Well, it wasn’t really a retirement in the Mohd. Yousuf style. Nevertheless, the main reason for my not posting, as I mentioned in my last post, was because the IPL was too congested to actually dedicate seperate blog posts to it. Instead, I went for tweeting for the course of the tournament.
So, what happened between that post and today?
1. Lalit Modi is suspended/fired/(you name it)
Well, after my short campaign to get rid of Lalit Modi, it seems to have bore fruit. Lalit Modi has, according to the BCCI, been suspended.
But let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that he will actually be back. The charges laid out against Lalit Modi sound serious and, even if one of those charges are proved to be true, you can be rest assured that cricket won’t be infected by Lalitmoditus again. Heck, he might even migrate to the US and try to take over cricket there!
However, anyone reading this (yes, even the current cricketers and administrators) should realize that I have a power.
We all know that Purna, of Cricket Minded fame, has the power to get cricketers back into the team.
However, with my power, I can screw the person concerned in a big way.
Look at LKM. He was going “Wow” to a Pollard six in the IPL final and, now, there’s a decent chance he might be going into jail.
So, the moral for the day?
Don’t mess with Thiru Cumaran!
2. Chennai SuperKings win the title
Most consider this a big anti-climax since there was a chance that CSK would not even reach the semis after just 2 wins in the first 7 games.
However, with 7 wins in the last 9 games (including the finals), MSD taught us all one thing.
Make sure you win the games that matter.
I’ve always been a firm believer of this concept. It’s no point winning all the league games, only to stumble when it really matters.
A case in point is India. India started off fairly scratchily in the first couple of matches in the 2003 World Cup. However, since they had 7 matches in the group stages, they managed to rediscover their mojo and reached the finals.
Come 2007, the same thing happens, but, TBH, it’s worse. They lose to Bangladesh and find themselves on a sticky-wicket. They have to beat SL to advance to the next round. However, SL was in really good form and knocked them out before the Super 8s.
The point I’m trying to make is, if the 2003 World Cup had a format similar to the 2007 WC, India may not have made it to the Super 6s.
It’s all a matter of who turns up on the particular day. I just had a gut feeling that Mumbai, having not experienced any pressure whatsoever during the tournament, may not be able to withstand the heat.
On the other hand, Chennai had already been through plenty, having had to make 52 runs in 4 overs to get to the semi-finals. Therefore, there was no question of Chennai not being able to soak the pressure. Heck, even S. Badrinath managed to let off a whole load of pressure by sweating a lot! XD
Pollard, IMO, is over-hyped. Yes, he’s changed games, but look what happened when the team really needed him.
Tendlya deserved better. Yes, I am a Chennai fan, but who couldn’t feel sympathy for the only ODI double-centurion, the only 600+ run scorer this year?
3. Zimbabwe beat Australia, again
In case you were polishing your specs and looking at this post again don’t be too worried. It’s true. The Zimbos beat Australia again. After beating them in the T20WC 2007, they’ve beat them again in the Caribbean.
Yes, it was a 15-a-side game, but, still.
Despite Australia being really mediocre when compared to the class of, say, 2005, why do I still get a smug smile on my face when I see the words “Australia” and “defeated” in the same sentence?
4. The T20 World Cup starts tomorrow
Well, this isn’t exactly something that already happened. However, I am genuinely happy to see international teams taking on each other.
Yes, most people are complaining of T20 overburn after having watched a mind-boggling 60 games between 8 “domestic” Indian teams.
However, it isn’t the domesticness of the tournament which has left a sour taste in the mouth for me. It’s the crass commercialisation. I mean, the finals was as crass as it could get, with 2 ads within an over.
That’s right, 2 ADS! The collection of logos on the uniforms also makes it sickening to watch.
However, ICC-sponsored tournaments provide a rare spectacle in that there are no sponsor logos on the tees. Barring a max of one, there is barely anything (some regulations by them which stipulates that teams can’t put the name of their sponsors on their tees).
It is truly refreshing. There’s less nonsense from the likes of Ravi Shastri & Sunny Gavaskar. Instead, we have more of Anil Kumble, Shane Warne (hopefully), Ian Chappell and David “Bumble” Lloyd.
I’d like to raise an issue. Could we not have any more ICC-sponsored events in the Carribean?
Tomorrow’s curtain raiser between Sri Lanka and New Zealand starts at 10.30 in the night! The next match is at 2 in the morning the next day!
!#$***$!#%%^
Off Cutter 