The Surfer

Look at Tendulkar in the ongoing IPL. His influence on the team is unmistakable. That Mumbai Indians has preformed consistently points to his leadership. He has guided the young Saurabh Tiwary and the temperamental Harbhajan Singh with some astute handling. He has performed on the field and shepherded the lads well off it. No Mumbai Indians player can be spotted at the late night IPL parties.

"Hundreds also paid to come and they were filmed for a show called IPL nights which was shown the next day on MTV.

"So you'd have a quiet beer and walk out only to face enormous crowds in the lobby. Then you'd turn on the telly in your room and the news channels would be talking about the game.

"In the end, you get used to people taking your photo and asking for signatures at breakfast and lunch. Everyone wants a piece of you all the time, but you realise how passionate Indians are about their cricket. It's a real eye-opener."

It has three world-class performers in McCullum, Taylor and Bond. Vettori is no Fleming yet but could be. And Styris, Oram and Mills are experienced stalwarts.They have just as much if not more batting depth than the 2000 side (which won the Champions Trophy) and I'd say the present team are a better bowling unit.

We have seen the havoc created by offshore accounts in the US, UK and other European countries and we are all aware of the “special” financial agreements available in Dubai. We face a serious internal security threat on several fronts and a detailed investigation with the co-operation of the government in other countries is necessary to unveil the accounts in tax havens. Hopefully, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government will try to ensure that there is minimal discomfort to those who are not involved directly.

Armies of taxmen are now raiding anybody with anything to do with cricket as if they have busted the underground network of Dawood Ibrahim or discovered the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Toiba. There are weird demands to ban IPL, nationalise BCCI. Even usually sensible people are saying BCCI should be made a statutory but “autonomous” body. All of this is dangerous for India’s cricket and must stop. Indian cricket has never been in better shape. IPL is the finest new Indian brand of global value.

It's all very well for some of us to say that bowling in T20 deserves a different set of skills and a yorker at 145kmph is a yorker at 145kmph and that's that, but, come, come, we shouldn't delude our- selves. We are all adults, aren't we? Or so we like to believe.

Most of the players, admittedly from humble backgrounds, do not feel comfortable speaking in English and while this could be a trivial matter to some, it turns out to be a national embarrassment every time they face the camera. But hardly these cricketers are to blame. They spent half their lives playing the game and when they end up at the top level, they seek the help of professionals to guide them through a press conference or an interview after they have done well. In these instances, the players feel comfortable in the company of a media manager who translates for them as well as make sure they get the best treatment in the newspapers.