Cricket

When much was said about Malya's Royal Challengers team being a test team, there could have been some immediate damage control. Instead the team composition sailed half way through the tournament tasting flops with the likes of Joshi (!!), AnilKumble (!) and Kallis. They might be classy cricketers, but the lack of aggression in a T20 scenario is conspicuous. Was it Dravid's overconfidence that did them in?

We keep hearing that Cricket telecast elsewhere in the world have less ads than in India. Ads between every over might sound crazy, but this might just be good in a way. Watching TV without breaks might strain the eyes, but telecast with commercial breaks every over? you might be keeping the remote at your hands reach pressing the mute button every now and then (which is good exercise, btw), and taking your eyes and mind away for something else that lessens the strain while also giving you a chance to get out of the addiction and switch off the TV set!

Photo: Cricinfo

It was a jumbo hundred and no Cricket fan in India would have missed watching it today. The [:http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/engvind/engine/current/match/258470.html|second day of the test match at Oval] between India vs England was all batting to watch unlike the last two test matches where the Cricket ball ruled the contest. It came as a surprise to see Kumble stick to the crease and bat like he did - the innings was full of several surprises, not to mention the kind of stroke he played to get to his century! It brought laugh on to people watching it, but Kumble really deserved the century. Congratulations to Jumbo!

[:http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/304635.html|The Jelly Beans episode] has put a lot of speculation on the attitude of the English team on Cricket field. Lawrence Booth on Guardian.co.uk [:http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/08/01/jelly_beangate_the_unanswered.html|writes in an article probing] the unanswered questions about that episode:

Given the money spent on bowling coaches, computer analysts and masseurs, this comes as something of a relief. But a rumour has reached the Spin suggesting that England employed a similar ruse to unsettle Marlon Samuels during the recent visit by West Indies. And on that occasion, the confectionery of choice really was a jelly baby, standing proudly to attention.

(emphasis mine)

So, if this is what the English team has been doing in tests, should part of its success be attributed to sledging? Surely, it doesn't backfire all the time [:http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/columns/content/story/304671.html|like it did in the last test match] at Trent Bridge. And if this continues, and English team keeps winning (apart from one or two exceptions like Trent Bridge) would England go down in history not just for bringing Cricket to the world, but also destroying it?

We were in a discussion today when an SMS informed us about [:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6921960.stm|Ingmar's death]. The discussion suddenly took the backstage and SMSes flowed in and out of mobile phones. A film student friend of mine wore a sorrow look on his face and while he tried to SMS the sad news to other friends, his hands were shaking. This might not surprise those ardent followers of artistic cinema who remember Ingmar's direction and the everlasting impression he's left with it.

There were articles all over the web pretty soon, and some TV News channels here ran features on him too. Some links below following the news:
* Time - [:http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1648084,00.html|Why Ingmar Bergman mattered]
* [:http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/cinema/features/ingmar_bergman_profile.shtml|BBC Profile - Ingmar Bergman]
* [:http://www.ingmarbergman.se/|Ingmar Bergman website]
* [:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6922552.stm|Why Bergman was an artistic gaint] (BBC)
* [:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20041463/site/newsweek/|Dark As the Night] (MSNBC)

Photo: BBC

For many Indian Cricket fans, a nice Sunday evening of watching good Cricket was spoiled by two utterly bad decisions by the umpire. The decisions came ironically from [:http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/7918.html|Simon Taufel] who is regarded as the best umpire in International Cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar lost out yet again on (yet another) century. Saurav Ganguly's fans lost more than what Ganguly might have lost - he looked in great touch with his batting and batted like Saurav of the Sahara Cup days. The batting was great to watch. Some of the great Cricketing shots were played. The bowling was evenly matched - [:http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/engvind/content/current/player/20187.html|new seamer of the English team] bowled like he's been around for ages. It was a very nice test match to watch, until Simon Taufel sent Sachin and Saurav back to pavilion with his frightfully bad decisions.

Harsha Bogle in a quite classic remark spoke on the telecast today that
"This could become an anthem if they keep playing like this".
It is the new marketing jingle "Chak De India" being played (quite often) on Start Cricket these days that he was referring to.

Anybody who got a chance to watch highlights or live telecast today of the [:http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/engvind/engine/current/match/258469.html|test Cricket happening at Trent Bridge] would've in most probability found it difficult to digest watching Indian bowlers (seam bowlers, that too) pull away English wickets so royally on the first day of the match. It could well be the best seam bowling performance by Indian team in decades.