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analysis / cricket — 1 Comment
26
Jan 07

Tasteless Ads on Neo Sports Can Send Wrong Message

Neo Sports is a new TV channel in India. Their tag-line is “Home of Cricket in Indian Television”. They are carrying the ongoing India-West Indies cricket series being played in India. I am not writing this post, not about their cricket coverage. But about some in-house ads they are running with the tag-line “It’s tough to be a West Indian in India”. To many such ads can be considered racial and provocative.

In one of the ads, they show a West Indian guy going to a dhaba where he is fed a dish red with chillies. He is crying for water after the first bite of this red curry. No one in the dhaba let him have water. One gentleman in the dhaba pokes his finder into a glass of water so that the West indian guy cannot drink, finally he goes to the hand-wash. Here another gentlemen just cuts off he water supply. The ad end with the pathetic tag-line “It’s tough to be a West Indian in India“. Sick ad.

Then there is another ad. A West Indian couple goes on a romantic boat ride on a large lake. Here their Indian boatman takes them to the middle of the lake throws his oars into the water. Then he jumps into the water swimming back to the shore. Leaving a visibily terrifed West Indian couple stranded in the middle of the lake on a small boat with no oar-man and no oars. This ad also ends with the sick tag line “It’s tough to be a West Indian in India”

Indian tradition says “atithi deva bhabo” (a guest is like god). If these ads are a measure of how a guest is treated in India, then who will visit India. These ads do not project the real picture, but just creativity gone wrong.

Does Neo Sports realize that in 2 months, the Indian cricket team will be in West Indies to play the Cricket Work Cup ? So, will the West Indians or anyone else send such tasteless messages to the Indian team when they go to play cricket series abroad.

I am unable to see any humor in this ads. I think these will send a very wrong message to our West Indian guests. Neo Sports channel can help by show more maturity. Is anyone listening ?

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cricket — No Comments
06
May 06

Cricket: The New Stars

Luhit – Views, Reviews, Experiences….

Indian cricket has never been short of superstars. Indian players always excelled at individual records. Half of the Indian cricket team would be in the top-20 of the ICC rankings.

After following Cricket for all these years, one think I known about Indian Cricket. A losing team is full of bloated super stars. But, what of a winning team ?

In the months following the Sri Lankan tour of India (2005) the Indian team has continued to do well at home. Especially in the one day version of the game. The visiting English side nearly got whitewashed 5-1.

India has done well this season. They beat Pakistan, Sri Lanka & England. Most importantly India won against these countries with wonderful margin. The drawn series against South Africa and the Abu Dhabi series against Pakistan took some shine off the wonderful series wins.

Who would have believed such a good season for India without Tendulkar & with Sehwag totally out of his grooves. But India has won on the shoulders of some young & promising players. In one match or the other it has been a Pathan, a Raina or a Dhoni or a Seeshant who has seen India through. Each man in the side has come good in some match or the other. Emphasizing the point that Cricket is a team sport.

With a season of wins, no doubt someone must have played better then the others. In my opinion, one man has stood out this season.

If MS Dhoni took the elevator to stardom, this man took the stairs. This man is Yuvraj Singh. After years at the fringe and with years of lost opportunities he has finally come good. He has played the most critical link in the wins this season. He has been aptly rewarded with 3 man of the series on a trot.

The Indian media has gone heads over heel in heralding him as the new super star. Perhaps he is !!! I hope he remembers, it was the same media that made Ganguly the superstar once, and it is the same media which takes delight at writing rubbish on him now.

I am a fan of Yuvraj now. I hope he learns how to handle this new stardom. He is a team player to the boot, and I hope he continues to remain so. A man can be successful only if his team is.

The only Indian cricketer who has managed his stardom well is Rahul Dravid. With Captain Dravid at the helm of the team, I hope some of his modesty rubs off to the rest of the team.

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cricket — 1 Comment
20
Nov 05

Cricket: The U-turn in India’s fortune

What does the records say ?Indian cricket has never been short of superstars. Indian players always excelled at individual records. Half of the Indian cricket team would be in the top-20 of the ICC rankings.

But what of the Indian team ? As a team the records are dismal. Various people have called it a team of paper tigers. A group of chokers who can snatch defeat from the brink of victory.

India has played 387 test matches between 1932 to Nov 2005. And has won only 84 of these, just 21.7% success rate in test matches. On ODI, of the 692 matches India has played between 1974 and Nov 2005, it has only won 292. Look at the last few years , the team was studded with superstars – Tendulkar, Ganguly, Kumble, Dravid …… Yet the records for the past few years is no better.

In any team sports, as well as in cricket – success comes only when the whole team plays as one. No single superstar can play better then a team of talented cricketers playing as one. Over the years the team had developed a total dependence on single super start in the team. In not so recent past, once and again we have seen the team collapsing like nine-pins at the drop of Tendulkar’s wicket.

The over dependence on a single superstar has been a bane for the team. Neither has it helped the individual who has to shoulder the team teams responsibility all alone.

What the team needed was a bunch of match-winners !!!!!!!

Perhaps things are changing, if we are to look at the recent 7 match one day series against Sri Lank during Oct, Nov 2005.

The U-turn in India’s Cricket fortune

India won the ODI series against Sri Lanka 6-1. Each victory was sealed with match winning performances by different team members. India won the first match on the shoulders of Pathan and Tendulkar, while Dhoni powered India to win in the second match. Each successive victory brought out a new match winner in the team. This has never happened to the team India.

At the end of the series the Team India was group of match winners. Each team member doing his role and supporting the others.

Is this the U-turn that one day will make Team India a world beater ?

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