The cricket I talk about is before the era of IPL and Twenty-Twenty. The cricket I talk about is the ‘real’ cricket….not the one on steroids!
Things that I miss:
- Sanjay Manjarekar’s pronunciation of ‘Tendulkar’! (I cannot describe that pronunciation, you have to listen to it….)
- Ramiz Raja and Ravi Shastri arguing about who would win……Ramiz keeps saying Pakistan has a chance even if they are really in the dumps. Ramiz Raja’s english….sigh I miss the guy.
- Indian fielders’ reaction at a shot that is destined for the boundary(all of them point fingers at the ball…like the other guy/some one else would magically run after the ball merely by their pointing to it)
- Azharuddin saying ‘The boys really played well blah blah blah’ every time India lost.
- Harsha Bhogle.
- Pakistani Captains referring to their team in the third person(I think Pakistan played well…..hehe)
- Warne and Sohaib Akhtar’s dhulayi at the hands of Tendlya.
- Hindi commentary – Maninder Singh, Yashpal Sharma. (Gend balle ke bahri kone se lag ke ja rahi hain boundary ki ore….aur….char run!)
- David Shepherd jumping around the stadium whenever the score read 111 or multiples thereof.
Things I DON’T miss:
- Mandira Bedi and Charu Sharma’s takeover of commentary. C’mon man, this is cricket, give us some real analysis. We don’t care for eye candy!
- Sidhuisms.
- Indian team losing over and over again.
- Sledging. Did not like it then, do not like it now.
- That the first 15 overs have become the most important and that scoring 6 runs per over is not good enough anymore.
- Dada being treated badly
- Zone politics. Selection committee politics. Team politics. POLITICS.
Things I wish would happen:
- Narottam Puri returns to commentary – the guy is a gem.
- Dada comes back to play and his former glory is restored.
- Someone makes Yashpal Sharma listen to what he says. Pure drivel.
- ODIs and tests are taken seriously again.
- IPL is disbanded. (IPL has only added to the murky web of cricket politics).
shilpadesh
Nice list.
I have lost touch with Cricket and now have no interest.
What I miss most is how as a family we loved the game and spent long hours cursing
poor performances and mom and I drooled over some handsome hunks.
Ahh I miss that too. That family time thanks to cricket. I miss my grandfather….he used to almost sit inside the television when watching cricket.
I’m going to forward this post to my dad – he just loves dada!
I loved Harsha Bhogle’s commentary. His love for womens’ earrings was fascinating
yeah yeah! I remember now…….he does love earrings!
Meira I love Harsha Bhogle’s commentary too!
Dada is happily retired.. !! Dont feel bad for him… his fightbacks added charisma to his character.. he is my favourite Indian cricketer !!!!
feel proud about him !!!!
Narrotam Puri was definitely a gem.. !!!!
I always think he would do much better than Charu Sharma.. who always asks quick questions only… at times I would be so frustrated why is he asking if he has no time.. !! sigh..
Sanjay & Sunil both pronounce the second name exactly as it should… I dont miss it.. coz I can see them every other day saying it !!!!!
While i m most thankful hindi commentary has stopped… I must agree sometimes it was really funny to listen to them !!!! ha ha
wonderful list and post !!!!!!!!!!
I know! I loved the way be brought the sense of fighting into Indian cricket.
Charu Sharma is a phony.
Ahhhh but the pronunciation of T in Tendulkar by Sanjay is weird…don’t you think? I mean, I am from the same land, and I **think** I pronounce it right
Hehe balla, gend, tappa….haha tappa khana was the best!
What a long comment!!! You are hogging comment space! My next post is going to be about cricket, about how Dhoni is the best thing to have happened to Indian cricket
Of all that, we will miss David Shepard for sure. May his soul be RIP. I really loved his tummy jumping dance.
He was a cutie. Never in any controversy.
I’m sorry Azhar said “you know…you know…you know”
ODI and Test still attract the real cricket lovers..the champions league is an evidence
Yes that is true. Once upon a time there were people who used to dislike ODIs for killing the game, and I used to think of them as oldies,,,,sigh….guess I am the oldie now
Sanjay manjarekar : “Tain-dulkar”
I agreen on Harsha Bhogle, Narottam Puri
No no Mady ,
but no to disband to IPL – it has brought up so many players young players a living, Everybody can not be accomodate in odi and test side
True but I think they can invest that money in making the national cricket league stronger and more politics-proof.
Never knew you were a fan of test cricket. I was at one time, but lost interest and you guessed right, when started to lose again and again and again! But now with the IPL my interest has revived again. I mean if Mumbai loses, so what! There is always Chennai! Or Punjab. And SRK ofcourse.
My earliest cricket memories are listening to Vizzy doing his commentary on all India Radio. There was no TV then. Bit our imagination was very strong.
Two cricket fanatics, one of them a serious cricket blogger, in the family, and the only reason I even tolerate the stuff is because of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. He is a complete gem.
And yes, IPL needs to go. Along with all those dancers who start kicking here and there when some guy hits a 4. Or a six. Seriously, thats not cricket.
And yes Harsha needs to come back.
But is anyone listening ?
I have observed that listening to the commentary is actually more fun than seeing them speak!
Ahh Sachin is precious. I used to love watching him and Ganguly open. Those were the days.
About Harsha, I hope they drive these Madira Bedis and the Charu Sharmas out and get more Bhogles
Love Harsha Bhogle. And hey what about Ravi Shastri ? He is too good. Goeffery Boycott with his lovable accent was really good. They made a good team, these 3.
I always found Ramiz Raja and Manjrekar to be such depressing commentators. Ramiz especially was very mealy mouthed when it came to praising the Indian team, if at all. Don’t like Charu much either.
Miss Ganguly. I think he is the one who got me interested in cricket. The Natwest series win in Canada, I think. Do you remember how Kaif and Yuvraj won that game against all odds.
-Sonali
Ramiz Raja being depressing is so true! His drawl and his accept put me to sleep.