Bits and pieces

OK, not much of a full blog post, but some bits and pieces that have been playing in my head. Needed to get them out of my system... so here they are.

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Lalit Modi is OUT! CLEAN BOWLED! Nah, actually, make that hit-wicket. Good riddance! I have never been a fan of IPL. Actually, I would have wholeheartedly hated it if not for the fact that Dravid, Tendulkar and Kumble were playing in it. Two reasons why I detested it so much:

1. It is not cricket. It is mockery of cricket.
2. Modi. Do I need to say more? If BCCI was Corrupt, Modi is Corrupt++. And vulgar. And he flaunted it with no shame.

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While I've hated IPL, and have never watched a single game in IPL 1, 2 and 3, I've kinda followed it online (you can't help it if you visit CricInfo.com everyday and read as many blogs I read!). And I was particularly impressed with the way Mumbai and Bangalore played this year. I didn't really favor any one particular team, but if I were to pick a team, I would have picked 3, none of which eventually won the trophy though each of these 3 teams deserved (and promised) to win.

In general, here's how I look (love, hate, and why) at the 8 IPL teams, in alphabetical order:

1. Chennai Super Kings: Hate. Reason: Hayden.

2. Deccan Chargers: Hate, in spite of Gilchrist and some connection I have with Andhra. Reason: Andrew Symonds.

3. Delhi Daredevils: Love them. In fact, one of my most favored teams this year. Sehwag and Gambhir are obviously two of the big, but not the only, reasons. The fact that I used to live here hasn't influenced much though. And have nothing against this team, despite the fact the Ashish Nehra plays for them.

4. Kings XI Punjab: Kings? Of what? The 'Also-Rans'. Deserved neither hatred nor love. Poor Zinta -- if they keep losing like this, it won't be too long before her dimples disappear. Oh, btw, it turns out there is Modi-connection here too -- so maybe I can hate them. ;)

5. Kolkata Knight Riders: Oh boy! Where do I start? I would have so loved to see Ganguly just sit home and keep his dignity. Poor guy! Two arrogant Australians screwed him up big time. And a Khan almost did him in.

6. Mumbai Indians: Love them. Because of Tendulkar. I have never really supported a Mumbai Ranji team because of the big bullies they usually are. Does anybody remember the Ranji final in Mysore? But in IPL this year, the way Tendulkar played and led the team, I wanted them to win the championship.

7. Rajasthan Royals: HATE them. Modi. Warne. Modi. Warne.

8. Royal Challengers Bangalore: Ah! My home team with Dravid, Kumble, Kallis, etc., etc. How can you not love them! But there is one thing that is really bad about them: the vulgar Malya.

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In the middle of this, while the thugs like Modi were making big by breaking every rule, how did they summon the moral courage to ban Ravindra Jadeja for negotiating for a better deal? I guess one can't use Indian politics, cricket, the business of cricket, and morality in the same sentence.

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I never thought I would write about IPL in my blog... I guess strange things do happen.

Cricket, at last!

All these days, I successfully resisted buying Champions Trophy package on Willow TV. You see, for millions of die hard cricket fans like me who have chosen to live in a non-cricketing country like USA, watching cricket is a luxury. Not just because the viewing opportunities are very limited, we have to actually pay extra money to watch cricket. And if you don't have satellite TV like Direct TV or Dish, your choices are even more limited to a few online video streams, some of which are free and of questionable quality.

Over the years, I have been using Willow TV. The quality is pretty decent, and though it used to be quite expensive, it is getting a little justifiable these days.

But, as I said, I resisted buying Champions Trophy (I didn't watch the Compaq Cup in Sri Lanka either). Not because of the money but because of the lack of excitement about this particular tournament. And because I am too busy these days to afford 6 hours a day for cricket. Until this morning, that is. How can I resist it when India is playing Pakistan, especially when Pakistan bats first and puts up a score of 300 setting up a nice stage for India's challenge! And when I saw Gambhir and Tendulkar going at it, I couldn't keep quiet.

There is a downside to watching cricket on Willow, though. It doesn't work on Mac. So, wearily, I fired up my very rarely used Windoze laptop, and while it was booting, launched Willow site on Mac to pay $45. And a pleasant surprise was waiting for me! Just of curiosity, after making the payment, I clicked on "Watch", and voila! It starting playing! On Safari, no less! Look!





Thank you, Willow TV!

Sadly, in the middle of all this, Tendlya departed. Never mind. Just give me two victories: one against Pakistan and another against Australia. I won't ask for anything else.

And if India can go on to win the trophy, it is a bonus prize. And if that doesn't happen, if fate conspires to at least keep the trophy out of reach for Australia and Pakistan, it is a consolation prize. Come to think of it, I am not sure which prize I love more! ;)

Serendipity in Cricketing Mathematics? :-)

Here is what India head coach Gary Kirsten had to say ahead of the 3rd ODI between India and Srilanka yesterday, according to Sriram Veera of CricInfo:

The momentum in the series is clearly with India, who own a 2-0 lead, and their coach Gary Kirsten reckoned that his team could win matches even by playing at "60% of our ability".

India eventually beat Srilanka comprehensively in the day-night match. And, as it turned out, Srilanka scored only 59.504% of India's total of 363. Interesting, eh? :-)

Is this the end of Dravid?

Sometimes it is just too painful to watch one of your favorite players look so shabby and out of place. Watching him play the last few Test matches, you get the feeling that Dravid is going through a mental trauma. What is sad about it though is that this trauma is self-inflicted. He is too fine a batsman and too determined a player to have such wretched patch for such a long time. His mind just isn't there. He is unable to accept the fact that a player of his caliber can fall to such depths. And it doesn't appear that he will be able able to pull himself out of this rut. He seems so aloof on the ground and doesn't appear to be getting any help from his teammates let alone his captain. I believe Dhoni has let him down in a big way and may even be waiting for Dravid to go out on his own. Sad.

After his second stint in the Chennai Test, I have no doubt that this will be Dravid's last Test series. I think he is going to retire at the end of the series. I would have loved to see him score a century or two before he departed, but I would rather not see so much pain on his face. So long, Dravid!

Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai

Well, forget about Albert for now, though it is an awesome movie. My gripes are more important now because this is my blog and not Albert's! About a month ago, Zee TV launched Zee Sports here in the US and, since I am a DISH Network customer, gave me a free preview of the channel for a week. India-Australia series was just about to begin and the timing was perfect. I got to watch the first two ODIs on TV for free. Or, did I?

Being a very 'organized' person that I am with all things cricket, I had already bought the 'specially priced' package on Willow.tv a week before, like I always do. Trying to be a smart a$$ this time, I even bought a 'package deal' that covered both the Ind-Aus and Ind-Pak series at a decent discount. I was pretty pleased with my planning. Only for Zee TV to drop the bomb on me a week later! Very nice!

Anyways, I watched the first two ODIs on big screen, and was very impressed, because till now I used to watch cricket on my laptop which was like eating bisibele bhat with one finger: You have it, you are eating it, but you are not fully enjoying it. OK, bad analogy, but that is how I felt. So, to see cricket again on TV was awesome news and was good enough to make me subscribe to the channel at $20 a month. This, after paying much more to Willow.tv. But I don't regret it a bit because a dear friend of mine who is equally passionate about the sport is trying to make use of it. So, money well spent, and I am happy! :)

And that leads me to the list of things that have been pissing me off over the past few days. I needed to let it out of my system, so here I go:

1. Once the free preview period is over, if anybody is watching the channel, it is only those who have subscribed to the channel, correct? You would think this is very straightforward. But not the head-honchos at Zee TV! At every break, which is almost as frequent as Dhoni adjusting the Velcro on his batting gloves, they have to pop up this really loud message urging you to "Subscribe to Zee Sports!" You might say "No big deal" but put that with what else happens on this channel: Celebrities like Preeti Jhangiani, Deepika Padukone, and Yana Gupta popping up every 5 minutes to enlighten us by saying "You are watching Zee Sports. Thanks for watching!" Oh yeah? Thank you!

By the way, the only batsman that comes in and goes back between two of these breaks is Virendar Sehwag.

2. The more I watch cricket, the more generous I tend to become with my money it seems! I am thinking of opening a fund in the name of Arun Lal and calling it "Go Home Mere Lal" and do something similar for Aamir Sohail. The fund will pay a fee for these two commentators for each game they watch sitting at home instead of holding the microphone. I mean, who hires some of these idiots!? I have a strong hunch that Arun Lal actually pays the TV channels for letting him do the commentary. So, I guess the fund will have to compensate the TV channels also for the lost revenue from these idiots. I am also thinking of making a recommendation to ICC to require all the commentators to pass TOECL (Test of English as a Commentary Language). I can ignore their limited cricket wisdom but not their bad English. And would somebody please tell Aamir Sohail that he might want to consider a career in 'Haunted Storytelling" at the Disney World? He might actually make some money there!

There was a time when it was fun, entertaining and enlightening to hear the commentary when folks like Harsha Bhogle used to hold the mic. Those days, past cricketers were 'invited' as expert commentators to add that extra touch of authenticity and experience. Now they are "imposed" on us.

By the way, watching Salman Butt, Yuvraj and Dhoni bat so beautifully last night was an experience marred only by the commentary team led by Arun Lal. I was so hoping for Arun Lal to make a mistake saying Salman Butt's name by misplacing the 's and embarrassing himself. Didn't happen. That reminded me of an incident but this is not the place to recount it. But you have to feel sorry for Salman and those that share his last name. With a last name like that, who would want to go to high school in countries like USA and become the butt of all jokes! I knew a guy who I played cricket with here in Chicago who shared his last name with Salman. And he married an American girl named Rosie. Hmmmm.

3. Kirti Azad. Why is he even allowed to wander near cricket grounds? Since when is he considered a 'Cricket Expert?' Why is he paid to sit with Padam and talk stupid and arrogant (somehow these adjectives always seem to go together!)? How many Tests has he played? 7? With a highest score of 24? Come on, we deserve better than this guy! But I must congratulate him for getting two things right so far: #1 - He said Sehwag should be dropped for the Kanpur match and #2 - He chose to join BJP when he entered politics. Now, if he just shuts up and goes home, he will have scored 3 out of 3 that he is capable of!

You don't want me to continue, do you?