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A year ago, the first edition of CLT20 in Cricket concluded. Very conveniently for a section (a large one) of western media, and former cricketers from Australia, England etc, an Aussie team won it and all IPL teams crashed before semis. They went on to mock IPL, and concluded that IPL teams can never match the teams from other countries, who have bonded through the year and fight for each other(!).
Of course, that was cynical but a large section of the western press, former cricketers, bloggers from Aus/Eng/NZ-etc, commenters thereof rejoiced in their theory and generally let out a cry of joy in India's direction. Where are you folks? Just show up now!
Some stats from CLT20
An IPL team was the champion
Half of the finalists were from IPL, the better half at that
50% of the Semi-finalists were from IPL
66% of the IPL teams made it to the semis
The next best was Aussie teams(50%), Saffers(50%).
So, what happened to all that team bonding, and money based franchisees can never beat the sheer love and passion that other league cricketers have for their team LOL
Ian Slipper(Former Cricketer, Australia) and co., please voice your opinion now
And all assorted bloggers who expressed that sentiment last year, speak up now. I have bookmarked a lot of you so I'll publish the links soon of all you wise old men where you cynically, with an agenda, tried to link up unlinked facts and based on your indigestion at IPL's success, tried to use NSW's victory as a prop.
What did you say? Oh yeah I am gloating on the basis of a single triumph by an IPL team. Of course, that is silly. That is the point. That is what you did last year. I laughed at you then. I am laughing now. Yeah, you know who you are. That is why you shouldn't gloat based on a single event. Hope you learnt your lesson.
*And I am not seriously gloating - I am just making a point - so you cannot throw this back at me if a non-IPL team wins next year.
** IPL may be evil. But the point is many of ye who are opposing IPL could possibly be equally evil, just with a different agenda. Simple, plain, obvious fact but needs restating in today's unthinking world.
Team Bonding is passe! Franchisees are the way to go!
Did Bhajji just shove away his captaincy chances
This is too funny to even laugh. Harbhajan Singh, on camera, has aggressively pushed away a mediaperson. The guy’s crime – well, his camera just brushed the spinner’s head. Awesome.
I don’t want to talk about that incident though. It was plain stupid, and we all laughed. To more important issues, Viru wants to quit the vice captaincy so that a younger player can be groomed. Fair enough. But guess who publically applied for the vacancy – none other than the man of the moment – Harbhajan Singh. Awesomer. What part of ‘younger’ didn’t he get?
What do you guys think?
Media or mother in law?
by A Bisht
I begin with some folklore from north-western India:
In a remote village, a bossy woman lived with her daughter-in-law. Although her son and husband lived with them too, it's she who held sway over the entire family. One person who was always on her radar was the daughter-in-law. Like most mothers-in-law she used to point out flaws in almost everything her daughter-in-law did. As this woman took her role so seriously this reforming activity fast became a habit. The habit brought in her the ingenuity to find faults where they were none.
One day while her daughter-in-law was preparing dough for the rotis (bread made out of wheat flour), to be cooked for the dinner, she stared at her rather furiously. When the daughter-in-law reacted with a questioning expression, pat came her reply—why do you move so much while making the dough?
The reason for this story is to drive home the analogy between the bossy mother-in-law and the Indian electronic media.
Isn't it true that the Indian electronic media functions just like the mother-in-law? Doesn't it specialize in pointing out flaws in almost anything?
Sourav Ganguly announced his retirement this week. He gave a terse, to the point statement to the media. Whatever are the reasons behind the decision; if he has decided to quit the game; his decision should be respected.
And the announcement should be taken on face value.
But as the adage goes "Old habits die hard"; the media (e) which was at Ganguly's throat for not making way for the youngsters only a week ago; is now showing its concern about the future of Indian cricket after the departure of the fab four.
Youngsters who up to now seemed more than good heirs to the fab four legacy suddenly became unworthy.
It's high time the Electronic media start acting responsibly and shed this rather irritating habit.
[PS to Media: It's not all too hard to get rid off this anomaly—just make sure you watch your previously telecast programmes once in a while.]
What do you say?
