Top 10 IPL 4 moments

IPL 4 is drawing toward the end. As CSK and RCB is preparing for the last match of this IPL, I thought of 10 interesting aspects (Not in any order) of this edition.

1) Aa gayle mujhe maar

Chis Gayle remained unsold at the auction. Though speculation was KKR would retain him- he had no takers. Calypso King must have taken huge offence on that. When he was ultimately called in as a replacement for RCB, he did not see cricket balls… he saw SRK's butt and hit that the hardest. In no time- he snatched the orange cap. Resurgence of Gayle and his super hitting was the main highlight of IPL4.    

2) Khe Khe Aar… Khe Khe Aar

IPL matches in Eden gardens and only 20k people watching it!!! Yes- SRK made it happen. With Dada out of the equation and only Manoj Tiwari being the sole representative of local cricketing community- Kolkatans gave IPL a royal miss. Sensing the mood SRK started bring in expensive cheerleaders. There was Hritik- who till the other year was dancing for Mumbai Indians. Then there were Sanjay Kapoor, Karan Johar. But the real entertainer was Piggy Chops. Though she did not know name of any single cricketers, we loved her heavily accented chanting (khe khe aar … khe khe aar [video]).

 

3) Paul Valthaty

Who? Paul what? That was the first response to Paul Valthaty's cyclonic century. He appeared from nowhere- made some big runs, took wickets and then went hiding again. Discovery of Valthaty (and to some extent Raidyu) would not have been possible without IPL. Hope to see more of him in future in a real blue shirt.

4) Never say Never

His 30 ball 30 might not have set the stage on fire, but it showed if you want something badly- it happens. Yes- talking about the eternal comeback man Saurav Ganguly. He was dumped and humiliated in the auction. Even his most optimistic supporters wrote his obituary. Kochi tried to take him on board afterwards and was stopped by RCB, MI and RR. (some say on behest of SRK). We saw him in stands with common supporters watching matches. But that was another shrewd move which was followed by his donning cap for Pune warriors. Yes- at the end, he managed to paint tar on the face of his distracters (read SRK)… Yes- bande mein hai dum…

5) Blank fire

We waited and waited for them to perform. To set the stage on fire. At the end that did not happen at all. Big disappointments of the year: Irfan Pathan, Kieron Pollard, Bret Lee, Eoin Morgan, Mark Boucher, Brendon McCullum, Sreesath, Tilakratne Dilshan, Murli, Graeme Smith, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuff Pathan, Jesse Ryder….

6) Gambhir question

He played 15 matches with his shoulder injury just to earn his 11 crores. Yes that is a lot of money- but is it more than leading the Indian cricket team? Well… I don't see him as Dhoni's successor any more. And his mouthful to younger players of the team during the matches pointed how inferior he is compared to captain cool dude as a leader. To add more spice, the allegation of using banned substances would haunt him for a while I suspect.  

7) Bharatiya cheerleading

Cheerleading in Indian style? Yes- Pune showcased it. All their cheerleaders were in traditional and classical Indian attire and danced to classical tunes. Apparently Tanusree Shankar choreographed them. Though some youngsters would have preferred run of the mill foreign stuff- to me it was one of the highlights.

   

8) Lolaylty never dies

KKR had to defend 21 runs in their last over against MI to qualify as no 2 team. It would have also meant fast lane to the final and qualification for champions league. But Lakshmipathy Balaji did the unthinkable, conceding 23 runs including a huge six of the last ball. Chennai all of a sudden were no 2 team. Yes- their investment on Balaji for last three years has ultimately resulted in some dividend.

9) Sidhu aur Dipu ki amar kahani

Vijay Malya replaced Katrina Kaif with Deepika Padukone as team's glam girl… Guess it was a right move. A picture is worth a thousand words J

10) Shane Warne

He apparently played his last cricket match. And ended in a winning note. No doubt he was the most colourful cricketer ever. Not only a master strategist on field but he was equally great off the field too. His calling names of Rajastan cricket board secretary might have costed him some money- but was entertaining no doubt. And watching Liz Hurley getting bedazzled was a treat beyond question.  

 

Manipulation, Paying heavy price and mass suicide

If someone lacks ability, success comes at a cost. However, it does not mean that the individual has to bear it on his/ her own. At times relatives take care of it, at time friends and at times it is shouldered by unsuspecting unknown people known as mass. In the later case the feeling is the sweetest. Today, when Mamata Banerjee takes her oath as chief minister of west Bengal, she must be feeling the same sweet sensation.

Do any one still remembers Swapan Chakraborty? An ordiney man- who got stuck between stone and crude bomb pelting crusaders and demonic state police in 1992. Mamata quickly played a few popular tricks to politicise the killing. Swapan's wife got a job in Manjusha and slowly went out of public attention and memory.

Same goes with 13 nameless youth, who were sacrificed to get anti govt sentiment rolling on July 21 1993. Yes that was the day Mamata had called for a march into Writers building to get power by force in French revolution style.

Time and again she played the same politics of killing and trying to gather momentary public support. However, soon she realised that this trick would not give her the mileage she is looking for. She needed something big. Something so huge that lakhs of people pay price for her rise to the zenith. Nandigram and Singur gave the same opportunity to her. She was very good in realising that Bengalies had a super inertia. They would do anything to resist the change. That was precisely the reason of CPM clinging to power, despite not delivering anything significant from 1977-2001.

She was quick to understand that CM Buddhadeb's attempts to change to work culture, his attempts to bring in Industry would only make the Bengalis feel uneasy. She fanned air to that sentiment. Thousands of people in Nandigram and Singur paid the price. What could have been a prosperous industrial hub was turned into a land of lost opportunity. Bengalis took a sigh of relief. They were not robbed off the opportunity to moan and complain… to discuss in length that how all other states conspire against us… So status quo continued… Intelligently Mamata very quickly named the status quo as "Paribartan" (Change). Top notch comedy indeed. Bengalis thought- whoa… what an idea!!! If I need not actually change but get the claim of a change- that is like getting a free lunch. Or what the corporate try to do- get "new" claim from the same old product.

Very soon people started talking about punishing CPM for doing nothing- when actually they had started doing something meaningful. It is like Keshto kaku beating up Bhombol  for a mischief he had done 10 years ago. Though Bhombol is a changed and refined person now, doing meaningful work- Kesto kaku would still punish him- because he failed to do that 10 years ago.

By now Mamata had started seeing her dream come true. The whole state of Bengal was ready to pay the price for Mamata's hunger for power. And they did the same in two phases in 2009 and 2011.

May be years from now, this moment would not be rejoiced and pages of analysis would be done on how Bengalis committed another suicide. May be it would be too late then. May be our roots of inertia would be so deep that even if we want- we would not be able to move at all. May be I am wrong- May be Mamata would do a fantastic job. But at this moment all I see is another 7-8 years of stagnation and slide backwards. Pray to god that I am wrong in my prediction…

The price has been paid – for one lady's ambition by a suicide prone community.

শুভ নববর্ষ

বাঙালি কি সত্যি পাল্টে গেছে? ফেসবুক  আর টুইটারের ঝড়ে কি বাঙালি ভুলে গেছে তার স্বকীয়তা? জিন্স আর স্কার্ট কি হারিয়ে দিয়েছে সাবেকি পোশাক আশাক? বাংলা তো আজ পরিবর্তন নিয়ে তর্কে ব্যস্ত. তৃনমূল না উন্নত বামফ্রন্ট? এরই মাঝে নতুন বছর আবার উঁকি মারছে তার নতুন সম্ভাবনার ডালি সাজিয়ে.  মনে করিয়ে দিচ্ছে ঐতিঝ্য আর স্বকীয়তা. না বাঙালি আজো স্বপ্ন দেখা ছাড়েনি. শত উত্তান পতনেও আছে বাঙালিয়ানার গর্ব. আজো অন্যাএর বিরুদ্ধে গর্জে ওঠা. ত়া সে সৌরভ এর ওপর শাহরুখের রাজনীতি হোক বা রিজানুরের আত্মহতায়. অমর্ত্য থেকে প্রানব - বাঙালির দাদাগিরিতে কোনো কমতি হয়নি. নতুন বছরে আমাদের আধিপত্য আরো বারুক - এই শুভেচ্ছা সকলকে. ১৪১৮ হোক আরো মায়াবী আর আরো উজ্জল.
অল্পা ও অভিজিত

Why I consider Saurav Ganguly as inspirational figure?

Back in 1995, during a post dinner chit-chat at S-14 (one of the hostel room) some one had asked me- who is your favourite cricketer? My instant answer was, "Saurav Ganguly". By that time his international career was confined to a solitary one-day match and three runs scored back in 1992. Later that year he made a sensational come back with back to back centuries in England. Almost got branded as "test player" by think tank, made to bat at no 8, even after Srinath in one ODI. Got dropped in Sahara cup only to come back year after that with such a dominance that Pakistan saw him as their terminator and we found our new leader. A leader who was not afraid to stare at the eyes of the opponent, a leader who shook off the docile image of the nation and announced that we have arrived in the world scene.

I find him as an inspirational leader. Like all great leaders he delivered stupendous result through his team. He spotted great talents. Gave them comfort and support to perform at the top level, showed confidence in their abilities, planned their growth, supported them through thick and thin, believed in them and tried to make sure that they are successful. He was ruthless with indiscipline (Nayan Mongia episode) and respectful to the super talented (Sachin Tendulkar). He led building of the new Indian cricket. These seem to be a copy book example of a successful remarkable corporate leadership. Lots to learn from him.

Another aspect which I find remarkable is his self confidence and commitment. I had read an article in Anandabazar Patrika quite a few months after he was dropped for the 2^nd time by Chapel. He was down and out by then. Spot light had shifted to some where else. People, even die-hard fans had also resigned to the fact that he had seen his last. He was alone and ignored. At time- he used to practise for hours in Eden Gardens. At times with state or club players or at times all alone. He had taken all the criticism on his running between the wicket and fitness on chin. Even after the dark- he would keep on training and running. He prepared for that one last chance… kept his head down, played the same shot thousands of times… kept himself motivated… told himself that if he gets one chance, he has to make big out of it. He believed in himself and kept focus. Eventually he got a chance and the rest is history.

People often see his comeback and praise him on his determination. I look at the grinding he had undergone to make that comeback. Look at his self confidence and strength of mind. This is an example for all of us- to believe in our ability and keep practicing for that one chance that might come our way… Saurav’s achievements can’t be measured in terms of his personal records. His success lies in the team that he had groomed and developed, his success lies in the inspiration he had provided to the lacs of Indians to come out of mediocrity and make it big in their respective fields.

Commonwealth games- Goals ahead for the betrayed nation….

Loads of dirt is being thrown around for the commonwealth games. It is not only about the dirty toilets and filthy condition of the games village, it is also about the cheap talk done by officials. "What is clean to me and you is not clean to them", Lalit Bhanot had put the hygiene standard of the nation next to the drains at Kanpur. This is a complete failure on behalf of organising committee. They not only did a very poor planning of events, but also kept fooling the people. Widespread corruption only adds icing to this cake. Government of India can not shy away from its responsibilities too. They have singlehandedly tarnished India's image at the world stage beyond repair at short term at least. All of them have collectively betrayed us. Betrayed the nation… betrayed our belief and pride.

We all feared inside or suspected that something like this is coming. When I went to India last time, the games were less than 300 days away. I could sense with my very limited knowledge of construction and building that it is going to be a massive task. Still we kept on hoping and praying. Unfortunately Shiela Dixit, Delhi chief minister, did the same. Instead of taking hard action, she kept on praying that some magic would happen to salvage the game. My personal experience shows that whenever some one relies on luck and hope for something to happen correctly, rather than strong action, it often happen otherwise. To make her a laughing stock, after the foot over bridge was collapsed, Dixit said, "It was not for athletes, it was for common people". As if common people are there for her to get killed by accidents. Such a shame….

I still believe, India might still pull through a great game. Make it partial success atleast. As a nation, we have been practicing the "Last minute" stuff for a while. And, truly speaking, we have the flexibility, self belief and capability to make apparently impossible tasks a success. Talking from a FMCG product development perspective, I have seen instances where in eight colour printed laminate got developed, printed and delivered in less than a week (Standard lead time- 30-45 days). I have seen complex multi cavity mould getting into commercial production in a month (standard time 4 months). I have seen presentations written and delivered in conferences within 3-4 hours. Yes, I believe, we can still do it- if we get serious, if we take it as a matter of our pride, if we take it as if our existence and reputation would depend on this event.

Looking ahead, even if the event is not a success, it is not the end of the road for India. Yes, our Olympic dream might get ( I think has already got) a severe threat. Yes, we would face uncomfortable questions at global stage. Yes, stereotypical west would snub us for many more years to come. But we would claw back. We would have to work even harder. We have to put even more effort. As a nation, we have to run that extra mile or two, which would slowly but steadily erase this stigma. This disaster has thrown us a new challenge, a new task, more uphill and more difficult- but achievable by entrepreneural citizens of out nation.

Government by its inaction and bureaucracy has negated large part of the equity we had developed over the years. We can not to anything about it at this stage. Only options are to get over the setback, take learnings and move ahead. Let the fight back start now. Let the fight back start with ensuring a great game of sports during 3^rd-14^th Oct. Indian army would re-build the fallen bridge within 3 days. Let rest of the nation follow their footstep and rebuild the image of the nation in the shortest time possible. Life at times is more thrilling than the final overs of a T20 match.