Blue

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:13:55 GMT

Now this is ridiculous. Why are we still subjected to the 'Blue Billion' campaign? If "Ooh Aah India" wasn't irritating enough in the first place...its even worse now that we're out of the World Cup. No...I don't think that Bangladesh is gracious enough to lose to Bermuda. Even if the bookies pay them a lot of money. Even if the Indian Government made a formal request....and promised to drop all plans of deporting illegal immigrants.

All said and done...no team is bigger than the game...and no game in the world cup came close to the quality of the Auz/SA contest last night. Australia set huge target. South Africa chase the huge target in the way huge targets are supposed to be chased...and look like they're going to pull it off till the last recognised batsman is at the crease. We also had that direct hit from Shane Watson fielding the boundary that got De Villiers out. Thats cricket.

At least we have four years to get to that level. We could start by getting rid of all the dead weight. Dravid, Sachin and Saurav aren't going to be playing in 2010 so we could ask them to draft retirement plans....soon. Drop Agarkar and Sehwag. Make up your mind on Uthappa, Pathan and Sreesanth. Change the coach. (Sorry Greg...but we need a fall guy...and a coach.) If the companies sponsoring the team and individual players have a problem with that, ask them to get their 'brand ambassadors' to play domestic cricket. That'll improve the game at the first class level and get more spectators. It'll also give Neo Sports some return on its investment. Lets face it...cricket and hockey are the only team sports where India enjoys some seblance of credibility. Hockey's pretty much down in the dumps. Lets keep cricket from following suit.

Damn "Mind and body, heart and soul" ad is on again. Thats VISA brainpower for you.

Best World Cup Ever!

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 19:48:47 GMT

I don't know about you guys...but I'm really enjoying the circus so far. Sure, I hate the fact that we lost to Bangladesh (GOD... that still hurts) but then lets take a look at this objectively.

Opinion: The action starts only from March 27, when the Super 8 group kicks off.
Fact: First week of the world cup, Pakistan is already out. Bob Woolmer is dead. India is struggling to meet net run rate requirements. Three quality matches so far (WI/Pak, Eng/NZ, Zim/Ire) and the big ones (Aus/SA, Ind/Sri) still to come. Our dismal performance against Bangladesh means that the following matches will also be of interest:
India v/s Bermuda (BIG win required)
Bermuda v/s Bangladesh (Bangladesh's win shouldn't be as BIG as India's)
Bangladesh v/s Sri Lanka (umm...Bangladesh should win...and our win over Bermuda should be BIGGER than Sri Lanka's win over Bermuda)

Opinon: We're out of the World Cup.
Fact:This just in on Times Now. We need to beat Bermuda by 200 runs. Then beat Sri Lanka by 30 runs or so. Sri Lanka needs to beat Bangladesh. Bangladesh will then have to beat Bermuda by close to 250 runs or so and if they fail to do so will be knocked out of the WC. If Bermuda win the toss and bat first against Bangladesh, its curtains for Bangladesh as a low scoring match kills the run rate.

My question: What if Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka and so do we. Don't we and Bangladesh go into the next round then?
Opinion: Shut up.
Fact: Ref. opinion

But the best part about cricket is that its not just about the action on the field...but also about all the thinking aloud that goes on off the field. So what we lost in entertainment value during the match against Bangladesh was compensated by the next day's analysis and dissection. Star News and Aaj Tak analysed and condemned the days 'performance' in the fashion that we're only too familiar with. In the process, they succeeded in doing something that seemed impossible in 2003. They made the SET MAX panel look good. In fact...the SM panel is pretty good. (The DD panel is the one to watch though. Nayan Mongia and Chetan Chauhan.) NDTV had a Navjot Siddhu and Ajay Jadeja combination. Their verdict: India lost because of Saurav Ganguly's slow rate of scoring. He should've been playing shots and boosting the confidence of the players yet to come in to bat. Like Sehwag, Uthapa, Sachin and Dravid? Call me daft, but in my opinion...one set batsmen at the crease is worth four strokeplayers cooling their heels in the dressing room.

Then again, cricket is the perfect patron for the art of spin. Consider this. India bats first against Bangladesh,scores a paltry 191 and the pundits advocate the decision to chase against weak teams you're not too familiar with so that the target is always in front of you. India's batting line up is condemned for failing to put up a fight against a surprisingly good Bangladesh bowling line up. Now, India bats first against Bermuda, scores 413 and then everyone talks about the importance of batting first against weak teams because low scoring matches will always result in lower net run rates (D-uh!)

For a world cup that began with a tabloid rounding up tarot card readers and astrologers (consensus: expect the unexpected, anything can happen, any 4 of the 8 teams that make it to the super 8 can make it to the semi-finals, so you really think we can see the future ...suckers!) this is giving us more than what we expected. All we need now is Pepsi getting rid of the irritating "Ooh Aah India" campaign. Kudos to Iodex for NOT relaunching their Ooh Aah OUCH campaign at this stage. There's only so much a fan can take.

This is practice: Cricket

Blue

Best World Cup Ever!