Tuesday 28 April 2009

The Lucrative League

Well, what do I say about it that has not been written or talked about?! In its opening year it had created so much of frenzy that anybody and everybody got so hooked to it that their social lives took a deep plummeting. It has created a confluence of the two big industries of this nation- the gentleman’s game and the big bad world of entertainment. Infact this has redefined what entertainment really is. Of course I am talking about the mantra that is on everybody’s lips- the big fat IPL.
The inaugural season, last year, was a runaway hit. It threw open to the world a novel system which though was criticized initially. India has always been fanatical when it came to cricket or bollywood. So as a matter of fact the venue for this one of a kind event had to be invariantly India! But this year has so far been a roller coaster ride for Modi &Co. It all started with the security concerns after the Lahore attack. But the real issue that they faced was the elections. When this entire matter was being looked into I remember telling myself as to how I would crave for the IPL rather than the elections! Well what is the issue-one bad government will be replaced by yet another if not even worse so why not have something productive in the mean time.
As an individual I really feel that this IPL has lacked the luster of last year. Well maybe because of the absence of the fanatic crowd that India is so famous of. Now when I watch the IPL I feel as if I am watching some county cricket (maybe that would have been even more interesting)! Well EPL was better. At least there was some competition and finally Manchester United were being given a run for their money by Liverpool. But this is indeed not the case with this year’s teams in the IPL. Certainly there have been some shockers but it has pretty much been predictable. The very reason for that is South Africa. The pitches have so far favored the spinners and it is likely to continue so. Last year IPL was a batsman’s game- a six and the scoreboard would suddenly tell a new story altogether.
The inaugural match of the last season was a brilliant curtain raiser with Brendon McCullum hitting the highest score ever in T20 history. It was a treat to the eyes. But this year there has not been a single match that has reached the level achieved last year. The only thing that could have been fascinating was to see teams that had underperformed trying to reach the golden crown. This IPL has not created those nail-biting finishes or those high scoring matches. The only time it looks interesting is when the top teams compete or the bottom two! Yet there are certain things that make all the teams different though it just feels all mixed up.
RR- The victors of last year have had a terrible season so far and I feel it is going to continue. Only good thing this year has been Kamran Khan. This youngster who in his first over first ball tripped on the pitch went off to a flying start and is a bowler to look forward to. Apart from that Yusuf Pathan has been trying to relive his last year’s form but has not succeeded. Graeme Smith has not lived up to the expectations. Being a South African has not helped him or his team so far. Dmitri Mascarenhas has been another surprise package. He seems to be another Shoaib Akhtar having immense pace and line but has not produced enough wickets so far. Shane Warne has been an excellent captain to this young Indian side but he just seems unable to spin his magic this time around. This is because this potential team has not got its act right. There are glances of great individual performances but it has not been enough for a win. My bet is that they would be languishing as one of the bottom three this time around.
CSK- The runners up last year have begun pulling up their socks though the points table has not yet become bright for them. The opening pair of Parthiv Patel and Mathew Hayden have shown that their blistering knocks can turn the table around for them. Even Suresh Raina followed by M.S.Dhoni can join in the party. This year’s new pick Flintoff has not yet proved his worth and has just been a burden. Though this guy has a lot of potential for T20 it has not come to the forefront this IPL season. Manpreet Gony had been the pick of the bowlers for CSK last year and has quite lived up to his name. But unfortunately for him, Muralitharan has proved better with his spin and doosra. L.Balaji is yet another good bowler who has been in excellent form recently. The only all-rounder who has or can do well for this team is Albie Morkel. But having said that there are no other all-rounders from whom expectations can be kept and hence the playing 11 has a tough task of doing their job to the maximum possible which they have not done so far. But I still feel that they would reach the top four.
MI- What to say about this team that has the most deadly combination of right and left handed opening pair who can become every bowler’s worst nightmare. Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuria are the biggest hurdles to be crossed by any opposition because once they settle down it is sure that the opposition has to get out of the park to catch the ball! But then follows the young Indian blood of Abhishek Nayar and Shikar Dhawan who also have the potential but have not exploited it to the team’s advantage. Lasith Malinga proves to be a dangerous force to reckon with and with the likes of Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan their bowling also seems formidable. This is one team that is not going to have a problem with all-rounders because the entire team is in the best form it could have asked for and hence have an excellent chance to reach the final.
DD- This team can boast of having the opening pair of India’s test team. But in spite of their test caliber they have what it takes to be a bombastic pair that can reach any total possible. Apart from Sehwag and Gambhir there is also Dinesh Karthik and de Villers who can put up a good show. When it comes to the bowling department who better than Glenn McGrath to lead from the front. Even Vettori provides good options. Among the Indian guns Amit Mishra and Nehra are also excellent though they may struggle with their form. Even Manoj Tiwary has been useful under trying circumstances. The problem that this team can face is lack of form. They have such high quality players that just two of them firing on a day can bring victory but on a bad day they may find themselves staring at an empty scoreboard sooner than they expected. But in spite of all these I still feel that they may reach the top four.
DC- Under the leadership of Adam Gilchrist this team has gone in for a total revamp from its last year’s dismal show and now they lead the points table. Gilchrist has led his team from the front and has provided the much needed winning streak that had so far evaded this team. With Herschelle Gibbs playing in his homeland it has become a one-sided game when Gilchrist and Gibbs just hit the ball to the spectators leaving no scope for the opponents. V.V.S. Laxman who had come in for a lot of criticism has finally regained his form and has given a firm reply to his detractors and has let his willow do the talking for him. Even Rohit Sharma has proved time and again that he can do wonders for his team not only with his batting but also with his excellent fielding. Even in the bowling department they seem to have the seats full with Vaas, Styris and Ojha. But the pick so far has been R.P.Singh. He has bowled exceptionally well until now and that seems to have given him the confidence. Though they have won all the matches till now there still seems to be an issue with a quality spin bowler. But apart from that this seems to be a brilliant team that has gathered its wits to perform this year. They will be certainly in the top four but what remains to be seen is whether they have what it takes to be the champions.
KXIP- This team which almost reached the finals last year is still groping in the dark trying to figure out what is going wrong. With formidable Sri Lankan players like Sangakkara and Jayawardane in their batting line up along with skipper Yuvraj Singh they have not reached the podium they ought to have. The problem they are facing is with form. It has been quite sometime that Jayawardane has been struggling with his form but it seems as if the entire batting line up is looking at its tail-enders to provide a respectable score! Even Goel and Bopara are not putting up the much needed runs. The bowlers are at least doing a better job than the batsmen. With Piyush Chawla, V.R.V.Singh and Ramesh Powar taking control it has at least been respectable for the team so far though they have not provided any exceptional victory so far. Moreover the way they are heading they might just miss the top four slots even if they play good cricket in the following games.
RCB- This team would now be praying for a change of fortune. It seems as if history is just repeating for them. With the change in leadership they had hoped for a change in their points tally but sadly for them it has not happened. This team was highly criticized for the importance it gave to old timers but it is just them who have been doing a decent job till now. Dravid has proved that he can throw of his test coat and like any young cricketer he can bat the T20 style. Even Anil Kumble has proved in the initial game that there is still a lot of cricket left in him. Apart from these two giant stalwarts even Virat Kohli seems impressive with the bat and knows how to take the game forward on his own. With Kallis, Boucher and the newly included Ryder this team seemed to have the best batting line up though they are yet to fire. But apart from Kumble , Praveen Kumar and Kallis there does not seem to be any other bowler! Well maybe this is where their calculations went wrong and Pieterson maybe just hoping against hope for a miracle in its bowling area. In spite of having such a blessing in its batting it still has no bowling options because of which they may continue to remain at the bottom.
KKR- A team that is never devoid of any controversies has found itself handling just that and not its cricket. It started with the multiple captaincy theory which went in for a lot of criticism. Finally having made McCullum the captain, success has still evaded it. Any fool would have understood by now that this theory was just to get the world or should I say Kolkata read for the sacking of Ganguly! This is one team that is happy that it is in SA or else it would have led to a huge ruckus in Kolkata. But shame on its management that they made McCullum the captain as he barely played 4 matches last season and does not even know his team well for he was busy playing for NZ till the previous week of the IPL. Apart from that his scores in the matches show how much he is pressurized and how he is incompetent to cope with it. This is not the McCullum who is well known for his huge shots. Chris Gayle has provided some consistency with the bat which looks like a toothpick in his hand! Shukla has not lived up to the standard he set last year and even Hodge is struggling. Mendis has not fired till now and Agarkar is proving too expensive. Ishant Sharma is still not at his best. Though I feel that Murali Karthik would prove to be a good bargain this time around. Well in short I can say that the team is revolving only around Ganguly who has proved time and again that how much ever he is criticized he will always fight. This is a team that looks good neither on paper nor on the field. If they continue to depend on Ganguly then they will find themselves among the bottom three unless and until Ganguly fires totally!

Monday 27 April 2009

Vijay Mallya Of UK

That is what my father referred to him as when I was watching an interview of this person. Incidentally I was also reading his autobiography which had been presented to me by my brother as a sweet revenge to stop my habit of reading just suspense thrillers (for he knew very well that Arthur Hailey, Archer, Sheldon and so on were always the most preferred by me and hence he wanted me to get addicted to non-fiction, the way he is now). So after having a brief brawl with my brother over this issue, I had started reading it. To tell the truth, I got hooked up with this book so much so that when my father made a clichéd statement like this I was totally taken aback!!! Soon he added,’ this person is one-of-a-kind’!!! Yup, quite contradictory. Well, this is exactly what he is. Though I would not go to the extent of comparing him with anybody but I certainly do admire his risky ventures and adventurous life.
I had been introduced to this person through newspapers and business magazines (which I had to read because my dad always bought these and wished that I had an eye for this line but unfortunately I could never go beyond the Bombay Times! But I have always read these magazines and tried to understand them but to no avail) but I was opened to a wider perspective after reading his autobiography-‘Losing My Virginity’. Yes, it is Sir RICHARD BRANSON, the owner of the Virgin group of companies, known for his flamboyant nature and competitive spirit, but best known for his business ideals. Ask him to define his ‘business philosophy’ and he says that business cannot be taught like a recipe as one has to change his idea with changing times.
This autobiography of his clearly defines how he was crafted to be a businessman all his life. Starting a business venture at the age of 15 without any proper financial support is no child’s play and that too for a child suffering from dyslexia but he proved everybody wrong. He started his career with ‘Student’ magazine with the help of his closest friends which soon gained popularity among the student community at that time. He also started his first charitable institution (The Student Advisory Committee) at the age of 17. His dreams started growing too wild. He started a Virgin records store whose first signing topped the UK charts with his first album (thanks to Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells”). But luck did not favour him the way he had wanted for later he had to sell this first ever Virgin enterprise, the beginning of the Virgin empire, in order to keep another one of his novel ideas The Virgin Atlantic Airways afloat! The intention of starting such an airline company was to bring to bay the cut-throat price of the British Airways, the then supremo in the airline business.
But what intrigued me the most was this man’s vision of his life! In spite of being the proud owner of the Virgin brand name, he never cared a bit for his life. His world record attempts aboard the Virgin Atlantic Challenger I & II was quite surprising. One can’t say that it was because of an adrenaline rush for the first mistakes are always forgivable but not a repetition. Well this repetition somehow proved profitable for he was successful in breaking the world record for the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing. His hot air balloon expedition was given much impetus by the media when this was the first ever attempt to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon.
Well, not that I admire him for all this acrobatics but for the fact that such a well settled person with inimitable business visions had such weird and crazy (if I may say so) ideas! If his appearances are anything to go by then he would have gone by as a passing joke. But this baron has proved to the world that his bizarre business ethics can conquer unventured lands!