IPL is in its second week and so far I haven’t written anything about it ... partly because I don’t care about it ... and partly because I really don’t care about it. OK OK ... I know this is kinda contradictory statement since I really like Cricket. Sometimes ... enough is enough. There are so many things which I don’t like about this whole idea of IPL. First and foremost, contrary to its name, this year the league is being held in a foreign country ... a total deal breaker for me. C’mon it is INDIAN Premier League ... not English ... not South African Premier League. I know it is being held in South Africa because of elections back home and all that blah blah ... but I think it was Lalit Modi's (IPL Commissioner) ego which took IPL out of India ... I hope he looses his job soon.
Last year, Lalit Modi came out with an “amazing” idea of a league which will change the Cricket scene in India. Well ... the idea was totally copied from EPL ... even the name is copied ... lets not even get started on this. So the media hailed Lalit as a cricketing god who will change the way world sees cricket. Fair enough ... if something like this can make the game popular, I am all for it. But when I came to know that these teams would be “owned” by business houses/Bollywood idiots ... I was totally pissed. I smelled the stink ... it is nothing more than a ponsy scheme to milk money out of cricket crazy Indians. I can’t support an “owned” team ... c’mon I am not a stupid European who supports privately owned Football clubs ... even more than the national team.
The team consists of 7 Indians and 4 foreign players. However, there is no clause in team composition which makes it mandatory to have Indian players from the city (or region). Also, to incorporate foreign players in your city teams ... well ... I can never understand ... how on earth am gonna cheer for them. “Go Glen ... win it for Delhi” ... fuck no. I won’t ask a foreigner to win it for my city team. To top it all, half of the teams are led by foreign captains ... ahahahaha. Yeah ... I will support you Shane ... win it for Rajasthan ... its same as Sydney .... the only difference is that it is NOT. Arghhhhhh !!!!! Even the so called local players are not so local. Sreesanth ... a Keralite ... playing for a Punjabi team ... well ... you get my drift. One of my friend told me that how does it matter if he is from Southern India ... isn’t he an Indian. Well ... I am all for an united India ... but just to justify (if I try to) my city loyalties ... I can’t support an out of towner. He is as bad as any foreigner. Which makes my point ... that city based loyalty sucks. I believe in one nation ... and that’s why the only team I support is the Indian team ... not Delhi ... not Jaipur but an Indian team ... played by the Indians ... played for India/Indians.
The idea was to give local people a change to get involved and learn about the game and how it is administrated. That includes coaches, umpires, grounds men, support staff, etc. Well, most team are led by foreigners ... coached by foreigners ... supported by the foreigners. Lets take an example of KKR ... the owner treated his coach like a god. So much so that he kicked an iconic player like Saurav on his behest. Bravo .... SRK ... I say well done. I never liked your stupid movies ... but now I don’t even like you. And John ... you can go and scru yourself ... for being a complete ass.
Huh ... I know I got a little bitter ...
The teams are owned by big corporate houses (and partly owned by Bollywood idiots). Now cut me a slice of that ... even if I look past the obvious idiocy of foreigners playing for local city teams ... the owner fact just make me hate IPL even more. The whole IPL is nothing but a way to mint money ... from stupid cricket crazy Indian public. I don't understand why the cricket board is parting money with the business houses when it can have it all. Huge money is being generated and sadly none of which will be used for the betterment of cricketing facilities in India. All of it will end up in the bank accounts of these business fatcats. The numbness of using everything for commercial benifits could literally be seen on player's outfits. Just count the number of logos on a player’s shirt/bat/trouser ... if you can count all of them ... you really are smarter than the fifth grader. The fact that Bollywood is also in it ... in a big way ... makes me go nuts. It was bad enough that they are ruining the movie viewing habits of average Indians (yeah most of/by Bollywood is full of shit) ... now they have to ruin the nation’s beloved timepass ... oh ... I will have no mercy on them. I would be very honest ... I really gets sadistic pleasure out of watching sad Bollywood owner’s faces when their team looses ... ahhh if only all of life's joys were so sweet.
IPL is being telecasted by SET MAX ... well ... if the thing was already not horrible enough. If there is a broadcaster who just don’t know how to telecast a cricket match ... its MAX. They have made a mockery of the great sport. What on earth is a bitch like Mandira doing at a cricket stadium ... she has no business what so ever to host a match. Well to be honest ... she has no business to be on TV either ... but that is another story. She has no idea about the game ... but still she keeps on yakking on and on about it. Well Mandira ... do all us a favor and just die so that we don’t have to see you on TV. MAX is obsessed with her ... she ruined 2007 world cup ... and I was kinda glad that our team bowed out early from the competition ... at least I don’t havta watch TV anymore ... and no more Mandira. It doesn't end with her. The other jokers in the bunch are has-been TV "stars" (allegedly) who have as much knowledge of cricket as I have of quantum physics. Another pet peeve of mine regarding MAX is their 5 ball over theory. I know ... you must be saying that cricket is a 6 ball an over game ... but I guess someone forgot to teach this to MAX people. They keep on airing commercials by cutting the 6th ball ... no matter if that ball took a wicket of someone scored a six. I simply hope that MAX incurs heavy losses in IPL so that they bow out of the telecast scene.
Gosh … I am proof reading my post and I feel like I have ranted enough … well to conclude … I don’t like the idea of IPL and I hope that it fails miserably … so that Cricket can be saved from such smut.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Nice read. Bit long though. The idea of having IPL in SA was not coined by Modi. He was forced to take it out. Plain politics. Many points to which I agree rest I don't but it hardly matters. People need some entertainment. They had never seen all this before in India at least. Concept of 20-20, cheer girls, glamour world, various franchise proved on upper side on veteran players or good local players, inclusion of foreigners.
BTW, have you gone through this one?? http://fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com/
@ Anonymous
Well I dont think Modi was forced... had he worked little harder with the politicians ... he would have got the deal in India
the idea of seeing bollywood people at stadium is not entertaining ... people get their fix of bollywood from many avenues ... as far as the cheer leaders ... yeah i agree ... i would pay to see them ... ahahahaha
and yes i have read that infamous blog ... seems more like someone playing a prank or it is a clever PR campaign to garner some free publicity
Preach it brother.. good post... this kind of strategy will destroy cricket... they are imitating Euro Football, NFL, NBA , etc...
but the problem as you mentioned is that not much is being returned to hometowns. beside, NFL, NBA have American citizen coaches & players (with few exceptions, but even those players are immigrants who live in the US). I don't know if it's inferiority complex or what but foreign coaches, etc. is bull. Good idea gone bad. Had the league encouraged locals & returned a greater share of revenues, i would've supported it.
@ Anonymous (another anonymous ... huh)
Thanx for liking the post.
You said it aptly ... good idea gone horribly bad (mad!!!)
Ofcourse I agree with you Pankaj. They are spoling cricket. Now, everything is based on money only. No sports or teamspirit. I'am a cricket enthusiast,but not at all intrested in IPL... Now, Modi is planning of 2 IPL an year. They are trying to steal the image of EUEFA, English Premier League etc. IPL is a new concept. So, till now did Indians suffered of not having this type of entertainment??
So very true. The retarded cheer leaders, some idiotic Archana doing a on field interview and speaking as if she were Tony Greg, and the commentators calling a six as a Haywards 5000 Classic Six are all a few more aspects which force me to power off the TV. But just for the love of the game, I often leave it muted.
jus came across ur blog n bhahaha i love this post on the IPL!!
never thought id find an indian dude whod hate it so much! LMAO! :)
I HATE IT TOO! totally wrecking cricket.y cant people just play for their own dam countries!!
its pathetic really how much the white guys get paid! n i hate the association wit the bollywood stars..wtHELL do they know bout cricket!!!
the games just look so retarded sometimes..n dnt get me started on the lame commentators.
while i love India n all..its an embarrassment really.
well people talk abt passion. ipl is copied from epl. but that where there is no passion.did shane warne grow up dreaming that one day he would play for R@%AS#%AN ROYALS?
Cheers,
IPL HATER
Post a Comment