Wot’s this?? Apparently, boycandy Sreesanth will not be part of India’s opening line-up at the World Cup (damn you, Khan, Agarkar and Patel…damn you all!).
Paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth looks likely to miss out on a starting place for the World Cup but said that could be the best thing to happen for him.
…”I like it this way,” he said at a team net practice near Port-of-Spain on Wednesday. “I like to struggle and get something rather than get it easily. I’m sure I will get the opportunity.”[Reuters]
I dig a good chase too, but if my sweet little neyyappam ain’t playin’, suddenly, I am way less inspired to impersonate Mandira Bedi poorly. Many of you might recall that my fling with Cricket commenced with a post which celebrated Sreesanth’s glorious obnoxiousness towards Andre Nel:
After hearing about Mallu hotness Sreesanth (thanks, DTK), I had to visit ye olde YouTube to find out about this right-arm fast-medium-pace bowler, who is a right-handed tailender. Apparently, excessively lippy South African Andre Nel questioned Sreesanth’s heart/courage/skillz after Sreesanth evaded something called a bouncer. Sreesanth responded by hitting Nel for a six and then performing a dance I’d normally associate with an end zone. Oh, that was just brutal to write. I can’t imagine how many men I’ve just annoyed. 😉
I may not know a damned thing about what is arguably the most popular sport in all of South Asia, but I know the art of trash talk well and if anything could get me to fall in love with this very Brown game, it’s the video I’ve posted…[SM, biatches!]
…Sigh. And we have so much in common, too:
Sreesanth, 24, one of India’s new crop of pacemen, has impressed with his spirit and wicket-taking abilities which won him Cup selection despite being expensive in one-dayers.[Reuters]
Hello??? I am too expensive for one-nighters! TOTAL SIMILARITY, I think.
Also this:
His natural aggression has caught the imagination of Indian fans since his debut against England in late 2005.[Reuters]
…sounds familiar, too. I’m naturally aggressive and I’ve caught the imagination of many Indian fans…though all of them are male…and for some reason, they’re way more in to my Flickr than my blog. Hmmm. I need to chew on my hair while I like, ponder this…wow, my conditioner smells fab. Wait what was I typing? Ah yes, I was discussing the kid who shares my nick:
The Kerala player was confident he would gain from his past Caribbean experience at the World Cup.
“I was lucky to play all the matches here last year,” he said. “One big lesson I learnt was to be patient, wait for the wickets to come rather than go looking for them.[Reuters]
I concur. The same philosophy has served me well; for example, I patiently wait for sales to come rather than go looking for them…and I nearly always score.
“It is not enough at this level to just run in fast.”[Reuters]
Enough talking darling, you’re ruining it for me. 😉 And stop with the fakakta highlights already, would you? You look better with dark hair. Oy, I sound like my Amma…thankfully, since she does not read blogs, she’ll never learn that and use it against me. 😀
NZ has to be the most under-rated side ever in the world cup…..
“NZ has to be the most under-rated side ever in the world cup…..”
well, they still have to bat. but i dont’ think they are under-rated at this world cup. wisden makes them the third favorite after aus and windies to win. in fact, wisden rates india’s chances of winning the world cup the lowest of all the eight teams, even lower than england’s chances of winning the world cup. I just hope india can prove them wrong, wrong, wrong!
Country- Chances of S8%- To win cup%- Odds- Possibility
Aus– 96.4– 40.7— 3/2 Winner WIn– 86.3– 18.0— 9/2 Finals Nzl— 86.9– 10.8— 8/1 s/f SAf– 78.8– – 9.9 — 9/1 s-8 Sri— 77.9– – 7.6 — 121 sf Pak– 79.6– – 6.7 –14/1 s-8 Eng– 72.2– – 2.9 — 331 s-8 Ind— 73.1– – 2.8– 35/1 s-8
NZ has a desi player too…Jeetan Patel
174-7
If England can post around 190 they can still give the Kiwis a match
Red Snapper- Uh…we could enjoy such liveblogging…except cricket is not shown on a single one of the 300 “digital premium monopoly deluxe” channels (293 of which I don’t even watch) I get. 🙂
WesternGhaat- Yayyy! 😀
Whose God is it anyways- That picture of Lasith Malinga is going to give me nightmares. Thanks! 😉
Quizman- So I’m on the metro and your comment comes back to haunt me and I smile…and then I get confused; isn’t he Hindu?? Also, yet another similarity with my neyyappam! I cross myself inappropriately, too! p.s. Thanks for the link to the Nike ad! 😀
Indianoguy- Thanks for introducing me to Lola Kutty…never heard of her. I spent a good half-hour sating my curiousity about her last night…and yes, beeeyoooteeeful Mallu girls all are thinking alike, zimply becos we are all high from the mallippoo fumes. 😉
Anand- 😀 Go Blues, yindeed!
Coffeescoop- Yeah, I’m kinda surprised it popped in to my head to use as a metaphor too, to be honest with you. I guess I’m craving Neyyappam. Either kind. 😉
Risible- I share your consternation with this ubiquitous preoccupation with bracketology. In solidarity, one of the few, the proud, the ABD cricket fans.
AA Fan- I think it’s cute that your Mom thinks Neyyappam is cute. 😀
Deepak Rawat- Hi, Deepak and thanks for the comment! For more info on how we (blog)roll, please see our FAQ. 🙂
Tia- Aww, thanks! I’m trying to forget the simian part of your comment, though. 😉
SP- Who is this Irfan of which you type? 😉 I must see him. I am an insensible thirtysomething unmarried woman and I already have weak knees. I shall google accordingly.
Karlton- Sreesanth is a boy. Sreesanth is fleeting, frivolous, fun sweetness, like candy. Ergo, boycandy. Quod erat demonstrandum, etcetera ad nauseum. 😉
Shodan-ji…suh-woon. Since “EiLS” is one of my faaaavorite choons of all time, I did own the 12″, the B-side to which includes the song you wittily referred to in your comment. Squeee!!! 😀 Pixies AND Mozz??? You grow cooler by the nanosecond.
Jeet- Oh, I’m not bad with cherries. 😉
Bombaiaa- I think you must be new here; “Colour, discrimination and abuse” are not my typical issues at ALL. Fluff, myself and other stuff? Hell yes.
Ak- Awww, thanks! 😀 I’m in awe that my post inspired you to do something so constructive. You go, penne.
The rest of you…carry on! 😉 I’ll be back later…
England 200-7 — one over left. Game on.
Patel is looking beleagured here. Hows the feed folks? So far so good with willow.tv
NZ need 210 to win.
Remember…always keep the seam up
ANNA,
that wasn’t even malinga in all his world cup glory. i just hope he won’t give india nightmares with his bowling next Saturday (you should see if any of the usual theaters that show indian movies are showing the world cup matches and catch this one on the big screen and then blog on the experience :))
“Hows the feed folks? So far so good with willow.tv”
willow good today. kept cutting out yesterday though. good thing it wasn’t during one of the main matchups.
not a bad recovery from england. probably too low, but all is not lost yet.
Snapper, Your hope-springs-eternal attitude make me wonder if you’re an Arsenal man. The game does seem somewhat on. Go deeper blues.
Is Neyyappam laddu shaped or pancake shaped? Googled Neyyappam and found this film title “Ayyappante Amma Neyyappam Chuttu”. Any idea what it means?
FYI, Gaurdian has funny commentary here
Anna :D. Did you see Lola Kutty’s spoof on Hollyood/Bollywood movies here Hilarious stuff. I am so gonna get those posters printed.
More the former, in my experience. But I preferred the anomalous, flatter ones (they were the size of silver dollars).
New Zealand 1 for 1
New Zealand 3 for 2!
Flintoff one handed catch diving to the right!
WICKET! New Zealand 3-2
🙂
Gibbs hits 6 sixes in an over!! btw, can someone tell me about this liveblogging thingy Anna mentioned?
KIWI’s are done… 19/3
Anna, Speaking about Mallu’s in cricket, don’t know if you are aware that opening batsman, Robin Uthappa is half Mallu & half Kodava http://www.search.com/reference/Kodava .
Here’s some info about Robin http://www.cricketfundas.com/robinutt.html
Not sure from this picture if he is hot or not. Just looks like any other Indian lad but he sure can play some great cricket
Not so fast… 55/3
Montys on
This was one cool post, Anna. Keep them coming.
Monty strikes
Hey Steempy, have you hearD the Panesar SonGG
GOD i have no satelite at my house so i cant watch cricket :(. im pissed about it actually. Anywhere on the net where u can watch?
NZ are 143/4….. it’s getting hot in herrrrre….
aaaghhh,
if better teams keep winning like this how will we ever get the cup home…
Game, set, match – New Zealand. England continues its ignominious march in International Sports.
SM: How about a post on March Madness for all the desi sports lovers?
Al_Mujahid… :
Not to steal traffic from my friends here at SM, but we do cover March Maddness over here (opens in a new window).
I tried to add the target tag, that did not work.
Oh, feel FREE if it means I don’t have to manage bullshit like THIS. I’ll thank you for it.
Lola Kutty singing By the Rivers of Babylon (Boney-M)
I don’t have a TV, nor do I know where to go for scores. Even if I did, I’m in the middle of my own (not as fun and exciting) finals. But can I just say how cute y’all are on this thread… 😀
Damn. Well at least Monty popped his World Cup wicket cherry. Better to get your bad performances out of the way in the first match.
indianoguy,
Ayyappante Amma Neyyappam Chuttu means Ayyappan’s mother made neyyappam.
I don’t have a TV, nor do I know where to go for scores.
There are many places online where you can get live scores, and brief ball-by-ball play free, and streaming for $$$.
Most famous portal is Cricinfo.com
Can someone comment on the selection process for the Indian cricket team? Do the best players always get picked or is it based on other considerations too? I’m curious about this because most if not all our players seem fairly middle-class and reasonably well-educated. I find it hard to believe that all our best talent comes solely from that demographic. Pakistan’s team seems to have more of a mix between urbane sophisticates as well as more rustic or working-class people.
It’s run like a la-di-dah country club. Politricks, zonal affiliations etc. play big part in selection process. Many talented players had to waste their careers due to corrupt and / or incompetent selectors.
Most captains select mediocre players from their mohalla. Kapil Dev’s protege Chetan “full toss� Sharma is one such beneficiary of captain’s largesse.
Saurav Ganguly was a notable exception to this Desi captain malaise. He had powerful friends, but used his clout to select promising young players, not the usual bunch of losers.
Indian cricket is becoming less city-centric and throwing up exciting players. Sreesanth and Dhoni are not big city boys. Munaf Patel and Irfan Khan Pathan come from poor families. These are interesting times for Indian cricket fans.
Doh! India 21-2. Tendulkar up. Very spirted bunch, the Bangladeshis.
Not to take any credit away from Bangla bowlers but Geoff Boycott’s mum can get Sehwag out.
Blindfolded, I forgot to add. Seriously, why is Dravid persisting w/ this fly-swatter?
In other news, will Ireland get lucky on St. Pat’s day? They are playing w/ Jeckyll and Hyde Pakistan.
Well these days anyone’s mum can get Sehwag out. Eejit. I remember watching him slap Sami around the field in 2004, sigh. I can’t believe our batsmen are on the defensive against Bangladesh of all piddly teams.
Anna, I can’t believe you haven’t discovered Irfan Pathan yet, but for your delectation, here are some pictures. He was even cuter before he cut his hair so short.
WA WA WA WICKET! Tendulkar gone for seven. 40-3
The best batting line-up in WC Cough is blazing at 2.68 strike rate. Sadness level: Somewhere between Mukesh and Radiohead. But if you’re a Bangla bandhu/bhagini, rock on. You deserve it.
Tendulkar is the Alex Rodriguez of cricket. Puts up big numbers, but seems to wilt when its time to step up.
Shodan, run-rate, not strike rate. Strike rate refers to the number of runs a bowler gives away on average for each wicket he takes.
Blasted top order have been failing regularly over the past year and leaving it to the middle order to do the rescue work. Prima donnas think the team can’t do without them. They should be kicked out from time to time, it did wonders for Ganguly’s form.
or like Thierry Henry.
Doh! Typing while watching Indian top order can do that to you. SR also refers to batsman’s rate of scoring.
Currently Pathan and Kumble enjoy bettter averages than the said Prima donnas.
I know! (re: Pathan’s avg being better than prima donnas’). Can’t wait to see him back in the swing of things with his bowling too.
My mistake re strike rate. I meant average. Hee – those who live in glass houses and all that 🙂