September 24, 2007
The Caption Game: "Chak de India"-EditionCaption This
If it’s Monday, you must be as hung-over…err… depressed…tired as I am— but wait! It’s a brand new week and surely there will be much fighting/gnashing of teeth/troll-feeding to do in the days ahead. Isn’t that daunting? Well, fret not, my pets.
The best thing about Mondays at the Mutiny is being able to play The Caption Game, a nice, easy warm-up for the week. You may not be able to touch your toes, but you can injure your funny bone trying to outwit Dravidian Lurker, MoorNam, PingPong et al. (Rahul…I’m pouring out some Old Monk for you, son. You are the missed.)
This picture, which was thoughtfully submitted by Jeet a few days ago (thanks!), is just pleading for a different label— look at what it’s been saddled with:
Harbhajan Singh’s joy is apparent as he catches Kevin Pietersen, England v India, Group E, ICC World Twenty20, Durban, September 19, 2007. [link]
Oh, come now. You mutineers can do better than that! Especially since the boys in blue have made some of you verrrry happy, right? :)
Confused?
Irritated?
Think this silliness is something new for the mutiny? How wrong you are, my sleepy friends. Lo, previous editions of the captioning game will prove that this isn’t a one-time timesuck: Ikk, Dhoe, Tinn, Char, Panj, Chhay, Suth, Utt…
anna on September 24, 2007 01:15 PM in Caption This, Humor, Sports · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
Knee in the balls. Ouch.
Captain Morgan...who?
this is another jewel from today's match
See, I can dance on one leg....even with you on me!
Chak De India
another unorthodox bhaji shot square to short leg.
or
harbhajan nails middle stump.
Audio caption:
*crickets*
"Harbhajan Singh showcases his interpretation of Swan Lake".
your knee is no match for spoor naam's safron balls
"Bhaji, is that a cricket ball in your left trouser pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
Gaal mile gaal...
Ghutna mile ball...
Bolo balle balle india...
Bolo chak de india!
Call me skeptical, but the person that Harbhajan Singh is catching in that picture does not look like Kevin Pietersen.
"There is a thin line between pleasure (celebrating the wicket) and pain (over-celebrating the wicket)".
Strictly that interpretation please :-).
Down boy or I will have to sick the Dog Whisperer on you
Pain or pleasure, a thin layer in between makes it safer.
OMG, Bhaji caught Pietersen's ball too? Man he really gets around!
too happy to think of any witty caption right now. what a match! it had everything and that's no exaggeration. both teams were superb and those with weak hearts probably watched the match at their own peril. another india-pakistan match lives up to the incredible hype and once again, in world cup matches, india pips pakistan. the scenes on Indian TV from Kochi, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata are crazy. congrats to both teams for truly one of the most intense sporting rivalries in the world and one of the most entertaining.
"India celebrates after narrowly winning the goose-stepping competition."
You made vada-pav for dinner? Oh Harbajan, I luv ya...
Slightly off-topic:
Just watched an absolutely awesome game of cricket.
But, was anyone else disturbed by what Shoaib Malik (the Pakistani captain) said at the presentation. Listening to it on TV, I really thought I must have heard him wrong, but the cricinfo scribe also say: "First of all I'd like to thank people back home and the Muslims around the world. We gave our 100%"!!!
WTF??? This was a game of cricket, played between two countries, one of which happens to be a muslim country, while the other has more muslims than the first. Where the f*** does religion come into play here?
Is it not presumptous, even absurd, to assume that all muslims around the world supported Pakistan? Hell, the bowler who turned the match around for India was also a muslim!
playing the 'hindu india' vs 'muslim pakistan' card is the only reason pakistan has to exist as a seperte country. the pakistan identity is formed from opposing india.
Yep, did hear Malik say that and think something was weird - where I live, most of the Muslims are from Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia, and none of them knows any cricket. I really didn't know what Malik was driving at - unless he is just really devout and it comes out unconsciously, in which case he *may* not have meant anything by it.
Maybe he meant "all the Pakistanis" all over the world? Not that I know what I'm talking about, but still...
I was quite bothered by it, as I have been by the rise of Tableeqi fundamentalism overall within the Pakistan team. First, it was Yousuf Youhana converting to Islam under less than certain circumstances, and now this. How very different from the Imran / Majid / Javed days.
Here's the comment made by Shoaib Malik (you need to scroll down a screen or two until you see his name in bold):
http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/287879.html?CMP=OTC-GCN
Bhajji: 'Oye, who says Indians got tiny weeners .. look what I can do with mine ..'
As an aside ... Why no mention of India winning the T20 world cup ?? :( .. much sadness comes, anna .. :( ..sob sob ..
Dude..disturb the bails...not the balls!
Well, it was mentioned on the news tab by a couple of people. It's good to know and all that, but there's not really much you can comment about it if it were a blogpost - "Good show!" covers about all of it.
Oops .. my bad .. you did mention it already .. :)
World is filled with happiness again .. :) .. much joy erupts .. :)
On a different note: Anna, how do you select the language? Is this a tour of South Asian languages? What language next?
Glad you noticed/asked! Today, I attempted Punjabi, in honor of Harbhajan Singh. ;)
No wonder, Sehwag's been outta the match with a groin injury! :)
And I know the dude in the pic is not sehwag,I thought maybe in the dressing room.... sigh!
Ikk, Dhoe, Tinn, Char, Panj, Chhay, Suth, Utt
This numbering is used for a number of North Indian subcontinent languages - even, perhaps, Urdu.
With tiny variations, Panj will become Paach in Hindi
Urdu might have an alternate too, I am not sure
Hence my qualifying Punjabi with "attempted". ;) I know better, than to be certain about ANYTHING around here. :D
Urdu might have an alternate too, I am not sure
Hindi and Urdu numbers are the same.
congrats to both teams for truly one of the most intense sporting rivalries in the world and one of the most entertaining.
I think it might be the biggest when it comes to a game played between two nations.
But, was anyone else disturbed by what Shoaib Malik (the Pakistani captain) said at the presentation. Listening to it on TV, I really thought I must have heard him wrong, but the cricinfo scribe also say: "First of all I'd like to thank people back home and the Muslims around the world. We gave our 100%"!!!
Hmm, there were two Muslims on the Indian cricket team (practicing Muslims) so presumably they were supporting India unless Shoaib Malik knows something the rest of us dont! Plus Shah Rukh was also cheering for India. Maybe he was faking it.
Its unfortunate that the Indian-Pakistani cricket games do end up being a Hindu-Muslim thing. Almost all Indian Muslims I know born during or after 60s do support India. The only Indian Muslims who support Pakistan are the Kashmiris, old timers and low SES Muslims living in isolated ghettos and as I understand the situation is changing there as well.
I actually watched the whole tournament on watchstreamz.com for $29. The coverage was good though there was a problem in the latter half of the Indian innings in the semi finals. I love the Twenty20. The whole thing finishes in 3 hours.
Great final too.
The Indian cricket team consists of players from all major religions in India....
Hindu(Dhoni, Gambhir, RP Singh, Joginder Sharma, Rohit Sharma)
Muslim (Irfan Pathan, Yousouf Pathan)
Sikh (Harbhajan, Yuvraj)
Christian (Sreesanth, Uthappa)
Indians r playing cricket as `indian'.....
i appeal to all indian muslim to condemn shoaib maliks' statement and who thinks that all world muslims shuld support him/Pakistan when the match is against India.
~ a pissed off Indian Muslim
"Maybe he meant "all the Pakistanis" all over the world? Not that I know what I'm talking about, but still..."
A N N A, i heard what shoaib malik said and i am wont to give him the benefit of the doubt and think that's what he meant (although him equating pakistan with muslims, even unconsciously, is as troublesome to some equating india to hindus (and the indian cricket team is so wonderfully diverse). malik has been a terrific captain for pakistan so far and i hope religion doesn't sway their focus the way it has recently.
i also think that because it's ramadan, that had something to do with what he said or was trying to say - it just didn't come out the right way. these guys are interviewed right after a tumultous and emotionally wrenching match, where victory for either side is a must, and i think it's hard for them to think clearly and speak clearly - too many emotions muddle their speech at times. irfan pathan also thanked allah in his man of the match award speech, but he didn't thank all muslims for supporting him - i think maybe that was what shoaib was aiming for (thanking allah) but went too far by mentioning muslims (though he may have meant the prayers of muslims during ramadan, because the boards were full of comments by pakistanis on how important it was for them to beat india during ramadan etc etc.).
as an aside (sorry!), india came to this tournament probably the least heralded of the Test playing nations and with the least experience in Twenty20 and given no chance. they'd only played one match in this format, and were without four of the best players during the recent England tour - the "Holy Trinity" of Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly and their best bowler Zaheer Khan. Also no coach. They ended up beating an overconfident England (with the most Twenty20 experience) and favourites South Africa and Australia. Dhoni is not only a swashbuckling cricketer with brawn, but he has a brain and should receive a lot of credit for bringing the best out of Sreesanth, Yuvraj, RP Singh (THE find for India this summer I think), Rohit Sharma, Uthappa etc. Great to see Pathan (he was emotional about playing with his older brother in this match) and Harbhajan and Sehwag back in form.
for pakistan, too, it was a great comeback after a disastrous world cup and having to endure almost racist insinuations over bob woolmer's death. was so great to see the subcontinent make this inaugural Twenty20 World Cup specatucular (although I hope it doesn't dominate 50-over cricket or Tests).
The Indian cricket team consists of players from all major religions in India....
Hindu(Dhoni, Gambhir, RP Singh, Joginder Sharma, Rohit Sharma)
Muslim (Irfan Pathan, Yousouf Pathan)
Sikh (Harbhajan, Yuvraj)
Christian (Sreesanth, Uthappa)
The minorities are overrepresented.
Muslim (Irfan Pathan, Yousouf Pathan)
Isn't Zaheer Khan often in the team too? Wasn't he the key player in recent series in England.
irfan pathan also thanked allah in his man of the match award speech
The losing captain Shoaib Malik should have blamed Allah for the loss. I just love it when they thank Jesus/Allah on winning a game. By extension the losing team should blame Jesus/Allah.
i think sreesanth is a hindu.
the bcci is giving the team $3 million as a bonus (including a crore for yuvraj alone).
In this series, do not remember when, I heard one of the Pakistani players use inshallah (by the grace of god (allah)) in his interview when he was talking in English. Having not watched games in a long time, this statement felt kinda weird.
I did not see the interview so I cannot comment on what he said, but could it be that he was expressing himself wrong. Let's be honest here, Pakistani players are not known for their interviewing skills.
And just to throw this in there, SRK was in the stadium supporting India.
saw this on the bbc board: this is the downside of the passion for cricket in the subcontinent :(
"if any of you guys use orkut u might know abt this...their is pakistan team community...more than 600 messages came in blaming shah rukh khan for the defeat...they were all cursing india & hindus in particular..really disappointed by that"
poor shah rukh!
India won thankfully, and were finally able to redeem themselves.The match was pretty close though. In the last over I could swear that Pakistan was going to win. If they did win though, that would have been nice too. RP Singh is so cute!!! Too bad the West Indies were eliminated so early...It is nice however to see Australia not winning everything.
among other reasons, this is why 'Chak de India' involved a team of girls :)
@Karthik,
To add, Am I the only one who caught Afridi saying "congratulations to the Indian captain and all the Indian nations..."
Indian nations? Wth is that... :)
If you watch the final video posted on crickethighlights.info - you can hear it in the last 6th minute of the video when Afridi is being interviewed
you know...the indian nations. as opposed to the muslim nations.
All of us, we who use the internets.
#38 and #40,
Sreesanth and Robin are both Hindus ..FYI.. But Shoaib Malik is dheela upstairs..Forgive him, he has to go home back to Pak. He said all of it in absolute majboori. Try to read between the lines.
hey, give afridi a break :) he really was gracious in his comments.
When senior officials from the English speaking world can screw up, they are not setting a very high bar for a "kid" from Pakistan. BTW, how old is Afridi now, is he still 16?
The guy's 27ish, but I didn't get your point - was Afridi trying to pass himself off as being younger at some point?
Also, speaking of bad interview skills, anybody remember Azharuddin? After losing to Zimbabwe in the 1999 World Cup, he lashed out at a press conference saying [I paraphrase]: "You only saw us play on the field. You don't report when we play well. We played very well this morning in the nets". Pretty much everyone was struck speechless! :D
A marketing masterstroke for his upcoming release "Om Shanti Om". In addition to wearing the t-shirt, he also managed to plug it in during his interview. Smart move :-)
Shoaib Malik is obviously an ignorant fool for making the Muslim statement. But one has to stay he was fantastic as a captain. The bringing on the spinners for Yuvraj, playing all front line main bowlers was very aggressive, the field placements were spot on. I was not sure about his strategy of not saving singles in the first 10 overs though. If you cut off the easy singles, you force batsmen to play over the top and lose wickets.
Dhoni was excellent as well.
I think Twenty20 actually requires more strategy and specialist players than other forms of cricket. Its incredible that India did not even have a coach.
Anyway, SM should have more posts on sports. I know ANNA is a big cricket lover :) and Abhi is known to be a football enthusiast though he is a Wolverine fan so it must be hard times.
caption; "I'm Rick Jamesingh, B*TCH !"
Uthappa is christian; he thanked jesus after scoring the winning runs against england in the one day series; also Sreesanth always crosses himself before bowling or after taking a catch. But all this is beside the point...
When you have to explain the joke, it looses its value.
Yes, for the longest time he was trying to pass himself as being way younger (I think it was when he hit the fastest 50?).
He should also be credit for starting the "Boys fielded well and boys batted well" statements.
"Thank you recommending that bookie!!"
M. Nam
"I think Twenty20 actually requires more strategy and specialist players than other forms of cricket. "
i'd have to disagree with the second part of that statement (and the first, because Test cricket requires the most strategy by far). England had specialist Twenty20 players in their line-up and expected that to given them an advantage over the other teams and they more or less failed to set the place on fire. they only beat zimbabwe out of all their matches. to trot out a cricketing cliche: form is temporary, class is permanent. India, with the least experience, did set the place on fire with their "traditional" cricketers, not specialists.
Twenty20 may not be to the purists' liking - and already there is some predominantly Australian and English handwringing over how the success of this format amongst subcontinentals is going to be the death of test and 50-over cricket (but when England were all gung-ho over this format and "invented" it and its popularity in its current form, we heard no such moaning over the death of "tradition") -- but it still requires top-level international cricket skills. i think this format may help improve some odi skills and not have too much effect on Test match skills, but i don't think going the twenty20 specialist route is a good idea.
Hari wrote "How very different from the Imran / Majid / Javed days."
Not very different. Mushtaq Mohammed, the Pakistani captain during the 1978-79 series made the same gaffe by thanking "all the muslims in the world for praying for a Pakistani victory". Gavaskar has written that the Indian wicket keeper Syed Mujtaba Hassan Kirmani was livid.
thus spake bhajji:
he ain't heavy, he's my paaji.
"Thank you recommending that bookie!!"
Thats illegal in the US. Let me call up your DA.
No captions necessary as the cup of joy is full. :)
Probably in the sense that there are only 20 overs, so whatever strategy one has to apply, it better work as there won't be a second chance, or that there's no luxury of experimenting as in a Test match.
Anna, how's Sholay coming along? ;) :D
I didn't notice the T-shirt. I couldn't get past the blue velvet blazer. Really, SRK? A blue velvet blazer? In 2007? In public?
*snerk*
>>Thats illegal in the US. Let me call up your DA.
That's Kevin thanking Harbhajan...I thought we were playing caption?!!
Me bet, gamble, buy life insurance? The Libertarian gods would curse me!
M. Nam
my knee loves you now. i'll love you later.
I was kidding with you Moornam :)
Sreesanth always crosses himself before bowling or after taking a catch. But all this is beside the point...
A lot of catholic school educated kids do that in India. He was wearing a Tilak on his forehead.
Let me try why Malik's comment was offensive to every Indian especially coming from a Pakistani. The statement by Malik questions the very identity of an Indian. It is difficult to define what does an Indian identify himself or herself with because India is a vast country with different language, culture and religion. Most Indian love there country for this unique blend of languages, culture and religion. They are proud that they can not only co-exist peacefully with each other but also enjoy each other's success (I know this is not always how it is but this is what a proud Indian likes to think). When you question our ability to co-exist with each other or ability to share each others success and failures you question the very identity of an Indian and hence it is offensive.
Furthermore, as we all know, India and Pakistan were divided on the basis of answer to the question - whether Hindus and Muslims live together? I do not know what is the "correct" answer but what I know is that this, my friends, makes it much more offensive and arrogant coming from a Pakistani. It is as offensive as a Pakistani can get to an Indian.
I understand that Pakistani's are as patriotic as citizens of any other country. And they must also have some idea of Pakistani identity. If we can understand each other and respect each other's feeling we will give the next generation much better world then we live in.
I guess (and hope) Shoaib Malik was just ignorant or just plainly said something he didn't intend to say. However, it is important we as citizens of two countries discuss more about these uncomfortable issues (as oppose to what has been suggested by some people here).
Just as a counter, how would a Pakistani feel if Dhoni dedicates his win to the prayers/blessings of all people in South Asia??
Chak de tatte!
Re:#74 above, "tatte" means balls in punjabi/hindi
Long time lurker but comment #73 has prompted me to respond. I think that based on all the other statements made during the interview, Shoaib did not intend anything nefarious with his comment (although it has inflamed a lot of Indians). I think it just came out incorrectly. Infact Shoaib is married to an Indian lady from Hyderabad that he met during one of his trips to India. I have been watching cricket matches between India and Pakistan over the years and these days it appears to me that we have reached the best of all worlds - where the intense rivalry makes both the teams try very hard to outdo each other, however the players really enjoy playing against each other and like each other. There is much less rancour in the players or the crowds than in the heydays of the 70s and early 80s.
KS,
Is Shoaib's wife a Hindu or Muslim?
Re:72 Sreesanth wears enormous amount of bling, and I did catch one instance where he did have a cross...but as #59 says it is beside the point.
The game was just brilliant. I was watching the game live, and as a mad cricket fan, the tension was at times too much...but it was all worth it
T20 does have different strategies, and there's less of a price on wickets (unless ofcourse you happen to have a collapse early), and although people always said that this was a batsman's game, I've seen enough games to say that bowlers also play a huge part (the final proved it)....i'm still not completely a T20 fan (a Test purist to the core), but i guess its okay to hold this once every two years (maybe this could replace the champions trophy - a world cup all but in name).
# 72 :
Interesting to learn that catholic school kids in India do the cross. Fascinating. BTW, I have christian relatives who do wear Tilak(men)/Bindi(women).
To Ava in #77. Shoaib's wife is Muslim. He apparently met her in Hyderabad while on a cricket tour and fell in love. I recall that during the last Pak-cricket team visit to Hyderabad, the entire team was hosted by Shoaib's in-laws for dinner.
More masala on Shoaib's marriage. They had a nikaah over the telephone. Details in..
http://in.rediff.com/cricket/2005/mar/28malik.htm
Pedantry time! Not the word for "zero".
Good catch, Sin! 'Siphar' in Urdu (from the Arabic) versus 'Shoonya' in Hindi. (And BTW, Anna, you got the Punjabi pronunciation bang-on with your transliteration. The Hindi and Urdu pronunciation is similar but recognizably different.)
What I would like is for Girish (or someone) to tell us the word for 'zero' in the South Indian languages, like he did over here for the other numbers. Then, we can discuss what that tells us about the regional origin of the mathematician who 'invented zero' :)
I know I'm probably not spelling it properly, but I think it's "poojam" in Malayalam. :)
in telugu, it's "sunna"
Anna its ..Poojiyam ..,or seero.
@79
I went to a catholic school in India and we had 2 school prayers daily, the morning one was at assembly and was read out by a student, representing his/her division in rotation, and was generally his/her choice selected from a book of prayers. The end of the day prayer was standard Lords prayer in the modern format. Most kids would cross at the end because the father or the nun would do the same.
#64 - good one Sakshi!
Lizie @ #68,
My eyes!My eyes!
Judging from the photos in rediff , something is seriously wrong with SRK. I mean the hair ! The jacket!Why?
Hmmm, so hindus are a minority in victorious Team India while christians and sikhs are disproportionally represented. If you consider all 44 starters from teams from the subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh) only 6 are hindus (the five above and Muralitharan of Sri Lanka). There were more buddhists (from Sri Lanka) than hindus who played for south asian teams in this World Cup. Most players (over 24 at least) were muslims.
Wonder who Shoib Malik would have thanked if Pakistan had faced Bangladesh in the final.
me thinks Uthappa is a Coorgi (Hindu). and Yuvraj isn't a Sikh.
not that it matters!
I think this 20/20 format is excellent and will probably replace the other two as the main form in which cricket is played in the future. The british colonials could afford to spend 5 days on a game as they had masses of indian and african servants to do their daily work. That form of sport is an anachronism today and will eventually die out despite the purists attempt to sustain it. Even the day long version of the game is a bit much. Three hours of exciting hard-hitting cricket hits the spot. It can be played after work hours so that productivity is not hampered.
I believe this new format will also make cricket popular in many other countries which were never under british rule. Imagine a final between India and China in a future Cricket World Cup! That would make the India-Pakistan rivalry, which is contaminated by religious overtones from the pakistani side, seem tame in comparison.
again, not that it matters AT ALL...but sreesanth is a hindu - i know cause his family lives on the same street as mine.
just don't want the numbers to be inaccurate :-)
http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/25/stories/2007092561160400.htm
Yo,
RELIGION IN CRICKET?????
Finally I am happy to see many people with whom I can relate to. I was so disturbed after hearing Maliks comments after 20/20 and I thought it would be a much discussed issue. I combed down every e-paper the next day ( as I am in US )but didnt see any coverage to Mallik's " adressing of muslim fans (only)". I was more than dissapointed on our "passive" society and wrote a a few sentences in my "baby blog". Thought people just stopped reacting until I read this blog.Nice to see it.
CHAK DIYA INDIA
CHOKE DIYA PAKISTAN
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CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKK ddddddddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeee iiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnndddddddddddiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaa
India is the best team ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sorry if you dont like india but they are the best team ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!