Bye bye bollywood

It was a memorable evening for me. Whatever was left of Bollywood was packed off in spectacular fashion. Four teams competed with each other in trying to lose as much as possible. But in the end, only the biggest losers could lose heavily. And the icing on the cake was that PZ's KXIP and SS's RR were ejected out of the IPL. RR can have further humiliation for having been the defending champs. If Mumbai win today's inconsequential (depends on the perspective) match, RR will end up 7th - certainly not what Shilpa would have expected when she acquired the 11% stake. But then RR played that way. The batsmen were looking to score 300 in 20 overs and humiliate KKR but failed. But that didn't prevent KKR from offering to get humiliated and only a miracle saved them - you have to call it a miracle because Ajit Agarkar finally played a role in a winning cause for any team that he has played. The second match was supposed to throw the semifinal spots wide open. But KXIP were not ready to oblige. They took 38 runs from 3 spinners in 12 overs and gifted the entire top order to CSK who were too casual to be serious but suddenly ended up winning the match. The moment of the match though was when Sreesanth castled Dhoni and ran all over the field celebrating.
At this juncture, as we look back at the IPL, there seems to be a really bad example being set by the players - a very bad one. Everyone must have noticed that. Whenever a bowler picks a wicket or a batsman gets dismissed under embarassing circumstances or a fielder finally takes a catch to dismiss a batsman or there is a misfield or.. and the list goes on, we see players badmouthing each other. Even though the TV people mute it off or we don't hear it we know what is being spoken - a direct vulgar attack at the other player's family. Not one player shows restraint. Don't they know they will be in focus of the cameras under such circumstances? Somebody has to take serious actions.
Suresh Raina was in focus during yesterday's match. Having hit Sreesanth for a 4 he found himself being abused by the over rated bowler. He calmly responded (and was heard on the stump microphone) saying that Sree could sledge him but not be abusive - now that's a cool head.
DC and RCB meet in today's match to decide who will face whom in the semis - a mighty turnaround for them after they finished at the bottom during the inaugural season. But then the semis are not going to be easy pickings. The winner will have to face CSK and the loser will have to face DD. But the losing team should be careful enough not to lose heavily. Because that will chuck them out of contention and let KXIP sneak in through the backdoor. As I always mention - anything can happen in T20. It's all about chances.
By the way, fake IPL player has "revealed" himself. But when you look at the revelation, all you can think of is - what a coward!!