The Surfer

A diversionary manoeuvre

How do we assess Sachin Tendulkar’s entry into the Rajya Sabha, asks Ashok Malik in the Times of India

Akhila Ranganna
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
How do we assess Sachin Tendulkar’s entry into the Rajya Sabha, asks Ashok Malik in the Times of India. While Tendulkar is a cricketing legend, can he contribute to Rajya Sabha’s legislative business?
The political class – and this problem is not limited to the current government – now increasingly sees Rajya Sabha nominations as it does Padma awards: just another patronage device, just another set of perquisites to distribute to grab media headlines or as a diversionary manoeuvre. The likelihood of one of the 12 Rajya Sabha nominees now not being a prime-time television superstar is getting smaller and smaller. The constitutional quest to bring to Parliament in New Delhi intellectual voices from outside the capital and its incestuous circles – and the cricket industry is part of these circles – has been all but defeated.
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A trove of memorabilia

In the Indian Express , Rohan Swamy talks to the owner of a new cricket museum that is set to open on May 2 in Pune

Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
In the Indian Express, Rohan Swamy talks to the owner of a new cricket museum that is set to open on May 2 in Pune. The "Blades of Glory" museum has bats of players who have scored over 10,000 runs, bats signed by each of the World Cup-winning teams, a room reserved for bowling legends, among other bits of memorabilia.
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West Indies' sad decline

In the Sunday Telegraph , Scyld Berry lists three reasons for the fall of West Indies cricket from the glory days - the lack of quality openers, the West Indies board, and their captain Darren Sammy

Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
In the Sunday Telegraph, Scyld Berry lists three reasons for the fall of West Indies cricket from the glory days - the lack of quality openers, the West Indies board, and their captain Darren Sammy.
In the last 20 years West Indies have produced only one consistently good opening batsman: Chris Gayle. All the others have been found wanting. Their domestic structure — a few first-class games on pitches which the West Indian board have allowed to become ever slower — is inadequate.
All talk of the new West Indies' team spirit and character needs to be put in perspective, as they prepare for their toughest challenge yet, in England. And it remains to be seen if the coach Otis Gibson will be allowed to build on any perceived gains from the series just ended, writes Fazeer Mohammed in Trinidad and Tobago Express.
Uprooting the deeply-embedded ills of West Indies cricket and replanting and nurturing a culture of professionalism, with all the dedication and discipline it entails, takes considerable time. Given that he has already rubbed so many of the star boys who used to be regulars of the side the wrong way, any tide of discontent against him may swell to an irresistible tsunami if the feared seismic events at Lord's, Trent Bridge and Edgbaston come to pass.
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Afghanistan’s emergence on cricket scene

Though Afghanistan lost its first ODI against Pakistan in February 2010, the team’s spirited performance impressed a host of cricket commentators and analysts

Carlyle Laurie
25-Feb-2013
Though Afghanistan lost its first ODI against Pakistan in February 2010, the team’s spirited performance impressed a host of cricket commentators and analysts. In the Daily Times, Zakir Hussain Syed talks about how the PCB wasn’t credited enough for the development of Afghan cricket during the match.
What really disappointed me was the apparent lack of knowledge of commentators regarding Afghanistan’s pathway to this newly acquired eminence. They just mentioned Pakistan’s role in a cursory manner regarding Afghanistan’s newly developed love for cricket
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Missing Gayle leaves a West Indies charisma void

West Indies will be without their one-day Bradman on the tour of England, says the Guardian 's Barney Ronay, and this takes away some of their sheen.

Nikita Bastian
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
He [Gayle] is simply a grand talent and an attractively extreme individual. Where pretty much every other international cricketer – including the pop-kid batting tyros of India's new wave – retains that sense of journeyman familiarity, an air of scotch egg and room service and check-in desk, Gayle always looks as though he's just stepped off the bridge of his own disco-spaceship, staffed by a team of semi-feral Venusian mermaids.
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Village boy Parvinder Awana in the spotlight

Kings XI Punjab and Delhi bowler Parvinder Awana tells the Hindustan Times ' Shalabh Manocha about how he went from the Araula village near Noida to a training camp in Australia and ended up with a career in cricket instead of the police force.

Nikita Bastian
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
Kings XI Punjab and Delhi bowler Parvinder Awana tells the Hindustan Times' Shalabh Manocha about how he went from the Araula village near Noida to a training camp in Australia and ended up with a career in cricket instead of the police force.
Some things are destined to happen, believes pacer Parvinder Awana. The Delhi boy has become a key man for the Kings XI Punjab, but had his uncle not pushed him into cricket, Awana would have been either catching criminals or farming. “It was my uncle who insisted that I joined the cricket academy at the National Stadium. I never dreamt that I would make it this far,” said the pacer. “I cleared the physical test required to join the police force and was all set to join when I opted for cricket as a career.”
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Football leagues threat to IPL

Viewership reports for IPL5 have pointed towards decline in TV ratings, a troubling trend which will impact the league when sponsorships are renegotiated

This year’s revenue and profitability plateau could severely impact the value of the sponsorships going into the central revenue pool, which are being renegotiated as the IPL enters its much-anticipated season 6. Given that the big-ticket contract renewals for title sponsorship and official sponsors start after IPL 5, it’s imperative that the league continue to flourish and attract increased viewership. It needs to, in addition, start converting unique viewers into die-hard fans. By season 5, one would have expected the league to have exponentially increased its collateral revenues, especially gate receipts and merchandise. It appears, however, that the IPL is still clubbed with, or compared to, other entertainment properties. If that fear becomes a reality, then the league faces an uphill battle to remain relevant as an asset in the emerging and growing domain of professional sports.
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How will Tendulkar contribute in the parliament?

If Sachin Tendulkar doesn’t deliver on the parliamentary turf, he needn’t be embarrassed, says Iftikhar Gilani in DNA , and gives us a brief of what the other cricketers-turned-politicians - who were elected - have done during their terms.

If Sachin Tendulkar doesn’t deliver on the parliamentary turf, he needn’t be embarrassed, says Iftikhar Gilani in DNA, and gives us a brief of what the other cricketers-turned-politicians - who were elected - have done during their terms.
Azharuddin has listed just five questions in the three years since he won the Lok Sabha polls from Moradabad. He is yet to pilot a private member bill or participate in any discussions on a government bill. He has not yet asked any supplementary questions. But he provoked a discussion on the “need for inquiry on the death of an IAS officer” in 2009 — his saving grace. Once, he participated in a debate on general budget ...
Sachin Tendulkar's acceptance of a Rajya Sabha nomination has been followed by cynical reactions in the media on Tendulkar having allowed himself to be swayed by a political agenda. Venky Vembu in First Post raises the question - how will Tendulkar contribute to the Parliament?
On the face of it, of course, there is of course enough in the move to feed the innate cynicism that resonates within all of us. Nominating someone so popular as Sachin for a Bharat Ratna or a Rajya Sabha nomination is a no-brainer, a way to harvest goodwill on the cheap. You can be sure that the Congress will milk this during the next elections, perhaps by enlisting Sachin to campaign on its behalf.
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Minimum three Tests in a series - Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara, former Sri Lanka captain, believes that Test cricket is the No

If someone is a good cricketer, he can be good in any format. But again, you have to strike a balance. Schedules are tight. See, India plays a lot of cricket — many teams will love to play so because of the financial benefits they get. Even Sri Lanka plays a lot at home and away. Whatever said and done, Test cricket is the ultimate form of cricket. That's why I believe there should be a minimum of three Tests in a series.
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Stadiums - shrines for sporting travellers

Players perform and go, but stadiums remain as the custodians of sport

For sporting travellers—like the grown bankers I saw reduced to babbling boys as they prepared for a maiden visit to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) last winter—the geographies that matter in sport are not cities, but the arenas within them. The Nou Camp, Fenway Park, St Andrew. Nope, never been to any. Nor to Rio’s Maracana, which is why it would be sinful not to pack a bag for the 2014 World Cup and at least stand in an arena which, during the 1950 World Cup, held 199,854 people.
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