World Cup 2011 : in images :-)

Out and in - Season 4 is here

After a topsy turvy journey IPL 4 is almost ready to roll with all 10 teams. That sounds fair than having only 8 - I would love to see Shilpa and Preity going at it again. But the crap on the faces of the BCCI stooges delights me even more.
Also the queer 74 game format seems set for a longer duration with the confirmation that the next 3 seasons will have the same format.
Here is what it says

League phase
Every team will play the same number of league games (14, seven home and seven away) as in previous seasons with the following break-up: each team will play the other four in its group both home and away (eight matches), four of the teams in the other group once (four matches, either home or away) and the remaining team in the other group twice, both home and away. A random draw will decide the composition of the groups as well as who plays whom across the groups once and twice.
Playoffs
The teams that finish first and second in the league table will contest the first playoff, which is effectively a semi-final (Game A). The teams that finish third and fourth will play each other in a knockout that is effectively a quarter-final (Game B). The loser of Game A will play the winner of Game B in a match (Game C) that will decide the second finalist that will play the winner of Game A in the grand final.

The player retention has also thrown in a few surprises
While 3 teams (incuding DC) have decided to release everyone, MI have ensured that they might field the same team as in the previous seasons by retaining Sachin, Bhajji, Malinga and Pollard! CSK also seem to follow suit by retaining MSD, Raina, Morkel and Vijay. Surprisingly RCB have retained Kohli! RR have retained Warne and Watson while Delhi have stuck to Beeru. Personally, I was surprised to know DC let Gilly go. Hope he comes back to DC.
This time around we won't be seeing Ponting, Clarke, Hayden, Freddy, Johnson and of course the poor Pakistanis. I wish the angry PCB decides to start the Pakistani Premier League soon.

Awaiting Jan 8 and 9 - to witness yet another auction tamasha!

In the right direction?

The BCCI has made some sweeping changes in the IPL. Not only has L Mod been ejected. But a host of his stooges too have been shown the door. The most bizarre move by the BCCI has been the move to get closer to Jaggu bhai once again! Hope this doesn't backfire once again!! Also of notice is the fact that the Kochi IPL team might find itself sitting out of IPL 4. The BCCI seems set to stamp its authority on the IPL. Let us hope this is a move in the right direction...

Do we still continue to watch cricket?

First it was 3. Now there is a new list of 29. Should we still continue to see cricket? Well, I forgot everything when I sat down and saw the tense ending to the England-Pakistan match yesterday. But still there was a lingering thought in my mind. Was every ball being bowled already scripted? Was it because of Strauss that England won or was the victory decided over 150 million pounds and a cup of tea?
The ACL doesn't seem to evoke as much interest as the IPL. Easy ones for CSK and RCB. But MI slipped when it mattered. I think the Redbacks would be the team to watch this time around. By the way, who won it last time? NSW?

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.