Going, going, gone......

Cricketers from the world over went on sale this past week in Mumbai as the much publicized IPL auctions took place at a 5 star hotel, where beer barons, film stars and industrialists happily coughed up millions to get leading international players into their franchisees.The Indian captain, M.S.Dhoni was bought by the Chennai ''Super Kings'' (how ridiculous a name is that for a team?) for a mind-boggling 1.5 million USD, nearly 4 times his reserve price! Well,MSD sure got a lot of USDs !Poor joke, point noted. However he wasn't the only one who found his bank account get doughed up, Aussie Andrew Symonds, inspite of his monkey business, and those pathetic dreadlocks, was signed up by the Hyderabad team for 1.35 million USDs ; becoming the highest paid foreign player.

Now, what are we getting into here? Is the IPL, as its inventors claim, a godsend for the country's pathetically hopeless domestic scene? Or will cricket's newest baby end up ringing the death knell for good old Test cricket? We have players around the world being wooed with 6 figure sums by the richest cricket board in the world, all because they couldn't bear to watch someone out of the system set up a league which rivals their numerous and frankly, quite mediocre domestic competitions. The palyers themselves, are of course, only too happy to participate in this noble cause of uplifting India's domestic scene from it's present misery. Who wouldn't, really, given that while playing T20 matches for a couple of months a year, you could end up making twice or thrice of what you would, while playing for your country, slogging it out against the world's best? Its more of an attraction for the ones reaching the end of their careers, rather than the newbies, who are still struggling to keep their noses above international cricket's deep waters. The recent spate of high profile retirements, noticeably, those of Shaun Pollock, Stephen Flemming, and a few others, is no coincidence, I say.

And now along comes Andrew Symonds, who has been crying himself hoarse over (well, apart from monkey business, of course,) Australia's upcoming, or cancelled, or postponed, or shortened or oh well...let's just say scheduled tour of Pakistan and how he wouldn't want to be a part of it because of the security situation in that country. And now, having been bought by Hyderabad as their star recruit, he recently said that he probably wouldn't be going there afterall. And to think that Symonds claimed he was racially abused in India last October during a bitter 7 match series! I guess money talks more than honour does.
However the larger issue here is that, most shockingly so, current players are refusing to turn up for that country, now that they have been faced with astronomial sums they wouldn't have got their hands on, while on national duty. Clearly, the ICC must do something to nip this trend in the bud...or international cricket will go to the dogs.

And with all the news of the players raking in the moolah, what would the young 'un playing in the street against his mates think? Surely, that Test cricket, techique, good old forward defence be damned, i'll just dance down the track, bring out the slog sweep and send the ball into orbit. Afterall, going by the current scheme of things, T20 is the way forward. You wouldnt want to stop your kid from playing cricket these days, he could be the next ''Super King''!!!

All done and dusted

After the dust settles down, this contest will go down as one of the best in recent times. The stage was set for a major showdown, and boy, did we have one! In a series which proved that Test cricket will always retain its place as the King Of Sports inspite of the emergence of T20, India clashed with Australia in a date to remember.

India’s tour Down Under had it all...brilliant batting, great bowling, commendable fielding (so what if it was by just 1 team!) and controversy thrown in for good measure.

Monkey calls, court hearings, disputed catches, umpires who refused to lift their fingers, one captain who thought only 1 side played with the spirit of the game and his opposing number who spit venom on anyone who doubted his integrity added plenty of spice to the contest that in my opinion, stands side-by-side with the Ashes as the game’s blue ribbon rivalry.

In the end, Australia emerged victorious, but not after India gave them a mighty run for their money. Victory came at the expense of the first home defeat in 5 years, a record- equalling streak for the most consecutive Test wins ever halted at the final frontier (does it ring a bell, Steve Waugh?) and above all, allegations of un-sportsmanlike behaviour. The winning habit might’nt have changed, but the method for achieving it sure has. The famous Aussie trait of skittling out oppositions with a killer attitude was surprisingly absent for most part of the series. It’s no longer ‘’Oh we’ll just chew ‘em and spit ‘em out, mate,’’ ‘’suffocation’’ seems to be the buzzword with Australian squads these days. A look at the 4 tests proves this:

Melborne: Aus win due to toothless Indian batting;

Sydney: Need one say more?

Perth: Oh well let’s just say Aussie fans wouldn’t want to remember this bit!

Adelaide: Visibly slow batting in both innings by Aus, coupled with a slow over rate

All said and done, both the squads should give themselves a pat on the back for treating the great game’s spectators to a scorching summer of cricket. All of this sets up things nicely for this October, when the ‘Roos turn up in India to keep the Border-Gavaskar trophy in their cabinet.