What Indian hacks cant write.....

The IT department's comment, "'The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has become totally commercial and all its Cricket is only incidental to its scheme of things. It is more into prize money for every run or wicket, which is nothing short of a gimmick.' " has barely been noticed in India.

Until, ofcourse, Gideon Haigh commented in his Cricinfo column. As Haigh puts it, "... does cricket make money in order to exist, or does it exist in order to make money? " Cricket, according to him, is simply a vehicle to make money. ".. BCCI invited corporates to participate directly in the commercial exploitation of Indian cricket by owning IPL franchises, essentially issuing them licences to participate in a massively lucrative oligopoly.".

What is more interesting is how little such statements are noticed by our press. Even the eloquent waxing from Harsha Bhogle, Kunal Pradhan, Bobbili Vijay Kumar, can't mask their powers of excluding important debates. So we read Bhogle gently chiding the BCCI about scheduling, Pradhan describing the poetry of Ganguly's batting and Kumar questioning the selectors. Its the bite that's missing.

So, my dear Indian hacks, please drop your "Match ka Mujrim" style reporting and start understanding and initiating the important debates of our time.

T20: Plebian Cricket

Tishani Doshi has finally said what all those hacks at cricinfo consider heresy. That Twenty20 is a good thing and it is inevitably more entertaining than Test cricket. Dont get me wrong, I love reading Gideon Haigh and Ramachandra Guha for their diligent chronicling of the game. But most intellecutalls see T20 as a dumbing down of the game. This is hardly the case. At 3.5 hrs T20 is still longer than the Football and Basketball matches. If tons of evaluation can be done on each of these games (inspite of their percieved short timeframe and low quality), then cricket can be far richer and complicated.

In many ways cricket (atleast in its early days) was a game for the anglophiles. This anglophile nature tells us Lords is the home of cricket, Neville Cardus was the greatest cricket writer, W.G.Grace was the greatest batsman (after Bradman).

I for one dont mind the democratisation/plebinisation of cricket. Its just difficult to skip office to watch Dravid gracefully "leave" a ball from Dale Steyn. While it is good to read about the metaphysical interpertations cricket, a few wham-bang sixes dont hurt.

McCullum by Pasternak

Tishani Doshi on her cricinfo blog has said that McCullum's IPL journey may just have been scripted by Chekhov. A glamorous team that excels only at losing has something tragicomic about.

Let me go a step further and add another Russian writer to that idea. McCullum's current script can also be scripted by Boris Pasternak (Doctor Zhivago). In many ways McCullum is the inherently decent guy caught in a crossfire. Like Zhivago he tries to do the right thing, but is often undone by forces beyond his control. It is a classic Russian tragedy. The protagonist, like McCullum, can try, try and try but will eventually only lose, through no fault of his own.

The ugly IPL trophy

Tishani Doshi has brilliantly interpreted the ugliness of the IPL trophy and the cultural reasons of its garishness. Indians often confuse beauty with opulence. We prefer life-less concrete and glass facades to aesthetic values. Our wedding ceremonies are simply gaudy displays of wealth and jewellery. Its almost like there is no place elegance and sensitivity in this ugly exhibition of wealth.

IPL in Tawang

After finishing my thesis work at IIT Kanpur, I ran off to Tawang all by myself. Why Tawang, most people would ask and why alone? Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, is the eastern most district of India. It shares a border with China and is a disputed territory (or so the Chinese
claim). As I reached Tawang, I was filled with a Seven years in Tibet-esque excitement. A land of Buddhist monasteries, monks, serene surroundings and simple living. The aim was to go with the least amount of planning. Don’t book hotel rooms, don’t read too much about the place, no solid travel plans, just go and discover.

Tawang is also a garrison town. A perceived threat from China results in huge military deployment from the Indian side. One needs the military police permission to visit the famed lakes and mountain tops. As I finished a day’s loitering around, I was stopped by an army guard. “Where are you from….”, he asks. “Sir, from Kanpur, but I’m originally from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh”. The guard is too happy with my answer. He hailed from the same state. In a distant land, there is something wonderful about finding someone who speaks your own language. He winks and asks me to drop by for drinks and dinner.

Since sleeping alone in my room was not very exciting, I reach the army mess quite early. The guard who invited me hands me a drink and we walk to a large dark room to watch the IPL. The match was Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders. The initial support was clearly with Shah Rukh’s Riders. But Ganguly’s inability to capitalize on a start did not go down well with some of his supporters. 150, they said, was clearly not enough. The Royals got off to a good start. Graeme Smith’s dismissal to a stunning catch was met with roaring applause. As Pathan walked in I was wolfing down yummy chicken fry and parathas. It wasn’t really clear what hit the crowd after that. Pathan’s demolition of the Ganguly was met with stoic silence. Towards the end though someone conceded ,”Pathan ka tho jawaab hi nahin” (There’s no one like Pathan).

A few years ago electricity would make fleeting appearances in the town of Tawang. Today they enjoy IPL through satellite dish networks and participate in endless arguments over which team is better. I went searching for solitude, but ended up meeting some wonderful people in a beautiful land and understood why cricket is so important for this country.