Odyssey360

Its been a really long time since I actually down to blogging my thoughts. Its been months now and there seems to be so much running in my mind. I am sure that this is a start once again right from the word go. Past few months have really been hectic and there has been a lot which has transpired.

However the flavour of the season without any doubt has been the IPL-Season 3. Going back home after a hard days work is a pleasure in the Season of the IPL. Nothing like destressing in front of the television watching destructive Cricket at its very best. At least its much better than sitting in fron of the TV and watching a sob soap.

Coming back to Cricket, T20 finds itself amongst the most watched form of entertainment in the world of Sports today. What I find interesting about this form of cricket is the fact that it is fast, furious, innovative and highly entertaining. Batsman have to innovate their strokeplay that much more to send the ball soaring into the crowds, and the bowlers have had to dig deep into their arsenal to control the batsman from taking him to the cleaners. Slower Ones, Wrong ones, Top Spinners from the fast Bowlers and the Faster one from the Spinner has become a part and parcel of Bermuda Cricket. I love to call T20 Bermuda Cricket because no one knows what will happen next just as in the Case of any plane venturing into the zone of Bermuda islands where umpteen planes have disappeared without a trace. Such is the unpredicatability of Bermuda Cricket.

I guess that considering the flow of runs in T20 in a recent match well over 400 runs were scored in 40 Overs, I see a lot of records being broken in the longer versions of the game both One Day Internationals and Test Cricket. There is much more variety of strokes that we get to see from the Batsmans blade. Reverse sweep, Moving away towards the off stump and then pulling the ball almost similar to a hook shot but much more riskier than a Hook shot, Swaying your head out of the way of a deadly bouncer and just allowing the ball to kiss the blade of your bat, a stroke which Sachin mastered in the Tour Down Under in Australia, shots which will delight any Cricket Fan.

Yet there are points which could break several careers. Imagine the sight of a bowler constantly being thrashed around by powerful hitters of the game. Ishant Sharma one of the promising India Players, has been much hounded to such a extent that today the poor lad is being clobbered by all and sundry. Is there a way out. I would say Yes and No. Yes because we would need to coach the boys in a manner where they are exposed to T20 only afer they graduate after representing the Country in Tests and One day Internationals. This needs to be made mandatory. No, because there is so much money that is involved that it becomes a very big temptation for the younsters to jump into the arena and play to the galleries. There needs to be some sort of a balance between what i have said to prevent player burnout. Cricket in the IPL is much akin to the Cattle Market which happens in our towns where Herds are sold for the best price which it fetches. One more point I would like to raise over here is about the Cheerleaders. There is nothing more disturbing to the eye than a couple of semi dressed blonde girls dancing to the tune of Bollywodd music whenever a ball crosses the boundary or when a wicket falls. I am sure that spectators will flock to the stadium without such kind of innovations.

So where does it leave us viewers and fans of the game. Sit back and enjoys the game. So long as there are Bulls there will be no dearth of Bull Fighters. Song long as there is a game called Cricket there will be specatators and fans, and players who will be treated like Demi Gods.

Too much controversy has been in the news last few days sorrounding Sashi Tahroor, The Kochi IPL team and Lalit Modi. Again a case of media hype sorrounding a person who loves his English syllables as much from a gentleman who loves to rub shoulders with the whos who of Cricket.

Only a para more to add. If this blog does manage to raech the administrators of the game a lalit Modi or a Sharad Pawar, there is a earnest requestt from my end, please keep Bollywood out of Cricket. Please do not get me wrong. I am as much a Shah Rukh Fan as much a fan of Sachin, But believe me that even its beyond the imagination of SRK to make a KKR to win a IPL title.Maybe he could make a Girls hockey team win a tournament in a movie but winning a high voltage tournament like IPL demands much more than a screenplay. Much more than this its insulting to watch someone like Preity Zinta or a Shilpa Shetty talking about Cricket on the same platform as someone like Sunil Gavaskar. There is no comparison at all.

OK its Bye for now with a promise to return with more of blogs.