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? With due respect to Joshi, Kumble or even Kallis, Boucher duo from SA, one would wonder whether they really are aggressive enough in T20 scenario.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Tendulkar may drive a Ferrari, [:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Tendulkars_aura_proves_too_much_for_…|get queued by stars for autographs], but what sets the likes of Gavaskar and Ponting apart as legends in their own way seems to be the match winning ability.

Much of the Indian viewer base is already accustomed to ads between each over during the live telecast of Cricket. It has almost become an accepted part of life, although many have become smart enough to keep the remote on their side to mute the TV between overs. But those of us who watched the Cricket World Cup this time in India might have spotted, fumed and then cursed at the insensibility of the SET Max crew. Commentary was cut short, ads DJed in even before the over was completed, et al.

A disappointing World Cup has just got worse. Just when it seemed a World Cup semi- final couldn't get any lower than the first one, it did.

[:http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/wc2007/content/current/story/292394.html|Samit Bal] on [:http://www.cricinfo.com|Cricinfo]. There have been reports on how dull the two semi-finals at the World Cup this time have been.