Whoever cajoled Anil Kumble into accepting the role of a commentator for the ICC World T20 needs an award. His inclusion in the Star Cricket commentary team is a masterstroke. It's good to see new faces on television sets and Kumble looks all set to join his fellow leg-spinners Richie Benaud and Shane Warne as fine describers of the game. He's not as direct as Ian Chappell (by the way, also a leg-spinner apart from a brilliant batsman) but is not conservative too, which a newcomer to the box can be.
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When an expert like Dilip Vengsarkar says that the Indian Premier League will have a damaging on Indian cricket’s fortunes on the international stage then the mandarins of the BCCI need to sit up and take notice. The IPL may have provided entertainment and boosted the bank balances of players, but one shudders to think what toll it has taken on the bodies of our national cricketers.
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Rahul Dravid was the first to face ridicule after his performance as captain for the Bangalore Royal Challengers. It happened in the midst of the tournament, engineered by none other than team boss Vijay Mallya.
After the dust settled on the tournament, it was VVS Laxman's time to face the wrath - by fellow teammate Shahid Afridi, who slammed Laxman's captaincy.
Sourav Ganguly joins the list with the Buchanan issue. Wonder whether all these distinguished players would be better off not playing this Mickey Mouse form of the game. Ganguly has well and truly retired while Dravid and Laxman are not part of India's limited overs set-up. So what's the point?
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It’s interesting that television broadcasters Sony appealed to the New Zealand board to start the India vs NZ Test matches at 12 noon which would enable the Indian audience to start their cricket watching day at a more decent hour than 3.30 am. The smart television company would also gain more eyeballs.
In a victory for the interests of the game, the request was turned down but don’t be surprised if television has its way for the next two Tests. TV’s influence in this game just cannot be under-rated. Obviously, whoever made that suggestion/appeal didn’t think of the poor bowlers’ liking of the morning conditions.
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THE Indian cricket board took their dadagiri to new heights the other day when they objected to Indian Cricket League player Craig McMillan’s presence as commentator for the India vs New Zealand series.
Reports said that the Indian authorities (yes, authorities sound better than officials) threatened to pull Ravi Shastri out of the Sky Sports commentary team if McMillan does commentary. Though Sky Sports have said that there is no way the former NZ player will be out of their team, this controversy may end up peaceful since McMillan has been drafted in to replace Shastri for the second Test since Shastri is expected to miss that game due to a family function in India.
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