Cricket once again seems to be winning over Glamour in IPL

After Kolkata kicked defending champions Rajasthan out of the second IPL today and Chennai almost shut the door on Punjab’s possibility of making it to the semi finals (mathematically they still have a remote chance), I wanted to have a look at the current standing in the IPL-2 as of now and could observe an interesting pattern. If you look at the below colorful points table, there is a reason why the last 4 rows have been marked yellow.

 

Team	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
DelhiDaredevils	13	9	4	0	0	18	0.251	1812/237.5	1788/242.4
Chennai	14	8	5	0	1	17	0.951	2086/255.3	1855/257.1
DeccanChargers	13	7	6	0	0	14	0.265	1953/252.4	1927/258.1
Bangalore	13	7	6	0	0	14	-0.253	1824/256.0	1869/253.2
Kings XI Punjab	14	7	7	0	0	14	-0.483	1787/251.2	1887/248.3
Rajasthan Royals	14	6	7	0	1	13	-0.352	1688/253.1	1810/257.5
Mumbai Indians	13	5	7	0	1	11	0.401	1732/236.2	1636/236.1
Kolkata	14	3	10	0	1	7	-0.789	1757/248.5	1867/237.5

 

 

Together with Bangalore, these four teams, Kolkata, Punjab, Mumbai and Rajasthan Royals would probably make the glamorous group within the IPL.  The common notable points about these teams: 

1. The ownership was mostly individual.
2. The running was mostly glamorous

Seeing these teams at the bottom of the table, came to my mind, could this be a basic lesson for those owners? Did cricket at the end seem to emerge as winner over the glamour yet again for the second time in a row? Is this game more than the individual and glamour would hardly fetch success on the field (off the field, probably yes)? If yes, when would the likes of Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta understand this?

 

Rajasthan was a much unknown team last season but with success came the glamour in the form of Shilpa Shetty and Co. and the team couldn’t make it to semis. Story about Punjab (Preity), Kolkata (Shahrukh), Mumbai (Neeta Ambani) and Bangalore (Vijay Malaya) is well known to everyone.

 

Probably these things are not directly related to the positions of the team as much but they sure have played a part.  Cricket is not an individual game and this fact puts cricket in a different league altogether among other sports. This is very much a team game and should best be left to those who play the game on the field in the real time. By making close and unnecessary presence in the dugouts and other places, the owners might just have made mistakes. Such things might have put extra pressure on the players to perform or the tempting glamour around might have just distracted them a bit from their focus. Who knows what exactly, but there was a correlation in the last IPL and there seems to be a definite correlation in this IPL as well.

 

This theory does lack to explain the Bangalore’s possible semi final spot, however on a funnier note, we can take that as an exception, given that Katrina Kaif only cheered her team from India this time, a mark able difference from the ways of other celebrities.

 

This feeling is also reinforced by the teams like Delhi, Chennai and Deccan making into top 4, where we didn’t see the owners’ presence onto the field area and these teams seemed to play like a proper cricket team. It still remains to be seen who finally will clinch the Mega Trophy, but the glamorous ones have been shown the door once again.

 

Disclaimer: This blog could seem to be illogical and furious to few, but it is intended to those who would find it logically funny.

Why Kolkata and Bangalore deserve to see the bottom?

It is too early to predict who is going to win the IPL this season and a bit foolish too given that only 6 games have been played so far. However, I am not talking about “WILL”, but I am talking about “Should” giving the game of cricket its true value and spirit.

Many of us surely think that the table is going to change this season for good reasons. Change is necessary. However, Bangalore along with KKR MUST go to the bottom. This is my completely personal opinion. I have nothing personal against the players of either KKR or Bangalore but am simply thinking about the sanctity of the game we all love. 

Why Bangalore?: Firstly because they do not have a strongest T20 team and secondly because their owner has done little to correct the problem even after last time's dismal performance. They were tagged as the greatest test T20 team ever and despite that nothing concrete has been done. Sure he lobbied for KP ahead of Flintoff, fired Dravid as the captain despite Dravid being one of the better scorers last season and fired the first CEO of challenger, Charu Sharma out of sheer frustration only showing the true cricketing acumen that he might posses if any. Lots of money, cheerleader babes and things remotely related to cricket will not fetch wins. They have somehow managed to win a game against a lackluster Rajashthan and then lost to Chennai and Hyderabadmiserably. Once KP goes back to England after 2 weeks, it is going to be even harder for them. 

This is not a beer bajaar after all, this is entirely a different ball game and it has to be. It needs to be played differently. At the end, personal ego must be burnt by this great game of cricket and the fans must celebrate that.

And why KRR?: Almost for the same reasons. They have been the most talked about team for non-cricketing reasons. Multiple captaincy theory,sleeping-with-the-boys theory and what not have been all over the media before the IPL kicked off. A change of captaincy just before the IPL started was a non-sense move, it might have surprised McCullum more than Ganguly. They would get what they targeted, probably the attention, but win would be hard to come by. McCullum and Gayle after all can not fire every game. Gayle is already slated to go soon. It is also hard to figure out why Mendis has not been tried so far looking at the successes, Murali and Kumble have achieved. God was gracious a bit for KKR against Punjab but were completely overwhelmed by Deccan.

So much talk and so little cricketing considerations. It looks like, the coach has found a new field to experiment different theories and satisfy his personal ego while the owner doesn’t seem to differentiate between acting on big screen and playing on the field in real time. Do not deserve to win cricket games. Ego must be burnt again by this great game of cricket and the fans must celebrate that.

Many of you might disagree, but compare other teams with KKR and Bangalore based on only such matters and you might get a conclusive hint. As I keep my eyes fixed on exciting IPL, I would soon bring why two of my favorite teams, might make it to the final.

Stay Away Shahrukh, this is Cricket after all

IPL is not purely cricket in its traditional sense. Recent developments have proved it adequately. As we have masala movies in Bollywood, it seems to be masala cricket . IPL has business tycoons owning the teams, red skin cheerleaders, and Bollywood as its integral part. Every part has already injected some spice into IPL so far. For example: Cheerleaders are making news about racial allegations, Vijay Mallaya made headlines by revealing how he was not given importance during the selection of his own team and Shahrukh khan made headlines by declaring his team as the best one to be followed and worshipped by every cricket fan. He further did everything to remain in the news and before the camera. Of course he is the master of all this, after all he is a big Bollywood star. Camera by default follows him and he knows what it takes to grab the attention everywhere he goes.

IPL at its core is all about business and everyone involved is naturally concerned about money, fame or advertisement. The movie “Jannat” has already got its due profit from the IPL if the reports are to be believed. Did we see Imran Hashmi roaming all over the places talking about the film? Having said that, trust me, if business Corporates and Bollywood have to walk along with Cricket, this is all but natural and should be accepted. No objection till this point.

However it would be most disappointing for many cricketers and cricket lovers when someone would try to bend the rules and encroach into the privacy of cricket and its rules savoured for many years. What would be even more disappointing is, if such rules are bent for a specific case or a specific personality. This is neither good for the game nor for the audience. This doesn’t leave a good message for which people are so passionate about cricket or any sport in general.

In this light, I believe Shahrukh Khan’s over involvement with his team was adequately incorrect. Agreed that he is the owner of the team, but that doesn’t mean he should be allowed to do anything he sees fit. I find many reasons to mention why Shahrukh khan should not been allowed into the private dressing rooms or the dugouts which are exclusively meant for the players, manager and the coach of the team (As per the ICC rules):

1. By definition: The dug outs and the dressing room are exclusively meant for the players, manager and the coach of the team. He is none of them.
2. Businessmen Vs Sportsmen: SRK is after all the owner of the team and has invested 80 million dollars to buy Kolkata Knight Riders. That is a big money. Anyone who invests such a big money is a businessman. A businessman would do anything it takes to see his returns multiplying. Did we not learn a big lesson out of match fixing controversies already that you get millions of bucks to lose a game? If a businessman is making millions by losing the game, I wonder why he would not do it. SRK might claim to be a sportsman himself, he might go on record saying he own the kids of his team and they are like his own kids, but at the end of the day we all know, IPL is all about business more than anything else. Why take a chance and out the game’s honors on jeopardy? ICC’s Anti Corruption unit has its existence for some valuable reasons after all. If ICC is allowing all such people in those private areas, it is basically opening a chance for messages from the bookies to be passed right on time.
3. When would we start respecting the laws? We talk about India getting developed and all that, but tell me one developed country where you find such laws by the book are bent to favor someone just because he is a movie super star? Will we ever learn the basics that everyone is equal before the laws?
4. For the sake of ICC’s existence: ICC is the supreme body of Cricket and every sport has its equivalent. It is of paramount importance that ICC has its place and say. If today the rules are bent for SRK, tomorrow it would demand a similar change from another personality. By allowing all this, where would ICC land up?

From a person who claim’s to be a sportsman, such things are not expected and it is indeed a demoralizing things for all youngsters to see and follow. At the same time, it could equally be possible that he was not briefed about the actual rules by the officials and he was doing all this for the lack of information. In that case, I would blame it to Lalit Modi and Co. who could also be seen in the dugouts and in the players’ private areas. He himself should refrain from doing this. Did we ever see any cricket board’s officials visiting the dressing rooms before in a test match or one day match?

What was more disappointing was Shahrukh’s statement that he would do anything to see his players and no one can stop him. WOW. He needs to be reminded that he is not acting in one of the Bollywood flicks and he has the freedom to tweak the dialogues, this is live sports called Cricket and rules of the game are completely different here. No tweaks are allowed. Owning a team, doesn’t give him rights to do anything he sees fit. And if you observe the happenings clearly, now probably that he realizes this mistake, he issued a statement saying “He would not meet his players in the dugouts etc until he has reviewed the ICC rules”. For me it simply sounds like a emotional dialogue from Veer Zara. Or is the reason more practical now since the beloved Kolkata Knight Riders is virtually out of the IPL?

BCCI’s action has also been very disappointing. They seem to be inching towards supremacy in cricket but this phenomenon should get its due respect. It should not make them arrogant. Anything to dishonor the rules and spirit of the game would certainly fire them in the long run. I would also expect ICC to be more strict when handling such matters if they really plan to exist in the future otherwise they would be galloped by BCCI soon. Issuing a statement today and changing it the other day, doesn’t convince anyone in the public, it just proves that you have no power whatsoever.

PS:- The views expressed are completely personal and are not inteded to hurt sentiments and the loyalty of the fans of anyone or anything.