December 20, 2006
Ninde Achan Aara, Nel?Sports
Sreesanth Swinging His Bat…. Dhoom Machale?!
It’s my first time, Mutineers, so be gentle. I’m a total Cricket virgin and if you’re mean to me about what is sure to be an amateurish post, I’ll be scarred forever— whether I end up a frigid fan or not is in your hopefully kind and capable hands. ;)
After hearing about Mallu hotness Sreesanth (thanks, DTK), I had to visit ye olde YouTube to find out about this right-arm fast-medium-pace bowler, who is a right-handed tailender. Apparently, excessively lippy South African Andre Nel questioned Sreesanth’s heart/courage/skillz after Sreesanth evaded something called a bouncer. Sreesanth responded by hitting Nel for a six and then performing a dance I’d normally associate with an end zone. Oh, that was just brutal to write. I can’t imagine how many men I’ve just annoyed. ;)
I may not know a damned thing about what is arguably the most popular sport in all of South Asia, but I know the art of trash talk well and if anything could get me to fall in love with this very Brown game, it’s the video I’ve posted above. Set to some probably-famous song I’ve never heard before (“Dhoom Machale”), it’s way more fun than the other YouTube clips which came up when I searched for the new object of my lecherous (he’s eight years younger) affection. Not since I was kicked off our co-ed IM team in grad school for illegal (and may I add, utterly justified and deliciously violent) tackling during a flag-football game have I been so delighted by the immaturity of declaring “in your face!”. Gopu, I heart you. :)
UPDATE: The Google Video seems clearer, so I swapped it.
anna on December 20, 2006 01:39 PM in Dance, Sports · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
Awesome clip. Thank you. I just looked up cricket rules and became utterly confused. Maybe another rainy day.
this has become one of the most talked about things (and watched) in cricket in the past few days. if it weren't for the ashes, it would probably be the number one topic of cricket conversation right now. there are other clips of him set to other music, plus other clips of him from other matches doing animated moves not normally seen on a cricket field. he was a state breakdancing champion, i think, and it shows! funnily enough, he was fined, not for this display, but for wearing illegal logos and giving south african batsman hashim amla a less than gentlemanly send-off (and deservedly fined for this i think). but nel really got what he deserved and the look on his speechless face is priceless! sreesanth's attitude, if it doesn't become overly obnoxious, and his talent are good things for indian cricket right now.
Anna - I have to applaud your effort.
BTW, do you know what this means - "who is a right-handed tailender"
He bats right-handed and does so towards the end?
*cringes*
It didnot look like a bouncer. Nel (bowling at 130kmph+) probably was thrash talking just because the right handed tailender made an attempt at a pull-shot. Sreesanth's dance was hilarious!
yeah, another in a woefully short list of mallu cricketers on the Indian national team. Like comets, rare and totally interesting.
Anna, I don't even know you except for your posts here, and still didn't think you had a cricket post in you.
oh i cant get enough of it... and the music is just perfect. Dhoom machale dhoom machale dhoom !!!
for xkcroi - dont sweat the details - in the basest terms - in baseball this is like a batter getting slung a beanball, and instead of being intimidated him retaliating with a homer.
actually i think this guy is supposed to be from the effeminate race (cf. previous thread on martial_races). bwahahahahahHAHA.. macaulay - eat my chaddi.
Sreesanth must be a Sikh (aka Martial race)
I think that attitude is his 'SPCD' :)
Sreesanth totally rocked! Anna, cant believe you came up with a cricket post - pull your socks up for this march, we got worldcup '07!
Maybe the bowler said something to him about Indian manhood size after the recent controversy and he wanted to indicate something symbolically.
Awesome video! Was surprised to see it yesterday on youtube in the "Most Viewed (Today)" list. Guess the brownz are slowly making their presence on the internet felt stronger :) 3 cheers to brown power!
Oh BTW things seem to turn around quickly in Indian cricket, just the other day they were being called incompetent after losing a 1 day series and now they are again lovable after the historic test victory.
oh this so reminds me of the movie lagaan - which i proudly saw recently to keep the sepia tinge alive in my neighborhood dvd store - Remember the shaggy guy in the blanket who comes out and the bowler says, "he looks like he's sitting on a horse".
Wooooo! I can't believe I inspired a cricket-related post on SM! From A N N A, nonetheless, whose last post inspired a lengthy discussion of lipstick and make-up techniques. (I still don't know what undertones are.) I may have a new answer for those job interview questions where they ask for your greatest achievement.
I think I've mentioned this before, but the cricket world cup is coming up soon in North America (the West Indies), so I hope this is the first of several cricket-related posts. I mean, we don't need to search for one measly desi on the French team, we will have entire teams filled with South Asians!
And great job on the cricket terms and descriptions, A N N A. I'd be more worried about the wrath of the Bollywood fans -- you've never heard Dhoom Machale?? ;-)
Though you DID forget to mention that India beat South Africa for "our" first ever test match victory on South African soil ....
ANNA = Closet Cricket fan?
Sachin? More like Sach-OUT, for a few.
Cricket: India thrashes Zimbabwe
;)
Back to the dusty archives, I go...
all this martial vs. less-martial debate is similar to the non-veg vs. veg fights that frequently break out on cricket boards, especially between fans of india and pakistan :)
Including in my team, England :)
The Indian cricket team is like the England football team -- pumped full of false expectation by their fans on the basis of a single World Cup victory decades ago, believing that their unmatched passion for the game gives them a moral right to win. In truth they are second best, although studded with individually world class players. With both teams this manifests itself in the swings between depression when they lose and hysterical expectation when they win -- often within one game of the other.
Way to go Anna!!!!! You have done us all proud. That was an exceptionally well written piece on cricket and the video much better than the so many others I have been the unwitting recipient of.
I've noticed this on a few threads on various forums - someone will always point out how Sreesanth has done all mallu's proud. The only other linguistic group that seems to take as much pride in the achievements of others is the Bengalis. Can we construct an elaborate theory linking this "pride in others' achievements" with communism ??
Windies have a couple of desi players from Trinidad I think - Chanderpaul and someone else.
Talking of fitting replies, This is the mother of all fitting relies.
Venkatesh Prasad answering Aamir Sohail's antics in 1996 World cup Quarter Final at Bangalore.
There is no Indian cricket fan who doesn't remember this, just as no Indian fan ever forgets Javed Miandad's last ball sixer.
chanderpaul, sarwan, darren ganga, ramdin are some of the windies players of asian descent in the current team.
That clip is hysterical.
Great guess A N N A!!! If that was a guess. Tailenders are the dudes at the bottom of the lineup. Generally they are bowlers whose batting is generally weaker than those of players in other positions (analogous to a pitcher batting 9th in the lineup in the National League). I don't really follow cricket, but I grew up playing baseball and Pops was a spin bowler on his college team, so I felt obligated to learn a thing or two about it.
>>Talking of fitting replies, This is the mother of all fitting relies.
This might be common knowledge to many folks here, but i would like to describe it for those not familiar with this incident.
This was the quarterfinal of the world cup in 1996 and pakistan was going great guns. Pakistan was almost half way through the indian total losing just one wicket. Amir Sohail hits Prasad for a bounday( 4 runs) and gestures to him to go fetch the ball. Prasad gets him the very next ball. Pakistan lost the game from there and that was begginning of the end of Amir Sohail career as well.
Yayyyy! :) I was so worried I sounded like an idiot.
Also, a huge thank you to everyone who is being so nice to this dilettante cricket fan. :) Every girl's first time should be so pleasant. ;)
ANNA take some time off and go watch the World Cup -- a few weeks in the Carribean sunshine watching cricket sounds idyllic to me. And if you go to matches in Trinidad we can meet lots of Indian people with the best accents in the world.
>>Every girl's first time should be so pleasant. ;)
It can be, if every girl at least makes an effort to understand or talk about sports.
That was a historic win and I think Sreesanth went a lil a overboard with his dance but its good to see agression from the indian side as they havent been doin so good lately. I used to watch just cuz of Sachin and still read (as there is no live cricket in US) it cuz of him. I hope he comes out firing next test match.
and Anna you surprise me everyday...first the stunning saree and now you are a cricket fan...marry me?
Nah, not a closet cricket fan. As she said, just terribly fond of boys named Sachin.
And there ain't nothin' wrong with an eight- (or seven-) year age difference. ;)
"first the stunning saree and now you are a cricket fan...marry me?"
Dang! Jeet beat me to that......exactly my sentiments!
For the cricket virgins this is my recommendation.
Cricket & Writing
sorry to go slightly off-topic, but any indian cricket fans looking for a good gift for other indian cricket fans should check out this recent book: The Illustrated History of Indian Cricket.
This is one review
Sreesanth did the equivalent of a baseball player hitting a home run in a regular season meaningless game and running the bases mouthing off "in yo' face you muthafacka" to the pitcher and opposing players or Reggie Miller grabbing his crotch after a slam dunk against the Knicks. Aggression and enthusiasm is all good to get the crowd riled up. Consistent performance is another. If this young man stays on top of his game on a regular basis and plays the fool to annoy opposing players it is all good. Else he is going to become a laughing stock and an afterthought. Play the game with respect and reverence.
But on the other hand,cricket is just like another professional sport governed by politicians and power mongers. Hope fully Sreesanth can sustain the high note and do his jiggy for years to come.
HELLO! This is worth getting excited about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJvMqRJUP6s
Dhoom machale to that babe, 435 aint nothing! If you dont want to watch the whole thing, Australia set a very high score and smugly thought they had the game in the bag, but South Africa played one heck of a game and trashed it! Ha ha ha...I hate the Australians, so crass!
Good job Anna and that is one fine piece of meat, I mean man. Truth is that I think everyone loves the Indian cricket team a little!
I forgot to add that it was the greatest ODI ever!:)
Sreesanth did the equivalent of a baseball player ...
The point is the tailender (who happens to be a fast bowler himself) hit a six off the fast bowler.
Just shows that sledging is a double-edged sword.
Not exactly a reply a la Sreesanth-meets-Shakira mode, but another memorable cricket "riposte" was Tendulkar in Sharjah single-handedly bashing the Aussies in 2 consecutive matches with knocks of 134 and 124 (n.o.). Even though we lost the first of these matches, we needed to score a certain number of runs to qualify for the finals against the Aussies, who we then defeated due to his second century, as above. It was after these knocks that he was regarded the best batsman...maybe even since Bradman.
Still remember the TV shot of Tendulkar sitting in the stands during his innings, due to a temporary stoppage of play because of a dramatic sandstorm in the desert environs of the stadium, looking steely eyed (you could break a rock with his eyeballs!) and not even taking his helmet or gloves off, because he was so determined to get back onto the field & hit the frickin' arrogant Aussies out of the game. Truer grit and drive, was never seen before this...
CinnamonRani,
it would be better to say that I have a love-hate affair with the Indian team. I simply love them when they are playing professional cricket and having a whole bunch of fun doing it as when Viru and Dhoni go at it and Dravid just calmly nails the lid of the coffin on. I simply hate it when the hang their heads before the game is over. It ranks as the most irritating thing ever. The worldcup finals loss to Australia still rankles bitterly. Oh! what a waste of McDonalds coffee!!!!
Here' another classic from Sreesanth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sPChZecDGo
I've hear that he's an avid break-dance fan.
Linky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sPChZecDGo
He's not just a fan of breakdance, but was apparently a national champion at one stage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/4785572.stm
Wow, a lot of the comments under that clip are disgusting. Is it just jackasses on YouTube who think "he must be gay" or is that a common insult hurled his way? It didn't help that the video was set to one of the most annoying songs of all time, "My Humps". *shudder*
I am guessing you have never seen the comments in yahoo message boards under any news about India. Good thing yahoo took it down today.
"Wow, a lot of the comments under that clip are disgusting. Is it just jackasses on YouTube who think "he must be gay" or is that a common insult hurled his way?"
unfortunately that is tame stuff compared to what used to go on on the bbc south asian cricket board, especially between pakistani and indian cricket fans (generally not even from india or pakistan but based elsewhere). the conversation and rivalry descended to the most abysmal, immature depths, several times prompting the mods to shut the board down, eventually permanently so.
ANNA,
Here is some more stuff on your boy/cricketer of choice. I like some others have gotten into it because my dad is such a fanatic. I was also in India during the '04 India/Pakistan series, which started the slight addiction.
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/34274.html
wow, awesome ANNA.
Sreesanth is an exception in Indian Cricket, he is one of the most aggressive bowlers. He will even put Aussie bowlers to shame with his aggressive attitude.
Hahaha yesss!!!
Sreesanth is my homeboy! :) I think he's the first (or second? I'm not sure) international cricketer from Kerala and for him to do so well, *sniff* just makes me feel so proud. You know they actually named a street after him? I'll try to find it when I go this summer. MUAHAHAHA...
ANNA, I'll be the first one to admit that I'm probably obsessed with cricket too much for my own good, but I've also gotten my (American) friends to be genuinely interested in cricket and even got them to play it! They asked to!!! Anyway, Sachin rules all! Did I mention I know a guy in my neighborhood in Kerala named Sachin? We play cricket together :)
Oh, sweet, innocent A N N A. Don't you know never to look at the YouTube comments? YouTube comments collectively represent the lowest expression of humanity ever assembled. Thousands of years from now, when we destroy ourselves with plague and nuclear bombs, alien species will find remnants of YouTube comment threads and thank their strange green gods that we nuked ourselves out of existence.
by the way, let's not get our hip hop lingo mixed up shall we? Sreesanth is no b-boy. Unlike this brilliant man.
Holy mother of...
I just spent the last week at the test matches so I could quietly drink martinis and smoke cigarettes while the Paki/Windies played. At least I think they were test matches. Or something. There was vodka involved, that's all I know.
Um, this may be a silly question, but I don't know what this means.
Hardly silly-- neither do I.
Dhoom machale? Literally 'Have a Blast'. Tagline from Bollywood heist/adventure/action movie series 'Dhoom' (Think Mission Impossible, with songs and dances, and lots of far far hotter ppl). D2 just got released in late November.
I'm sure there are clips on youtube from both Dhoom and Dhoom 2.
Oh, and the original Dhoom starred the other (half-)Mallu hotness, John Abraham, just so that ANNA knows :)
Eh, I'd rather have Sreesanth. Bad attitude and badder hips. Yowza. ;)
Dhoom machale roughly means "paint the town red/ dazzle everyone/ bang all the way"
Literally,
Dhoom = bang
Machale = to do
Anna
Since you said you didn't know much about cricket, I thought I'll use a poem my dad used to recite to explain the game to me :)
Cricket
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out.
When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go
in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those
who are not out, that is the end of the game!
A little history:
Desis have been at the receiving end from gora teams for decades.
An English captain once called Indians Dull Dogs. Desi cricket fans have been fed a steady diet of crappy performances and spineless attitude from successive teams. Things started to change w/ people like Sunil Gavaskar and Imran Khan. Truly world-class players who werent about to be cowed down by gora lip.
How big is this Shreesanth thing? India-Pakistan matches are treated like war w/out guns. Yet I watched the clip on Pakistan TV, w/ anchor gleefully narrating the incidence. The Asian cricket teams/fans show remarkable solidarity when pitted against goras.
Anna,
Some Malyali cricket trivia for your enjoyment.
Mumbai boy Abey Kuruvilla was the first Malyali to break nationally. He wouldve done all Malyalis and Indians proud, if the &^*$*# selectors had picked him at his peak.
P.S. gora is lazy shorthand for high & mighty attitude typical of white teams from the past. England has made remarkable progress in this regard and deserve some Desi love.
Abey Kuruvilla never played for Kerala.
The first Keralite who played for India (and Kerala in the domestic circuit) was Tinu Yohannan
Sreesanth is the second.
Thanks for all the explanations! ;-)
Lurker Auntie, that was delightful! :D
Shodan and Brown_Fob, thanks for all the additional information. This is far more interesting than I imagined it could be. :) The Mallu hook doesn't hurt. ;)
England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa (majority white players: goras) are traditionally known for on-field aggression in cricket (read: verbal abuses etc). All through the 70s, 80s and 90s, teams from the subcontinent were routinely abused in this gentleman's game. Our players were often accussed of being meek as they never answered these verbal assaults. They always said that their bat/ball will do the talking and they behaved like perfect gentelmen (mostly). As fas as results are concerned, teams from the subcontinent did pretty well..(India won the WC in '83, runners up in 2003, Pakistan won in 92 and were runners up in 99 while Sri Lanka won in 96).
These things are gradually changing now. With India bringing in 75% of the money in world cricket, we are demanding more say in the management of the game. The Indian cricket board wants to have more say in scheduling its tours, telecast deals, sponsorships etc. The goras are having hard time to digest this fact and usually try to oppose everything that the boards from subcontinent propose.
India, Pak, Lanka and B'desh usually stick together in all crucial votes..and even get West Indies on their side. The Australians usually side with the British ...and so does new Zealand and south Africa.
In the end, it's the money that holds the power..and usually the Indian board is able to amend the "racist"
policies still followed in wordl cricket.
There have been plenty of instances where brown players have been fined for showing their displeasure to the umpires...but white players were let off without fine (or warning).
nice video.. thanks for the link..
that's just cool on many levels but in terms of the direction of the thread, think of the most proper environment you've ever been at, the most high and fancy dinner party, and then somebody comments on how indian cooking smells. and then, you not only say it smells great, you bring out the most currified chicken you've ever made, and everyone loves it, but the host who cries in their drink that no one has touched the souffle.
on top of that, what a great shot
Neil Hirani (who posted the video in the first place) offered this description:
Yes, it's much clearer that Nel is douchey, thanks. :)
Also clearer: the video itself, since I just swapped YouTube for Google. w00t!
STILL clearer: now I know what "hitting Nel for a six" means! :D
Brown_fob, I hear ya. That little Sreesanth dance meant so much to a lot of Indians! Some comeuppance!!!!!
I can't wait to see some of these new players with some real balls go on the next Australia tour and show those goras how to respond to sledging.
Great video :)
Here's the original Dhoom theme song, performed by Thai singer Tata Young.
my favourite indian sledge was ravi shastri's to the aussie 12th man......shastri hit the ball and stepped out of the crease to steal a run,the 12th man fielded the ball sharply and said to him,
"if you f***ing step out of the crease i will break your f***ing head".....to which shastri replied calmly,
"if you could play as well as you talk you wouldnt be the f***ing 12th man"
Okay,having got that off my chest i still dont know how to react to this guy's dance...i am all about aggression but this boy seems to be doing it all over the place....(instances from the match in question abound on the net)
this makes a nice read. :)
That was me with the curry chicken analogy. on second thought, its quite a stupid analogy, didn't mean to be patronizing. I'm making chicken today so it was in my mind.
(must remember to comment less)
Awww, I liked it. :)
all you lovelorn hounds... here's a tip. somebody's birthday is coming up.
Can we have a Monty Panesar post please? This Sardar came close to being British Sports Personality of the year. Even coach Duncan Hater concedes that he's the best finger spinner in the world.
See Red Snapper's Dec. 14 post for latest Monty heroics. England lost though :(
awww, thanks Anna, well appreciated
I must have watched this video 10 times today....
The place where I least expected to see a discussion on this topic! Nice, Anna.
I almost spilled my Tea on my Cucumber Sandwich whilst watching this on TV. There was something distinctly simple and primitive about his response. This was the inner Mallu setting himself free; responding to years of condescension from Le West. I have done this dance in front of my bathroom mirror many times after whacking McGrath for consecutive, albeit imaginary, sixes. This bugger actually did it! I am beginning to admire this guy; tacky hair and all. As they say, a little talent goes a long way, if you have a bit of Mongrel in you
Shodan
Monty is one of the best things to happen in English cricket in years, and is perhaps the only redeeming feature of England's poor Ashes show. Eight wickets in his debut Ashes test has kind of made him a national hero (he already was one -- there was a national outcry when he was not selected for the first test) and I get a buzz out of seeing millions of white Englishmen and women bigging up and having a 'keshdari' Sikh as their national hero. There are lots of profiles about him on google news, this one was one of my recent favourites:
Panesar comes out of hiding to make history
Good news today is that he's just been selected for his first One Day squad against the Aussies, which means he will most likely play in the World Cup in March. He's probably done more for Indians, especially Sikhs, in Britain, in terms of acceptance, than anyone else in the last decade or more. There have been other cricketers that have played for England of Asian background, but none of them as good as Panesar. Plus Monty seems to bring out some kind of emotional reaction amongst the English public -- people genuinely love him. He is charismatic, aggressive, child like in his love for the game, and best of all, he is a big wicket taker, and humble off the field. He is a superstar in the making.
Sreesanth's mother on Rediff
"I was very worried when he did that (dance at the Wanderers), because Nel's actions and looks are quite dangerous. So, when he called me that day, I told him not to quarrel again with Nel as he (Sreesanth) is playing in his (Nel's) country," she told rediff.com
80. Red Snapper
More Monty threadjack (last one I promise).
Monty bowling to Harbhajan @ Mohali was the first time two Sikhs faced each other in an international match.
His parents organised a special akhand path of the Guru Granth Sahib at a gurudwara in Nangal for their sons success.
His extended family in Punjab was thrilled to see him make his debut in Punjab. They wanted India and Monty to do well. In that order.
Sachin Tendulkar was his first victim. Talk about doing well.
Here's another famous cricket taunting and a come back.
As much as some people don't like the Ozzie cricket team, you have to respect their record and Shane Warne, one of the greatest players of all time (certainly the greatest bowler ever) announced his retirement after the end of this series today.
Bishan Bedi on the news of Warne's retirement:
monty has been picked for the odi triangular series against nz and australia, so if he proves himself in that it seems a certainty he will be in the england world cup squad.
as for warne, check out this funny tribute in the guardian.
@60:
Lets not forget KP Bhaskar or Bhaskar Pillai who played for Delhi in the late 70's , early 80's. He lived in the shadows of GR Vishwanath and never got an opportunity to play for India. Much like a brilliant bowler like PK Shivalkar who played for Mumbai during the same time and had to wait for one of the 4 famous spinners ( Bedi, Prasanna, Venkat and Chandrashekahr) to keel over so he would get a chance, which never really happened.
Not only do I get makeup advice from this site, but ideas for holiday presents too! I just ordered both the Illustrated History of Indian Cricket and the Picador Book of Cricket for my husband. I used to be a cricket fan in India, but half the fun of sports is talking about them afterwards, so I had to divert my attention to baseball, having no one to discuss cricket with here. Now I am woefully ignorant about the world of cricket.
The video was awesome!
I humbly request that Sepia Mutiny does regular posts all the way through the cricket World Cup in March just as you did during Germany 2006 so we can talk and gossip and discuss the matches --- so much desi interest not only amongst the sub-continent teams but with the West Indies and England featuring brown players it has to be done.
All those who agree with me that it's a good idea say so!
All those who agree with me that it's a good idea say so!
Wholeheartedly agreed. I just found the official song on another blog.
Lots of American brownz are going; it should be a raucous, drunken, roaring good time. I am rooting in equal measure for the diasporic desis like Panesar as for the old country team.
"All those who agree with me that it's a good idea say so!"
thumbs up!
teams such as canada, kenya (and maybe even holland and scotland) also have several players/coaches of south asian descent.
I suddenly have an ache in my heart to spend March in the islands watching cricket, it sounds like it's going to be one hell of a party with all the desis invading, drinking Red Stripe in Jamaica, eating red snapper in Trinidad, where else? Barbados too --- sunshine, cold beer, cricket, fascinating cultures and all those Trini Indian girls. Now I only have to engineer an excuse to leave work and raise the money!
"All those who agree with me that it's a good idea say so!"
SO
All those who agree with me that it's a good idea say so!
So too.
Thanks guys, let's have a mutiny if they refuse! Only joking. World Cup threads will be so much fun.
Red, Risible, WGIIA?, Shodan, Kush,
No need for a meta-mutiny. I am HAPPY to try and oblige, since I think I'm the only person in the bunker who would want to write posts about rockstars named Monty or Men in Blue. As long as you continue to indulge my toddler-like comprehension of the game (hey, I make up for it in heart) and guide me down the path to cricket enlightenment, I'm your girl. :) I love what I've learned so far!
You're the best ANNA!
I am HAPPY to try and oblige, since I think I'm the only person in the bunker who would want to write posts about rockstars named Monty or Men in Blue.
Yes! You will be the best commentator ever. We don't NEED wonkish batting form analysis, we need rockstars, culture, and the global-brown feel of the game.
Yeah! It will be good fun. ANNA will bring the right carnival vibe. I'm already looking forward to it.
I'm the only person in the bunker who would want to write posts about rockstars
Imran Khan was the first "rockstar" brown cricketer. In his prime he had these fantastic inswingers and there some goog vids on batsmen without a clue.
Thanks! Or should i say nanni? on the other hand, i already waste too much time on sepia mutiny (no offence intended), and cricket threads during the World Cup may well be the final blow to my productive life. oh well, priorities, shmiorities.
This is excellent news! I can't wait for SM to cover cricket - it's such a great game. You can be like the Mandira Bedi of the blogosphere. She's a very popular Indian TV cricket correspondant who also happens to be unapologetically glam (I hear. I've never actually seen her on TV).
she certainly is glamorous. but i fear if ANNA dresses like this whilst giving us all the World Cup cricket dish, it might be too distracting for us mere mortals.
Anna, he's all yours.
Like most men, Sreesanth digs older hotties, be gentle with him
Here's a compilation of some classic sledges for you noobs.
Shouldn't this be titled "How your Appa, Nel?" or whatever the Mallu equivalent is?
more info on Sreesanth...
"His favourite food is rice and fish curry. For breakfast he likes Kadala and Puttu (a traditional dish prepared from rice and gram). In fact, he wants Kadala and Puttu every morning; he loves it so much," his mother says.
happens to be unapologetically glam (I hear. I've never actually seen her on TV).
In one of my visits to India, I have seen her.
She is certainly a treat - Mazaa, mazaa.........
She is known for her spaghetti strap blouses, and is certainly "cricket" happy on TV.
Harsha Bhogle goes all condescending on Sreesanth in this clip. According to the Bhogle, Sreesanth, in case you didn't notice, brings a refreshing rural touch to the game. And I thought the whole Gentleman vs Players classification was a relic of an obsolete British cricket system. Harsha is an IIM-Ahmedabad grad, & back when I used to live in India in the late 90s, was ubiquitous on all media as the cricket pundit du jour. I don't see/hear/read much about him anymore, but that may have to do with the fact that watching cricket in North America is an expensive proposition...
well.. bhogale can munch a jackfruit in his ass. typical elitist shithead. we love him. today, we are all pindoos and that's a good thing.
Oooh, Mandira Bedi is not a bad comparison. I mean, A N N A should be offended if she pretended to be a cricket expert -- since Mandira is clearly not there for her cricket knowledge -- but since the sense is that she will blog about the culture of the game and not game analysis, Mandira Bedi is an apt comparison.
Aside -- I've not only seen Mandira Bedi on TV, I actually saw her at a party I attended in Bangalore in 2004 that featured the Aussie cricket team. Mandira kind of MCed the evening, and she was hilarious. I think she had 3-4 costume changes over the course of the evening. During a Q&A session, she asked Brett Lee (who was sat a foot away from me during dinner) about his dating life, and his response was a tongue-in-cheek "Don't you people read your newspapers? I'm apparently dating Preity Zinta." When Mandira pressed on and asked him what qualities he was attracted to in a woman, he smiled and said "I like dimples."
For all the haterade being dished out to the gora teams, I actually admire the heck out of the Aussie team. They play hard, and they are damn good. They do sledge, no question, but I think they keep it within limits and it is no different from the mild trash talk that occurs in all American sports. Plus, they are the team most responsible for transforming test cricket from a boring game into an exciting one in which most matches these days produce results. It used to be scoring 250 runs in a day was decent, now most teams regularly score in excess of 300 runs per day, and it is fair to say that this change was started by the Aussie's aggressive play. Another thing I like about the Aussies is that many of them really look forward to the challenge of touring India. In 2004, several members of the team brought their family and vacationed in Kerala after the tour. Brett Lee actually took the trouble to learn some Hindi and used it in interviews. He also learned a punjabi (I think) folk song and sang it for TV and other audiences (he plays the guitar), much to the joy of the screaming females in said audiences.
Hmmm. "Who's Your Appan, Nel?" Does that work better for you? "Who's Your DADDY?" is just so obnoxious. :D Besides, if I use "Appan" then I'm tempted to translate the whole thing ("Ninde Appan Arra, Panthi?") and we all know my Malayalam transliteration skills are painfully shite. ;)
Neophyte that I am, this still irritated me. I didn't know who "Bhogle" was, but I thought he was a bit of a dick. I've got your rural right here, beeeeitch. (See? The art of trash talk! :)
Are you not counting Nasser Hussein? Hussein was England's captain, and scored over 5,000 runs for them. I think it is a wee bit early to put Monty in the same discussion. (Hussein, of course, was part of the hilarious exchange between Jess and her mom in Bend it Like Beckham. In response to her mom saying that England would never let a brown girl play for the national team, Jess says something like "Things are changing. Nasser Hussein is captain of the cricket team." To which Jess's mom replies, "But he is muslim. That is different.")
Overhyping him much? If you accept Muralitharan as legit (I'm not sure I do) and a finger spinner, he's not only the best finger spinner in the world, he makes a serious claim to being the best bowler in the history of the game. His stats are amazing. And even if you discount Murali's controversial action or don't think of him as a finger spinner, Monty still isn't the best finger spinner in the world. Heck, he's got quite a bit to prove before he can even claim to be the best turban-ned finger spinner in the world, an honor that for now belongs to the Turbanator.
They're a great team. They're so great they're like a machine - they don't make mistakes, they don't fuck up. I just don't get excited seeing them wreck their opponents, ESPECIALLY when it's India :(. But when I see Tendulkar and Sehwag up there batting their little hearts away, I cheer till I go hoarse.
I suppose you have to live in England to understand the impact that Monty is having. Nasser Hussein was cut from different cloth. Half English, private school educated. Monty is second generation and streetwise and the whole vibe is different. Hussein wasnt an exciting player. Panesar is. And other stuff too.
"Brett Lee actually took the trouble to learn some Hindi and used it in interviews."
have you seen/heard about the asha bhonsle-brett lee collaboration on her new album? india is an advertising goldmine for non-indian cricketers.
Mandira Bedi speaks beautiful, fluent Hindi (rare among the 'posh' crowd of Mumbai), as well as English, and I THINK maybe Punjabi too...it adds to her sexiness IMHO (great pic of her by the way, WGIIA).
Here it is folks...
Brett Lee v Asha Bhosle
Woah. That was weird.
That was an awesome video!!!
P.S: Doesn't the south african bowlers histronics remind you of MAMOOTY ??
Anna writes too well to be compared to Mandira Bedi, who is a total idiot not unlike a lot of people on reality shows. It's all about revenue now, so we'll have more Mandira Bedis on TV - at the cost of smart, articulate women who know the game. There are a number of great women sports writers in England - I've enjoyed reading Sue Mott on Daily Telegraph, for instance. On TV, you have Mary Carillo (who I met in Melbourne airport last year!), Pam Shriver and Martina (of course, they're all former players so they have an advantage). As a cricket fan, I hate Mandira from my guts. But more than that, she's an insult to our intelligence.
Ende Ammaye kettiyavan, of course. Trick question or what?
Guess I was too serious in that previous post!
Anyway, more power to Sreesanth. That test match win was completely unexpected and the way it was achieved made it all the more special. I hope they win the series too - it's a tough ask, but I'd like Graeme Smith's face if we pull it off ;)
And I agree with the comments about Harsha's condescending tone. I had the same reaction the first time I saw the clip. Rural touch my ass.
My 2 cents on the Sreesanth issue, sledging and Harsha Bhogle
Andre Nel deserved what he got. Andre Nel is that type of bowler that sledges regardless. He sledges, when his team's going great, and sledges when his team is staring down the barrel of defeat. During that test match, South Africa was staring down the barrel, and Nel goes off shooting his mouth. The South African team did a similar thing on their 2005-2006 tour to Australia, with Greame Smith, Andre Nel, Mark Boucher et.al, shooting off their mouth. The Aussies, play aggressive, and take great pride in exposing shallow talk, which they did, with South Africa. Back to the point, GO SREESANTH!!!
On sledging, there's a fine line between competition, and then making a fool out of yourself. I have been a victim of sledging, but nothing of the racial, or personal nature. I was the last man in, and after playing and missing across the line of the ball, 1st slip said something like, "in cricket, to get runs, you have to hit the ball mate". The next delivery, I went hard at it, got a thick outside edge, and went straight to 1st slip. I'm not sure if you call it a sledge but it worked. Steve Waugh tried it with brilliant results on his home turf, but then failed miserably on the Australia's tour of India in 2000-2001 when it backfired on him. IMHO Sledging is no substitute for competition, and those who think it is, live in a fool's paradise (does Greame Smith and Andre Nel visit this blog?)
Harsha Bhogle is one of the finest cricket commentators in the circuit, certainly the BEST (IMO) in India. While Sanjay Manjrekar comes close, I reckon Harsha occupies a very exalted position. That being said, it was rather dissappointing for him to have said what he did say, and I do not condone his statements. One other reason Tipu in #109 may not have watched Harsha Bhogle lately, may also do with the fact that ESPN-Star hasn't won cricket rights, as regularly as they did in previous years. Now Ten Sports, Nimbus, Zee Sports have all jumped into the fray, although, given my experience of television viewing, ESPN-Star is the second best in cricket broadcasting (coming second to Channel 9's Wide World of Sport cricket commentary team)
Anna, I see you updated the title :-)
Oh nothing. I think my own reaction was what weirded me out. I thought it was really cute, but also really awkward (and I'm not just talking about the horrible music). And then I figured I was being hyperanalytical. Everything IS political, but we don't always need to politicize everything.
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DTK,
Its not my opinion. The hype strangely comes from the guy who kept him out of better part of Ashes (hence the hater tag).
Re: Finger Spin
Monty is an orthodox left-arm spinner. His craft comes mainly from his extra long fingers. Muralis spin depends on fingers + wrist + freakish bend of his arm. Generally offies and leggies (to some extent) cant just depend on fingers. Wrist work is important as well.
Currently most of the lefties are part-timers (Jayas