Radio silence
Traveling to Delhi tomorrow, for a two-day series of meetings. Off blog from now till sometime late tomorrow night, hence. Just FYI 
Be well all.
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Traveling to Delhi tomorrow, for a two-day series of meetings. Off blog from now till sometime late tomorrow night, hence. Just FYI
Be well all.
inspired by you Prem, have done a tiny bit of digging on my own. P Chidambaram seems to be involved rather more than he should be in the IPL. First he made a statement about the Pakistan players not getting picked in the auction, and today he was apparently closeted in a meeting with Pawar and Pranab Mukherjee about Lalit Modi’s future. Both cases, he was directly/indirectly against Modi.
I found this story, that had come out less than a month ago. It basically is about ex-BCCI president AC Muthiah taking on the current administration over conflict of interest. And who was Muthiah’s lawyer? Nalini Chidambaram!
Food for thought!
The plot thickens! I’ve always found PC to be a bit of a slimey character despite his obvious intelligence and prowess and this connection could just strenghten it a bit more after his involvement in the Vedanta episode.
I wonder though, if the real picture will ever come to the fore for the entire Indian public to see!
PC Chidambaram and AC Muthaiah are blood relatives. Both belong to Raja Annamalai Chettiyar family, that owns the SPIC, Spencer plaza, Annamalai University among other things.
Chidambaram, however is out casted by the family after he married Nalini, a brahmin.
prem:
news is in that sehwag is out and vijay is in. did sehwag ‘get injured’ because of his poor ipl3 performances or did he perform poorly because he was injured? inquiring minds want to know.
any chance someone in the middle order is injured/unfit as well, say yuvi or someone, so uthappa can also be shepherded back into the team?
if all the brouhaha about modi/st/ipl/bcci is true (which it surely is), the above is not far-fetched, is it?
- s.b.
hmm, prem, urgent meetings in delhi? are you also involved in the ipl by some chance? maybe you are one of the icons for whom sunanda is holding equity…mmm?
hope your meetings in Delhi go well and you get selected as the new IPL commissioner
@ somebody – I doubt it .. if someone was to “get injured” it should have been Yuvraj…who has been much worse than Sehwag (agree Sehwag has not exactly been burning it up!)
The ICC is planning to get the England cricketers to Dubai and then send them to West Indies for the T20 WC due to the ash induced travel chaos and if it extends to next week.
That should be left to individual boards on how to get their players to the venue rather than ICC.
Do we need an annual T20 WC?Is once in 4 years enough or should it be once in 2 years?
They should call te T20 WC the ‘Ashes’ series…
yes ,Good one !
Prem any idea who the second cricket “legend ” is behind the kochi franchise? One is clearly sunil gavaskar who is the second?
Sounds like Tendulkar. One of the investors (Gaikwad) used to be a lowly officer in the transport department and his only claim to fame appears to be that he had helped Tendulkar when he imported that Ferrari.
The thing is that none of the BCCI contracted players cannot own a franchisee. Which means that Tendulkar cannot be an official shareholder(my assumption here is that Tendulkar is aware of this restriction and that he is not stupid). So, even if he has some “equity”, it may not be a documented one, probably just trust of word.
So, thats that.
Also, lets not smear hard-earned goodnames JUST BECAUSE somebody is rumoured to have said something to somebody who puts it in some column.
And what has Prem and his followers been doing with respect to Lalit Modi for the past few days here?
jazzyb:
don’t blame my fair name now
. i’ve said nothing about anybody!!
- s.b.
Which is why he had to park his share with someone else on trust basis probably with the understanding that the shares will be transferred when he ceases to be a BCCI contracted player.
Recently I read that Gaeykwad is a friend of SMG and SRT, and that it was Gavaskar who introduced Gaeykwad to Harshad Mehta.
This does not anyway mean that both SMG and SRT has some “hidden” stakes in Kochi team. Introducing people is a time-honoured tradition since the beginning of humanity.
I believe that the Tehelka guy took this fact and stretched it to his imagination. Knowing that it will be against the contract, I think it is stupid of SRT to throw away all the 20+ years good name just for a few bucks, especially since he will be off the hook in another couple of years anyway. (But people do stupid things!!)
Jazzy, but there won’t be any franchises left in couple of years. That probably explains SRT’s hurry to get in right now. Given the scheduling constraints, it is unlikely that any new franchise will be added for many more years. And even then, who knows how stiff the competition will be…
You seem to talk as if this is all fact. Would you be able to substantiate all this with something concrete or is it a case of – Modi has been targetted, and so anyone can be?
Completely off topic. But, coming back to my favourite topic of media’s obsession with projecting everything good about SRT and suppressing anything that is remotely negative. I’m talking about yesterday’s catch that he claimed of Dravid. I am willing to give him the benefit of doubt. Maybe, he didn’t realize that it had brushed the ground.
But, Gavaskar’s attempt to blame Dravid for standing his ground without trusting his teammate of 15 years is again one more example. And once they started showing the replays, SMG had a tough time doing the flip flop. Today morning, SET MAX shows the highlights. But, this episode is conveniently deleted. Now, I thought a disputed catch (that too which might result in SRT not playing the final) is definitely fit enough to be part of a highlights package.
Actually, first I also thought that it is a regulation slip catch. I guess Dravid was in the best position to see the ball more than anybody else. I agre, SMG didnt see Dravid’s point. But I dont stretch this to prove the point you are raising. I dont think that this incident is anything “remotely negative” on SRT (it probably is negative on SMG). I could watch it a 100 times without feeling WTF towards SRT. He was just excited to take that “catch”, thats all.
While we are at it, there was another incident where Virat Kohli stood the ground for the most obvious of all catches. Now, that one was real WTF.
Why TF did Set Max not show it? I told you, on this, I give the benefit of doubt to SRT. But, this could be easily be interpreted as SRT trying to cheat. Remember the brouhaha we created when Ponting claimed that catch in Sydney? How is this incident different? If Ponting was a cheat then, so is SRT now. But since SRT is GOD, what is the best way? Try to downplay the whole incident. Or rather, pretend as if it didn’t happen as SET MAX did in their highlights.
As for Kohli, I guess, seeing the Dravid incident, he assumed every batsmen are being given 2 chances. Frankly, WTF?
The Sydney catch became an issue because it was Sydney test, frankly. Had it happened in any other “normal” test, things would have been cool. It was the overall behaviour of Ponting that day which created an issue around that catch. Catches like that is part and parcel of cricket. People always think they caught it and feel happy about it, till the TV throws water into their joy. Its no big deal and no negative deal. Of course, if Sachin had behaved like an arse yesterday, definitely we could have suspected that he was being an arse while he claimed that catch also. We know there is a difference between a clap from a Sreesanth and a clap from, lets say, Walsh, dont we?
I agree it was a blatant attempt at that moment to discredit Dravid.Another incident which jarred me was whenever RCB and Mumbai play is Harsha Bhogle commenting that SRT and Anil Kumble are above taint ,while they have always been considered clean and pillars,I feel the blatant exercise should be avoided,these players do not need any one’s endorsement.
If by chance these players get discredited in the current mess,then all these vociferous guys will have egg on their faces.
Also to add some masala maybe Dravid has insider info on SRT protecting Bhajji-so the trust factor about a 15 year playmate flies out of the window
I remember the Cronje incident.
Oh yes, Bhajji ain’t no saint for sure. SRT has a history of protecting Bhajji anyway – did we all really believe Bhajji said “maa ki” and not “monkey” to Symonds? We weren’t born yesterday.
Completely agree with your quip on Harsha Bhogle’s blatant exercise and guess what, he tweets most of this stuff even before the matches begin! Now, you’ll ask me why I follow Harsha on Tweeter; well – don’t know – guess I like some masala in my chai!
Meant “Twitter”!
” did we all really believe Bhajji said “maa ki” and not “monkey” to Symonds? We weren’t born yesterday.”
Really? I have heard this nonsense thrown around a lot. It was basically someone’s word against another and the only 3rd person who was within proper earshot was Sachin. And it “is more likely” for someone to swear in his native language in the heat of the moment than use a forign language(moreso for someone who hasn’t grown up studying in a bloody convent).
Strangely, this is one sound and powerful argument that failed to convince many people (sometimes including myself). I dont know why. Is it that we trust Symmo/Hayden more than Bhajji/Sachin? I really doubt. Neverthless its a big questionmark. I best bet is that 1) we believe Bhajji is habitually capable of using the “monkey” word. 2) it is convenient to believe that Sachin acted against his own integrity.
Gavaskar has shameless trumpeted SRT for practically everything he does. For the record, I’m a huge SRT fan but sorry I won’t praise him for how his spit helps the grass grow faster like Gavaskar would have us believe! Lets get it absolutely right; Tendulkar shouldn’t be given the benefit of doubt for the catch he claimed yesterday; any cricketer worth his salt would have known that the ball had touched the ground (it almost dug a hole for chrissake!) or at worst, would have claimed innocence and may have asked for a referral to the 3rd umpire immediately! It has happened in the past. SRT cheated as much as Ponting did or not!
Most / All cricket commentators (inc. Harsha Bhogale) seem to be in awe of SRT and will never call a spade a spade! The only guy who comes close not being in the awe of SRT is Sanjay Manjrekar (not sure whether they had a fall out at some point or its genuine from Manjrekar though).
“any cricketer worth his salt would have known that the ball had touched the ground (it almost dug a hole for chrissake!) “…
If you think so…
The point here is not “claiming / not claiming” such a catch! The real deal is being so “cocksure” about it. Lot of cricketers have just raised their hands and have said, “I don’t know if it was clean” which was not the case here! SRT was “celebrating” it which is wrong even if he is GOD!
Nitin, I am not sure if you have played any game with passion, but I can tell you: it depends on the excitement level, not on judgement capability. One day one time you will react one way. If the same thing happens another time, you may react totally different way. Nobody gives a damn about these things unless something malicious is suspected. You claimed to be an SRT fan, so you should know that SRT is never known for his exemplorary neutral judgement in the cricket field, so much so that in every situation he thinks like an umpire and takes decision. Nor has he claimed to be someone like that (like Gilchrist). As far as I know, he plays with plenty of eagerness to win; but he is okay with decisions going against him as well (there are enough examples for that in his career). I believe that is the same case with all cricketers (even Gilly is not a saint behind the wickets). The relevant question is: did he cross any boundaries? I dont think so. He took the catch, celebrated it, and then went straight to the dressing room to get a stitch. He didnt argue, or show fingers to Dravid or aggressively appeal to the umpire. And I find it very confusing how on earth you could find that he crossed some boundaries. He felt he took the catch, so he was sure of it. But not “cocksure” to create unnecessary scenes. Isnt that enough?
Point well taken. I may have over-reacted in my assessment of SRT’s behaviour (perhaps coz I’ve grown up admiring him and yes, I still remain a big fan). SRT, Kumble and Dravid have never behaved childishly even though I think they are equally competitive (if not more) compared with the likes of Kohli, Sreesanth, Bhajji and Co. Infact, the latter brigade (of downright buffoonery) is more egotistical than competitive in my opinion.
Disclaimer: My views are a little harsh coz I’m a passionate cricket lover but I’m equally receptive to sane advice
Actually Gavaskar was right. Dravid knew SRT well as a result of sharing thedressing room for 15 years. That is the reason he stood his ground yesterday!!!!!
Good one! Can someone explain to me why does someone like Gavaskar get such adulation and leverage in this country. Gavaskar played before my time so I don’t know much (except the recorded telecasts) but was he really THAT good?
To answer one part of your question- Can you explain to me why someone like Bal Thackerey get such a leverage in this country? There are lot of other names, perhaps millions, you need to substitute in that question before you name SMG:-))
Now coming to the “adulation” part, ability to survive the West Indian newball greats without wearing a proper helmet will be sufficient, right?
Nitin, he is still probably the best Test batsman India has ever produced (yes, that includes SRT). His technique, temperament were simply great. Be it on bouncy tracks or minefields, he was one hard nut to get out. It is not for nothing that West Indian fans sang, “Gavaskar, the little master, he stood like a wall, we couldn’t get him out at all”.
Wish I could say the same about his commentary though…
Nitin,
To answer your question. As a player, yes. He really was THAT good, especially at a time when the quality of bowling (aided by the pitches) was much superior than now. I have seen his last test innings of 96 against Pak on that minefield live on TV. So, you can take my world for that.
But, what has he given back to the game other than making sure that he will be present in each and every one of the committees that BCCI comes up with? He knows how to suck up to the powers that be at any point. He criticizes anything and everything that goes on (as long as SRT is not part of it) but will never take any responsibility or accountability.
Actally SMG was great only on 22 yards. Outside 22 yards he was selfish, eccentric and only promoted his state players. His commentary is awful. The other day when Agarkar bowled a bouncer to one of the Indian team players( donot remember who) he was talking about how Agarkar is bouncing his India teammate. It was nonsense as Agarkar was in team india in ice age or so long ago. As per FIP he is former India Player who will remain former India player.
In short: outside 22 yards, he was a regular Indian, but inside 22 yards he was a “great” Indian. That explains the adulation:-)
That sure does
I was just chuckling to myself thinking of some of his “pearls” of wisdom during his commentary stints. Once he said, “Sachin is from Maharashtra and Maharashtra is in the west of India.” He rambled on, “Therefore Sachin is a West Indian and hence both the modern greats, Brian Lara and SRT are West Indians.”
Well, having written this now, I don’t know whether to chuckle or bury my face in my desk drawer!
Come on man, eventhough it is very lame, a joke is a joke!! Lets not fry him for these pearls. After all, he is a commentator in a game that gets played for more than 30 hours, he has to say something, anything. Thats tough, I tell you. If I speak continuously for 10 mins, there will be minimum 2 blunders…
Thanks JazzyB, Mohan and JII,
My argument about leverage was restricted to cricket and Gavaskar’s current role in it. Ofcourse, it becomes a different ball game altogether if we include politics. Infact, within cricket, one could argue about the leverage being given to the likes of Jaitly, Pawar, Modi and so on.
Gavaskar’s cricketing might is unquestionable (and I take the collection word of you, Mohan and JII besides some of the stuff I have seen on TV) but his current role as pointed out by Mohan and JII has made him a shadow of his former cricketing self. His commentary over the years has been ordinary at best and his politics / relationship with the board – dubious. I meant unworthiness of adulation in that sense.
Gavaskar has escaped being roasted as a commentator and so has Ravi Shastri-while LS has been roasted for everything from a Karbonn Kamaal Catch to his “beauty”.
My personal opinion is -SMG,RS,LS,HB complete the Verbal Diarrhea quartet .The foreign commentators in this IPL are no better though.
Maybe SRT has achieved enough for him to be above all the muck .Unless someone spills some dirt.
Tough it sure is. I don’t envy a commentator’s job and don’t grudge them the monies they earn. But Gavaskar has this really weird sense of humour / timing that one can’t help but comment on it. I’m unable to come up similar pearls but trust me, if I post them all here, I bet you’d agree with me
pointer to popularity of a blog: comments often veer away from the subject matter of the post, and are equally insightful, well-thought, with good grace shown by all in accepting differing points of view! kudos to prem, mohan, nitin and JII
@mohan: i disagree with your earlier point about previous posts and comments on this blog that accuse Modi just on the basis of hear-say or some post written somewhere… it think there was enough smoke there to ferret out a fire, and the ‘smoke signals’ were read by prem. as you can check with the archives, the alleged stuff is nothing new, it was brought up before (here and elsewhere), but just never got much attention due to whatever reasons.
saurabh, let’s not forget that all the stuff being written against Modi still remain allegations. I haven’t seen any concrete evidence of wrongdoing on his part. If we apply the same yardstick, there is nothing wrong in discussing the allegations against Tendulkar that have appeared in a couple of places (though without naming him). Besides, someone asked who this second legend is and I just replied that it sounds like Tendulkar.
The allegation against “an iconic player who still plays for Mumbai Indians”- hereonwards refered to as MrX (isn’t that a funny way of putting it? – if my memory is correct, IPL started with some “icons” for some cities) is that a chunk of Sunanda Pushkar’s 5% equity belongs to this guy.
Sunanda has already surrendered the equity. What is the probability that this was done in consulation with MrX? What is the probability that this consulation was not tracked by anybody? Since there is no record of this particular, now dead, connection, what is the probability that anybody will ever get to know anything about it? How different is it from alleging that “someone who has a liking to Jazz music who comments frequently in a popular blog with smoke signals emblem had a chunk of equity in Kochi IPL team”? Just curious.
Jazzy: How do we know there is no record of that connection or that the connection is dead? We will have to wait for the facts to come out. As of now, the allegation stands. Fact that Sunanda has *offered* to return the equity doesn’t mean we should not look into why she got it in the first place and who was supposed to be the real owner of that equity.
well Mohan, it is a fact that Modi’s brother in law owns a large chunk of Rajasthan, and his step son-in-law own’s a stake in the Kings XI. It is a fact that companies where his relatives are directors are benefitting enormously from IPL media contracts. These are facts, not allegations.
P.S: it is also a fact that LKM is an extremely irritating presence all-round
Saurabh: But those facts were known for past two years. How does that imply any wrongdoing on Modi’s part?
Actually, I was pleasantly surprised by the kind of civilized reactions I got to my post. Normally, my anti-SRT comments always evoke very crude & personal responses from SRT fanatics. Maybe, I overdo it a bit as I feel that he’s being made out to be greater than he really is. And more importantly, as I have mentioned in one of my earlier posts, he gets all this adulation from the media & commentators (read SMG & Shastri) at the expense of other greats. But, looks like Prem surely has a set of civilized readers.
When someone is grasping at straws and trying to get one sideways on anything related to Sachin(like you do 90% of the time), you should expect responses on similar lines. Unless, swear words are being directed at you, it is fair play in the game that you play.
“I overdo it a bit as I feel that he’s being made out to be greater than he really is”…
Thats the point, especially the “I overdo it” part.
And if you ask me, I dont know if anybody is making him any greater than what he really is ( I dont think he receives more adulation in Cricket as compared to what Messi receives in soccer), but I am pretty much sure whatever adulation he recieves from the public is more or less what he earned.
Mayan/Jazzy,
I India, we have this tendency of making saints out of ordinary human beings who excel in their fields. Then, as a next step we make them Gods. From then on, if there is an opinion against them, it is blasphemy. That is what has been happening since the times of Gandhi, Nehru & now SRT:-).
Even if there is merit in my argument, people pounce on me if they feel it’s against their God. Yeah, I do nitpicking:-). It’s more out of irritation at Guys like Sunny.
No question of how good he was, possibly the best Test opener ever and at a time when fast bowling was truly fast and dangerous. But, yes, about his commentary and sucking up to the czars of cricket, the less said the better. I find him similar to Big B who gave us great memorable movies in the 70s and early 80s. But his dubious political connections, obsession with family and the habit of delivering sermons from the mount have reduced him to a caricature.
Perhaps I’m biased but I won’t include Harsha Bhogle in this quartet (I will probably go with Pommy Mbangwa for a complete diarrhea solution).
HB has a tendency to get carried away at times but he seems to be the only Indian commentator at the moment (along with Manjrekar perhaps although his vocabulary is a tad limited) who can even “attempt” to hold his own in front of their foreign counterparts (not refering to the foreign commentators in the IPL).
I bet Prem would be shocked to see that his “radio silence” received so many comments during his absense!!!!!
Shame on the Same Gavaskar of 1981
http://churumuri.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/gavaskar-of-2010-is-the-same-gavaskar-of-1981/
Looks like IPL-Gate is shaping up real well – with skeletons tumbling out of the closet – by the dozen! WSG and MSM already rolling in the mud! looks like whole of Modi’s empire could come crumbling down!!!!!
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=1&contentid=201004232010042305101879ea69fc6b&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Lalit modi the untold story…
And that is the biggest charge they can come up with against him – that he flaunts his wealth! Unfortunately for him, that is considered a crime in India.
He probably was not tall enough for those bouncers.
I suppose you are joking. If not, going by your logic, even the mild shortpitched balls would have become a bouncer to him!!!!
JII, I believe that it is actually the nit-pickers who are looking at people as Gods. Normally, people do have faults and weaknesses. For example, with all the good performances in IPL, Sachin does not inspire the confidence of clearing the boundary at will when the field is spread. Now, if you look at Sachin as a human being with limitations, that is perfectly understandable, because that is not his strength. But if you nit-pick on this aspect thinking that Sachin should be “perfect”, then that obviously becomes a “flaw”. Do you get it? Over the 20 years of seeing people criticize him, this is one thing that I have always noticed- most of the criticisms were actually “nit-picking”, assuming that he SHOULD be perfect. When Prem wrote that piece on the 175, I could not but notice this trait, when he suggested that SRT was slow to get the first few runs to complete some 17K+ runs. It just didnt occur to Prem that may be he took a few balls to ensure that he is into rhythm. Or look at the way Nitin commented about Dravid’s “catch” yesterday. You see? I understand that this is actually a REaction- some people come to the ground with the banner “GOD”; you know he is not “God”; hence you are hell-bent on proving that he is not God; hence you nit-pick. The only thing that you miss out in this whole sequence is this: those fans does not consider him to be a “God” in the sense of being “the perfect”. Once you understand that, things will fall into place.
Jazzyb, That’s beautifully put and very true,IMO.
You sound much more rational than an average SRT fanatic:-). But, I agree 100% with what Prem wrote that day. And, that is not a judgement I made based on that innings. It is something based on watching most of all those innumerable milestones he has accumulated over the 20 years. BTW, my last post on this till we get a fresh topic:-).