One of my friends once commented that I should have been living in the 1950's. Though I did not agree with him and love my life in the 2000's, I do know some former Indian cricket captains who do wish they were back in the 50's and 60's. We were sitting together at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore at the 'Black Dog' Pavilion right after a couple of girls scantily dressed in red had sternly asked them to sit in a particular area since compounder Mallya (or general physician Mallya or Doctor Mallya, I forget who) had reserved the particular seats for his guests. Anyhow, the seats they were in were such that they could hear the fireworks but not see it, watch the backs of the people in front as they craned their necks and stretched their backs to see the Shilpa Shettys and the Arjun Rampals after leaving any semblance to manners at home. So I was not too surprised when on hearing the fireworks and seeing the smoke I heard one of them comment to the other, "Ye log Test Cricket ko aag laga raha hai kya?"
Since then, I have watched a few matches of the IPL on TV and have been amazed to note that a few of the members of the IPL committee have been seen openly cheering teams! They must have had something 'personal' to cheer about! There has been some exhilarating Cricket on display but as of now, I have searched deeply but not found any trace of any loyalty towards any city other than my small hometown situated 125 km from Delhi, in Haryana. Haryana is a catchment area for the Mohali team but the very fact that they have named the team "King's Punjab XI" has killed any feeling of attachment that may have risen in time. Imagine if a team was to be made from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the owner chose to name it, "Sultan's Pakistan XI"!! I wonder who advises the Pretty Zinta ( I think she is quite sweet, but I don't want her team to win) but she should get rid of her/him immediately! There was no explanation for them to choose the likes of Wilkin Mota (who?), a guy who played a match of Ranji Trophy for Mumbai about two seasons back and fields the ball as if its red hot off a stove and couldn't catch a cold, leave alone the ball! Their selection of Piyush Chawla is reaping huge returns for the opposition and maybe they ought to have thought about searching whether a leg spinner was present in their catchment area before splurging on Chawla. What? Yes! Amit Mishra, the captain of Haryana, the experienced and wily leg spinner who has 46 wickets in this first class season and has since been snapped up by Delhi (and why not? he wiped their fabled middle order clean in the Ranji One Day match between Delhi and Haryana) and has been performing better than the Vettoris in the internal matches of GMR Delhi.
The feelings that the IPL matches generate are surprising. For the first time, I do not want a team to win but instead look at individuals. I want Ajit Agarkar to be hit, Piyush Chawla to be smashed, Yuvraj Singh to be out, Sehwag to get runs, Warne to take wickets, Dravid to get runs, Sachin to be fit and what not! No team though!
Anyhow, its early days yet but so far, the IPL for me is the Indian Pyjama League but it has potential and like all things with potential, it should be groomed properly else it can surely changed the face of Cricket and not necessarily in a positive way.
Since then, I have watched a few matches of the IPL on TV and have been amazed to note that a few of the members of the IPL committee have been seen openly cheering teams! They must have had something 'personal' to cheer about! There has been some exhilarating Cricket on display but as of now, I have searched deeply but not found any trace of any loyalty towards any city other than my small hometown situated 125 km from Delhi, in Haryana. Haryana is a catchment area for the Mohali team but the very fact that they have named the team "King's Punjab XI" has killed any feeling of attachment that may have risen in time. Imagine if a team was to be made from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the owner chose to name it, "Sultan's Pakistan XI"!! I wonder who advises the Pretty Zinta ( I think she is quite sweet, but I don't want her team to win) but she should get rid of her/him immediately! There was no explanation for them to choose the likes of Wilkin Mota (who?), a guy who played a match of Ranji Trophy for Mumbai about two seasons back and fields the ball as if its red hot off a stove and couldn't catch a cold, leave alone the ball! Their selection of Piyush Chawla is reaping huge returns for the opposition and maybe they ought to have thought about searching whether a leg spinner was present in their catchment area before splurging on Chawla. What? Yes! Amit Mishra, the captain of Haryana, the experienced and wily leg spinner who has 46 wickets in this first class season and has since been snapped up by Delhi (and why not? he wiped their fabled middle order clean in the Ranji One Day match between Delhi and Haryana) and has been performing better than the Vettoris in the internal matches of GMR Delhi.
The feelings that the IPL matches generate are surprising. For the first time, I do not want a team to win but instead look at individuals. I want Ajit Agarkar to be hit, Piyush Chawla to be smashed, Yuvraj Singh to be out, Sehwag to get runs, Warne to take wickets, Dravid to get runs, Sachin to be fit and what not! No team though!
Anyhow, its early days yet but so far, the IPL for me is the Indian Pyjama League but it has potential and like all things with potential, it should be groomed properly else it can surely changed the face of Cricket and not necessarily in a positive way.
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