The Great Indian Tamasha - snippets

At the Great Indian Tamasha yesterday, the IPL managed to buy all and sundry, except a precious few. Here are some snippets -

Not everyone can be bought

Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Clarke opted out. Cynics say they are enhancing their value before piling in. I say the news comes in as a breath of fresh air nevertheless. Its good to find contrarians. Exceptions are needed in all rules.

Sharda Ugra writes on her blog Free Hit in her post Soul under the hammer about how only those who earn a million bucks and more have the option of finding out whether they can be bought or not.

http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Moolah-rage-in-cricket.html&Itemid=&main_category=Free%20Hit&contentid=4785

Family first

Michael Clarke wants to take his old man fishing in his downtime, and thats a better option to playing IPL. Read on at http://www.theage.com.au/news/cricket/clarke-puts-country-and-family-first/2008/02/19/1203190824686.html

Put Cricket First - Parents say

Meanwhile man-of-the-moment Dhoni's parents are worried all the cash should not distract him from his primary calling of playing cricket.

Reuters has the story http://uk.reuters.com/article/cricketNews/idUKSP17559320080221

Stunned

Symonds is stunned that he is so valued in India. Ask Harbhajan who was quoted as saying that it'd be nice to have had Symonds as team mate for Mumbai.

The story on rediff http://inhome.rediff.com/cricket/2008/feb/21symo.htm

Indians over Aussies

One of the surprising things to see in the past 2 weeks has been the way the senior Aussies have been falling over themselves to be a part of the Tamasha after privately and publicly complaining about how the Indian board has all the power and all the cash and how it really pis*** them off. Still the 8 Indian franchisees preferred to pay more for home grown heroes over the world's best.

Read on at http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?id=668b1b2f-f67b-4909-86a6-7a7ff03d58e1IPL_Special&&IsCricket=true&Headline=Be+Indian%2c+buy+Indian

Feet firmly grounded

Meanwhile, one of India's latest debutants Manoj Tiwary who was bid at $675,000 will make a home for his parents, open a coaching click for the underprivileged and build an orphanage for the street kids. Hope he stays on terra firma.

The full story at http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?id=10e05421-1861-475b-aeb6-59d8c31617c2IPL_Special&&IsCricket=true&Headline=In+Privileged+League%2c+Tiwary+promises+help

Paradoxes galore

All said and done there have been contradictions, paradoxes and ironies on display in this Tamasha, like how our senior batsment dont fit into our modern one-day team, opt out of the 20-20 team and yet are Icons in the IPL and none more so than despite being advertised as the young man's games, there are oldies galore.

You will have fun here http://www.mid-day.com/web/guest/sports/news/article?_EXT_5_articleId=998740&_EXT_5_groupId=14

hullabaloo 3

Recall my earlier posts on the word Hullabaloo?

The ugly aussie-Harbhajan saga was nothing less. Harsha Bhogle has written a nice piece that gives us perspective to look at all the ruckus more clearly and starts with THAT word.

"WHAT a hullabaloo all of us have created!"

and ends even better with "Let's play cricket. We're only a small family." A clear reference to the fact that there are really only 8 nations playing this game, a fact that the players and administrators should know better than us.

Read the full article titled "Why India tired of being little brother" at http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/why-india-tired-of-being-little-brother/2008/01/30/1201369227877.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Here is another take, this time by Mukul Kesavan comparing Ponting's "Hard and Fair" to W's "Shock and Awe". He suggests that those lambasting BCCI for its hegemonic stance and posturing hold back and that the stand was taken not by those inept administrators but by the players themselves, led by our best bowler Kumble and the best batsman Tendulkar, who are tired of all the bullying they have taken in their careers.

Read on at http://blogs.cricinfo.com/meninwhite/archives/2008/01/shock_and_awe_1.php#more

Let me know your thoughts.

the innocence in victory

For all you rejoicing in India's rarefied and glorious achievement at Perth, please continue in your cheerful mood. However, here I will take you on a side track, to a new but yet another happiness inducing feeling.

The victory is not just a stand-alone achievement but also harbinger of better things. I am going to focus on one Individual here and this is the story of his innocence and learning. Ishant Sharma, the rookie who fought the odds, the opposition and even the umpiring in Sydney, without anything to show for it, came back stronger in Perth and was the trigger-man on the final day.

I wanted to rave on and on about him but I came across a couple of very nicely written pieces on him and I am just going to share these with you.

Peter Roebuck (yes, the one who called for Ponting's sacking) wrote after Day 2 of Perth -

"Sharma widened the breach. Already he has captured the imagination of Australian supporters. The sight of any other fellow walking out to bat in Sydney with two left-handed gloves might have provoked suspicion. But the Delhi-ite has an air of innocence that discourages murky thoughts. Presumably his cricket bag works along the same lines as his hair. Even his catching is naive and the sight of him hovering under a skier counts among the game's amusements.

"But his spirit shines like a beacon from the lighthouses he resembles. The lofty paceman began by removing the home captain with a late swinger and followed by enticing Michael Clarke to push at another demanding delivery. The heat began to take its toll on the religious stringbean and before long the Australian rally was underway."

Check out the full article here -

http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/one-puff-and-india-are-back/2008/01/17/1200419971704.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Sambit Bal, the editor of Cricinfo, waxed eloquent about Ishant after Perth in his piece One hour that shook Ponting -

"Irrespective of what has gone in this series and what lies ahead, Ishant Sharma's mesmeric spell to Ricky Ponting will remain one of the highlights of the series, and will be remembered for years to come. Cricket lovers still talk about the working-over Andrew Flintoff gave Ponting at Edgbaston but that lasted only one over. Here at the WACA, the torment continued for an hour. Harbhajan Singh has had his number for some time now but rarely has Ponting been shown up as so vulnerable for such a long period of time since he established himself as Australia's best batsman. That Ishant is 19 and playing his fourth Test only added to the drama and romance."

Full article -

http://content-gulf.cricinfo.com/ausvind/content/current/story/332278.html

Still more praise for Ishant and fellow pacemen

Chloe Saltau in SMH says Tall order but quick on the rise

http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/tall-order-but-quick-on-the-rise/2008/01/19/1200620273101.html

and Greg Baum in The Age talks about a possible Aussie decline in A hint of decline as tourists master the conditions better

"In the tents and on the terraces, few gave up this match even when Australia was through to the tailenders. But in truth, it was out of Australia's reach from the fall of Ponting. He and Sharma did battle royale, but he lost it, and with it the game, the winning streak and a little of Australia's invincibility."

http://www.theage.com.au/news/cricket/a-hint-of-decline-as-tourists-master-the-conditions-better/2008/01/19/1200620280507.html

2 can do this deal

Indians are in play and this is not cricket I am talking about (though for those interested, India V England is on at Lord's as of now) .The game is that of global business or maybe, globalizing of business. With a spate of acquisitions in recent times, Indian businesses are expanding globally with a vengeance, as if making up for time lost before the watershed year of 1991.

It was considered natural for Pharma and IT companies to be in the hunt due to the global nature of their businesses. Traditional companies have started getting in on the act, especially in the last 2 years of the high in this boom cycle. One of the most prominent groups in India, The Tata Group, has been at the forefront of it. Almost every large Tata company has done at least 1 large deal. In the materials business, Tata Steel has done the largest acquisition out of India. In Chemicals, Tata Chem has done a few deals. In Services, Indian Hotels (The Taj) has been fairly active with a property here and another there. In Retail/Consumer sectors, Tata Tea was where it all began, giving India an aroma of a large global acquisition for the first time. In Info/Comm sectors, both TCS & VSNL are global companies in their own right. Energy, where Tata Power is the flagship is a fairly domestic business. Finally, this leaves us with the Engg Sector and Tata Motors. Has the time come? Talk about peer pressure.

The current 'game on' is Ford's putting Jaguar & Land Rover on the block. Several and several types of players have been reported to be interested. This includes the usual suspects of pvt equity players, there have been recent prcedents - notably the Chrysler Deal. Soon, Indian names may also be added to usual suspects list in global deals. The names, Tata and Mahindra have been mentioned. (http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=2007-07-19T055613Z_01_BOM5680_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESS-TATA-FORD-DC.XML) A similar story could be with Chinese marquees which have global ambitions of their own in the automotive sector. Hyundai has also been mentioned but a spokesman denied interest. (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/18/ap3926832.html)

As an aside, when I was working as a management consultant, my friends in the Garage (Automotive practice) had created one of those notorius consulting charts showing how the number of automotive groups had declined from a very large no. (was it 50) to about 12 over the decades. That was 2004, and now I see a reversal of this process happening to some extent. DaimlerChrysler would become 2 from 1, GM has had to untangle several holdings, most notably Fiat. And now Ford has started selling.

So, does it make sense for Tata Motors (TM) or Mahindra (M&M)? Tata Motors could be interested in Jaguar to gain access more to product refinement, advanced auto technologies, safety standards applicable in developed markets, a brand identity and maybe, distribution channels. But Tata Motors has a Fiat tie-up which may have been for some of these very things.

M&M may be more interested in the Rover side as it already has global SUV ambitions and has tasted success with its very own Scorpio. Time to move one step ahead?

Valuation ranges mentioned for Jag-Rover have been $1.3-$8bn due to lack of detailed financial info. Indian analysts believe it to be closer to the lower end. Considering that a substantial no. of players may be interested - PE, Indian, Chinese, otheres - could the bidding get intensive?

Maybe, TM & M&M should sit together over this one, give it a shot and divide the winning spoils(Jag to TM, Rover to M&M) once its in the bag. Handling their respective partners Fiat and Renault-Nissan is another matter though as the latter may get interested itself.

hullabaloo 2

Merriam-Webster online disagrees with the etymology from Wiktionary - i.e. the Indian origin story. MW gives the word a Scottish twist, or is it a Scotch twist?

Here is what its says at http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hullabaloo

"perhaps from hallo + Scots balloo, interjection used to hush children. Date: 1762"

What do you guys say in this Indian vs Scot origin saga?

Let us decide in this hullabaloo.

hullabaloo

I am back, a long break... but its been an important break, achieved the most significant milestone in life...

The title seems appropriate since its my hullabaloo after a hiatus. The word came to mind while browsing India related news on the web and in a currently running episode, it seems the GoI led by the good doctor is exasperated by its friends on the Left hand side, who it seems find a cause a month to create "hullabaloo" - (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
No_nuclear_warhead_on_carrier_Govt/articleshow/2152192.cms)

As soon as I read it, I began wondering about its origins. But the brave new word of wiki says "wonder no more, search hither".

As an aside, wiki is in a list of top ten most hated words spawned by the web. - http://www.ibnlive.com/news/sci-tech/06_2007/the-most-irritating-web-words-ever-43625.html

Hullabaloo, as expected, originated from the Indian word "Hullabol" (information courtesy yet another wiki, Wiktionary), which is what people on the left do most of the time and the people of the right do so nearly as frequently. It is used to describe a kind of demonstration which kicks off great noise and dust.

For the good of Cricket

India have been bundled out. Time to burn the effigies, time to run riot in the streets chanting "... hai-hai", time to take up the issue in the zero hour of parliament, time for Lalu to herald the oncoming Bihari Talent to be the savior of Indian Cricket. Well, all that and more. But only for those who have yet to smell the coffee.

For the awakened soul, there couldn't have happened, a better thing.

Its time when we can free our souls of forever tracking the progress of these 11 men (or 15, depending on your team-selection), its time when we wont have to sit and watch Sidhu and others expound for hours together on the strategies, analyses and suchlike. Maybe its time to shut the TV and watch the world do better things than play cricket, or better still, do those things yourself. The channels will go on, the world cup analyses programs will continue to occupy the prime time, though no one should be watching (the awakened ones at least). The sponsorships have been tied up months in advance, so the news will continue to be generated.

However, its time, when we can relax without getting affected by the results of the Indian team for months togther, till the next season perhaps. Some of us may never come back to it though.

Its time for players themselves to sort it out in the mind as well, weigh their future, measure their passion & intensity. Some may never play again, some may make their secret pledges to win the next one.

Hopefully, a lot of moral cleansing will take place. Optimistically, the board would focus on the processes rather than individuals. Next season, we will win the test series down under, who wants the world cup?