As promised, here's the bacha hua post. Oooooof ho.... itna sara news in a few short hours. First comes the shocker that it's going to be lightweight Nafisa Ali from Lucknow - recommended by the also-ran - Maanyata . Why Nafisa?? Who knows? One news reader suggested it is to 'spite' the Congress. Huh?? Isn't it about selecting a candidate who has at least a slim chance of winning?? Nafisa??? With that voice? Oh well...politics is perverse, indeed. Nafisa describes herself as an 'activist'. Well, she has been super active on the party circuit for decades. I guess that does count for something.
Then comes SRK taking on 'Sunny Sir' ( Sunil Gavaskar to you) , for writing a column in which he slammed coach Buchanan for his multiple captain theory. Having known Sunil for years and years, I can safely say, here's a man who NEVER says something loosely. He is very careful with his words, and a respected, responsible commentator. Srk resorted to his standard trick - by first declaring his 'love' for Sunil, before twisting the knife in. SRK'S argument is that Sunil has never played this form of cricket himself and is therefore not qualified to comment on it. The cruel dig refers to Sunil's seniority (age wise), like it is a handicap of some sort. Sunil's legendary status does not need to be further underlined, and one can hardly question his credentials as an authority on the game. Now that the gloves are off, let's see where this battle is headed. I'd read Sunil's column this morning, and entirely agreed with his take on the arrogant Aussie coach who has filled the support staff of the Knight Riders' team with his cronies from Downunder, including his own son! The proof of the pudding etc etc... will be known soon enough. If Buchanan's Boys perform on the field, Sunil may have to eat his words. If not?? Will Srk sack the coach?? And eat his own?
Am watching the last round of the televised Miss India contest while keying this in. It is so ho hum, I'm surprised I'm still watching. Malaika and Madhavan (hosts) are unbelievably BORING and mechanical as they robotically read out their lines from the teleprompter. The girls are impossible to tell apart - they are uniformly uninspiring. But the show has to go on.... and it is.....they don't make them like Sushmita Sen ( one of the judges this year) or Aishwarya Rai anymore.
37 comments:
am first here!
What you said about the Miss India contest is too true. SRK need not have to react like that. And he is not a cricketer. One can own a horse but it is the horse that runs the race. What say Vijay Mallya?
well, i think what the coach john has proposed shouldn't be ruled out before testing...
SRK is right to defend any attack on his team.
Sunil Gavaskar was one of the first to object to 20-20...he thought it would destroy test cricket...look at the scene now...not only test the one-day format has also been revolutionized.
I won't get anything by supporting any of these...
i just wanted to say what i had seen.
anyways...
missed reading you for a long time.
will be regular now
tc mam
srk was rough on his words with sunil. actually srk was forced to reinstall dada as captain i think. due to pressure from kolkata ppl of course. i mean, i am a die hard srk fan, but he is making some very irrational choices with T20. and John buchanan is a bit psycho too.
saw miss india. totally agree with you. didnt even finished the show. :|
It is such a disgrace that bollywood has started to give lessons to cricket legends now.
First this Bollywood made this country morally bankrupt with the help of third rated "kapade utaaru" actresses (some of them happen to win padamshree as well), in "Jugalbandi" with TV news channels and now ShahRukh who does not know the ABC of cricket licking the Australian in the hope that it will make his CRICKET BUSINESS more profitable.
This joker from Delhi probably does not know that Buchannan was successful coach of Australia because he has Mcgrath, Shane Warne, Gilchrist and other great players to coach. This does NOT MEAN that if he starts coaching Bangladesh tomorrow they will start winning. A coach or captain is as good as the team and can only help to get the best out of the team but definitely not with 4 captains.
I wonder if concept of 4 captains has something to do with the concept of 4 wives in Muslim culture and SRK/Buchanan might got confused. Whites in western world, on average, marry 4 times in their life...although they are not allowed more than one at a time.
"Kul-Mila kar eik hi thailli ke chatte-batte hain".
Gavaskar is no saint when criticizing Australians because of his old wounds with Lillie. But this time Gavaskar and Vengasarkar are 110% CORRECT and just for SRK's information Indian team hardly played 2 matches before winning the T20 world cup. Whether Gavaskar played t20 or not...that's not an issue.
There can only be one Gavaskar, one Kapil Dev, one Mohinder Amarnath and one Sachin Tendulkar. And few others who have/had special talents like Sehwag, Azharuddin, Gambhir, Dravid, Laxman and Manoj Prabhakar.
SRK may be patting his own back last year when he decided to own KKR (Bengal) in the hope that Bengali's behave with stupidity and crazy with sports. And tickets sales will be in plenty. Now he must be kicking his a_s that if Dada does not retire voluntarily and KKR does not do well, he will be stuck on whether to please Australian red neck or the Bengali Babu.
Bollywood should keep a suicide watch on SRK if KKR go down the drain with 4 captains concept.
Watch out Preity and Shilpa Shetti from "Kapde Utarru" category.. 3rd rated actresses. I don't know what's going in the mind of Kapoor Khandaan ki naak...Kareen Kapoor since at least she can say that her 3rd mard in life belongs to cricketing family even though his physique is from his bollywood mother.
Anil Kumar
New Delhi
Gavaskar has a right to have his say. He is a cricketing legend. What I find disturbing (Shobhaji also seems to concur with Gavaskar's statements) is the kind of personal attack on John Buchanan.
So what if he did not play for the national team. Lets face it, this is a man under whom Australia remained in top of the game for many years (Shane Warne may disagree). A coach of the Australian team, that was almost unbeatable in any form of the game (test or ODI). Can anyone name a cricketing giant/legend, who coached a team to such greatness.
We had Greg Chappell (we know how that turned out). How did India fare under Wadekar, Kapil, Dilip etc. Name others if you can, because I can't? The other side to this is; Was Bob Wilmore a legend or was Tom Moody. Gary Kirsten seems to be doing a good job though.
The point being, you do not have to be great player to be great coach. So the question is what makes anybody believe John is arrogant and incapable of coaching a team. He has a theory, never tried in a game of any form. So why not try it. If it works good, if it does not, the team will know. A much larger question is why should this be a case of Ganguly vs. John Buchanan (aka Greg Chappell to many). Even though Ganguly is the most resilient, hardworking and best cricketer we have, there is nothing wrong in questioning his fitness levels in this form of the game. SO what is wrong in utilizing this season to train 3 likely captions if ever Ganguly is not able to play in the ensuing years. Given the international feel to any IPL team and the lack of no other captain material Indian national player, I think there is nothing wrong in testing the theory.
I have issues in the article by Sunny and by Shobhaji. You want to comment, comment on how technically flawed it can be. The level of persuasion/thoughts or debate is wanting in the article. Want to know why. Read an article in the Indian express on the same or any other column articles. You will know why. Hitting on a personal level, both at the coach and the owners is neither cricket commentary nor critique. It may be good for blogspace (like Shobhaji's), not as columns.
Full disclosure: I am a SRK fan. So I wonder why does Shobhaji give so much time and attention to anything said by or said to SRK; and then jump to his/her defense. I have my reasons, so I ask what is yours.
I really wonder about the credentials of the industry called Shobha De.I think Shobha De will do better if she can write something about herself and her achievements in India before continuing to write more about the world around her. I have been reading this blog for a while and am quite sure that she is typically judgemental and her words( supposedly contrary to S.Gavaskar) are a ten a dime.She has only criticism and dismissive remarks for most individuals that she writes about. Even in this blog post she criticises and dismisses Nafisa Ali as a so called 'activist'. She has also written in a sarcastic tone about Nafisa's partying habits. If she is a namesake activist, how will you define Ms. Shobhaa De.You have claimed that you have known Sunny for a long time, but I wonder if he is willing to say the same thing about you. You might not even remember the derogatory comments that you might have written about him someday to earn your bread. The comment that you dont make beauty queens like Aishwarya and Sushmita nowadays made me laugh. Are you not the one who said that it was the beauty enhancement product makers that were fixing up such contests? I thought you said "we will soon see Chinese models win all these the beauty pageants because China is the next target untapped market".Well, Your blog should be voted the most hilarious blog in India. The funniest thing in this whole world is the number of people who second your thoughts in these blogs.
----
In response to following
We had Greg Chappell (we know how that turned out). How did India fare under Wadekar, Kapil, Dilip etc. Name others if you can, because I can't? The other side to this is; Was Bob Wilmore a legend or was Tom Moody. Gary Kirsten seems to be doing a good job though.
--------
Just so that it makes it little easier to understand. A coach can only fine tune a player who are playing for last 20-25 years of their life. It's almost impossible to convert a "Rohan Gavaskar" to "Gautam Gambhir" unless he has talent in first place. Teams under Kapil Dev, Vengsarkar lacked fire power in bowling and the rest of the international teams were really good. Pakistan was at it's peak during that time, South Africa had genuine pace with Allan Donald and West Indians were just too good. With the decline of these teams and some improvement in our Indian team we are basking in glory. The true challenge will be if India wins series in South Africa and Australia. Only then Gary Kirsten can be judged. Rest of the teams are little mediocre at this time.
A coach and captain are as good as the team and only thing they can do is to improve them slightly and make sure that there are NO RIFTS in the team. Either SRK was STUPID or his hands are tied....He is doing a double talk so that both Buchanan and Ganguli dont get hurt....But the rift has already been started...If concept of 4 captains is going to create uneasiness in the team...that team is going to be doomed.
Remember that was the undoing of Greg Chappel in first place.
Hope it makes things little more clear.
Agreed, I would like to highlight a counterpoint to this. Can it also be true that the team is also good as the coach. If the coach does not deliver (e.g Greg Chappell et al.), not matter if you have Ganguly, Tendulkar, Dravid et al at the peak of the cricketing careers, the team still loses.
In most fast games, basketball, American football, the coach and his multiple cronies stratergize. There are one quarterback (American football) and other main players in defense.
Talking about coaches and "Rohan Gavaskar", is it also not true that the MRF pace foundation (started by Dennis Lillee and T.A Sekar) laid the foundation for a generation of fast bowlers in India. This was a time when once India was completely dependent on the spin quartet.
The point being that a coach is equally capable of turning a team or individual to greatness. Only if the team or the individual has the ability to test the waters. A indifferent approach from a singly player of the team does not mean general indifference.
Anyways, Mr Anil Kumar's response and possibly my argument highlights the kind of debate which should have been dealt by Mr. Gavaskar in his column in the first place. Calling somebody stupid or failed is not way to debate. I rest my case.
BTW: I am wondering why I am even debating this in a Shobha De column. Beats me but it's fun. Thank you, Shobhaji.
It's the first time I'm commenting here, though I am a regular reader of your blog. And a big fan too! Just love the way you express yourself :-)
I watched Femina Miss India myself and so agree with you when they say that they don't make Sushmita Sen's and Aishwarya Rai's anymore.
In the question answer round, some of the girls didn't understand the questions & fumbled with words. Which isn't expected of them really. Agreed that they get nervous, but this is precisely what they get trained on.
No wonder that the Ms. Indias this pagent churns out fade into oblivion after the Ms Universe and Ms World pagents are over.
Somehow the quality of the shows (Ms India and Filmfare) is on the decline. It's no longer fun to watch them. Maybe I'm just growing old :-)
Shobhaa, you seem to have struck a chord here, though I have no clue why even after reading the post twice.
There is nothing different about your views here than ever before. Your views are far too judgemental - they have always been, as if you make/break the world.
For some like me, your posts may have tremendous writing style appeal, for some it may be your self contradicting views and for others it could be purely a sense of controversies that you love to stir.
This particular post seems to have got people writing their own blogs rather than commenting on the Post itself. Strange.
Sunil gavaskar is a gentleman par excelence. You are so right about him. He always talks straight,and responsibly. His cricket remarks are far prophetic than any one else's. But Bollywood has been known to create scenes, controversies, rumours, drama, false relationships, open confrontations simply to make headlines and stay in peoples mind. I think this happens to the more successful heroes as they start to get over exposed and reach the twilight zone of popularity. They are desperate to remain on top no matter what. We saw this happen to Mr Bachhan (Shahenshah, Bade Mian chhote Mian) in movies and also in real life - befriending Amar Singh, making anti Marathi remarks in Public. A set pattern. now SRK & Aamir khan going the same route. Desperadoes, loosing their dignity to remain popular!
Your remarks on Nafisa are unnecessarily strong. What could be the reason? you cant hold her 'partying' as a grudge. Are all of our other Lok sabha candidates are any less dumb.
The Miss Femina Pageant is certainly a fiasco. I refused to sit through it all. The whole show was unnatural, and contrived in a hurry. You could see that the training was insifficient. TOI group is doing an imperfect job - a wake up call to them. But their choice of judges was far better this time.
- No doubt SRK is a good orator and an illusion is present when he speaks. But one should also remember that few subjects such as cricket is about performance. Illusion/Dream is helpful for the start but in the end what matters is performance & performance.
One can not win each field with stardom. Even ideas are limited. One should take rest to bounce back again for few more years with refreshing ideas.
Remember: Last IPL SRK was in profit but was away from the stadium when team start losing matches. Reason SRK knows the best.
I wish SRK best-of-luck but illusion/stardom - No No. You can win for yourself but not the match.
- OSO yet to be seen ;)
Srk is a pompous big mouth. We all know who to listen to in matters of cricket. I wonder what pleasure he gets out of talking like an expert on um, everything.
Oh femina. I missed. :(
And your page is about to reach one lakh mark!! Congsie! (Me is the first one to wish. :P)
Sakshi.
Nafisa... you know.. I thought has a lot of spunk and style. But I wonder why she has dirtied her hands and legs and everything in this politics of politics.
************************
sunil gavaskar, yes, i trust him. though i must admit that i dont follow cricket that well, i do understand that gavaskar would definitely weigh his words before he spills them out. SRK on the other hand is a businessman. and he is very pr-wise. he could do anything to get his knight riders team in news. see, we are all just speaking about knight riders. they will always remain in the news.
preity, shilpa vagaira vagaira.. is all forgotten.
*******************************
misshhh india... o! i still remember Ash's tripping on stage, madhu's straight-from-the-heart statement about the need for big stadiums, Sen madam's mother teresa blabber with grace and poise...
but woh sab is past... abhi everything looks so so mechanical... no innovation, no modification.. i loved the pradeep guha days... it had some special style and class.
TOI has managed to get more eyeballs to filmfare though, i loved nangu kapoor and tweezer khan's performance at this years event... whereas I was appalled by the lukewarm response that Om Puri received when he was given the lifetime achievement. And SRK usually bring a lot of energy on stage, but this time he was terrible.
A 100,000 hits...!!!
Good going shobhaa. At this rate by the end of this month I will be Congratulating you for 200,000 hits and perhaps 1000 followers..!
Great going....you got it..!!!
Hey Shobha,
Reg, Nafisa, atleast she is not a criminal. We dont hv many educated and honest people standing for elections, so i guess she is the next best option. People who complain can themselves come forward and run, dont u think??? And i repeat (ur words actually) India is on Auto Pilot. So not unduly worried.
Gavaskar is a legend yes..But he believes in cricket being a traditional game, that has to be played in a traditional format. Thats the reason he was against 20-20. He still cannot adjust to the fact that The Gentleman's Game has gone totally commercial. Maybe it pains him to see what cricket has come down too. Hence his outburst. SRK is the present generation, an actor and definitely a businessman. For him its about raking in the moolah for himself and his investors, cos its a lot of money at stake. He is answerable to his investors offcourse and thats what he is worried about. Any fortright businessman would think this way, cos he has a reputation to protect. U may remember the ABCL fiasco, and how Mr. Bachchan went all out to repay the money he owed his investors. Almost to the tune of 100 crores I read. So SRK is also right in his own way, cos if someone tries to project his business in a negative way he will answer. And its upto him how to run his business. The purity and sanctity of the game be damned !!!
Have stopped watching beauty pageants a long time back. There was a time we knew who were our Miss India's representing our country in the Miss Universe / World pageant. But now...hmmmm we dont even remember and care about who won last year..!!!!!!!!
Dear De
Me thinks sanju baba has lost his nuts in the jail , or as you said there might be sum cut deal with Mr Amar singh in the pipe line.Sanjay dutt was booked in for a vrime no less than that of a terror act so why is he being made into sum kind of freedom fighter......book him as per the law of the land.
Sunil gavaskar and srk at looger heads ........intresting.
and finally agree with you they dont make more like sush and ash.
Luv
Krish
Super models... Beautiful gals like Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Claudia Shiffer... Past dream! Make up can turn a dowdy to a glamour star, with all the innocence running out the door! The only model I actually liked in ages has been Frieda Pinto! She isn't drop dead gorgeous but there is this charm about her smile! Fresh!
Miss India is definitely lost its touch. A lot of the gals look as boring as me! So should I go contest? :P
I would agree with the opinion on Miss India... truly girls look so similar ... the originality is missing ...
There appears to be a clear distinction between Gavaskar's comments and SRK's.
Whereas, Gavaskar attacked Buchanan's multi-captain theory, SRK attacked Gavaskar the player.
So, who's hitting below the belt here?
@ Gautham,
You have made some good points.
I think the basic difference is that Buchanan is coaching players who are already established players.
They are not in the age group of MRF pace academy. When a 20-22 year old player comes and plays unders a high profile coach, like Buchanan, he can only polish these players. If he tries to change their basic techniques the player will get confused. Cricket is 90% talent and 10% luck. There are lucky captains and coaches who keep winning because they have a good teams at their disposal. Similarly there are good coaches and captains leading mediocre teams and lose repeatedly.
Same is true with a good captain wo can get best out oftheir players. But the moment there is rift among different captains and coach the whole concept of experimenting is defeated.
Test matches are won by bowlers. Indian bowling is still way behind in terms of fire power. It works in only in patches. Best batsmen in the world can only help to draw a match but rarely they win for the team.
American footbal is not for human race in my humble opinion. The offensive and defensive coaches are because of the nature of the game. If I remember correctly there are different players in offensive and defensive team in a single match.
If cricket is changed in such a way that there are specialized batting team and bowling team playing in a single match. In other words a team batting first can allow all 11 players to bat and then in the same match when they are bowling, a different set of 11 bowlers are allowed. In theory 22 players can play from one team in a single match and 44 players if both teams are considered. That kind of cricket will be equivalent to the American footbal and hence two different coaches.
But 4 coaches in a traditional T20cricket match is height of stupidity and when the comment comes from a bollywood character then this is the crude form of commercialization of the game of cricket.
If people have any respect for the legends of the game they should boycott these IPL matches. And SRK is stuck with Bengali babu for at least 2 years because he knows how Calcultta will respond if he goes against Ganguli unilaterally.
Nafisa is a good polo wife. Karisma is becoming a good polo wife. Both are stylish. Both are lightweights at anything else. Enough said. Any questions?
Why did I bring Karisma into it? Frankly I have no idea, but I think Karisma is going to grow up to become Nafisa with more makeup. Really what else can I say about Nafisa and her social activism and her politics. My admiration for her swimming medals, her impressive early forays into writing and the movies, everything is khalaas. Abhi its just bad politics and kissy face with that hot old man Richard Gere.
I dont follow cricket... sorry Baba (my dad follows the game rabidly). I think I stopped following it when the cute looking guys my age stopped playing and got fat.
SRK is a Marwari in disguise. His game is about his brand name. Gavaskar likes the traditional game with white flannels and tea breaks. Never the twain shall meet. The game leaves me cold, so atleast I can enjoy thier sniping at each other. Fight! Fight!
Miss Indias are all bekaar. Boring as hell and with terrible convent school accents. Sabira Merchant as language coach, needs to correct this and then thier diction and speech cadence before Jamuna Pai and Co start "whitening" thier skin. I wish they would all speak in a normal bazaar accent and stop talking about Mother Teresa and world peace. The looks only go so far.
And Sushmita and Ash really were not all that fantastic either. Same crappy mold when they were in the contest. Its what they did with thier fame later that made them stand out.
Ohhh I think I need to go workout to restore my good humor!
What are we talking here. Technicalities within cricket or repartee between 2 people. If we are talking technicalites, I am sorry to say, I did not find it in the original article itself. If it is the latter, then we should atleast get the facts right before passing judgement.
@ Anil
With the exception of Ganguly and 10 international players (some of them just made to the national teams), a lot of them are still youngsters. Out of the team of 57 odd players, more than 60 % are youngsters.
As I said earlier, is this a case of indifferent attitude or indifferent stratergy. A cricket player will perform (90% talent) whatever indifference the coach have with the said captain. While not completely agreeing to it, it is still a experiment.
The question is should it receive some benfit of doubt to be tested. I believe it should. Nobody is saying there should be 44 players in cricket. How much influence does a fielding captain have on the game being played. What is captaincy all about. Is it the capacity to stratergize, make the right decisions for the team and push players to perform at the highest levels or is it an ego trip to oblivion. If key decisions within the team are made collectively, and the decision makers are given a title, what is wrong.
Single player sports (tennis badminton et al.) are based on pure talent. Multi-player sports are team efforts and this includes the coach also.
And BTW, the comment or idea behind the 4-captain theory did not come from a bollywood character (just making sure the facts are right here). It came from a coach who had a stratergy for the team. What happened pursuant to the announcement of such a theory was some debunked it, some said it could work.
@ Siddhusaheb
With due respect to Gavaskar who thought T-20 would kill the game of cricket, he is entitled to his opinion. Tell the readers why the thoery would fail. Give its merits/demerits. That is food for thought. However, just criticizing the coach as being arrogant, incapable, calling him failed cricketer (and his multiple cronies) is not good opinion. Same applies to Shobha De. She knows Gavaskar very well and can have a high opinion on his honesty. The point is she does not know John Buchanan (I am sure of that) and thus can not speak about his character. John Buchanan may not be as accomplished as Gavaskar, but he has earned his right to test his views and theory within his team.
All the Bollywood character said is please give the idea the breathing space (obviously defending his coach). He said let me run the team as per the wishes of the coach (for now). If it does not work, we will know. So I say, that is ok. The bigger question is if Vijay Mallya, N Srinivasan (CSK), Ness Wadia, GMR and Ambani defended the same idea, what would you say. That they do not know cricket and should be in the business of running the big companies they run.
John Buchanan's idea of 4 captains is like a multi starrer bollywood movie. Ultimately they are reducing the game or upgrading it like a bollywood movie. I have new ideas coming like football with multiple goalposts and some players suddenly switching sides in the middle of a game. Toi has to innovate to make beauty peagants more interesting. Some surprise elements to put the girls off their guard. Otherwise these beauty peagants are becoming as boring as coaching class IIT entrants.
Having gone to numerous websites carrying the SRK-Gavaskar issue, I find myself more involved and even more detatched. My capability of persuasion are limited, unlike others whose 10-word sound bites create more ruckus like no other. Are we living in a cynical world. What are we so cynical about. Ridiculing an idea and ridiculing somebody are two different things. Ridicule an idea, but make a point on why. Do not berate.
Why do we like to ridicule others. Because it makes us feel good about ourselves.What is so cynical of SRK saying something or respectfully disagreeing with Gavaskar (again check facts). What was so cynical about any public figure disagreeing with the general opinion, no matter who made that opinion. Even if the opinion maker literally berates the individual.
I am a researcher, a teacher and used a play a lot of sports for school and college team. My professor and coach used to tell me: "No idea or question is stupid or insane enough." To me insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I have seen success (however modest) and failure because of these stupid ideas. I firmly believe that I would never have known how stupid an idea was until I tested it. Edison took more 1000 times to make a light bulb. When asked, he said " I have discovered 1000 ways how not to make a light bulb. I only needed one to make it work." I am sure I can not persuade anyone otherwise, but I will continue to bat for what I think is right.
@Gautham
I am not against experimenting and I appreciate your clear thoughts.
I think more than experimenting I am against businessman/bollywood trying to educate a legend of the game....Just because he has filthy money from bollywood.
I find the concept bizzare but there is nothing wrong with experiment. I have followed the game closely when it was not a commercial business and have played it too...though not at higher level.
I don't follow IPL seriously but what I heard there were two statements from SRK...one was that KKR will not doanything wihtout Ganguly...Ganguly denied that he knows anything about 4 captains concept (although I doubt it) and the coach says that he wants to have 4 captains.
From above statements I gather that Buchanan and SRK wants to have 4 captain but because of backlash they don't want to hurt Ganguly and therefore bengali sentiments. And as I told you that even if Ganguly has willingly told that he is happy with this concept, I would still say that this concept defies logic because it creates more confusion and disillusions and it will cut the KKR team to pieces because there are always some hidden loyalties among different players for senior players.
It surprised me that there are 57 players in KKR team and 60% of them are youngsters. Is it fair to assume that all 57 are going to South Africa as part of the KKR team??
I have my reasons for negative against IPL even though that was not part of original discussion. I belong to an era when cricket was a sport and not a business. I would have enjoyed IPL as well but by bringing these sl_ts from bollywood and abroad as cheerleaders and showing their bustline and cheap dances have made it difficult for some to watch it as a sport.
And the way our media rushes to Preity Zinta, Shilpa, Sharrukh or daruwalaa for comments everytime something related to cricket makes me feel, how CHEAP are our TV journalists. Be it Barkha Dutt and company or others on star news and many more whom names I don't remember.
@ Anil
Get your facts right. I say again (part of my 1000 attempts) he is not educating a legend. See the complete news and then express your views. I am not passing sermon here, but attempting to let people the truth. Want to watch the entire press conference. Look at youtube or other news articles on the same in today's paper.
Yes FYI! KKR had selected 57 players. Out of which 25 are currently in SA and 16-18 will be selected after the final trail. According to news reports, there is a talk of developing a cricket academy in Kolkata, spearheaded by John and possibly Ganguly. They form the Jr. KKR team (that is why these many youngsters).
I again ask you Mr. Anil. Would it have made a difference if Ravi Shastri or Kapil Dev had owned the team. I understand that you have your reservations about IPL. Try distinguishing between two things. A company owned by a Bollywood star owns a cricketing franchise. Similarly a large petroleum and cement firm owns a franchise. Both the franchises are operated by a cricketing technical staff consisting of former captains as coaches, team captains et al, while the finances are handled by the said firm/star. Does it make a difference.
People had reservations when ODI came to being. Even more during Kerry Packer's WC (otherwise called pyjama cricket). Things do take time.
When we used to play for school, colleges or for some low level division league, the matches used to be 25 overs or less. I got paid Rs 50 per match for playing in a division league in 1995. Today, a youngster gets paid 30-40K for getting selected in one of these franchises and playing one season. If he performs, he gets a call for the national team. While not having to worry about the next food on his table, he can concentrate on his game. So I ask, what's wrong. There aren't enough platforms for sport in our country where people can give it their best shot.
If I may comment, pardon me for saying this, but the sl_t happens to a somebody's sister, daughter who happens to be in a acting profession. I do not understand what is wrong with that. Are they dumb as many (including Shobha) claims. Is it not true that the same Shobha shared stage protesting against the govt with the same sl_t in the aftermath of 26/11. Is is also not true that the same person worked personally towards cleaning Mumbai beach in televised program, geared to get support for getting electricity in villages, cleaning Yamuna river and so on. This work was spearheaded by our Nobel peace prize winner for this year Dr. Pachauri. I did not do any of this. If you did anything like this great. If not please refrain from passing character judgements (3 times, 997 to go).
And for the record, Shobha De used to be a model prior to becoming the editor (I think) for a film gossip magazine called Stardust, which was nothing more than a tabloid. Her book to fame was called Superstars, based on Bollywood film industry.
"Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones on others"
Now the gloves are off!. After the fact that SRK press conference and its unedited version is in the public domain, here are the facts translated from hindi verbatim.
Quote 1: Gavaskar Saab knowledge of cricket is 1.5 billion times more than me. So I can not even think about commenting on his statement.
Quote 2: Gavaskar saab never played T20 format of the game. Even if he did not, he has enough knowledge to comment on it.
Quote 3: Please let us try this. Everybody says to me, do this do that. Please give the team some breathing space. We give Gavaskar's saabs comments very seriously. But we also take our coach and the team seriously.
So SUSH! to Shobha et al. The larger question and obviously to the named persons are:
Will you lick (not eat) the comments or whatever u can lick; you made earlier.
Whose honesty are we discussing here. Shobha's and Gavaskar's or SRK's. My answer is clear. Every sleaze needs to be dealt with the sleaze.
"You truly are a joke in a designer saree". You demean Tendulkar, he dedicates a century to the country. You demean Aamir, he encourages the right to vote. You demean Preity, she becomes the activist for inspiring causes like no other. You demean SRK and Amitabh, you truly lick your own words and I do not know what else.
4th attempt. Do not pass premature judgements, without knowing the truth or just knowing half the truth.
Shobha,
Though your thoughts are often dipped in cynicism and sprinkled with venom they are entertaining to read. We all know that you have a personal score to settle with SRK. Being an SRK fan, I can help but notice perks in nastiness index while dealing with him. Its kinda sad.
@Gautham,
I have few observations and I will tell you precisely where I differ with you. My language is sometimes blunt and crude and some things which may seem minor to be part of IPL actually impact larger population in different ways...I have nothing personal against people like you.
I don't know why you decided to skip the last comment which has been reported across different section of news media and that was
"If you have a problem with 4 captains theory then you buy your own team and run it the way you want."
This last statement of SRK nullified everything and shows his frustration with Gavaskar's comments. You are right that SRK was not educating him on cricket and I think he tried hard to say positive things about him but he couldn't resist taunting him to bring his own team. In other words if you don't have money to buy a team then just keep quiet. That's the essence of his statements which is shameful.
Let's wait and see how these 4 captains theory is going to unfold when this tamasha actually begins. To me this is probably the only politically correct way to tell Saurav Ganguly about his last few seasons. But the dillema for SRK is that he is too afraid to mess up with sports crazy bengalis and hence this bizzare concept.
You also mentioned
"I again ask you Mr. Anil. Would it have made a difference if Ravi Shastri or Kapil Dev had owned the team. Does it make difference??"
Yes. It does make a difference. And it's because of combination of bollywood and TV journalists. If the owner of the team is selling cement or daaru, no journalists ever bother to ask for their comments on cricket. Because OUR MEDIA is GREEDY, and lacks journalistic values, the moment something happens in cricket field they will rush to these sleazy owners from Bollywood for comments. And people from Bollywood always look for any opportunity to come in front of camera. That's why when SriLankan players were attacked in Lahore or Indian team was in New Zealand I had to hear comments of these same bollywood jokers namely Shilpa Shetty, Preity Zinta, Shahrukh Khan who suddenly become experts on all matters of cricket. Could you explain to me that NDTV and other TV channels showed Preity Zinta doing bungi jumping 20-30 times in 2 weeks period. What the hell that has to do with cricket. Why not they show Mallika Sherawat doing bungi jumping in 2 piece bikini...just because she does not have a share in IPL franchise.
That's the UGLY side of IPL being in the hands of attention seeking bollywood sl_ts and for some it does make difference and that includes me.
There is nothing wrong when younger players are getting money. In fact I wish sportsperson from each sport category earns good money to have a descent living. Be it cricket, hockey, archery or weightlifters. But that's just a wishful thinking in other sports.
On the question of sl_ts being someone sister or mother. I think that's clear to everyone as no one lands on this planet out of thin air. But these kind of loose character women, which are in plenty in bollywood, used to be in the past as well though not as high in number as today. The biggest difference is that in those days their turmoiled lifestyle were limited to this bollywood fraternity and few magazines like stardust...probably Shobha De was part of it. It's one thing to read and see few pics and completely different thing to see these same sl_ts coming personally on TV and tellling their filth on TV 365 days a year. This wave of sl_ts in bollywood these days are affecting family values with the help of those in the TV news channels. If that provocative dances, cheap talks stay in magazines, theatres or a DVD , it doesn't affect masses that much and specially kids. But if the same provocative dances are shown on National TV, 24X7 every single day then it creates havoc in the mind of a large population. And by large population I mean 80% of population who is downright poor and specially poor women suffer the consequences of this western ills.
You can say it's not their fault but to me the bollywood, TV News media and now sl_ts alias cheerleaders in Cricket who are there just to show their bustline are the true axis of Kalyugi times in which we are in.
The culture and favourite past time cricket is being hijacked by Bollywood with the help of many journalists on TV news channels. We all know country is in the hands of corrupt politicians.
@Gautham,
When I say I have nothing pesonal against you, I mean to say that I have nothing personal against people like you who seems to be good citizen of India.
And I say this again Mr. Anil, Gavaskar has every right to criticize the 4-captain theory. You may call whatever you like. To each their view. He is not the first one to do that. Wadekar, Vengsarkar et al have debunked the idea one time or other. The question of paramount importance is what kind of critiquing is this.
If you say, you have a flawed theory. I respect that. If you say your theory is flawed because you are an idiot, I do not respect that. The age of you hit me and I will show the other cheek is gone. It does not matter who you are. In your own private space, you can be as condescending as possible. In the public space, everybody needs to be restrained. This is how we got here and this is how it gets worse. Save the soul, not the man. That is how a civilized nation breathes and is taken seriously.
Gnadhiji preached the biggest form of violence to bring change. Hit the person where it matters most. His intelligence, his head. And he did all of that without abusing, without ridiculing and what we know as Ahimsa.
@ Gautham
No one can defend Gavaskar's personal attack on Buchanan. You are absolutely right about that. I can give you more than one instance when Gavaskar's ego clashed with his arguments.
But my thrust was not on Gavaskar's personal attack.It was on theory and resposne of Bollywood.
Gavaskar punched Buchanan's cheek with his personal comments. I expected Buchanan to punch back and come to media to defend his 4 captain theory and slam Gavaskar's personal attacks. That would have been a sensible and fair approach. Everyone who understand the game would have enjoyed the clash between a great coach and a great player.
My question is then why did that idiot from bollywood come in front of camera when his job was to provide finances to experts in cricket as you said previously.
And besides that he didn't criticize Gavaskar's personal attack on Buchanan in front of media. What was he up to then??
Criticizing 4 captains theory is acceptable to you and me. Why did SRK find it hard to swallow it since obviously he was not defending personal attacks on Buchanan.
The essence of bollywood joker's commens was don't criticize 4 captains theory and if you are so upset about this theory then get your own team.
As I said before these jokers like SRK, Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty are desperate to be on camera and their role should remain to be owner of teams rather than experts of cricket.
Just noticed a blooper from Shilpa shetty---She asked a Rajasthan Royal medium pacer to bowl lots of spin in the upcoming second IPL. The poor medium pacer didn't know what to say.
That's what I call "Khuda meharbaan tto Gadha Pahalwaan".
Welcome to IPL-2 and world of Shilpa, Sharukh, Preity, Akshay Kumar, Juhi, Daruwala, Cementwala.
Bye bye folks who never played 20-20 cricket.
I agree shobhaa, srk had no business questioning the credibility of a cricketing great.
SRK's comments were highly condemnable, laughable !!
I recently have joined the follower list of this blog.. though have not read books other than articles of yours ma'm till last month.. but got chance to read 2 books in march and i feel blessed after reading those..
i am blessed to be part of this blog.. i know that this is going to be fruit for all thoughts.. :-)
~~~~ashkd
Post a Comment