It was this time of last year when cricket just stormed to every nook and corner of India. TV showrooms were mobbed, people had their a** glued to their sofa, SET MAX enjoyed a plump of profit, actors made their publicity stunt even on the stadium. But this year.. ??? Nah, Mr. Lalit Modi.. Though the tournament is wide open, and a series of good cricket is about to follow. there is the X-factor that's missing out this year. Probably the crowd in the stadium .?? May be..
Consider the commentary in this year's IPL.. Hilarious.. What comedy.. And you've even Kishan Kahaniyan(KK) (Ravi Shastri.. impressed by FakeIPLPlayer :) ) blabbering.. Yesterday's match between Chennai and Jaipur. KK was there at the toss and as usual started yelling with the mike !! This is what he said, if i could remember correctly.. "Kimberley, are you ready for yet another fascinating game of cricket".. (No response from the crowd, and the camera man himself had to shout a big 'yes').. "So, we've Javagal Srinath, the match refree and we have the two captains.. MS Dhoni of the Chennai Super Kings and Shane Warne of the 'Kings Royals of Rajasthan' " .. WTF .. You are on air and you make a cent percent blunder with the Team name of Rajasthan Royals !! I couldnt stop laughing.. Even Shane Warne and MSD had a good chuckle.
Then we've the Sandy Mandy Babe(Mandira Bedi, again impressed by FakeIPLPlayer :) ) with a player of a team who lost the toss. (Couldnt gather which team and who the player was).. Her question "Are you happy that your team lost the toss " .. What !! :) who would be happy losing a toss. The player was out of the team and the best question comes on now .. "Are you happy that you are not in the team ".. Give me some break. Got to jot down all these, but it keeps on coming and I'm losing track of them.. Who would not agree to sit in the bench and get paid a hefty sum. !!. She is distracting the viewers from these stupid questions by showing her off .... So the next time you see her dressed up like that, dont fall in her trap but be ready for some great comedy questions..
Then you've Ranjit Fernando,.. Yesterday's match between Punjab and Hyderabad. Jayawardene was playing well.. and you know what his commentary would've been.. Even a mere push to long-on at 30Kph for a single is hyped as if he has hit six sixers in one over. And the commentary ---> "Thats a beautiful, elegant,classic shot on the front foot and the ball races to the long-on who desperately tries to stop the ball ".. Even before he completes the word "classic" the bowler would've been ready for the next ball..
Lakshman SivaRamakrishnan.. How can I forget him.. I think even if he is in the commentary box, he used to watch it on TV.. There would be a fielder at third man and the batsman would ve nudget it down for a single, and as soon as the batsman strikes the ball "thats a brilliant shot for a boundary.. " and when he sees third man fielding at it, he would change.. "but there is a fielder at third man and thats smart captaincy. it would ve been four if he has not been there "..
As if no one knows that if there is no fielder, it would reach the boundary.
With Harsha Bhogle coming up, there could be some respite to the appalling commentary.. But let's see. With Rameez Raja coming up, we've got a Pakistan flavor to the tournament. Have to chk out what he's gonna tell.. Throw in Aamir Sohail into this team and the commentary would rock .. !!
I think Set Max made a smart move by buying all of them for a mere Rs. 10,000 for the whole tournament !!!
Cheers !!