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Archive for the 'Cricket' Category

Legends and Heroes

Published June 23rd, 2008 in Cricket and Memories. 86 Comments

[For detailed reminiscences of the 1983 World Cup, please read this.]

[Update: I was invited to do a much shorter version of the above post for the BBC. It was for their Hindi edition. The article is here. The translation to Hindi was, needless to say, not done by me. Neither did I give the title of “Dekho Maine dekha tha ek sapna”….after all without a “Phoolon ke seher main hain ghar aapna” the words lose much of its meaning.]

Many many years hence when I sit on a porch, rocking on an armchair with a shawl wrapped around me and a cup of tea with thin arrowroot biscuits in hand, I shall , in the manner of grandparents, smile self-contentedly and tell a group of wide-eyed children, voice soaked in trembling emotion —” Yes I saw it. I was there. Sometimes in front of a radio and sometimes a television. It happened right in front of me”.

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Looking Back On the IPL

Published June 3rd, 2008 in Cricket. 69 Comments

And now as the dust settles on the wham-bam mega cricket mujra, the cheerleaders pack up their sports bras, Priety Zinta goes back to hugging only Ness Wadia, Dada goes back to putting needles in Dhoni’s voodoo doll, Shahrukh Khan tries to forget the man with the throwing arm and Mallya gets high on his own supply of Kingfisher to forget the pain, it is time for a long look back at the revolution that was the first season of IPL.

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IPL Roundup

Published May 26th, 2008 in Cricket. 40 Comments

[Warning: long post]

With the month-long IPL coming to a conclusion, if not a climax (and some would say many days too late) it is time to take a look back at the weeks gone by and ask ourselves: “Have we learnt anything about the mechanics of this newest incarnation of cricket after so many “Citi moments of success” and Arun Lalisms? Or are we as clueless as we were before?

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Akhtar Akhtar

Published May 13th, 2008 in Cricket. 83 Comments

Oh what drama doth cricket produce.

A meager 133 runs to defend. The most successful opening pair of the tournament at the crease.

And running into bowl is a man rejected by his country as too undisciplined, too over-the-hill and just too wacko to warrant selection, a man out of competitive cricket for months and barely match-fit, written off and lampooned by most (and that includes me).

What happens next?

Magic.

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Bangalore Royally Challenged

Published May 9th, 2008 in Cricket. 68 Comments


[Photo credits: the Mangalorean]

Welcome to India’s latest reality show—-”Will You Go Tomorrow, Tick Tick Tick Tick” (inspired by the iconic “If you come tomorrow”) presented by the same guys who brought you “Kamzor Kuri Kaun”, “Kaun Banega Laxmipati” and “Jeeto Thappad Marke”. For those of you who haven’t tuned in before, in every show, we kick out, based on popular opinion, one member of the Bangalore Royal Challengers team.

A quick recap. Yesterday the team member who lost his job was Charu Sharma, the CEO of the franchise. Yes the same Charu Sharma who sat to the left of Mandira Bedi in Extraa Innings, the host with a penchant for talking a lot about “nothing at all”, a man whose bald pate sometimes out-glistened in its smoothy roundness the things that Mandira Bedi brought to the table.

Well to be exact Charu Sharma was not really “fired”. According to the official version, Charu Sharma left for personal reasons—-reasons that were so personal even the person himself didn’t know what they were.

And today with yet another embarassing loss to a team also scraping the bottom of the IPL barrel, it is time for the Bengaluru Boys to lose one more item of clothing.

So which one will it be?

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Cholche Cholbe

Published May 2nd, 2008 in Cricket. 54 Comments

[Cholche Cholbe–a famous CPM slogan that basically says “Whatever we are doing will go on”, a great ode to mediocrity]

We all heard the IPL Knight Riders theme song—that rousing anthem which was supposed to inspire Shahrukh Khan’s team.

It has since changed—to the right in bold face is the new theme song.

Jeetne aaye hai, Jeet ke jayenge,
Unme se Hum nahi
Maat jo khayenge
Jeetne aaye hai,Jeet ke jayenge
Lakh roke koi,Hum fateh payenge

We are too hot,we are too cool
All are King’s men , We Rule
We are too hot,we are too cool
Ami Kolkatar , We RULE.

Korbo Lorbo Jitbo re,
Korbo Lorbo re, jitbo re, jitbo re
Karenge Larenge Jeetenge
Jeet Jaayenge, Jeetenge, Jeetenge

Saara Jahaan Piche ,
Hum to Chale aage
Dushman Jo Dekhe Humko,
Dum Dabake bhage re bhage
Saara Jahaan Piche,
Hum to Chale aage
Dushman Jo Dekhe Humko,
Dum Dabake bhage re bhage

We are too hot ,We are too cool
All are King’s men,We Rule
We are too hot, We are too cool
Ami Kolkatar,We RULE.

Hagne aaye hai ,Hag ke jayenge,
Is mein sharam nahi
Sabse maar khayenge,
Shahrukh ko lootne aaye hai, Lootke jayenge
Lakh roke koi, Humare phat jayenge

Our Hussey is hot,Our Butt is cool
All are King’s men,We are jhool [1]
Our team in a rot,but We cool
Ami Kolkatar , CPM RULE

Harchi, haarchi, Haarbo re ,
Haarchi Haarbo re,Haarbo re , Haarbo re
Haarenge Haarenge Haarenge
Sab harenge, Haarenge, Haarenge

Saara jahaan aage ,
Hum to chale peeche
Dushman Jo dekhe humko
Khub Hanse re hanse
John Buchanan peeche ,
Uska beta aage [2]
Aur Dada ko leke
SRK phaanse re phaanse

Agarkar’s hot ,Ponting’s a fool
All are King’s men , worse than Trinamool
The night is hot, buke chool [3]
Ami Knight Rider ,BIG BHOOL

[1] Jhool: Bangla for dirt that hangs from ceiling.

[2] John Buchanan’s son Michael Buchanan is also on the payroll of the Knight Riders. It’s a family deal.

[3] “Buke chool” means “hair on chest” in Bangla.

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Indian Premier League—Team Reviews

Published April 29th, 2008 in Cricket. 86 Comments

With nearly one third of the IPL games over, it was time that I thought I wrote little reviews/assessments of the individual franchises. Though Twenty20 appears at first sight to be a game of brainless slam-bam, a second and a third look reveals that there is strategy, team-building, intense professional pride and more than a bit of character and man-management at play. Not to speak of booty shakes, pompoms, hugs and slaps.

[Warning: Long post]

Chennai Super Kings: Having gone for team balance with an eclectic mix of superstar foreign players in both the batting as well as in the bowling department, Chennai Super Kings are deservedly at the top of the table and are clearly the title favoritea.

With an uber-attacker in Hayden, a solidly spectacular presence in Michael Hussey, a reliable batting backup in Stephen Fleming (retired and hence guaranteed to play for the entire season) to exciting all rounders like Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel (dubbed the new Klusener), a tearaway (Ntini) and the greatest off-spinner of all time (Murali), Chennai Super Kings are spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing foreign imports for their team.

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Fool Aur Chanta —Snippets from IPL

Published April 26th, 2008 in Cricket. 87 Comments

Snippet 1: Thanks to the IPL, the concept of nation-state is perilously close to collapse. If people were stunned a few days ago seeing the Jaipur crowd booing Sreesanth for giving verbals to “local boy” Pakistani Kamran Akmal, today things took an even more dramatic turn.

Civil war became a real possibility as Punjabputra Harbhajan Singh gave Sreesanth, representing Punjab Kings XI a resounding slap, the likes of which have not been seen outside the sets of Kkusum or Kasauti Zindagi Ki. While reports that Bhajji slapped Sreesanth ten times, (nine times in slow motion with ominous music in the background) upon which Sreesanth said “Yeh thappad ki goonj mujhe yaad rahega, Obnoxious Weed” could not be confirmed ,what however is beyond doubt that “uber tough man” Sreesanth, upon being hit by the doosra, started bawling Nirupa Roy style.

[Video Link]

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