aditya kumar's weblog

Excerpts from this very touching article at Cricinfo. The link is all over it:

Tendulkar looked briefly like he was on the road to redemption. He wasn’t supposed to get out to a 37-year-old, balding off-spinner, nicknamed Shaggy, with a Test bowling average of 92.

And some more:

This series has changed all that. Tendulkar has been human. And to the followers of English cricket, pretty much for the first time.

Tendulkar, caught Bell, bowled Udal. Who would have thought? But there it is, in the scorebook. Forever.

More than Three decades of ODI cricket. Almost 35 years. Not one team, ever, crossed the 400 run barrier. Not even when they played 60 overs per innings.

So today, When playing for a series winning decider against South Africa in Johannesburg, the Australian team made a bulky sounding 434/4 in their allotted 50 overs, most people believed that the rest of the cricket about to follow, had nothing but an academic value. Another Aussie dominated day in the offing? Different opposition, same result?

But South Africa have a certain man in their team called Herschelle Gibbs and I have always felt he has often been underestimated in the arena of International Cricket usually dominated by Batsmen of the likes of Lara, Tendulkar, Gilchrist …the list goes on… Blame it on his average of 35.77 runs maybe, he has usually found it difficult to get his photo printed on glossy paper.

Tonight, when he was playing the innings of his life, most of the world was sleeping. Tomorrow, in fact, a few hours from now, everyone will be talking about it.

Belief, you know, does some incredible things to people. One 35 year old man, once discarded by his critics and the team selectors makes his way back to the team and becomes the first Indian bowler to take 500 test wickets, the second-fastest ever to achieve this record. At 35, when most cricketers nowadays “consider” retirement and start tuning their English speaking skills to allure the viewer from the commentary box, this man tells us that ‘600 wickets is a possibility’. Another cricketer, a few thousand miles away, goes on to bat with a target in front of him that no one ever in the history of cricket had to achieve and facing a bowling attack which is literally the world’s most potent under any conditions. And almost single-handedly, this man turns the tables.

If you watched the game live, I bet you must’ve had the feeling that these had to be the highlights, such was the frequency of the ball crossing the boundary. Afterall, it’s not everyday that you get to see an innings comprising of 7 sixes and 21 fours coming from one man’s willow in little more than 2 hours time. Such was the rush.

And what is with Gibbs and dropped catches? When he dropped Steve Waugh in the 1999 World Cup, it was (rightly) said he had dropped the World cup. Today, Bracken dropped a sitter from Gibbs when he was at 130. Ouch. No World Cup but still, that must’ve hurt.

As I mentioned, it took more than three decades for any team in International cricket to achieve 400 runs in a one day innings. The best part was, the record lasted merely four hours.

Match report here and here. Scorecard here.

So, the BCCI is finally considering having its own channel. Old readers might recall, this is exactly what I had mentioned here, in a post written in 2004.

BCCI, now wants to promote “Brand” BCCI. The channel is a step in that direction. What does the channel mean to the common man? Will it be available free-to-air? You gotta be kidding if you think that would be the case, how will the BCCI earn money then? So stupid of me to even think on those lines. Afterall, BCCI is the richest of all cricket boards in the world (and also was once stupid enough to suggest that ‘Team India’ is actually not representing India, but BCCI…and I think that was one of the early signs of success and money going into BCCI’s head)

Let’s take a closer look on how does the cricket television rights war hits the “common man”.

For a cricket fan, the only question that matters is — Will s/he be able to watch cricket on a free-to-air channel (read DD) or not. Whether the cricket is on at Ten Sports, Zee Sports, ESPN or Sony – it does not make a difference.

In the cases when cricket can be viewed on Doordarshan, it is usually a “sharing” arrangement between the Cable Channel and DD. When that doesn’t happen, it is the common man’s cricket that looses.

What will BCCI’s new channel add to this? Fuel to the fire.

BCCI will just retain the allocation of the cricket feed rights to itself. Whether it would be available for Prasar Bharti (DD’s momma company) is going to be decided, most probably, in one of the courts in our country, a few days before each tour begins. Back to square one. I hope I am proved wrong.

Cricket, in India, is a big cow that milks money. BCCI is the owner. They certainly have started acting as if they are the owners of the game worldwide. Example, they say that India shall not participate in The ICC Champions trophy. Why? It’s not economically feasible. According to Cricinfo:

“BCCI made fairly clear signals that it did not support the ICC fund-raising concept which it believed reduced its own earning potential.”

” ‘We’re not free in October in 2007, 2008 or 2009,” BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi told reporters on Monday. “We have made our position clear to the ICC many times. If others want to play, they can, but why should we play in October?’ ”

So the Governing Body of the Game can go to hell. I believe that ICC has always been a very weak body. But BCCI has made a mockery of what remained of The ICC.

Want more? BCCI shall not host Bangladesh in India for a test series because it is not “economically feasible”. So will India be playing Bangladesh? Yes, India would be touring Bangladesh next year. More From Mr.Bindra:

” ‘They make more money by our going there. If they come to India, they will get only meal allowance. If we go there they make huge television revenue and title sponsorship.’ ”

More here

It’s a clear case of making money at the cost of Cricket. The BCCI has decided that it does not need to venture into anything that doesn’t bring them money. Money is the name of the game. (BCCI’s former president prefers to call it “Professionalism”) So, by that logic, they should stop organising first class matches altogether. After all, first class cricket is not known for generating revenue.

Where does the money go? Our first class cricketers play to empty stands and still travel by train you know. Uhh.. there was some talk about “transparency” too, when Mr Pawar came to hold the BCCI reigns, err…what about it?

My New Year was no celebration at all, I was browsing the internet on my computer at home. But yes, music is an important aspect of anything that I do on days like these, so I played U2’s “The Unforgettable Fire” and “New Year’s Day”. I needed Bono’s reassuring, full-of-hope voice.

Bono’s like an old friend to me now. So even if he sings a sad song, I manage to pull out some hope everytime I hear him.

We all have our problems, small and big. It has been a tough year for the World as well. The Tsunami aftereffects, The London bombings, the Delhi bombings, the Kashmir Earthquake, to name a few. People have lost, people have grieved. For me, there has been a personal loss as well.

The New Year is hope for all of us. It’s that time when we have the opportunity to start over, to wipe the slate clean and to give everything a fresh start. I hope that it turns out to be a year that is good and full of hope for all of you, the readers of this blog whom I know, and those who choose not to comment and decide against letting their presence felt.

It would be naive to believe that problems shall go away. They will persist, like always. Here, I wish that the “fine balance” is achieved. Its something that is explained below in the post, so please continue reading.

Meanwhile, A Very Happy New Year.

On a lighter note, the Truman Specials for this year. In no particular order.

1. The Best Album Truman listened to

Without doubt, U2’s “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”. It grows on you, and finally gets you! What an album this!

2. Errr.. The Best (Non-U2) Artist/Album Truman listened to

I feel it has to be Coldplay’s X&Y. Oasis comes a close second with “Standing on the shoulder of Giants”. Figures say a little different story though. In the second half of the year, I listened to 285 songs of Oasis and 197 songs of Coldplay. (U2’s count for the second half of the year? 694 songs)

3. Best Hindi movie Truman watched full screen

Iqbal. But do I have a choice? Hardly good movies released this year! (I liked “Sehar” too)

4. Best Hollywood movie Truman watched full screen

Cinderella Man. No doubt. But Harry Potter comes a close second. “Finding Neverland” comes third.

5. “If-only-I-could-see” movie for this year

Anniyan. I wish to see this movie. But I can’t understand Tamil. I wish I could!

6. Cricketing action of the year

The Ashes, what else? But then again, the England-Pakistan series was such a downer.

7. Arrogant Cricketer of the year

Andre Nel of South Africa. Click on the link to see his face and you shall know who we are dealing with.

8. Best place Truman visited this year

Home :)

heh, actually, Kasauli. And I intend to visit it again. A close second comes, Karwar

9. Last but not the least, The Best Indian Author book Truman read this year

Difficult. Very, very difficult. Hmmm.. I would say “A fine balance” by Rohinton Mistry.

This is the “Fine Balance” line I was talking about, something that applies to all of us: “You cannot draw lines and compartments, and refuse to budge beyond them. Sometimes you have to use your failures as stepping-stones to success. You have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair…In the end, it’s all a question of balance Pg 231, ‘A Fine Balance’ “.

Dr. Amitav Ghosh’s “The Glass Palace” comes very close. These books are very moving, in their own ways. Essentials of Indian Literature, these.

But the common factor in these books, is this feeling that overwhelms you, that is reflected in the words below:

‘Holding this book in your hand, sinking back in your soft arm-chair, you will say to yourself: perhaps it will amuse me. And after you have read this story of the great misfortunes, you will no doubt dine well, blaming the author for your own insensitivity, accusing him of wild exaggeration and flights of fancy. But rest assured: this tragedy is not a fiction. All is true.’

— Honoré de Balzac, Le Pere Goriot

The best thing for me, at a personal level, has been the literature I have read. The treasure is endless and it is priceless. The year gone by, has been the year of the Indian Authors. And no, I am not just talking about the Authors who write books. Just as important, are the Writers who exist in Blogosphere. I want to thank you, to each one of them, for Writing. Writing for a cause, Writing when provoked, Writing to Inspire and more importantly, Writing with responsibility. They know who they are.

Thats it for now, signing off!

So what’s the latest slime at The Times of India?

After being overly concerned about Sania Mirza’s sleeveless shirt and her skirt, could there be any better masala for The Times of India than the Chappell-Ganguly row!

I have always said- Good publications take a stand and stick to it.

But what does TOI do?

On wednesday, reports this in the print edition:



…and taking a U-Turn in under 24 hours, has this on the TOI website, Thursday:



How convenient! What a way to make everybody happy!

Sick, cheap journalism.

The fact that I have been writing a lot about Cricket might have surprised my old readers since this is not a subject I usually mention on my blog. But frankly, the game and it’s proceedings have never been this interesting since a long, long time. So I am giving into the temptation.

The Chappell-Ganguly row that has followed after the Indian Team debacle(s), what can I say, it all seems like a movie script so well written. Perfect execution by the characters involved, of course. All the experience gained in show business came in handy, afterall.

cheap rhetoric.

Cricinfo has the full story here.

And my letter to the editor, Cricinfo, below.

Dear Editor,

After reading CricInfo’s full story the confusion is no more and I
believe it is up to us, the readers, to arrive at a rational
conclusion.

It’s a case of arousing sympathy. The coach was projected as the
villain here. If you take a closer look and think about it you will
see that what Chappell has done here is given it straight to Ganguly.
He has spoken those words to him which the media has only been
whispering about. Once confronted with a situation akin to a child
facing his strict father, Ganguly has come out complaining about it
expecting sympathy by projecting the coach as a villain.

Chappell is new to this place, this whole cricket system of our
country. He could be given the benefit of doubt here. But Chappell or
no Chappell, Certainly, Ganguly is at fault. He is an experienced
campaigner, has lead India for 5 years now and he should know well the
consequences of washing dressing room’s dirty linen in public. By
going to the media, he has behaved like a spoiled child.

But I wonder, if India would have been touring Australia now (and not
Zimbabwe or the likes) and if Ganguly would have been confronted with
the same situation, would he have gone to the media? Would he have
made a hundred in the first place?

I doubt it.

Good day ahead,
Ak

As expected, the Australian Team is facing the heat down under. Opinion seems to be divided- on one hand we have greats like Dennis Lillee, Ian Chappell and Michael Slater asking for Buchanan’s removal and on the other hand we have former Captain, Mark Taylor, who believes Ricky has “generally” done well with the captaincy. Meanwhile, Buchanan is busy finding silver lining(s) in the recent defeats here.

Jason Gillespie intends to go back to the basics of bowling, train hard and come back fine, afterall, “it’s not rocket science”. More here. By the way, can he take Zaheer Khan and Agarkar with him, too?

If the Australians were good, England were better. But here’s the fine print- the Australians were not good all the time. They did not play their usual brand of cricket and they know it. Slip-ups by the Australians have happened, there is no denying that fact. The nervousness is there to see.

The English press is celebrating and how. The Telegraph is offering a “Ashes Heroes” DVD for free to it’s readers. Now rare moments of Hoggard hitting a boundary and Ricky Ponting’s clueless face expressions at office will be revived on home television.


[The Sun: Cover]

[The Mirror: Cover]

On a more serious note, Coach Fletcher warns the English team to not to let it go to their heads. Mirror reports here.

I guess the best way to look at the English celebrations is through pictures. CricInfo helps me out here.


[Above: In Australia, Ponting isn’t able to hide his nervous moments…]


[…While the English Captain catches with sleep at work!]

[Above: Vaughan, Pietersen and Flintoff celebrate on the bus ride]

[…and Flintoff can’t stop smiling!]

I wish I could find a picture of Michael Atherton, the former English Captain, smiling at the presentation ceremony- I have never seen him smile so much!

Signing off, for now.