The amount of humbug and bullshit filling the air and the airwaves following the Mike Denness controversy just goes to show how cricket has been taken over by rabble and rabble-rousers in this country.
Let's take the two extremes.
On one we have cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad who is raising the flag of nationalism on behalf of Indian cricket lovers.
On the other we have a senile journalist going by the name of Rajan Bala who has been exposed as a closet racist.
Azad must have been delighted to have been introduced as "one of Indian Test cricket's greats" by the STAR TV anchor last week, mind you in the same breath as EAS Prasanna!
Azad a great? You must be kidding. Just look at his record. His only claim to fame is being a member of the 1983 World Cup winning side (he scored a duck in the final). Those in the know will tell you he got in the team in the first place only thanks to family influence and political clout.
And for goodness sake's, when are the anchors going to learn Denness is pronounced DEE-ness and not Dennis or even Denise!
Now Azad is blowing hot air about "national prestige" and "passion". He even went to the extent of saying on STAR News' 'The Big Fight' that "stadiums would be in flames if this had happened in India during the England series." Sounds like an incitement to violence if you ask me.
Of course, this was too tempting an issue for our politicians to stay out. So we had the unedifying sight of Mamata Bannerjee voicing her useless opinion too.
This man Navjot Singh Sidhu has become a menace and a nuisance. How he can continue to peddle his juvenile views on TV is beyond belief. He is an embarrassment to his fellow-commentators, particularly Sunil Gavaskar and Harsha Bhogle, both of whom have been voices of reason among all the babble.
Let's get a couple of things straight here: Denness over-reacted and was wrong. This double-standard in judging Asian and other cricketers has gone on for far too long and it is just as well it has finally come out in the open.
That does mean the BCCI should behave in the same way as Denness. This is nothing but an ego clash between Jagmohan Dalmiya and the ICC which now has two Australians at the helm.
The 'white' cricket world has never quite forgiven an Indian for having the temerity to take over the reigns of the world cricket body which they have considered their fiefdom for over a century. So it is payback time.
Of course with all this immaturity on both sides on display among the power-hungry officials, it is the game and the players who suffer.
On the other side of the great divide we have the British journalists who are unfortunately in India right now and who have sprung to the defence of their lords and masters.
Michael Henderson of the Daily Telegraph was on 'The Big Fight' too. He cut a pathetic figure. He turned out to be more like the 'the Big Fart'. Which is appropriate since his blustering attack on Dalmiya in his paper ("who does he think he is?) was a lot of shit!
Now we come to the most pathetic of the lot. There is nothing worse than an Indian racist. Bala has used that rag The Asian Age for his pathetic views. This includes criticism of SS Das and Mohd. Kaif (as well as Pakistanis and Bangladeshis) for their lack of an English education! Perhaps he is angling for a job as ICC spokesman in India. No other publication would touch this has-been with a barge pole in any case.
Now here's a little secret. Bala is in the pay of an Indian TV mogul who lives in the US. This man and Dalmiya were in cahoots till recently and Bala was busy singing his praise. But the two have now fallen out. So the mouthpiece is now bad-mouthing Dalmiya.
What a pathetic bunch of clowns on both sides of the argument!




RECENTLY ON JAAL:

More Of The Same
Dope Of The Dopes
Laloo Takes Guard Again
Laloo Takes Guard
New Afro-Asian Events!
Grounded!
The Return Of Strains Of Strine
Future Tense
The Clown Prince Of Kolkata
Strains Of Strine
The Aussies Are Coming!!
The Indian Soccer Countdown
2000: Action Replay
Banned Aid
The Board Meeting
Do Catches Win Matches?
The United Colours Of Betting
Superstars, Supernovas
India Down Under
Olympian Blunder
Sydney Ho! Ha!
Sports Reports!
Raid Alert!
Cronjology
It's Not Not Cricket
Howzzat? Ask The Third Umpire
Kapil Da Jawab Nahin
Department Of Cricket, Government Of India
Battle Of The Bookies
Interview With A Cricket Captain
A2Z Of Indian Cricket

SEND US YOUR FEEDBACK ABOUT THIS ARTICLE: