It was inevitable. After the dud series in Zimbabwe, India showed up in Sri Lanka to play the Asia Cup. That there are only three other countries worth playing against surely doesn’t bode too well for Cricket. But that’s a discussion for another time.

India’s Asia Cup campaign coincided with the FIFA World Cup. And once you saw the sheer scale, impact and enthusiasm of it, the Asia Cup felt more like the ICL in its wane when the IPL hammered it out into the dark ages. Messrs Ronaldo, Kaka, Messi, Tevez, Vittek, hell even Landon Donovan against Mahela, Sanga, Dhoni, Raina, Shoaib, Afridi… ! The FIFA World Cup felt like a carnival. The Asia Cup was a funeral.

Sure cricket has its superstars and they act like superstars too. But the look like superstars on a world stage. It’s not even worth discussing that the FTP format for . . . → Read More: Football versus Cricket]]>

Be very afraid, cricket!

It was inevitable. After the dud series in Zimbabwe, India showed up in Sri Lanka to play the Asia Cup. That there are only three other countries worth playing against surely doesn’t bode too well for Cricket. But that’s a discussion for another time.

India’s Asia Cup campaign coincided with the FIFA World Cup. And once you saw the sheer scale, impact and enthusiasm of it, the Asia Cup felt more like the ICL in its wane when the IPL hammered it out into the dark ages. Messrs Ronaldo, Kaka, Messi, Tevez, Vittek, hell even Landon Donovan against Mahela, Sanga, Dhoni, Raina, Shoaib, Afridi… ! The FIFA World Cup felt like a carnival. The Asia Cup was a funeral.

Sure cricket has its superstars and they act like superstars too. But the look like superstars on a world stage. It’s not even worth discussing that the FTP format for cricket is a failure. Test matches, bilateral ODI series, tri-series and whatnot is being played without much consequence. It’s all well and good to hang on to tradition, but soon, it starts to seem pointless.

One can argue that the EPL, Serie A and other Eurpoean leagues are repetitive but the reason they work is that there’s a winner at the end of it all. And there’s a contest every game. The ICC’s four-year points system effectively takes out the zing of the annual World Test Championship prize. From the ICC’s FAQs:

The table reflects all Test series completed since August more than three years ago. All Tests series completed prior to next August will be added to this table, so by then the ratings will be based on a full four years of results. Then, in August, the first year of results will be dropped, so the table will then cover the past three years of results.

This pattern is repeated each August, with the oldest of the four years of results removed to be gradually replaced with results of matches played over the following twelve months. This means that once a year the positions could change overnight without any new Test Matches being played.

Quite simply, why not have a winner each year? Start a championship in January, end it in December. Team with most points wins. Simple. Of course, that would mean that events like the Boxing Day Test and the New Year’s Test become inconsequential in that series and Australia may have to end a series in December and start a new one in January. Oh, what a quandary!

Some thoughts:

1. Can’t all teams keep aside four months in a year for ONLY Tests?
2. Can’t there be three parts to the year – one for Tests, one for ODIs and one for T20s? Yes, this is short-sighted given that there may be more versions of the game in the near future (England plays 40-over domestic tournaments while Australia is set to start with a two-innings one-day format), but the answer to that is don’t make plans for the next 10 years! Restrict your plans to maybe 3… it’s possible.
3. Can’t clubs have a more significant role to play globally? Can’t India’s top 5 clubs play top 5 clubs from other countries (including Associate and other members)? That, to me, seems to be one way of improving quality and reach of cricket. If not, we will perhaps never see South Korea play Paraguay for a cricket world cup.

Cricket has some great positives over football. Use of technology, for one. Cricket also does better, I think when you think about fair play on the field. The ICC Match referees and umpires can be anal at times, but overall, they would fare better than football referees. So what is holding back cricket from becoming truly global?

Next year’s Cricket World Cup will be played over a month and a half. The first 3 weeks will have truly ridiculous match-ups. All teams will play the other in their group once. India essentially plays two big matches – South Africa and England and then have Bangladesh, West Indies (yes, they are officially in this league now!), Ireland and the Netherlands. It’s as good as making India’s footballers play the Oranje! No-contest!

And these kinds of farce match-ups will continue until the ‘minnows’ are treated as such. Today, in football, it’s possible for Ivory Coast to play Brazil and be counted because their players have the exposure of playing with and against the best. The mixing of players is only going to strengthen the game and not weaken the country. England complains of these kinds of activities because of injury. But as someone rightly said, “If a sportsman is afraid of injury, he should sit at home!”

Most of what I ranted about may just as well be under consideration or a fair bit of hot air out of me. I just hope something changes. It’s no surprise that the next wave of Indian fans are more interested in football than cricket.

If not, it won’t be long before the IPL – despite all its shortcomings and limitations – emerges and cricket’s true global representative.

Seems to say: “Yes, we’re asses”. Oh, well.

Image: Cricinfo

. . . → Read More: Kick here]]> For the Indian fan smarting from India’s dismal show at the ICC World T20, MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan offer a great outlet for frustration.

Seems to say: “Yes, we’re asses”. Oh, well.

Image: Cricinfo

The logo of the team too is pretty nice and does reflect all it needs to. What remains to be seen yet are the colors of the team. There’s enough red and blue in the IPL already. Only Chennai (yellow) and KKR (black and now purple) are different. So how about orange?

Speaking of the SPW (now that’ll take time getting used to), the new stadium in Pune seems rather impressive. Take a look at the proposed stadium… and the walkthrough.

Finally, Pune seems to be looking and behaving international. Or are we being too optimistic too soon?

Stadium link and video courtesy Amit Paranjape’s Blog.

. . . → Read More: Sahara Pune Warriors]]> It’s a good name. I quite like it. But for the “Sahara” at the start, it’s a name that will catch on. It is also a good thing that they did not listen to our suggestions!

The logo of the team too is pretty nice and does reflect all it needs to. What remains to be seen yet are the colors of the team. There’s enough red and blue in the IPL already. Only Chennai (yellow) and KKR (black and now purple) are different. So how about orange?

Speaking of the SPW (now that’ll take time getting used to), the new stadium in Pune seems rather impressive. Take a look at the proposed stadium… and the walkthrough.

Finally, Pune seems to be looking and behaving international. Or are we being too optimistic too soon?

Stadium link and video courtesy Amit Paranjape’s Blog.

"Shashi Tharoor called me because he was putting together a team," Patel explained. "He wanted me to speak to Lalit Modi and help him out. This has got nothing to do with IPL. This is a needless controversy."

Er, ok. So what team was Tharoor putting together that needed Lalit Modi’s help? Women’s volleyball?

Man, this is hilarious!

. . . → Read More: IPL WTF-ness!]]> Praful Patel, who now finds himself part of the ever-growing IPL controversy, had this to say about an alleged email sent from his office:

"Shashi Tharoor called me because he was putting together a team," Patel explained. "He wanted me to speak to Lalit Modi and help him out. This has got nothing to do with IPL. This is a needless controversy."

Er, ok. So what team was Tharoor putting together that needed Lalit Modi’s help? Women’s volleyball?

Man, this is hilarious!

Not having kept abreast of all developments over the last couple of months, I must admit, my focus is not that good at present. However, I will still hazard some predictions.

Specifically for Bahrain, I predict that McLaren and Ferrari would be frontrunners. There will of course be Red Bull who has proved itself to be a force, but the season opener is always a tricky one. An ongoing vote on F1.com pegs Ferrari as a favourite to win but only just from McLaren.

In 2009, Brawn GP blew everyone away in Australia and didn’t look back. Despite a poor second half of the season, they did lift both titles. Now that their winning driver has jumped camps, they will have to . . . → Read More: It’s F1 time]]> Not since November has the sporting calendar looked so good. Nay, great! Hot on the heels of the IPL kicking off this weekend, it will also be F1 time. I’m so happy!

Not having kept abreast of all developments over the last couple of months, I must admit, my focus is not that good at present. However, I will still hazard some predictions.

Specifically for Bahrain, I predict that McLaren and Ferrari would be frontrunners. There will of course be Red Bull who has proved itself to be a force, but the season opener is always a tricky one. An ongoing vote on F1.com pegs Ferrari as a favourite to win but only just from McLaren.

In 2009, Brawn GP blew everyone away in Australia and didn’t look back. Despite a poor second half of the season, they did lift both titles. Now that their winning driver has jumped camps, they will have to do some more work. Racing as Mercedes GP and with Michael Schumacher in their line-up, they are contenders. But only if the car has developed as planned… moving from being Toyota to Mercedes in just a season is quite something!

Then of course, there are the dark horses – all the newcomers. HRT (another Indian connection now), Virgin Racing (not so new, but new nonetheless), Sauber (again, old wine, new-ish bottle), Lotus (hardcore fans will continue to cry this isn’t the real deal!) and Force India. Now Force India isn’t really a newcomer, but we just wanted to talk about them! They have had a good run of late. And one hopes that for Dr Mallya’s sake they continue to improve and do better.

If the pre-season testing is anything to go by (usually, I wouldn’t have it account for too much), Ferrari and McLaren will have to fight Red Bull for the title. In all this, though, we haven’t forgotten Toro Rosso or Renault either. Renault will be plagued by too many changes and controversy through 2009. Their focus couldn’t have been on car development at all. So they should be backmarkers at least for the first half of the season.

Rule changes will also play a big part in 2010. As will the increased number of cars on the starting grid. It will be interesting to see how a driver in 24th can move ahead at the start. Perhaps the number of accidents will also rise this season.

Karun Chandok takes a seat in F1 this season. After commentating on other drivers and teams, he will have a chance to put his money where his mouth is! And we really hope he does well, for he has shown talent. Bernie is backing him and insisting that he get enough time to prove himself, but one wonders if he will get the kind of fan following/media attention that Narain Karthikeyan got. We hope so!

While we have hazarded a guess at the winning team, the winning driver will be a dogfight. Schumacher versus Massa versus Alonso versus Hamilton versus Button will be one dirty fight to the finish. And we will hazard the guess that the champion will be from one of these. Our hope is with Alonso (if only he weren’t Ferrari), head with Massa (again, why Ferrari) and money firmly in our pocket!

Can’t wait for the lights to turn green.

The BCCI probably doesn’t want Pune to have an IPL team. That’s why they postponed the bidding process due on Sunday (March 7). That’s what I would infer if the insightful thoughts part for the postponement of the bidding was up to me!

But it does help that for whatever reason, the BCCI has taken a reality check and is scaling back on its monetary demands. In other words, someone has told them to open their mouths a bit less!

Coming back to my original argument, it wouldn’t make sense for the BCCI to have two teams from cities just three hours apart. Having said that, Delhi and Punjab (KXIP, based in Mohali) are no different. So a franchise from Pune with the Mumbai Indians already present would perhaps dilute the Mumbai Indians’ fan base. Didn’t happen with Delhi/KXIP and don’t think would’ve happened with Pune/Mumbai.

What does amaze . . . → Read More: Why Pune deserves an IPL team]]> Warning: Long post. Potentially enjoyable.

The BCCI probably doesn’t want Pune to have an IPL team. That’s why they postponed the bidding process due on Sunday (March 7). That’s what I would infer if the insightful thoughts part for the postponement of the bidding was up to me!

But it does help that for whatever reason, the BCCI has taken a reality check and is scaling back on its monetary demands. In other words, someone has told them to open their mouths a bit less!

Coming back to my original argument, it wouldn’t make sense for the BCCI to have two teams from cities just three hours apart. Having said that, Delhi and Punjab (KXIP, based in Mohali) are no different. So a franchise from Pune with the Mumbai Indians already present would perhaps dilute the Mumbai Indians’ fan base. Didn’t happen with Delhi/KXIP and don’t think would’ve happened with Pune/Mumbai.

What does amaze me is that there is enough money to invest in this ($100 million guarantee etc) as confirmed by Atul Chordia of the Panchsheel Group:

"The reason given was that they unilaterally cancelled the bids," Atul Chordia, chairman and chief executive of the Panchshil Group, said. "It is not the question of happiness about the previous terms. Whatever terms and conditions were there we abided by it, whatever the tender form asked for we gave it, we tendered. We gave the 100 million dollar bank guarantee."

Whether or not Modi & Co. feel there is need for a Pune team, here are some arguments for it:

1. There is only one team from West India (North has 3 with Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan; South has three with Deccan, Bangalore and Chennai).
2. Pune is not Mumbai. It is not Navi Mumbai or Thane either. It is a whole other city. That is big enough to have its own IPL team. Serious.
3. There are cricket fans in Pune. Although the lack of a ground may prevent us from proving this, we are ready to assemble eight times in two months at one ground to cheer our team. Promise.

While the BCCI and Modi mull over these compelling arguments, one has started to wonder what the name of this team could be… some thoughts:

1. Puneri Peshwas: The flip side of this is if the Peshwa style of thinking and working came about, this team would fare worse than the KKR!
2. Pune Marathas: This would be an invitation to large scale caste discussions. I hope not, but unfortunately there are enough disruptive elements around who would try to cash in on the fact that it is not only the Marathas who live in Pune (and the regions it would represent).
3. Pune Pilots/Penguins/Parrots/Pensioners: Unfortunately, it could be some such alliterative nonsense that the city is saddled with. My imagination in all its limited ability could only come up with this. It is also unfortunate that Pune Pensioners for some reason, sounds like a good name for this team. Bah.
4. Pune Chhatrapatis: Hey, if there can be two teams that are Kings (Super Kings, KXIP) and two Royals (RCB and RR), there can be a vernacular King as well.

As mentioned, my limited imagination stops me there. As does my ever-increasing fear of having a team that has some ridiculous name and even more ridiculous punchline etc. But hey, KKR is living with it, so can we. Chin up.

The Glam factor: This is critical for any IPL team. KKR, KXIP, RR, RCB, MI definitely have it. DC, DD and CSK definitely don’t. If Pune does get their team with the announced consortium (Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor and corporates), we will certainly have it. Much more than the others! Also, we can count on local bigwigs to turn up in all their vociferous and 010 glory (the 9-yard saree) to the games. Be sure to spot Atul Kulkarni, Sonali Kulkarni, a bunch of Firodias, Poonawallas, Kalmadis and the usual smattering of the P3P (Page 3 People). Hm. Come to think of it, that does bring down the glam quotient a notch, but we’re sure the Khan and Kapoors will come with their coterie/entourage to keep up the glam.

The Icon Players: With Pune hardly having any big name cricketers of note, we would have to look beyond our shores mountains plains railway tracks to find someone to ‘iconize’. I say bring in the foreigners, but only from southern hemisphere countries. We don’t want the whole “Northern fellow” issue being raked by the SS and MNS. I also propose that Hrishikesh Kanitkar come out of retirement and be involved with the team in a non-playing captain capacity. He has the brains, he has the experience, just never got the exposure. I also propose that we make Greg Chappel our coach. He is the only one who could keep the Peshwas awake, I daresay.

Schedule: One strong argument in favour of Pune having its team is that it will ensure the best possible lifestyle for players, fans and viewers on TV. Historically, Pune as a city has slept (siesta is too mild a word) from 1pm to 4pm. Phone callers during this time are routinely abused with unkind references to their mothers, fathers, sisters or all of them together. So a match in Pune may not start before 5pm. That is when Chitale Bandhu, Hindustan Bakery and Kayani Bakery will be definitely open for the fans to buy their bakarwadi, mawa cake and or wafers and head over to the ground (wherever that be). This timing would also ensure that teams playing in Pune get that extra hour to reach here. They will need it since there aren’t that many flights coming to Pune. And if they try to be smart by taking the bus from Mumbai, they will only have to suffer at Lonavala and also Vashi toll naka.

Facilities: One unfortunate fact of life would be that the team would invariably practice either at the Poona Club ground or at the Deccan Gymkhana ground – the only two venues in the city with grass on them. In the first case, they would live at the Blue Diamond or at Le Meridien. The Sun ‘n Sand is just too passé now. In the second case, the choices are limited. The Oakwood, Deccan Rendezvous, The Ambassador, The Coronet, The Pride, The Gordon House Hotel and The Orbett are a walk or a jog away, but may not be available at all times. The team owners/management would do well to have rooms on standby at Shreyas, Raj Lodge, Rajhans and even Ashish Plaza just in case an important politician from Baramati were to drop in and book all rooms available just to keep miscreants guessing where he is staying. Of course, the new hotels at Hinjewadi are an option, but I believe the lack of entertainment options would keep teams away from there. I mean, you can go to Mezza9 only so many times! If nothing works, Pune offers some of the most competitive rates on cot-basis sharing accommodation. Available in abundance around Deccan and Camp.

To sum up, Pune does deserve an IPL team. We are woefully short of good-looking people to cheer for on posters around the city. It would help to look up and for once, not see politicians celebrating their birthdays. It would be worth having merchandise that says “Pune *****”. It would be good to be at a stadium where we can whip Mumbai’s Kolkata’s a** for the world to see which is the better city.

And most importantly, we need the attention. The city needs roads. History has taught the Punekar that roads in Pune are built only when a major event is coming to town. So please, give us a cricket team.

P.S.: Please disregard the above if it offends you. It is a feeble attempt at humor. Don’t come after me with bats, stumps, cricket balls or plastic bottles. If you do like it, send me money. I also want to be part of the ‘consortium’ bidding for the team. Then we can make sure the team is NOT called Pune Pensioners.

So when the team decided to rest him for the final ODI… one has to wonder why. For the IPL?

So this is the final squad:

Squad: M Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Sudeep Tyagi, S Sreesanth, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ashish Nehra

Let’s hope a clean sweep happens.

. . . → Read More: Excuse me… ?]]> Everyone’s seen Sachin’s knock of 200 not out. The man is in the form of his life. All those numbers everyone is writing about are simply marvellous and astounding. And all those numbers came because he played.

So when the team decided to rest him for the final ODI… one has to wonder why. For the IPL?

So this is the final squad:

Squad: M Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Sudeep Tyagi, S Sreesanth, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ashish Nehra

Let’s hope a clean sweep happens.

Nagpur, on the other hand, gets four games. Including some big tickets ones including AUS v NZ and IND v SA  in addition to two smaller games. So where does that leave Pune?

The MCA has done nothing of note to build a stadium worthy of international games in the city. Even recent Ranji Trophy matches have taken place at the Poona Club ground or at the Deccan Gymkhana ground neither of which have seating.

It’s pitiable, but a reflection of what the city is doing to itself. While definitely lacking in basic infrastructure, it is certainly better in support infrastructure (hotels, restaurants etc) than Nagpur. But the basic missing link – a ground – has yet again cost the city.

As Mr Kalmadi, our esteemed MP continues to bungle the . . . → Read More: No World Cup matches for Pune]]> What a sorry, sorry state of affairs. The World Cup cricket returns to India after 1996 and there is no game for Pune.

Nagpur, on the other hand, gets four games. Including some big tickets ones including AUS v NZ and IND v SA  in addition to two smaller games. So where does that leave Pune?

The MCA has done nothing of note to build a stadium worthy of international games in the city. Even recent Ranji Trophy matches have taken place at the Poona Club ground or at the Deccan Gymkhana ground neither of which have seating.

It’s pitiable, but a reflection of what the city is doing to itself. While definitely lacking in basic infrastructure, it is certainly better in support infrastructure (hotels, restaurants etc) than Nagpur. But the basic missing link – a ground – has yet again cost the city.

As Mr Kalmadi, our esteemed MP continues to bungle the CWG2010, the city reels. Sure, building a ground is not his job, but he does have a finger in every pie in the city’s development. Or the lack of it.

Much has been said about this, and it is really pointless crying over this. We will perhaps need to plan to catch the games in Mumbai (the Final is there) or Nagpur. Or maybe Bangalore or Ahmedabad… all accessible. Of course, none closer than a ground in the city, but one can’t live on pipe dreams, now, can one?

The BCCI has started selling the bid documents at Rs five lakh a copy which is "non-refundable and non-adjustable", as per the tender notice put out by Board secretary N. Srinivasan.

So what the BCCI is saying is that we want to see how serious our bidders are. If they have the ability to throw away Rs 5 lakh to get tender notices. And if they care about this.

I think that the money for unsuccessful bids should be returned. And the winning bidder’s money should be adjusted.

Else, this is absolutely jam for BCCI.

I always knew I should have got into a business where I had to float tenders.

. . . → Read More: Spending money to spend money]]> Now, I’ve not been part of many tender-based submissions. Actually, I’ve never been part of any. So it does baffle the mind when one sees this:

The BCCI has started selling the bid documents at Rs five lakh a copy which is "non-refundable and non-adjustable", as per the tender notice put out by Board secretary N. Srinivasan.

So what the BCCI is saying is that we want to see how serious our bidders are. If they have the ability to throw away Rs 5 lakh to get tender notices. And if they care about this.

I think that the money for unsuccessful bids should be returned. And the winning bidder’s money should be adjusted.

Else, this is absolutely jam for BCCI.

I always knew I should have got into a business where I had to float tenders.

TV coverage of cricket is pretty standardized. Apart from the cheerleaders, there isn’t much innovation. If you think showing more stats or graphics is innovation, then no. We have had the same stumpcam, same overhead cameras and angles for years now. The picture quality has improved, but that’s about all. The IPL had one innovation with a moving camera over the pitch, but that wasn’t too popular with the players (and also raised some valid questions). So what we are basically left with for additional entertainment are the commentators. And they — at their best — are . . . → Read More: Specialist Commentators, maybe?]]> T20 has us captivated, agitated, enthralled, angry but hooked. And much has been said about what players are right for the format and what aren’t. Rightly so, too. Horses for courses is very much prevalent in ODI and Test cricket and it’s only natural if this is extended to T20 — the future of cricket.

TV coverage of cricket is pretty standardized. Apart from the cheerleaders, there isn’t much innovation. If you think showing more stats or graphics is innovation, then no. We have had the same stumpcam, same overhead cameras and angles for years now. The picture quality has improved, but that’s about all. The IPL had one innovation with a moving camera over the pitch, but that wasn’t too popular with the players (and also raised some valid questions). So what we are basically left with for additional entertainment are the commentators. And they — at their best — are staid to put it mildly.

If players are chosen for a particular format of the game, why can’t the same apply to commentators? That would rule out such orators as Sunil Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Anil Kumble, Nasser Hussain and more who haven’t even ever played T20 (except Kumble). So to be fair, their understanding of the format is as good or poor as the layman. Okay, so they’ve played international cricket, but then, horses for courses, no?

Imagine if some colorful commentators (like Danny Morrison who does talk a bit through his head, but it’s fun) were to take over commentary for T20… that would add to the frenetic pace of the game and make it enjoyable to watch on TV. What we have right now are former players going through a book (perhaps) that has cricketing cliches and reading them out as required.

Just a thought… can’t we have someone who can talk like he is alive (Hussain and Kumble together is a snoozefest at it most exciting moments!) and maybe have some fun too?