Indian cricket clings on to feudal leftovers

By John Cheeran
Even in the era of globalization it is baffling that Indian society pays its fealty to feudal symbols. Take the much fashionable Twenty20 Indian Premier League for example.
Fifty per cent of the IPL teams have the royalty tag stuck to them.
Out of the eights teams, four are branded as Rajasthan Royals, King’s XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings and Bangalore Royal Challenge.
Three teams somehow owing to certain compulsions had chosen differently. Deccan Chargers (Deccan Chronicle group, the owners wanted the team to mirror their DC image, so the name Chargers, though they were lacking and leaking charge desperately), Delhi Dare Devils (If Delhi had to embrace royalty, they should have named it Mughal Magicians or Marauders but that is not the politically correct thing to do in these surcharged times) and Kolkata Knight Riders. I’m yet to figure out who does the Knight, SRK, ride in Kolkata?
But then if you consider the fact when owner himself is a King, as in the case of Shah Rukh Khan, there is no desperation to call your side King’s Mutton Korma or anything like that.
I believe SRK has been referred to and revered as the King Khan by cricket and film journalists, even though SRK has become a banished king these days. (Well, is there any difference between film and cricket journalists when actress Lekha Washington is doing live reporting for Sony Max’s Xtra Innings?)

The only franchise that has branded their side with a modern name is Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai Indians. And considering Ambani family’s plebian heritage it is no surprise that Mukesh chose not to have a silly royal tag for his franchise. And the brand name of Mumbai Indians, though the city’s cosmopolitan fabric is frayed under the onslaught of various centrifugal forces, has tried to capture the essence of modern India, melding nationalism with a feel for your inner city.
Yes, the past must be remembered but not necessarily glorified without any sense of history.

Yuvraj feels an alien in Mumbai: IPL and the rise of sub-nationalism in India

By John Cheeran
Why does Yuvraj Singh, the captain of Kings XI Punjab, losing self control?
Even after that tense, nerve-wracking one-run win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai? Apparently Yuvraj is peeved at Mumbai crowd’s partisan attitude and refusal to appreciate his side’s glorious efforts on the field to script a pulsating win.
That had Yuvraj burst out after the match “Thank you Mumbai for supporting us. But you should remember that some of our boys from Punjab do play for India.”
Of course Yuvraj was stung and it shows he was not prepared for the internecine nature of the Indian Premier League.
In quite contrast was the approach of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of Chennai Super Kings after playing at Wankhede Stadium during the IPL. When asked about crowd’s jeers Dhoni was cool enough to put things in perspective by saying: “That does not matter.. I’m sure they will cheer me when I’m playing for India.”
No wonder then that this cool Singh has overtaken that haughty Prince to the Indian national team’s captaincy.
It is great to know that Mumbaikars are solidly behind their city team. It is not easy to build the emotional quotient for a newly launched brand and Mumbai Indians can take heart from this fact though they lost a golden chance to move into the semifinals by that suicidal act of five run outs to gift win to Punjab.
And by the way, is there a danger that the deep-rooted parochialism will find its outlets in the theatre of Indian Premier League?
The brand buidling centred around around cities may give rise to a kind of sub-nationalism that India has not seen so far.
Who says sport unites men and women?

Sreesanth, Harbhajan and the biggest hit of them all!

By John Cheeran
There are many who believe that Kerala's and India's fast bowler S Sreesanth got his just deserts at the hands of that obnoxious weed, Harbhajan Singh after a fractious encounter in the IPL at Mohali.
I do not support such pernicious line of thinking. Sreesanth was hit, and the only thing that upset me was that he did not show his other cheek. Instead, he began to weep. A sorry state of affairs, for the macho image of a Malayali.
As it has been significantly observed by Farooq Engineer, former Indian wicketkeeper and the match referee in this episode, Harbhajan manhandled Sreesanth without any provocation. Whatever the magnitude of the provocations been, Harbhajan should have refrained from manhandling his India team mate. Harbhajan has proved through a series of incidents that it is not just his bowling action that's suspect but his actions off the ball too.
The saving grace for Sreesanth was that the whole thing happened in front of 25 live cameras and Harbhajan's stupidity could not be covered up by the gangsters in the dressing room. Often, Indian team's dressing rooms were silent witnesses to such truant behaviour by the senior pros. And all such incidents used to be glossed over with the argument in a family all sorts of things do happen.
Not just that. Indian cricket had witnessed ugly spats on the ground between Maninder Singh and Manoj Prabhakar. And in a Duleep Trophy match I can recall when Rashid Patel chased Raman Lamba with his bat to hit.
This time around, The IPL and the BCCI top brass were under pressure to ban Harbhajan. I however consider that the 11-match ban was too little to be an object lesson for others. For his crimes, not just against Sreesanth, but against cricket, Harbhajan should be banned from all forms of game till his last day.