Deccan Chargers have been charging ahead in this IPL. Being counted as favorites and finishing at the bottom of the table in the last year’s IPL, Deccan Chargers had more than a few questions to answer at the beginning of this season and how well they have answered them. With 3 on 3, they have given themselves a great chance to qualify for the semi-finals. After another power start from Gilly and Gibbs, Deccan lost its way in the last 7 overs making only 40 odd runs and losing 7 wickets. It’s a weakness that might prove costly towards the business stages of the tournament. Its got a too top heavy batting line up and still a relatively moderate bowling attack. But for now they are bulldozing past everyone.
With Sachin pacing the innings like a computer and tutoring Duminy along the way, it was all set for another tight finish but as has often been the case in this year’s IPL, the whole equation changed after the tactical break. And then Mumbai lost the momentum and never looked like winning it once Sachin departed.
I am delighted to know that Sachin has expressed his displeasure over the tactical time out along with others. It’s a real shame that such a gimmick has been entertained for commercial considerations. It might bring additional dynamics into play and might even make the game more entertaining but the bottom line is that it’s a fake one. If Sachin’s views are not taken seriously to review this tactical timeout, then be assured that nothing else can make Lalit Modi change his mind.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
IPL Day 7: Oh poor B’lore….
Just what should B’lore do to win? I almost feel sorry for them but somehow they don’t look like a team – I take a slight sadistic pleasure in thinking that Mallya deserves such a team for his juvenile reactions in the last season! With Uthappa and KP failing once again, the responsibility of resurrecting the innings fell on the broad shoulders of Kallis and he did it in his own style. With 3 of the 4 overseas stars doing well, finally Royal Challengers put a competitive total on the board. But that proved to be inadequate.
With the Punjabi munda from England in top form and solid support from Sanga and Yuvi, Kings’ XI cruised to overcome their target. A well-deserved victory for Kings’ XI after two successive rain-curtailed matches.
With the Punjabi munda from England in top form and solid support from Sanga and Yuvi, Kings’ XI cruised to overcome their target. A well-deserved victory for Kings’ XI after two successive rain-curtailed matches.
IPL Day 6: Royal Feast
What a day of cricket it was. If the first match between CSK and Delhi was a humdinger, the second match between RR and KKR was an absolute edge of the seat thriller. This is by far the best day in IPL 2009 so far. A.B played the near perfect T20 innings with some help from butter fingers of CSK and Dilshan played a typically spunky innings to set a huge target for CSK. But what went a little unnoticed in the whole carnage is that L.Balaji returned with figures of 3 for 19 in 4 overs when the innings run-rate for Delhi was 9.45!
After a characteristically aggressive start by Hayden and Raina, CSK were looking all set to overhaul the target but Delhi bowlers pulled the momentum back beautifully by picking up crucial wickets at the death. But I still expected Albie to pull it off but it wasn’t to be. I wonder why Badri is wasted at 7 in every match – Only Dhoni knows why!
The second match had it all. There could not have been a better advertisement for T20 and IPL in particular. After the fall of 2 quick wickets, Yousuf Pathan did what he does best – attack without a second thought. He did that fairly successfully till Mendis was brought onto the attack. With Mendis picking both Graeme Smith and Yousuf Pathan quickly it looked like RR wouldn’t have enough on the board to defend. But the blitzkrieg in the final over by Raut changed it all.
When KKR batted, Warned opted for the most unusual pair to share the new ball – Yousuf Pathan and Mascrenhas! It was a gamble which paid off reasonably well with the wicket of McCullum and a sedate run rate. But Gayle at the other end was threatening to take the match away from RR by striking a few towering sixes. But as ever, Warne struck the crucial blow by sucking Gayle into a false shot. And with Hodge and Shukla falling soon, in came Dada with a determination that was last seen in his comeback in SA after the Greg Chappell forced exile. And just as he did in SA then, played a blinder to get KKR’s innings back on track along with Yashpal Singh.
The crucial point came with Warne’s obsessive idea of bowling short to Ganguly. And when Munaf obliged his captain and also overstepped, Dada played a pre-determined pull for a six and then hit a typically Dada inside out shot over covers for another six in the free hit. With 13 runs off one ball, the required run rate was brought down to more manageable levels. Sourav’s constant chatting with Yashpal asking him not to do anything silly with the match virtually in the bag showed how badly he wanted to win it for KKR. But when Warne tossed one high and wide, Yashpal did exactly what Sourav asked him to refrain from doing!
With one over left and seven runs needed, my money was still on KKR. In an inspired piece of captaincy, Warne threw the ball to the 18 year old Kamran Khan to bowl the last over in such a high pressure situation. And what a super over it turned out to be, followed by another super over – this time literally!
I am so glad that the obscene “bowl-out” has been done away with and replaced by the super over.
After a characteristically aggressive start by Hayden and Raina, CSK were looking all set to overhaul the target but Delhi bowlers pulled the momentum back beautifully by picking up crucial wickets at the death. But I still expected Albie to pull it off but it wasn’t to be. I wonder why Badri is wasted at 7 in every match – Only Dhoni knows why!
The second match had it all. There could not have been a better advertisement for T20 and IPL in particular. After the fall of 2 quick wickets, Yousuf Pathan did what he does best – attack without a second thought. He did that fairly successfully till Mendis was brought onto the attack. With Mendis picking both Graeme Smith and Yousuf Pathan quickly it looked like RR wouldn’t have enough on the board to defend. But the blitzkrieg in the final over by Raut changed it all.
When KKR batted, Warned opted for the most unusual pair to share the new ball – Yousuf Pathan and Mascrenhas! It was a gamble which paid off reasonably well with the wicket of McCullum and a sedate run rate. But Gayle at the other end was threatening to take the match away from RR by striking a few towering sixes. But as ever, Warne struck the crucial blow by sucking Gayle into a false shot. And with Hodge and Shukla falling soon, in came Dada with a determination that was last seen in his comeback in SA after the Greg Chappell forced exile. And just as he did in SA then, played a blinder to get KKR’s innings back on track along with Yashpal Singh.
The crucial point came with Warne’s obsessive idea of bowling short to Ganguly. And when Munaf obliged his captain and also overstepped, Dada played a pre-determined pull for a six and then hit a typically Dada inside out shot over covers for another six in the free hit. With 13 runs off one ball, the required run rate was brought down to more manageable levels. Sourav’s constant chatting with Yashpal asking him not to do anything silly with the match virtually in the bag showed how badly he wanted to win it for KKR. But when Warne tossed one high and wide, Yashpal did exactly what Sourav asked him to refrain from doing!
With one over left and seven runs needed, my money was still on KKR. In an inspired piece of captaincy, Warne threw the ball to the 18 year old Kamran Khan to bowl the last over in such a high pressure situation. And what a super over it turned out to be, followed by another super over – this time literally!
I am so glad that the obscene “bowl-out” has been done away with and replaced by the super over.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
IPL Day 5: Blast from the past and into the future too
The way Gilchrist was blasting the bowlers all over the park shouldn’t have surprised us too much. But if the word going around is to be believed that he played only one T-20 match in between last year’s IPL and this year’s, it should have been surprising but it still wasn’t. That’s the aura of the man. No matter what the constraints are, you still expect Gilly to be the same.
You can sense Gilly is in top form when he starts pulling good length deliveries and we had a few of them yesterday. He plays audacious square cuts, cover drives beautifully and smacks a few across the line, but its his ability to pick up the length of the delivery early and quickly rock back to pull fuller length deliveries is what sets him apart from others. As a bowler there’s just no safe area to bowl to Gilly. How Michael Clarke would be wishing Gilly was in Abu Dhabi and not in SA!
If Gilly’s innings was blast from the past what followed was a blast into the future. I am a huge fan of Rohit Sharma. To me he is the best young India batsman going around and surely deserves a test spot ahead of Yuvraj Singh. He oozes with class, can play spin and pace with equal ease and most importantly he seems to have that extra time in playing his shots. He’s also of that rare breed that spends time in settling down even in a T-20 match and has the ability to up the tempo at will. And he did it against no less a bowler than Anil Kumble when he hit him for 3 sixes in an over just when you were wondering if he was consuming too many deliveries. Except for that last six against Kumble, none of his shots would have been out of place in test cricket as well. At the end of the game his scoring rate is no different from an out and out dasher.
I can’t wait for him to be inducted into the test team, so that he’s ready to inherit the no.4 from Sachin whenever he decides to hang up his boots. Even in ODIs he’s been given the odd chance but dumped immediately. With such a talent, you are better off making the mistake of giving one chance too many than one chance too few. Mr.Srikanth – Are you listening?
And just what’s wrong with B’lore? They have got some fabulous individual talent and a reasonably good bowling attack but somehow they are not able to click as a team. It’s got something to do with the franchise’s mindset. First they made Charu Sharma a scapegoat, then the owner almost openly disowned the team, and then the club paid a fortune to acquire KP for this season as if that was the panacea for all their problems. Along the way Ray Jennings was hired and he had his share of taking a dig at the seniors in the team! There’s been a consistent search for that individual weak point but no talks about cohesiveness of the team. In a team sport, if the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts, then no part is worth a fortune.
You can sense Gilly is in top form when he starts pulling good length deliveries and we had a few of them yesterday. He plays audacious square cuts, cover drives beautifully and smacks a few across the line, but its his ability to pick up the length of the delivery early and quickly rock back to pull fuller length deliveries is what sets him apart from others. As a bowler there’s just no safe area to bowl to Gilly. How Michael Clarke would be wishing Gilly was in Abu Dhabi and not in SA!
If Gilly’s innings was blast from the past what followed was a blast into the future. I am a huge fan of Rohit Sharma. To me he is the best young India batsman going around and surely deserves a test spot ahead of Yuvraj Singh. He oozes with class, can play spin and pace with equal ease and most importantly he seems to have that extra time in playing his shots. He’s also of that rare breed that spends time in settling down even in a T-20 match and has the ability to up the tempo at will. And he did it against no less a bowler than Anil Kumble when he hit him for 3 sixes in an over just when you were wondering if he was consuming too many deliveries. Except for that last six against Kumble, none of his shots would have been out of place in test cricket as well. At the end of the game his scoring rate is no different from an out and out dasher.
I can’t wait for him to be inducted into the test team, so that he’s ready to inherit the no.4 from Sachin whenever he decides to hang up his boots. Even in ODIs he’s been given the odd chance but dumped immediately. With such a talent, you are better off making the mistake of giving one chance too many than one chance too few. Mr.Srikanth – Are you listening?
And just what’s wrong with B’lore? They have got some fabulous individual talent and a reasonably good bowling attack but somehow they are not able to click as a team. It’s got something to do with the franchise’s mindset. First they made Charu Sharma a scapegoat, then the owner almost openly disowned the team, and then the club paid a fortune to acquire KP for this season as if that was the panacea for all their problems. Along the way Ray Jennings was hired and he had his share of taking a dig at the seniors in the team! There’s been a consistent search for that individual weak point but no talks about cohesiveness of the team. In a team sport, if the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts, then no part is worth a fortune.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
IPL Day 4: Frustrating...
Why are they so desperate to get a result? A match with no result is no crime or shame. Agreed that KKR might have still won the game with Gayle playing as well as he did. But as we have seen so many times before in Cricket and more so in this IPL that the momentum can shift anytime. But sadly King’s XI didn’t even get a chance to come back. This is their second successive loss in rain-shortened matches. The first game against Delhi was an absolute lottery and this one is not much better. I feel sorry for King’s XI ...
IPL Day 3 - Magically, Murali
If you are a CSK supporter, you couldn’t have asked for a better show. It was a delight to watch Matt Hayden back in his elements even after retirement. It was a typically muscular innings from Hayden, which ensured CSK were off to a blistering start. If not for the mix-up with Raina he would have ensured CSK batted B’lore out of the match. What if he didn’t? Murali ensured that wasn’t regretted.
After a move, which was destined to fail (opening with Praveen Kumar), B’lore threatened for a while with Kallis hitting a few classy boundaries. The pitch was so true that our mortal cricketing instincts would have told us that B’lore would mount a serious chase especially with Pieterson and Dravid still to come. But Murali had other ideas! It was a magical spell from him.
Coming around the wicket and with the ability to turn the ball square both ways, he’s as canny as it gets. As if guessing between a big spinning off break or a doosra wasn’t tough enough, Pieterson encounters a ball pitching on the middle and still uncertain about the movement, offers a prod and the ball holds its line, evades the bat and catches him plumb in front. He was so confused that he ended up asking the umpire if there was some bat in it! But what followed was the real scene-stealer.
Having seen Pieterson’s dismissal from the non-striker’s end, Robin Uthappa appeared well equipped not to fall prey to the same trick. And what does Murali do? Without much change in the trajectory he bowls a similar ball again but its similar only till it pitches and after pitching it does a Shane Warne to leave Uthappa out of his crease searching for the ball and Dhoni does the rest. This is craftsmanship of the highest order. This dismissal of Uthappa and Shane Warne’s magic against Akhil has been the standout moments of IPL so far. Hopefully more magic lies ahead…
After a move, which was destined to fail (opening with Praveen Kumar), B’lore threatened for a while with Kallis hitting a few classy boundaries. The pitch was so true that our mortal cricketing instincts would have told us that B’lore would mount a serious chase especially with Pieterson and Dravid still to come. But Murali had other ideas! It was a magical spell from him.
Coming around the wicket and with the ability to turn the ball square both ways, he’s as canny as it gets. As if guessing between a big spinning off break or a doosra wasn’t tough enough, Pieterson encounters a ball pitching on the middle and still uncertain about the movement, offers a prod and the ball holds its line, evades the bat and catches him plumb in front. He was so confused that he ended up asking the umpire if there was some bat in it! But what followed was the real scene-stealer.
Having seen Pieterson’s dismissal from the non-striker’s end, Robin Uthappa appeared well equipped not to fall prey to the same trick. And what does Murali do? Without much change in the trajectory he bowls a similar ball again but its similar only till it pitches and after pitching it does a Shane Warne to leave Uthappa out of his crease searching for the ball and Dhoni does the rest. This is craftsmanship of the highest order. This dismissal of Uthappa and Shane Warne’s magic against Akhil has been the standout moments of IPL so far. Hopefully more magic lies ahead…
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
IPL Day 2: Ambivalence is the word
There’s so much to love about IPL. But it’s just as easy to detest it too. If first day was refreshing with good quality cricket on display, the second day was proof of the extreme shameless commercialization of the game. Cricket has been a game where even after 5 days of hard intense cricket, we may not get a result but in the T-20 the administrators have been very desperate to get a result somehow or the other.
There’s no shame in having a game with no result and more so in a lengthy tournament like IPL. The desperation with which a result was achieved in the Delhi Vs King’s XI match was ripping the soul of the game. If twenty overs for each side are not possible, then the match ought to be either cancelled or rescheduled no matter the commercial ramifications of doing so.
If this was appalling, the fact that they stuck to the “tactical time-out” for ads despite rain shortening the match was obscene. And then I saw the sight, which I feared the most – the boundary ropes were brought in by almost 10 yards!!! It’s worse than reservations.
I don’t know who gives the idea to administrators that more boundaries mean more entertainment for the audience. And can anyone tell the commentators that cricket lexicon hasn’t been officially changed yet. A six still remains a six and not a DLF maximum and WTF is a citi moment of success (BTW Citi bank was struggling to survive not too long ago). I wish I never buy a DLF house or bank with Citibank ever in my life – the very mention of those names get me worked up.
I had recently asked Prof. Aswath Damodaran (Professor – Corporate Finance and Valuation in Stern School of Business, New York University) about his views on IPL. His response sums the problem with IPL:
“I must confess that I stopped following cricket about 25 years ago... I used to be an avid cricket fan and I have followed the IPL only in passing. I think the key with professional sports is to maintain the illusion that it is only a game (and not a business). The fans know that they are being taken along for a ride, but they are willing to go along. I think the problem with the IPL is that it does not even bother to preserve the illusion...”
There’s no shame in having a game with no result and more so in a lengthy tournament like IPL. The desperation with which a result was achieved in the Delhi Vs King’s XI match was ripping the soul of the game. If twenty overs for each side are not possible, then the match ought to be either cancelled or rescheduled no matter the commercial ramifications of doing so.
If this was appalling, the fact that they stuck to the “tactical time-out” for ads despite rain shortening the match was obscene. And then I saw the sight, which I feared the most – the boundary ropes were brought in by almost 10 yards!!! It’s worse than reservations.
I don’t know who gives the idea to administrators that more boundaries mean more entertainment for the audience. And can anyone tell the commentators that cricket lexicon hasn’t been officially changed yet. A six still remains a six and not a DLF maximum and WTF is a citi moment of success (BTW Citi bank was struggling to survive not too long ago). I wish I never buy a DLF house or bank with Citibank ever in my life – the very mention of those names get me worked up.
I had recently asked Prof. Aswath Damodaran (Professor – Corporate Finance and Valuation in Stern School of Business, New York University) about his views on IPL. His response sums the problem with IPL:
“I must confess that I stopped following cricket about 25 years ago... I used to be an avid cricket fan and I have followed the IPL only in passing. I think the key with professional sports is to maintain the illusion that it is only a game (and not a business). The fans know that they are being taken along for a ride, but they are willing to go along. I think the problem with the IPL is that it does not even bother to preserve the illusion...”
Saturday, April 18, 2009
IPL: Day 1
What a contrasting start we had for IPL 2009 as compared to last year. If McCullum set the field ablaze to kickstart the last IPL, this time it was the calm, measured and composed innings from Sachin which gave a good account of how this year’s IPL might shape up. If day 1 is anything to go by, we are in for a real feast with a fair contest between bat and ball.
Today was an anti-thesis of most theories floated around about IPL and T-20 cricket. It was supposed to be a youngster’s game but the stars for today were Sachin, Dravid, Warne and Kumble! And the money the franchise spends determines the kind of talent at their disposal. FYI Abhishek Nayar was bought for $40k last year and revised to $100k this year! What a difference he made. In my opinion his was the innings which took the game away from CSK. It’s a delightful feeling that such a cameo was not the status quo but a special effort which tilted the balance of the match. I just hope that it continues to remain an even contest between the bat and ball throughout the tournament.
But the moment of the day belonged to that showman again – Shane Warne. The way he made Virat Kohli look like a novice was comfortably outdone by the way he mesmerised Akhil in an over of masterful leg spin. He sets him up beautifully for the flipper only for the umpire to disagree, then he bowls an absolute beauty to clean up Akhil with the ball drifting in in the air and turning away sharply after pitching to disturb the timber leaving the batsman dumbstruck.
The final word for the day has to be on Rahul Dravid. It was typically Dravid, reconstructing the innings after a top order collapse. But what was more special is that he did it at the pace that T-20 cricket demands but with all the style and grace that we generally associate with Test Cricket. It was a little funny to see Dravid getting so animated on the field. But afer all the non-sense that he went through last year, its easier to understand that he wanted to prove a point as much to himself as to the critics. And Jumbo helped himself to a 5 for. I wonder what Mr.Mallya has to say now?
Today was an anti-thesis of most theories floated around about IPL and T-20 cricket. It was supposed to be a youngster’s game but the stars for today were Sachin, Dravid, Warne and Kumble! And the money the franchise spends determines the kind of talent at their disposal. FYI Abhishek Nayar was bought for $40k last year and revised to $100k this year! What a difference he made. In my opinion his was the innings which took the game away from CSK. It’s a delightful feeling that such a cameo was not the status quo but a special effort which tilted the balance of the match. I just hope that it continues to remain an even contest between the bat and ball throughout the tournament.
But the moment of the day belonged to that showman again – Shane Warne. The way he made Virat Kohli look like a novice was comfortably outdone by the way he mesmerised Akhil in an over of masterful leg spin. He sets him up beautifully for the flipper only for the umpire to disagree, then he bowls an absolute beauty to clean up Akhil with the ball drifting in in the air and turning away sharply after pitching to disturb the timber leaving the batsman dumbstruck.
The final word for the day has to be on Rahul Dravid. It was typically Dravid, reconstructing the innings after a top order collapse. But what was more special is that he did it at the pace that T-20 cricket demands but with all the style and grace that we generally associate with Test Cricket. It was a little funny to see Dravid getting so animated on the field. But afer all the non-sense that he went through last year, its easier to understand that he wanted to prove a point as much to himself as to the critics. And Jumbo helped himself to a 5 for. I wonder what Mr.Mallya has to say now?
The spectacle is about to begin
Oh finally…. IPL is all set to begin.
For want of time, will settle for twitter style updates for now:
I hope the crowd turn out is good throughout and really really hope that boundaries are not shortened this time and some sanity prevails in the commentary box. Lets call a six a six and not a DLF and Lalit Modi is no moses please…………….
Otherwise I hope the second edition continues from where the first edition ended as far as the quality of cricket is concerned.
Its always a dicey proposition to pick a favourite out of such evenly matched teams especially in this format of the game. Its still fun doing it though. My favourites for winning the second IPL are Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils.
I just hope B’lore makes it to the semi-final stage atleast this year. Last year they were badly let down by their owner after a couple of losses. Surely Rahul Dravid and co deserved greater respect and support. Lets not forget they had one of the best bowling line-ups with Zaheer, Steyn, Bracken, Praveen Kumar and Anil Kumble.
Just for the sheer excitement of watching Shahrukh celebrate, I wish KKR does well too…
But being a quintessential Chennaite, I have only one team to support except when Sachin is batting!!!
For want of time, will settle for twitter style updates for now:
I hope the crowd turn out is good throughout and really really hope that boundaries are not shortened this time and some sanity prevails in the commentary box. Lets call a six a six and not a DLF and Lalit Modi is no moses please…………….
Otherwise I hope the second edition continues from where the first edition ended as far as the quality of cricket is concerned.
Its always a dicey proposition to pick a favourite out of such evenly matched teams especially in this format of the game. Its still fun doing it though. My favourites for winning the second IPL are Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils.
I just hope B’lore makes it to the semi-final stage atleast this year. Last year they were badly let down by their owner after a couple of losses. Surely Rahul Dravid and co deserved greater respect and support. Lets not forget they had one of the best bowling line-ups with Zaheer, Steyn, Bracken, Praveen Kumar and Anil Kumble.
Just for the sheer excitement of watching Shahrukh celebrate, I wish KKR does well too…
But being a quintessential Chennaite, I have only one team to support except when Sachin is batting!!!
Friday, April 17, 2009
How I wish IPL was covered by ESPNSTAR!
How I wish IPL was covered by ESPNSTAR now that another of my favourite commentators -- Sanjay Manjrekar, has also joined the team. I always thought Sanjay was underutilized by Tensports by making him the host and not the expert commentator. And in ESPNSTAR with Harsha playing the perfect host, it would be refreshing to hear Sanjay's impeccable views and analysis on the game which after a few centuries of existence is still evolving and evolving at a faster pace than ever before! I had written something about the Voice of Indian Cricket in praise of Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar a couple of years back. I thought its a good time to reproduce that here now that both will be working as part of the same team:
The Voice of Indian Cricket
I remember Harsha Bhogle once saying that when Sunny padded up for his innings as a commentator, he wanted to become the “Voice of Indian Cricket” like Tony Cozier is to West Indian Cricket. For all my respect for Sunny, I can at the most see him as the face of Indian Cricket and not quite the voice of Indian cricket. I used to wonder if the man who narrated Sunny’s wish himself was a better fit for that tag. For someone who started radio commentary when he was just a school student, he could seamlessly alternate between radio and TV commentary. His writings on cricket make you wonder if Peter Roebuck is over rated and has a few fan clubs in the cricket mad countries – India & Australia, Harsha Bhogle seems to be fitting the bill perfectly as the “Voice of Indian Cricket”
But then, how can a guy who hasn’t played competitive cricket beyond the university level be called the “Voice of Indian Cricket”? .So what if Tony Cozier was never a competent cricketer and still be called the “Voice of West Indies Cricket’. Probably West Indies didn’t have any good cricketer turned commentators during that time. But India certainly has no dearth of cricketers turned commentators (by the way is there any well known cricketer who hasn’t turned a commentator yet?) and that too very competent ones. Ravi, Sunny, LS, Sidhu, Sanjay and the list goes on. Why can’t one of them in this long list be called the “Voice….’.For someone who loves his dose of channel 9 commentary, I am not particularly a great fan of most of these commentators except for Sanjay (He’s a class act). It is too stereotypical for my liking. I can almost predict what they would say depending on the match situation.
Sanjay Manjrekar’s foray into TV commentary brought a whiff of fresh air for the Indian viewer who cherished his dose of honest and intellectual commentary. In my opinion, he’s the best Indian ‘cricketer turned commentator’ by some distance. He’s made tremendous strides as a commentator. I remember watching him on TV in his first year as a commentator; he seemed to be literally hero-worshiping Sachin and somehow could never find a flaw in Sachin, even when almost everyone else seemed to be thinking otherwise. Sometimes he appeared to be too much in awe of some of the personalities like the Chappell brothers for him to even disagree with them. But then as he grew in stature he shed his inhibitions of his personal preferences and grew more neutral in his perspective.
The Sanjay Manjrekar of now is a dream of a commentator with neither a put on accent nor a complicated vocabulary. His knowledge of the game is immaculate, his views and insights on the game are absolutely unbiased and grounded on sound cricketing logic and his writings on the game are the one of an honest man who knows and cares about his sport. I remember an interview of Sanjay by Harsha Bhogle in ESPN, in which Harsha said that Sanjay’s the most honest cricketer that he’s seen, to which Sanjay replied that it’s the only way he knows to live. He does not mind questioning Sachin’s attitude (and also the repercussions of doing that), doesn’t believe that regional selection committees have been as big a problem for India’s lack of success as the lack of skill and doesn’t mince words when it comes to the question of an even contest between the bat and the ball.
I’ve put my case forward. Harsha Bhogle or Sanjay Manjrekar – Who’s the “Voice of Indian Cricket”? Take your pick. Whom would I go for? If competency as a cricketer is not brought into the equation, I would go for Harsha Bhogle and if competency as a cricketer is important then, I can’t think of anyone beyond Sanjay Manjrekar.
Harsha and Sanjay – Thanks a ton for making cricket watching a better experience!
The Voice of Indian Cricket
I remember Harsha Bhogle once saying that when Sunny padded up for his innings as a commentator, he wanted to become the “Voice of Indian Cricket” like Tony Cozier is to West Indian Cricket. For all my respect for Sunny, I can at the most see him as the face of Indian Cricket and not quite the voice of Indian cricket. I used to wonder if the man who narrated Sunny’s wish himself was a better fit for that tag. For someone who started radio commentary when he was just a school student, he could seamlessly alternate between radio and TV commentary. His writings on cricket make you wonder if Peter Roebuck is over rated and has a few fan clubs in the cricket mad countries – India & Australia, Harsha Bhogle seems to be fitting the bill perfectly as the “Voice of Indian Cricket”
But then, how can a guy who hasn’t played competitive cricket beyond the university level be called the “Voice of Indian Cricket”? .So what if Tony Cozier was never a competent cricketer and still be called the “Voice of West Indies Cricket’. Probably West Indies didn’t have any good cricketer turned commentators during that time. But India certainly has no dearth of cricketers turned commentators (by the way is there any well known cricketer who hasn’t turned a commentator yet?) and that too very competent ones. Ravi, Sunny, LS, Sidhu, Sanjay and the list goes on. Why can’t one of them in this long list be called the “Voice….’.For someone who loves his dose of channel 9 commentary, I am not particularly a great fan of most of these commentators except for Sanjay (He’s a class act). It is too stereotypical for my liking. I can almost predict what they would say depending on the match situation.
Sanjay Manjrekar’s foray into TV commentary brought a whiff of fresh air for the Indian viewer who cherished his dose of honest and intellectual commentary. In my opinion, he’s the best Indian ‘cricketer turned commentator’ by some distance. He’s made tremendous strides as a commentator. I remember watching him on TV in his first year as a commentator; he seemed to be literally hero-worshiping Sachin and somehow could never find a flaw in Sachin, even when almost everyone else seemed to be thinking otherwise. Sometimes he appeared to be too much in awe of some of the personalities like the Chappell brothers for him to even disagree with them. But then as he grew in stature he shed his inhibitions of his personal preferences and grew more neutral in his perspective.
The Sanjay Manjrekar of now is a dream of a commentator with neither a put on accent nor a complicated vocabulary. His knowledge of the game is immaculate, his views and insights on the game are absolutely unbiased and grounded on sound cricketing logic and his writings on the game are the one of an honest man who knows and cares about his sport. I remember an interview of Sanjay by Harsha Bhogle in ESPN, in which Harsha said that Sanjay’s the most honest cricketer that he’s seen, to which Sanjay replied that it’s the only way he knows to live. He does not mind questioning Sachin’s attitude (and also the repercussions of doing that), doesn’t believe that regional selection committees have been as big a problem for India’s lack of success as the lack of skill and doesn’t mince words when it comes to the question of an even contest between the bat and the ball.
I’ve put my case forward. Harsha Bhogle or Sanjay Manjrekar – Who’s the “Voice of Indian Cricket”? Take your pick. Whom would I go for? If competency as a cricketer is not brought into the equation, I would go for Harsha Bhogle and if competency as a cricketer is important then, I can’t think of anyone beyond Sanjay Manjrekar.
Harsha and Sanjay – Thanks a ton for making cricket watching a better experience!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Settling down in Hyderabad
Will be off blogging till I settle down in Hyderabad. There’s been so much to talk about in cricket of late - India’s historic series win in NZ, Yuvraj’s inability to make the test spot his own, Rahul Dravid’s record number of catches, Dhoni’s puzzling declaration call and the rise and rise of Zaheer Khan.But no time for the next 2 weeks.
In the meanwhile, read this piece on Dhoni’s captaincy by Samir Chopra in Cricinfo which is not far from my opinion as well:
http://blogs.cricinfo.com/diffstrokes/archives/2009/04/dark_cloud_over_dhoni.php
Hope to be back to blogging when IPL kickstarts. Have to rent a house and get a TV by that time…
In the meanwhile, read this piece on Dhoni’s captaincy by Samir Chopra in Cricinfo which is not far from my opinion as well:
http://blogs.cricinfo.com/diffstrokes/archives/2009/04/dark_cloud_over_dhoni.php
Hope to be back to blogging when IPL kickstarts. Have to rent a house and get a TV by that time…
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