Boyz in Blue
The by-now famous Nawab of Najafgarh showed no commiseration for Pakistani bowlers, who were made to look as innocuous as pink-eyed rabbits frolicking on green grass. Virender Sehwag has an almost kinky penchant for his neighbours from the other side of the fence. Two triple hundreds are a sufficient manifestation of his cocky contempt for Umar Gul & co, besides several brutal assaults. But what made Sehwag's trademark punchy century at Karachi against Pakistan in the Asia Cup truly epic was the fact that he was chasing a known target.....
Posted by Sanjay Jha at | 22 comments
Stanford University of cricket
Sohail Tanvir, the phlegmatic-looking Pakistani medium-pacer with the inscrutable face, which gave the Rajasthan Royals team a bowling wonder said it all. At the end of the farcical tri-series between Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, Tanvir, who was part of the winning squad, said that Pakistan's national side victory over India was definitely more satisfying than the IPL triumph. In the end, that's all that truly matters. Funnily, the generally exuberant media that ran a daily TRP barometer during the summer holidays with liberal clichéd quotes from BCCI bigwigs, was conspicuously....
Posted by Sanjay Jha at | 15 comments
Why Modi should listen to Michael
I write this column because everyone's toast, tea and truffle these days, Mr Lalit Modi of the BCCI said so loudly himself, that the T20 IPL was essentially a smart copy-cat of the famous English Premier League football. Modi, if he can at all look beyond ballooning short-term cash inflows into BCCI, may well be advised to pay serious heed to a certain Michael Platini. Platini, the star football player of France of olden times, has called a spade a spade and belittled the club culture in England,....
Posted by Sanjay Jha at | 23 comments
Modi, media and the kingdom of crystal skeletons
I write this piece on a sultry Sunday afternoon, before a single ball of the much-hyped reality show grand spectacle, the IPL final has been bowled. In a well-respected and revered national newspaper, a perceptibly flustered senior editor has joined yours truly in openly condemning the double standards of India's now increasingly dubious media and it's blatant double standards. Welcome, Pradeep Magazine, even if some us will only be part of a " minority report". Elsewhere, an afternoon tabloid has written a pathetically pedestrian piece on 20 Reasons why people....
Posted by Sanjay Jha at | 31 comments
