Flopping back into his “chief selectorial” couch, Dilip Vengsarkar lets out a sigh of relief. Looking at BCCI supremo, Sharad the Powerful he whines:
“This is going to be a tough day of interviews. The entire building is crawling with ex-Indian cricketers, each claiming to be the ideal person to be the next Indian coach. Just now, I was in the loo letting fly when I saw a hand trying to push in a resume underneath the cubicle from the adjoining potty enclosure. And judging from how slowly the hand moved, I am positive that was Venkatesh Prasad. On the way to this room, I accidentally bumped into Raghuram Bhatt, Bharati Arun and several other Indian ex-cricketers who I didn’t know even existed, each with a Vision 2011, hand-written on the back of old movie posters.”
Sharad Pawar opens one eye. “Are they from Mumbai?”
Vengsarkar nods. No they are not.
Diana Eduljee, ex-woman cricketer and resident-expert on CNN-IBN and also part of the coach selection committee said: “This is unfair. Noone pays any attention to woman’s cricket.”
Paying no attention to her, Dilip Vengsarkar shouts to the doorman: “Let the first candidate in”.
Kiran More enters and gets seated. Standing up, he delivers the following opening statement:
“I am happy to be here, you know, being able to present my case as to why, you know, I am the best choice for India’s next coach. At quarter the price that Greg charged, I can do the same things that he did, lose bladder-control and leak everywhere, you know, make the players wear silly hats — actually I stole his notebook from his bedroom (please don’t ask me what I was doing there) and have memorized everything. Why do you need Whatmore when you have KiranMore? And remember, the “More” is our national bird….(shaking his ass like a dancing peacock)…you”
Vengsarkar : “Yes we know. Thank you sir, we shall take that under consideration.”
Pawar whispers to Vengsarkar: “Keep the fact that he is anti-Dalmiya in his record.” Vengsarkar nods.
“Next”.
Diana yelps out at the next entrance..
“Whoa…white man.White man. Dilip,you told me only Indian coaches….then how come this man is white..”
“Relax”, smiled the new entrant, “I am Mohinder Amarnath underneath 10 bottles of “Fair and Lovely”. This time, I am taking no chances.”
Diana: “No chances?”
Mohinder: Yes mam. This is what I said when I lost out to a foreigner in 2005 for the position of India’s coach.
“Agar aap samajhte hain ke kisi ka rang gora hai aur chamdi alag kism kee hai to vo behtar hai, to mai bhee Fair and lovely lagana shuru kar deta hu ke mera rang bhee waisa ho jaaye.” (“if you think that just because someone’s colour is white and his skin is different that makes him better then even I will begin using Fair and Lovely so I can make my colour like that”), he (Mohinder) said, when asked about the trend of all Asian teams appointing foreign coaches. He didn’t believe he should be India’s coach because he was the best possible candidate, just that he was Indian. When his views on the use of technology were sought, he replied, with a straight face, “I don’t have laptop. I only have a lap.”
Diana screamed: “Lap?What lap chi chi…..”
“Relax madam”, pacified Dilip,”what he means is that he does not know the difference between a cover drive and an USB drive but can discipline Indian players by spanking them on his lap.”
(To Mohinder):” Thank you.Your resume with your job experience (coach of Bangladesh in the early 2000s) and stint with Rajasthan is already on record. You do not need to apply again. A word of advice: do apply skin-brightening lotion evenly over your face—-may I suggest Harbhajan Singh’s salon where Sylvie will take care of you.”
Guard interrupts: “Sir down-stairs Krish Srikkanth has been trying to get in but is being restrained by security. He keeps shouting that we only need Indian coach for the team not any foreign one…
Pawar whispers again: “So he wants the job,does he?”
Vengsarkar whispers back: “Of course he does. Who wants to be on CNN-IBN for the rest of his life?”
Diana Eduljee glares.
Sandip Patil sidesteps the guard and enters. Pawar’s face lights up.
Patil says: ” I presume I do not need to repeat my record with the Kenyan team. It was only due to my excellent strategizing that we were able to win games in the 2003 World Cup by just taking the field while our opponents were just not able to turn up. And just to show that my dil always beats for India even when I am coaching Kenya, during that match against India when India were in a spot of bother, I let the spinners operate when Sourav Ganguly was batting instead of bringing back the seamers…(smiling) I told them that Ganguly loves playing seamers and pacers and cannot read spin…..”
Pawar leans over to Vengsarkar: “Helped Sourav Ganguly? Hmm now that I remember was this man not involved with Debashree Ray, the Bengali bombshell in the 80s? I suspect a Dalmiya plant here.”
Vengsarkar looks up to Patil: “We will call you, if we are interested.”
The guard pokes his head.
“Some Bedi in here to see you sir.”
Sharad Pawar lights up.
“Mandira Bedi….oooh…show her in. Just wait till I put some perfume on my body.”
Door opens.
Pawar’s eyes bulge out of socket.
“W-hattt… this is not Mandira Bedi with the big….this is Bishan Singh Bedi with the big mouth…….security security…”
Vengsarkar: “Yes the same man who when he was manager told the press that we should dump the Indian team into the Arabian Sea and suggested that Srinath play for the Sharjah team and is now known to be permanently pissed…..”
As burly guards catch hold of a struggling Bedi, Bishan Singh Bedi shouts :”Please please let me be the coach…I will stop being pissed off all the time. Don’t you understand I am angry because no-one gives me anything significant.”
Sharad Pawar wipes his temple with his hanky.
“Phew. This is precisely the reason why we did not invite him to the ex-captain’s conference. Just like we did not invite Ajit Wadekar, who despite being a Mumbaikar opposed me, the great Sharad Pawar, in the Mumbai Cricket Association polls……aah the humiliation to him is sweet…”
And then he enters. Wearing a Proline tshirt from the 80s and cool shades even inside the room, Ravi Shastri walks in.
Sharad Pawar exults: “Perfect”. Vengsarkar smiles and motions for Shastri to sit.
Shastri: “I have always wanted to give back to Indian cricket if not for anything but for providing me an endless supply of star-struck girls. You all have heard my unbiased and erudite commentary, where I have always railed against regionalism in Indian cricket, which (looking at Pawar) should convince you that I am your man. I have the unique experience of having being boo-ed at every cricket stadium in the country when I was a player so much so that “Gali gali main shor hain, Rajiv Gandhi chor hain” and “Shastri hai hai” are now considered to be the two defining slogans of the 80s.”
Vengsarkar asks: “How does that help you in being India’s coach?”
Shastri: “Simple. I am impervious to criticism.I also propose that we take Venkatesh Prasad as bowling coach because he is Indian, because he can help both spinners as well as pacers as he himself was neither and because he really wants the job, having been lobbying for it for many years, on television channels, newspapers and to anyone who will listen. To me that desperation counts for more than the skills of a Fannie De Villiers or Alan Donald.”
Pawar whispers to Vengsarkar. Vengsarkar nods.
A thumbs up is given.
Diana Eduljee looks on sullenly.
The Greatbong Blog & Podcast 
Ah finally the inside story has been leaked. Was waiting for this since the time we lost. Greatly overjoyed.
And hey i managed to get in the first comment… Yipeee
Nice.
Simply Great. You are marvellous.
Awesome!!
Good One! I was hoping for a Gavaskar Kapil Dev combo for the team; the current change at best, looks stop-gap. I dont think Prasad and Shastri will get anywhere; but they have a fairly easy tour to prove their mettle – dull drab sub-continent wickets and Bangladesh as an opponent; although I am pretty sure the tour will have its surprises given their fantastic run with SA yesterday…
Well this is one expected lines given your love for Greg and Morae.
What about a write on the holy cow Endulkar? He seems to now firmly beliveing that he is touch me not and above criticism.
tendulkar has been given a show cause notice by BCCI for his juvenile rants like a cry baby. man, this guy has completely lost it.
Just Amazing ! My tumy aches.
“I have the unique experience of having being boo-ed at every cricket stadium in the country when I was a player so much so that “Gali gali main shor hain, Rajiv Gandhi chor hain†and “Shastri hai hai†are now considered to be the two defining slogans of the 80s.â€
….nice to remember those slogans again.
Amarnath..fair & lovely….LOL
GB,your sense of humour is unique & just wonderful.
well given the situation… i think bcci reaction has been mature and well measured…
though i must agree that this coach quickfix looks like a stopgap arrangement at best
Whatmore that Kiranmore? and Bedi-perfume pieces were too good! Great piece.
Nice take. Though am not sure whether BCCI’s steps are as bad as they seem. Their endorsement funda is daft and would probably help Mr. Subhash Chandra more (if cricketers get their act together).
Also, I still feel that BCCI under Pawar is a much better organization than under Dollarmiya( had given links in my last comment). And don’t know why you think Pawar favours Mumbai people. I mean, Sachin, of all the people, has been castigated. This is the equivalent of impeachment! And Sachin is as Mumbai as you can possibly get.
Ravi Shastri and Venkatesh Prasad: what a choice! Might as well have taken Kumble in place of Venkatesh Prasad…they bowled at the same speed and Kumble was much more successful. Shastri would be very useful in giving tips about hitting six sixes in Ranji tournaments to the players and in international cricket, making millions of people reach rigor mortis simultaneously by sticking to the wicket.
Lame and Boring post. Sorry GB, even your fertile imagination is no match for the real circus which has been going on in BCCI cricket for the past 2 weeks. You don’t need to invoke any satire or imagine comic situations, when the reality is much more fun. And the digs on Kiranmore and GC etc,, is just getting plain repetitive. It no longer provokes any fun.
The icing on the cake would have been if Endulkar was dropped forever too, along with Sehwag.
S
Some people seem to be too impressed with GC in all the comments sections. If team did well he would have taken all the credit for building a dynamic team and now everyone is made to believe that “The coach cannot play, it is the players …” and then … “The attitude of the players were not proper” ….
I don’t understand if we agree that attitude can make of break you and which I believe it truely can, why one fails that it is so easy to meddle with one attitude. Give me power to be your boss, let me see how you can perform!!!
If someone is constantly poking from the bottom with one’s fingures how you will you keep cool. And we all know how famous GC’s fingures are. Anyway this big headed nation we are, wonder whether this game would remain the same ever. Welcome Subhash Chandra …. this was long awaited.
not a patch on some of ur other posts. take a break GB. from cricket.
I think the decisions taken by BCCI are in the right direction. Ravi Shastri is expected to play a role as a man manager than coach which seems to be the requirement right now. Also Robin Singh seems to be a good choice. Only thing that does not look good is Venkatesh Prasad as a bowling coach. I worry he would induce dullness in the team and make our bowlers more placid. Does Prasad have a great record as a bowler forget as a coach? Do you ever associate the words like aggression , speed or skill with Prasad? He has been lobbying for this post for a long time just like he was lobbying for his place in the team at the end of his career.
I agree with Nandan that Pawar is not as bad as portrayed by GB. He has taken some brave decisions like abolishing zonal selection system ( we still have to wait for its implementation though) and sending right message to star players in the team.
Its fairly clear from the comments in this web site. If it is a Bengali, then he or she is anti-Chappell because he is against Dada!! I can’t see a single Bong supporting Chappell’s acheivements. Talking of parochialism!!
I really wonder what Chappel’s achievements are. He is the most stupid coach i have ever seen, more stupid than bishen singh bedi.
great one, great bong!
now i understand why ditto heads behave like they do. when sarcasm is mixed with analysis on the same blog, it is difficult for some to discern which is which! i feel for rush limbaugh’s hordes.
fwiw, i suggest that you maintain two blogs, one for humour and one for analysis, so readers know which is which (the references to diana and mandira should’ve been dead giveaways, but …).
“Gali gali main shor hain, Rajiv Gandhi chor hainâ€
the word is ‘hai’ not ‘hain’ – ask anyone who knows a little hindi (unless that is a veiled attempt at sarcasm).
– s.b.
@Agree with Counterspin. This chappell bashing has gone on for too long.
Shastri: “Simple. I am impervious to criticism. …”
I do not know how good or bad Shastri would be as a coach/manager, but i think a coach/manager has to be impervious to media and public criticism. In the last six months lots of decisions have been taken due to pressure from the media, public and hell even the parliament.
Had I read this post elsewhere i would have rated it around 7.5-8 over 10. But here, I would put it somewhere around 3. Why? – Predictable style of writing, Predictable targets (makes one wonder if the author has some vested interests).
Where is Greg’s report ? Will it be made public ?
Should not coachs incentive be “performance based” if players pay is going to be performance based !
@Counterspin – you can make out if the commentators on this blog are of Bengali origin or not? Wow, I am impressed. What gives them away – their peculiar pronounciations (you must have seen a lot of Bollywood movies to recognize them), or is it their handwriting (all those rossogolla juices running down the fingers makes it difficult to hold a pen)?
@sb – is the ‘hai’ of ‘shor hain’ the same as the ‘hai’ of ‘hai hai’? Confusing hai(n), na?
@ZX – this post of GB’s has no reference to Chappell. Perhaps it is the Indian newspapers & magazines & TV where you are reading all the Chappell-bashing?
as retarded as indian cricket itself …Ravie Shastri is going to save indian cricket, of course…why did’nt we think of that before, fukin retards all of them. We should do what that tamil politician said, ban the fucking game for 5 years , so people in India can get over it and get a life. retards.
@Counterspin: And I’m tired of morons who can’t look past the Bengali angle whenever Chappell is critisized. Let’s say Ganguly never played for the Indian team, never existed even. So, tell me now, what’s Chappell’s contribution to Indian cricket as coach?
Maybe you should take off your green tinted glasses first before pointing fingers at others.
hmmm…not as funny as your otehr posts….But I think Ravi Shastri as coach might not be a bad move….I think the guy knows more about cricket and strategy than most other Indian “experts” like Gavaskar and definitely more than that fucker “chappal”….same goes for Robin Singh as fielding coach, the guy gave 120% in each game and I can only see good coming from this move…..How I wish we had 11 players with the limited talent and full apllication of Robin Singh rather than 2 ,3 of these superstars who put on oakley sunglasses the moment they get selected…………agree about Venkatesh Prasad…can’t see what the logic there was………………
Hmmn! Hilarious! Where do you get these ‘inside information’ from? Just keep up the good work such that one can remember to smile.
Imagine the scenario before and at the world cup where we all and sundry discussed the sudden lose of pace/speed of the bowling of Munaf and Irfan! And then we have V. Prasad as the bowling coach. Soon we may have the Zaheers and Sreesanths bowling looping legspin with a run up of 20 paces.
Nah! I am being pessimistic. Why, we may land up with the all time great spin quartet in Zaheer, Sreesanth, Munaf and Irfan!!
National anthem could make foreigners at Infy “EMBARRASSED ”
Here is our next president NR Murthy expalining why national anthem was not sung IN INFY FUNCTION:
“Indeed, we had arranged for five people to sing the anthem. But then we cancelled it as we have foreigners onboard here. They should not be embarrassed while we sing the anthem.â€
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/apr92007/state05631200749.asp
guys spare chappel. bongs are so obssesed with ganduly that they can’t think beyond him. indian cricket is not about the ol fart alone. chappel has exposed the indian cricket tamasha that the aam janta is not aware of… we shoul thank him for that. as a foriegn coach he tried his best, but the likes of gavaskar, srikhant, ajit wadekar etc have worked overtime to ensure that he was not successful. these buffons have been conniving with the cotrie to ensure that chappel’s processes failed. not extending support to dravid also meant hijacking cahppels vision to imoprove the team. think beyond your caste, religion, region. it is time to thank tendulkar of his non-contribution, shewag for non performance, harbajan for his attitude and dump them from the team. may be play dada if he behaves and does not indulge in divide and rule. he should be warned. bring in a new team. as far venkatesh prasad goes, he is a misfit – my six year old can bowl faster than him…
Nice one! BCCI – A joke!
As I see it, the recent moves of BCCI had nothing to do with resurrecting the sorry state of Indian cricket, post the WC debacle. The Indian team’s dismal performance gave the BCCI a brilliant opportunity to exercise the third word of it’s abbreviated name…Control.
Historically, the BCCI always had an issue with the financial opportunities/clout of the Indian cricketers. And what better time to rein in these truant stars than when the public is baying for the blood of these ‘overpaid underperformers’.
Every major change announced since then, are all related to this objective.
1. Retaining RD as the captain. RD is the proverbial ‘good boy’ of the class. He will hardly go into a confrontational mode against the BCCI, unlike some ex-captain with ‘slow scoring rates’. And their move hase been amply rewarded by the ‘right noises’ RD has started making thereafter.
2. Venkatesh Prasad as the bowling coach. Now you have to give RD a few carrots too. Or else how else do you justify the this appointment. I mean, Venkatesh Prasad? What is he known for? As Jawagal Srinath’s not-so-consistent and not-so-regular bowling partner? Or the man who got Amir Sohail out at the 1996 WC q/f, with sheer histrionics?
3. Ravi Shastri. Perhaps the most brilliant move. While the cricketing community falls over each other trying to wax eloquent about the suddenly discovered razor-sharp cricketing brain of Ravi Shastri, let’s get some facts in place. Where has Ravi Shastri’s cricketing acumen been demonstrated? At the ESPN commentary box? Or was it the solitary Test that he captained and won in 1987-88 against WI?
Well, just put things in perspective, India won that Chepauk Test on a track, specially (under)prepared for a certain Mr Narendra Hirwani who had exposed the WI’s discomfort at playing him in a previous tour match. So what was Ravi Shastri’s contribution? Raising his his little finger near his mouth like Dr Evil and saying, “We shall include Hirwani in the team.” Ha! BTW, let’s not forget that the other big contributor to that victory was Kapil with his century to ensure that we had a good first innings total.
Ravi Shastri’s appointment was the pre-emptive strike that BCCI needed, to take out any semblance of an united players’ opposition that might have arisen over the endorsement issue. Remember Ravi Shastri was the representative of the still-not-recognised Players’ Association.
I think the way to mend the state of Indian cricket does not lie in formulating policies about how many brands a cricketer can endorse. As I have said before, if (and only if) there is a correlation between performance and endorsements, the cricketing public is the best judge and the only ones capable to putting things in place.
The BCCI should occupy itself with more important things. But right now, it looks like a turf war and the BCCI has found a brilliant opportunity!
rotfl! 🙂
awesome…Arnab…u know everything!
Well BCCI could be Brihanmumbai Cricket Control of India as well…
Superb!!!
Great one GB! Keep going. 🙂
I think what Jimmy Amarnath once said of the selection committe holds true for the entire BCCI. They are indeed a collective ‘bunch of jokers’ !
At least Prasad has some coaching experience with the NCA and the under-19 team. Shastri has none. And given Shastri’s penchant for media exposure, I think we are in for another stint of coaching through media.
Other than the abolition of the Zonal selection, there is not a single decision that actually has to do with cricket. All of them seem to assume that the reason cricketers failed is because they were doing to many ads! That’s a ridiculous notion.
Sharad Pawar has taken decision that will be “seen” to be effective and punitive in nature. In that he has effectively played the populist politician to the hilt. But this vendetta against the players can backfire badly, if the players put in a couple of good performances and regain popular support. Public memory is notoriously short and Pawar has to be cognizant of that.
As for Dravid, his craven acquiescence to draconian and possibly illegal curbs of players’ right to livelihood (three endorsements) has only exposed him as the spineless betrayer he is. Except, now instead of just Sourav, he has betrayed all his senior team mates. Sold them down the river for a song and the Captain’s designation. I guess he feels that as Chappell’s acolyte, since he had already lost all the respect of his teammates, it couldn’t possibly get any worse.
He is probably banking on the “young” teak he has been promised for the Bangladesh tour. The tour will be billed inevitably as a “revenge” series. A good performance there will set loose a mad scramble for people to take credit – Pawar, Shastri, Prasad et al. Right now they are enjoying the soft bigotry of low expectations, but this will not last, like everything in Indian cricket.
@shan: I don’t think there is anything illegal in bcci’s proposal to limit the number of endorsements. Even ECB and CA contracted players have to take board’s permission before signing any endorsement contract.
Great Post GB!
I think Tendulkar shuld be offered the Coach post,he can give what gyaan best.
Read this.
http://content-www.cricinfo.com/wc2007/content/current/story/289702.html
Does any Indian player have the dedication like Shane Bond? No one. They are only bothered about how to put off the cap on how many ads they can do.
@Mohan- Yes its a good step by the BCCI. An even better step is the performance based incentives. Now thats one thing that can make subcontinental cricketers work their asses off and play out of their skins – the lure for money; unless of course the greater returns on match fixing prove to be more appealing to the unscrupulous ones.
Superb…..
The funniest part is the selection of Venketesh Prasad…
Who single handedly restructured Jayasuriya’s career…
Wow india ,Way to go!!!
The only wicket i remember venky taking is of Aamir Sohail..
@shan:
Given the way Bangladesh is playing in the WC, RD’s “revenge†series might leave the BCCI bigwigs with on their faces! And then suddenly the “youth” misadventure will be swept under the carpet, just like after IND-SA ODI series, and the old blood will be brought back again.
All this mud on Dravid is unwarranted. Sourav or Sachin are open to lead a rebellion now if they are true leaders. Not that I believe they should. But why should you single out Dravid for not speaking up when even the GOD is being pulled up and forced into silence.
What do you want Dravid to do? Refuse to accept the terms and lay down his career? We all know of what happened to the last captain who did that – namely the resident clown of CNN-IBN, who however, showed spine as captain and went down for fighting the BCCI on the issue of player rights. He spoke out for a group comprising, among others, a certain Dilip, Ravi, Navjyot, Mohemmad et al. Eventually, he was sacrificed despite a then-record of a drawn series in Pakistan.
Do we want our best batsman to go down a similar lane?(No thats not Sachin, Rahul is our best batsman)
Dravid has said that the issue will be negotiated with BCCI. Which is the most sensible approach in the real world – look for a WIN-WIN negotiation instead of shouting from rooftops about player rights etc. I am not sure if Saurav wouldnt have done the same. Greatbong, for one, do you believe sourav or sachin would have acted differently?
I think any fighting that Dravid has to do is best done privately rather than make it a media war, which, in the current atmosphere might give an impression that India’s senior players are a greedy, unscrupulous lot. Which is exactly playing into CHappel’s and BCCI’s hands.
The constant hatred for Dravid, just because he didnt say “No Sir I wont become captain. Saurav should be captain for life” when he was offerred captaincy and Saurav was deposed, is nauseating.
@rahulghosh
Might not be a bad thing. 🙂
If we win against Bangladesh:
1) Venkatesh Prasad will immediately take credit (even if he has lowered expectations skilfully yesterday by saying that it will take a “long time” to resuscitate Indian bowling)
2) Ravi Shastri will preen in front of cameras (“As I always said, I can do the job because of my enormous experience in analyzing the game. Chappell gave a fantastic presentation!”)
3) Sharad Pawar girth will increase some more (“I knew that stopping endorsements would work”)
If India lose:
1) Venkatesh Prasad will say that this was expected and that Indian bowling will take a long time (under him) to recover.
2) Ravi Shastri will preen in front of cameras (“As I always said, the team needs to be developed under my enormous experience in analyzing the game. Chappell gave a fantastic presentation!”
3) Sharad Pawar’s girth will increase some more (“I think we will reduce their endorsements to 2 per player. They will not be allowed to attend sponsor events or drink Pepsi for a month before important events like the Malaysia series.”
No one will talk about the game’s uncertainties or give the Bangladeshis any credit. No one will talk about inviting them to India for bilateral series. No one will discuss Dravid’s performance as Captain.
Greg Chappell will be president of NCA terrorizing budding cricketers and throwing them out with no explanations or damning emails.
Life will go on…
@Raj:
Too many times Dravid supporters talk of what he did not do rather than what he did, especially in captaincy matters. (“He did not play badly”, “He is non-controversial”, “He did not comment on the coach issue”, “He did not do a terrible job as captain”, “He decided to be diplomatic”, “He did not want a fight with the board”, etc.)
When you have to go down that path to defend him, there’s something wrong…
However, if we have to give him the benefit of doubt, it is possible that he was ambushed in the meeting and did not know the extent of craven submission the BCCI required of him if he wanted to remain Captain. His survival instincts took over and he capitulated. Or maybe he didn’t even have time to digest all the proposals.
Let’s see what he does in the future, shall we? Or should we just expect to see what he doesn’t do?
Shan – The point is a certain Saurav Ganguly was forced to ambush his own mentor and benefactor Mr Dalmia to re-enter the team, even though he deserved to be back in the team on sheer merit. I dont think Saurav would have handled this any differently. You are pouncing on Dravid because you are blinded by your hatred for Dravid.
Or are you suggesting that Saurav would have said “Go to hell” and fought tooth-and-nail for the players in this situation?
I asked you what do you want Dravid to do? How is he supposed to handle thsi situation? Tell me that, and answer the following question, “Honest to your heart, is that how you think Sachin or Saurav would have handled it or they would have done exactly the same as Dravid?”
Answer that and hopefully, you will anlyse this with a logical mind rather than the emotional outburst and eagerness to stamp Dravid as evil
http://www.cricketnext.com/videos/24271/we-have-a-lot-of-bowling-talents-prasad.html
Check out pathetic Prasad (with some fake accent and too many you knows) on being appointed as abowling coach. This bastard is really going to make a mess of it.
@Raj:
Dravid might not be evil, but he is certainly weak. What Sourav might or might not have done is conjecture, but based on previous actions and personality traits, one feels that he would have fought the good fight at least. Sourav frequently erred on the side of confrontation with authority in favor of his teammates rather than compromise (admittedly not always a good thing) like when he backed Harbhajan and Yuvi against odds.
You could argue that he had Dalmiya to back him. But Dravid similarly has this entire cricket establishment backing him now. So no difference there.
As I said, let’s still give Dravid the benefit of the doubt. His future actions/negotiations with the BCCI will reveal his character and qualities better than any discussion here will.
@tipu
here it is:
“At quarter the price that Greg charged, I can do the same things that he did, lose bladder-control and leak everywhere, you know, make the players wear silly hats — actually I stole his notebook from his bedroom (please don’t ask me what I was doing there) and have memorized everything….”
I wonder if you even read the posts, in your over-zealous hurry, before commenting.
tipu says:
@sb – is the ‘hai’ of ’shor hain’ the same as the ‘hai’ of ‘hai hai’? Confusing hai(n), na?
tipu:
i presume you can read hindi; if so, check out point #3 here.
btw, …
– it is ‘hai na’ not ‘hain na’, and
– ‘hai hai’ should properly be transliterated as ‘haay haay’ and no, it not the same as the ‘hai’ in ‘shor hai’.
– s.b.
I think the slogan was “Indira Gandhi chor hai”
not “Rajiv Gandhi chor hai”.
“Gali gali main shor hain, Rajiv Gandhi chor hain†and “Shastri hai hai†are now considered
to be the two defining slogans of the 80s.”
“Simple. I am impervious to criticism”
“Prasad can help both spinners as well as pacers as he himself was neither”
THE BEST ONE LINER CRICKETING JIBES I’VE HEARD IN A LONG TIME .. IM BLODDY ROFL ….
oh dear god ..my stomach hurts now
Whatever boss. Make sure that Ganguly is dropped for a while. All that he played in the world cup was to keep his place in the team. Nothing else.
shan, you still didnt get my point. Dada’s recent form as far as rebelliousness and anti-establishment go is poor. He grovelled before Pawar and betrayed Dalmia, who , let me add, had himself let down Saurav earlier when he leaked Chappel e-mails. As such, the betrayal part doesnt bother me – Dalmiya is hardly a saint- but the grovelling before Pawar does. I dont think he would have had the guts to take on teh establishment again. That is the point – you are harping on Ganguly version 2002-2004. Today, we have Saurav Ganguly 2007, a man chastened by experience.
As for Rahul Dravid, I dont think it is fair to call him weak – he is just taking the sensible option. Wonder what the owner of this site has to say about this issue.
As usual a bunch of Bong-haters (look at the id “Bongbash”) trying to pass off their hatred as anti-Gangulyism. The moment you criticize Greg, it is “hey you are a Bong”. What is ironic is that these commenters are so blinded by their regional agendas, that they are ready to back the person who has presided over the biggest failure in Indian cricket history.
For all you haters, check out this post. (http://vinodg.blogspot.com/2007/04/secret-diary-of-gregory-stephen.html).The thing to check out is not the mockery of Greg Chappell or the support for Sourav Ganguly but that nobody raises the regional origin of the blogger (who is Tamil I presume)in the comments section, a privilege not afforded to GB.
Incidentally oh Anonymous, it WAS Rajiv Gandhi chor….this was during the Bofors scandal. I presume during Indira’s time, noone dared to say anything. Kindly do read up before passing your wise anonymous comments.
@ZX – yes, you are right. He does make a single mention of ‘greg’. There I was searching for ‘chappell’. Anyway, here I am, sitting in Barbados all dressed up & nowhere to go, wondering who to blame for my state. Myself, for my misplaced faith in our team which made me do non-refundable bookings. Dravid, for his insipid leadership. Chappell, for what I perceive was his bull-in-a-china-store coaching style, or the ‘senior mafia’ who apparently thought the best way to prolong their career was not to score any runs or do so very slowly. At least now I have the local West Indies supporters to shed a tear with me.
Speakin of Mandira..anybody check out her new pics in Maxim
Check em out
http://www.naachgaana.com/2007/04/10/maxim-covers-mandira-bedis-explosives/
Good job mate.
Hi Friend’s
How r u ?
I Rocky from Delhi.I like frienship.I’m just 4 u that’s y I wana be ur friend.
can i be ………???????????]
plz contact me at this Email Id…
Rocky_chawdhri@yahoo.com
Thank you.