Random thoughts on cricket..

I was watching the NZ vs. SL semi-final the other day, Sanath was out but Tharanga was going well, he cracks a four on the off-side and dad mentions “shah.. this tharanga fellow is pretty good ah..” just few hours ago he was calling for tharanga’s head, asking why the hell a batsman who scored a 0 against Ireland is still playing, while Marvan Attapattu is warming the benches. It just took a cover-drive for four to completely change his mind.

That probably epitomizes the typical Sri Lankan fan and most media-men (who are generally no more than fans themselves). Sri Lankan pundit’s analysis seems to be instantaneous derived less from careful analysis and more from spur of the moment reactions. Over the years there have been many media-recommendations for team selections, not very far of I remember some media persons and ‘pundits’ thought fit that Sanath retires, as he was clearly too old for the game.. sigh..

Much has been said about Sri Lankan commentators, one in particular – Ranjith Fernando. It’s true that he’s probably the least creative commentator in the contemporary game, but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him seeing all the hate-posts online. At least he’s a nice man. I mean if you look at it, the other commentators tend to be equally incompetent. Listening to the ‘Eye channel’ discussions is enough proof of that. how many times do we have to know that ‘cricket is an unpredictable game’ ‘and that if you post a good total and put enough pressure, you’d have a chance..’.

On the bright side though, we didn’t have to tolerate Anarkalai this world cup- Hallelujah! I’d swear I would have thrown a sizable stone at the TV, if I had do to tolerate her again!.. creativity is fine, copying stuff from India is still fine, but seriously Mandira Bedi knows some stuff about cricket, we don’t want a dumb chick who just jumps up and down and talks in that annoying voice. Talking about annoyance, can somebody please shove a petrol pump up De Mel’s ass? What a sonofabitch! The comments he made on selections, were just disrespecting to say the least.

Anyway, the final is upon us, the world it seems would back Sri Lanka, and as Arjuna would have said, ‘the boys have played pretty well’, made some bold decisions and by and large, things have gone our way. Its down to this game now, and its not about just playing it, its about winning! its going to be a cracker of a game. Good luck fellas! And lets have some Kangaroo for dinner!.