Monday, February 23, 2009

Big Withdrawals

First Ricky Ponting, then David Hussey and now the pressure is on Andrew Flintoff to pull out of the IPL.

I think I see a lot of Aussie domestic politics and competition at play here. Michael Clarke first withdraws in doubtful circumstances. We know he is the captain in waiting. We know Australia is on a losing streak and the captain's position is especially precarious. This leads Ponting to go the extra mile to show his commitment to Aussie cricket and withdraw from the IPL. On a lower level, the contest for the wide open slots now hots up with David Hussey, Cameron White, James Hopes all trying to establish themselves - and Hussey tries to make a point by emulating his skipper.

I am all for the sanctity of Test cricket and strongly believe that the country comes first. But for God's sake get rid of these stupid ODIs ! They have no role in modern day cricket ! If we get rid of this menace we shall not only have enough time and space for T20 and Test cricket but we can also have sufficient warm up games and first class cricket !

On another note, I wonder if the recession is going to hit the IPL ... people who willingly shelled out Rs. 1000 for a ticket last year - might think twice this time around. It would make sense for Modi to lower the prices - will his shrewdness prevail over his greed ?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

IPL Schedule ?!?!

We are presumably less than a 100 days away from the proposed start of the IPL and yet Mr. Modi hasn't found time from his egoistic fights with his own people in Jaipur, and with the members in Cricket Club of India and with just about anyone on the planet .... to come up with a SCHEDULE !

We don't know when the first game will be played, we don't know who will host it and we have only a very sketchy idea about the finals ! Talk about not caring about the consumers !

I raise this at this point - because Cricinfo has just announced that they are looking for volunteers who will be in stadiums to report on IPL matches - they will be given tickets sponsored by Cricinfo - all you need to do is send them a couple of paragraphs about yourself and tell them what matches you plan to attend. How Cricinfo expects people to know of their plans before the schedule is announced - I don't really know.

Meanwhile I will most likely not be in India during the IPL this year but if only this was last year ...

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Chennai To Hose Semis, Mumbai The Finals Again ?

That's what the early indications are - it seems Rajasthan Royals had the choice of deciding the venue for the finals - and they chose the Brabourne Stadium Mumbai ! However as expected Modi has some issues with someone at the CCI - something to do with seat allocation for members - so that choice is subject to clearance. The Royals could opt for the wonderful DY Patil Stadium, also in Mumbai.

The runners-up Chennai Super Kings have been given the right to pick the venue for the semi-finals and not surprisingly they have chosen to host BOTH semifinals !

No idea yet who will host the opening game !

Monday, February 16, 2009

Modi Barks !

Lalit Modi has THREATENED to take away IPL matches from his home city Jaipur. I face such a quandary here - on the one hand I hate Modi, on the other hand I love his product. I wonder if Warney and the others can stand up against Modi and say they want to play in Jaipur and nowhere else. Ah I wish !

What do you guys think ?

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Returning ....

... the IPL resumes in less than 2 months ... and we shall be back on this blog soon with early analyses and takes on the news ... Watch out this space for more !