Cheergirls or Pornography on Cricket Field?

The vulgar display of cheergirls at every boundary hit and at every wicket is despicable and disgusting. It is a clear cut case of pornography in the garb of entertainment at the cricket field. The dressing leaves nothing for imagination and is not at all a good sight for the kids who also watch cricket. It is highly embarrassing when you sit in front of the TV and suddenly you see the cheergirls shaking their assets in the most vulgar manner possible. With TV cameras using creative angles the final result is so horrible and terrible that you feel like boycotting this type of cricket totally. It is heartening to see that some political parties are waking up and protesting. I wish this movement gathers more force and stops this display of nudity. This is India and not America Mr. Lalit Modi. He seems to earn money at all costs. This total commercialization and introduction of vulgarity to cricket should be stopped.

India Stays No. 2. Wins the 3rd Test by 8 wickets

As predicted, as envisaged, as planned and as executed, India won the 3rd Test against South Africa at Kanpur by 8 wickets. Well it allows India to stay as the No. 2 Test team in the world. If Kumble had played then in all probability the match would have finished in 2 days itself and India may have won by an innings and few runs. Piyush Chawla disappointed. Dhoni's captaincy was sharp but the pitch played a major role in the victory. Dhoni' captaincy needs to be judged over a longer duration. Selectors are best adviced not to tinker with the captaincy of Kumble. Also selectors should allow the opening partnership to continue. Once Zaheer is back, we will have a very good team. Now all eyes are on IPL. The buzz is already there. The players have started arriving and reaching their respective franchises. Month-long extravaganza is just 5 days away. Let's see what happens between IPL organizers and the news agencies. It seems media is slowly having its way.

Ajantha Mendis - A Rising Star in International Cricket

A right-arm, slow-medium bowler, Ajantha Mendis is raising eyebrows and has made lot of keen cricket observers sit up and take notice. He is a bowler who has all the qualities to be an international star in not too a distant future. A spinner with a rich repertoire of deliveries - googlies, offbreaks, top-spinners, flippers and legbreaks - will be a handful soon. He should be nurtured carefully and in Mahela Jayawardene he has a captain who is shrewd, intelligent and smart. And under Muttaih Muralitharan, he can really grow into a formidable bowler like Murali himself. Already batsmen are confounded by the variety of deliveries he is able to deliver and wonder what his stock delivery is. His domestic record has been highly impressive - 111 wickets from 19 matches at 14.54. No doubt he was called up to the Sri Lanka squad for the tour of West Indies in April 2008.

Now with an impressive performance in his debut One-Day International match - 10-1-39-3 (3.90 runs per over) - he has shown the world that he belongs at the highest level. At 23, he has enough time on his hands to become one of the greats of the game. We are watching the beginning of, what will turn out to be, a truly remarkable journey.

Shoaib Akhtar Saga - Could it have been handled better?

The way issues are handled in the sub-continent are very unprofessional. The cricketing merits and demerits get lost in the personality issues, political one-upmanship, public pressure, endless media analysis and exposure, sensationalism, etc. etc. Such issues needs to be judged purely on cricketing merits which include performance (or under performance), discipline, interest or lack of it, team composition and stability, impact on upcoming cricketers, image of nation and seriousness of the action by that particular individual.

I believe if this whole saga of Shoib Akhtar has been handled in a professional manner, keeping in mind the issues discussed above, then the outcome would have been different. Shoaib Akhtar may still have qualified for reprimand or a limited ban, he may have reacted differently (rather than using media to defend himself and blaming everyone but himself) and the Pakistan would have been saved the embarrasment it is going through. But will we, in sub-continent, ever learn? The answer is, sadly, not very encouraging.

SPIN to WIN? Pitch Evolution - From Green Tinge to Dead Brown!

With less than 24 hrs to go for the decisive 3rd test match to start between India and South Africa, the pitch has taken a decisive turn. Daljit Singh who said couple of days ago that the pitch will have something for everyone and he is answerable only to the BCCI has now, it seems, acquiesced to the Indian Team Management's request and has prepared what looks like a turner. With World Test No. 2 ranking at stake, India seems to have removed all stops. But with uncertainty over Kumble's fitness and an inadequate backup in the absence of Murali Kartik, the move might just boomerang on India. With only a fit again Ishant Sharma to take a pacer's advantage of a loose and crumbling wicket, it seems the world's most deadliest pace attack is silently smiling. Indian top order is under the scanner and has to pass one of its most sternest test in recent memory. The glory of Australian summer is already a fading memory after a 76 All Out debacle at Ahmedabad in the 2nd Test. With IPL looming to numb the senses for next few weeks, it is upto Indian batsmen and bowler to stand up and make sure India remains as the No. 2 Test team in the world. Let us hope our fielding standards rise a few notches to complement the efforts of batting and bowling.

The Heat, The Turner, The No. 2 Ranking and the Lucrative IPL - we have few crazy weeks ahead. Long Live Cricket!

Is IPL too strong even for the all-powerful Media?

As everyone was waiting for the path-breaking league concept in cricket - THE IPL - to get underway, there seems to be a major controversy brewing up with just about a week left for the first edition to start.

It seems IPL thinks it has the money to strangulate the media by imposing contentious clauses for media accredition. It is still confident that media will fall in line once the much-hyped, much-anticipated IPL gets under way on April 18, 2008. They want to have the cake and eat it too. Let us see who gives in first. Lalit Modi or the Editors Guild of India and bosses of International News Agencies. IPL needs publicity to make the much-anticipated moolah from advertising and gate receipts. Media needs to cover IPL as it does not want to disappoint its readers and viewers who have been fed on IPL news for many weeks now. A battle of wits indeed.

Zaheer among Wisden's 5 Cricketers of the Year 2007

Zaheer Khan was named as one of the 5 Cricketers of the Year 2007. He was rewarded for the outstanding performance (18 wickets in the 3 test series) in the India-England series in England in 2007. The other cricketers named are Ryan Sidebottom and Ian Bell from England, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul from West Indies and Ottis Gibson of West Indies for his outstanding county season with Durham (80 wickets in the 2007 season).