Lou, who?

Lou, who? To enlighten you, this is some chappie called Lou Rowan, who stood in a Test last in 1971, as an umpire, who thinks Harbhajan Singh should be banned for life. The problem with the Australian cricket fraternity is that they are the worst losers on the face of God's earth. They cannot live down the fact that Harbhajan Singh got away with it all, and post that controversy they won nothing against the Indians. So essentially all concerned, including the media, were left looking quite....

Posted by Jaideep Ghosh at | 5 comments

IPL, the Indian Punch Line

What was that, what Winston Churchill said, about the British effort during World War II? "Blood, sweat, toil and tears". Perfect for the Indian Premier League it seems. Toil is understandable, while the perfect timing of the tournament, in the middle of summer, ensures sweat. Blood we saw when Dominic Thornley and Karan Goel got whacked on their faces. Tears we saw when S. Sreesanth got whacked on his. Some foresighted journalist had recently written in a column that, given the amount of money and stakes involved....

Posted by Jaideep Ghosh at | 3 comments

Losing out in a pitched battle

I overestimated the Indian team's batting 'prowess' - I thought they'd last till the 4th day at least. Its coming to close to two decades of following Indian cricket, but it still manages to surprise me. Not in terms of predictability, be it in the kinds of shots played to get out, or the amazing way in which we invariably play our best when there is a final around the corner. The surprise comes in the amazingly erratic form this side has. When this side returned from Australia,....

Posted by Jaideep Ghosh at | 4 comments