IPL

Is Lalit Modi Sushma Swaraj’s Achilles heel?

Posted by LINUS FERNANDES ⋅ June 16, 2015



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Lalit Modi is in the news once more.

Indian cricket administration’s enfant terrible has snagged yet another victim.

This time, it’s External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.

Sushma Swaraj

Swaraj finds herself embroiled in a conflict of interest.

The minister championed Lalit Modi’s cause requesting the British government to let Modi to travel to Portugal to visit his ailing wife citing ‘humanitarian‘ grounds.

Whether the minister was in the right is debatable. But she was clearly in the wrong in acting for Modi because her daughter is on Lalit Modi’s legal defense team. So is her husband (Swaraj’s son-in-law).

Shashi Tharoor

The last time, the UPA was in power, Shashi Tharoor—coincidentally Minister of State for External Affairs—had to resign his seat because of similar conflict of interest allegations. His then wife (now deceased) Sunanda Pushkar was an interested party in the forming of the Kochi Tuskers (now defunct) franchise.

What is it about Indian politicians and conflict of interest situations?

Is it time our politicians were made to undergo an induction training session where a conflict of interest situation is made clear to them?

Are these high-profile names merely the tip of the iceberg and simply anything goes in Indian politics where non-transparency is the norm?

It will be interesting to see how Prime Minister Narendra Modi handles the first real blemish on his government’s record. Will the NDA emulate the UPA and ask Sushma Swaraj to resign? Or will it be simply a case of ‘I dare you to prove otherwise.‘?

From IPL 8 to French Open 2015

Posted by LINUS FERNANDES ⋅ May 26, 2015

IPL 2015 is finished, over, done with. The champions have been crowned. The champions are Mumbai Indians.

Three teams have now won the IPL twice. Chennai Superkings (of course), Kolkata Knightriders and Mumbai Indians. The other winners are Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers (now defunct).

Is Rohit Sharma, on the basis of IPL results, a better skipper than Virat Kohli? Has captaincy led to a new-found maturity in the cavalier—yet immensely talented—Mumbai batter? Is Sharma a better candidate to lead the Indian Test side?

Recall that Saurav Ganguly was appointed skipper only after Sachin Tendulkar refused the crown of thorns for the second (and final) time. The rest, as they say, is history.

Meanwhile, the French Open beckons with a tantalising glimpse of possibly history in the making.

Can Novak Djokovic become only the fourth man in the Open era to claim a career Grand Slam?

For once, Nadal does not ride into Paris as the overwhelming favourite on his favoured surface—clay.

The Mallorcan has feet of (well, you said it, not me) clay.

In the women’s draw, the top two contenders are Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. Both have claimed career Grand Slams and Sharapova—interestingly—has two French Open titles; it is her least liked surface.

(My cable operator is not televising the French Open; it is not among the default options offered. So I guess I’ll be following it mainly via the net or the print media.)

Cheers!

IPL 2015: A big tamasha that could be better

Posted by LINUS FERNANDES ⋅ May 22, 2015

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Have you been following IPL 8?

Be truthful.

I haven’t.
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It’s not that cricket doesn’t excite me or that watching Chris Gayle or AB DeVilliers clobber bowlers to all parts of the ground and beyond isn’t a thrilling spectacle.

It’s just that it’s no longer interesting, it’s no longer fun.

It’s a surfeit of instant cricket following closely on the heels of the 2015 World Cup.

Yes, the cheerleaders are pleasing to look at; so are Archana Vijay and Shibani Dandekar.

Surely, you cannot expect me to rave about Sunny Gavaskar or Ravi Shastri.

However, it’s simply the same old package with very little changing.

Ravi Shastri, former Indian cricketer. 4 Test series vs Australia at Adelaide Oval (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The only positive change is the recruiting of former women cricketers as expert commentators.

I support Mumbai Indians.

But Rohit Sharma’s men simply don’t evoke the same passion that the Indian cricket team does.

What is the IPL then? A great Indian tamasha. Enjoy with bhel and popcorn and you won’t suffer from indigestion.

As for the genius who decided that the studio experts should have cheerleaders lauding their every soundbyte, he should have his head examined.

It’s obvious that advertisers have not deserted the Indian Premier League as yet.

But more of such hare-brained shenanigans and they surely will.

Supreme Court: What they said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Posted by LINUS FERNANDES ⋅ January 29, 2015

Supreme justice for N Srinivasan.

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What they said:

“Individuals are birds of passage while institutions are forever.”

The Supreme Court bench of Justices T S Thakur and F M I Kalifulla read N Srinivasan his rights in a ruling that effectively prevents him contesting for the BCCI top post.

The judges ruled out any person having a commercial interest in BCCI events from being a part of the governing body. Srinivasan has a controlling interest in Chennai Super Kings, an IPL team.

They said:

“The BCCI is a very important institution that discharges important public functions. Demands of institutional integrity are, therefore, heavy and need to be met suitably in larger public interest. Individuals are birds of passage while institutions are forever.

The expectations of the millions of cricket lovers in particular and public at large in general have lowered considerably the threshold of tolerance for any mischief, wrong doing or corrupt practices which ought to be weeded out of the system.”

What they really meant:

“…birds of passage…..And your time is past, Mr. Srinivasan. You are not the BCCI and the BCCI is not you.”

What they definitely didn’t:

“Could we have a couple of freebies to the CSK games, Mr. Srinivasan, please?”

N Srinivasan: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Posted by LINUS FERNANDES ⋅ December 2, 2014

N Srinivasan is not resigned to his fate.

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What he said:

“Why should I ask him to resign?”

N Srinivasan is not conflicted about whether he should retain Indian skipper MS Dhoni as an India Cements Limited employee and Chennai Super Kings captain.

The beleaguered BCCI chief was rapped by the Supreme Court for a conflict of interest in the hearing on the Mudgal commission report’s investigation into the IPL spot-fixing scandal.

Replying to reporters as to what Dhoni’s role was at ICL, the ICC chairman snapped:

“Why should I tell you?

What he really meant:

“Who am I to ask Dhoni to quit while I don’t? Why should he? Is he my son-in-law?”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Am I my CSK team’s skipper’s keeper?”

Ravi Shastri: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Posted by LINUS FERNANDES ⋅ October 4, 2014



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Ravi Shastri foresaw what Sunil Narine did not see coming.

What he said:

“He treated the threat of ban as he views the charge of batsmen ill-advised dashes which could only result in failure.”

Ravi Shastri comments as to why Sunil Narine failed to read the tea leaves and continued his suspect action despite being warned by the Champions League Technical Committee. The West Indian off-spinner and Kolkata Knight Riders stalwart was called again in the Champions League semi-final and will warm the benches for the final against Chennai Super Kings.

Shastri said:

“He might have been emboldened by a fresh set of officials for the semifinals. Or he might have seen the swell of support from his teammates as his validation. Once you are indestructible, you sense you are indestructible at all levels.

Narine now has cost his team its most lethal weapon for the finals. His international career for the moment is unimpeded, but he can’t be dismissive of the threat like he has been in the Champions League. He can’t allow this shadow to lengthen on the IPL door.”

What he really meant:

“Sunil, perhaps, felt it was a one-off or that he could do nothing about his action overnight . Besides, the pressure to perform and keep bagging wickets for the side is too much to allow one to think through the consequences of one’s action (sic). Just because you have a cheerleading squad rooting your every ball doesn’t mean you can chuck. Check that action, Narine.”

What he definitely didn’t literally sing:

“The banned didn’t see it coming.”

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MS Dhoni: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Posted by LINUS FERNANDES ⋅ August 22, 2014

Mahendra Singh Dhoni



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What he said:

“Don’t be so jealous of IPL.”

The Indian skipper was quick to respond to a query from scribes whether Indian players would forsake the IPL and work on their Test game instead by playing county cricket in England.



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What he really meant:

“County cricket doesn’t pay that much any more, does it? Besides, it’s an Indian league and why should the Indian players be elsewhere? Will our team owners and the BCCI be agreeable? Also, it’s the cricketers main source of income when they’re not playing for the national squad. Why ruin our fun, our time in the sun?”

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What he definitely didn’t: