Pawar in Power…Even Steven after Mumbai win

Well !! From the looks of it, Pawar seems to have won the BCCI top slot and all his nominees have occupied the other posts of treasurer, secretary and and joint secretary. Like anything else in India, there were reports of chaos, deafening noise, utter confusion and of course all the horse trading you can imagine that comes with the crores at stake here. I have not seen the official verdict of Krishnamurthy but the margin appears convincing even to allow for such last minute jokes like Pondicherry Cricket Association (ugh !! never heard that one before) going to Supreme court. I always used to wonder – here is a land where common citizens are waiting for decades at the piled up cases in all forms of judicial system. How are these guys able to get their stay or injunctions in hours from Supreme Court of all places.? Anyway, that is topic for another day.

What does the change of guard mean ? Honestly, not much in my opinion. The very structure of association and the voting pattern and the short life of the post will mean that you have to constantly please your backers and merit, like all walks of life in India has absolutely no meaning. So, the favors have to be reciprocated for sure – the only difference being, this time around it will go to the opposite camp. I guess, Shivlal will ask for Uppal stadium to be completed and Srinivasan will ask for more matches to Chennai and so on. (I will be happy if the favors are such constructive things) What the hell !! at the least, let us try a change of guard. It can’t get any worse than what it is.

Pawar whispered a word or so about the infrastructure of cricket after getting elected. Thank God for that. Has anyone seen the sorry state of affairs in the Indian stadiums. I pity the millions who come to watch the men in blue, especially in ODIs. There is absolutely no guarantee that you will get in, even if you bought a genuine ticket since fake ticket sales is always there. Once you get into the ground, you can’t move from your seat (that is if you manage to find one). I envy all those Australian and English spectators, who seem to be so leisurely and really enjoy a day out. In India, you can not move off your seat – not even for taking a leak (I was told about the deplorable state of some of the toilets in many a stadium) and this after coming to the ground at least 3 hours early and after walking a KM or so from bus stop or car park. Hmmm..I am pretty sure that none of this going to change. As long as the cash registers ring and the crazy fans do not demand their rights, no official is going to care. After all, they have their VIP booths and entrances.

Coming to Mumbai ODI, I felt that Jack Kallis did India a favor by staying till the end.!! He never pressed the pedal and SA supporters will tell you that Kallis had played like this – not for the 1^st time. I have been talking about Rahul’s tendency to get caught and bowled and when Botha dropped one, the match was virtually over. Dhoni’s short comings were thoroughly exposed. He not only missed a stumping but looked awful against the SA pace men (and that at Indian wickets ..hmmm). Nel beat him so many times in that 42^nd over, which ended as maiden. Poor Dinesh Kaarthik !! If they pick the test team now, I doubt very much whether Dhoni would have got selected. I hope that Attappattu had not watched that 42^nd over. If he does, he will immediately know how his bowlers errored by allowing Dhoni to plank his front foot and swing. Anyway, it is even steven at the end of the 4 ODIs and the real tragedy is that India could have won the series but for the back stabbing by the curator at the nation of Bengal (Imagine, New Zealanders preparing a turning wicket when India tours there because of a fight between Auckland and Wellington Cricket Associations !!..will it ever happen ?) and the other real tragedy is that the man of the series Yuvaraj Singh will not find a place in the Test XI at Chennai – again due to the nation of Bengal.

(Pictures Courtesy Mid day)