España!

They won my heart with their subliminal football against Germany. I've been supporting Spain, along with Brazil, throughout this World Cup, but let's face it - their display in the group matches and even the Round of 16 & the quarter-final match wasn't exactly superlative. It wasn't the kind of fluid, classy game Spain is famous for. With Fernando Torres out of form and plenty of lapses in defense, they were barely scraping by.

And then came the match against Germany. To be honest, my heart was stuck in my throat throughout the match. To the extent that I didn't want either team to score b/c that would've meant playing aggressive football and taking risks, and the last thing I wanted was for a player to get a red card. Then I realized that a goalless draw couldn't possibly be an outcome of that game, it being the semi-finals and all, and I definitely didn't want it to culminate into a penalty shoot-out.

I shouldn't have worried so much though. The Spanish were playing at a different level altogether. Their quick-passing possession-based attacking game didn't leave Germany a chance. Germany never got hold of the ball! I was astounded. The team that had routed England & Argentina just a few days ago was scared of Spain! Clearly they were thinking too much of the battering they got from Spain two years ago at the Euro Cup finals. It's amazing how psychology plays such a big part in sports. Any sport is a mind game as much as a physical one.

The Spanish that day game me the most beautiful football I've seen in a long long time. Stuff you'd generally associate with Brazil, and dare I say the current Spanish team is capable of beating an in-form Brazil team any day!

David Villa, Iker Casillas and Fernando Torres (when he's in form) generally end up walking away with all the laurels but the true heroes of the Spanish team are Xavi and Iniesta (MAN, IS HE TALENTED!). And then there are Sergio Ramos, Puyol and Pique...they work so hard! They make me almost dislike cricketers, particularly our unfit Indian cricketers who think they're doing the entire nation a favor by showing up for matches.

I hope Spain plays just as well - or even better - against the Netherlands in the finals. The Dutch are experts at fouling and play-acting (I think their players should compete for the Oscars rather than the World Footballer of the Year Award), so Spain need to be on top of their game and dominate from the start. Just like they did against Germany.

Oh, and one last thing - I'm not so much into club football but I think I'm going to get converted to a Barcelona fan pretty soon! Anyone here a Barca fan? :)

PS: I have tremendous respect for both Joachim Loew and Vicente Del Bosque. They are both excellent coaches, no doubt, but what won me over was their attitude towards each other's teams. Neither coach derided the other's team on the eve of the match. On the contrary, they praised each other's teams generously and Del Bosque extended a very warm & respectful handshake to Loew after the game. Maybe Mr Swine-Steiger should take a page or two out of his coach's book.

Here's your eye-candy for the day...

Seriously, what's not to love about football?

"Hand of God". Apparently.

The World Cup is drawing to a close with only 4 matches left to go! Those who are tired of reading my posts on football, bear with me for a few more days. Besides, chances are you are a woman and I've been giving you seriously hot eye-candy, haven't I? :)

Uruguay, Holland, Germany and Spain are the four teams that have made it to the semi-finals. Uruguay obviously cheated to get to this stage. One of their players - Luis Suarez - stopped a Ghana goal with his hands in the quarter-finals. He got a red card and Ghana got a penalty kick. Unfortunately for Ghana, they couldn't convert the penalty and were thrown out of the competition. Suarez is going around boasting about HIS "hand of God" (Maradona lovers and loathers will both be familiar with this phrase :). According to him, deflecting the ball with his hands was something he "simply had to do" to send his team into the semi-finals.

There's been a lot of debate in my office regarding this incident. Most people (men, who else) were of the opinion that what Suarez did doesn't qualify as cheating. He did what "he had to do" to help his team win the match, did it fully aware of the consequences and is paying the price for it. Besides, Ghana did get a penalty kick as a result and it's their problem they couldn't score.

I don't quite agree with this point of view. As far as I'm concerned Suarez cheated. That was not something he HAD to do. Imagine if all teams start blocking goals of the opposite team by their hands when they think they're losing the match!

In football, you can't rely on a second chance, as we saw in the Spain vs Paraguay quarter-final. Spain scored a penalty against Paraguay but it was disallowed because one of the Spanish players had crept inside the penalty area when Xaxi Alonso was taking the shot. On his second try, Alonso's goal was blocked by the Paraguayan goalie. The same happened with Ghana - they were denied a sure-shot goal by Suarez and they missed the penalty shot. I feel Suarez should've been banned for the remainder of the Cup, no less. There is something to be said about playing the game in its spirit.

Alas, I'm the only alone who thinks that way. But I really want the game to be cleaned up, and if there's one thing that football needs today, it's a hell lot of cleaning up!

Consider this...none of the teams today play fair. Not even Brazil and Spain, my favorite teams. Teams which play the most beautiful football, according to me. Players cheat and play-act (Arjen Robben, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba take a bow) to fool the referree and win a free kick, corner or penalty. They push & shove players of the opposing team, tug at their clothes at the most critical moments, trip them, foul them intentionally... Every single team is guilty of it, the difference lies in the degree.

That's not what football is supposed to be though, and FIFA is being pig-headed about taking corrective action.

For one, they refuse to use video technology, leaving everything to the discretion of the referrees. This World Cup has seen horrendous referreeing errors - teams disallowed legitimate goals, players getting away with handling the ball... These human errors have proved expensive for teams and have even led to certain teams being ousted from the tournament!

The truth is that 3 referrees - one of whom is constantly running behind the ball - cannot keep their eyes on 22 players and the goal line at the same time. Only now, after severe criticism from several ex-players and outrage among football fans across the globe, has FIFA agreed to "consider" the use of video technology in football.

FIFA's refusal to evolve the game is also reflected in the way it allows players to get away with play-acting, pushing & shoving other players, handling the ball etc. The use of video technology along with clear rules regarding on-field conduct and apt punishment for players who break those rules is the only way to clean up the beautiful game. Without it, football will always remain a street game.

As far as the on-going World Cup is concerned, with the Samba having gone out of the tournament, I have little to look forward to. There's not much left to say regarding what I think of Uruguay. I'm not a fan of the Netherlands, nor a fan of Germany's brand of football.

I'm with Spain all the way. I know that the Germans, who have been winning mainly on the basis of their physical strength and speed, are going to go for the shots. The Spainish defenders might find the German forwards too difficult to restrain. Spain's game is a treat to watch. I'm not sure it would be enough to restrain the blitzkreiging Germans though.

A Holland-Germany final is the last thing I want.

Here's your eye-candy for the day, who is also a Rock Star and the man I'm banking on heavily to take Spain to the World Cup 2010 finals...

La Furia Roja, da Selecao et Les Bleus!

A.k.a. the Spanish, the Brazilians & the French.

But Spain first. They won! Against Honduras. It was not an easy game. The Hondurans were playing a very physical game, quite like the Ivorians against Brazil a few days ago, which I think is just so sad. Football is a beautiful game. It's a game that requires skill and presence of mind, not brute force. I agree that each country has its own style of football. For instance, Germany's style of playing is very different from that of Brazil, who are very different from say, the Italians. But teams that resort to roughing up their opponents, intentional fouls, unfair tackles, cheating and play-acting to win a corner, free kick or penalty just go on to prove that they are the inferior team and lack the skill required for the game.

Coming back to Spain, they're the second team I'm supporting apart from Brazil (who else?). I'll be equally happy if either go on to win the Cup. But I'm concerned for both teams. Spain shouldn't have lost their opening game against Switzerland and should have won against Honduras by a bigger margin. They could easily have scored 5-6 goals...Torres & Ramos had enough shots at the goal, and there was no reason for David Villa to miss an easy penalty kick after the mindblowing goals he scored. Spain are such a talented side...they have such a fluid game (have you seen them pass the ball between players?)...but they seem to be having trouble finishing. I hope they sort it out sooner rather than later because they're likely to face Portugal in the pre-quarters and Argentina or Germany in the semis if they manage to go past Denmark/Italy in the quarter finals. I'd hate to see them lose.

Brazil seem to have recovered from their indifferent performance in their opening game against North Korea. One of their 3 goals against Cote d'Ivoire was a handball, so they scored only 2 goals legitimately. While that was enough to win them the game against Cote d'Ivoire, it may not be enough to see them all the way to the finals. The bookies are placing their money on Brazil winning this Cup and I hope they are right! A Brazil vs Spain final would be out of this world!

And what's the deal with Les Blues?? I can't believe the way the French have been behaving the past few days. First the French Football Federation expels one of their star strikers for his public tirade against coach Raymond Domenech, who looks like he's perpetually chewing on sour grapes. Then the players revolt against the Federation and the coach by refusing to train, and some of the key players even refuse to play! That's not only immature, it's also stupid. Imbecility, as the French would call it. Not to mention that it's terribly insulting to the French people who, like most other Europeans are passionate about football and would like to see their country win the World Cup.

Don't get me wrong - I think the French players have every right to protest against their coach if they have issues with his management tactics. I also think Anelka needn't have been suspended for his outburst against the coach - France is not a dictatorship after all. But by refusing to train and play the matches, the French players not only let their country down, they also proved that they don't value the opportunity to represent their country on such an international platform and bring it glory. Quite predictably, they're out of the tournament in the first round itself. Sad to see Zidane's team go out like this.

England get a last shot at redeeming themselves tonite. I hope they do - they are a group of very talented players. But if they haven't scored a single goal within the first 15 minutes, I request ESPN to focus their cameras entirely on David Beckham in the sidelines rather than on the field, for it might be our last chance to see this gorgeous man for the rest of this tournament.

Here's your eye candy for the day.

Ummmm....can I have a double serving of THAT please?

PS: In case you are wondering why there are so many pictures of semi-naked men on my blog, here's your answer....Football season = Gorgeous men = Will pose shirtless. So who are we to refuse??!!!

Waka Waka...Bafana Bafana

So, a lot has been said about my knowledge of football - or lack thereof - after my previous post where I have shared some very valid reasons for liking football more than cricket. Accusations have been hurled at me - that I watch football only for the hotties and don't understand the game.

Well, I do understand the game alright. And it's a strange game. The World No. 1 need a game that they won by the skin of their teeth to come back and start doing the Samba again. The World No. 2, and the side built-up to be the most talented and one of the top contenders for the Cup, need to lose their opening game to a mediocre team to snap out of their complacency (hopefully...we'll find out in a couple of hours).

England, the creators of the game, are squabbling amongst themselves and protesting against the team selection and management tactics of their coach while David Beckham cools his heels on the sidelines looking more edible in his 3-piece suit than any man has ever looked.

The Germans rout their opposition 4-0 one day and lose 0-1 the next, with their star striker sent off by a red card.

The French are refusing to train as a sign of protest against the expulsion of one of their players.

Argentina are looking towards Messi to be the next Diego Maradona and win them the Cup, while someone else from their teams nets the ball the most number of times.

The Italians, the reigning World Champions, have managed 2 goals in their 2 matches so far while the Portugese ripped North Korea apart by a 7-0 win.

The loser, unsporting African team of Cote d'Ivoire who have a rockstar Captain but no footballing skills start cheating when they are outperformed by a team that's way superior to them, while a player who has not a spot on him gets red carded.

You have teams blaming the poor ball for their dismal performance (if they had their way, they'd blame the miserable weather in their country too for their rubbish performance on another continent!) while the makers of the ball say it's the altitude that's doing strange things to the ball. Like making it hop, skip and jump on its own?

And then you have the wretched Vuvuzelas!

But seriously, what's the matter with this World Cup? None of the top teams are showing what they're made of while the minions are yanking the carpet from under the giants' feet. The World Cup takes place once in 4 years and players of most big teams do not look match-fit! The most celebrated strikers such as Wayne Rooney don't have a single goal to their credit even after 2 matches. Coaches are taking bizarre decisions, like dropping Ronaldinho and retaining Robinho who doesn't seem to be able to rise above his desire to prove himself a better play-maker than Kaka. And on top of everything there's poor refereeing - denying legitimate goals to the scoring team, letting some teams get away with fouls and unfair play while punishing others, sometimes even when they aren't at fault. At this rate, I'm dreading a Slovenia vs North Korea final!!

Here's a joke for you courtesy my friend Alex:
Question: How did all the shouting screaming North Korean fans get permission to leave the country?
Answer: They didn't. Kim Jong Il hired chinese actors to play DPRK fans in the stands.

And here's some more eye candy for you...

'Dosas Will Inherit the Earth'

These were the wonderfully witty Knife’s words after last night’s IPL Finals, not mine. I couldn’t stop laughing for a good ten minutes after having read them, the reason for which I would rather not expound on here.

But seriously, why couldn’t the Mumbai Indians see what the whole world could during last night’s game? 165 isn’t an impossible total to chase. This IPL has seen scores well above 170 having been made a number of times.

I think Mumbai was done in by two poor decisions on their part. One, they left the runs for too late and by the time they started going after the bowlers, the required run-rate had climbed so high it was practically impossible to score such a large number of runs without batsmen of the caliber of Sachin Tendulkar or Adam Gilchrist. Or Chris Gayle on a good day. And second, they sent Keiron Pollard in too late. That guy can hit. He can loft the ball effortlessly into the stands. But he can't win the match for you if he has no balls to play!! I wonder who was taking the decisions on the field for the Mumbai Indians last night.

I haven’t written anything about the IPL controversy yet. Too uninspiring. Neither the moustached, pot-bellied BCCI officials nor Lalit Modi with his pink & purple suits turns me on. Seriously, the guy (Modi) looks sleazy. Particularly with that smile of his that he has plastered on 24x7.

Well, he has already been suspended from the IPL by the BCCI. Poor guy - or not so poor guy depending on whose side you’re on - he created the IPL monster, fed it, grew it into the “paisa (money) league” that the media is calling it these days, and he has been ousted from his own creation!

I think he should've got a fair trial before being ousted, and I'm not playing the devil's advocate here. I think everyone deserves a fair trial and should be convicted of the charges against them, before being punished. By all means Modi should be ousted if he is found guilty of rigging/ manipulating the team bids, betting and the other charges against him, but until the charges are proved in court I don’t think it was fair to suspend him.

The bigger issue, however, is to find the right guy to replace Lalit Modi. There's no denying that he is enterprising, gutsy, an astute businessman and a visionary. Only someone with a vision, big ideas and who can look into the future could have come up with something as big and money-spinning - for the franchisees, the sponsors, the economy - as the IPL. It will be a challenge to find someone as dynamic as Lalit Modi to head the IPL. There is no dearth of intelligent, smart entrepreneurs in India - or so I'd like to believe - but dynamism and vision are qualitites that are still rare in this country. For the IPL, in its current form, doesn’t need an uninspiring BCCI official and definitely not a corrupt, lazy politician to head it!!

IPL & More

Have you seen how well the relatively older players are playing in this installment of the IPL? Tendulkar (36 years), Kumble (39!!), Kaalis (34), Hayden (38!!) with his ‘mongoose’ which BTW is such a cute name for a bat, isn’t it? There's my all-time favorite Gilly, also 38. Chaminda Vaas. Muttiah Muralitharan who I find very cute. My favorite IPL commentary came from Harsha Bhogle, “There might be 1411 tigers left but there’s only one Murali left”. Ha ha...Priceless!

BTW, I read that the salaries of players in the IPL are the second highest of all the leagues in the world. They're lower only as compared to the NBA and higher then the EPL. There's no recession in Indian cricket or what?

My heart breaks for Sourav Ganguly. As The Knife had put it, “There is nothing more painful than seeing an aged and wounded tiger hounded in the jungles he once lorded in.”

The kind of feelings Ganguly evokes in his fans now couldn’t be described better. He was the King of playing spin, he was known for standing up for a team member even when the rest of the team management was against him. And of course, he proved that he will not take crap from anyone, lying down. That he can give back just as good as he gets.

See him play now…the boundaries are fewer and far between though his brilliance still shines through in the way he hits the ball for a six. He was never really known to be athletic or a brilliant fielder but he’s getting clumsier by the day. It’s sad to see one of your favorite sportsmen, who you liked not only for his game but also for his spirit & resilience, lose his flame gradually before dying out.

You were a good captain, Sourav Ganguly.

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The football World Cup is about to start! Ta Daa!! It’s time to don green & yellow! It's time to take my BRASIL jersey out!

BRASIIIIIIIIILLLL la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la Brasil......

I know some people who’re planning to go to South Africa for the semi-finals & finals, and it’s only going to set them back by a couple of lakhs each. For 3 matches & 2-3 days. Phew!!

Don't question the love of a Bong for football.

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Have you seen the promos of 'Kites'? I like Anurag Basu (Life In A Metro) but this movie doesn't look exciting to me for some reason. Maybe I'm judging too quickly but first impressions do matter. Even the 'Zindagi do pal ki' song that's playing across radio channels sounds a bit dated.

***************

There are confirmed reports - confirmed by the parties involved themselves - that Sania Mirza is marrying Shoaib Malik (ex-Pakistan cricket captain currently serving a 1 year ban from cricket for God know what reason) in April.

Errr...didn't she just call off her engagement to that biscuit guy a couple of months ago?

Apparently M & M fell in love with each other 6 months ago while she was still engaged to the biscuit guy.

Shoaib Malik confirmed the news on Twitter by posting "Thanks for all your support. And the news of me marrying to Sania is true".

Shoaib will marry to Sania and Sania will marry to Shoaib. Now will someone please find someone to marry to me too? :P

Ozz That!!

They might be sledgers of the highest order and more aggressive than we like, but you've got to give it to the Australians. They play (cricket) with such commitment. It's like they pour their hearts out on the field...give the game all they've got. And it's evident in every ball they put bat to & every ball they bowl. They might not be my favorite cricketing side in the world (far from it, actually) but you've got to admit they're right up there as far as the quality of their game is concerned. Especially players like Gilly, Hayden, Brett Lee & Glen McGrath...I've only seen them behave as gentlemen on the field.

What's your take on Australian cricketers?

The IPL Is On

All teams have had at least one shot at the game, some two. They have had a chance to observe 'kaun kitne paani mein hai' (how good each team is). And I'd like to know what SRK has been feeding his team over the past 1 year. They have won both the games they've played till now (what what?), and from being at the bottom of the table last year, they're on top after 3 days of the tournament.

SRK, of course, is back to his signature tomfoolery which is making the guy fall rapidly out of favour with me. I used to like him quite a lot for the way he made his way to the top having started from nowhere - owning the most coveted property in one of the costliest cities in the world - but with each consecutive day he seems to be getting progressively insecure and narcissistic, and consequently making a fool of himself publicly in his media interactions (the worst was when he told a journalist who asked him if there's any actor who makes him feel insecure now that he's in his mid-40s, that no one can make him feel insecure b/c he is SRK. I wanted to gag).

The masterstroke came form Dada himself though. When asked during a presentation ceremony why their team was maintaining a low key profile this time around, he was quick to reply, "We've always been low key as a team. Our owner is high profile and is always surrounded by controversies. But that's something we just have to deal with." He said this in the presence of Shah Rukh Khan.

KKR is playing well. Does it have anything to do with the new purple & gold uniform? Or has SRK finally realized that Saurav Ganguly is a Captain par excellence and that Kolkatans, who are known to switch off their TV sets when Dada gets out, will send mass negative vibes his way if he replaces their beloved Dada as Captain of their home team? Or is it b/c KKR now have a coach who believes in people instead of laptops?

This year I'm rooting for Mumbai - they look like a good team, and I like how Mukesh & Nita Ambani speak only when they need to and just as much as they need to.

The strongest team however seems to be the Deccan Chargers. Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs, Chaminda Vaas, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh...good players all. And they played brilliantly against Chennai Super Kings yesterday.

Who are you supporting this IPL season?

PS: People seriously need to learn how to pronounce 'Kolkata' correctly. It's not "Call-cutta" or "Call-kata" or "Coal-cutta". It's "Coal-kaa-taa" (with a soft 't').

A Proud Moment

The march of the Armadas

I thought Spain deserved to win last night because they played very well. It’s not easy to hold the Italians goal-less for 120 minutes!

I love penalty shoot-outs. Not only because they keep you on the edge of your seat but also because they show the true class of a player.

In a match that does not end up in a penalty shoot-out, the team that is better on that particular day, wins. However, penalty shoot-outs can swing either way! It’s not about the team, it’s about individual players. Faced with a world-class goal keeper, a player has a 50-50 chance of scoring the penalty.

Penalty shoot-outs are also the test of a player’s nerves, mental fortitude & intelligence – qualities that Cesc Fabregas seems to posses in abundance. The Arsenal mid-fielder is the new talent to watch out for on the Spanish team. He took the last penalty shot, which he was under pressure to score in order to eliminate Italy from the competition (or the Italians could have leveled the shoot-out as well). All of 21 years old & faced with a goal-keeper of the caliber of Gigi Buffon, he was resolute & swift, and with a kick sent the ball flying right past Buffon & sent his team into the semi-finals!

I think Gigi Buffon is a rockstar!! Had he not saved Adrian Mutu’s penalty in Italy’s last league match against Romania, Italy would not have made it to the quarter-finals. It was a brilliant save but Casillas was just better than Buffon yesterday.

So…a win well-deserved by Spain. They play Russia in the semis. I haven’t seen any of Russia’s games but I’ve heard they’re good. Especially Asharvin. Should be a match worth watching.

Portugal vs Deutschland

Portugal take on Germany in the quarterfinals of the Euro Cup today. Am looking forward to the game, Portugal being one of my favorite teams in the tournament & Germany have always been a respected team in world football. So what we’ll have on our plates for a midnight snack tonight is Portugal’s skill vs. Germany’s mechanical precision.

Like with every other thing German, German football too is known for its precision. Not really known for their creativity (unlike, say, Brazil), the Germans plan and execute with precision. They have some good strikers in the form of Podolski & Klose who, ironically, are both Poles by birth who play for Germany. They also have a world-class midfielder in Michael Ballack. However, unfortunately Ballack has always been part of a team that has made it to the advanced stages of international tournaments, only to miss out on the championship trophy. The 2006 World Cup where a Ballack-led Germany got eliminated at the semi-final stage & the EPL 2008 final against Man U being cases in point.

Portugal on the other hand have dexterous players such as Deco, Cristiano Ronaldo, Caravalho, Nuno Gomes & Ricardo Quaresma. With the retirement of Luis Figo & a few other players after the 2006 World Cup, the Portugal team has a new & fresher look. I think Deco is one of the most underrated mid-fielders in world football. He is skilled, determined & indefatigable on field. He can single-handedly elevate the quality of the game through his brilliant assists. And of course there’s the unsuppressable Cristiano! His 42 goals in the EPL was one of the main reasons Man U won the EPL.

Tonight’s game should be an exciting one. I wish it started earlier but what the hell….tomorrow’s Friday!!

Le Jeu Francais

Ana Ivanovic beat Dinara Safina and went on to displace Maria Sharapova from the World No.1 female tennis player slot.

Ana grew up in war-torn Serbia. During the NATO bombings of 1999, she could only train in the mornings to avoid the bombings. She would train in an abandoned swimming pool during the winters as there were no other facilities available. Like many people who find opportunity in diversity instead of quoting hardships as the reason for their failures in life, she overcame all obstacles to emerge as one of the top women tennis players of the world. Such is the stuff that champions are made of!

I personally like Ivanovic’s game a lot. She’s an offensive player, and she’s a strong baseliner. Her shots are deep and clean. She's got really powerful two-handed backhand & forehand shots.

In the men’s final, Rafa literally annihilated Roger Federer in a straight set 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 win. I love Roger (don’t we all) – he glides through the court, he’s unarguably the most elegant player on the men’s circuit right now, he can play a variety of shots with equal panache. His game flows, he makes it look so easy! However, last night saw a different Roger all together. After losing two successive sets, he completely gave up. Nadal breezed through the third set and Federer surrendered without even a hint of a fight. Felt bad for Roger as I have never seen him give up like he did yesterday.

By instinct, Federer doesn’t play a baseline game – something that’s required on a clay court and that Nadal does so well! Clay courts are slower than grass & hard courts, therefore one needs to play shots from the baseline. Federer, however, instinctively rushes inside the court, a strategy that’s best suited to grass courts. I feel that’s the reason he has trouble taming Nadal on clay. Nadal has a very strong baseline game. If I had to name my other favorite men’s tennis player apart from Federer, it would have to be Nadal. I admire him for his sheer stamina and athleticism. He forces his opponents to make errors. Many people feel he’s bull-headed but he’s got determination to win, and that helps him come back from behind in a match that could be slipping out of his hands & win it.

Poetic justice

I’ve been accused of writing way too much about cricket over the past couple of months. It’s become fashionable to denounce cricket as a game that hogs the limelight, not to mention the big bucs, from all other types of sports in India.

I say we’re Indians & we’ve grown up watching the game, playing it & being a part of it in some way or the other. So it’s natural we would love it. With the T20 format revolutionizing the game forever, and the IPL heralding a new era in global (not only Indian) cricket, why should we not enjoy every part of it?

Isn’t the situation the similar in Europe & South America, with respect to soccer?

Sunday night witnessed a fitting finale to the past one-and-a-half months of madness & excitement. It was a match to the last ball. In fact those of us watching the game had half prepared ourselves for the possibility of a bowl-out, which would’ve been the only thing to beat the nail-biting finish the match had. And I am so glad the Rajasthan Royals won. They were literally the team that came from nowhere, and yanked the rug from under everyone’s feet!

The team had no credentials to begin with - little known players such as Swapnil Asnodkar, Ravindra Jadeja & Neeraj Patel, a captain who doubled up as coach, also a captain who has been mired in quite a few controversies of his own, no celebrity owners to turn up the glamour quotient during the matches, thus ensuring more eyeballs, no publicity, no hype, no encouragement in the form of hugs & kisses. They had zilch going for them, except the experience of players like Warne & Graeme Smith – that other teams also had in copious amounts.

I think what worked for the Rajasthan Royals was having a captain & coach rolled into one.

The flip side of this could be that there’s only one point of view in the team, and no one to challenge it or debate its efficacy. But I feel having a single point of view going around in the team helped the Royals’ case, especially since most of their players were young & inexperienced. People who are inexperienced are in a highly malleable state & need a single guiding light in terms of whose advice they should follow.

Shane Warne’s philosophy was so simple, yet so effective. When asked what the secret to his team’s success was during one of the post-match conferences, he replied "One of our slogans is 'find a way and play your role'. Be the man, be the hero and express yourself. I think at the end of the day it all comes down to belief."

We would all agree this is a sound philosophy to have in every competition. A player (in any kind of competition) must find a way to accomplish his goals. After all, that is what he is playing for! And for the success of the team as a whole, each player must play his role, whatever be it, to the fullest.

It is also imperative to come out good when your team needs you to, and perform when you’re really required to perform (if only Sourav Ganguly had taken this big little advice from Warne instead of taking pot-shots at him after getting embroiled in an on-field controversy, the fate of the Knight Riders might have been a little bit different!).

Simply put, you can’t play a heroic knock when you’re “playing for pride” (usually, by then you have no pride left); you’ve got to do it when you’re playing a game that decides your future in the competition.

I hadn’t spent much time forming an opinion about Shane Warne over the years that he’s been playing for Australia, but he’s made me wonder (as I’m sure he’s made a lot of other people do) what an effective captain he could’ve been for Australia. I wouldn’t call him astute or shrewd (those words describe Mahendra Singh Dhoni better). For me, Shane Warne is an intelligent captain (or he wouldn’t have been able to lead such a young, inexperienced & under-rated side to victory) but the anti-thesis of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He’s proved himself to be a man of class, a player who might have made the ACB (Australian Cricket Board) look at him differently in retrospect.

I did not see a single frown or a tense muscle on the faces of Neeraj Patel & Ravindra Jadeja (during the semi-finals against the Mumbai Indians) or Warne & Sohail Tanveer (during last night’s finals) even though both were very close matches. As they say, in cricket half the battle is won or lost in the mind. You need nerves of steel to handle such pressure cooker situations, and if you crack under the pressure, as Dilhara Fernando did during his last over in the semi-finals, you WILL get taken for a nice long ride.

Irrespective of the fortunes that franchise owners, sponsors & players have made from the tournament, it’s been cricket - and Indian cricket in particular - that has come out a winner!

We’ve unearthed mind-blowing talent such as Swapnil Asnodkar, Manpreet Gony, Abhishek Nayar, Ashok Dinda, Wridhiman Saha, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Yo Mahesh (I just love his name, it’s more like Yo! Mahesh :) etc, who had it not been for the IPL, might never have come to the notice of the national selectors.

Yusuf Pathan, a vastly talented (clean, BIG hitter) but overshadowed (by his brother’s popularity) player got a call to the national one-day side thanks to his performance at the IPL.

The other victory for Indian cricket is that we had hugely successful & reputed players across various cricketing nations playing for our domestic teams. I mean, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai mean nothing to these players other than names of cities in a developing country, yet these cities got them to become part of a mammoth exercise to bring cricketing glory to them! It was the money talking, alright, but what’s amazing is that India was able to churn out that kind of money.

The IPL frenzy has left millions of people gasping for more. People are expected to suffer from serious withdrawal syndromes but I hope the hysteria generated by the IPL will compel the ICC to allot the tournament an official time in it’s annual calendar, so that players such as Ricky Ponting, Brendan McCullum, Stephen Fleming, Andrew Symonds etc. don’t have to abandon the tournament midway to attend to their national duties, thereby breaking millions of cricket-loving hearts in the process, and shattering a billion dreams.

Intelligence - an elusive commodity

The IPL could have done with a slightly more intelligent scheduling of the semi-finals & finals. The teams that qualify for the semis & finals deserve to play in front of their home crowds. Similarly, people from their respective cities deserve to be able to watch their teams play in front of their eyes. So who got the brilliant idea of holding (all 3!!) games in Mumbai??

No doubt Mumbaikars love cricket & are turning out in all their strength to watch the games in spite of their home team not qualifying for the semi-finals, but that still doesn’t justify denying home crowds the pleasure of watching their batsmen loft balls outside the stadium and bowlers knocking down wickets like nine pins.

From the Garden of Eden

First of all, I would like to apologize to the (few) readers of my blog for not having posted anything for about a month now. After I left Mumbai I did not have access to the internet for about two weeks. Then I moved to Calcutta and got so caught up in setting up my house, I couldn’t find the time to blog. But I’m back in action now, and hopefully, this hobby of mine wouldn’t fall prey to the infamous work pressures at my new workplace.

Don’t really know what I want to write about specifically so here are some random thoughts…

Like all fans of Sourav Ganguly, I too am very disappointed the KKR (actually I prefer calling them the Kolkata Knight Riders as KKR sounds a bit like KKK – the Ku Klux Klan) didn’t make it to the semi-finals of the IPL. Going by the opening games, I thought the Knight Riders would be THE team to beat. But after Breandan McCullum & Ricky Ponting departed, the journey has only been downhill for SRK’s “warriors”. I still support them but as a fellow blogger mentioned once, I wish Ganguly made it easier for his fans to support him and his team. He bailed his team out of a couple of difficult games, made it clear he wanted the Indian team selectors to keep including him into the national team, and failed to give an equally compelling performance subsequently – until last night when it didn’t matter anymore! I do not like to see Ganguly in the place he’s at as I’m a big fan of his – both as a player and as a captain - but there are times when the captain needs to lead from the front. Like people such as MSD, Pollock, Shane Warne & Adam Gilchrist do.

The Twenty20 format has come under criticism from various current and ex cricketers. I don’t understand why people are so inherently resistant to change, and why they don’t accept facts? Fact is that everything in the world goes through evolution. If something must survive, it must evolve with the times and changing needs. Truth is, times have changed and so have the needs of spectators. Today we do not have the time to drop everything at work and sit at a stadium for 4-5 days at a stretch to watch a test match. It’s even become difficult for working people to attend one-day games if they happen on a weekday. T20 is convenient – people can go for a game after a full day of work, and if the game takes place on a weekend, they can still manage to run their weekend errands before heading for the game. T20 is a format that meets our changing needs so what’s wrong with that?

I can understand ex-cricketers not being too happy with the T20 format. Until a decade or so ago, there wasn’t too much money in cricket. Players played for love of the game and not for money. So they could be nostalgic about the game. But the present cricketers who are criticizing the T20 format are those who aren’t deemed fit for this version of the game, either due to their style of playing or because they aren’t agile enough to meet the physical demands of this game. I think they need to just accept that it’s not necessary for every sportsman to possess the same set of skills, and move on. Just as some sportsmen are good at cricket while others are good at soccer, some cricketers are more suited to test cricket while others are tailor-made for T20.

The IPL has also come under heavy criticism for being more business than cricket. I don’t deny it’s business at the end of the day for the stakeholders (team owners & sponsors) and even players to some extent. But why are we over-looking the good that it’s doing to Indian cricket? There are so many mind-blowingly talented players that have emerged from the ongoing tournament. Players who have not been able to make it to the national team for whatever reason (though it beats me why because the Indian team at any given point of time consists of at least one player that doesn’t deserve to be part of the squad). Players such as Gony, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha, Debabrata Saha, Ashok Dinda, Abhishek Nayar to name a few, might not have come to the notice of selectors at all had the IPL not taken place. Given that the Indian selectors are known for their favouritism, I’m not sure these players will make it to the Indian national team but at least their talent has become visible to the entire country.

Gil-Christ!!

Gilly was on a rampage today! He single-handedly annihilated the Muumbai Indians. He made 100 off 42 balls. His sixes were massive, lofty and had the right amount of power. He was an absolute delight to watch. I just wish he was with the Kolkata Night Riders!

Who's the daddy?

First things first - there's a correction. Gilly is not with the Knight Riders. I got that wrong. He's with the Deccan Chargers.

Now that the first weekend of the IPL is over, the Knight Riders seem to be the strongest team overall. They have fire power in copious amounts both in their batting as well as bowling line ups. The surprise to me came in the form of Deccan Chargers and Chennai Super Kings - they have pretty strong teams too. I was waiting to see the Mumbai Indians but I don't think they'll make the grade.

So...Go Kolkata Knight Riders!!

Demolition squad

A.k.a. Kolkata Knight Riders

Going by the first game of IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders definitely looks like the team to watch out for and the one to beat. They have immense fire power in their batting as well as their bowling (which will only get enhanced when Shoaib Akhtar joins the squad), they are fast and agile on the field, their body language is positively aggressive, and they displayed a hell lot more enthusiasm on field than Bangalore Challengers. They simply demolished Bangalore! Vijay Mallya must not have been a very happy man.

People are calling the IPL more of a business and money-spinning gimmick than a sports event. Money-spinning activity it might be but here's why I think sports will come out tops in the IPL - each team has players from different countries. In regular international games when these players play for their countries, the opposition is their enemy. In IPL they have to come together with the same players who would have otherwise been their enemies and play for a common goal - the victory of their team - forgetting about the country their teammates come from. It's a melting pot in the true sense of the word. It was very heartening to see Ricky Ponting celebrate his catches with the same set of Indian players with whom he was involved in such a nasty controversy not so long ago. And players from different countries embrace each other whenever a wicket fell.

I also think the IPL will give young Indian players a chance to learn from the best players of the world. Each country has it's own approach to cricket. The tips shared in the dressing room and the strategies made will be an valuable learning experience for our youngsters.

I think we should all be extremely proud of the IPL. It's an absolute revolution in cricket, and one that's been brought about by India. We all know India has an immense amount of talent in every sphere but we don't have the infrastructure and the financial resources to develop and boost all that talent. So to think that India could be the pioneer of the IPL, where players from other countries were literally "bought" over by Indian individuals and business behemoths, is no mean feat. Who could have imagined there would be so much money in Indian cricket! With the IPL, the entire cricketing world will be forced to acknowledge India as a force to reckon with in cricket, and not only a country where politics, regional biases and favoritism dominate the cricketing scene.

So here are the reasons why I'm supporting the Kolkata Knight Riders:

1. It's got two of my favorite players - Sourav Ganguly and Adam Gilchrist. They are both at the twilight of their careers. One has already retired from international cricket and the other will very soon in all probability. I have always loved Ganguly as a captain and I also admire his resilience (the way he won his spot back on the team). And I think no player can play spin as well as Ganguly can. It's also an absolute pleasure to watch Gilchrist bat. Not to mention he's a man of integrity and values (remember, he walked?).

2. The spirit with which Shah Rukh Khan selected his players - he wanted to build a winning team, not the best team - reflects in the on-field attitude of the players.

3. I love their mascot Hoog Lee and his girlfriend Shoog Lee, and SRK is the only one of the owners who has shown some enthusiasm in his team - in coming up with the name, in the marketing he has done around the Knight Riders etc. The others seem to have bought over their respective teams purely from a business point of view. They have shown zero interest in their teams. Forget promoting their teams, they haven't even bothered to give their teams names that would get your attention. Cases in point...Chennai Super Kings, Deccan Chargers, and the most retarded of them all - Mumbai Indians! Ofcourse SRK has to make the proposition commercially viable, therefore the marketing around the team, but if we get electrifying, edge-of-the-seat cricket in the process, what's the harm?

I can't wait to see what the other teams have in store. Over the next month & a half, cricket is going to be king and India will be the centre of attention of the cricketing world. The next Knight Riders game will be at Eden Garden, and it will be even bigger and better than tonite!

Less than 24 hours to IPL

GO KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orkdME2tJmk

Goddamn work computer does not allow uploading videos. Will upload the anthem from home. In the meantime...relish these pics!





For my Mumbai friends who're giving me grief about not supporting the Mumbai team, I'm sorry but I just can't get myself to support a team that's called "Mumbai Indians". How boring & unimaginative can you get! Even 'Vada Pao Eating Mumbaikars' would have been a better name!

Any random shit!

I discovered a new restaurant in Bandra today. Khaan-e-Khaas at Pali Hill. I'd been reading about it on someone's blog but surprisingly never noticed it though I'm a 5-Spice regular & also go to Papa Pancho quite frequently.

Ordered food home from Khaan-e-Khaas. The service was quite prompt. They told me they'd take 45 minutes to deliver at Reclamation but they were there in 30 minutes flat. I opened the door & to my surprise the delivery boy goes "Hello madam, how are you?". He totally floored me with that & I found myself saying "I'm actually very good, thank you!" with a BIG smile :-) The place has earned brownie points from me just for that. How many delivery boys do we come across who're pleasant & amiable. Most are rude, scowling & never give you change even if they have it on them! Khaan-e-Khaas gets 10 on 10 for politeness & courtesy.

I would rate the food as 6 out of 10. I'm no connoisseur of food. I neither know nor have ever had the inclination to learn how to cook but I do eat out quite a bit. I've had better Punju food before. Khaan-e-Khaas' food is slightly more towards home food, in that they use less oil as compared to other restaurants (which I was thankful for given my recent low carb diet) but sometimes you just crave spicy, oily North Indian food ;p

*****

I consider Preity Zinta to be one of the smarter actresses we have. I used to think she has half a brain (as compared to most other actresses who are brainless twits). But of late, I've been watching her on TV attending INDOOR reality shows, press conferences etc. wearing humungous sunglasses!

Big sunglasses definitely are the latest fashion statement but come on, PZ...We think you're more intelligent than that!!

*****

Midgets in Brazil have formed their own football team! That's what I call true human spirit & the love of the game. Viva Brasil!!

*****

Have seen a couple of promotional videos for Kolkata Knight Riders. They're filmy alright, and even a little silly but then, that's Shah Rukh Khan for you! I am definitely supporting the Knight Riders. They've got Sourav Ganguly & they seem to have the right spirit towards the game. When SRK was selecting players for the team, he didn't say he wanted to build the best team. He said he wanted to build a "winning team". That's the spirit needed for competitive sports; you play to win! Besides, Kolkata Knight Riders is the only team that's creating excitement around the IPL games. Teams such as Jaipur, Chennai & Hyderabad are nowhere to be seen or heard. And Mukesh Ambani has given his team THE MOST retarded name ever. Mumbai Indians?? I mean...Seriously!!