Insights From IPL @ Chennai

After going to 5 matches at the Chepauk, my IPL quota for the season is coming to an end with just 2 more to go.. Great cricket (most times, especially against Punjab) apart, there have been quite a few things that have stood out for me..

1. No matter how many cricket superstars are there on the field, the loudest noise is for our own superstar - Thailavar Rajnikath.. All this without him being present there.. The loudest cheers in the stadium are reserved for whenever his songs are played..

2. Cheer leaders haven't lived up to the hype the politicians have created.. After reading all the comments made by these self appointed moral authoritarians, i expected it to be a tad more exciting to say the least.. Disappointing..

3. Each performance at the matches so far have been moderate to poor barring the Naresh Iyer, Benny, Suchitra gig and to a certain extent Karthik's performance.. While the acoustics were horrible during Hariharan's performance, Anuradha ruined hers by singing a modified version of We Will Rock You which surely would have had 'Queen' turning in their grave..

4. Krishnamachari Srikanth maybe a world cup winner and probably the most prolific player from Chennai so far in cricket but is easily the most annoying of the Set Max lot.. It begins with his accented English and goes on to his singing the Chennai Super Kings song when they ask him for comments.. He would do well to learn from his other distinguished World Cup winenr who happens to be present at all Chennai matches, Ravi Shastri..

5. Pommie Mbangwa is probably more famous in Chennai than he is back in Zimbabwe.. The number of people trying to get his attention in the stands is pretty surprising..

6. The DJ (if that is what you call the guy playing the music during the matches) was on song during the Punjab match.. Starting off with 'Pretty Woman' for Priety Zinta, started belting out of lots of 'situation' songs.. "Singam Pola" , "Raja Kaiya Vecha", "Annatha Aadurar" were the best timed..

7. The Chennai Super Kings management, India Cements, are a big bunch of idiots.. I've been waiting for the Reebok jersey to come out since the tournament started and still no signs.. The Reebok guy jokes saying it'll probably come only after the tournament is over.. In contrast is Shah Rukh Khan, who along with Reebok has opened an exclusive Kolkata Knight Riders shop in Kolkata to sell their merchandise..

8. Sivamani is an amazing entertainer.. The guy has phenomenal energy and the crowds seem to love him.. I was pleasantly surprised by the response he got for the mere mention of his name even.. He keeps moving from stand to stand and plays a piece whenever Chennai hit a boundary, pick up a wicket or just cause he feels like.. Good move by India Cements here.. I had forgotten to mention this before.. Credit to J for reminding me..

9. Last but not least, half the people with camera phones are crazy.. I can understand them taking photos of themselves at the ground or some celebrity or some hot chick but taking photos of cheer leaders some 200 meters away using a VGA or a 1.3 meg camera made absolutely no sense..

I'm sure there were more interesting moments, just can't seem to remember anymore now.. Here's wishing Chennai Super Kings the best of luck..

It Finally Happened!!

After four years, the moment i was desperately waiting for finally happened.. I don't know when the obsession began but it caught flame when i missed his batting during the second test of Australia's tour of India in 2004.. Since then, i have wondered many a time if i would ever see him play live which included failed attempts to go see a match in Bangalore (Chinnasamy stadium seems to be jinxed as far as i am concerned.. Two failed attempts for tickets so far though my sister got free passes for the Terrace Pavillion!!! More on that later maybe)

How i wish he was wearing the yellow uniform as in the pic instead of Cream and black during yesterday's match against Chennai Super Kings.. Adam Gilchrist, my cricketer of the last decade, proved to everyone in Chennai why he is a match winner.. With Chennai managing a paltry 144, it would've been an easy victory for any other team (I'm not even considering royal challengers) but Deccan have proved in the few games they have played that they can make a match of even the easiest victories..

After beginning rather cautiously, he took off with some mighty blows against Ntini.. I still am awestruck thinking about the first six he hit off Ntini.. A quick fire 54 all but took the game away from the Chennai Super Kings.. Mr. Dependable Rohit Sharma and Styris finished the job rather nicely..

Gau keeps saying Gilchrist is too unpredictable but today is example of why exactly he is amongst the best.. An interesting statistic, Rohit Sharma is the leading run scorer in the IPL but the only 2 matches Deccan have won had Gilchrist written all over them (Man of the match in both matches), with little or no help from Rohit.. Not dicrediting Rohit here but just proving what a difference 'Church' can make.. Deccan desperately needed a victory today and as they say "Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man!"