tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070362.post35038422503862784..comments2023-11-02T19:19:15.129+05:30Comments on Death Ends Fun: Batting for the Country?Dilip D'Souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08221707482541503243noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070362.post-11320581781144056142008-05-17T02:35:00.000+05:302008-05-17T02:35:00.000+05:30Shobhaa De does speak for herself. But it seems t...Shobhaa De does speak for herself. But it seems to me that perhaps there are others who were secretly ashamed of being Indian. Now that the economy is growing rapidly, these people are rising up and loudly, defiantly declaring their patriotism. I wonder what their bluster conceals.<BR/><BR/>These people now tell us it is wrong to criticize India's faults, and try to look at the good and the bad, in a balanced perspective. They tell the rest of the Indians that we are not as patriotic as they are.<BR/><BR/>Personally, I wouldn't call these people patriotic, they are just jingoistic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070362.post-54204816726283575332008-05-16T10:37:00.000+05:302008-05-16T10:37:00.000+05:30Not to mention Dhoni, from Sreesanth and Harbhajan...Not to mention Dhoni, from Sreesanth and Harbhajan's own generation, who has shown himself to be one of our calmest cricketers - he's almost like a sage on the field. <BR/><BR/>And while unrelated to the post, I think it is time to stop giving Harbhajan the sort of importance that we have been. Neither Indian fans, nor Indian captains (Ganguly and Dravid) appreciated Kumble's efforts in the ODIs, consistently choosing the dull Harbhajan over him, leading to his retirement (which might be a blessing in disguise since he'll hopefully play Tests for longer). <BR/><BR/>I hope we have the sense to try some of our newer spinners now.akhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15385267278249934192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070362.post-74278686541625199042008-05-16T01:29:00.000+05:302008-05-16T01:29:00.000+05:30P.S.: Please excuse the grammatical errors.:)P.S.: Please excuse the grammatical errors.<BR/><BR/>:)Sidhusaahebhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08428201823375343016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070362.post-73588571870351829242008-05-16T01:22:00.000+05:302008-05-16T01:22:00.000+05:30If I may add another name to the list of those who...If I may add another name to the list of those who played the gentlemen's game, I'd like to mention one Sunil Gavaskar, who held the record for having scored the maximum number of test centuries for nearly two decades and whose record was broken rather recently by Sachin Tendulkar. <BR/><BR/>Can any of the 'aggressive', 'new age Indian' players touch that kind of glory ever?<BR/><BR/>Regarding one of the questions in the previous comment, Bishen Singh Bedi riled this 'over the top' behaviour of today's players, mentioning some by name, in a programme on NDTV 24x7, which was part of 'The Big Fight' series that is aired periodically on that channel. Incidentally, the some of the other participants were all praise for 'new age Indians' like Harbhajan and Sreesanth. Bedi clearly said that the Australians' sledging should be answered with sterling performances on the field and not with verbal abuse.<BR/><BR/>BTW, I wonder why Sreesanth was not banned even for a single match, either T20 or One Day International.Sidhusaahebhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08428201823375343016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070362.post-13714093376861317492008-05-14T19:14:00.000+05:302008-05-14T19:14:00.000+05:30Random thoughts:(Disclaimer: not attempting to jus...Random thoughts:<BR/><BR/>(Disclaimer: not attempting to justify the actions of the individuals concerned. I think what happened in Australia, and what happened in the slapping episode was wrong, and that it is time for players to learn other techniques to fight stresses)<BR/><BR/>- Was there severe provocation to Harbhajan or other team members when he called Symonds names?<BR/><BR/>- What, in the cultural context of people from the north, specially from Punjab and Delhi, is the seriousness with which people view the expletive he is supposed to have used against Symonds? Indeed how seriously do north Indians take such profanities them in a region where profanities are used as punctuation marks?<BR/><BR/>- Taken in the Aussie cultural context, what is the seriousness with which Aussies themselves view some of the sledge words they use against other teams?<BR/><BR/>- Was the provocation offered by Aussie teams to opponents of an earlier era as sustained and of the same magnitude as that offered by the Aussies of the Waugh-Ponting era? Was it part of the Aussie team strategy even then? Is it conceivable that the more feisty players of earlier eras (Durrani, Engineer himself, Amarnath - father and son - even Bedi), would, in their own way, have also gone over the top if they had been deliberately provoked as much?<BR/><BR/>- Was there a strategy among all or some of the Indian team to retaliate against Aussie sledging, and were people like Harbhajan asked to implement the strategy? If so was this the correct approach? Should the entire team, (or the group which thought of this strategy) not take the blame? In the middle of the ODI series Dhoni (ODI captain) seemed to indicate this strategy in an interview.<BR/><BR/>- What was the provocation offered by Sreesanth in earlier matches that Harbhajan was riled up enough to slap him? And for Rajput not to restrain him? <BR/><BR/>- Who made Harbhajan the IPL team captain when Sachin was injured? Were they not aware of his shortcomings on the personal front? Had they ever seen him perform in a leadership role? Did they think captaincy of a team in the IPL performing circus is a trivial matter? Why then did they choose him? Why not Pollock at the start itself?<BR/><BR/>- Nevertheless, shouldn't players, specially when being watched by millions on TVs, not be more careful of what they say and how they behave? Can they not retaliate by mental strength than by descending to the level of the opposition? Or is this wishful thinking? Everyone is not as mentally strong as a Tendulkar or a Dravid or a Pataudi. Should there be coaching for improving mental strength as well as physical prowess? Is BCCI doing anything for this? Or are they happy treating players as auctionable commodities?Pankajhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12196792182310973128noreply@blogger.com