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Showing posts with label media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label media. Show all posts
Indian Fatigue League?
Compare India’s love-hate relationship with cricket to Arnab’s debates on Arnab’s debate.
Disclaimer: As @boredcricket , I did not sponsor this debate with #BoredWithCricket as the theme - come in after 13 mts and 45 mts.
#IPL DK, Buttler and back in the studio.
@glancescreen
Watch here
#IPL No smiles.
#Ypu and Saha
Talking about #ypu , Saha, screenshots and playing in the shadows of Dhoni and Pant. On Republic TV.
So much thought to lose a game, wow!
Talking about India's defeat to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup, how so much thought was put into it.
Can also watch here
Did I ask Arnab Goswami to shut down Republic TV?
He thinks so. But did I? Watch after 51 minutes. (I also speak after 47 minutes and a bit in the beginning). From March 12, 2020.
IPL vs Corona Virus
Should Sanjay Manjrekar be given a farewell match as commentator?
Once Sanjay Manjrekar was omitted from the BCCI’s panel of commentators, there was no cricket left to commentate on. While Manjrekar took his omission far more gracefully than Ravindra Jadeja took his criticism as a “bits and pieces cricketer”, there’s no saying how this will end.
Manjrekar has been outspoken in his comment; often something that hasn’t gone down too well with watchers of the game – be it his take on Jadeja or Cheteshwar Pujara, he has minced no words.
But when it comes to his relentless praise of Rohit Sharma through the years, he’s spared no garnish.
Now the preoccupation with Rohit’s talent and unfulfilled promise has not been Manjrekar’s alone – commentators, many of them former cricketers, have spent so much time Rohiting away, it’s surprising Star Sports failed to start a channel for this sole purpose. What would they call it – Star Talent of course.
This could have led to Talent scouts, Talent hunts and a remake of the Hollywood film, The Talented Mr Ripley (rechristened as The Talented Mr Rohit).
Once upon a time, I was a huge fan of Sanjay Manjrekar’s – there I said it. Yes, I even said so on air. On NDTV, on a show titled The evolution of cricket commentary – from close to six years back but yes, I said it. After 30 minutes into the show when asked about our favourite commentator, I mention how commentators work in pairs and how Manjrekar-Chappell were one such pair, with an almost father-son rapport.
Today, when cricket and all sport appeared to have been given a farewell, we must ask ourselves, doesn’t Sanjay deserve a farewell match? Hell, even Ashish Nehra got one. Sachin got two.
Or would the BCCI rather have him go into exile and spawn another ICL and draw Ambati Rayudu back into it again?
There’s much time for thought. I suggest a white ball game where Rohit Sharma will captain, open the batting and speak to Sanjay after the match. It is all he would have dreamed of.
Another thing, Ian Chappell should be invited as well. And if it’s TRPs that Star is after, maybe they seat Sourav, Sachin and Greg Chappell together as well.
After all, they pulled off Bhajji and Hayden, didn’t they? And there will be so much lost time to make up for – who knows, maybe they cage Manjrekar through his stints, promoting the match as Sanjay WildKar. Pujara can make an ODI comeback, what more could Manjrekar ask for? An elephant in the room perhaps.
Next: Should I be given a welcome match on Manjrekar's farewell match?
Aussie media could pull out of the Dharamsala Test if Virat Kohli does not play.
The Aussie
media has come into its own in the ongoing Test series with India. Mostly
questioning Indian captain, Virat Kohli questioning of Australian captain,
Steven Smith, looking for answers for a review from the dressing room.
The deep
hurt felt at seeing their captain caught with his nickers down, has only made
that country’s media more determined to catch the Indian skipper with his
nickers down. While Kohli has exposed some skin, mostly his shoulders in a
sleeveless, he has refused to take his nickers off in front of the Aussie
media.
Not that
the Aussies haven’t tried their best. So consumed they have been of their
love-hate relationship with Kohli, that cricket updates and scorecards have
been substituted with Kohli updates and their unsettled scores with the Indian
skipper. One newspaper, in the know of on-field occurrences, stated the final unsettled
scores for the series as: Kohli 0.046, Aussie media 1, an underarm jab
referring to Kohli’s 46 runs in five innings in the series. Another such
newspaper went to the extent of stating that Kohli had picked his nose and then
shaken hands with the Aussie media manager. Kohli refuted this claim in a post-match
conference, denying that he would stoop so low as to shake hands with the
Aussie media manager. As for picking his nose, he said, it was a personal
matter and didn’t just like to pick on Aussie cricketers.
Another
newspaper likened Virat Kohli to Donald Trump. This led to the unconditional
support of the American President for the Indian captain although condemning the
Aussie paper as, “Fake news”. He also said he liked Kohli as he liked Hindu.
But now it
turns out that Kohli’s shoulder could keep him out of the series; and with that
take away a shoulder to pry on for the Aussie media. There are serious doubts
whether they will cover the Test at all.
Forget 2019, Dhoni should play till 2023 World Cup
One sure-shot way to make the news is to have an opinion on MS Dhoni – on how long should he play. Should he play? Why should he play?
"Of course he should play. He is fit, fitter than players younger than him. Have you seen him run between the wickets? Have you seen him keeping wickets? Have you seen him stump?"
"Yes, but have you seen him catch? He drops a catch every other game."Who doesn’t? He’s only human, they’re tough chances, anybody would drop them."
37-year-old comeback kid, Ashish Nehra, has an opinion on this whole Dhoni affair. "By the time it’s time for the 2019 World Cup, Dhoni’s age would be close to 38, but these days age isn’t a factor. Look at Pakistani players like Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq. They are still playing international cricket past the age of 40. And as far as Dhoni is concerned, he is fit enough to go on till 2019."
Nehra last played for India on March 31, 2016, so he should know a thing or two about longevity. He just doesn’t know Younis’ age, who at 38, should be still considered under 40.
Then there’s former cricketer and selector, Vikram Rathore: "Dhoni should definitely play on if he wants to. I don’t see any issue with his fitness. He is actually looking fitter than what I have seen earlier. If Nehra can come back at the age of 37, Dhoni can also do it."
What Rathore’s saying is the team is Dhoni’s Then, there’s the bit about Nehra making a comeback, someone plagued with fitness issues throughout his career, and hell, if he can comeback, Dhoni can in his sleep – "hmmm, had a dream, I was playing for India in the 2023 World Cup, think I’m gonna..."
There’s this constant emphasis on fitness, what about ability, what if the skills are on the wane, what if his keeping and batting falters, why isn’t that ever mentioned?
Because Dhoni is still on top of yet another game, calling it before anyone else does.
In the recently-concluded series, he nailed it: "To some extent I am losing my ability to freely rotate in the middle, so I have decided to bat up and let the others finish."
Why doesn’t anyone have the guts to say that as long as he maintains his batting and keeping, his fitness and experience makes him an instant pick in the playing XI.
Or is fitness and experience far more important than his core skills as a cricketer? Why does Indian cricket live in the past of great cricketers to justify the present-day narrative?
Ravi Shastri shares his two-bits: "Dhoni is at par with greats like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar."(Interpreted: Kapil and Tendulkar long overstayed their welcome, why shouldn’t Dhoni?) Shastri continues, "he is the kind of player who won’t be around if he is not able to deliver for India. He has played cricket on his terms and will continue to do so."
Full marks for honesty there, way too many powerful cricketers play on their own terms, for any selection committee to remove them is unthinkable. As we have learnt in the past, it’s far easier to remove an unbiased selector.
Kiran More, fresh from his cameo in the Dhoni biopic says, "Fitness is the key issue when it comes to international cricket."
Of course, not performance but fitness. Because how can you perform if you’re not fit. But if you’re fit, is it natural that you perform?
More continues, "Dhoni does not need to worry about that. His chances of playing till 2019 are very bright. India will need Dhoni, and I am sure he will not walk away just like that."
Virat Kohli walks back after being dismissed. Ranchi celebrates. MS Dhoni walks in to bat. Ranchi celebrates some more. MS Dhoni walks back after being dismissed. Ranchi goes AWOL.
In Ranchi, Dhoni, in at four, completed a somewhat incomplete innings – 11 off 31 deliveries. Previously in Delhi, Dhoni had assembled 39 off 65. Unlike Ranchi, where he hit no boundaries, Delhi featured three fours.
In between, there was Mohali. 80 off 91. Three 6s, six 4s. He wrapped the series with a patient 41 off 59, four 4s, one 6. New Zealand managed only 28 more.
In spite of niggles with rotation, Dhoni is delivering, though with far lesser intuitiveness. Also it doesn’t help that he comes in after Virat Kohli; these days, even a very good batsman will look somewhat inept in such company. What chance, then, does a player not quite at the peak of his powers stand?
The untold story has been told. Is Dhoni now playing from a brilliant memory of himself? Or is he holding on to a last whiff of that immortal perfume that lingers on with the best sportsmen?
Either way, he can do without the platitudes in the press. The narrative is taking place in the middle. It always has, always will.
A player calls it himself. Dhoni is still playing.
fiefdom and if he wants to hang with his boys and play, so be it.
First published here
Jesse Ryder's on the storm
It took an attack on Jesse Ryder for me to figure out how much I love the man's rock 'n roll ways and his cricket. Here's to you, Jesse, cheers boss!
Heated Bhajji vs Ojha Debate on NDTV
Why was Pragyan Ojha dropped for the Chennai Test? Why was Bhajji picked - to play his 100th Test? Join Bored Member Gaurav Sethi talking Naked Cricket on NDTV. And the rap in the end.
view on NDTV
On Dravid's birthday, let's talk Tendulkar and Che Pujara (on NDTV)
Bored Member Naked Cricket (Gaurav Sethi) on NDTV's #TheSocialNetwork debate: Does Indian cricket need another Dravid or Tendulkar now? Guest appearance: Cheteshwar Pujara. And a song for Dravid at the end - You did it all, coz were the wall. Happy Bored Day, Jammie!
view on NDTV
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