India

Former India captain chooses opinion over diplomacy…

After being asked to choose between his media commitments or chairing the International Cricket Council cricket committee, Sunil Gavaskar has chosen in favour of pulling no punches in newspaper columns and as a TV pundit.

Recent comments in the media clearly made his employers at the ICC slightly uncomfortable, and they suggested that holding both roles caused a conflict of interest. Given that he criticised match referee Mike Proctor for banning Harbhajan Singh for alleged racist comments in the Sydney Test, and then called the English and Australian boards “dinosaurs”, for once the ICC might not be too far off the mark.

Then of course there’s our favourite from 2002, when he called England the “champions whingers of the world.” Given how dull it must be to work on the ICC’s committee, we reckon Sunil’s made the right choice. It's much more entertaining...

Who's hot and who's hot so far in India...

So then, it’s been a little while, how is it all going?

Not bad thanks, I’ve just bought myself a new Dyson, one of those ones with the balls at the bottom.

Nice. But I meant the IPL, not you. How is the IPL progressing?

Well, ticking along nicely, with Rajasthan Royals leading the way on 10 points.

Warney’s side? Didn’t they get thumped in their first game?

They certainly did, but they’ve won five on the bounce since then, with a recent victory over Chennai Super Kings, who have since lost three in a row.

So how has our Dimitri got on then?

Well he only arrived in India last week after captaining Hampshire through April, but was left out of the squad.

How come?

Well, Rajasthan chose Warne, Graeme Smith, Shane Watson and Sohail Tanvir as their four permitted internationals.

Oh dear. Still, he's getting a bit of pocket money. Any other news?

Yep. Kings XI Punjab are joint first on ten points, though they have played a game more. Kumar Sangakkara is the man scoring the runs for them, but they also have Irfan Pathan to thank, who tops the bowling leaderboard with nine wickets and an average of 15.88.

Come on then, who’s had shockers?

Well, since you insist. You’ll be disappointed to hear that Aussie Cameron White’s solitary innings has reaped a not so breathtaking six runs, while Shiv Chanderpaul has managed just 18 runs in two innings for Bangalore, probably one of the main reasons why they’re struggling in last place.

And with the ball?

Dwayne Bravo’s average of 119 after failing to take a wicket for Mumbai is nothing short of hilarious, while Daniel Vettori has also failed to impress.

And is the Indian public screaming out for exciting English talent?

Er, well I’m yet to see any banners clambering for the likes of master nurdlers Alistair Cook, Ian Bell or Paul Collingwood no…

The England backlash is in full swing

Coming just a week after Alistair Cook pledged his loyalty to his country and insisted that he would choose England over big money offers from the IPL, Ravi Bopara has revealed that he has rejected a lucrative offer from the headline-hugging Indian Premier League.

The Essex batsman might have only played three Tests for England but it looks like he’s joined up to Che Guev…sorry, Alistair Cook’s England revolution, to which the likes of Michael Vaughan, Kevin Pietersen and Ryan Sidebottom are already proudly part of. Those that have pledged allegiance to their country like kids at an American Summer camp.

So far, so good then, for the ECB, whose hardline stance had threatened to rip English cricket apart had England’s top players ignored their employers’ wishes and signed for the league. Though we’ll soon see how quickly their ‘money isn’t everything’ attitude goes up the wall should the ECB relax their viewpoint. Cynical, us?

Trouble at t'mill for the Indian finger spinner...

Indian spinner Harbajan Singh has been suspended pending an inquiry after allegations that he slapped Sree Santh during the recent IPL game between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab. Television coverage of the game showed Indian paceman Santh crying like a girl and his team's management have now lodged a complaint. If he's found guilty, Sing could face a number of punishment including a life ban and beng forced to listen to Coldplay for 72 hours non-stop. OK, we made the last one up. It's 48 hours.

"And the award for best lunchtime sandwiches goes to..."

India's demi-god is born...

The only surprise to us here at EatCricket is that today is not a national day in India. For it was on this very day in 1973 that one Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, was born in Mumbai. Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket, the little fella is one of only three batsmen (along with Brian Lara  and Allan Border) to score over 11,000 runs in Test cricket, as well as being the highest scorer in ODI’s with over 16,000 runs. Unsuprisingly, he’s now playing in the Indian Premier League, as Mumbai’s icon player and captain. He also drives the team bus and makes the lunch. Probably

Elsewhere in the world today, the Irish rebellion against British Rule began in 1916. Known as the Easter Rising, it lasted six days when school teacher and barrister Patrick Pearse led over 200 Irish Republicans to seize buildings in Dublin in an attempt to win independence from Britain. While seventy-seven years later in 1993, 40 people were injured and one killed when an IRA bomb exploded in London.

But today is not all about angry Irishmen. For in 1792, the French national anthem La Marseillaise was composed by Captain Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, and in 1949, children all over Britain were filling their faces with gobstoppers, sugar mice and sherbet pips as the rationing of sweets and chocolates came to an end after first being introduced during World War Two.

And today in 1900 the Daily Express, founded by Arthur Pearson, was published for the first time, though given that Princess Diana wasn’t born for another 61 years, Lord knows what they had to write about. Speaking of writing, the desk on which American President John F Kennedy signed the Nuclear Ban Treaty on in 1963, was sold this very day in 1996 for a mere £1.4m at an auction in New York.

And we say a hearty Ravi Bopara! as they say in Essex to Sri Lankan off-spinner Kumara Dharmasena (37), Indian wickie MSK Prasad (33), golfer Lee Westwood (35), American singers young, Kelly Clarkson (25), and old, Barbra Streisand (65), and TV’s Gabby Logan (35).