It is so us!
So far, in my short stint in journalism, I have had the opportunity of working with people from different nationalities very closely. While I enjoyed the grit of the Australians, I have always admired the Brit humor. And every time a very silly goof up happened in the news room, one of my British colleagues used to tell me, "It's so us." I used to laugh then. The reason why I recall this "dialogue" of his is primarily because of what is happening to the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the extent of negative publicity it has gathered.
While it's important to point out what went wrong and the rumblings in the camp if any, it's also important to understand that at the end of the day, it's sport. You are bound to have a season or two like this.
Not many have been extremely critical of the Deccan Chargers who too are not having the greatest of times despite boasting the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and the new Indian sensation Rohit Sharma. All that the press has been talking has been the team that Bangalore chose to go with.
While it's perfectly acceptable to report the exact words spoken by the promoter of the team or the former CEO of the side to present his side of the story, I'm not a great fan of the "sources" stories. Once we realise a team is down and out, I think we have this habit of adding fuel to the fire by certain unconfirmed stories that only adds to uncertainty in the minds of the readers or the viewers as the case maybe. We tend to go overboard, driven by TRPs to sensationalise news. And that's not the best thing to happen. Over a point, I think, it begins to trivialise things and that's when you start losing trust in what's being said or printed.
I think every team has had its fair share of issues and I believe that's why Rahul Dravid is right when he says, somehow things haven't clicked for the Royal Challengers. Let's not forget that Jacques Kallis has played an important part in many a wins for the Proteas and so has Mark Boucher. And probably that's the reason why Rahul Dravid and company had gone about choosing the team they did.
After all, after all these years, we need to give Rahul credit and respect him for what he has achieved. And he is a man who relinquished the captaincy armband of Team India. A one-off tournament where the team has not clicked as a unit is no barometer for what the man is. But as Wasim Akram once told me, "In the sub-continent, we have this strange habit of pulling down people." I am beginning to wonder whether it's so us.
Total Comments: 6
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Posted : By Anandakumar
A very good article RK...keep it up.
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Posted : By RK
what good is a leader who can''t show results ? delivering results is paramount - Be it business, sports or even love! Even if failure is only for one season - non-results will lead to people making a jugdement about you - Period !!!
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Posted : By Manoj Nair
While Radhakrishnan has stated a so-called Logical Rhetoric, let me just make a point! If History of Successes decide the future of a competitive sport like cricket, trust me West Indies would not be losing game after game so poorly after a dominance that they enjoyed in world cricket in the 80''s. If Rahul Dravid''s past was excellent let us accept that it was his prime, for if he wasnt good, he wouldnt be knocking around! That certainly does not mean he is going to extraordinary in future. Let''s get serious. I was right there in the corporate stands adjacent to the media box at the first game of the IPL and trust me i have yet to see a bigger joke than Dravid and Wasim opening the innings to chase 222 in 20 overs after McCullam Hurricane! Royal Challengers had Katrina but that was glamour and not a force with the answer! It is like us? Isnt it? Thick Skinned cricketers!!! Radhakrishnan, you have a long way to go- learn the nuances of the sport. Not sure how old were you when India won the 1983 Prudential Cup. Do we respect those cricketers today? Most are against the BCCI and with the IPL league! Its like us again?Does that ring bells.
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Posted : By shesh
A very good article RK. It is definitely "like us". I think Royal Callengers is one of the best teams. I am sure even the other teams are bit wary of this team along with Deccan Chargers. RD, Kallis, Boucher, Chandrapaul, Taylor all are very committed and dedicated guys. That is why RD has chosen this team. The fact is they are not clicking. It is not that they are old or they lack ability. They all have won lot of games (ODIS) for their teams. I do not have any problems if Mallya is expecting good performances from his team. But he has forgotten the basic Management principle "Praise in public, Reprimand in private".
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Posted : By LVISS
One thing appears certain .THe ipl will erode the dignity of the players. A player dropped from the national side has a chance to fight back into the team with some good performance. The same cannot be said of a player relieved from a franchise.He will carry the pains of a rejected cricketer until he is picked up by another team.. This will be felt more by the Indians in the team than foreign players .Kallis and Boucher are not bad choices.When a well endowed team like Chargers is strugling to win matches u cannot blame the Challengers for poor performance.T 20 is a lottery
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