IPL

The IPL cricket has begun. But somehow I am not finding it a least bit interesting. The first thing that puts me off with IPL is the names of the teams in the tournament. A huge amount of money has been thrown in, still no creative thought given in naming the teams! I am not an avid fan of cricket. But if at all I watch it on TV is just when players like Sachin and Lara are in their flow. The T20 is just going to display mediocre cricketing skills and one would not get to see graceful cricket.

World Cup Resolutions

Nirmal Shekar writes about resolutions worth considering with regards to the forthcoming Cricket World Cup. Read all the resolutions here. All his points are very much valid. I liked the following much:

Let us resolve that we will not elevate — apeing the tacky TV tripe peddled by sportscasters — the latest match-winning century by an Indian batsman into `the greatest ODI hundred ever made.' Even a cursory knowledge of history will be enough to realise that there were, indeed, a few in the past who could do a bit with the bat in World Cups. Ever heard of Viv Richards?

Let us resolve that we will never again say that Team India carries the hopes of a billion people and the prayers of that many are with Rahul Dravid's men. The truth — if anybody still cares for it in this age of ephemera, an age of boosterism and saturation coverage of popular sport in the media — is that a vast majority of that billion has rather more mundane everyday concerns. Their hopes and dreams are not hooked to the fortunes of the men in blue.

Let us resolve that we will not glorify the triumph as the `greatest achievement in the history of Indian sport' should Dravid's men come back with the World Cup. It might not even be the greatest achievement in the history of Indian cricket. Twenty four years ago, on a lovely English summer day, a bunch of one-day cricket minnows from this land beat one of the greatest sides ever to take the field in a World Cup final — Clive Lloyd's 1983 West Indians.

Let us resolve to revel in the glory of every great performance in this World Cup irrespective of the nationality of the performer. Let us not be prisoners of our passions and become sorry losers. It never did matter to me that Shane Warne wasn't Indian; nor did it matter to me that Pete Sampras and Roger Federer were unlikely to get goose-bumps when the Jana, Gana, Mana is sung. Tendulkar apart, these are the men who have given me the greatest sports-watching pleasure in recent times.