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IPL: Lacking a local flavour or creating a global perspective?

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The early days of the Indian Premier League (IPL), as many of us will remember was structured around the concept of city loyalties; it used to be a case of nurturing city allegiances, cultivating home grown talent and embellishing regional ‘Icon players’ in a whole new T-20 light. However, moving into the 7th edition of the IPL, a lot seems to have changed. The crowd that was initially sucked in this regional pull of the IPL now seems to be complaining about a lack of local flavour in their respective teams. Is their claim legitimate? Or, is the average enthusiast reading too much into the game?

For a few years now, there have been some gradual shifts and rearrangements amongst the team rosters. Constantly shifting bases, many people argue that most of the teams no longer support their own local players . Chennai has had the best score in this regard, as they continue to play all three local players; Murali Vijay, S Badrinath and R Ashwin, together on a regular basis. However, by todays standards, sporting 3 local players can be called a rarity. “Team captains are supposed to be the representatives of a team. Watching Virat Kohli represent Bangalore and Gautam Gambhir represent Kolkata really annoys me sometimes.” said one ardent Delhi Daredevils supporter.

Virat-Kohli-Gautam-Gambhir
Virat Kohli from RCB and Gautam Gambhir from KKR

And if these reactions were rather latent in these last few years, some recent developments definitely seem to be guiding this sense of alienation towards more vocal expressions of dissatisfaction. Due to clashing dates with the Lok Sabha elections, the 1st leg of IPL-7  had shifted its base to the United Arab Emirates. Talks of another leg in Bangladesh are also not completely off the mark. So, not only are the players not local, but now even the home ground is not really ‘home’ anymore. In such a context, how are the fans expected to have any sense of attachment to their teams.

A broad analysis of the BCCI policies (in the IPL) over the years would lead one to discover of its compromising shift from a position of promoting regional unity to one which now endorses global integration. This however, has exposed some serious double standards in their policies.In essence, what seems to be lacking amongst the committee members of the IPL is a broader and future oriented perspective on the whole issue. And since the whole topic of creating a more regional or global outlook is intricately linked with the former question of what exactly does the committee plan for IPL’s future, it seems to be abundantly clear that a solution to the former would naturally create an answer for the latter. Therefore, the need for a defining stand will not only help the committee develop a more clear perspective on matters, but also lead to many more bright prospects for the sake of the IPL as well as its followers.

imagecourtesy:ipl.com

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Spo(r)tlight

Sri Lanka beats India, wins the T20 World Cup 2014

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The night of 6th April saw the repeat of the 2011 Cricket World Cup final in the Twenty20 format as India met Sri Lanka in an all-Asian final. The game was highly anticipated what with the huge fan-following the game enjoys, especially in the Indian subcontinent.

Sri Lanka reached the finals with the Rain Gods turning in their favour as the semi-final between West Indies and Sri Lanka was abandoned due to rain and the Lankans were judged the winners by the Duckworth-Lewis Method. India had had a very strong run in the competition with a hundred percent winning record in the tournament this year. The Indian side overcame a massive total of 172 runs set up South Africa in the Semi-final to win the game with 5 balls to spare. Virat Kohli shined through the game knocking an unbeaten 72 runs off 44 balls to clinch the match.

If Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team went on to win the final, it would be the first team ever in the history of the sport to hold all the major titles in its trophy cabinet, having won the One-Day World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy last year. The odds appeared to be in favour of the Indian side as Sri Lanka had faced a cursed streak in major trophy finals in the past, losing the One-Day World Cup finals in 2007 and 2011 and the Twenty20 World Cup final in 2009 and 2012.

Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bowl first. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane were the openers for the Indian side. Rahane once again took an early exit to the dressing room with 3 runs off 8 balls. Virat Kohli delivered a note worthy performance yet again, again knocking 77 runs off 58 balls. The disappointment for the Indian side turned out to be the usually reliable, Yuvraj Singh, whose hard-hitting style is world renowned. He was only able to gather 11 runs off 21 balls much to the frustration of Indian fans, pretty evident from the scenes in the stadium. Overall, India put up a below-par total of 130 runs for 4 wickets.

Sri Lanka’s innings was a perfect example of the saying, “Slow and steady wins the race” as Kumar Sangakkara hit 52 runs for 32 balls remaining unbeaten to clinch the title for the Lankans and to conclude his T20 career in a perfect way. Sri Lanka won the match by 6 wickets.

The Lankans finally broke their curse in the finals much to the disappointment of the 1 billion supporters in India. Sangakkara was named the Man of The Match for match-winning innings while Virat Kohli got a well-deserved Player of the Series award for his batting prowess.

Image courtesy: sports.ndtv.com

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S.G.T.B Khalsa College

Swami Shraddhanand champions at Khalsa’s T20 Cricket Tournament

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S.G.T.B Khalsa organized it’s annual cricket tournament- 2nd Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Sahibzada Fatesingh T20 Cricket Tournament. The cricketing event commenced on February 10 and it’s finals were held on Wednesday, February 26, 2014. One of the biggest cricket tournaments of the University, it saw participation of 12 teams from across colleges. The event was declared open by Bishan Singh Bedi on February 10. Its finals, saw Swami Shraddhanand (SSN) College emerge as winners against M.K. Group. The former set a target of 182 which the latter lost by 18 runs.

The winning team got a total cash prize of Rs.1,00,000 and the runner’s up took home Rs. 50,000. The finals and the award ceremony was attended by Cricketers Ajay Jadeja and Ajit Jadeja and Mr. Jitendre Lal, member Gujrat Chamber of Commerce. International Cricket Umpire, K. Hariharan, was also present at the event.

Krishnaraj Lal, Vice President, Khalsa, had the following to say, “As a student of such a prestigious college, it’s an honor to be a part of the Union. Mr. Jadega’s father served as an MP from my city, Jamnagar for 5 terms. So having Mr. Ajay Jadeja here is an even greater privilege. We are glad to have pulled off this event. Between juggling Lashkara (Khalsa’s Cultural Fest) and creating a bigger and better tournament, it has been nothing less than a challenge”.

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DUB Speak

Why India does not have a National Sport

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It might come as a surprise to a lot of people but Field Hockey is not the national sport of India. In fact, there is no such thing as the national sport of India. The notion is so deep seated and widespread that it is probably one of the most striking cases of mass delusion. That aside, the fact that the whole country believes hockey to be the sport most representative of the country and its culture makes it a strong contender for the non-existent post. On closer examination, however, hockey’s case is considerably weakened.

 

The most popular argument cited in hockey’s favour points to the unparalleled success that India has achieved in the sport. Eight Olympic golds are undoubtedly a great achievement but achievement itself is not a sound enough basis to confer the status of a national symbol to any sport. Success is not of a permanent nature and is thus useless as a yardstick for a permanent status. As it is, hockey has largely disappointed since the 1980s.

 

The other criteria put forward especially by cricket supporters is popularity. Cricket is undoubtedly the most popular sport in India. However, popularity is again not permanent. Cricket supporters forget that prior to India’s world cup triumph, Cricket wasn’t such a huge sport in India, which means that things could alter again. Thus popularity does not make a sport a national symbol.

 

It makes sense to argue that the national sport of the country should be accessible to most of the population. Games like kabaddi and kho kho immediately come to mind. Hockey loses out in this category. Even if one omits the requirement of a synthetic playing surface, hockey is comparatively expensive. Unlike cricket where one bat can be shared amongst a group of players, hockey requires one stick per player.

 

The most important criterion, then, has to be cultural relevance. A sport should be culturally relevant to the entire nation for it to be considered a national symbol. This is probably why India does not have a national sport. If kabaddi is culturally relevant in the north, the snake boat race is an unmistakable feature of south India. To find a sport which culturally appeals to the whole nation is practically impossible. The only sport that can bypass this difficulty is chess, as it meets most of the above requirements. Moreover, most historians believe that chess originated from India itself. 

Harsh Vardhan

[email protected]

 

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DUB Speak

Remembering the Little Master

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When an idol of a sport decides to retire, we often see it as the beginning of a decline altogether. The man who could single-handedly raise an entire country to euphoria and leave them in the dregs of despair in absence is someone who cannot come often enough in any sport.

Sachin Tendulkar and cricket began their relationship much before his discovery, the records and the popularity. It began with a father trying to curb his son’s mischief. From there, to setting school records with Vinod Kambli, playing for the state team and finally, the Indian cricket team – the transition from gully cricket to nationals took him a mere five years. Tendulkar made his test debut againstPakistan aged just 16 years and 223 days.

Twenty three years later, he’s arguably the greatest batsman who ever lived with the honor of being part of the 2011 World Cup Champions, winner of the Garfield Sobers Trophy and the most prolific one-day run scorer to date. Talk to any Indian on the street, and Tendulkar is a surprising metaphor for hope. It could be because of the rags to riches story, or the one-hand save of Indian cricket.

No one can deny the massive contribution he had to the enthusiasm with which the sport is perceived or the mountain of records he has left standing. From Srinath to Ganguly, the amassed tributes were insufficient to cover all that had to be said.

Perhaps, the closest one could come to expressing the passion of the Indian fan is the popular phrase used amongst them, “Cricket is my religion and Sachin is my God.”

If not a God, then definitely a mortal who could pull people from their kitchens, shops and rooms. To just watch.

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Spo(r)tlight

India v/s England – A Preview

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India’s 2011 tour of England was quite a chastening experience for Dhoni’s men. India failed to register even a single victory, losing the 4-match test series, the 5-match ODI series and the 1-match T-20 series 4-0, 3-0 and 1-0 respectively. It’s hardly surprising then that England’s tour of India is being billed as the ‘revenge’ series. The 3 month long tour includes 4 test matches, 2 T-20 matches and 5 ODI matches.

The series promises to be intense and the war of words has already commenced. India’s decision to not include regular spinners in the India A team for the warm up game with England did not please former English captain Michael Vaughan who took to Twitter to decry India’s ‘pathetic tactics’. He alleged that in order to keep the English batting line up from getting accustomed to spin,India deliberately avoided playing spinners. Sunil Gavaskar countered Vaughan’s diatribe stating that the composition  of India’s team is solely the prerogative of the Indian selectors and is none of Vaughan’s business.

Test Series

The 4-match test series commenced today,the 15th of November.

England

Kevin Pieterson returns to the English squad for the first time after his infamous row with ECB. Alastair Cook captains the English side. A lot will depend on Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, the primary spinning options for England. England’s batting order will be suspect against the Indian spinners given its relative inexperience. Kevin Pieterson is England’s most valuable player going into the series.

India

Tendulkar has struggled to find form recently which has led to plenty of debate on whether he should retire. If he fails to impress against England, it might well be time for the great man to retire. Another senior player, Zaheer Khan has flattered to deceive lately and India would be expecting an improved showing from him. Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh faces a fight to prove his fitness. Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha are expected to excel in spinner friendly conditions and could hold the key as far as India is concerned.

Series prediction: 3-0
India will prove too strong for the visitors. Spin will be the difference.

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Juxtapose

Can World Cup Buy a Promotion?

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An exuberant Indian under 19 cricket team recently conquered the World Cup under the leadership of Unmukt Chand but the debate that followed did not centre on Unmukt’s potential as a cricketer. Instead it was the controversy regarding his promotion (orinitially detainment) in college that monopolized the media space.

But surely Unmukt deserves a little leniency after having made the nation proud in such emphatic fashion. Add to that the rigours of cricket practise and one can understand his predicament. On the other hand, the very object of exams is to gauge the progress made by students in their chosen field of study and Unmukt has equivocally made none. Is it then not fair that he be made to repeat the semester?

This week Juxtapose poses the simple question whether a world cup can buy a promotion?

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Juxtapose

Should Cricket be Included in the Olympics?

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Graphic Credits :- Sahil Jain
Cricket is one of the most popular sports in the world. Here in India though, it is more than just a sport. Mass murders might bring us to India Gate with candles, but nothing can quite imitate the call to arms that a poor performance by the Indian cricket team generates.

Its popularity notwithstanding, cricket has always got a royal snub from the Olympics. With the game increasing in scope and revenue, is it finally time that the IOC accepted cricket as an Olympic sport? Or is the notion just an overoptimistic fantasy of a cricket obsessed nation?

This weeks topic for juxtapose questions whether cricket ticks all the right boxes as far as an Olympian sport is concerned. Should cricket be added to the Olympics?
Scroll down to leave your argument!
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DUB Speak

The Unsung Heroes of India

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Picture Source: Reuters

 

Four long years have passed since the last Olympic Games, and now they’re back with a bang. Set in London, this year promises to be filled with an expansive array of sports and powerful athletes from 204 nations across the world. With a spectacular three-hour opening ceremony directed by Danny Boyle, complete with a James Bond style sequence of the queen jumping off a helicopter, there is no doubt left in anyone’s mind that International sports is going to get bigger and better as the years go by. That stands true even when it comes to the athletes across the globe. Their training, fitness, and supporting equipment seem to be managed with utmost care and precision, leading to their shining performances on an international platform, no matter how unique their sport.

Turning the page to Indian athletes, the pitiful condition of past award winners is heart wrenching. Santhi Soundarajan, who bestowed a proud India with a silver medal at the Doha Asian Games, had no idea that her dignity would be reduced to dust eight years later. Stripped off her laurels and now working at a brick kiln, her achievements faded into oblivion after failing a gender test. Pinki Pramanik, who won a gold medal for her country at the Asian Games in 2006 and a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in the same year, now works as a ticket collector for the Indian Railways. Furthermore, her former housemate accused her of being a man and raping her. All that is left is a feeling of shock and disgrace when these events are contrasted to a similar situation in South Africa, where athlete Caster Semenya was also shamed for the same reason as Soundarajan. In this case, the ban on Semenya was revoked due to the overwhelming support given to her by her fellow citizens. Now she holds her head high, as she is the beaming flag bearer of South Africa at the Summer Olympics 2012, while our gifted athletes are suffering in abject poverty with their achievements gone to waste.

Athletes who fail the questionable gender tests are not the only ones suffering in India. Veterans such as the ‘Payyoli Express’, better known as P.T. Usha who has won almost 101 international awards and runs a school for athletes, now works for the Indian Railways and survives on a meagre pay. World cup Kabbadi coaches such as Majit Kaur fends for himself by begging on the streets as government organisations failed to honour him with the promise they had made of a permanent job after retirement. Usha Rani, who brought home a medal in Archery, was forced to sell her bow to provide food for her impoverished family. These heroes, along with many more gone unnoticed, who took the name of our country to soaring heights during their glory years, are now forced to fund their own way without any support or backup by the state, leaving such sports personnel in abysmal conditions.

When you flip to the other side of the spectrum, cricketing stars and elite athletes such as shooters and boxers are fortunate enough to be showered with a royal treatment. As much as they deserve it, when compared to the conditions of the poorer section of the society whose talented individuals are far removed from the fame, support and training they necessarily need, the public turns a blind eye on the fact that rural areas are actually a potential goldmine for sporting activities. Boxers such as Vijender Singh have been catapulted to celebrity status due to an astonishing gold at the last Olympics, making way for a cult of boxing aspirants ready to outshine him and make their country proud. However, the same cannot be said for the pre-mentioned forms of sport as no initiative is taken to extract the wealth from these athletes. Instead, they are left to prepare for their own accommodation and adjust to tattered equipment as they struggle to train for major sporting events.

Despite our country’s blissful ignorance to the plight of these sportsmen and women, they still keep the flag flying high as they push past their paralysing boundaries and break the thin thread that separates a win from a loss. With proper thought put into the upliftment of their condition and regulated training given to these rising heroes, they are sure to bring home innumerable trophies, another yardstick to measure the underlying talent hidden in every corner of India.

 

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