Test Cricket: A robust patient.

I heard Harsha Bhogle in a trailer for "Death of a gentleman" saying, "Test cricket should have died thirty years ago. It's proved to be a very robust patient." I have been harboring the same thought for a long time in my mind. For once, Harsha and me are thinking along the same line. I can probably make millions of rupees like Harsha if I stick to the same line of thinking and do all of the following: 1. Talk mostly in banalities with occasional Deepak Chora-esque deep sounding philosophical...

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War. Friendship. Cricket.

Put the kids to sleep. This is serious sport! The mother of all sporting rivalry is India Vs Pakistan in cricket. If it's taking place in a World Cup then it simply doesn't get bigger than this in sport. Oh okay I already hear voices of dissent from some elite sports watchers. One at a time kids! Yes, Federer vs Nadal is a nice little rivalry, but it won't be there 5 years from now. India vs Pakistan is for the ages, it will be there forever or at least until one of our scientists accidentally...

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The Sachin Conundrum

When is a good time to talk about Sachin Tendulkar? Any time in the last 23 years. So lets talk Sachin. I can already hear the voices in your head. Another puny blogger trying to write the customary "Sachin: The God of cricket" tribute piece, trying to show that he has arrived? Or trying to sell himself as a thinking writer by picturing him as the root all evil, as a symbol of consumerist India? If I can express myself well enough though  then this blog should not fall into either...

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A Very Very Special Friend

There are these 3 cricketers. They are like my friends since I have grown up with them. This post is about one of them. The time is around 95 - 96, and I have started watching and undestanding cricket. Azhar, Sachin, Kumble were already well into their careers. They all mean a lot to me but these 3 other cricketers are more special. Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman. I have seen their careers start and bloom and now end. (Yes Ganguly made his ODI debut much earlier, don't disturb the stream of thoughts...

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Spin it like Saqlain

When Cricket Gods and gentlemen designed this game, they had an image in mind. Of men in white looking almost saintly on a friendly green outfield. Of slow bowlers gently landing it on a half volley and the batsman gently stroking it along the ground through covers followed by applause from all the fielders. Slow bowling is a central element in cricket's artistry although this picture is a far cry from what we see in the test matches these days (lets not even bring T20 cricket...

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Tennis and Me

The post is inspired by this brillaint piece from Sidvee Doordarshan used to give us live Wimbledon tennis in the 90s and every kid had to choose a favorite. In the early 90s, kids my age (around 8 - 10 years) would know only 2 - 3 ladies who play tennis. Among them Monica Seles used to wear a skirt while playing and Steffi Graf used to wear shorts. It was a simple enough formula for me then, skirts > shorts implies root for Seles. Shortly after taking the decision to support her, she got stabbed by a Steffi fan and I continued to...

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If BCCI goes the AITA way

 In the wake of some recent tantrums thrown by Bhupati and Bopanna, two of our premiere women players, I came to realize the importance of an all powerful bunch of jokers (or the selection committee, sorry Jimmy Amarnath). Obviously in tennis it's easier for a couple of big stars to throw their weight around to get things done their way. I am using the term "star" here pretty loosely. In my book doubles tennis is like an amateur sport which no one in the world cares about. In a few days, we...

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Sachin Speaks: Applying cricketing wisdom to 10 political Issues

CricketBakchods(CB) finally caught hold of Sachin inside the Parliament restroom and he couldn't say no to us (We all know about the legendary male bonding inside a restroom). Here goes his exclusive message on politics and politicians for our super exclusive news bulletin CB-Live.  Over to SRT: CB wonders if SRT is visiting Viru's hair therapist? Here is my message for UPA and friends: 1. Depending on Mamta Banerjee is a bit like depending on Ashish Nehra. At crunch moments, they...

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Team India: Captaincy and Season preview

IPL is close to getting over and this is a good time to start thinking about the one team that really matters: The Indian Cricket Team. Team needs changes and it must start at the top. No one should have any doubts about Dhoni's credentials as a captain; he is one of the greatest we have ever seen. Not a great tactician by any means, probably his greatest strength was not allowing success or failure get to his head in these times of intense media scrutiny. But no one can be or should be...

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Of Haters and Luck

st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } This one might sting a few. If you are not a general hater, continue reading. If you are a hater, then you are warned before you read further. CSK were lucky to reach the playoffs – Agreed!. And they are lucky since Dhoni is lucky. And since Dhoni is lucky, you hate him. Well, I am not a huge Dhoni fan but I forgive him a hundred sins for giving me the best night of my life after winning the World Cup (4-0 loses against England and Australia in the test...

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Ganguly Vs Dada

Pune vs Mumbai, the Maharashtra Derby. Sachin vs Saurav. Ambani vs Sahara. As is usual in the IPL, this was a game of many head to heads. This is Dada at the toss: (Source: Cricinfo match commentary) "The pitch looks good, the ball comes on to the bat and 160-170 is achievable." This is Dada in the post match presentation: (Source: Cricinfo match commentary) "This was not an easy wicket, the ball did not come on to the bat. We lost a few wickets early, when I got out was the turning point of the game." Forget about the game, Dada's...

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Growth of Cricket in India: The Midget Theory

The Inception We at Cricket Bakchod have a theory for most things cricket. Massive amounts of research, experiments, surveys and scotch have gone into our theory. (Ok! You got us there, only massive amounts of scotch). So here is the latest. We call this The Great Indian Midget Theory. Ramachandra Guha, the great cricket historian who writes when he is sober, once gave these 3 points about the rise of cricket in India. First - Narrow streets where every child first experiences the sport, provide a natural setting for the basic grammar...

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Bakchodi prelude

Hello! We watch Cricket. We drink scotch. We never fight over who is hotter (Archana Vs Shibani that is). And we LOL at practically anything. We are new, we are fresh and we promise consistent LOLs. We have been tweeting for a week now. Has been fun. Here's few of our IPL tweet which we like.most. On great Sir Aggy! Man of the ear Ajit Agarkar trending on twitter. #IPL #IPL5 — Cricket Bakchods (@CricketBakchod) April 16, 2012 Inspirational Dravid okay so dravid has been genetically mutated. first the shots, now the dance youtu.be/uSprQcFpuOQ...

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