To all you fans of Extraaa Innings T20 fans, there’s a bad news as your favourite Sidhu paaji will not be seen in the studio from next year onwards. But the good news is that there will be a contingent who will be speaking like him.
Not only have the Mumbai Indians (MI) players been the cynosure of all eyes in the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), but their support staff has also received rave reviews. What do you expect from a side which has Ricky Ponting as its Head Coach, Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble as mentors, Jonty Rhodes as fielding coach, Shane Bond as bowling coach, John Wright as talent scout and Robin Singh as assistant coach! Well, the IPL Trophy, of course!
But it seems team owner Nita Ambani is raising the bar. A few months ago, during India’s tour of Australia, Ian Chappell apparently said that Rohit Sharma seems “half asleep” when he is batting; most believe he sleeps while speaking as well. MI management and fans are unimpressed by the dull post- match interviews and have decided to appoint Navjot Singh Sidhu as the team’s new “speech coach”. In this unique role, Sidhu will be seen mentoring the MI players on how to give interviews – pre and post -match.
It’s believed that earlier this season, Nita had also considered getting a sledging coach, but after Ponting’s assurance that he is good enough to handle that aspect, the idea was scrapped. MI at the bottom of the Fair Play points table is a testimony to that fact. And Kieron Pollard gets a major credit for the same!
The writer caught up with Sidhu, who spoke gleefully about his appointment, “My dear friend, Rohit has a plethora of words, an ocean of sentences lost within him. It’s only a matter of time you will see him in full flow like a tsunami. It’s all in hidden in the treasure chest of the mind and needs to be unlocked.”
Expect a verbal diarrhea in the Mumbai Indian camp.
Please note this is a humour article — work of pure fiction
(Suvajit Mustafi consumes cricket for lunch, fiction for dinner and munches numerous other snacks throughout the day. Yes, a jack of several trades , all Suvajit dreamt of was being India’s World Cup winning skipper but ended up being a sports writer, author, screenwriter, director, copywriter, graphic designer, sportsmarketer , strategist, entrepreneur, philosopher and traveller. Donning so many hats, it’s cricket which gives him the ultimate high and where he finds solace. He can be followed at @RibsGully and rivu7)
More from this writer:
Eight man-of-the-match awardees in IPL finals
Six factors that led to RCB’s defeat against CSK in the IPL qualifier
Harbhajan’s selection is one step backward for Indian cricket