Kolkata needs to get rid of Sourav-mania

Sourav Ganguly has been one f the most successful cricket captains of our time. He has lead India to the 2003 world cup finals and has done so in many test matches over the years. He is one if the highest run fetters of the country and was and still is an immensely respected individual. Then all of a sudden he was dropped from the team for reasons which would qualify as "politics". A word we Bengalis are obsessed with. This force the man to retire prematurely from the game, something which broke a lot of fan's hearts. But it goes without saying that Sourav has had his fair share at everything Indian Cricket has on offer.

Many years after his official retirement, Kolkatans still feel an  emotional connect with Sourav. Maybe that has got to do with the bong socio-political scenario in the state. This is totally understandable. What is not though, is the fact that some people still feel detected when Sourav isn't included in "private" tournaments like the IPL. For heaven's sake its a businessman's tournament! One has to be accommodating when it acmes to the whims and fancies of the team owner to survive in a league Luke this. Sourav unfortunately brings his set of ego baggage with him. It's almost as if he is trying to prove something to someone every time he  pads up and lands on the crease. A great player and captain like him need not feel this way. And journos cash on on this. They talk of the rejection, dejection and humiliation that he had to face during his cricketing days. This without a doubt is a sure shot way to getting some major TRPs and other stupid ratings these people care about. Its therefore not surprising that every single day we have some or the other written about him, the way he gets treated etc. After a point it gets really irritating, this. We bongs need to get of this Sourav mania. The best way to pay a tribute to Sourav's achievements would be to create the infrastructure and opportunities so many Sourav's can come out in the forefront and represent the national in its unofficial national game.

Rare Indo-Pak Collaboration

Image by Rahul and Gayatri via Flickr

How many times have you seen India and Pakistan collaborate, for anything? You'll have to google that one coz no instances come to mind immediately. Well, this US Open is quite legendary in that aspect. Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, from India and Pakistan respectively, have achieved the unimaginable. This duo has managed to reach the finals of the US Open in men's doubles as partners, at a time when tensions between the two countries are at an all time high.

With Pakistan reeling with the flood disaster and the cricket world blaming its board, PCB, for bot doing enough in the match fixing fiasco, the nation has been under considerable amount of pressure recently. The news of Qureshi reaching the finals in the US Open men's doubles with Bopanna and becoming the runners up at the mixed doubles, should come as a welcome relief. For India this heralds another chapter in Indo-Pak politics with sportsmen leading the way in creating an incredible goodwill gestures infront of the entire world.

IPL - Indian Paisa League

That the Indian Premier League (IPL) was all about money and money and more money was never a secret. But that it put money above anything, absolutely anything, was quite a shock.

I'm a Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) supporter, and the events which have unfolded in the past few days, on this third season of the IPL, does make me a sad panda. As you might know, the Kolkata Knight Riders is 'owned' by Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla's Red Chillies Entertainment. And trust me, these people do their bit to add that spice to the game. But of late, this tournament has taken a weird turn, at least I can say so when it comes to the Kolkata Knight Riders.

There's now, to my utter astonishment, an official fan club for the KKR. And for around 500 bucks, you can 'buy' the KKR the much needed fan following. Its almost as if the people who refuse to spend their hard earned money to get a silly hamper (with 'goodies' I might add), which includes a T-Shirt (which will be rendered redundant and useless once KKR decide to change their jersey design, again), membership card, 'exclusive' access to....well, thats not exactly specified, and oh yeah here's the interesting bit, ticket discounts! (Erm, maybe they'll give you a hundred bucks off on their 32 grand ticket)

Wait! I aint done yet.
Although the first two seasons of the IPL had official sponsors and advertisers and stuff, cricket was always the main draw. Now it looks like I'll have to get accustomed to the new lingo, for a 'DLF Maximum' is the new term for a six. And each good bit of play gets tagged as the 'Citi moment of success'. And of course the entire tournament is called the DLF IPL.

Nowadays people, mostly women throng to the stadiums not to watch cricket (honestly, since when did women have a passion for the game? Of course with a few exceptions), but to catch a glimpse of Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Katrina Kaif, Priety Zinta, etc etc. Never mind if the home team is losing, never mind if the game is boring, never mind if the team management is doing an absolutely nonsensical job, never mind if the integrity of the team isnt in shape, you still get to catch a glimpse of the Bollywood celebs, right? Well, when people start paying 32,000 rupees to sit next to Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif, you do start questioning if cricket is still the main draw.

And yesterday was the worst day in the history of the IPL. Shah Rukh Khan had apparently refused to 'attend' the IPL match at the Eden Gardens, unless his guests were allowed to sit in a temporary structure suited for 'best viewing'. Never mind if the state government departments havent given the organisers the permission to build the structure in the first place, after all its all about appeasing the celeb crush/fever of some freaks who happen to shell out nothing less than (okay its getting repetitive) 32 freaking thousand rupees! But honestly, if someone is paying that amount of money, the structure built for them, should be all the more well built. So, Shah Rukh Khan refuses to watch a match because, hold your breath, he is not being allowed to sit on his illegal structure at the stadium! Hence, the conclusion. KKR management (who decide the price of the tickets et al) has absolutely nothing in mind but money, money and more money! And the KKR is making an issue out of it, by (almost) making it a 'look its Kolkata's image which is getting damaged' kind of a thing. And yesterday Juhi Chawla gave the killer punch (at least she tried to). She decided to meet Mamata Bannerjee and supposedly offered her tickets to the match to be held today (you guess the price of the tickets which were on offer!). Fortunately, she refused. Or else she would have generated yet another controversy by sitting in the 'illegal' block of the stadium. And of course, that would be perfect for KKR, they could then have Mamata on their side and the Mamata vs State government agenda would take centre stage and people would forget about the 'illegal' construction. Smart move, SRK camp. But not smart enough.

For heaven's sake, these people, SRK, Juhi, and everyone else related to the IPL are only hell-bent on making money and nothing else. They want the team to win because that would earn them more moolah from the advertisers. Not becasue they want to help the youngsters or anything! I never was an ardent fan of SRK (although I do like some movies of his), I always thought of him as one lucky fellow, with mediocre acting talent, hogging all the attention only because he happens to do 'formula movies', song and dance, dancing around the trees, and other stereotyped films, (now) mostly for the NRI audiences. And guess what, I dont think this naked display of 'I-want-money-and-money-only' attitude from him has made him a greater/better (or put anything you want here) human being at least in my eyes.

Oh well, gone are the days when cricket used to be a game of gentlemen. It looks like, cricket now is a game 'for' gentlemen.

Where is that charm of cricket commentary?

Image via Wikipedia

Its cricket season again. This time its the Indian Premier League (IPL). But why am I not excited anymore? Why is cricket, to me at least, just another game these days?

Part of the blame goes to the herculean schedule of cricket. Every year we have more than a hundred one day matches, and even more T20 ones. Even test cricket, which is supposedly dying, isnt really that scarce in a calendar year. Overexposure of the game such as these, has always been blamed for the drop in popularity of the game.

However I think there's something else which is responsible for, what I'd call, loss of the charm of the gentleman's game. Its commentary.

Commentary is an integral part of the viewing experience. A good commentator can make a perfectly boring match tolerable. (Although the reverse is necessarily not true, as you now have the power to simply press the mute button on the remote.) Remember those days when people switched on their tele sets in the middle of the night to catch India's West Indies or Australian or South African tours? I distinctly remember those nights. I used to set my alarm at 4-4:30 in the morning to the extreme agony of mum and dad. The moment the alarm clock (yea, back in those days I didnt have a mobile phone of my own) sounded the arrival of the hour, I was awake, and with a steaming hot cup of coffee in my hand I used to tune in to ESPN/Star Sports. The oh so awesome voices of Harsha Bhogle, Sunny Gavaskar, Richie Benaud, Ian Bishop, Michael Holding and last but not the least Geoffrey Boycott boomed from the television set. It didnt matter which team was batting or fielding, it didnt matter what ground it was, hell it didnt even matter what form of the game it was! Those voices made cricket seem well and truly the gentleman's game.

Sigh! Gone are those days. I saw Harsha Bhogle on a programme on CNN IBN today, and frankly, when I heard him speak, all these memories started pouring in. I never realised how much I had missed that voice until I heard him speak.

I wish I could go back in time to that wonderful era. But again, maybe thats why memory is such a sweet thing.