Mohammad Asif: the suspense continues

By John Cheeran
The suspense over the substance grows in the desert. On Tuesday it was leaked to the media that Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif was detained at the Dubai International Airport for the last 36 overs. Another 24 hours have gone, but the verdict on the nature of substance found in Asif’s wallet, whether it is a sweetener or hashish or nandrolone, is not yet out.
The longer it takes, the clearer it becomes that Asif will be allowed to wriggle out of the rigors of the law.
Considering the clout the Pakistan government and General Pervez Musharaff enjoys in the UAE, it is quite likely that Asif will be pardoned sooner or later.
The delay is worth waiting for the Pakistan Cricket Board, as it is only part of paving the way for a pardon for errant, young, foolish fellow.

Food for thought in Rome

By John Cheeran
In Rome, the United Nations is having a thought summit on the global food crisis.
The intention is very good. But solution is straightforward and simple. Plant more crops; grow more food to meet the rising demand. Prepare the land for it.
It should not have taken a summit with a budget of whatever dollars to tell world about this.
Inviting the likes of Ahmadinejad and Robert Mugabe, and watch they push their agendas at the cost of the starving millions, is not the best way the FAO and the UN should treat the crisis.
And going by the report in The Guardian, there is no food crisis in Rome. Sausage is going for two pence which is an indication of plenty.
And what about all of us eating less and importing stuff from places near to us, as a start to the campaign against rising price of food?

Mohammad Asif: caught in Dubai, bowled by PCB

By John Cheeran
There is nothing shocking about an athlete being caught with illegal drugs in his bag at an international airport.
Mohammad Asif is not the first cricketer to have been tempted by drugs. Many stupid people have been caught in situations similar to that of Asif’s. And cricket is no longer a gentleman’s game.
This man- Asif- has a history of substance abuse and two years ago was banned from the game for using nandrolone.
Asif and Shoaib Akhtar, tested positive in an internal dope test conducted by the Pakistan board in October 2006. Asif was initially banned for one year, though the ban was overturned on appeal a month later.
What, however, is disgusting is that International Cricket Council has lost its face at a place where it has set up its headquarters. And Dubai’s zero-tolerance to drugs is well known.
Asif has let down his faith, which must have shaped him as a man, and his practice, the game which has raised him from the grime of daily life in an average Pakistan street.
Much of the blame lies with Pakistan Cricket Board. It has consistently refused to look facts in their face. Even today, Nadeem Akram, a PCB official, desperately defended the bowler by saying the substance that has landed Asif in trouble was a small bit of powder, given by a hakeem, a traditional Islamic healer, five-six months ago in Dubai.
It is really interesting that Indian narcotics authorities did not find this bit of white powder in Asif’s wallet, which PCB claims to have been with the bowler for the last six months, when he went to India to play in the IPL.
What Asif Mohammad needs is help; help to kick the habit.
Not some sloppy defence from the PCB.
And by defending in such a crude manner the PCB is helping neither the bowler nor the game.

Xerox Media and Mohammad Asif!

By John Cheeran
Journalism is great, and online journalism is greater.
One should call journalism of this age, and especially in the Middle East, Xerox Media, for its tendency to whore the news agency copies.
As wire agencies broke the news of Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif arrested at Dubai airport on charges of possessing illegal drugs, what do the Dubai-based newspapers do? Just xerox the story and simply put By A Staff Reporter.
That’s what Khaleej Times’s online edition proudly did, grabbing the AFP story and giving some value addition by adding By a staff reporter!. (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2008/June/theuae_June87.xml&section=theuae)

Gulf News' online edition fell back on Reuters to run the item.
And news had to flow from Lahore; not from Dubai where things were happening.
Hard work, one must say!

Read the AFP copy here
Pakistan's cricketer Asif arrested in Dubai on drugs charges
2 hours ago
LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Asif has been arrested at Dubai airport on charges of possessing illegal drugs, cricket officials said Tuesday.
The 25-year-old Asif was seized while returning home from India after featuring in a domestic event that ended on Sunday, a Pakistan Cricket Board official said on condition of anonymity.
"Yes, we can confirm about Asif's arrest. He was stopped at Dubai airport on charges of carrying opium and was supposed to be brought before the magistrate on Tuesday," the official said.
The PCB would brief the media about the situation later on Tuesday, he said.
"We have few details so we are gathering more and as soon as we get them we will brief the media. As far as we know he flew out of Bombay on Sunday morning and was detained at Dubai airport," said the official.
PCB human resources director Nadeem Akram is in Dubai and has also hired a lawyer to assist Asif, the official said.
Reports from Dubai said the local police have conducted several tests on Asif and would bring him before the magistrate later Tuesday.
The arrest is just the latest controversy to hit Pakistan's troubled cricket team over the past two years.
Asif was banned for one year after he tested positive for the steroid nandrolone in October 2006. Fellow paceman Shoaib Akhtar was banned for two years on the same charge.
The bans were however lifted on appeal two months later.
Akhtar meanwhile is appealing a lifetime ban imposed in April for repeated disciplinary problems.

Jhumpa Lahiri, Unaccustomed Earth and An Unaccustomed Reader

By John Cheeran
Jhumpa Lahiri is in the news again after the publication of her Unaccustomed Earth, a new collection of stories. I read the other day the review of the book, or, more a review on author, in Time magazine while browsing at an airport bookstore.
The buzz is that she has been hailed as an American author with a distinct voice, though her style is less baroque, and almost plain.
Left to myself, I’m not greatly enthused by what Lahiri tells through her stories or by her writing itself. I haven’t read the Unaccustomed Earth, but I have read an earlier collection of stories, The Interpreter of Maladies, and the novel, The Namesake.
Both those efforts left me untouched. The point is that for an average North American critic and reader, the Bengali and Indian social preoccupations may hold novel value but for a wearied Indian such as me such stuff brings only waves of yawn.
Many count Lahiri’s limitations as her advantage such as the shut doors and world she describes, and her plain style.
I have wondered how on earth anyone could write such contrived drivel as the Namesake and still get published by any self-respecting imprint.
And what does the Namesake really speaks about?
The immigrant experience?
Had Lahiri wanted to tackle immigrant experience in the West or in the North America, she should have moved away from the elitist Indian experience and ventured to see searing, more vivid immigrant tales rather than the set up dates and the art of frying samosas. I looked for the spirit that leavens any life, leave alone the immigrant life, in the Namesake, but couldn’t find it.
What Lahiri has to say and write is nothing but comparing and exchanging family notes. And surprise is that there is a huge market for such stuff. Apparently Jhumpa has done some research.
And before I began to write this post, I had come across an interview with her in the Atlantic Magazine. There I found Jhumpa Lahiri rationalizing her plain style. Allow me to quote her from that interview
“I like it to be plain. It appeals to me more. There's form and there's function and I have never been a fan of just form. My husband and I always have this argument because we go shopping for furniture and he always looks at chairs that are spectacular and beautiful and unusual, and I never want to get a chair if it isn't comfortable. I don't want to sit around and have my language just be beautiful. If you read Nabokov, who I love, the language is beautiful but it also makes the story and is an integral part of the story. Even now in my own work, I just want to get it less—get it plainer. When I rework things I try to get it as simple as I can. “

Well, it seems I will remain an Unaccustomed Reader for some time to come.

Chak de IPL!: Owner's Pride in Indian Premier League

By John Cheeran
Now without Googling, can you tell me who owns the Rajasthan Royals?
Or for that matter who owns the Chennai Super Kings?
Answers are slow to come forth, I guess.
Compared to Vijay Mallyas, Preity Zintas and Shah Rukh Khans of the Indian Premier League franchise world, these owners (Chennai and Rajasthan) are less visible and that may have contributed to their teams’ invincible streak in the IPL.
Rajasthan Royals, incidentally, are owned by Emerging Media under Lachlan Murdoch and Suresh Chellaram. Have you seen these guys on television during the IPL or basking in the glory of Shane Warne, Swapnil Asnodkar, Yousuf Pathan and Shane Watson?
No, right?
And what about Chennai Super Kings?
Yes, N. Srinivasan is the treasurer of the BCCI and he also runs the Chennai-based firm India Cements. Srinivasan is the vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements.
Srinivasan, though having close links with the BCCI, never flaunted his position and proved the cultural contrast between an austere Chennai and a brash Bangalore.
Murdoch and Srinivasan treated their players in a professional manner and gave them the freedom to think cricket instead of jumping themselves on the attention bandwagon. Such management ethics are ideal in any environment; whether you are producing cement or running a cricket franchise.
The inaugural IPL has proved that Twenty 20 is not driven by gimmicks. No sloganeering or cheer leading could influence the outcome of a cricket match. Had it been so, the IPL final should have been played between Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders and Preity Zinta’s King’s XI Punjab.
And for all his love of cricket where was SRK on the night of IPL final?
At least television screens did not show his face; neither that of Preity Zinta.
It was a pity that the man who flew to Johannesburg to cheer the Indian team during the Twenty20 World Cup final against Pakistan stayed away from the Dr Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
How lucky we are that Aamir Khan did not buy the IPL franchise rights and name the side Lagaan!
Chak De IPL!

Patriotism takes a huge beating in IPL. Mind it, rascals!

By John Cheeran
The best team won the inaugural Indian Premier League trophy. Rajasthan Royals had creditable displays throughout the league phase though they almost conceded their last league game to Kings XI Punjab.
Rajasthan’s victory is tribute to team spirit and hard work. They did not have huge stars but an astute Shane Warne melded an outfit through his no-nonsense approach.
On Sunday, during the final, the intensity that Warne brought to the field to contain the good start of Chennai Super Kings was astounding. Warne never let the pressure ease and even though Chennai batsmen had the advantage in the first 10 overs of their innings, Royals won the game in the latter half.
And what a star turn Yousuf Pathan did in the final. A three-wicket spell from the spinner never allowed Chennai to shift gears. By snaring two wickets in one over on a day when his captain went wicket-less was a performance any skipper would have been proud of from his teammates.
Pathan did the hit parade while chasing the 164 runs needed for the title. Yes, Yousuf had a bit of luck. He was dropped in the first over of Muttaiah Muralitharan while the batsman on 13, and had that catch was taken the outcome of the match would have been different as Chennai bowlers began to tighten their lien and length. Yousuf, however, was undeterred and still enjoyed big strikes, getting two more lives in the process.
It was not just Pathan. Both Rajasthan and Chennai had their players working hard and if there was a blemish it was some sloppy fielding from the Super Kings. May be the pressure finally got to them. A better fielding show would have made things a lot tougher for Rajasthan.
But I hope the subliminal message in all this would not get lost in Indian cricket. Look, what an Aussie could actually achieve with an Indian side with low level egos. Yes, Greg Chappell tried and failed but was eagerly picked up by Lalit Modi’s Jaipur Cricket Association.
Modi again persuaded Warne to do the dual role of skipper and coach with Rajasthan Royals and how the naughty Aussie has succeeded.
A streamlined approach always helps in executing your plans and realizing your goals. With Warne not having to contend with a captain with quite a different set of ideas, Rajasthan stayed focused on their task – giving it all.
Just consider that most of the IPL teams boasted of Indian icons, but all of them failed in their quest for glory. Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, despite support from cash-rich franchises, could not make the cut into the semifinals.
Yes, patriotism has taken a huge beating in the IPL, I must say. Not even the Twenty20 World Champion, Mahendra Singh Dhoni could prove the difference.
Mind it, you rascal!

Twists and turns of Twenty 20

By John Cheeran
It was feared that Twenty 20 was all about getting your call right on the given hour. Twenty20 is unpredictable in nature we believed. But in the end planning and consistency and hard work have triumphed over mere instinct.
Once you get a knockout punch, it is tough to be back on your feet, they say. At least that’s what fallen captain Yuvraj Singh said the other day.
But you can ignore basic skills such as clean hitting, daring on the field only at your peril. Ability to think on your feet is what needed for success in Twenty20.
Tonight we will find out who has that in abundance as Shane Warne and Mahendra Singh Dhoni lead their sides in the IPL final.
Now over to twists and turns. Over to Twenty 20!

IPL semifinals cough up deserving winners

By John Cheeran
Not many were mourning the King’s XI Punjab at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, on Saturday night. For Yuvraj Singh’s men did nothing to raise a challenge to Chennai Super Kings in the semifinal of the Indian Premier League.

So both semifinals of the IPL have been disappointments when you are looking at them, in terms of the thrill quotient. No last over dramas, no palpitations.

It is remarkable that bowlers players such a key role in both semifinals. Three early wickets snatched by Shane Watson rattled the rhythm of Delhi Daredevils and they never threatened the near 200 winning target posted by Rajasthan Royals.

And on Saturday there was no contest as Makhya Ntini blew out the Kings XI which largely depended on Australian and Sri Lankan stars. All of them, including Shaun Marsh and Sangakara failed on the day. And their failure was accentuated by the ease with which Parthiv Patel and Suresh controlled the business of getting runs in the middle. So it was all about getting the balance between the urge to thrill the crowd and picking the right balls for the big heave. Not mere brawn is not enough, as once again Punjab learnt to their chagrin.

As they say, you win some, you lose some.

Thank you all the same Kings and Queens.

Battle of Kings; battle of Singhs!

By John Cheeran
So the stage is set for the second semifinal in the IPL between two Kings. Chennai Super Kings and King's XI Punjab.
It is quite likely that Mumbai crowd will again get under the skin of Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh. The Mumbai crowd now have added reason to frustrate Yuvraj after the pugnacious Punjab skipper berated Mumbaikar's for their partisan attitude and Mumbai Indians effectively lost their chances to enter the semifinal thanks to some outstanding fielding efforts from Punjab. That nail biting contest in which Mumbai Indians frittered away their winning position by committing five run outs happened at this very same Wankhede Stadium and the crowd would love nothing better than humbling Punjab Kings.
It is also at another level a fight between two emerging leaders in Indian cricket, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. Dhoni might have pipped Yuvraj to the Indian team captaincy, but here Yuvraj gets an ideal opportunity to show that his fiery attitude too can bring about success compared with MSD's air conditioned approach to things on an off the field.
These - Punjab and Chennai - are really two strong teams. Both rely on outside talent to define their performance. Punjab mightily depends on the Aussie Shaun Marsh to get an explosive start. Chennai's great local guns such as Badarinath has not boomed for some time now.
I have a sneaky feeling that both captains will come out something special tonight at Wankhede to set up the title clash with Rajasthan Royals.

Brothers in arms: Pathan Partnership

By John Cheeran
I'm not concerned by the fact that chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar again ignored the claims of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly to play in international one-dayers.
Rahul and Sourav had their time under the sun and it is quite fitting others too given chances to pad up for India.
Yousuf Pathan's entry into Indian team proves that hard work pays off no matter whatever the hurdles in your way. When was the last time two brothers played together in an Indian cricket team? I can but only recall the Amarnath days -- when Surinder, Mohinder and Rajinder - played for India. And they had come from such roots so it was considered only inevitable.
Here from Gujarat has come this successful tale that should be closely read, read aloud and emulated by every Muslim family in India. Give your lads opportunities, back them up against all odds and you will have success one day. After all India is yours too.
It is quite easy to get in the mode of sulking and blaming others for all the ills that plague you. But these two brothers from Baroda -- sons of an ordinary muezzin-- have proved what a combination of ambition, hard work and talent would give you.
Yousuf has captured the imagination of cricket world by his raw courage and hard hitting in crunch situations when more illustrious names found it tough going in the Indian Premier League.
Instead of falling back on the dollies of the state, such as the Sachar Commission report, always rely on you.
World will be watching you.

Rajasthan Royals storm into IPL finals

By John Cheeran
It is all over. No uprising in the final overs, Delhi Daredevils sputtered and ended their innings at 87 all out giving a 105-run win for Rajasthan Royals. Royals moved into the final of the IPL.
It was a bit comical when Glenn McGrath was made to look a fool while he was ran out to signal the end for Devils.
After Shane Watson took those three early wickets, Delhi did not stand much chance. Some start fielding tightened the screws and suddenly it was no contest and it looked Virender sehwag's gameplan came apart for the semifinal. sehwag tried to be proactive by bowling first but that did not work a wee bit thanks to brilliant allround performance from Watson and some bold hitting from Yousuf Pathan.
Naturally i'm happy that my prediction has come true. i had backed Rajasthan Royals and for a change, luck stayed with them.

10 overs gone, five wickets gone, Delhi going nowhere in this IPL semifinal

By John Cheeran
At halfway stage, after 10.1 overs Delhi are 55 for five.
A terrific catch from kaif signals the end of Karthik. Trivedi takes the wicket.
Now you can safely say that who is winning this semifinal.

Is the game up for Delhi (dare) Devils?

By John Cheeran
Is the game up for Delhi Daredevils?
Asking rate is climbing. 13 runs per over is not impossible but pretty tough against Royals.
Shane Warne's last over yielded 8 runs. after nine overs 48/4. Not an exciting situation for Devils. (I think I can now stop typing DARE for Delhi)

Delhi loses four wickets...

By John Cheeran
Things are not looking all that bright for Delhi Daredevils.
They have a tough task ahead of them after losing four wickets for 28 runs. Shane Watson struck early blows and Dinesh karthik and tillekaratne Dilshan have a difficult, daring task ahead of them to win from this stage.
One more wicket will give the decisive edge to Rajasthan Royals.

193 to win. Watson sends back Sehwag

By John Cheeran
193 is not a daunting total for Delhi Daredevils. They have the firepower to defeat Royals.
But Shane Watson has sent back Delhi skipper Virender sehwag and that should have some bearing on the outcome of this match.
May be Rajasthan Royals are some 20 runs short of what could have been a really winning total.
The match is -semifinal of the IPL - well and truly on.

Rajasthan struggles to keep pace

By John Cheeran
Another (third wicket) for Maharoof. Tanvir out for five.
Now Shane Watson waits for his partner to walk in.

Maharoof magic. Asnodkar goes.

By John Cheeran
Maharoof magic. 65 for two. Two wicktes in one over. Asnodkar caught by Tewari. So suddenly Delhi Daredevils back in the game. Very strongly that is.
No Shane Warne's surprise. Sohail Tanvir has come to bat.

Maharoof packs off Smith

By John Cheeran
Bowling change. Maharoof comes in.
Another hit from Smith lands just short of boundary.
Now shikar Dhawan catches Smith off Maharoof. 25 runs from 21 balls.
Delhi Daredevils takes first wicket. 65 for one.

First six in Royals innings

By John Cheeran
Maharoof drops Asnodkar in the boundary line. four more runs.
First sixer comes along as Asnodkar slams Yo Mahesh to fine leg.
Now another four.

Smith vs McGrath

By John Cheeran
Smith joins the fun with a hampered leg. Smacks McGrath for three boundaries in a row.
Chnages in the field. 45 for no loss.

Asnodkar turns the tap on.Boundaries...

By John Cheeran
Unpredictable Asnodkar. Whacks Mohammad Asif for two boundaries. Rameez Raja is eager for some uppercuts for his tea. Another four for Asnodkar.
Runs are beginning to flow.
The momentum is here.

No fireworks yet...

By John Cheeran
Trouble in the beginning for Royals. Smith needs a runner. Mohammad Kaif comes in.
Political heavyweights including Sharad Pawar is watching the action.
Now what's Sawpnil Asnodkar doing against McGrath? Hits out. Two runs.
Yes, classical Asnodkar. Edge thru second slip, four runs.
Ravi Shastri says this is living dangerously!
Asnodkar is doing what virender Sehwag has converted into an art. And later Sourav Ganguly.
After three overs 15 for no loss.

Where are the boundaries?

By John Cheeran
Where are the boundaries?
Yes Graeme Smith finally found them in the second over.
Now there is a direct hit. Third umpire reviews replay.
Have Royals lost their first wicket?
No, green light flashes. Not out...

So semifinal starts at Wankhede stadium

By John Cheeran
Glenn McGrath starts first over. Sedate beginning. Indications are this really is a tough contest. Chances must be taken but carefully.
It is a maiden. Only a wide that has opened Delhi Daredevils' account.

Predict the winner: Who will win the IPL semis today? Rajashtan Royals...

By John Cheeran
Who will the IPL semifinal between Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals?
I go for Rajasthan Royals. They despite topping the league phase remain underdogs. They have the power and skill and sense to go on to the championship itself.
But let me state this also. Normally it happens like this. The team that I supports trips down and rival emerges winner. That's why I'm being told always bet on worst fears. But this time let me bet on my best fear and back Rajasthan Royals.
I hope Mumbai crowd would be rooting for Rajasthan.
As it is, Virender Sehwag has won the toss and is bowling.
It will not be easy out there for Shane Warne and company.

A to Z of Indian Premier League (IPL)

By John Cheeran
The Indian Premier League is in its last stretch. Here is an A-Z about the IPL.

A for Aussies

(John Buchanan, Tom Moody, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Shane Warne, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Dareen Lehmann, Justin Langer, Brad Hodge, Cameron White, Brett Lee, James Hopes, Luke Pomersbach, Simon Katich -- these Aussies have dominated the IPL than any other mercenaries)

B for Ban, Bhajji and Bangalored!
C for Cheerleaders
D for Dugout, dotball, dollars
E for Extras
F for Franchise, freehit, fantastic (the most abused word during the IPL), foreigners
G for Glamour, girls
H for Hotheads (Harbhajan, Sreesanth, Yuvi); hit wicket
I for IPL
J for Jab We Met (Charu Sharma meeting Vijay Mallya)
K for Kingfisher; King Khan and all other Kings in IPL
L for Lekha Washington; last ball dramas
M for Modi (Lalit); Money and Mind It!
N for Nightlife; not out, net run rate
O for Orange cap
P for Purple cap, partnerships
Q for Queen of IPL- Preity Zinta
R for Rajasthan Royals, Run outs, Run Rate and reverse sweep
S for Sixer, Shah Rukh, Slapgate
T for Twenty20, teen brigade
U for Unsung heroes (*Yousuf Pathan, Swapnil Asnodkar); upper cut
V for Vijay Mallya
W for Warne
X for Xenophobia of Mukesh Ambani (Ambani, when asked about his team's early defeats, said "just wait for these Aussies to go home, then we will know who is winning"), Xtra Innings
Y for Youth power
Z for zeroes (Challengers and Chargers)

My Best IPL XI

By John Cheeran

Let me present my best XI from the IPL.

Shaun Marsh
Sanat Jayasuriya
Gautam Gambhir
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Yuvraj Singh
Venugopala Rao
Shane Watson
Shane Warne
Glenn McGrath
Manpreet Goni
S Sreesanth
Swapnil Asnodkar (the 12th man)

In which the owner takes it all!

By John Cheeran
Kolkata Knight Riders have a new promotional song and I think it promotes not the team, which has failed to make the semifinals of the IPL, but its marquee owner Shah Rukh Khan.
Setting aside my strong, coloured opinions on Sourav Ganguly as a cricketer and captain, I must say that Shah Rukh Khan has erred in ignoring his team’s captain and other members of Riders team while filming the song. You cannot have a cricket team without cricketers. There can be a movie without stars, though.
What is it that provokes an owner, that too a co-owner, to think that he is some sort of junta leader so that he can mistake himself for the team?
Is SRK, after all, really thinking that he is King Khan?
In that case Prince of Kolkata is right to correct the King.

'Top 51 cricket blogs on the web'

Hi folks,
www.cricketbuzz.org has published their list of ‘Top 51 Cricket Blogs on the Web’. It is my pleasure to inform you that www.johncheeran.blogspot.com has made the cut.
You can check it out here (http://www.cricketbuzz.org/2008/05/top-51-cricket-blogs-on-web.html)"

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.

Emily Gould, me and blogging

By John Cheeran
Reading Emily Gould’s Exposed in the New York Times Magazine was an experience for me. I have been a regular blogger, but rarely have I posted on my personal life. One thing is that I post revealing my real identity. And who the hell is interested in me?
But Emily has been a trendsetter, I guess. I may not be far from the truth when I write that Emily has given rise to pathetic imitators in India, such as Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan, who has been pasting her real life (and imagined too) online to grab some attention and page views.
Why do I blog?
Blog gives me the freedom (as far as Google lets it) to write what I want and what I feel without having to please anyone else. But it has been a deliberate decision not to get overtly personal. Many may quickly point out that being a man I stand no chance even if I had gone the Emily Gould way.
Well, each one has his /her own way and apparently Emily has had her way what with NYT dedicating its last Sunday’s magazine cover for her. But I like the way Emily writes. It was an absolute delight to read her essay on what many had described as ‘modern love’.
Please allow me to quote Emily from her essay in NYT magazine.
“The will to blog is a complicated thing, somewhere between inspiration and compulsion. It can feel almost like a biological impulse. You see something, or an idea occurs to you, and you have to share it with the Internet as soon as possible. What I didn’t realize was that those ideas and that urgency — and the sense of self-importance that made me think anyone would be interested in hearing what went on in my head — could just disappear.”
And let me add this bit from New York Magazine on www.gawker.com and the kind of journalism Emily has revelled in.

“Journalists are both haves and have-nots. They’re at the feast, but know they don’t really belong—they’re fighting for table scraps, essentially—and it could all fall apart at any moment. Success is not solid. That’s part of the weird fascination with Gawker, part of why it still works, five years on—it’s about the anxiety and class rage of New York’s creative underclass. Gawker’s social policing and snipe-trading sideshow has been impossible to resist as a kind of moral drama about who deserves success and who doesn’t. It supplies a Manhattan version of social justice.”

Barking up the wrong tree!

By john Cheeran
Mr N Gopalaswamy, thank you very much showing Barkha Dutt, the managing editor of NDTV, her place during the initial moments of the voting countdown for the Karnataka State Assembly elections, 2008.
To a question (question is irrelevant, as all questions from her are) from Barkha, Gopalaswamy shot back:” You are barking up the wrong tree.”
Barkha fell silent.
We know only dogs bark.
I’m told that Barkha talks only.

When Kapil predicts end of the road for the BCCI

By John Cheeran
Where is Kapil Dev?
The lone cricketer who can claim the tag of having been a cult figure in Indian cricket, is now sadly pushing his company's floodlights while the Indian cricket is flooded with the billion-watt shine of the Twenty20 Indian Premier League.
While I was wondering about the whereabouts of Kapil I spotted his statement in print much in the manner of historian Francis Fukuyama announcing the end of history at the end of cold war saying that the Board of Control for Cricket in India is finished.
All of us know that Kapil has his axe to grind with the BCCI and the fabulous reception for the IPL has taken the wind out of the sails of Indian Cricket League (ICL), the Twenty20 circus floated by the Zee Group and shepherded by our own Kapil.
End of the road for the BCCI, the world’s rickets cricket body?
Kapil must be an optimist at this stage since he can see the fall of his detractors when they are enjoying an unparalleled success as having executed a daring concept in a brilliant fashion.
Yes, of course, I can see Kapil’s point that the clubs will take over the game from the national board.
Look at football, Kapil, clubs and national bodies have carved out their own niches and Fifa manage to keep everyone on their toes.
So don’t lose sleep over the longevity of the BCCI.
In case it falls terminally ill, we will call you.
Meanwhile dig deep for some fresh ideas to infuse some life into the ICL.
In this one gamble of Twenty20, Kapil is far from having a perfect vision.
Switch on the floodlights inside your brain. Let there be light.

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?

Dravid, the Jesus Christ of Indian cricket

By John Cheeran
Finally Royal Challenge tasted a drop of victory in Chennai against Chennai Super Kings and that should go a long way to rejuvenate the harried side, led by Rahul Dravid.
And quickly let me tell you what I consider as having played a major factor in Challenge’s win? There was no Zaheer Khan. On many occasions during the IPL, Zaheer’s utterly erratic bowling has let the Bangalore side down and (I know Zaheer is one of the leading wicket takers in the IPL with 13 or so wickets to his name but the point that in not one game has he troubled batsmen or had an impact on the game.)

Having said that, the 14-run was largely plotted by the indefatigable Anil Kumble who derailed the supremely confident Super Kings with a 3./14 spell and won the man of the match award.

And how can one ignore Rahul Dravid’s innings of 47, the highest in the match on either side, It is no secret that I admire Rahul Dravid , the man and batsman. The more I get to watch him, the more I get the feeling that here is the Jesus Christ of Indian cricket. Every time Dravid walks out to bat it seems he carries the burden of the world and is going to be sacrificed so that his team and his world can be redeemed. And looking at the reckless of ways of his teammates Dravid must be mumbling those celebrated words:: ”Lord forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”

And finally after too many slings and arrows of fortune, Royal Challenge can think that they are right now one better than Deccan Chargers.

When Dravid shows some dark humour..

By John Cheeran
It is no secret that everyone in the Royal Challenge camp is frustrated with the way things have gone against them in the IPL.
Rahul Dravid, a normally unflappable fellow even when faced with grave provocations, lost his cool when his co-cricketers again came up with a feckless performance against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. On a day when not even Mr Vijay Mallya’s choice Misbah-ul Haq could bring alive the scoreboard, Dravid showed some dark humour by belting sixer after sixer in an all-lost cause, including grace and honour.
At least, as a captain and a professional, Dravid redeemed himself to a great extent by that nonchalant innings.
Dravid’s innings (unbeaten 75 from 36 balls with six sixers and six boundaries) against Shane Warne’s side was nothing but ‘the rage, rage against the dying of the light.’
Through that blast in Jaipur, Dravid was sending out a strong message to those critics who had questioned his conditioning to live up to the challenges thrown up by the Twenty20 version of cricket. Dravid showed that while still holding on to all the fundamentals of batting, you still can have some fun.
Dravid, the classical batsman par excellence, did not resort to gross or tantalizing improvisations to succeed but played what could be described as proper strokes. Not a slap of the ball Dravid attempted during his defiant innings.
It was significant that while at other end, his team mates played outrageous strokes to get themselves out but each time the ball went up in the air, Dravid did not cross over, as part of that custom to protect the newcomer.
It only showed how disgusted Dravid has become as captain at the irresponsible ways of the merry makers that he had picked in the first place.

Charge and Challenge in IPL!

By John Cheeran
It is easy to understand the lacklustre show of Royal Challenge, Bangalore, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 since as you all know they are the Test team in Twenty20 disguise.
What then about Deccan Chargers, Hyderabad? According to many, DC boasts of the ideal line up to reap success in the IPL field. Still in the points tally, they share equal misery with Royal Challenge, having logged four points each.
So success can’t be reduced to getting your line up right as Vijay Mallya thinks. You require that extra brew to have the fizz in your performance. Or it seems.
Despite Adam Gilchrist, Rohit Sharma, Venugopala Rao and enjoying a reasonably sharp bowling attack Chargers have failed to produce long lasting innings. In fact, to the horror of Deccan Chronicle messengers, Chargers have not won a single match at their home ground, a feat even achieved by even a stolid Rahul Dravid.
May be, Chargers should try eating at least a sport page of Deccan Chronicle and Royal Challengers should have swig of Kingfisher beer as they enter the field hence forth.

Shah Rukh in IPL Country: King without boundaries

By John Cheeran
What a difference a single player can make to a team’s fortunes?
Shoaib Akhtar again proved that he deserves the marquee status the cricket world has accorded him despite his tantrums. On Tuesday night, Akhtar first gave hope and then a resounding victory for Kolkata Knight Riders against a strong Delhi Dare Devils squad in the BCCI-led Indian Premier League Twenty20 Championship.
If someone can recognize such star value, then he must be none other than Shah Rukh Khan. It is not surprising that Shah Rukh has brought in Akhtar to be the Knight in Shining Armour for his Kolkata outfit.
SRK did better than his cheerleader girls to rouse the crowd at Eden Gardens. It seems to me that SRK, as the one who writes the pay checks, has usurped the chair of coach John Buchanan. How can Kabir Khan of Chak de India just watch from the sidelines?
But Shah Rukh knows that his tactical prodding alone is not enough to lift his team when the batters post a below part total. To move on to winning positions you need to have impact players such as Akhtar.
Well, Vijay Mallya must be watching the Knight Riders.
Shah Rukh is the King, the king of good times, at least for the time being.
The beer baron may be fuc-King his good times!

Mallya is kicking his own arse in the IPL

By John Cheeran

Vijay Mallya, the king of good times, is having nightmares. And generously, Mallya is passing on his nightmares to his hired bunch of cricketers.
Mallya is in the habit of kicking arses, and has already done that to Charu Sharma. Mallya’s dreamboat, Bangalore Royal Challengers, is foundering in the waters of Indian Premier League. After having too closely associated with his franchise, Mallya has become the butt of jokes as Bangalore offers little challenge to its rivals.
Corporate sector loves to bandy about the accountability factor. If you do not succeed, you have to bow out. But how you go about reveals a lot about your corporate culture.

You play to win. But you are bound to lose too. Not all companies can register similar levels of growth in the same market. The fact that there is no space for draws in the Twenty 20 cricket can sound a bit cruel to parties involved and especially to former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid, in Bangalore’s ugly experience in the IPL.

You cannot change course midstream. I can’t understand why Mallya is chafing at Sharma and Dravid for having chosen wrong players to lead the Twenty20 charge.
May be it is time Mallya realized that it is he who has made the wrong choices. Once the auction was over, come whatever may, you have got to back your guys, till the last match, instead of distancing yourself from the freefall. When Mallya tells the equity holders that he let himself bypassed by Sharma and Dravid, it shows that he lacked the courage to stand by his own convictions.

Otherwise, Mallya has done nothing wrong, but sadly, he thinks so. Mallya had little choice but seek expert advice from men who are familiar with things cricketing how to put together a cricket team, albeit twenty20, and run a franchise. Bangalore did not lack such people with Mallya free to pick the brains of the current Indian Test team captain Anil Kumble and former Indian skipper Dravid. Indian national team’s bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad is the guru of Challengers. Still, the premium brand Royal challenge lacked the kick when it came to hitting over the top.


To me Bangalore Royal Challengers look much the same as the Indian team that took part in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. That team led by Dravid had all the elements and tactical nous but came a cropper on the field.

Dravid is having another crisis of leadership, whether he would like to admit it or not, thanks to a series of choices that has failed to fire.

Royal Challengers have been dubbed as a Test team by the media. Apparently Dravid would have believed that in any format, those guys with sound basic skills tend to do well. But in the short run, Dravid has been proved wrong by Daredevils, Knight Riders etc.


I’m sure Mallya’s HR department will take over players’ auction from the likes of captain and the CEO of the side for the next round of IPL.

Not all crises have the luck of throwing up a saviour and Mallya will have to wait.
Not all problems have solutions but Mallya will have to take a deep swig before he can cheer on his challenge in the IPL.
Till such time, he should ogle at the babes on his calendar sheets.

Men in White; Men in Black

By John Cheeran
I enjoyed reading Mukul Kesavan’s Men in White, a book of essays. It took me almost a year to get hold of the book and then last month, I read through it.
Being an irregular reader of Kesavan’s columns’ at The Telegraph, Calcutta, these offering was far from satisfying. I did not understand the hype regarding a book which is essentially a compilation. In fact to sell his book, Kesavn wrote a blog with the same name at www.cricinfo.com and after the publication of the book he stopped it.
And unfortunately when I was in Delhi in April, an acquaintance’s blog watch column in a tabloid, bemoaned the end of the blog! It is indeed good to have such friends.
I, however, want to salute Kesavan for coming up with some bold statements regarding the nature of cricket journalism in India.
Kesavan rightly points out how cricket journalists in India, and that includes former cricketers-turned-writers, fail to look facts at their faces.
And this opinion too one has read before at Wisden Asia cricket magazine. Kesavan writes that even guys such as Sanjay Manjrekar puts Barry Richards, who played only FOUR Tests, much higher in order when they make a list of batting greats, and ignores someone like Sunil Gavaskar, who was the backbone of Indian batting close to two decades. And Manjrekar at least should have watched Gavaskar in action many times over, being a Mumbai-based cricketer.
Kesavan rightly attacks the servile attitude of Indians for blindly holding onto the indexes supplied by the white cricket establishment. And immediately he refers to Graeme Hick, and how the player was exposed in the international arena for what he is worth. He would have been another Barry but for playing for England and coming a cropper.

It is observations such as these that make Kesavan’s writing a pleasure to read. But as Kesavan accuses some of the leader writers of English newspapers, who had an uncharitable view on Sourav Ganguly, as being failed intellectuals, Kesavan himself can be classified as a failed novelist. And a failed novelist is any day better than an average Indian cricket journalist.

Kesavan quotes Christopher Isherwood of having said that he occupies the front of the second grade novelists, an admission of reality, I have a feeling that same can be said of our history teacher at Jamia Milia in Delhi.

How many average Indian cricket journalists have had the educational and family background that Kesavan has enjoyed? But that Kesavan is an elitist should not take away from the worth of his arguments.
And Kesavan comes across as someone who is irreverent when he berates AFS Talyarkhan, a highly rated sports journalist and commentator based in Mumbai, as an old windbag. I have read only a few columns Talyarkhan wrote for Sportsweek in the fag end of 80s. I haven’t listened to more than a couple of AFS T’s broadcasts. So I can’t make judgment on them. I’m sure Kesavan is correct in his criticism of AFST. But what’s the point of pointing finger at someone who is dead and buried in this case?
Can Kesavan criticize today’s windbags?
How does he rate Arun Lals, Harsha Bhogles?
Would he dare to criticize anyone of these jokers?

Happiness and keeping the score

By John Cheeran
May be, just may be, I’m one of the happiest persons on the earth.
Happy? Me? Someone who is battling a midlife crisis and walked out of office without another job in hand?
I’m happy to be alive when newspaper front page screams at me that death toll in Myanmar is climbing the 50,000 mark. I can see, I can feel. I can sleep at the end of the day despite carrying an empty wallet with me.
There are many who have been taken away from life much before me. So I’m happy to be alive and sit at my corner and watch the world rush by to grab its share of the spoils.
Has it affected anyone of us that more than 50,000 lives were wasted, though in a natural calamity?
Hardly. What matters to us are the T20 scores.
20:20, a world with perfect vision.

What price for getting the headlines right: Journalism in Dubai

By John Cheeran

Do you want to work as a journalist in Dubai?
Do you want to work for the market leader in Dubai?
Please take a look at these clippings culled from Gulf News, Dubai.
The editor / journalist who has given this sport page headline can't even get a world famous name spelled correctly.
Full marks for meeting the deadlines!

Such talent is rewarded without fail in the organisation!
God save journalism and readers of this newspaper in Dubai.

Journalism in Dubai: Take a close look

By John Cheeran

Do you want to work as a journalist in Dubai?
Do you want to work for the market leader in Dubai?
Please take a look at these clippings culled from Gulf News, Dubai.
The editor / journalist who has given this sport page headline does not know the difference between It's and its.
Such talent is rewarded without fail in the organisation!
God save journalism and readers of this newspaper in Dubai.

Where do you find editors who can't tell apart Its from It's? Go to Dubai! And Pick up a copy of Gulf News

By John Cheeran
Do you want to work as a journalist in Dubai?
Do you want to work for the market leader in Dubai?
Please take a look at these clippings culled from Gulf News, Dubai.
The editor / journalist who has given this sport page lead headline does not know the difference between Its and It's.
What a shame that despite the management investing hugely in American design (Mario Garcia) some of the flunkeys in editorial department makes the product a broadshit par excellence!
Such talent is rewarded without fail in the organisation!
God save journalism, and readers of this newspaper, in Dubai.

Gulf News: Giving Credit where it's due!

By John Cheeran
Do you want to work as a journalist in Dubai?
Do you want to work for the market leader in Dubai?
Please take a look at these clippings culled from Gulf News, Dubai.
The editor / journalist who has given this strap for the interview could not have fucked it up worse. He makes the Pakistani batsman Hameed say he has helped India win the Test during the 2004 series, when Pakistan outplayed India! Such powers of vigilance from a great journalist!
Such talent is rewarded without fail in the organisation!
God save journalism, and readers of this newspaper, in Dubai.

Gulf News, Dubai: It's and Its - all happening there

By John Cheeran

Do you want to work as a journalist in Dubai?
Do you want to work for the market leader in Dubai?
Please take a look at these clippings culled from Gulf News, Dubai.
The editor / journalist who has given headline for this sport column does not know the difference between its and it's.
Such talent is rewarded without fail in the organisation!
God save journalism, and readers of this newspaper, in Dubai.

Quality of Journalism in Gulf

By John Cheeran
Do you want to work as a journalist in Dubai?
Do you want to work for the market leader in Dubai?
Please take a look at these clippings culled from Gulf News, Dubai.
The editor journalist who has given this sport page caption does not know the meaning of the word astride.
Such talent is rewarded without fail in the organisation!
God save journalism, and readers of this newspaper, in Dubai.

'Dont' do this to journalism, my boss! Quality of journalism in Dubai!

By John Cheeran

Do you want to work as a journalist in Dubai?
Do you want to work for the market leader in Dubai?
Please take a look at these clippings culled from Gulf News, Dubai.
The editor journalist who has given this sport page headline does not know the difference between don't and dont. Such talent is rewarded without fail in the organisation!

God save journalism and readers of this newspaper in Dubai.

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.

IPL: FEAR, where is thy sting?

By John Cheeran
Show me a beautiful woman, and I can show you a man who is tired of fucking her.

When I watch and take in the hype around the inaugural Twenty20 Indian Premier League, I think of that line from a Hollywood movie, credited to a female.
I am quick to understand that Twenty20 is not cricket, and it is an entirely new game invented by the English and marketed by Shri Lalit Modi.
When One-day cricket and Day-night cricket came along, there were sceptics. They were honourably buried later. It was said that Fifty50 cricket was created by taking the rib bone from Test cricket. Now which bone has been taken from Fifty50 one-day cricket to invent the Twenty20? Biceps? or Solar Plexus?
Why there has been such amazing batting performances in the first few matches of the IPL?
The most important thing is that FEAR has been taken out of batting when you have only 20 overs and 10 wickets to play around with. This is grossly unfair to the other half of the game, which is bowling.
Who will not be afraid to swing his bat around when you know that even if a wicket falls every two overs, your Riders and Chargers and Devils can complete their innings in comfort.
To make the Twenty20 and IPL attractive and competitive, you have to quickly bring in the law which will limit batting for five wickets only. If you lose your fifth wicket, your innings is over. You can still have 11 players, but the best six batsmen can take to the batting crease, and choosing that six is captain's discretion.
The sooner the cricket world brings in this rule, better for the game.
Or else, the boys and girls will be getting tired very soon, watching this cut and thrust.

M.G. Sasi's Adayalangal: Hunger, Anger and Despair

By John Cheeran
I was among the crowd at Sridhar theatre in Ernakulam that watched M.G. Sasi's Adayalangal, the film chosen by Jahnu Barua-led jury as the best feature film in the Kerala State film awards.
M. G. Sasi has won the Kerala State award for best director, Adayalangal is the best film and the movie's cameraman Radhakrishnan is the best cinematographer.
The verdicat has shocked many, inlcuding directors Adoor Gopalakrishnan (Nalu Pennungal), Shyamaprasad (Ore Kadal), K.P. Kumaran (Akasha Gopuram) and P T Kunhumohammad (Paradesi who all had movies eyeing the award for the best feature film.
I began to watch Sasi's Adayalangal with dread. I even doubted whether it will be a documentary on Nanthanar (Ramakrishnan), the short story writer from Perinthalmanna, who committed suicide after a life of military angst. That I left the screening of Adayalangal without thinking that I wasted my three hours should have been enough to cheer up its director Sasi and the movie crew. How many recent Malayalam movies could produce similar feelings in the ticket-payer?
Adayalangal may not be a great film.
I still don't know whether Adayalangal deserved to be the best film. But havng seen Paradesi and Nalu Pennungal, I'm not surprised that Adayalangal won critical acclaim. All awards are subjective; their merits are relative most of the time. I haven't seen Akasha Gopuram and Ore Kadal, the other two serious contenders for the film awards.
In Adayalangal Sasi tackles a pretty ordinary struggle during the 60s when most of the Malayali families found it tough to keep hunger at bay. That hunger and helplesnness were acute in upper class households bereft of a breadwinner. And such situations have been portrayed in Malayalam letters and movies many times over.
Here a personal struggle, Nanthanar's, gets unswerving attention from the dierctor. Sasi has shown that he has the craft and calibre to tell a story that sticks to the viewer's bone long after the last reel is packed in.
And the real strength of Adayalangal lies in the realistic cinematography thanks to the twitching hands of Radhakrishnan.
The disappointment, though, was that Adayalangal tackled only the awakening of Nanthanar. (Though it has been pointed out that story is not on Nanthanar, but only on a story by Nanthanar. But I don't know how you can winnow the fact from Nanthanar's fiction). As Ramakrishnan (Nanthanar) himself realized at the cost of his life, the awakenings hardly matter in the whirligig of fortunes.

Mathrubhumi to dump editor Gopalakrishnan

By John Cheeran
The news is that Mathrubhumi newspaper's management is dumping Gopalakrishnan, its editor for more than nine years. The move is said to be as a result of the pressure exerted by the CPI (M) and its state unit secretary Pinarayi Vijayan on the newspaper management.
The buzz is that N Madhavankutty, former Resident Editor of the New Indian Express in Kerala, may get the Mathrubhumi job, though Kutty has been positioning himself as the guardian angel of the official faction of the CPI (M) in Kerala.
In that case, Faris Abu Backer-Ranji Paniker team will have to look for another editor to launch its newspaper Vartha.

Bergman and Kielowski walk along Marine Drive in Cochin

By John Cheeran
I'm not a movie junkie, and rarely do I make it to film festivals. After the IFFI Delhi, I'm at another film festival, though a rather low key affair, this time in Cochin, Kerala.
The show has been organised by small band of committed movie buffs and they have grouped themselves as Metro Film Society of Kochi. The festival titled as MIFFK, began on April 4 and runs till April 10 and was inaugurated by Director Sreenivasan and actress Kavya Madhavan.
It has taken this Metro band some effort to put together this festival and the backbone of the festival is a retrospective on Director Ingmar Bergman. Unfortunately Bergman movies are shown at the minuscule cafe@Sridhar at the Sridhar theatre, whereas some documentary trash such as 11th Hour has made it to the prime venue, Sridhar Theatre. The lone Bergman film that is scheduled at Sridhar is The Silence on April 8.
I enjoyed Polish film maker Krzyztoff Kielowski's Camera Buff earlier in the day. The MIFFK offers more Kielowski films such as A Short Film About Killing, A Short Film About Love and No End.
Let there be no end to festivals such as the one organised by Metro Film Society, Cochin.
Thank You guys.

Price wars by the Hindu and the New Indian Express in Kerala!

By John Cheeran
Oh, I'm in Kochi, and I buy the Hindu newspaper.
The newspaper is priced at Rs 3.20 and I give the vendor a five-rupee note. He charges Rs 3.50 for the paper and explains that he has no change.

The next day I choose The New Indian Express. The paper is cheaper than the Hindu, and is priced at Rs 3.15. Again I end up paying Rs 3.50 for all the news and views.
I'm sure that both the Hindu and the New Indian Express managements are aware about this price devil and doing nothing about it.

At least change the listed cover price to Rs 3.50.

So that stray readers like me will not feel that we are being cheated by the news vendors. Editors cannot set the world right nor can they change the order of things in India, but they can change the price of their product to accepted levels.

Or will that be a tall order for them?

Indian Hockey and Cricket: the more you play, the more you win

By John Cheeran

There is much breast-beating about Indian hockey team's failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympics during the qualifying event in Santiago, Chile. It is the first time Indian team missing out of the Olympics hockey competition.

It is a significant moment. Olympics competition is to hockey, what's a World Cup is for cricket.
But we should pause to note that for Indian hockey, the defining moment had come with the lacklustre gold medal victory in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which was hit by the the US-led boycott. The decline in Indian hockey had begun immediately after India's World Cup win in 1976 in Kuala Lumpur. India had a disastrous World Cup in Bombay, I guess.

Forget about all that. Do you remember what had happened to Indian cricket team in last year's (2007) World Cup in the West Indies? It was in last March, the entire nation was ablaze with rage when the Men In Blue were dumped into the Atlantic Ocean by Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis. And now the same bunch of players, almost, are feted without a pause after their convincing wins over world champions Australia and runners up Sri Lanka.

How's this revival and turn around of sorts made possible?

Just compare how many international matches Indian cricket team plays in a year and how many Indian hockey team gets to play.

The simple truth is that the more chances you get to play, the more chances you have of winning. This principle has been vindicated recently in Australia. Manipulated by a self-serving Indian media, the nation is given only the winning moments in the performance chart.

Don't cry. Killing K.P.S. Gill will not resolve Indian hockey's crisis. Let them play more and more, much like these cricketers, and some how, some where, they will win some silver ware.

And we will keep our tirangas ready to unfurl.

Long live Indian Hockey!

Journalism with a human touch!

By John Cheeran

It is no secret that those who visit this blog knows that what an illiterate fellow this blogger is. Now wonder, then, that I find myself without a job these days. As an intelligent colleague used to remark "everyone gets what he/she deserves."

Be that as it may, do we deserve the Week magazine, as it is, from the celebrated Malayala Manorama Group?

I don't know. I recently picked up a copy of the Week, and was amused to see their new punchline for the weekly. "Journalism with a human touch."

Does that mean until now the Week was edited by a bunch of monkeys?

All of us are humans, so why so special about the "human touch"?

The Week has grown strong over the years, I presume. It can add more muscle to its pages with a little more thought.

May be they can try "Journalism with a humane touch."

Touching, indeed!

Indian cricket: Despair and delight - all in 365 days!

By John Cheeran

How fickle is fortune! Almost a year ago, on March 17, Bangladesh stunned India in their first game in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. Rahul Dravid's men never recovered their poise after that humiliating defeat. India crashed out of the World Cup party without reaching the Super Eights.

It was not just Greg Chappell who was made to bear the brunt of the cricket fandom's ire. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's house was attacked by the mob. Many other cricketers homes were subjected to the brickbats. Prabhu, my driver and India's No.1 cricket fan, vowed that he will never watch another cricket match.

Now with only a few days left for the first anniversary of India's World Cup nightmare against Bangladesh, the same band of cricketers - except Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly - are painted afresh as heroes, heroes who could not put a step wrong, life is being breathed into their cutouts again, on the basis of Team India's creditable display in the Commonwealth Bank (CB) triangular series involving world champions Australia and runners up Sri Lanka.

One cannot deny that Dhoni's men thrashed arrogant Aussies in the final by six wickets and nine runs thereby washing away their World Cup sins, substantially.

And for a change, Sachin Tendulkar hit runs when it mattered most -- in a tournament final. His century in Sydney and 91 in the Brisbane act were a treat to watch.

All these, indeed, are cause for celebration. And no wonder, then, the nation is celebrating almost in despair, fearing what calamity would hit the Team India next.

Not many, not even Sharad Pawar, would have thought a sudden turnaround in the fortune's of Indian cricket.

And just pause to think the Twenty 20 World Cup triumph and the CB Series crowning glory were achieved without the grand designs of a coach.

Now Gary Kirsten looks like the biggest fool in the world of cricket.

After such highs, what lows await Chappell's successor now?

Many had felt that Kirsten, though he was given the national coach's job by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (the BCCI) much earlier, was playing it safe by joining the Indian squad only after the side's toughest assignment, the Down Under trip.

By doing so, Kirsten has been left with little room for maneuvering with greats of the game such as Tendulkar, Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh in future. Had Kirsten showed the gumption to join the side earlier, he could have basked in the reflected glory of the men in blue.

But as they say, life is like that. And cricket, very much so.

India's win in CB Series over Australia rewrites equations of supremacy

By John Cheeran
Comments can get tired on events such as these when India quite convincingly thumped world champions Australia 2-0 in the finals of the CB series limited overs championship. But not the players involved; not the least this irrepressible band of players led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
India completed a remarkable trip to Down Under on Tuesday at Brisbane. For the first time they won a triangular series in Australia. (India’s triumph in the Benson and Hedges World Championship in 1985 will remain one of the sweetest moments in Indian cricket history)
The fact that India outplayed world champions and world cup finalists to win the CB series will go a long way to redeem India’s pride which was sullied during the disastrous World Cup campaign in the West Indies in 2007.
Some of the boys who have played a leading hand in the CB Series victory will grow into mature men who can guide the destiny of Indian cricket. Fast bowler Praveen Kumar has been a revelation in as much as in taking crucial wickets as well as maintaining an icy attitude on the follow through.
Rohit Sharma dug in most of the times when he got an opportunity and he should be the balancing factor to the other hot heads in the batting lineup.
All that is to follow.
For the moment it is fifty50.
Enjoy India.

Young India upset world champions Aussies

By John Cheeran
It is just not that the Young India won at Melbourne today but the Twenty20 World Champions defeated Fifty50 world champions Australia in a convincing fashion - by five wickets.
This is a remarkable win when you consider that India has beaten Australia in Australia in a Fifty50 international contest,
only twice in recent times.
During the 2003-2004 trip under Sourav Ganguly, India won only once against Australia in the triangular series. Let’s hope that Mahendra Singh Dhoni can build on the win at MCG and push the World Cup finalists to the brink in the coming days.
Low scoring matches in one-day internationals are rarer but they become quite often, engrossing affairs. So was the clash at MCG.
India and its bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad can afford a smile of satisfaction after young pacers S Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma exploited the weather conditions in a sensible manner.
The early blows delivered by Sreesanth and Ishant rattled the cocky Aussies after Ricky Ponting elected to bat.
If not for Michael Hussey’s grit and gumption, World Champions would have struggled to go past 100.
India did well to reach the target of 160 runs without much flutter though they lost five wickets. Sachin Tendukar’s experience of having seen and played through such variegated playing conditions all over the world shone through as he tamed Brett Lee, Bracken and Johnson.
Rohit Sharma, another Mumbai boy, would have learnt from the Tendulkar tackled the attack. For Rohit, the learning curve continues Down Under.
But for Yuvraj Singh’s wretched form with the bat, things are slowly falling in place for the Young India.

Vikram Chandra's Sacred Games: A Review

By John Cheeran
Finally I finished it - reading Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games.
Sacred Games’ volume kept me away from it for more than a year but with nothing better to do during these days I raced through with delight and towards the end with disappointment.
Vikram Chandra does not need any certificate from me for his ability as a writer. He writes well and the world has recognized his talent.
Sacred Games, however, does not go beyond being a page-turner. And even in that sense, Chandra lets the reader down after promising much in the early stages of the novel.
Chandra has spent considerable energy in building Ganesh Gaitonde’s character but it all comes to naught when he tackled the mystery surrounding his suicide.
Only a naïve reader would be convinced by Chandra’s reasoning that Gaitonde shot himself when provoked by a pimp that his great turn on Zoya Mirza was faking it all.
Where else have you read a crime lord committing suicide when questioned about his virility?
Chandra should have tried harder to work his plot better.
So is the mystery regarding Sidharth Shukla, the guru, who had a master plan to remake the universe but Chandra makes him vanish without enough explanations.
It is quite evident that Chandra started playing the Games without having much of a clue about the all-important end game.
Chandra, however, has a wonderful eye for detail and a dazzling sense of humour. He has managed to place the Sacred Games in the heart of contemporary India, and more specific, Mumbai.
Some of his lines have stayed with me. Let me quote him.
“I could put two bullets in every limb, one in her belly, one in her chut, one in that unreachable heart.” That is Gaitonde on Mirza.
Have some more. “When she smiled your heart slammed into your spine and staggered your back like a bullet.”
“Typing in ‘lauda’, I found a site for an airline named exactly that, and a site about some racing car driver.”
Chandra, I must say, had ambitions to match the scale and intensity of what Don Delillo achieved in his Underworld, but has fallen by quite a long distance.
In recent times there has been a spate of books on Mumbai. Sukutu Mehta’s Mumbai: the Maximum City and Gregory Robertson’s Shantaram were remarkable in their distinct ways. Maximum City was great journalism and Shantaram won praise for its fictionalized account of lives in peril.
Alas, Chandra has frittered away his opportunity to write that Great Indian Novel.
Better luck next time.

Peter Lalor, The Australian, and We The Indians!

By John Cheeran
The Australian newspaper’s cricket writer Peter Lalor has provoked a debate on the unfair reportage by the Indian media during the just finished Test series against Australia Down Under.
Lalor makes two big points in his column. One is about umpiring and other is on crowd behaviour.
Lalor excoriates Indian media for their hypocrisy.
He refers to when the West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor did not give Indian fast bowler S Sreesanth out during the first Test at Lord’s when England required only one wicket to win the match. Many felt that Sreesanth was out LBW on that occasion but Indian media did not discuss that decision but were happy with the draw.
So, Lalor asks, why make such a fuss when the same Bucknor makes more mistakes, now against India in Australia?
Well, Lalor, everyone has a right to be stupid, but one should not abuse that right.
When Bucknor did not give Sreesanth out, it was not Indian media’s business to protest that decision, England has its cricket writers. The BCCI with its money power did not muzzle out the English media.
And, Lalor, being cognoscenti, should have known that Indian media and team management were not protesting decisions against a No.11 batsman.
A decision going against No.11 batsman has only that importance, even considering the match situation at Lord’s.
England was pressing for a win, and visibility was poor etc.
England did not win the Lord’s Test against India not because Bucknor’s stupidity but their bowlers’ incompetence.
And in Australia Anil Kumble’ s boys had to contend with Bucknor giving not out to a seasoned all rounder such as Andrew Symonds. And other stupid decisions that resulted in the dismissals of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.
Lalor must be really a patriot to compare Sreesanth decision to the horrendous blunders Bucknor committed in the second Test at Sydney.
And to consider that Symonds had the cheek to declare that he knew he was out when Bucknor refused to give him out! And Lalor has no problems with a player who betrays the spirit of the sport.
Indians and their media have every right to be incensed. Their incandescent rage, in fact, played a major role in India winning the third Test at Perth.
And Perth victory nailed Lalor’s argument. India showed that they can trump Australia given fair umpiring.
Lalor should remember that in the series he was referring to, England never came close to winning the remaining two Tests, that too on their home turf. In fact Rahul Dravid’s India won the second Test and almost won the third Test.
Now for the monkey chant against Symonds.
Lalor should know that in some regions, Indians build temples for their monkeys. Lord Hanuman and his great leap across to Sri Lanka are great feats in Indian folklore.
And remember this. Who’s whining? Aussies. Those who employed under arm bowling against Kiwis, and the masters of sledging.
And Lalor should know this-- Indian cricket fans come from a social spectrum, unimaginable for an average Aussie. You will find beggars, sadhus, corporate honchos, teens, veterans, fishmongers, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, poets, perverts and drunkards at the Indian stands.
All of them may not react like what you may prefer to call in a ‘civil’ manner.
We lynch our neighbours when a riot suits us.
Aussies should be grateful for what they get while they come playing. Including Symonds, that is.

Brisbane rain may wash away India's sins

By John Cheeran
India escaped from Brisbane with two points in a game in which they deserved none. Australia, thanks to Brett Lee’s brilliant bowling clearly had the edge, but rain during the Aussie innings came to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s rescue.
It was a young, experimental batting line up from India at Gabba. None can quarrel with the team management for giving Manoj Tiwari and Rohit Sharma their chances. Rohit did play some colourful strokes, but the youngster needs to think beyond Twenty20s.
So should Dhoni. Where are the runs, Indian captain?
It is quite right thing to talk about 2011 World Cup, but let’s concentrate on the task at hand -- that is, winning the tri-series against Aussies and Sri Lanka.
I’m sure as the days go by, India’s one-day team, with a large dose of youngsters, will find its moorings and keep the series alive.
In fact, in the absence of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, Dhoni has a great opportunity now in Australia to make amends for the collective crime of Indian team during the World Cup in the West Indies.
Can there be a better chance to tell the world that Indians are a combative side in the pulsating arena of one-day cricket when you have enemies such as world champions Australia and runners up Sri Lanka?
May be, the rain at Gabba might have washed away the Indian cricketers’ sins and purified their mind and body for the battles ahead.

Meaning and meltdown in Melbourne

By John Cheeran
Only a fool will read too much into the nine-wicket drubbing India received at the hands of Australia in the Twenty20 match in Melbourne.
But on the other hand, this loss was no ordinary defeat. If you haven’t forgotten, Indians are the World Champions of Twenty20.
So Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his stunt boys should have performed better than a bunch of clowns. They should have come up with something better than the 74 they posted.
And more vexing is the fact that Robin Uthappas, Gautam Gambhirs, Rohit Sharmas and Dinesh Karthicks could not stretch the Indian innings to 20 overs.
Captain Dhoni has improved only in his captaincy as he rightly blamed the batsmen and their irresponsible ways for the defeat.
What did Dhoni himself do?
On the current form, he should be nowhere near the Indian dressing room.
And in the end, a few of us were left wondering why Sachin Tendulkar did not make his much-awaited debut in the Twenty20s at Melbourne.