpiring is like facing the best bowler in the world every ball! A similarly virtually identical list can be found for another man named Lara (he was actually out only for the 2nd time in the series against Australia when he scored 226 in Adelaide; his previous 5 out of 6 dismissals in Australia in 2005 were umpiring boo-boos). And he continues to walk; even in the opening WC game! Then you have the bowlers (of the past again!) like Waqar and Gough who would bowl their hearts out (and apart from fielders dropping catches produced by their bowling) umpires would play their familiar role of not giving a plumb lbw or caught-behind. I've seen it too often to enumerate!

Anyway, that's enough of my rant. The point is that umpires do a woeful job (however difficult it might be; yes, I would do better) and this WC will be no different (oh, how I would love it to be!) and many matches and moments will be decided by them, not the players or their quality. Hence I find it amusing that there is never any analysis on this aspect of cricket. If I can hear an inside edge onto pad (given out lbw) through my TV after the sound has travelled through various radio, sound and electrical signals over 10,000km, how the hell can the umpire miss it standing 22 yards away with a microphone shoved up his ear??!!

Lara

I watched the first match of the world cup and loved it.I should have been there in person watching it.

... i am writing this sitting at a desk and wondering how it didn't happen.

If anybody wants to write a great film script then allow Brian Lara to play the final and hit the winning runs. He has been, apart from Shane Warne, and Shoaib Akthar (when he is not taking drugs, getting injured, or getting dropped due to verbal diarrhea ), the most exciting player to watch over the last ten years.

Whatever he does seems to be part of a grand scheme to hypnotize you. Leaving the reality of the daily struggle behind and enter the world of sublime touch and timing. The dance, one of the few who still dance, and not walk down the wicket, hitting spinners to all parts , the bat coming down in a beautiful arc, even in defense it all looks so magnificent.

Then there is the control, not just of his batting, but of the entire game, he seems to orchestrate everything around him, even the bowlers and the fields seems to do as told, 'now pitch the ball up'...yes sir... 'now bowl short outside off'...yes sir.

I am a big fan of the exaggerated movement that preceded the bat meeting the ball. The stance still, then bat starts to go up and up and further up, and seemed to pull the body, and the legs, with a hop, and take him right across the stumps.
This has, as he has gotten older and a 'filled out', reduced greatly. I think it has lowered the chances of him getting out in the first ten-fifteen minutes of a innings. All part of the refinement process.

Lara is just getting better with time, every now and then the 'experts' used to comment about how 'Lara is at his peek...he should really cash in... after a while he will slow down'. After a point i think it got embarrassing that they had to keep repeating this after every series.

Lara just gets better with time, thats just it, it's time everybody just got on with there life's and stop wasting time on when he should retire. I personally hope he continues to play test cricket well into his forties.

Somewhere in the mid 1990's, on one of those typically hot afternoons, my cricket buddies and i were waiting for a friend to arrive with new cricket balls and as is quite common we got into a discussion on one of the favorite topics of cricket fans. The topic of who is the best batsman in the world. I was of the opinion that it was Sachin Tendulkar. My friend and tormentor on the cricket field, was adamant it was Brian Lara. I argued that we had not seen the best of Mr Tendulkar and that Mr Lara was probably past his best and that his 375 was "it". Every time i have the privilege of watching the man bat i remember that argument.

Oh yes... the first match of the world cup was great. I hope it just gets better from here.

When in Bermuda...... look out for upward gusts.

So it began.
With fifteen eliminations and 50 defeats to go, teams lined up... some in eager anticipation and some in shorts, (Bermudas!!) for the three-hour, $2 million extravaganza at the Trelawny Stadum in Jamaica.
An event featuring more than 2,000 singers, dancers and other performers. Also, headlining such respectable carribeanians as Sir. Garfield Sobers, Sean Paul and Shaggy.

In India of course; we being an audience not easily accepting of cricket mania, hype or gala star studded openings; the extravaganza was not aired.
SET MAX deciding instead that the people staying up until 3 AM on a week night in their new blue cricket jerseys, would much prefer a rerun of a movie entitled "Chori Chori Chupke Chupke" about Raj and Priya who are newly married. Priya is pregnant, but due to unexpected circumstances, she loses her child and is unable to conceive again. Enter Madhoo, a prostitute who is willing to become surrogate mother for the couple. Their relationship becomes entangled with a love triangle when Madhoo falls in love with Raj.

So any way, the world cup has an Official Song! Now I am not sure how the branding on something like an official song works? Is it like clothing sponsors? "Buy the banjo! Official string instrument of the world cup!" Or is it more like that Shakira song for the football world cup? Except, that song could have been a Michael Bolton cover for all that mattered! It's lyric and musical merit are about as consequential as Wyclef Jean, yes there was a guy on stage with Shakira. Yes I know I just ruined your fantasy.
Well, this world cup song features the voices of Jamaican-born Shaggy, Barbadian entertainer Rupee and Trinidadian Faye-Ann Lyons. It is called "THE GAME OF LOVE AND UNITY" and makes about as much sense as any Shaggy song does.
But, what the hell. It is fun, upbeat and doesn't endorse gold teeth and recreational homicide. I like it!
You can download or listen to it here.

"This is it, one big game, that you cannot miss.

No matter who you are - everyone's on the list.

This is the game of life and we all are one.

So come along."

Ay! balcony!!

I think this is my favourite world cup ad yet!
Thanks Devi.




If you liked the music as much as I did, you can download it here.

Inswing...

There are things that you enjoy just because they are in the air around you. You have to fight it to not enjoy it. Like acid rain or Schwarzenegger for president, it is something we are just going to have to face up to sooner or later. Cricket is just that for me, it is an aura we live in and breathe, it makes for conversation with a random co-passenger or with the guy using the urinal next to you. (The only time, in my opinion, that a conversation ending with “lets shake on that” doesn’t necessarily mean consensus has been reached!)

Cricket is that underlying theme to collective mood swings.
It is that jubilant nod when you walk into the office the day after a full toss at the death yields a match winning wicket or that sigh of resignation when defeat is clawed out of the clutches of victory!

I am not however a sportsman by any measure, I spent all my PT periods standing petrified as balls of an inflated, moulded, or steel die cast variety were hurled, served, volleyed, cut, glanced or shot at me.
So to those of you that are thinking, what use is a total novice with no cricket knowledge, zero insight and an ill fitting wardrobe, whose only on field experience is as a stand in football goal post when a suitable tree/ compound wall/ fiat car, was not found!
I have only two words to say,…… Mandira Bedi !!!

(Gratuitous Mandira photograph here. )
( Your welcome.)


Yeah as long as Mandira can sermonize on the dew factor, Jadeja can talk about sporting ethics and Venkatesh Prasad on ‘fast’ bowling, I sure as hell should be allowed to critique atheletic ability!

But seriously, I am the cricket fan that every marketing team in the country is currently working through the night for. I am the fan that believes that cricket stars take the time in between overs to drink Pepsi, wear new Nike shoes and consider large apartments at Sahara Amby Valley.

I am what makes this game….not hockey!

here we go...

It's been in the planning for a while. Like a lot of things in life we waited, thought, postponed and wondered... How do we start? ,should we register a url? , Do we have the time to keep it going? , Does it make sense? , Will we be knocked for spelling bad... and having no sense of grammar? and many more relevant and irrelevant questions.
Well , i guess we will find out as this journey goes on.

I think i have spent more time watching, reading, playing and discussing cricket than doing anything else except sleeping. This also happens to be the case with my fellow cricket tragics, who , if they can get themselves to write a bit of the babble that we produce on a daily basis, it would be great to post it.

Cheers.