Wednesday, May 21, 2008

IPL Daily Dose - 20/05/2008 - A special prize for Shah Rukh and why the Rajasthan Royals have fans all over India

The Knight Riders have been trying to persuade the NZL cricket board to make Brendan McCullum available for the semi-finals and have been willing to pay them USD 1 million for this special arrangement. I don’t know how it fits in the cap structure but this was surely a way of showing to the world that they were quite confident of making the semis. A very typical SRK stunt. Should have been quite a boost for the side ahead of a must win game.

The King Khan’s absence from such a big game, however, showed that this show of confidence was merely a filmy stunt. He had either already written off his team’s chances or had more pressing matters to attend (like Blogging against Aamir Khan). Wonder why all the fuss about getting an all access pass when he wasn’t going to be using it? He has to have it just because Preity Zinta and Vijay Mallya have it. I would love to hear from SRK, once KKR is finally knocked out of the tournament. Arun ‘Aryabhatta’ Lal thinks the Knight Riders still have a mathematical chance to make the semis.

The Bengalis had been highly aggrieved at the booing Dada received in Jaipur. It was a good chance to give chief culprit – Shane Warne some real stick. I was expecting a jam-packed Eden. Instead I saw a stadium which had enough empty space to seat the entire film community of Mumbai. Not just the ones who turned up to support SRK in Mumbai. The Knight Riders still have a long way to go before they can garner the kind of support the likes of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal enjoy.

Now here’s a new theory which I have.

The Royals come from Rajasthan, home of the Marwari community. This business community has a fair presence in all the major cities of this country. Wouldn’t this ensure that the Rajasthan side will always a decent number of supporters wherever they play? It’s similar to Indians being found all over the world; thereby ensuring that the Indian cricket team is never short of support in any venue in the world.

Quick Question 1

Ans: Who is the spinner’s biggest nemesis in the Kolkata batting line-up?

It should have been Dada till two games back. But not any more. Introducing Debabrata ‘his captain doesn’t know his name properly’ Das. Just check with Murali and Warne.

Quick Question 2

Who does Ajit Agarkar remind me of; every time he gets tonked for a four or a six, which is quite often?

Ans: Ranadeb Bose. Poor guy. Didn’t even get a chance to field in the IPL. Was he a worse option than Agarkar?

I have one last wish before KKR wind up their league engagements.

To see Laxmi Ratan Shukla bat higher up the order. I am tired of seeing him doing a salvage job all the time.

Dude of the DayYousuf Pathan. Gets the wicket of Kolkata’s best batsman and plays a blinder just when Kolkata were sniffing a chance. Also for speaking in fluent Hindi rather than trying to talk in broken English. No pretensions here.

Dud of the DayShah Rukh Khan. You can now frame the all access pass and hang it in your office. That’s your only prize from the IPL.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The fans should nominate him for a golden globe for trying to convince people that he is a cricket fan. He famously once said I can you make you believe that I'm madly in love with a cow. What da? Who does he think he is?

The good news is that KKK are out of the tournament. On the likes of Bose, SRK booted them all out of the hotel to their homes in the name of cost cutting... the less said about ganguly is better :).

Nice to see you back to blogging.

Rajesh said...

SRK is a shrewdie! Cant blame him for taking the star struck Indian (Bong) masses for a ride. Everybody deserves what they get.

Good that RR has show that glamour and publicity will work in Bollywood and Indian Cricket - but in professional sports; performance matters. And RR should be getting fans from neutrals all over (both for the fact that they have been brilliant so far and that we are a nation of glory hunters)!

PS: Have been waiting for this update ever since yesterdays match!

PPS: Arun Lal is pretty decent I guess - at least as a pundit (gives decent pitch reports). And why call a spade a spade and lose the money that TV appearances can bring in!

Unknown said...

I think KKR have too much of bad karma also. And dont say KKR are out. Arun Lal will beg to disagree.

And man I have been blogging like crazy these days. May 2008 has been the most prolific month of all times :-)