Man United victory was some solace after RCB’s loss
I WON’T SAY THAT UNITED’S WIN HEALED MY WOUNDS OF THE LOSS AGAINST RCB BUT I FORGOT IT FOR A WHILE. LET’S SAY I WAS CRIBBING A LOT LESS POST THE MAN U VICTORY
It can’t get more ironic than this. On April 13, the day which marks the beginning of the harvest season, there was news that farmers in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh were offered embarrassing compensations as unseasonal rains destroyed their crops. The pictures of affected farmers flashing cheques of `63 and `100 were depressing. I was watching the news with a few of my friends and one of them remarked, “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisaan should be changed to Jo Kissan Wo Pareshaan.”
I couldn’t agree more. Let us not politicise the matter but be a bit more sensitive towards one of the most important sectors of Indian economy. Remember, this is Make In India year, isn’t it?
April 13th is also the 21st birthday of our very own KC Cariappa. I’m told there was a mini cake-cutting ceremony in the team room of our hotel. This was followed by some cake smearing and generous pushes into the swimming pool. My boys were in their elements giving the young Cariappa a taste of our dressing-room fun.
There was some debate whether we should have played him against the likes of Gayle and De Villiers. I am firm believer in throwing young players into the deep end and backing them through. It may have been a tough initiation alright for the youngster but then he can take confidence from his maiden IPL wicket of none other than AB de Villiers.
In the evening, I quietly sneaked into the team room to gather some idea how wild was Cariappa’s birthday bash. I had just started gathering my intelligence when the graffiti wall in the room stood beaming at me. I was in splits reading the message: “Catches win matches Morne,” referring to his dropped chance against RCB. I was reliably informed that my Aussie teammate Brad Hogg, who is a real livewire, had left a post for the big South African. Knowing Morne he would have taken ‘Hoggy’s’ message to heart as he is an extremely proud cricketer.
Apart from this Hoggy message my time in the team room was extremely well spent. I played a bit of football on PS and beat the hell out of Sunil Narine and more importantly saw Manchester United beat City 4-2. I won’t say that United’s win healed my wounds of the loss against RCB but I forgot it for a while. Let’s say I was cribbing a lot less post the Man U victory.
My heartiest congratulations to Sania Mirza for getting to the No 1 spot in the WTA ranking in doubles. Well done Sania! It’s not easy being a woman in India, leave alone excel as a sportsperson.
Her critics may still present her record in singles but that is splitting hairs. For once, let us just celebrate what she has given our women tennis rather than what she couldn’t.
I had dinner with a few friends as family went back home on Monday. There were hordes of things being discussed from the quality of bats to how expensive the food at our team hotel is. All of a sudden the topic turned to the late Australia captain Richie Benaud. There was one thought but I am not sure how feasible it is – let’s retire the beige jacket in honour of the late Mr Benaud. What do you think?
The writer is KKR skipper DINESH CHOPRA MEDIA