It can't be said for certain, why Andrew Strauss, the England captain, called Shane Warne a genius, when he got to know that Warney had already predicted the outcome of the India-England match (that it'll be a tie).
One can be very unsure for a couple of reasons:
1) it may be a sarcastic remark by Strauss
2) it may be a careless remark, as he was quite saddened by the fact that England managed to pull a tie, when India seems to have given them the game in platter.
3) it can be a remark to distract the world from the real doings beneath.
Please don't look the third reason with a raised brow, even if you want to.
As -- Can't it be another fixing, involving English and India? With Warne having some role to play in it. He may have been a 'better' who is close to the bookies.
After all -- How is fixing in its basic form explained ?
Isn't it ensuring a particular outcome?
This outcome was known to Warne before hand; how? that is a matter of investigation, and going thru ups and downs; the outcome known before hand is ensured by the two teams.
This not skeptism. This's looking things with an equal eye.
Had the cricketing fraternity taken the news that casually, if it involved Pakistan?
What Pakistani players have been accused of is staging an outcome on the bookie instructions; playing a dot ball here, balling a no ball there! How can it be different from the issue we are discussing now?
No one is defending Pakistan; or blaming England or India. What is being put forth is: doesn't Shane Warne's remark, demand an investigation into the matter?
Warne's prediction, can be a work of a genius; but can't there be a possiility of a fixing?
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it doesn't feel good to talk about religion on a sports Blog.
But sometimes it becomes necessary. As it's the players, the torch bearers of sportsmanship, who themselves bring religion to the foray; making it necessary to make a comment.
Remember, Pakistan player named Yousuf Yohanna, a Christian. He is the same player who now plays as Mohammad Yousuf. What is important to note that, during the period, Mohammad Yousuf changed his faith to Islam; and started sporting a mustache less non-trimmed beard; the entire Pak team started blatant exhibitionism of their faith and also started carrying visible religious symbols. They also started crediting Almighty for their every win in post match events.
There's nothing wrong in having faith and sporting its symbols publicly, if the sport you play doesn't forbid you. But this over reliance on religion dents the sportsmanship. A player is known for achieving things on his own; he strives, toils, sheds his sweat and blood for the victory. Relying on God, every time, dents this spirit. Pakistan Team is a clear example of this.
On a different perspective, this blatant use of God, follows a trend too. A player who begins his career as an ideal sportsman, carrying nothing but himself; when gets dropped; and then makes a comeback shows more such religious exhibitionism compared to others. It may be true that during his lean phase, no one else but the God may have helped him; But still why undergo such drastic personality modification that simply gives away what is in the heart.
Here, an Indian player, Yousuf Pathan comes into picture.Yousuf remained out of Indian team for quite some time; and then made a comeback in this series. But this Yousuf looks different, the beard is much bigger now and he tried to bring God into the frame on a couple of occasions.
Some among esteemed readers will call this write-up bigoted; but I have seen write-ups and artistic expressions showing as if Yousuf is on a road to some vengeance, with religion by its side. Take aside, Islam, how will cricket fans see a player who suddenly starts sporting a Hare Krishna style bald head and a "shikha" and come on ground with vermilion smeared forehead. obviously people will call him very religious; and suspect him for having a drastic change.
That said, it's not about freedom of religion; it's about one simple question: Does a non trimmed beard, vermilion on forehead, bald head with a hare krishna like shikha make a player more comfortable on field; he may be getting eternal motivation; but what is more safe and convenient for a sportsman, all these body add-ons or army style trimmed hair, trimmed nails, clean shave look ?
I still feel, Hashim Amla, the South African Cricketer sports a beard not because of his belief; but because he feels he has not been given his due. His exhibitionism has nothing to do with religion. Religion is just a symbol of the deprivation.
You can decide better.
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Sportpersons should be their own spokespersons. If they want, they can hire some professional to speak on their behalf; but for God's sake don't allow your parents or any of your family member to do so; neither professionally nor out of affection.
When I think of Yuvraj Singh-- more than him; the images of his parents come to my mind. Images like, "Yuvi's mum at an NGO function, requesting media to spare her son" or Yuvi's dad, in some Punjab cricket ground, with young lads carrying on their cricket training in the background, Clarifying, "Both Yuvraj and Dhoni are close to my heart; whosoever becomes the captain is not something I give a thought about". The write-up needs to be to the point so, I better not drag the visualization further; but I underline, there are many such images.
I can't see a single instance when Yuvraj addressed the media the way his parents do. Some rare instances when Yuvi actually tried to take on media; give an impression of more self pity than the conviction of a person so much gifted; with concluding remarks like, "I think I have to act in reality shows soon". [NOTE: Journalists will laugh encouraging at such remarks from legends; as they like Legends fall more than they like them rise; but their laugh should not be misunderstood]
Alright, that may be Yuvi's method of clearing himself of the vicious attacks of ever scrutinizing media; but the method is surely not of someone in control.
Taking the debate further, I think media likes images that people can relate to. If you can recall, at one time, when Sehwag was hitting double and triple centuries against Pakistan; Media was knocking the main gate of Sehwag's Delhi residence many times in a week; asking his mom, "what are you preparing for your lad ?" Kheer ? (porridge made up of milk and rice). Electronic media took the cue from an ad in which Sehwag's mom is shown as a doting mother who prepares his favorite dish daily.
I want to bring the electronic media's obsession with images that too showing "a bonded family" in another legend, the skipper Dhoni. Call it emotions, Dhoni once told to his manager that when he used to be a kid, his mum would give him cooked rice and milk when he would return from his daily practice sessions. The manager, impromptu shared this bite with the world, in some talk show.
To some it'll appear entirely silly but for a long time, succeeding the revelation, Dhoni was asked the same question by all, junior senior, journalist of all types; but in a more maternal affection induced sentence(snow ball effect) "Dhoni tell our readers how your mum used to make you drink two to three litres of milk every day". Luckily, Dhoni was smart to evade the media trap. how? in concluding paragraph.
Yuvraj, though a very gifted and brave young man, has not shown the kind of smartness Dhoni and after a few trappings Sehwag managed to show. Talking of smartness metric in this regards, a famous proverb comes handy, "Some change their routes seeing the light, others do so feeling the heat". Still both managed their professional issues well.
Yuvraj seems unwilling to know; he is still not donning the role of the spokesperson for himself for his good. Dhoni, it appears, always knew, family and profession are two different paths. On the path of one's profession, one has to always travel alone.
To conclude, let I come back to how Dhoni evaded the media's love for images trap. When a senior anchor asked him, "whether he used to have two to three litres of milk daily?" Dhoni replied as a matter of fact, "how can it be that way, after all I come from an ordinary family."
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Yesterday, Indian news channels were buzzing with the India's win over Australia at Mohali. Just move from one channel to the other and one will find a panel of experts discussing the win and of course, the VVS.
On NDTV India, Sunil Gavaskar and Ajay Jadeja were doing the honors. Sunny, though at his sarcastic best when taking on British and Aussie commentators; looked a bit subdued. i think, the part of the damp sunny was the not so fluent anchor, but the presence of Jadeja was affecting Sunny too. Jadeja -- Someone who speaks his mind without much laag-na-lapet (approximately means ' With no value Addition on aesthetics')
Jadeja has been with NDTV for more than a year now, and most of the times I find him very accurate with his predictions. In the recently concluded Sri Lanka Test series, in the second match when all the experts , Indians and others alike, were saying Sri Lanka has chance, that too during the lunch break discussion; Jadeja pitched a very non-ambiguous stance in India's favor.
I even go a step further, i believe, if the match fixing incident would not had happened Jadeja would prove to be a good captain too. What do you say ?
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Nice to find such a series on All-padded-Up. Will look forward to more such disagreements.
Although I can agree with you that, it's wrong to ask Dhoni to step down from T20 captaincy alone; I feel Dhoni should be made accountable for what he did and; if found in mistake, can be made to pay the price; loss of captaincy included.
I feel Straight Point is quite right when he said; Dhoni has started taking his Midas touch image, fed to him by Media since 2007, way too seriously. In the recently concluded WC, Dhoni took some decisions which, as you said were really stupid, say for itself, the magnitude of his folly. And for that any reprimand, that can even include stripping him of his captaincy, as doable option.
Why?
As, cricket is not just a game or a passion in the country; it also represents an entity (business) which earns crores. If as a key functionary, a captain can't be made accountable in tangible ways. Then how can one expect the cricket as an entity progress in the country?
Secondly, if Dhoni has taken some visibly stupid (as you mentioned in your post) or non-researched decisions; then how can one expect such a person to lead an entity which has an annual turnover worth in hundreds of crores?
I think, some among us have taken the "Dhoni should not be the captain of T20 format" in a too literal manner; when the actual point made, was the desire to fix accountability in some form on Dhoni, after T20 WC debacle. Again, some among us will say that he has performed well, prior to the world cup; but if there are visible signs of non-researched and fancy decision making even once in a big tournament; then isn't it be taken as an abnormality for cricket in the country.
As, it's alright to lose even after implementing researched and well thought out strategies; but losing even a single game with fanciful decision making, needs some serious boardroom scrutiny and if the need be, polite requests to quit.
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After seeing Dhoni perform and perform in tight situations has made " Calling Dhoni confident" a useless activity. India knows he's confident, the opposition teams know he's confident so why say the same thing again and again.
But after seeing Dhoni hit two massive (mile long long) sixes in yesterday's crucial match against King's Eleven Punjab: I want to say Dhoni is "Super confident".
Why I want to call him so and on what basis?
i think it's the nature of the shots which justifies the "Super confident tag".
As one sees, Dhoni chose to hit the two shots in a manner as if he was going for an assault towards the ball. The shots were not some trickery or any "in t20 any runs would matter; no matter how"; but were sheer resolve and hence pure brute force.
What do you say: Does Dhoni justify the "Super confident" tag? And does Dhoni's yesterday's performance point to something more important?
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The last post here took Sehwag’s 'take it easy' attitude in this IPL.
The post asserts Sehwag’s casual attitude to his elevated status in his IPL team.
And if some casualness has indeed seeped in some established players; then they should mend their ways before it's too late.
So not only Sehwag but none should take their positions too casually. And instead, try their best. If they perform below their potentials then contemplate on the deficiencies; so that next time no one points a finger at them.
Why I can say so, and how this extends the debate SP started in the last article?
My notion behind the assertion is simple: It is their cities fans cheer for
And any shouting support for individual player emanates from the same.
But on the opposite the criticism for a bad shot or a directionless ball goes to the individual player.
Players should keep in mind that in IPL, basically it's their cities that people love, and players come second. Fans affiliation for players emanates from their affiliation for their cities. So if a player changes the team the next season, people will stop cheering for him.
On a casual glance this seems very small observation, as most spectators are aware of this, but unfortunately players with weight either don't know or don't want to know. Keep aside Sehwag, even Yuvraj doesn't seem to acknowledge or is ignorant of this simple fact. And a rumour in this context proves this. Renowned blogger Soulberry recently said that if sources more informed are to believed then Yuvraj may be contemplating to move on to Kochi, the new IPL team for IPL’s next season.
If the rumour proves out to be true, then I think Yuvraj unfortunately is taking his position too casually or; mistaking the roaring support of the fans to his individual popularity.
So rather than sulk non-performing players should start contributing to their teams’ win, in whatever way they can; and should always remember, if they sulk and make it a reason for their departure from their current teams; then fans will pray for their bad form to continue and cheer for someone who either lives 1000 kms away or has to cross seven seas to play for their cities.
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Going by the stats that you have mentioned in your statistical celebration of IPL3 ... i think IPL3 is indeed affecting the TV industry.
But just to add to the wonderful debate that you initiated, I think there're reasons, other than those you mentioned, behind this surge in IPL3 popularity; and statistics that you shared, point to something beyond the face value.
In simple, I think, there's is more to the IPL3's success than what meets the eye.
One among these is the shrewd marketing brain of Mr Lalit Modi. Mr Modi, knows discreetly when and what to say. He also knows what not to say, and if he can't say something through his own own mouth; he knows how to arrange someone else's.
So auctioning the two new teams during IPL3, has added to the IPL buzz. If a new team manages to get a price tag three times the whole sales money of the first auction, some short term interest is bound to arrive.So it can't be said for sure that, IPL4 will break all records or it's the cricket which as a game is winning.
That apart, the ever unsettled points tally has also contributed to the IPL3. What would have happened if the teams which have won at the beginning, had continued their winning spree. then I'm sure, 30 percent of IPL fans would have started contributing to non-sport TV channel ratings.
I agree, with you Sachin, is indeed one of the main contributing factors to IPL3.
But I still suspect, the stat which says, soap audience may have surrendered their ground to IPL3. Mind you they (the soap audience) knows all tactics to remain in game.
Thanks Ankit for giving me an opportunity to respond. It's your painstaking research that made the response possible.
[A Bisht makes simple cricket cartoons at cricketua]
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