India

Kapil Dev: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Kapil Dev Has No Time For Records—Sachin’s

What he said:

“We have to change our mindset. If we lose the match, what’s the use of statistics? To hell with that!”

Former Indian captain, Kapil Dev Nikhanj, is crystal clear that the Indian cricket team must come before individual achievements. The 1983 World Cup winning skipper was delivering the Dilip Sardesai lecture at the Cricket Club of India (CCI).

He said:

You seem more keen about Sachin’s 99 hundreds and not about how we are going to win the next series.

I am not saying don’t give credit to individual performances, but the country should come first.

 

Everyone knows Sachin has 99 centuries, but how many know which of those have ended in victories? Out of Sachin’s 99 hundreds, 60 have ended in wins. If anyone reports that I’ll be happy.

What he really meant:

“Surely, you folks don’t remember my 434 wickets and the inexorably slow overhaul of Sir Richard Hadlee‘s record. Now, that’s a statistic!”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Sorry, Sreenath, for keeping you out of the Indian side while I was pursuing my world record. Tendulkar’s merely emulating me—on a larger scale.”

Shashank Manohar: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Shashank Manohar is Reclusively Recused

What he said:

“I wanted to give Modi no ground for complaint.”

Ex-BCCI President, Shashank Manohar, elaborates on why he recused himself from the disciplinary committee looking into alleged misdemeanours and violations by ex-IPL commissioner, Lalit Modi.

Manohar—a lawyer by profession—said:

The truth is he called me sometime in early May 2010, and told me that he would be making an allegation (questioning my neutrality) against me in the media. He said, ‘The truth is only known to you and me and I know that as per your nature you will not speak to the media.’ He also told me that Srinivasan was also involved in a few wrongdoings. I told Modi to point those out and assured him of action against Srinivasan too if he was indeed involved. He never got back.

What Shashank Manohar really meant:

“Lalit Modi made his point. Ipso facto, I recused myself.”

What Shashank Manohar definitely didn’t:

“Cleaning the BCCI’s Augean stables is right up my alley.”

DJ Jenny D: What she said, really meant and definitely did not

DJ Jenny D Is Provocatively Dissociative

What she said:

“Sensible people wouldn’t associate me with Poonam Pandey.”

Mumbai-based DJ Jenny will go nude to raise funds for the Indian national hockey team. Her decision comes in the wake of the uproar against a meagre Rs. 25,000 offered to the winners of Asian Champions Trophy. The Indian team beat Pakistan in the final to clinch the inaugural edition.

Jenny said:

There were stories of our hockey players not being able to afford the right footwear before the final. The measly prize money was only adding insult to injury. Compare this to the way cricketers are treated. The injustice is there for all to see. It’s a matter of serious concern.

A couple of portals have already approached me to buy the images. There’s also an international men’s magazine that has offered to pay me Rs 10 lakh for a nude cover shoot that would have just three hockey sticks in the frame.

Jenny is aware that her mode of raising funds will draw critics like flies to uncovered jam:

There are bound to be critics but when you come across injustice, you shouldn’t consider detractors. People in India don’t want to get out of that traditional shell. They forget we are in the 21st century.

Jenny D previously posed near-nude for a print campaign demanding reservation for women in the education and employment sectors.

What DJ Jenny really meant:

"Poonam Pandey’s a cricket-crazy publicity hound. I’m a hockey sophisticate."

“The hockey team (and I) really need the attendant publicity. At least, that’s my argument.”

What DJ Jenny definitely didn’t:

“Let’s title the campaign ‘Sense, Sensibility and Hockey’”

Rajpal Singh: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Rajpal Singh Is Victoriously Disgruntled

What he said:

“Hockey players do not have shoes to wear.”

Indian hockey team skipper, Rajpal Singh, is justifiably bitter about the treatment meted out to hockey players and other sportsmen. The proud Sikh was speaking to Gaurav Kanthwal of the Times Of India (TOI)  News Network following the recent fiasco wherein returning triumphant players  were offered a piddly reward of Rs. 25,000 each for bringing home the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy.

In an earlier interview, the Indian captain slammed the revised prize money of Rs. 1.5 lakhs saying:

It was total injustice. It’s not just about 18 to 20 players who go play hockey, it’s about national pride, and they should have at least treated us well. Unless they encourage and motivate players, how can we promote the game? It’s very disappointing. We ought to have been rewarded well… It was wrong and this is not the way to treat the national players. Such incentives will not only demotivate us.

Field hockey is the national sport of India.

Rajpal said:

Jab sponsorship ki baat hoti hain toh players ko pata hi nahi chalta hain ki kya ho raha hain. (When it comes to sponsorship, the players are  clueless as to what’s happening.) Even when we travel abroad the sports authority of India spends and takes care of us. We wear sponsor shirts but, pata nahi kyun. Kuch nahi milta woh shirt pehenkar. (Nothing comes of wearing the sponsor’s shirt). Every player in the team’s upset.

Rajpal added that the Indian hockey skipper is hardly recognised as compared to his cricketing counterpart, MS Dhoni:

Agar hum cricket ko compare kare,BCCI ko hatake aur government ki baat kare toh cricket ko bhi utna hi izzat deti jitna hockey ko. (The government should give equal importance to hockey). But when they won the World Cup, then every state government facilitated (sic) their captain. Main apni baat nahi kah raha hoon, lekin hockey team ke captain ko kabhi bhi Dhoni ki tarah dekha nahi jaata hain. (I am not referring to myself but no hockey captain is adulated like Dhoni).

What Rajpal really meant:

“Rs, 25,000 can buy no more than two pairs of decent sports shoes. There are no real sponsors.”

“I wish the BCCI were running Indian hockey. They’d monetise everything.”

“We’re playing hockey, not hooky.”

What Rajpal definitely didn’t:

“It kind of reminds me of the glorious Indian past when our predecessors played barefoot.”

David Lloyd: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

David Lloyd Shaves No Corners

What he said:

“I took my dog for a clipping this morning. She flipping hates it even though it costs three times as much as my £8 cut at Mr Trimm’s.”

David Lloyd aka Bumble is flipper than ever taking his pet out for a trim.

What he really meant:

“I can walk the dog, talk the dog but chop her? Mighty expensive.”

“A haircut (for her) is a flea in my bonnet.”

“My bitch is high maintenance.”

What he definitely didn’t :

“I think I’ll start cutting my hair myself.”

Graeme Swann: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Graeme Swann Is No ‘BullDog’

What he said:

“I can’t make speeches like Churchill and I’ll try to be as natural as I can.”

Graeme Swann—the comedian—takes over from Stuart Board as skipper of the English T20 squad for two matches against West Indies next week.

Swann claimed:

It’s a Twenty20 series with a lot of young lads so I’ll have to change the way I am from the Test side.

I’m very much the joker in the Test team, I’m there for a stupid quip at the end of the session. With this Twenty20 side, I’ll naturally have to be more grown up and mature about things.

But I don’t intend to be deadly serious and change too much. I believe a fairly high-spirited approach has made me the cricketer I am.

I’ll certainly look to keep that going within my own game and, if that’s infectious to others, then great.

What Swann really meant:

“I have games to win, not speeches to make.”

What Swann definitely didn’t:

“I’ll just get the Windians to fall over—laughing their guts out.”

Andrew Flintoff: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Freddie Flintoff ‘Cocks a Snook at the IPL’

What he said:

“Just been confirmed India don’t want to be here! I reckon they’d play in drizzle in the IPL for millions not at Lords though.”

Andrew Flintoff joins the legion of English cricketers who believe that the Indian cricket team surrendered their No.1 status on the altar of Mammon.

What he really meant:

“I’m not too keen on our chaps not willing to return to the field when D/L loaded the game our way. But you don’t want to me to tweet that, do you?”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I wonder if I could get one of the IPL franchises to vend Freddie Flintoff branded paraphernalia?”

Graeme Swann: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Graeme Swann is up to monkey business

What he said:

"I dedicate the series win to London zoo. Had a great time there with Wilf and Mrs Swann yesterday."

Graeme Swann, the self-appointed funny man in the English cricket squad, tweets his dedication of the ODI series win over India.

What he really meant:

“I’m going ape with joy.”

What he definitely didn’t (or did he?):

“Just monkeying around.”

Michael Holding: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Michael Holding Asks The Question

What he said:

“But how come they never miss the IPL with injuries?"

Michael Holding voices the opinion of every Indian fan when he points out that Indian cricketers are rarely injured or rested during the IPL.

What he really meant:

“But how come they never miss the IPL with injuries?"

What he definitely didn’t:

“The IPL is the best thing that could have happened to Indian and West Indian cricket.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Mahendra Singh Dhoni laments the Ugly Side of Cricket

What he said:

We just saw the ugly side of cricket. Whichever team has the upper hand, doesn’t want to play. Whichever team is not on winning side, will stick around and even play football. That’s what people do and that’s what both sides did.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is frankness personified when he airs his opinion that the Ducksworth-Lewis method of deciding the 4th ODI against England—affected by rain—was detrimental to the spirit of the game. The ODI ended in a tie as decided by the controversial methodology.

Dhoni added:

If you have a day game, you need different guidelines and principles to follow. If you put it under lights, it doesn’t look nice.

Some of the guys were confused. Some thought we had won it. Most of us thought it was a passing shower and we would be able to get back on the field.

Once inside the dressing room, we saw the final sheet of paper. After looking at it, it was apparent it was a tie and none of the side had won the game.

This is not the first time. We were close to winning the first game also. But as I said, you can’t control the weather.

What Dhoni really meant:

“It doesn’t say much for us  if we loiter in the dressing room when the game has swung our way.”

What Dhoni definitely didn’t:

“We caught the Djokovic-Federer semi-final and unanimously agreed with Roger Federer’s post-match sentiment: ‘That’s why we all watch sports, isn’t it?  Because we don’t know the outcome and everybody has a chance, and until the very moment it can still turn.  That’s what we love about the sport, but it’s also very cruel and tough sometimes.’”