The Great Indian Premier League

Bollywood stars, corporate czars and media moghuls can now boast of being the proud owners of India's talented cricketers, thanks to the auction-packed Indian Premier League.

Icon and marquee players became millionaires in a single day as Shah Rukh Khan, Vijay Mallya, Preity Zinta and Rupert Murdoch vied each other to buy cricketers to add lustre to their respective teams.

But what prompted these big shots to shell out huge sums of money? Is it because of their enthusiasm to make cricket the most popular in a country where people already live, drink and eat the game?

Only the gullible can swallow Vijay Mallya's post-auction rhetoric that his aim is not to mint money but try to improve the standard of the game at the domestic level. Shah Rukh Khan even went to the extent to say that he wanted to give a fillip to the game in India. "I wanted to make it viable profession for youngsters to earn a living," he told the media.

But, is it ground reality?

Everybody knows that current crop of Indian cricketers have bank balances that could put some first generation entrepreneurs to shame. They play international cricket round the year. They earn crores of rupees as appearance fees. They endorse a major chunk of Indian products. Some of them even own business houses.

Advertisement companies make a beeline to sign the Indian players. For, the advertisers know that cricketers can easily sell products in this country. Youngsters are not an exception to this phenomenon. A slew of contracts await even a beginner like Ishant Sharma, who has been the pick of the Indian players in the tour Down Under.

Plenty of avenues are avilable for the Indian cricketers now. They have to play their hearts out. Money and stardom follow them naturally.

So Indian cricketers do not need the mercy of Shah Rukhs and Mallyas to make them rich. They have done quite well for themselves without any corporate or showbiz help.

Changing Times

There was a time when Indian cricketers toiled hard to make ends meet. The members of the Indian team that won historic tour of the West Indies in 1971 got a paltry Rs. 750 per match. When India beat New Zealand in a 1956 Test in four days, the players did not even get the allowance for the fifth day. Krish Srikkant recently revealed that he received about Rs.2 lakh in total for being part of the 1983 World Cup winning team - a feat that remains unparalled in India's cricketing history though Dhoni's daredevils did bring home the T-20 trophy last year.

Unfortunately, not too many advertisers, corporates or entertainment honchos cared about these poor cricketers at that time. Because, cricket was played a motley crowd of elite and the upper class. It was not a game played for the proleteriat.

But times have changed. Cricket became the much sought-after game - of the people, for the people and in recent times also by the people! Cricketers became the hottest commodities on the brand building circuit. The Board of Control for Cricket in India, which presides over the game, became the richest sports body in the country.

Now, industry wants to have its share of the booty too. How could they let the BCCI milk the cash cow without asking for their share?

And so we have business tycoons and celluloid superstars and glam dolls eyeing the moolah that the IPL offers. It offers a great business opportunity for them. They can sell the tickets, get advertisement revenues and even use the players to endorse their products.

After all, everyone's success has many fathers!

Read In MSN India: Cricket for all and All for cricket!

Sania Mirza Decides to Skip Tournaments in India

Sania Mirza and her advisers have got it terribly wrong if they think that skipping tournaments in India will stop controversy-mongers from raking up issues one after the other.

“Every time I play in India, there’s a problem. I even thought about retirement. So I have decided not to play at Bangalore,” she said, according to media reports.

True, she has been unnecessarily dragged into controversies once she started scaling new heights in the world of tennis. Be it the Muslims clerics’ Fatwa for wearing mini-skirts; be it the hue and cry for supporting pre-marital sex; be it shooting of an advertisement on the premises of Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad; be it the contempt suit for a photograph in which her feet appears to be next to the national flag.

FOOLISH DECISION

But it is foolish to think that shirking matches will give her mental peace. She is actually playing into the hands of those who raked up the controversies. It is a like submission on to their knees. It is like a “Leave Me Alone” plea.

I was wondering what happened to the Sania, who mesmerized the tennis aficionados across the world with her skill and youthful exuberance? What happened to the Indian tennis ace who fought valiantly to dominate most of the top players in the women’s circuit?

Sania should understand the controversies follow the celebrities. Prominence makes news, we were taught in our journalism classes. Sania, who studied journalism, too must be aware of this ‘news worthy’ element. It’s a world-wide phenomenon. Neither Sania nor her advisers (read Mahesh Bhupathi’s Globosport) can stop the rumour mill. It will continue to work all the time. The more you play and win matches, the more controversies follow you.

TWO OPTIONS

So Sania now has two options to tide over the mental trauma. The first one is to treat the controversies with contempt. “You cannot bog me down with these kinds of shit”-type of attitude.

The second way (I think the best one) is to ignore the controversies and concentrate on the task at hand. No body can stop you from achieving what you are destined to do. We, the Indians, want to see you on top of the tennis world. We have seen your killer instincts. We have seen your mental strength. You have it in you. Be courageous. And we are with you.

Sania, you should also bear in mind that athletes all over the word had overcome mental trauma and harassment to excel in their chosen sport.

Martina Navratilova had hogged headlines for her same sex orientation. Her father even said that he would have preferred for her to have been a prostitute. But sheer will power saw Navratilova emerging with flying colours.

No tennis player might have suffered as Monica Seles did. She was stabbed in the back by a spectator in 1993. But she returned to the tour in 1995 and won the Australian Open in 1996.

Sania, you should emulate these versatile players. We wish to see you as the world No. 1 athlete.

Read in MSN India: Has Sania lost a crucial match

Captain Courageous

Kumble deserves all the praise for today’s historic Test victory at the WACA.

The imaginative Indian captain sowed the seeds of confidence in his team, utilised the hitherto-under-used pace power to the hilt, employed exemplary field placements to stop the Australians from registering 17th consecutive Test wins.

Beating Australia at their home turf is special. When it comes at the WACA, which is considered as the unbreakable Aussie fortress, it becomes doubly special. Remember, Australia have won 20 of the 35 Test matches (8 matches lost, and 7 drawn) here.

Thirty one years ago, Bishen Singh Bedi & Co. had squandered the edge and suffered a two-wicket defeat at this ground. Mohammed Azharuddin-led Indian side had suffered a humiliating defeat – by 300 runs – fifteen years later (in 1992).

Kumble’s Ploy

Kumble had his plans cut out from day one.

He elected batting after winning the toss. The decision dismayed many a cricket pundit. They predicted the Indian decimation in three days at the WACA, which is said to be world’s fastest pitch.

Unlike the first two Tests, the top order showed greater maturity. They got good backing from the middle order. Thus India piled up 330 runs.

Pace bowlers took the honours on the second day. R P Singh, Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma bowled their heart out. The swing, coupled with exemplary field placements, worked wonders for India.

The Australians started feeling the heat. They lost wickets at crucial junctures.

Though Symonds braved the Indian attack for quite some time, Kumble got him with a peach of a delivery. The crucial wicket fetched Kumble another record. He became the third member of the elite 600-wicket club.

India stayed focused on the third and fourth days. It was obvious from their body language. They were not ready to concede a defeat; they didn’t play for a draw; their only aim was a victory.

And they achieved that in style. Well done, Kumble’s boys.

The People’s Car Is Here

“Now, I can also dream of a car,” Nagendra, who runs a make-shift tea shop near my office, told me a day after the Tatas had launched Nano, the Rs. one lakh car.

“I will sell off my scooter to buy one.”

Come September, thousands of Nagendras will throng Tata showrooms to buy their Nano, the people’s car.

Reliance Model?

At the launch ceremony, Ratan Tata told the gathering: “Today, everybody focuses on the urban areas. We want to provide the masses in the rural part of India with a good means of transport that doesn’t exist there.”

Is Tata following the reliance footsteps?

The Ambanis had staged a marketing coup three years back with the introduction of Rs. 501 Reliance Mobile.

Till then, cell phone was considered as a status symbol, affordable only for the middle class Indians.

But the advent of Reliance Mobile revolutionized the market. Laymen became proud owners of cell phones. Phone prices plummeted to a new low. Thus, rural India began ‘walk the talk.’

The Nano, too, has created ripples in the market. Bajaj has announced their plans to launch small-prize car – Concept –by the end of 2009. The price will be in the range of 1.6 – 1.8 lakh. Many more companies will follow suit, according to industry experts.

So the Nano is going to trigger a price war in the Indian car market.

Pressure on Our Roads

But can our roads withstand the pressure of more cars?

At present, five Indian metros account for around 1,64,00000 private vehicles.

Delhi tops the list with 48 lakh vehicles, followed by Bangalore on 31 lakh.

Chennai has 30 lakh vehicles, while Kolkata (18 lakh) and Hyderabad (17 lakh) are at the fourth and fifth places.

The number is growing with people opting for personalized transportation.

Can you imagine the state of our metro roads five years down the line? It will be utter chaos, if the vehicular population is going at the current rate.

The situation will be no different in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

Because we do not have the infrastructure to support this kind of growth.

The Singapore Model

It is high time the government curbed proliferation of vehicles. I think the government should emulate the Singapore model of Vehicle Quota System. Under the VQS, the government has the power to decide the number of new vehicles allowed on the road each year.

Strengthening public transport is the other available option. People should be encouraged to use the metro bus and metro train services, at least during the week days. Thus we can avoid traffic jams, reduce pollution and preserve energy for future generations!

Complacency Did India In At Sydney

So everybody is putting the blame on Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson for India’s unexpected defeat at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The wizards of Oz stole the Test, which was meandering into a draw, in the last eight minutes, thanks to ‘Punter’ Ponting’s ploy.

Test cricket has never witnessed such anxious moments in the near future. For a brief period, the match attained the hue of a one-day international.

Australians, who played attacking cricket, had the last laugh, while Indians left the SCG blaming the umpires.

True, the Australian side got favourable umpiring decisions at crucial junctures. It was established that Messrs Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson erred in judging Ganguly and Dravid out. The unfair verdicts gave the Australians an unfair advantage over the fighting Indians.

But is it good to gloss over the incompetence of the Indian batsmen by putting the whole blame on the umpires?

What we have seen at the SCG is a complete failure of the Indian team. The famed Indian batting lin-up crumbled like nine pins. So there is no point in arguing that umpires failed us. It is meaningless to say ‘men in white coat’ colluded with the Australians.

Australia had declared their second innings on 401 for seven, leaving India a target of 333 runs. In other words, Anil Kumble and co. had to bat for only 72 overs.

The chinks in India’s batting-line up were exposed once again. Jaffer fell to Lee for naught. Tendulkar, Laxman and Yuvraj all returned to pavilion in quick succession. Dravid and Ganguly, who gave a glimmer of hope, fell to debatable decisions.

Though Dhoni and Kumble tried to steady the sinking Indian ship, Aussie bowlers outsmarted them. Harbhajan, R P Singh and Ishant Sharma threw away their wickets without any semblance of resistance.

Now it is time to come to terms with the failure and prepare for the next two tests. Don't waste the precious time by blaming umpires.

Players should, at first, learn from their mistakes. The management should not tolerate the complacency that had crept into the Indian side.

If the players have the right spirit, no umpire in the world can beat us.

Newzy wishes you a happy and healthy 2008

BCCI turns down 22 Desi applications

We, the Indian cricket fans, can heave a collective sigh of relief.

Our cricket board has almost finished the humongous task of selecting a foreign coach
for Team India.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is all set to install Gary Kirsten as Greg Chappell’s successor.

It is indeed the biggest cricket news of our times.

The BCCI began the coach-hunting drive exactly nine months ago.

We have seen plenty of theatrics since then. Comments and counter-comments ran thick and fast in the studios of our 24X7 TV news channels.

Sitting in the cool confines, some experts batted for 'desi' coach, while other pundits vouched for 'foreigner' to steady the fluctuating fortunes of Indian team.

'FORD DRAMA'

But even an average cricket fan could not forget the ‘Ford drama’ that was unfolded in Chennai some five months back.

The whole episode had, in fact, dented the image of BCCI as the most professional sports body in our country.

Graham Ford and John Emburey were flown into Chennai for presentation before the coach selection panel.

Mediapersons and public waited with bated breath in front of the Chepauk Stadium.

After hours-long deliberations, the board officials announced South Africa's Graham Ford was the chosen one.

But barely 48 hours after the interview, Ford informed his regrets leaving the BCCI head honchos clueless.

KIRSTEN INTERVIEW

It seems the board has learnt a lesson or two from the Chennai 'circus'.

The officials remained tight-lipped about the Kirsten interview. No cameras, no live coverage this time.

The interview was held at Sharad Pawar's residence. Six of the seven members of the selection panel were present. Indian Test team captain Anil Kumble was the special invitee. It was a hush-hush affair. The interview lasted around 30 minutes.

KNOW OUR GK (GARY KIRSTEN)

Of course, he is one of the best batsmen in the modern-era. He has got 101 Test caps for South Africa. He scored 7289 runs at an average of 45.27. He has 21 Test centuries to his credit.

The Southpaw was equally impressive in one-day internationals too. From the 185 ODIs he played, Kirsten got 6798 runs at 40.95, which includes 13 tons.

…BUT WHY KIRSTEN?

No body knows for sure what prompted BCCI to zero in on Gary Kirsten.

First of all, he did not even apply for the post.

Then what makes him so special? Is that he associated with Cricket Australia's high performance manager for a couple of years? Everybody knows that that was the only high point in Kirsten's coaching career.

The fact is that the selection committee, In their quest to appoint a foreign coach, completely ignored the applications of around 20-22 Desi coaches, Lal Chand Rajput being the prominent candidate among them.

Rajput has developed good rapport with the players during the last three months. India clinched Twenty20 World Cup under Rajput's guidance. "I was looking forward to a longer stint with the team," Rajput was quoted as saying in an interview.

But the world's richest sporting body turned all of them down.
They directly approached Kirsten.

The powers-that-be in the BCCI believe that Kirsten can become a successful Indian manager.

So it’s time chant the old adage - All is well that ends well.