Twenty 20 - Boon or Bane?

"Cricket is my religion, Sachin is my God!"
"Hu Ha India, aaya India!"
These are few of the many mantras chanted by the cricket enamoured people of India. It is fascinating to see how a billion hearts beat for eleven men on the field in this diverse nation. Incidents like declaration of a holiday in the event of an important cricket match, citizens queueing up to get a glimpse of a live match outside an electronics store and cricketers being compared to demi-gods come as no surprise. The T20 world cup triumph has only served as an impetus to intensify the feelings of the fans. The aftermath of the world cup has been given in my previous post(Blasphemous Barons...).
We now need to ponder about the future of this form of cricket. Will it help in elevating cricket to the level of highly popular games like football? How is T20 going to affect the other versions of the game?
Let me start with the latter question. In a recent poll conducted by NDTV, it was found that about 42% of youth in India found the 50 over format a drag in comparison to T20. Is the fact that India won the cup helping in the longer versions of the game's downfall? In this 'fast food' world, people find no time to waste on long ODI games and even longer test matches. T20 provides excellent entertainment for these classes of people. The big hitting, smaller boundary ropes, cool jigs at the end of each boundary, quicker wickets and lightning fast outfields add to the excitement. But as the ever bubbly Navjot Singh Sidhu said, "T20 is like a chocolate, you can have it when u feel like having one. You cannot eat chocolate for breakfast,lunch and dinner!" Very, very well said! Nothing can replace the frenzy of an ODI or the class of a test match. In my opinion, a true cricketer is discovered only in test matches. The essentials of a complete batsman- Flair, class, tenacity, style and flawless timing, and that of a consummate bowler- cleverness, pace, aggression and deception are only seen in the longer versions.
T20 can in no way be a comparison to games like football and rugby. Football has always been a source of great entertainment to the whole world. T20, though entertaining, can really get on one's nerves. Too much of bludgeoning of the poor cricket ball can also serve to irritate the viewer. We need to realise that even this hullabaloo and ado about T20 would certainly fade in the days to come.
The baby has only been born, we shall start talking, when it starts walking!!!
Until next time, Amigos!

The Blasphemous Barons of Bharat

For centuries, India has been plagued by all kinds of biases like gender, caste, society, colour, politics and so on. Recent events in the country have given birth to a new bias in the least expected field-sports.
The Indian cricket team, which won the inaugral T20 world cup in South Africa has proved how the exuberance of youth can work wonders, even under trying circumstances. Initially branded as underdogs owing to a string of mediocre performances overseas and the absence of some of the veterans, the team scripted one of the most unforgettable fairy-tale victories over arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals of the world cup at Johannesburg on the 24th of September. The entire nation erupted in joy and the bunch of "schoolboys" had become superheroes. The triumphant team was given an ostentatious welcome on their return to home soil. All news channels had their cameras focussed on the players in the open-air buses. The governments of the states to which each of the players belonged lavished praise on them by providing them lucrative sums as a token of appreciation. Yuvraj Singh, undoubtedly India's best performer of the world cup, who hit an inconcievable six sixes off one over was given a sum of Rs.1 crore (!!!!) as a reward, in addition to a Porsche car.
However, another feat of the Indian team,though in a different sport has gone unnoticed into mere oblivion. The heroics of the Indian Hockey Team which won the Asia Cup in Chennai last month have been conveniently forgotten. The vibrant side, under a new captain, overwhelmed every side in the competition, like a tornado which engulfs anything that comes its way. In all, India scored a staggering 57 goals in just 7 games, conceding only a meagre 5 goals. Prabhjot Singh turned out to be the star of the tournament, finding the back of the net 15 times!
Unfortunately, the buzz about this incredible feat lasted only a few hours. The cyclone calmed down abruptly. They didn't get the hero's welcome that they deserved(the event was held in India, yet they deserved humungous amounts of praise). The media was nowhere to be seen hours after the historic triumph. The state governments hardly seemed to bother about their players. Clearly symptoms of yet another case of bias in the world's largest democracy.......
Why is this still happening in the country which boasts of having one of the greatest growth potentials in the world? Is this the way the national game of India deserves to be treated? Joaquim Carvalho, the coach of the Indian hockey side has described these events as "step motherly treatment". These are strong words of course, which speak loads about the state of affairs here. Hockey, despite being equally entertaining as cricket has failed to reach the levels attained by the latter, because of reasons unknown to any. The news channels have regular updates of the scores of any ongoing cricket match by providing scoreboard tickers which change with every ball bowled. However, news regarding victories(or losses) of any other indian sport hardly appear even in the flash news bar at the bottom. It is highly exasperating to know that cricketers have contracts based on the seniority in the side, while hockey players have none. Many members of the hockey side are still seen travelling by a second class compartment in trains, while cricketers still travel by business class flights and stay in star hotels. The recent Shah Rukh Khan flick "Chak De India", a movie based on the game of hockey created waves across the country, solely because of its theme and patriotic sequences. Ironically, the Bollywood star was seen in South Africa providing big hugs to each member of the cricket team after their victory!!!! Strange???? Welcome to India!

Aloha!!!!

Greetings fellow bloggers! Blogging often unleashes the wickedness in me. So, here it goes. I've been waiting to create a blog on something sensible(!!!) for quite some time. I still do not have any firm plans about what i'd be typing in days to come, for my fields of interest are as many as the number of balls Wasim Akram has bowled in his career. Anyways, please feel comfortable to expect something worth reading. See u soon!!! Amigos!