“Hurrahhhhhhhhhhh,” I remember that deafening sound distinctly which I had heard while swinging on a swing. Because that is the sound which initiated me into the “world affairs”, sports to start with. It was 1983 and India had won the cricket World Cup! (And then I understood why the adjoining club’s tennis court was vacant on a holiday; watching members play tennis while swinging on the swing was my enjoyable pastime!)
Cricket became one of my favourite sports, tennis and soccer remaining my all time favorites. F1, of course – till Michael Schumacher’s reign – was the sport I loved the most! I have enjoyed a few cricket matches “live” and have passed numerous hours in front of television watching my favorite cricketers – many from Australia – play and win and lose and entertain in the process. Honestly, “too much” of cricket in various formats coupled with paucity of time has robbed the real joy of the game – for me, at least. Nevertheless, I love to watch Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar play. MSD, of course, I admire for his ability to lead with ice-cool demeanor!
The 10th Cricket World Cup is on! India along with all cricket playing nations is ecstatic! We have a strong chance to win the cup the second time after ’83 under MSD’s captaincy. (Honestly, I am sure India will this time!) The opening ceremony was OK – nothing great about it, frankly. Like a cricket fan, I too wanted to watch the kick-off game between India and Bangladesh today but being thousands of miles away in a non-cricketing country coupled with professional engagements deprived me of that pleasure. Till I get back to India, I will follow the world cup on the BBC and the Net. (I look forward to New Delhi match between India and Netherlands on 9th Mar’11.)
The ongoing world cup is extremely important for its scale of economy – for India and all countries involved. The biggest beneficiary will be the sports channel engaged in live telecast. The other channels which will get the second biggest pie of ad revenues would be the news channels. No wonder we see them dedicate good share of ‘prime time’ to coverage and panel discussions on cricket. A few credible critics and commentators I do not mind watching for a while, but beyond that I cannot digest. Because ‘Sports’ is one arena which is ‘played’ out and is not ‘reported’ like other ‘news’ in today’s television era. And at all cost I avoid wasting my time listening to armchair critics and so-called experts. The most shocking is the Times Now’s decision to incorporate ‘glamour’ factor in their cricket world cup coverage by roping in Mandira Bedi (in her trademark noodle-straps and her mastered sham of wearing traditional Indian attire i.e. a so-called sari!) and Roshni Chopra on their panel of so-called experts! What happened to their claim of a ‘no nonsense’ approach to news? ‘Hard news’ seems to have become ‘hardly news’ in relation to cricket WC coverage! (I watched it yesterday on the Net and could not go beyond a few minutes.)
Anyway, cricket world cup is about cricket and cricketers and not about television studio critics and commentators. …
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I, like billion plus Indians, firmly believe that India will win this time! … Congrats, MSD J
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