Smog clearing

Alright. The BCCI has finally had its way. They wanted to get L Mod out of the picture and it is now done. Forget the allegations and investigations against him. I can assure you in the next five hundred years, nothing will be proved. But L Mod will never be a part of the IPL any more. So from being ruled by a megalomaniac, the IPL will now shift hands to be ruled by stooges. Hope Sunny and Tiger can help in sustaining the IPL's purpose from a cricketing angle. Having said that, the blurred picture that we got of the IPL is slowly clearing. The seeds for season 4 have been sown and let us hope that from now on it gets interesting (even though anything that is controlled by the BCCI would certainly form a boring pattern). They just announced the format for the new season and we also know that the Pune team will be called Pune Warriors. Kochi is still Team Kochi. More important from a fans perspective is that fact that the existing 8 teams could retain 4 Indian and 1 foreign players (remember all players are out of contract with their IPL teams this September).
I would love to see DC retain Gilly. I am not particular about retaining any of the Indians - none of them gave anything significant in the 3 seasons they were on. But then, I would also love to see the whole team being retained.
CSK would want to retain Captain Marvel. But he might just be thinking otherwise - may be sambar and idly are not on his preferred buffet. The story goes on. Let us see how it wraps when the auctions begin later this month.
But before all that, there is this small matter of the Champions League in South Africa. The ESPN-Star group is trying its best to promote the event. But there seems to be very less excitement about the event. Pathetic. Because the cricketing limelight is now on a bunch of greedy crooks who play for Pakistan!!!

Despicable Pakistan

Duh.. Pakistan are at in again! After the ball biting finish to the Australia series comes the no-ball bidding. And ridiculous to the fore is their attempt at putting a brave face!! They need to realize that there is sh1t all over their face already. You must have seen the Paki players coming out of the team hotel to board the team bus after the NOTW sting. There is a scene in the movie "Godzilla". Nick Totapolous and the camera crew along with the French scientist sneak in to Madison square to check out on the creature. The French scientist hands each of them a bubble gum and asks them to chew it so they can pretend like American soldiers. They group make a hash of chewing gum but still pass through check points. The scene of the Pakistan players boarding the bus was reminiscent of the same scene - especially the look on Mohammad Asif's face. Even as he chewed gum, he overacted in his bid to show the world that he was still cool.
Asif bhai - you already stepped on sh1t. It is time you wash your shoes. No point in pulling your pants over your shoes!
The ICC, it seems, is set to investigate 82 matches played by Pakistan. I propose that they investigate every match played by Pakistan in international cricket. And until such time that the investigation goes on ban the team from playing international cricket!!

Dump the racist please

The arrogant Aussie sob John Howard (how racist is that??) seems destined to be shown the exit door on his ICC VP ambitions. Going by reports, six of ten boards including the Indian board have rejected his nomination. I hope this turns out true and the racist gets the boot. Please dump the racist. We have had enough racists already in the ICC.
Elsewhere, amidst the blaring of the vuvuzelas, the cricket world whispered the format of the 2nd T20 Champions League to be held in S Africa later this year. CSK have avoided both MI and RCB and it could be refreshing for them. But they do have Victoria and Wayamba to contend. MI and RCB certainly have the tough ones.

Ego at the nation's cost

Here is proof to indicate how the nation's pride hangs around the rotund bellies of egomaniacs that rule Indian sports. When the Asian Olympic Association decided to have T20 cricket at this year's Asian Games I was licking my lips at the prospect of seeing India win another gold at Asian games. But the decision not to send the team to China by the group of fat men who constitute the BCCI baffles me extremely! All this because the BCCI and the Indian Olympic Association have egomaniacs ruling them and do not want to be on the same page. It is a pity that a billion Indians can be taken for a ride by a few men who know nothing about sports and the spirit of sports! But then what is the point in making noise through this blog? If anything, the only responses I can expect to this blog are defamation notices from the egomaniacs!

Racist racist racist

The other day I was at a bookstore and watched someone buying a copy of the book "The Gamechangers" written by the man who calls himself "Fake IPL Player" - such a coward. Anyway, his cowardice is a completely different topic to speak about. But I have a question for people who endorse him by buying his book. The fake names he christened for those involved in the IPL were funny. Everyone enjoyed it. But consider the names again. Were they really enjoyable? Did you really enjoy making fun of cricket players using those names? Take for example the name Appam Chuttiya. Appam is a popular dish in Kerala. By naming Sreesanth as Appam Chuttiya the coward has made fun of not just Sree but the whole of Kerala! But then we only see the joke and not the intention of the perpetrators. To put it straight, every fake name he conjured up was the result of a mind bent on racism. And here we are endorsing him by buying his book and making him even more famous! God help us all.
Speaking of racism, it is good to see some cricket boards objecting to the appointment of racist Howard as the ICC VP. The man is from a country that is known for racism and has himself been racist enough to call Murali a "chucker". What else would one need to banish him from cricket? I think the Asian nations in the ICC must reject him outright!

It happened, but we didnt do it

Ravindra Jadeja has been having a nightmare season so far. Firstly he was banned from the IPL for being too greedy. Next his Indian skipper placed too much trust on him that critics have made him the prime reason for India's exit from the T20 WC. Then came the "on and off" brawl at St. Lucia story in which he was supposed to have played a part. The BCCI slapped him with a notice about the brawl. Now he has replied to the notice saying that the brawl did happen but he didn't do anything. Either Jadeja is making 5 new enemies (5 other players were also sent notices) or trying to represent them as well. But either way, the confession, apology and subsequent denial are quite confusing.

The brawl and the aftermath

While the BCCI waits for clarification from the 7 players supposed to be involved pub brawl in the Windies, they have already punished one of the 7 involved in a veiled manner. Piyush Chawla has been denied permission to play county cricket for reasons not known. But I definitely feel that there must be only one reason for it.
On the clarification front, the players have been given 7 days to respond. Personally I feel 7 days is too much time to get an answer. I can say that the 7 men involved with be cooling their heels at home in a relaxed way as they know that they still have 4 days left. Poor thinking BCCI!!