Tour Diary
Welcome to wet Dhaka
The pilot’s announcement that we would be landing in Dhaka shortly woke me up
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
The pilot’s announcement that we would be landing in Dhaka shortly woke me up. Peering out of the window to catch an aerial view of the city, the element that dominated the landscape was water. The skies were grey and heavy and the numerous water-logged areas were impossible to miss.
It was raining when we stepped out of the plane. There had been regular showers over the last week and a weather website says “chance of precipitation is 100%” for three of the next five days, while it’s above 50% for the other two. Unlike New Delhi, where unseasonal rains have eased a scorching summer, the weather in Dhaka should surprise no one: it’s the beginning of the monsoon and one wonders why a cricket tournament was scheduled at such a time.
Full postAn American Yankee's IPL woes
The IPL experience included watching the first semi-final at the ground till Delhi Belly resurfaced
Amar Shah
25-Feb-2013
I was probably flying somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean when Sohail Tanvir singled in the winning run thus missing a sublime conclusion to the wonderment that was the Rajasthan Royals IPL domination. Now, I sit on a couch in Los Angeles a few hours after returning from Mumbai watching a match from that other bat and ball affair. Sure, it’s nice to be back in the States after a whirlwind, two-week Indian voyage where I lost five pounds and spent countless hours inhaling vaporous fumes of Vicks. But the scent of the IPL continues to linger.
During the two weeks I was in India, from Mumbai to Calcutta to Gandhinagar, it was the Superbowl every night, even when the Deccan Chargers played. At my grandmother’s bungalow in Gujarat, my in-law’s flat in Borivli, to my hotel room in Kolkata, the television blared Sony Max telecasts every evening. Even when other obligations prevented me from watching first hand there was always a mobile phone update or a FM transistor radio to keep me up to fresh about every score and wicket taken. Never had I seen a sporting sensation pervade the social fabric of a society the way the IPL has spread its tentacles around the Indian household. Of course, I’m no sociologist, but it’s utterly obvious that when your wife’s nearly deaf grandmother asks for Mumbai’s run-rate then something surreal this way comes. I finally had to throw up my hands up and use that perennial Mumbai phrase, Aila!
After the duties of a family wedding finished I was inevitably hit by the mysterious virus that strikes all visitors to India, you know that hazing period where everything you eat and drinks spins like a Murali doosra in your stomach. So, bed-ridden, I spent a few days trying to regain the remnants of my stomach and watching even more cricket. Analysis from former players, music videos, highlights and even standup comics in cheerleader outfits cracking jokes in Hindi, which was quite scary even without knowing the language.
Full postAn American Yankee in Dada’s Pitch
Sure the IPL is commercialized, filmi, splash, glitz, glamour, and that ever hilarious word I’ve been reading all over, razzmatazz, but by god, the tone and ambience is quintessentially American
Amar Shah
25-Feb-2013
An hour before the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Rajasthan Royals were to face off, I found myself in a wedding hall in southern Calcutta discussing floral arrangements. As my sister-in-law, her future husband, and his father discussed the merits of marigold over roses, I continued to nudge my wife about the time. Here I was, the American firangi (foreigner) in the land of Rabindranath Tagore and Rani Mukherjee performing the part of proper jamaya (son-in-law), a role I was about to play brilliantly to hide my more devious intention of attending an Indian Premier League match. Now, my entire façade was melting as I got trapped with the familial responsibility of matrimonial minutiae. Choosing the right bouquet for a Bengali-Gujarati wedding confused me more than explaining the nuances of cricket to a baseball fan. Wait, maybe, it’s the other way around.
As the debate raged on my compulsive desire to get to Eden Gardens was taking over. I had never been to a real cricket match before, so I naively thought getting there early would be like going to a baseball game during batting practice. I mean how cool would it be to catch a sixer hit by the likes of Sourav Ganguly or David Hussey? Alas, that childish fantasy would change along with a number of others. But, presently, my wife was doing her best job of ignoring me. Her little sister’s wedding festivities took precedence over the task of going to a match.
Full postHectic and surreal
I’ve covered cricket tours before, but nothing as hectic and, frankly, surreal as this
Lawrence Booth
25-Feb-2013
This diary entry feels slightly fraudulent. I leave India in the small hours of tomorrow morning and feel like my job here is barely a third done. Some Indian journalists have expressed envy that I am ditching a six-week tournament after a little more than a fortnight, and I’ve almost felt like apologising for doing what basically amounts to a runner.
“Nice of you to pop in” is the kind of ironic comment you can expect from English colleagues if you join a tour a week late (having given the all-important 14-a-side fiasco against the President’s XI a tactical miss) or depart, ooh, several weeks early. And I am prepared to take any comments on the chin. But the truth is I wouldn’t have missed this experience for the world.
Full postEnglish interests
But today, if Shane Warne is good enough to pick him for the Royals against Kolkata Knight Riders in sweltering Jaipur, our numbers will balloon by one: step forward Dimitri Mascarenhas
Lawrence Booth
25-Feb-2013
For Englishmen everywhere – or maybe just those of us in India – it promises to be a momentous afternoon in the IPL. Our presence until now has been limited to a hardy handful: Jeremy Snape (performance coach with the Rajasthan Royals), Mark Benson (umpire), Robin Jackman (commentator), several TV crew members, a smattering of tourists, and your correspondent (although not for much longer). If I’ve missed anyone, I apologise.
But today, if Shane Warne is good enough to pick him for the Royals against Kolkata Knight Riders in sweltering Jaipur, our numbers will balloon by one: step forward Dimitri Mascarenhas. He might have Sri Lankan parents; he might have been brought up in Perth; hell, he might speak like an Aussie. But he was born in Chiswick, west London, and he has hit several sixes for England. That’ll do for me.
Full postMomentum is over-rated
“We’ve got the momentum,” says a captain, moments before losing the toss on a flat one and conceding 350 on the first day
Lawrence Booth
25-Feb-2013
I’ve always suspected the concept of momentum, one of the staples of press-conference speak, was over-rated. “We’ve got the momentum,” says a captain, moments before losing the toss on a flat one and conceding 350 on the first day. Wrong: you had the momentum, but now the momentum belongs to the other team, who will probably hand it back to you on a silver platter before the series is over.
The IPL has done little to suggest that momentum is anything more than just another of those ideas which dressing rooms use to feel good about themselves. Take last night’s win for Mumbai Indians in Kolkata. The momentum argument dictated they didn’t have a prayer: four defeats in a row; still no Sachin; Harbhajan banned. But they bowled beautifully on a sluggish pitch and, after losing three cheap wickets, were inspired by the bat of Dwayne Bravo. No doubt they’re talking about the semi-finals already.
It’s been the same elsewhere. Kolkata Knight Riders apparently had the momentum after winning their first two games, but have now lost two in a row. Deccan Chargers were being written off as a bunch of costly failures before Adam Gilchrist turned a three-game losing streak into a glorious win against Mumbai on Sunday. And Kings XI Punjab looked down and out after losing their first two matches, since when they have beaten Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai.
Full postThe aftermath of The Slap
Since everyone has been up in arms about The Slap (and it’s only a matter of time before the words are followed by a little ™ and we can all buy the DVD), it’s tempting to wonder exactly whether many losers have actually emerged from yesterday’s
Lawrence Booth
25-Feb-2013
Since everyone has been up in arms about The Slap (and it’s only a matter of time before the words are followed by a little ™ and we can all buy the DVD), it’s tempting to wonder exactly whether many losers have actually emerged from yesterday’s hearing in Delhi. Harbhajan, sure, but let’s look, with tongue placed only partially in cheek, at some of the other interested parties…
Lalit Modi: Once he had gained control of the press conference, Modi came across very well: decisive, firm and with a good grasp of the facts. He has been insistent all along that the IPL should pay more than lip service to the fabled spirit of cricket, and now he has been true to his word. The happy-family poses for the cameras with Harbhajan, Sreesanth and Farokh Engineer felt a bit forced, but he has handled his first major crisis with aplomb.
Full postIndian Foreign Legion?
One of the many familiar grouses about the county game is the way in which English players can generally rely on an overseas team-mate to dig them out of yet another hole
Lawrence Booth
25-Feb-2013
One of the many familiar grouses about the county game is the way in which English players can generally rely on an overseas team-mate to dig them out of yet another hole. The phenomenon is exaggerated, as most grouses about the county game are, but a glance at the daily scorecards in the English broadsheets will tell you that it isn’t exaggerated by much. After 14 matches of the IPL, I wonder if the malaise is spreading.
A few basic facts for you. There have been four centuries so far, of which three have been made by Australians and one by a New Zealander. Of the 16 fifties, only seven have been scored by Indians, and just one – step forward Delhi’s Shikar Dhawan – by a batsman who has never played in one form or another for his country.
Full postSlapgate - the IPL's first controversy
Harbhajan Singh’s alleged slapping of Sreesanth – or push, or comment, or tickle, or whatever it was that reduced Sreesanth to tears in Mohali last night – is all the more bizarre for occurring between players who, despite recent on-field tensions,
Lawrence Booth
25-Feb-2013
It’s the kind of moment sports writers like to refer to as ironic, when of course it is nothing of the sort. Harbhajan Singh’s alleged slapping of Sreesanth – or push, or comment, or tickle, or whatever it was that reduced Sreesanth to tears in Mohali last night – is all the more bizarre for occurring between players who, despite recent on-field tensions, would usually egg each other on while playing together for India. That’s the so-called irony part, even if irony in its simplest form is saying the opposite of what you really mean.
Ironically perhaps (just checking you’re still paying attention), Harbhajan detected genuine irony in Sreesanth’s supposed comment after the end of a match which extended Mumbai Indians’ losing streak to three. The details of Slapgate, as it will probably be dubbed, remain sketchy, but Sreesanth is reported to have approached Harbhajan with a smile and a “hard luck” – hardly grounds for a flailing hand, you might think, even if Bhajji sensed something other than sincerity in the remark.
Full postWarne, a pocketful of sunshine
Lawrence Booth
25-Feb-2013
I don’t know about you but I’m starting to get into this tournament. If you’re reading this in England, the chances are you probably couldn’t care less. The English season is under way, the New Zealanders – minus their Indian contingent – have arrived, and everyone is crossing their fingers and toes for Freddie’s ankle. Setanta, not Sky, have the TV rights for the IPL, which means you have even less chance of tuning in, and the only Englishmen involved so far have been Jeremy Snape and Mark Benson. Your indifference is understandable. But out here it’s different.
Last night’s game in Hyderabad was a big one for the tournament. It signalled the start of the third round of matches, which means we can begin discerning trends and inferring sub-plots (context matters, even in Twenty20). It provided a rousing finish, thanks to the old ringmaster Shane Warne. And it contained that most beguiling ingredient of any sporting contest: the upset. To see the way the Rajasthan Royals players swamped Warne after he had carted Symonds for 14 in three balls, and to listen to VVS Laxman defending his tactics and his batting was to feel right in the midst of a proper competition. Who needs cheerleaders?
Full post