The changing face of cricket..

Two interesting and fascinating games that I was following on during the last few weeks.. One for over a month, the other for nearly a month.. India and Pakistan... Two of the greatest arch enemies on all counts.. Coincidentally playing against Australia and England.. Two other great arch foes... What am I talking about.. Cricket!!

India a team not so long ago, ranked No. 1 in the world... Pakistan a team not so long ago, were at the bottom of the heap.. India could do no wrong, Pakistan could do no right... India had the T20, the W.Cup, the No. 1 Ranking.. Pakistan was simply living off history...

Australia a team long ago.. No 1.. England their poor siblings.. Change of guard, and Australia started seeing the ground, England started improving.. Australia losing matches that were un-thinkable.. England started winning matches and building up a team.. Australia out of the top 3.. England at the top..

Another change.. India tour Australia with a team, considered the best in a long time and one that can win a series Down Under.. Something that has eluded India for ever.. A match among equals.. Australia struggling with half their team not performing, India had no one that was not performing.

England tour against Pakistan, was to be a quick wash.. After all, there are No. 1.. Pakistan was not playing at home, no home crowds, matches in Dubai, should have been a clear cut win.

Of course, the results did not surprise people, but simply shocked every one.. Australia a 4-0 whitewash, even coming from behind, and finishing two matches inside 4 days.. Pakistan give England a thrashing 3-0, also finishing matches inside of four days...What went wrong.. This was not part of the script.

The major difference I feel is the quiet resolution that both Australia and Pakistan had and kept to. Australia being Australia continued with their sledging, but this time not losing focus on the big prize. Pakistan simply kept quiet, scandalized and let their game do the talking. What was it that made the difference? How do the two top teams of the world simply get thrashed black and blue, with not so dissimilar results?

It could have been the long planning, the desire to quietly prove themselves once again, tired of all the insults and the comments that they had over the years. The fear of losing ground once again, people playing for their places..And could be many more.. But where I felt was the big success was the change management.

Both Pakistan and Australia had virtually built themselves up from scratch.. Australia from the emptiness of the greats and the lack of form of their remaining stalwarts, Pakistan from the graveyards of scandals. Both having a point to prove, both wanting to show, that their successes of the past were not flashes and they still had it in them to beat the best.. And beat them they did, in style.

Whether lessons have been learnt or not by England, who may have been a flash in the pan, or India, who simply are living off past glories, both had one thing in common, again a quirk of coincidence.. Both attained the top sitting at home mainly and planning their victories.. The winners obviously were the ones who had stepped out of their domains into the world and challenged the impostors.. The result was simply there to show..

Whether Australia and Pakistan continue their form is still a matter to be seen, however they have proved one thing.. Victory does not come by sitting and crying over lost milk, you have to ensure that the struggles are there, the efforts are put, the dedication exists, and the will to succeed is never diminished.. The rest simply follows..

Media Reporting.. Quality or Marketing

As I was writing my previous post, could not resist the extra post, that was quite incidental to the story. I normally read the TOI, since some time, have moved to the The Hindu, and the story that I read (Sahara Pulls out of BCCI), was just a coincidental comparison of the two.

Of late have noticed the TOI versions are simply maverick attempts at grabbing headlines. It is not limited to politics or sports,  but to every facet of reporting. For instance Sahara pulling out of BCCI, I read both the Hindu version and of course the TOI version.

The quality of reporting is simply incomparable. Of course, both have their own styles, their own positives and negatives, but what has often been a downer for me for TOI has been the commentary allowed. Quite often on stories, the allowance of absolute derogatory language by the readers, right up to having our not so infamous local desi swear words, literally pasted all across, simply puts one off from reading.

Does bring to the question, as to whether there should be guidelines and do the media really care as to what people post. No doubt, freedom of expression is necessary, but to me, to the extent one can manage. It was like some one trying to compare the Jerry Springer show with our desi JS ape, Rakhi Sawant's, Rakhi ka Insaaf. Not to say either one is better, but having watched both, my personal opinion has been that Jerry Springer has a much better control process when things go out of hand, and more important, as the Anchor, he never goes derogatory

Question begets, why do we promote such nonsense? Time and time, we have tried to copy, of course, not knowing how to paste. Another prime example was the "Minute to Win It" game show, and of course the "Are you smarter than a 5th grader". Both were copied to our desi versions, both turned out to be flops. Were they badly managed, or were we simply not good enough to manage standards that are managed by real professionals who know their job.

The topic started with news reporting, ended with shows, but both being media, found the comparison inevitable. Will I stop reading / watching both.. Probably not, may reduce the lower quality reporting though, as both in their own way, are teaching experiences...

PS: This is not an advertisement for either the Hindu or Jerry Springer, of course, for TOI, RS, definitely apply..

End of a Partnership - Sahara India Pulls Out

Another day, another headline that makes you stop in your tracks. Sahara ends ties with BCCI !! Is this the year of awakening. Is this an Anna Hazare impact? Say no to corruption.

What is so special? Nothing much probably, it is just the end of a business partnership, one would say. People enter into partnerships, people end them. Big deal. But this is the National team sponsorship, that is being pulled out from!

What was special to me about this was the way Subrata Roy clarified as to why he was pulling out from the sponsorship and all association with the BCCI. His comments, clearly show a hurt that has effected him badly and the decision to move on, however, commit to completing all its obligations, including payment to all concerned, and not reneging on its commitments.. That to me was special.

No doubt, Sahara has not, not received any benefits from the sponsorships. I am quite sure their association with the Indian cricket team has been equally rewarding as the money they have been paying BCCI, and would not have been without adequate return, it still takes a great effort to stand up to say, enough is enough. Cricket now is more a money making business for the BCCI, rather than a sport, where the aim was to excel. The fact of their investment and payment fees per match (Rs. 3.4 crores), is simply an indicator of what volumes one is talking about. Obviously, with more players around in the market, there are more people willing to put their money, where the BCCI mouth is.

There has no doubt been a lot of support on this move from all across, and is probably the jolt that Cricket needs. As absolute power corrupts absolutely, so does absolute wealth. BCCI today is the richest cricketing board in the world, and the fact that it uses its money power to wield decisions is no doubt a death knell for the game. One still does not know, if the BCCI would be impacted. Issue is you have equally rich corporates who are willing to put their money in, irrespective of how India fares. How much of social support they come to, that is another question.

My only grief on this.. Sahara mentioning that they will now invest this money in other sports. Nothing wrong with that.. If only, they as the sports corporate body, had promoted other sports where we had started to excel... This day probably might never have come.. But, as a wise man once said.. Better late than never...

The 2G Sale

Interesting read.. Captivating and Eye Catching.. "Supreme court sraps UPA's 2G Illegal Sale". What a start to the Year. An investigation started one year ago and the SC coming thundering down steam rolling all culprits in its path, and having the tenacity and the guts to quash not one, not ten, but 122 licences, all across the country.

The impact no doubt will be big, and one report quotes SBI having a Rs 45k Cr exposure. Money, no doubt is a big issue, considering the number of players, however what is key, is the image bashing that the Government will have to go through. How do you inform the world, that the we sold you something that was tainted all across?

Possibly, they (Govt) knew. Possibly they endorsed it. Deals like these do not walk alone. They need crutches. Where the crutch originates from, no one really is worried. As long as there is a crutch.

Of course the next few months would see a lot of appeals, media comments, TV channels, all giving in their own views with animated screens coming down 25 times in one minute, making a mockery of the event with flashy, booming voice overs coming in from behind.

But, what of the Corporate world? The Tata's, the Birla's, the Ambani's. They are the images that the world sees as representatives of India. They too have been a part of the scam. It woudl simply not be possible, that they would have known that all is clean. The fact that many of them are being fined by the SC, speaks of their involvement in this.

The beureaucrats, no doubt will have a field day. Kapil Sibal blames Raja, the BJP asks the ex FM to quit, and of course there will be many more.. Congress blames the BJP as they did the initial draft by the then Telecom Minister.. and I distintctly recall that when the auctions took place, the BJP took credit as their brain child.. Today, all is forgotten, the blame game starts, the finger pointing.. How many more will be indicted is an open question, but once again the sufferrer will be the common man. Imagine millions of subscribers impacted due to this.

No doubt cleaning dirty laundry is never easy, and full Kudous to the SC of India, who once again showed their impartiality and put the National interest before any thing else. A judiciary that is independent of such baggage is necessary in a democracy, that still leaves hope for the future.

Anna Hazare, speak up!!!