IPL makes a grand start

With the completion of a quarter century of matches in the inauagral IPL, I've decided to answer a few questions raised at the beginning of the tournament.
Quality of cricket: Its been entertaining throughout with the overseas talent thrilling the local crowds with their commitment and skills. Unfortunately we've only seen a handful of thrillers despite T20 being the shortest format in the game.
Player commitment: The Australians have been the frontrunners, displaying laudable professionalism and commitment during their brief stints. Shane Warne should especially be mentioned for his ability to inspire his group of largely inexperienced youngsters.
On-field behaviour: Unfortunately the one area that the Indian stars have performed the best at, with Harbhajan, Ganguly and Sreesanth all guilty of unpardonable behaviour.
Franchise loyalty: From reports emanating from India, only Kolkata has been able to muster some real support. Unsurprising given that Bengalis are a very partial lot. Must also help that the owner of the franchise is Shah Rukh Khan who has pulled out all the stops to to raise the profile of his team.
Biggest Winner Lalit Modi the IPL Commissioner. With the astounding success of the tournament at the time of writing, the present regime of which Modi is an integral part is certain to control the reins of the BCCI for a long time.
Biggest Loser Sreesanth in the long run. Harbhajan may have copped the suspension but theres no doubt in everyones mind who was the real culprit.
Royal Challenger? Rahul Dravid. His poor decisions both in picking his squad and then juggling the batting order for every game has challenged all basic cricket common sense.
With the second half of the tournament underway sans most of the international stars, my picks for the semis would be Mohali, Kolkata, Rajasthan and Delhi.

Dear BCCI, "Shut Up and Shape Up"

Does anyone else think its time someone put a gag order on our loose tongued BCCI officials. It seems not a day goes by that one doesn't hear of an outlandish quote from either Niranjan Shah, Rajeev Shukla or Lalit Modi. In contrast the Indian team has gone about its cricket with a great sense of purpose and unity that has earned it the respect and admiration of both the opposition fans and cricketers. I find it poor taste and highly un-Indian the manner in which BCCI officials have issued ultimatums to other boards and tried to tutor them on their internal decisions. The Indian board is currently behaving like an arrogant 'lala' (Indian moneylender) dictating terms to those desperate for a share of its riches. While the current board has been impressive in monetizing its brand its report card on basic matters like tour scheduling, setting up a working website, hiring of a new national coach and managing its own employees such as Dilip Vengsarkar, has been woeful. There still remain much more important development issues to be resolved in Indian cricket than engaging in vulgar rhetoric that only portrays the country as a bully, when we'd rather be respected as a nation for our on-field exploits.

Hail India! 20/20 Champions

Its 1.30am in Melbourne, India have just edged out arch-rivals Pakistan to win the inaugural 20/20 World Cup. What a see-saw battle, ending only when Pakistan's lone saviour Misbah Ul Haq attempted a fatal chip shot with victory in sight. In 1983, I was all of 5 years and too young to comprehend the famous victory at the 83 World Cup. Including that game India have played 9 finals in tournaments involving 5+ teams, winning only 3 the last time being in 1993 in the famous Hero Cup win in Kolkata. What I've just witnessed is one of the best ODI finals in recent history, given the damp squibs the last few World Cup finals have been. India triumphed relying mainly on self-belief and casting off doubts about their inexperience in this format. A new captain, the return of a few old stalwarts and some fresh blood undoubtedly helped to a large extent. Truly after ages we've seen a superstar Indian team rather than an Indian team of superstars. That the two teams played this encounter in the true spirit and hugged and complimented each other after the game only gladdened the heart at the end. September 24th will go down as the day India rediscovered its fighting spirit and started to write a new script that will define its cricketing future for years to come. Who would have thought an event in another continent would give me my happiest day yet in Australia. Good night.

The Passover - the day Federer beat Sampras at Wimbledon

A few days after Roger Federer beat Pete Sampras in the 4th round of Wimbledon 2001 he received a suprise call from Bjorn Borg. The Swedish legend thanked Federer for stopping Sampras and thus preserving Borgs record of 5 consecutive titles. The final scorecard that afternoon read 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5, astonishing given that it came on the 19- year-old Swiss player's debut on Centre Court. Sampras on the other hand was a 7-time winner, looking for his 100th straight win on grass and 5th consecutive title and was already on a 31 match winning streak at Wimbledon since July 96. Comparisons between Borg, Sampras and Federer are inevitable especially as grass court champions, but I'd opt for Sampras simply because he had to ward off tougher grass court opposition for his titles. From 1993 to 2000, his glory years he played Courier,Ivanisivec(twice),Becker,Agassi,Pioline,Rafter - all worthy grass court opponents in the finals. Six years since July, 2001 Federer himself threatens Borgs record. The great Swede himself has said, "I think and hope that Roger will equal my record this year - it could not happen to a better person". This year his toughest opponent appears to be Roddick in the semis, someone he's already routed twice in the finals and destroyed at the Aus Open in Jan. The question then is not when but how many Wimbledons will Federer win from here.

All-time great sports movies

Presenting here my own selection of great sports movies, that I have seen myself but presented in no particular order. If you have a movie title that I've missed please leave a comment. I have intentionally left out full-on comedies like Happy Gilmore or great films like Million Dollar Baby where sports is a relatively side theme.
1. Raging Bull - Robert De Niro stars as middleweight boxing champ Jake LaMotta
2. Bull Durham - 1988 American movie about love and baseball stars Kevin Costner
3. Chariots of Fire - The true story of two British athletes preparing for and competing in the 1924 Summer Olympics, one Jew and one devout Catholic.
4. Remember the Titans - Denzil Washington as Hernan Boone a black football coach of an integrated college team.
5. Seabiscuit - Story of a champion racehorse in Depression Era USA in the 1930's
6. The Color of Money - Tom Cruise, Paul Newman in a classic about pool & hustling
7. Ali - Will Smith is at his best in a movie that recreates Ali's best fights and his life
8. Escape to Victory - Film about Allied POWs, coached by Michael Caine who agree to play an exhibition match against the Nazis. Also stars Stallone and soccer star Pele.
9. When we were Kings - The the best documentary ever made about Ali focuses on the Rumble in the Jungle bout with Foreman in Zaire.
10. Rocky - Stallone stars as amateur boxer Rocky Balboa who becomes Champion. Spawned 5 sequels and the classic track 'Eye of the Tiger'
Other notable films are, A League of Their Own, White Men Can't Jump, The Hurricane
Cinderella Man and The Champ

Why women need to know (more) about Cricket

..So the wretched cricket world Cup has ended but if all you women think the worst is over, you are mistaken. For though India crashed out early, the coach of the neighboring country got murdered and we got beaten by two minuscule neighbors, I can guarantee your partners, fathers and boyfriends will be in front of the idiot box again come the next series. The unfortunate incident of Mandira Bedi defaming the Indian flag once again lowered the already dim perception of the average Indian woman's cricketing acumen. So how do you beat them at their own game? Well for starters educate yourself on the finer nuances of the game. Learn the fielding positions, arm yourself with stats and most importantly pick a team other than India to infuriate your partners. I'm not suggesting you switch allegiances forever but if you had picked a team like SriLanka before the World Cup that would have shamed your male counterpart's armchair predictions. Most men regurgitate borrowed knowledge they pick up from cricinfo and rediff cricket channel. But being primitive, they lack the brain power to sift through data the way women are more equipped to do. While India has a few quality journalists like Sonali Chander (NDTV), Sharda Ugra (India Today) and Kadambari Murali (Hindustan Times), this list needs to be substantially longer. Surely if Indian television can accommodate the likes of Chetan Sharma, Madan Lal and Kris Srikkanth, a few beautiful and intelligent women with a fresh perspective couldn't fare much worse. So good luck with your endeavours ...in the meanwhile I will go back to my favourite issue of Maxim and study Mandira Bedi's views on cricket.

Australia wins the World Cup (again) ...yawwwwwwwwwwnnn

Its 8.14am in Melbourne and Australia have triumphed for the third time in the World Cup. Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor are insisting the game's not over since 3 overs remain. Another pig-headed decision by the ICC means that SriLanka will bat out the remaining overs in light that is best suited for an evening tea-party not a cricket final. Before this Australia decimated the SriLankan bowlers in the morning and then polished off their middle-order with some tight bowling. Most of the cricketing world would have been supporting a SriLankan but that man Adam Gilchrist again played like he had God batting for him. On one hand we marvel at how bloody good this Australian team but we also wonder where cricket heads from here. A dominant unbeatable team now holds all the major titles, has won in every cricket playing country and has an abundance of talent for another decade. I propose we do away with this farce of Australia playing in tournaments and beating everyone silly. Let’s have a World Test and ODI Series over 4 years where all teams bar Australia play each other and the winner then plays Australia at the end of it. At least we'll see more even matches and we'll have to bear Australia crush opposition only once in 4 years. If there's any consolation McGrath and Warne are gone forever ...maybe India can win something when they go down to Australia later this year.