cricinfo.com About cricinfoblogs
Blogs home
First Class, first person Blues Brothers Rob's Lobs Tour Diaries Pak Spin Girls Aloud
Beyond The Test World On The Circuit What's New The Surfer It Figures The IPL Buzz

Cricinfo Blogs Home

« Expect the unexpected | Storm in the cheering corner »

Random thoughts from the first leg

Posted by Lawrence Booth 2 weeks, 6 days ago in Indian Premier League

This is my ninth day in India, so I thought it was time to take stock and pass on a few things I’ve learned …





Glenn McGrath: two maidens, two wins © Getty Images

1) Cricketers don’t look good dressed as gladiators (or is it Roman soldiers?). An illustrated advert in today’s Hindu depicts Muttiah Muralitharan, Matthew Hayden, a moody-looking Stephen Fleming (well, he was left out of Chennai’s match against Kings XI Punjab) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni wearing leather tunics and brandishing swords. Hmm.

2) Cheerleaders remain an elusive concept. They have either attracted angry letters to newspapers or been out-cheer-led by young men in the crowd. “We want cheerleaders” was one of the more coherent efforts at the Wankhede on Sunday. Last night at steamy Hyderabad, they even seemed to be wearing brown tights. A concession to local sensibilities, perhaps?

3) Sony Max, the Indian broadcasters of the IPL, will continue to insist that the spectators are “going wild”, even as the camera pans over a quiet-looking crowd in the break between innings. “Oh, they’re having a whale of a time,” enthuses the presenter.

4) Never accept a lift from someone who approaches you in an airport.

5) Bowlers are better investments than batsmen. Everyone in this competition, it seems, can clear the small boundaries. But not everyone can put the ball where they want to, time after dot-ball-inducing time. The Daredevils’ Glenn McGrath has bowled two of the competition’s three maidens and ended up on the winning side in both games.

6) The players do care. We wondered how much they would, but their professionalism, competitive spirit, desire to prove themselves to foreign team-mates, and fear of warming the bench for the next seven weeks has brought out the best in them.

7) The paddle over short fine leg is here to stay. People say it isn’t proper cricket, but what’s proper cricket if it isn’t using all 360 degrees?

8) The stars have no shame, and I’m not talking about the cricketers. Asked what her level of involvement with her Kings XI Punjab side was ahead of their game with Chennai Super Kings on Saturday, Preity Zinta thought for a moment before saying: “My level of involvement is that I’m here.” She might want to buck her ideas up: the Kings XI have lost two out of two.

9) Ed Smith’s new book, What Sports Tells Us About Life, is really very good. Here’s one of the most perceptive and – for the IPL – relevant sentences: “If we like a game how it is, or how it has become, we must make sure we preserve what is good even as we accept the inevitability of change.”

10) Sachin Tendulkar’s son is called Arjun. The wife of Mukesh Ambani, owner of the Mumbai Indians, is called Nita. Mohammad Azharuddin’s wife is called Sangeeta. I know this thanks to the in-depth newspaper coverage of the people watching the games, but I’m less sure about the identity of some of the cricketers.

Contributors

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
Andrew McGlashan
Paul Coupar
John Stern
Dileep_Premachandran
Anand Vasu
George Binoy
Andrew Miller
Will Luke
Charlotte Edwards
Sidharth Monga
S Rajesh
Kumar Sangakkara
Edward Craig
Nagraj Gollapudi
Jenny Thompson
Isobel Joyce
Urooj Mumtaz
Cri-Zelda Brits
Lawrence Booth
Cricinfo

Categories
2007 World Cup Champions Trophy DLF Cup England Women in India England in Australia, 2006-07 England in India, 2005-06 England in New Zealand 2007-08 England in Sri Lanka, 2007-08 ICC Women's World Cup Qualifiers, 2007-08 ICC World Twenty20 India and South Africa in Ireland, 2007 India in Australia 2007-08 India in Bangladesh, 2007 India in England, 2007 India in Pakistan 2005-06 India in South Africa 2006-07 India in West Indies 2006 Indian Premier League Kumar Sangakkara diary Quadrangular series, Ireland, 2007 Sri Lanka tri-series 2006 Under-19 World Cup World Cricket League
Recent Posts
Hectic and surreal English interests Momentum is over-rated The aftermath of The Slap Indian Foreign Legion? Slapgate - the IPL's first controversy Warne, a pocketful of sunshine Storm in the cheering corner Random thoughts from the first leg Expect the unexpected
Archives
May 2008April 2008March 2008February 2008January 2008December 2007November 2007September 2007August 2007July 2007June 2007May 2007March 2007February 2007January 2007December 2006November 2006October 2006September 2006August 2006July 2006June 2006May 2006March 2006February 2006January 2006
cricket links
The Guardian The Daily Telegraph The Times The Independent The Age Sydney Morning Herald The Australian NZ Herald SuperSport BBC Rediff
Web Feeds
© Cricinfo 2007