Posted in September 2007 …

Sep 29 2007
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Australia, Indian Players, Post-Colonialism

Symonds Meets Lady Gertrude

I have little respect for Andrew Symonds, mostly because he is far too talented for his ridiculously shaggy hair and clown-white lips. Still, you have to hand it to any Australia player: when they are motivated, they are at their worst (or best, depending on which side you’re on). Reacting to the wonderfully outsized celebrations that the Indian team were given on their return to Mumbai (thank God I was not on the Sahar highway just then), Symonds is all fired up:

“Something has been sparked inside of me, watching them carry on over the last few days,” Symonds told AAP. “We have had a very successful side and I think watching how we celebrate and how they celebrate, I think we have been pretty humble in the way we have gone about it.”

I agree with Symonds, but I don’t. Let’s start with why I don’t: Continue reading →

Sep 28 2007
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Coverage

It’s Just Not (About) Cricket (3)

From The Pioneer comes yet another column examining what India’s Twenty20 victory means outside the boundary ropes. According to the author, it represents a de-politicized India, a resounding endorsement of free market policies, and a near-meritocratic society. I exaggerate only slightly. Continue reading →

Sep 27 2007
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Indian Players, Post-Colonialism, Racial Boundaries, Racism

Malik Loses One More (Not That He Had Her To Begin With)

Irfan Pathan’s mother, happy that her two children did so well in the Twenty20 tournament, could not let an interview finish without telling the world how much she resents what Shoaib Malik said at the post-match conference.” Shoaib must have said that for his own countrymen,” she said, “how can he speak for all the Muslims of the world? The way Irfan and Yusuf played for India, that’s all that matters to us. They have made us proud of the way India won the Cup.”

Funny to think it, but I had not considered the effect of Malik’s statements on Indian Muslims before. Continue reading →

Sep 27 2007
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Indian Players

Out with the Old, In with the New

If people love the “new” Indian cricket squad, then advertisers won’t be far behind. The Mumbai Mirror reports that advertisers and brand managers have eagerly followed the latest matches in South Africa and come up with their own storylines and symbolism for each player:

“Clearly Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh look set to be the advertisers’ new favourite but the surprise in the pack is Sreesanth. His aggression on the field has many takers among the big-wigs of the ad industry. “Sreesanth will end up with many deals because of his fiery and funny persona,” says photographer Atul Kasbekar who is also the chairman of an event company called Bling Entertainment.

But advertisers are divided over what the emergence of these new stars mean for the old stalwarts Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid. While Piyush Pandey says the old guard still carry their own value– “Like Sachin for continuity and Rahul Dravid for dignity”–Ajay Shroff, director of Pinxit Blue Advertising says: The Big 3 don’t have too many years left (of playing).”

There are a number of ridiculous elements with this development, but I’ll have to restrain myself to comment on a few: Continue reading →

Sep 26 2007
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Coverage

What’s Next

The Twenty20 extravaganza may be over, but cricket being what it is today, more is always on the way. In the following weeks, you’ll find posts on the next big three series coming up:

  1.  South Africa are in Pakistan, and Graeme Smith is unhappy that he has to stay in posh hotels for the whole tour. Yes, as if South Africa is a beacon of light when it comes to crime levels and verbal abuse from crowds.
  2. England are in Sri Lanka, and already, some of their best players — Collingwood, Cook and Broad — have come down with a stomach bug. Perhaps they should have followed Warne’s subcontinental diet: baked beans and toast.
  3. Australia are in India, hungry for revenge (I imagine), while the Big Three get set to make their comeback after a whole 2 weeks of rest.

Yes, ’tis the season of the subcontinent. It will be interesting to see if any of the Asian teams suffer defeats. I have always believed that if a team wants to do well abroad, it must suffer a bit at home as well. You cannot expect a team that always plays on, say, the dry pitches of India to do well on the swinging, faster pitches of England or Australia. But if you mix the conditions up at home, that’s a different story. Still, for now, the subcontinent is what it is: dusty and dry pitches await all.

Sep 26 2007
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Uncategorized

The End is Nigh

We have word about the future of cricket: my aunt, who never cared one bit about cricket, or any sport for that matter, told me recently that she was off the moon in the last week with each and every match India played (against England, South Africa, Austrlalia and, of course, Pakistan). Biting her nails to the end, my aunt is the newest member of the cricket fan community. I’m not sure whether I should be happy or distraught.

Here’s a video to ease your night. Simon Jones, a bowler who reached fame during the 2005 Ashes (and subsequently has plumbed depths with his never-ending injuries), takes out Michael Clarke with a classic, late-swinging delivery. If there is one thing more satisfying that rattling the stumps, I imagine, it’s watching as the batsman just lets it happen, with arms and powerful bats raised politely. [See video.]

Sep 25 2007
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Indian Players

Cricket, It’s Just Not About Cricket (2)

From the Indian side, the press may be taking something else out of India’s win — an affirmation of a rising, more confident generation amidst India’s general economic renaissance.

The New York Times, of all publications, has taken an interest in the recent shenanigans in South Africa, publishing an article by Somini Sengupta about India’s win says about India off the field. Sengupta argues that Twenty20′s faster format has given India’s younger generation a chance to shine, and how well these youngsters did spoke volumes about India’s growing self-confidence, based, no doubt, on how young its overall population is (the median age in India is 24). None of those Thirty-Somethings around (Dravid, Ganguly, Tendulkar), and good riddance!

People, however, need to calm down: if cricket is a larger story about India, then it can only speak enigmatically. Continue reading →

Sep 25 2007
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Commentary, Coverage

Twenty20: Faster Than You Think

David Hopps, writing in The Guardian, says that the Pakistani achievement in the Twenty20 final was really special, not least because, in the middle of Ramadan, the players had been fasting! [See below.]

“Pakistan’s achievement in reaching the final of World Twenty20 was all the more remarkable because it came in the middle of Ramadan. The Fast of Ramadan is the most blessed of Islamic religious observations and takes place in the ninth month of the lunar calendar, at which point Muslims fast during the hours of daylight. This year it ran from September 13 to October 12.

Pakistan’s players have observed it devoutly. Even though they were given official religious licence to eat and drink on match days, most Pakistani players did not allow themselves such liberties. While other teams followed the modern obsession with fluid replenishment, most Pakistan players performed without a drop passing their lips.

On non-match days, they still took part in strenuous gym sessions that have made them one of the fittest Pakistan sides for years. All this has taken place without the slightest complaint. And, more to the point, it has happened without the insistent religious demands of the former captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, who would often drive his coach Bob Woolmer to despair by interrupting a coaching session at a vital point for prayers.”

Sep 25 2007
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Commentary, Coverage, CricInfo

Cricket, It’s Just Not About Cricket (1)

Mukul Kesavan, a cricket observer and blogger on Cricinfo, has written an excellent review of the Twenty20 final between India and Pakistan. First, he goes over the brilliant strategies of both young captains, hailing in particular Shoaib Malik’s decision to use spinners at both ends against Yuvraj Singh (why, oh why, do some teams still hold back their spinners when they are, in fact, the attacking option?).

But the entry then goes on to examine Malik’s remarks during the post-match Presentation, especially the following comment:

“First of all I want to say something over here. I want to thank you back home Pakistan and where the Muslim lives all over the world.”

Kesavan argues that Malik is very much at fault for the second part of that sentence — “the Muslim lives all over the world” — because he wrongly signs up every Muslim as a fan of Pakistan. For one thing, Kesavan notes, not even Pakistan’s wicketkeeper, Kaneira, is a Muslim; for another, India’s team has not one, but two Muslims on its roster, one of who actually won the Man of the Match.

Kesavan thinks that Malik overreached, but I think he said what is on everyone’s minds. Continue reading →

Sep 25 2007
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Commentary, Coverage, CricInfo

Making Haigh in the Sunshine

Cricinfo’s blog, The Surfer, has included a link to an article by Gideon Haigh, a great sportswriter and noted Twenty20 skeptic. In the article, Haigh, like so many others cited on Cricinfo, expresses his dislike for the newest format of the game and its unsurprising lack of subtlety and unkindness to the cricket’s great players:

“A promising young bowler, Stuart Broad, was smashed for six sixes in an over. A brilliant young batsman, Michael Clarke, faced only four balls during the entire tournament. Sri Lanka’s able and stylish top order, which excelled in the World Cup and whose variety of strokeplayers is one of the pleasures of the modern game, committed batting harakiri in 10 overs. The fielding has been surprisingly ham-handed, with plenty of catches missed and only three taken in the slips in the 26 games preceding the final. Twenty20, then, turns a game of subtleties, intricacies and distant intimacies into a theatre of cruelty for television.”

Now, I am not a complete fan of Twenty20 — not yet, anyway — but Haigh goes too far in this paragraph. In what I have seen in the tournament, Twenty20 has represented a heightened, adrenaline-fed version of cricket at its best, with solid shots coming off the bats quicker and slower balls and yorkers challenging batsmen better. Haigh thinks otherwise, but his evidence does not back him up.

Continue reading →

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