If the Indian cricket team had selected Baba Ramdev as the team physio, then the men in blue could have been as flexible on the field as the sadhu himself. However, his insidious influence would rub off on them and at the first signs of terror from pace bowlers, bruised batsmen would migrate to women’s cricket.
If Barack Obama were to lose the 2012 Presidential elections, he could always consider coaching the Los Angeles Lakers. “Yes, we can” would resonate with Lakers fans, too. “It’s not the economy, stupid” could do just as well.
The “club over country” debate took a controversial fresh turn when the ICC and the BCCI released details of polygraph tests administered to a select bunch of international cricketers participating in the IPL.
Heeding complaints from fans and under intense media pressure and scrutiny, the BCCI roped in the country’s premier investigative agency ,the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) , to conduct a series of lie detector tests on certain high-profile players.
Cricket Ireland will welcome the recommendations made by the ICC’s cricket committee on Wednesday, the 11th of May, 2011.
Associate teams will be allowed to participate in the 2015 World Cup through a qualifying process. The next World Cup will not default to Test-playing nations. Teams will have to earn the right to be in the elite group of participating nations.
Cricket fans will start to believe again that “yes, the administrators are playing cricket.”
More random thoughts on the IPL:
The debate of ‘club over country’ should be put to rest , at least when it comes to Indian players.
Virender Sehwag will miss the rest of the IPL due to a shoulder injury he has been carrying for the past one year. He should have been allowed to take a break after the World Cup but his IPL masters would have been displeased. So Viru hoists the Delhi Daredevils until he can carry them no more.
Delhi Daredevils are no longer in the reckoning for a playoff spot.
No ‘butcher’ for the West Indies tour and perhaps half the English tour.
Muttiah Muralidharan admitted that there exists more than a modicum of ‘truth’ in Hashan Tillekaratne’s allegations of match-fixing in Sri Lanka.
The legendary off-spinner stated that he ,too ,indulged in match-fixing.
“My wife and I were fixed up. It was an arranged match and I don’t see anything wrong with it. It is a Indo-Sri Lanka collaboration that has worked to our mutual benefit.” said the Tamil , with a toothy grin.
The 16th of April, 2011 will remain a red letter day for Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
It is the day he scored his 100th international century in book cricket.
The master batsman believes that this is a good omen. All his tons in international cricket have been preceded by equivalent tons in book cricket.
“Book cricket is a sport I have indulged in since I was a little boy.” says the Little Master.
Indian bookies are disappointed with Virender Sehwag.
The dashing Indian opener played out a maiden over against Lasith Malinga in a group encounter for Delhi Daredevils against Mumbai Indians.
The bookmakers are believed to have suffered heavy losses. The odds against such a happening were astronomical.
“We are the champions – my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting
Till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions of the World”
Freddie Mercury’s lyrics may seem trite and overused. Yet they never fail to send out the right message.
Team India are champions of the world.
Nothing and no one can take that away from Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his boys.
Image via Wikipedia
If this is the Final Frontier for India, is the run-up to the series the Final Countdown?
If Tendulkar scores his 50th ton in the first Test, will he be a centurion or a half-centurion at the Centurion?