I resumed watching cricket, and following it, in 2008. It was the year of inaugural season of famed IPL. One match, between Kings XI v/s Mumbai Indians, I vividly remember. Mumbai Indians lost that encounter after a tight contest and that day I became a Mumbai Indians fan. Three and a half seasons of fanship and the fact that Mumbai Indians has gone from strength to strength just delights the fan inside me. This season they have also made for one more weakness of last season. Last season I thought there was thin layer between opening batsmen and Pollard. This year, as MI showed in the latest match against champions CSK, the middle order is studded with quality batsman like Rohit Sharma and Symonds before Pollard comes in. The postponed Sri Lankan series has also helped the case in a positive way with Malinga staying till the end. So obviously everyone would expect me to think that this year is MI’s year but believe me I am really not hopeful. I cannot be. Or for that matter no fan can be sure about his team becoming champion. The case I build here may have MI in it but the disappointment is of every fan of every club in general.
T20 version draws a major inspiration from football leagues but falters in one thing. The one thing I feel is to reward consistency. A league is more about consistency, rather relative consistency. A club who is relatively more consistent compared to other clubs should be winner of the league which is what happens in football leagues around the world. In a cup format, or a knock out format things are little different in a way that the team can always be pumped up to perform on that single day. It is hard to consistently perform with the same tempo if you are not a quality side. Ask South Africa to play in a league format and I guess 7 out of 10 times they would win it. Ask them to win a knock out cup and evidently so for 20 years a team of the day, recently NewZealand, can knock them out of the most coveted cup. And so the point is that keep the league for rewarding consistency. Keeping the format of Champions league cricket same, it can be ensured that only teams who were consistent get distilled to play for the prize that rewards the brilliance of the day. In the end we would have a winner who is consistent as well as has the temperament and nerves for the important day.
It would be unjustified to criticize the format and not coming out with any suggestion. We can retain the current format, with slight changes and still have a worthy winner. I am not at all saying that winners of previous are not worthy, because they performed best according to the system. Have a semi final where there are two matches at home and away venue. Winner of the semi final can be decided on the basis of net run rate. Have 3 or 5 final (like there are 7 NBA finals) so that the team has some time to react. The changes I suggest is just a point of view of a neutral as well as an ardent fan. After all IPL is just a synonym of fans and junta.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
This is our day
All credits to Indian cricket team to bring joy to billion plus people by producing one of the stellar performances in semi-finals of the cricket world cup. Such dates and matches get itched in the memories and become the part of the gospels told till eternity. This match, apart from the win in the world cup semi final on the arch rivals, would be known for the amount of dignitaries that made there to cheer the Indian cricket team. Politicians, industrialists, film stars every one made it there. Certainly the match deserved an attention of all of them. But moreover I felt that our team deserved the cheers of those who were not there.
I felt that the crowd support in the match at mohali was not just enough. This got lost in the fact that we won against our arch rivals. I compare the situation to a football match where the home support acts as a 12th palyer. A goal is palpable when the crowd gets behind the team. It was missing. How can you just clap when a local lad produces a brilliant piece of fielding? Unacceptable. How can’t you cheer for every dot ball the boy of the nation bowls? Unacceptable.
The fact that a 500 rupee ticket got sold for 10k says a lot. What it did was to bring all the people who would usually occupy a seat in VIP box in whole of the stadium. A class of people who are really not used to those mad reactions for the team or maybe they have forgotten it. They are too high for that I think. Really no offence to anyone. One more thing which added to misery was, celebrities going to stands to capture eye balls and some click of cameras. This is the day of days and the celebrities are right there in front of you slugging ball in ball out, diving in, putting desperate efforts, injuring themselves to catch. I actually feel that when you are emotionally attached to your team, miracles happen, predictions start coming right. And by taking the attention to somewhere else (read as Ms. Sonia Gandhi in stands to get in touch with “aam admi”) you are defeating the purpose.
The same thing, a hope against hope, is going to get repeated in Wankhede in the final. I sincerely hope that everyone there comes out of their shell to be a real common man, rather than coming out between a common man. Our lads are playing in one of the dream finals and they really need every one behind them, certainly not as celebrities but as genuine “aam admi”. Be the 12th player. Win or lose (I say that the cup is all blue) I just hope that the flowers of India do not get disappointed with the support. It cannot get bigger than this and let us shed all our sophistications to cry out loud for India. Chak de !
I felt that the crowd support in the match at mohali was not just enough. This got lost in the fact that we won against our arch rivals. I compare the situation to a football match where the home support acts as a 12th palyer. A goal is palpable when the crowd gets behind the team. It was missing. How can you just clap when a local lad produces a brilliant piece of fielding? Unacceptable. How can’t you cheer for every dot ball the boy of the nation bowls? Unacceptable.
The fact that a 500 rupee ticket got sold for 10k says a lot. What it did was to bring all the people who would usually occupy a seat in VIP box in whole of the stadium. A class of people who are really not used to those mad reactions for the team or maybe they have forgotten it. They are too high for that I think. Really no offence to anyone. One more thing which added to misery was, celebrities going to stands to capture eye balls and some click of cameras. This is the day of days and the celebrities are right there in front of you slugging ball in ball out, diving in, putting desperate efforts, injuring themselves to catch. I actually feel that when you are emotionally attached to your team, miracles happen, predictions start coming right. And by taking the attention to somewhere else (read as Ms. Sonia Gandhi in stands to get in touch with “aam admi”) you are defeating the purpose.
The same thing, a hope against hope, is going to get repeated in Wankhede in the final. I sincerely hope that everyone there comes out of their shell to be a real common man, rather than coming out between a common man. Our lads are playing in one of the dream finals and they really need every one behind them, certainly not as celebrities but as genuine “aam admi”. Be the 12th player. Win or lose (I say that the cup is all blue) I just hope that the flowers of India do not get disappointed with the support. It cannot get bigger than this and let us shed all our sophistications to cry out loud for India. Chak de !
Monday, March 28, 2011
Banter
1)Last time I wrote snippets because I had nothing much to write. This time the reason is that I have something to write on many things. Thoughts which I don’t want to elaborate, random ideas.
2)I was waiting in the office lobby for the meeting to start and I noticed that red dot in the schematic diagram of the office building. Against it was written “you are here”. I remembered a line from shantaram. I will put it in my words. In this infinite mesh of life your coordinates are determined by your friends, family and foes. Then you always know “you are there”.
3)There are so many days these days. Mother, father, brother, sister, teacher, this, that, how, why, where, which and the list goes on. Well I have no issues with people celebrating each and every day but I have real doubts about the enthusiasm for some days which you ought to celebrate. So I feel choosing the “days” to celebrate would be a good idea. I have made my list of “days”. Just don’t ask it.
4)April is a massive month for me as a football club fan. Make or break.
5)I wind up my shop at Jamshedpur now. Its time. It feels so drab somehow. Alas! The life and times of the steel city.
6)Beauty is the easiest thing to get in this world, some are born with it and some people buy it. Read it somewhere. Saw the facebook later.
7)Wednesday is a big day for a nation. Feels good to have written an article just before the world cup. Reiterating, it is most important to put up a good fight.
8)Survival is instinctual. You just have to devise an idea to live for. You may end up spending your life to devise that idea. The try is worth it I think.
9)Testing times ahead. Exciting times ahead. I am game.
2)I was waiting in the office lobby for the meeting to start and I noticed that red dot in the schematic diagram of the office building. Against it was written “you are here”. I remembered a line from shantaram. I will put it in my words. In this infinite mesh of life your coordinates are determined by your friends, family and foes. Then you always know “you are there”.
3)There are so many days these days. Mother, father, brother, sister, teacher, this, that, how, why, where, which and the list goes on. Well I have no issues with people celebrating each and every day but I have real doubts about the enthusiasm for some days which you ought to celebrate. So I feel choosing the “days” to celebrate would be a good idea. I have made my list of “days”. Just don’t ask it.
4)April is a massive month for me as a football club fan. Make or break.
5)I wind up my shop at Jamshedpur now. Its time. It feels so drab somehow. Alas! The life and times of the steel city.
6)Beauty is the easiest thing to get in this world, some are born with it and some people buy it. Read it somewhere. Saw the facebook later.
7)Wednesday is a big day for a nation. Feels good to have written an article just before the world cup. Reiterating, it is most important to put up a good fight.
8)Survival is instinctual. You just have to devise an idea to live for. You may end up spending your life to devise that idea. The try is worth it I think.
9)Testing times ahead. Exciting times ahead. I am game.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
The Name
What’s in the name? I cannot disagree more. For all the idealism this question carries with it, it decimates the importance of the echo which a name generates. A name invariably invokes memories in us because of the namesakes we know. There is so much associated with a name. The teacher you dread most, the girl you loved, the actor you like, the place you visited, the colony you lived in, the roommate you had and it would go on forever. Suddenly you realize that the life is about getting associated with names and remembering them later on with fondness, with dread, with pure hatred and with every emotions which our age can conjure at that time.
We form our thinking, our rules through different stages in life and we keep amending them. And hence the people we meet during different walks of life attach a behavioral tag to our name. The surprise when someone meets us after long time and the remark you have changed is just an indication of the image our name invoked in that particular person. The image may be of physical appearance or it may be of certain peculiarities.
They say the name sticks. The cruelty associated with a murderer, the dread associated with a murderer is nothing but the nature attached to their names. And so a change in name and the place may mark a rebirth of the person. No one is bad, each one of us suffer from bad assumptions. The assumptions are associated with the name. And hence the name of a dumb child (though I personally feel that no child is dumb), a prisoner, a murderer comes with those assumptions attached with it. Seldom, as a society have we given them a chance and rarely do they get an opportunity to forsake the name. And so the struggle of Gogol Ganguly in The Namesake seems justified.
What’s in the name? Oh, there is a lot. A lot.
We form our thinking, our rules through different stages in life and we keep amending them. And hence the people we meet during different walks of life attach a behavioral tag to our name. The surprise when someone meets us after long time and the remark you have changed is just an indication of the image our name invoked in that particular person. The image may be of physical appearance or it may be of certain peculiarities.
They say the name sticks. The cruelty associated with a murderer, the dread associated with a murderer is nothing but the nature attached to their names. And so a change in name and the place may mark a rebirth of the person. No one is bad, each one of us suffer from bad assumptions. The assumptions are associated with the name. And hence the name of a dumb child (though I personally feel that no child is dumb), a prisoner, a murderer comes with those assumptions attached with it. Seldom, as a society have we given them a chance and rarely do they get an opportunity to forsake the name. And so the struggle of Gogol Ganguly in The Namesake seems justified.
What’s in the name? Oh, there is a lot. A lot.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Supporter's plea
I came to cricketing consciousness with 1992 world cup. Without reading any records I just remember the color of the Indian jersey, some shade of navy blue and how I used to dislike it. But still since it was cricket there was nothing in it to dislike. I remember being told that we would not win the world cup since we were knocked out and later on I found out that “the format of 1992 world cup” was not good.
When 1996 came I knew Manoj Prabhakar, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Srinath, Jadeja, Azhar as if they were my next door neighbors and really felt, with all the innocence of that age that this time we will win. But that time “the pitch” was not good and later on I learnt that the decision making was not good.
Then came the 1999 world cup and this time I was filled with all the cricketing knowledge and with some know how of all the teams in the world cup. But then again the format and the introduction of super six went against my team and we were ousted.
Well then came 2003, and after a wake- up loss to Australia we finally lost to Australia once again. I remember buying loads of cracker for every four that India hits and I also remember that most of them were left as they were that day. Next four years would tell that this was the best chance in 20 years.
And then came 2007 world in which I saw, on a big screen put on in Open Air Theatre of my college, my team lose to Sri Lanka in a make or break league match and being dumped out in the first round courtesy of a loss against Bangladesh in the previous league match. Till then my cricketing sense had matured and I knew that ruing the result has never done any good.
That's a simple recap. No detailing.
I read somewhere that in India your heart always guides you better than your head. And this thought personifies itself in the passion this country has for cricket. We, as a billion plus cricket lovers have seen it all and yet the passion remains the same. We have seen the game in the quagmire of match fixing, we have seen the phase where it was always 20-4 and then robin singh would bat us through only to lose in the end. We have seen and taken all that lack of temperament, all those spineless displays and all that time when we were drooling on lowly 7th on ICC rankings above some non-test playing nations. Yet we have endured. I think and I think without a sense of exaggeration that only Sachin Tendulkar must be the representative of what we have seen. He is the only one who represents the fact that inspite of all the love, dedication and passion for the game you would return disappointed at the end of the day. Off course there were few highs between all these lows but then that wait for ultimate high for the post 1983 generation still eludes.
But every truth sees the light of the day and I think this phase (past 8 years) of Indian cricket represents the truth of the faith we all have put in our heroes for years. The phase where we could see our lads putting up fight not just with bat or ball but equally with words, where they would not budge with some sledging but go on to show that there also exists a long tradition of gully cricket in India and the sledging there would never even come close.
So I think, in earnest, that the time has come. The time to show that, what a blend of youth and experience capped off by an ever cool captain can go on to achieve. The time to emphasize that all the displays of recent past were just a run up to the finale where triumph would just indicate the execution of prediction. I write all this without an intention to put any pressure on the team. I write this simply as a fan and as one of the billion followers of this religion called cricket.
A win would certainly give immense hope to this nation marred by scandals and inflation. A hope that not all hard work goes into vein, a hope that truth sees the day light some day. I bear my allegiance, as always, to Indian cricket team and a loss would not matter. I just hope for a decent fight.
When 1996 came I knew Manoj Prabhakar, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Srinath, Jadeja, Azhar as if they were my next door neighbors and really felt, with all the innocence of that age that this time we will win. But that time “the pitch” was not good and later on I learnt that the decision making was not good.
Then came the 1999 world cup and this time I was filled with all the cricketing knowledge and with some know how of all the teams in the world cup. But then again the format and the introduction of super six went against my team and we were ousted.
Well then came 2003, and after a wake- up loss to Australia we finally lost to Australia once again. I remember buying loads of cracker for every four that India hits and I also remember that most of them were left as they were that day. Next four years would tell that this was the best chance in 20 years.
And then came 2007 world in which I saw, on a big screen put on in Open Air Theatre of my college, my team lose to Sri Lanka in a make or break league match and being dumped out in the first round courtesy of a loss against Bangladesh in the previous league match. Till then my cricketing sense had matured and I knew that ruing the result has never done any good.
That's a simple recap. No detailing.
I read somewhere that in India your heart always guides you better than your head. And this thought personifies itself in the passion this country has for cricket. We, as a billion plus cricket lovers have seen it all and yet the passion remains the same. We have seen the game in the quagmire of match fixing, we have seen the phase where it was always 20-4 and then robin singh would bat us through only to lose in the end. We have seen and taken all that lack of temperament, all those spineless displays and all that time when we were drooling on lowly 7th on ICC rankings above some non-test playing nations. Yet we have endured. I think and I think without a sense of exaggeration that only Sachin Tendulkar must be the representative of what we have seen. He is the only one who represents the fact that inspite of all the love, dedication and passion for the game you would return disappointed at the end of the day. Off course there were few highs between all these lows but then that wait for ultimate high for the post 1983 generation still eludes.
But every truth sees the light of the day and I think this phase (past 8 years) of Indian cricket represents the truth of the faith we all have put in our heroes for years. The phase where we could see our lads putting up fight not just with bat or ball but equally with words, where they would not budge with some sledging but go on to show that there also exists a long tradition of gully cricket in India and the sledging there would never even come close.
So I think, in earnest, that the time has come. The time to show that, what a blend of youth and experience capped off by an ever cool captain can go on to achieve. The time to emphasize that all the displays of recent past were just a run up to the finale where triumph would just indicate the execution of prediction. I write all this without an intention to put any pressure on the team. I write this simply as a fan and as one of the billion followers of this religion called cricket.
A win would certainly give immense hope to this nation marred by scandals and inflation. A hope that not all hard work goes into vein, a hope that truth sees the day light some day. I bear my allegiance, as always, to Indian cricket team and a loss would not matter. I just hope for a decent fight.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
McDonaldisation
There is a term I learnt during my sociology elective. It was McDonaldisation. In simple words it means the replication of the USP across the chain. Basically the term originated from McDonalds itself which ensures that our taste buds would never be able to differentiate the burgers, from 2 different outlets, from each other. Every customer should feel at home inside a McD outlet, that is the main aim.
I belong to Indore, a city in Madhya Pradesh and right now I am in Tatanagar and some days back I was in Delhi. The taste of one thing has remained same though. We have Mcdonaldised ourselves in disorganization. Instead of going on to a discourse on how we can improve by getting organized I would rather tell that one thing which I learnt from being unorganized. I found out that it is fun. I mean it is good that everyone must be organized and it becomes very imperative as a professional but still it is fun to be unorganized, at least for some time.
As I was travelling in train, I realized that each person who has lived in India for sufficient amount of time (*By sufficient I mean that he has travelled in trains and on someday his plans were ruined by a train delay or some day he missed the train because he assumed that like every day the train would be late. On the contrary the train was right on time) will have at least a good incident to tell that how he got duped by Indian Railways. Imagine if Indian Railways were the most organized rail network in the world. The people of india would have been robbed off all those stories. Life, by the way is all about the stories you have.
I would always maintain that considering the volume of passengers and goods handled by Indian Railways it is doing a commendable job. There is certainly no doubt about it. But anyone who has travelled in Delhi Metro will realize that the experience of missing train do not itch much because there is next train in few minutes. More so DMRC has ensured that in most cases even a layman can easily reach his destination. The less organized the system is the more the users need to ask and the more they ask the more they talk. It is certainly not surprising that most of the conversation between the co-travelers start with a question on a next station, seat number, compartment, pantry and so many more things.
While coming back from my office one day, I was on a road, made narrow by encroachments on both the sides. Just ahead of me was one confused uncleji on his Royal Enfield. I think he knew the house number but didn’t know the left or right and so he was exhibiting Brownian motion on the road. As he went to right side, I thought to overtake from left but soon he changed his mind and came to left and we nearly missed a collision. Angrily I turned to look at him. What a saw was a wide Happydent smile which tried to say that may be you are new in the system, it is like this only. My anger vanished in an instant. I felt at home. Mcdonaldisation, certainly.
I belong to Indore, a city in Madhya Pradesh and right now I am in Tatanagar and some days back I was in Delhi. The taste of one thing has remained same though. We have Mcdonaldised ourselves in disorganization. Instead of going on to a discourse on how we can improve by getting organized I would rather tell that one thing which I learnt from being unorganized. I found out that it is fun. I mean it is good that everyone must be organized and it becomes very imperative as a professional but still it is fun to be unorganized, at least for some time.
As I was travelling in train, I realized that each person who has lived in India for sufficient amount of time (*By sufficient I mean that he has travelled in trains and on someday his plans were ruined by a train delay or some day he missed the train because he assumed that like every day the train would be late. On the contrary the train was right on time) will have at least a good incident to tell that how he got duped by Indian Railways. Imagine if Indian Railways were the most organized rail network in the world. The people of india would have been robbed off all those stories. Life, by the way is all about the stories you have.
I would always maintain that considering the volume of passengers and goods handled by Indian Railways it is doing a commendable job. There is certainly no doubt about it. But anyone who has travelled in Delhi Metro will realize that the experience of missing train do not itch much because there is next train in few minutes. More so DMRC has ensured that in most cases even a layman can easily reach his destination. The less organized the system is the more the users need to ask and the more they ask the more they talk. It is certainly not surprising that most of the conversation between the co-travelers start with a question on a next station, seat number, compartment, pantry and so many more things.
While coming back from my office one day, I was on a road, made narrow by encroachments on both the sides. Just ahead of me was one confused uncleji on his Royal Enfield. I think he knew the house number but didn’t know the left or right and so he was exhibiting Brownian motion on the road. As he went to right side, I thought to overtake from left but soon he changed his mind and came to left and we nearly missed a collision. Angrily I turned to look at him. What a saw was a wide Happydent smile which tried to say that may be you are new in the system, it is like this only. My anger vanished in an instant. I felt at home. Mcdonaldisation, certainly.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Hypothesis
One day I read an article on General Patton. Magnificent it was. The very next day I saw a tank with “patton” written on it. Such incidents must have happened with many of you before, if you ever cared to notice them. Small, inconsequential instances which may have no bearing on anything in your life and so we tend to ignore them after getting a pang of delight, however short-lived it may be.
Sometimes I feel that I am slowly becoming oblivious to my surroundings. Either I am working on something or I am jelled to my few smart devices. I may be aware of everything happening in the wide world, but still I am oblivious. Oblivious and happy, I must say.
I think due to this state of ignorance I must have missed on many small instances and I regret it because I feel that may be I am not alone in literal sense when I think I am alone. Someone is watching my thoughts and these small instances are just there to make me realize that. To make me realize the fact that no matter what happens, I shall never be alone in my walks of life. I realize that there is vindication-in-waiting for every ounce of effort I must have put, when everyone around was thinking it to be a futile effort. The fearlessness I feel is unparalleled.
3-4 days back we had overcast weather and just made a remark that suppose it rains we may get a slight feel of English weather. It has been raining in breaks from past 3 days. “When you desire something all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”. I have read, heard and said that sentence many a time without really thinking about it most of the times. Suddenly it makes sense. May be all those signs were the part of the conspiracy to make me write this.
Sometimes I feel that I am slowly becoming oblivious to my surroundings. Either I am working on something or I am jelled to my few smart devices. I may be aware of everything happening in the wide world, but still I am oblivious. Oblivious and happy, I must say.
I think due to this state of ignorance I must have missed on many small instances and I regret it because I feel that may be I am not alone in literal sense when I think I am alone. Someone is watching my thoughts and these small instances are just there to make me realize that. To make me realize the fact that no matter what happens, I shall never be alone in my walks of life. I realize that there is vindication-in-waiting for every ounce of effort I must have put, when everyone around was thinking it to be a futile effort. The fearlessness I feel is unparalleled.
3-4 days back we had overcast weather and just made a remark that suppose it rains we may get a slight feel of English weather. It has been raining in breaks from past 3 days. “When you desire something all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”. I have read, heard and said that sentence many a time without really thinking about it most of the times. Suddenly it makes sense. May be all those signs were the part of the conspiracy to make me write this.
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