Published: May 18, 2011, 11:01 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 24, 2014, 02:48 PM (IST)
By Suneer Chowdhary
Last year, it was the Fake IPL player who gave nightmares to the IPL. He hid his trail well till the time he wanted to and got away.
IPL4 saw another blogger cause worries for the IPL. Cheerleader Gabriella Pasqualotto unwittingly invited the wrath of the IPL bosses by blogging about the ‘off-field IPL action’ to invite censure – the first flight home. The IPL weren’t taking any chances with the tainting of any more players after what the Fake IPL Player had done. Not when the blog posts read, “The Aussies are naughty. These cricketers are the most loose (men) I have ever encountered.”
Pasqualotto was blogging anonymously as well, but it was not difficult to find out the identity of the cheerleader.
The question is not whether the IPL was right or not, but what is to stop another, much more cautious cheerleader would end up picking the gauntlet from where Pasqualotto left off and get away by being discreet. I am sure she would be able to earn much more with this ‘sting’ operation than from cheerleading!
The action moves off the field
Amidst news that the IPL TV ratings have plunged to unprecedented levels in comparison with the previous level, came the news that the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) has decided to press criminal charges against Shane Warne.
Warne allegedly called RCA chief Sanjay Dixit a liar and a couple of other colourful adjectives for not providing the Rajasthan Royals with the kind of pitch he wanted.
Dixit protested. Rajasthan Royals issued a statement that Warne has apologized and suitable action has been taken. Dixit queried the nature of action. Royals refused to divulge.
Warne tweeted again that Dixit was egoistic in nature and was wrong in criticizing the great Sachin Tendulkar.
The last has not yet been heard on the story.
Zero confidence, maximum result
When one of the most mentally tough guys in the world of cricket says that he had come into a game with zero confidence, the world sits up and listens. That is exactly what Sourav Ganguly said after picking up the bat after five months and guiding Pune Warriors India to a win.
Ganguly made an unbeaten, run-a-ball 32, to get his side a win after he had not been selected during the IPL auctions and had had four or five abortive attempts to make a comeback into the IPL.
The Bengalis were visibly thrilled, the rest of the country sang his praises, but Ganguly called it the toughest day in his career.
Sadly though, for the King of comebacks”, he lasted all of five balls in his second game, against the same opponents, the Chargers, to perish for a duck.
(Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here @suneerchowdhary)
