A NEW COLOUR OF SYCOPHANCY!

The third one dayer between India and Pakistan is to be played at Kanpur. That is not the news. A news channel reported that the UPCA (Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association) is likely to apply blue colour to the ground. It has nothing to do with the colour of the Indian team dress. The colour blue is associated with the ruling party in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

If this is true, then it gives a whole new dimension to the game of cricket. Instead of talking about the green of the ground, everyone shall be wondering about the blues! A real precedent is likely to be set. The different political parties ruling the states in India will surely want their party colours to be used for painting the cricket grounds.

With the state cricket associations dominated by politicians and shady characters and also government officials, it is no wonder that everyone wants to be in the good books of the party in power.

It is further reported that the UPCA has asked the BCCI not to give an invite to Shah Rukh Khan to watch the match at Kanpur. The official view is not to create any crowd trouble at the Green Park. I have an entirely different take on this. The authorities know very well that Khan’s presence could simply overshadow the presence of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

Is this sycophancy at its best or at its worst?

INDIA TAKES THE FIRST MATCH

The first one-dayer of the Indian Oil Cup went India’s way. There were no big scores and batsmen had difficulty hitting the ball over the boundaries. It was not a match expected on the wickets of the subcontinent.

A score of 240 was never expected to trouble the Indians. With the bowling of Pakistan unable to exert any pressure, things became a lot easier for the Indians, despite the failure of Sachin. It was Shoaib Akhtar who took the wicket of Sachin.

Gambhir and Ganguly put a decent partnership where good shots were interspersed with streaky shots. Ganguly is simply not the batsman he used to be in the limited overs variety. Gambhir is simply playing in the way he is known to be.

Dhoni and Yuvraj strung a match winning partnership. There were few big shots from the bat of Yuvraj. Dhoni also played in a sensible manner. There was a mild excitement in the dying stages with the dismissals of these two.

Salman Butt started off nicely and his run out seemed to take the fizz out of Pakistan innings. Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf batted in the test match style and the total could not become a challenging one. Misbah and Afridi hit some lusty blows but by then the Indians began to feel comfortable about the chase.

The toss was the only thing that ought to have made Shoaib Malik happy after this match.