The Politics and Corruption of Cricket

Cricket is after all a game or whatever.

Yes it is an interesting game and millions of South Asians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, and others watch it.

The IPL or the Indian Premier League put a spin on the game with heavy marketing and B2B style auctions for players. For the past over four years, it has been a sensation, with people looking forward to the next IPL series.

But now with the betting scandal (as if India needs yet another scandal), people are losing confidence in BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and its evasive president.

While the stakeholders can always say that the investigations have just now started and no conclusions should be drawn prematurely, the internecine and huge conflict of interests that are pervasive in the world of cricket and specifically, the IPL, cannot be ignored.

How can the president of BCCI be also the owner of a cricket team in the IPL ? There are many things which are wrong with the management of the IPL and BCCI. There has been collusion all along and the Board has turned a blind eye towards illicit and incorrect happenings for a long time.

Quick action is required to restore the confidence of the people on the game. That can only be achieved by the current president stepping down, while his own son-in-law is getting interrogated and arrested by the Mumbai Police in connection with the betting scandal.

But then, in the world of greed, money, power and politics, anything passes for normalcy and the people in power hope that things will calm down eventually.

What a shame ?

Who will trust BCCI any more ??

Time for immediate cleanup action. May be the BCCI needs to be disbanded or brought under government control. There seems to be no other way to execute a clean sweep of the corruption.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
25th May 2013

Yet Another Gymmatics Update

I heard through my daughter that it is not OK to train in the gym everyday of the week – it is better to give a day off according to the advice given by her trainer.

I did not understand why – I still think that advice is meant for muscle builders, not the cardio trainers like me. The body has to rest for some time, but I thought it gets rest for 24 hours anyway before one hits the gym again !

Nevertheless, I am trying to give a day off in the weekly schedule, though I don’t feel good about it.

An hour of concentrated exercise – be it the gym or yogo – keeps one going forward in executing the day’s chores without much of a strain. So, from that perspective, the gym activity becomes an essential one for me.

The trainer also told my daughter that “your dad spends more time on the treadmill than on weight-training – ask him to spend some more time on weight-training”. I don’t know why he did not talk to me directly !

I typically do 85:15 between cardio and weights. May be I should improve that to 75:25.

My weekend treadmill run has now the following parameters (per day):
Total time taken: 53 minutes and 40 seconds [this peculiar figure is because of the way the treadmill operates with a 20-minute limit]
Distance covered: 5.44 KMs
Calories expended: 285

The above figures during a typical weekday are as follows:
Total time taken: 42 minutes and 20 seconds
Distance covered: 4.34 KMs
Calories expended: 222

So, a typical week sees me doing 32.58 KMs. Now I am trying to give a day off on this…….

What I can say for sure is that this schedule keeps me upright and ticking all through the day. While the pace of such a schedule may not be required, and is not suggested to all of course, some moderate walking every day will do a lot of good – we keep seeing evidence of the same in many newspaper articles.

Hit the gym or do yoga – but do this regularly. There should not be a lackadaisical approach in executing this very important activity every day.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
18th November 2012
Mumbai

Sports Status – Pathetic Management

Often we hear that the sports management by government sports bodies is very bad in the country.

We also keep seeing that corruption is part and parcel of sports in India, even in a famous national sport like Cricket.

Therefore, no body is surprised with the fact that India is not a superpower in sports.

If sports bodies are managed by politicians who are well-reputed for their role in some of the worst scandals that the country has seen in the sports arena, then one can imagine where India is headed. No chance of beating China ever, which has totally professionalized the management and administration of sports and has put in place an effective system for getting the best out of its sportspersons.

Today, I had the opportunity to see in close quarters what actually happens in a district-level tennis competition, in which my son was participating. I had to kill some 3 hours, and nothing is more interesting than observing the behaviour of parents, coaches, participants, and the organizers. I spent a good part of the time in trying to understand what was going on.

As I had expected, initially there was utter confusion – this is very normal in India, and one should not lose his or her cool, just wait patiently and the confusion would dissolve in a short time, which it did – only it took some one hour or so ! There was no proper coordination amongst the schools and the organizers (who were from the district tennis body). There was no chart displayed outside the tennis academy with names and timings of the competition. People were constantly walking in and out. There was a lot of noise, and if one official-looking guy walked around with a piece of paper in his hands, the boys ran after him, trying to figure out when their allotted time would come and who they are going to compete with.

I was comparing mentally with Singapore and even the advanced international schools in Mumbai – a feeling of efficiency and fairness comes upon you when you witness the preparations and the communication in these places. In almost all other places in India, there seems to be a lack of efficiency and a lack of communication – not a lack of energy, of course !

Well, one has to live with that – India is not going to change in many areas, and sports management is one such area. After a lot of confusion, and time loss, the pairings of competitors was done but not announced. We reached the venue at 8:15 AM on a Sunday morning, and the competition started around 10:30 AM !

The boys were of course not upset, they were networking with other boys ! The parents were visibly upset and complaining to each other. The coaches from some of the schools were present, and they were giving some advise to their respective wards. The organizers seem to be the most upset and confused – I thought how that could be, these are the folks who are supposed to be running the competition. I heard one of them responding to an irate parent as follows: “we are volunteers and not government officials – we have to do free work running around and doing the coordination. Please wait, we will sort out the matter”.

That, for you, is the status of one simple district-level competition, with some 60 participants or so. Imagine the situation when hundreds of sports people need to be coordinated and managed efficiently. Surely we are not up to the mark. Can we use some software here please ?!!!

Extrapolation to the general state of sports in the country may not be the right thing to do, neither is it the correct way to assess things. However, can anyone blame me for writing this post – only small incidents help to form the opinion wherein one is somewhat involved or affected.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
21st October 2012
Mumbai

Institutionalized Gender Bias

India has been growing intolerant.

When Police Commissioners/Deputy Inspector General of Police can make hugely negative statements that women should dress appropriately and their sometimes inappropriate dressing invites people to rape them (I am not quoting exactly here, but this was the meaning communicated), what do you make out of such statements coming from senior law enforcement officials ? This has happened twice or thrice over the last one year in different states of India.

Now comes respected Judges. The recent episode in the State of Karnataka shocked most people in the country. What did this Judge say in open Court that provoked very strong reactions in society ?

One serious point that the learned Judge made: “it was acceptable for a man to beat his wife as long as he took good care of her.” This was while hearing a case in which the plaintiff was seeking divorce on the grounds that she was being subjected to cruelty and abuse by her husband.

He stated that “Women suffer in all marriages. You are married with two children, and know what it means to suffer as a woman. Yesterday, there was a techie couple who reconciled for the sake of their child. Your husband is doing good business, he will take care of you.”

SHOCKING, isn’t it ?

It does not stop there.

one has to hear what he has to say about an unmarried lawyer arguing marriage-related cases.

“Family matters should be argued only by married people, not spinsters. You should only watch. Bachelors and spinsters watching family court proceedings will start thinking if there is any need to marry at all. Marriage is not like a public transport system. You better get married and you will get very good experience to argue such cases,” he advised her.

RIDICULOUS !

But if this is what people get from a learned and experienced Judge, what hope will they have to get proper justice meted out to them in family disputes ?

All these things happened in a family court presided over by this Judge, from which position he was removed by the Chief Justice of Karnataka as a result of a vigorous campaign launched by women and women lawyers.

So, intolerance is not an uncommon thing in a democracy. It is not just a thing which happens in theocratic states. Even in this 21st Century, in a modern democracy characterized by law and order, such things can and always happen. If not this incident, there will always be another such incident, as we have people who like to shoot from their mouth and shoot themselves even in lofty positions in society and government.

Fortunately, we do have institutions with responsible folks who watch and listen to protests which are justifiable.

In this specific case, there was justice meted out to the Judge. But he is still there in the judicial system. But for the moment, he is away from the family court. Lawyers and Plaintiffs can breathe easy for some time !

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
9th September 2012
Mumbai

Olympics and India

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, India won a total of 3 medals (1 Gold and 2 Bronze).

In the same games, China won the maximum Gold medals of any country at 51, with a total medal tally of 100.

How come India, a country of 1.2B people, fall so seriously short of sporting performance ? And, how come China, which is also a country of similar population at 1.3B, gets the maximum number of medals in the Gold category, far higher than what even the U.S. got (U.S. got 36 Golds at the Beijing Olympics, but its total medal tally was the highest at 110).

India’s rank in the IOC (International Olympic Committee) Medal Ranking Table was at 50.

But did India do a systematic analysis to understand its poor performance and low rank after the games were over ? It does not appear to be the case.

Sports in India have always been plagued by politics, sometimes destroying the very fabric of sports development in the country. Corruption has destroyed value and the crucial utility of funds badly needed to compete in the international arena.

Did we at least learn from China or from the other successful countries ? Apparently not.

There is no relationship between history and performance. Performance has to be delivered every time and on every occasion, in order to be able to make history. That is what China did, and that is what China is now doing at the London 2012 Olympic Games, currently in progress.

What India needs might defy prescription, but nevertheless a strategic assessment with global assistance is surely called for to improve India’s performance at the Olympics. Politics should be kept outside of sports decision-making, ministers or politicians should not be running sports bodies. Only ex-sportsmen should be qualified enough to run the badly needed sports administration in the country.

If the Sports Ministry is not fighting for India’s Sportsmen and Sportswomen, who else is going to fight in a country starved of funds ? The recent case of a medal winner breaking stones in Karnataka has moved the Sports Minister to come to her rescue and fight for reinstatement of the medals that she lost.

So, it would now be interesting to see how India fares in the London 2012 Olympic Games. Can India double its medal tally to 6, and may be win 2 Gold medals ? That would be considered a big achievement in this country.

The bar has still not been raised !

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
29th July 2012
Mumbai

Gymming Stats

I thought it is high time I reported the latest 4 weeks running statistics of my gymming efforts.

I have averaged 4.25 KMs per day on the treadmill, which translates to 29.75 KMs per week (I work out on all days of the week – in fact, I will be going on Sunday morning, as usual, though I may be the only guy at the gym at 6:30 AM, like it was today, a Saturday). I am maintaining this figure for every week for the past 4 weeks or so, sometimes closing the treadmill at 4.12 KMs and on other days closing it at a figure higher than the average.

I should say that it has been almost an effortless workout on the treadmill (of late) as I am increasingly getting used to it, rather than walking around the condominium complex due to the rains. Otherwise, I used to mix the walking around with the treadmill walking, so that there used to be some balance – definitely the airing is better when you walk around in an open space, rather than the air-conditioned environment of the gym. A 42 minute walk on the treadmill produces the 4.25 KMs of walk, with the calories reading in at 215. The best I have done so far was on 9th July when I did 5.07 KMs of walk expending 271 calories, but that is unusual.

I believe doing in excess of some 25 KMs a week is an excellent way to control the variable parameters of your body, which are generally not conducive most of the time for positive health situation. At least thrice a week, I combine this walk with some good weight lifting (not too much – some 20 minutes at the most with simple exercises), and I believe that helps. One would see a marked improvement in stamina during the day, and an enhanced ability to concentrate.

I am enjoying this increased emphasis on working out, totalling to some 70 minutes a day. I have consistently performed at this level for more than 4 weeks, and I intend this level of performance going forward. The work out could shift from the mornings to the evenings, but these figures are emerging as the norm.

I see that a few other folks are also working out regularly, but they seem to be taking off the emphasis during the weekends, I do not know why. The weekends are as important as the weekdays in keeping up the tempo, the momentum is crucial for a better week ahead.

So, please start working out folks, it does help in ensuring a positive orientation and a cooperative body.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
14th July 2012
Mumbai

Wimbledon Finals

I am just watching the Wimbledon Finals. It is Sunday morning in the U.S./Canada, early Sunday afternoon in the U.K. and Sunday evening in India.

May be I should write the blog post after the match, but I could not resist saying something ahead. In fact, this afternoon there was a discussion on the two players – Roger Federer and Andy Murray – at home with family friends who were visiting us for a lunch get together. One opinion which was gaining ground during the Tennis discussion was that Andy has a fighting chance and Federer is showing his age a bit. Another thought was that Federer has more supporters outside the Wimbledon Stadium (around the world), and Andy has many more supporters at the Stadium itself !

I am no follower of Tennis, but have this admiration for the cool demeanour and personal qualities of Federer. I want him to win this Finals, but that is more because I like Federer. I haven’t seen many games played by Andy Murray, so he is a relatively unknown quantity – I have seen more of Nadal and Djokovic for instance. But that may change, as today’s leaders eventually get replaced by younger generation.

Sports imbibes leadership qualities in consistent winners who perfect their game while being genuinely humane off court. They also focus on their game with deadly precision, and keep going with a level of passion often unmatched. The difference in Federer is that while he has all of these characteristics, he is also very cool in dealing with his own experiences whether these being wins or losses. It is critical for a leader to have balance, and he has that in abundance, giving him a perspective that the occasional winner does not get.

Federer deserves a win in this year’s Finals, though the first 40 minutes of match that I saw shows that Andy could not be dispensed with that easily. Let us wait and see, in the meanwhile my best wishes goes to the best liked tennis player in the world, and that is…………Roger Federer. My family members all seem to be voting for Federer as well, so there is a congruence here

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
Mumbai
8th July 2012

Cricket Thriller

There is no thrill in a finals match, unless the teams are evenly matched in all departments. Certainly this applies to cricket – it is better to witness a thrilling cricket match, rather than a pre-ordained one with hardly any adrenaline flowing.

The Sunday (27th May) finals of the IPL (Indian Premier League) Competition which was held in Chennai between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) teams was one such thriller. KKR was already in the finals, and CSK fought its way into the finals by winning the play-offs against two other teams (the Mumbai Indians team and the Delhi Dare Devils team). It was anyway expected to be a good finals match, but the odds were heavily in favour of the CSK team winning the finals.

So, when the CSK team batted first and set a high target of 191 runs for the KKR team to beat, there was jubilation amongst the Chennai fans – as expected, the stadium was full of CSK supporters, being the home base of the CSK team. Hence the moral and physical show of support was just phenomenal for the CSK team, and obviously they were very much encouraged. Had they won this finals, it would have been a neat hat-trick for CSK, having won the previous two titles in two previous years at the IPL finals.

But then, such fine teams are made up of fine players, and it was to be expected that there would be a tough fight – only that hardly anyone expected KKR to put up a valiant fight, rightfully so after the KKR team lost their Captain Gambhir in the first over of the match itself – they had hardly started batting. So, the whole stadium was expecting a total rout of the KKR team by the CSK bowlers and its well-oiled fielding formation.

However, that was not to be. Maninder Bisla of the KKR team played an outstanding game with a score of 89 runs – many of them fours and sixes. He was totally unfazed with the fact that KKR’s captain had just fallen and the figure to beat looked unachievable, atleast initially. But bat he did, without batting an eyelid. And Jacques Kallis, that most experienced all-rounder of the KKR team ably supported Bisla, allowing Bisla the space needed for quick run scoring.

Overall, this was a turnaround story crafted by these two fine players, and even though wickets fell at a faster clip thereafter, it was only a question of some firmness on the part of couple of latter KKR players, especially Tiwari, who could swing the bat effectively for couple of fours which sealed KKR’s win ultimately.

But what I did not like seeing was the lack of “captaincy” by Gautam Gambhir (Captain of KKR team), demonstrating that he is still far too young to lead a major team. Yes, KKR did win the IPL Finals and Gambhir was their Captain, no doubt. But, many a time when the camera focused on Gambhir, he could be seen sulking and brooding, and looking down on the floor, and it appeared that he could not accept his own dismal performance, and more so, he could not handle the stress which comes as part of such very competitive matches. He appeared to have given up hopes for a win, and that in itself, was bad. There was no sense of direction in him apparently, and he was not seen discussing strategy or providing guidance (unlike MS Dhoni, Captain of the CSK team who constantly engaged with his team working on alternative strategies for winning the match). Energy levels are critical in competition and as Captain, the least which Gambhir should have shown is his own energy level, pushing, goading and advising his team rather than sitting there in the pavilion with zero energy.

Well, well, that was the match of the year – KKR taking away the IPL Finals Trophy away from CSK to their home base of Kolkata. Very well done, indeed.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan

28th May 2012

Mumbai

Amazing Win !

Last evening (Sunday 6th May), I went to see the IPL (Indian Premier League) Cricket Match between the teams of Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Both my son and myself were mighty thrilled to be able to first get couple of tickets to the event and then make it to the Stadium well in advance of the huge crowds thronging the place.

Disclosure: My son is a supporter of CSK (Chennai Super Kings) team and I am a supporter of MI (Mumbai Indians) team !!

Going to the Stadium, identifying which gate to enter, and finding a parking space nearby – all was adventure for us. It took one hour and 10 minutes for us to drive from the Western suburb of Andheri West to the Churchgate station in South Mumbai, via the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (which is incidentally a pleasure to drive across). It took us some time to identify the Gate assigned on our ticket on the side of the Churchgate station, and then once we did that, we found a parking slot right across from the Gate in a quiet leafy road (one had to pay of course, as almost all South Mumbai roads seem to have a parking attendant who materializes suddenly when either you are trying to park the car, or when you are trying to leave the place !).

The thrill of actually going to the match (rather than just watching it even on a big TV screen) is just great – the crowds, the shouting, the cheering, the flag-waving, etc., etc., We thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being part of the whole scene. The security was very tight – I was surprised when they told us to throw the granola bars we had or eat the same right then and there, as food articles were not allowed. No water bottles, and no cameras……..thorough frisking first when you go to the staircase leading up to the stadium, followed by metal detector stations…….and then at every turn, they kept checking our tickets. I was wondering – what happens if the usual railway track crossers jump into the Stadium: Mumbai, as you might know, have scores of these people crossing rail tracks rather than climbing up the bridge to the other side. But I did not see anyone like that !

It was scorching hot inside the stadium – may be around 34 or 35 deg C. But since it was the first time we went for such a match at the Wankhede Stadium (earlier we had gone to the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai a couple of years ago), we reached much earlier than the start time of the match.

It was an amazingly thrilling match yesterday. Without going through a commentary, I want to say that when the match reached its last couple of overs, my son was almost celebrating – the CSK team was on the verge of winning the match. When the last over arrived, the MI team had to get 15 runs to win the match, and with tail enders batting, the Stadium was eerily silent. Of course, it was Mumbai and 90% of the crowd was from Mumbai and heavy supporters of the MI team.

But then, no body anticipated that Dwayne Smith would hit such wonderful knocks – he hit a six and a four, followed by another four. The other batsman had taken a single, so Mumbai Indians so unexpectedly won the match yesterday. It was such a thrilling close to a hard fought match, that was the reason why most of the cricket lovers love this game……..the feeling is simply to be felt to be described.

Finally, there was a feeling of deja vu…………both sides were highly capable with excellent batsmen. They must have been thinking – Oh, what a match it was, always to be remembered !

So, that’s how I saw my first cricket match at the Wankhede Stadium at Mumbai !

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan

6th May 2012

Mumbai

Cricket Shame

It was another shameful display of lousy cricket at its nadir by India at the Perth Test Match against Australia. India lost by more than an innings. Having lost the Melbourne and Sydney Tests, India has lost the series 0-3. It is more or less clear that Australia will decimate India in the last Test at Adelaide.

India has come out as a cropper in this Series against Australia. Before the Series started it was the Australian Team which was in a disarray, and was expected not to do well even by Australians. But look at what they have achieved. Huge hits against the Indians.

It was funny that at my gym, no one was interested to see the Star Cricket Channel which was showing the match live. Everyone in India seems to have correctly guessed that India was going to be thrashed. And it was thrashed.

What happened to the Indian Captain’s famed leadership skills ? What happened to the formidable batting lineup that the Australians were worried about ? What happened to the fabulous skills of the Team Selectors who seem to have gone into the cold ? What happened to the famous coach of the Indian Cricket Team ?

To add insult to the injury, the Indian Captain MS Dhoni was fined for slow delivery of overs by the International Cricket Council. What a shame ?!

It is time to replace the aging batsman irrespective of any national or international record requirements. What is needed is a fresh lineup, dominated by strong batsmen, and development of pace bowlers. We need a young team, a team which would fight aggressively and vigorously for Indian success.

We don’t have that spirit in the current Team, notwithstanding their past successes. True success becomes enduring and sustainable in the longer term if the team is constantly assessed and rejuvenated without fear or favour. The only thing that should matter is India’s success and ascendancy to the top of the world cricketing league.

The current team cannot deliver and should be dismissed (selectively). Only the right guys should be retained and put through a rigorous training programme. It is not necessary to drive the team constantly through non-stop matches.

Let money not be the motivator of the Indian Cricket Team or the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) any longer.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
15th January 2012
Mumbai