Overreaction Monday ft El CSK-MIsco, Misunderstood Manjrekar and Pan-India Dhoni
Welcome to another edition of Overreaction Monday and this week, we have successfully managed to pull it back from the hands of our football specialist in an all-cricket edition. With the start of IPL, there is certainly going to be loads of bizarre and outrageous statements from cricketers.
CSK-MI rivalry on par with El Clasico
On Twitter just ahead of the opening fixture between Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings, fans were hailing their rivalry as on par with Spanishâs age-old fixture âEl Clasicoâ
SCâs Take: In case you were wondering what is an El Clasico, well it is the age-old rivalry between two Spanish clubs, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, with the first of its clashes way back on 13 May 1902. Back then, IPL or even cricket for that matter of fact was not a genuine world-beater thing. Comparing a 12-year rivalry between two IPL sides to a nearly 118-year rivalry is nothing but stupidity and you might have taken part in being the world's most stupid person!
On top of that, the endless polls on Twitter, where users are asked to vote between Mumbai and Chennai as being Barcelona and Real Madrid was just painstakingly stupid. Neither of them is on the levels of Madrid or Barcelona but why should there be a comparison in the very first place. In an episode of outright bizarreness, we might even feature your best tweets from the comparisons with the El Clasico, till then take care!
Dilip Vengsarkarâs urge of âIndian coachesâ to franchises
Former Indian cricketer, who turned into a selector has urged the franchises to pick up more Indian coaches, with just one Indian head coach in the IPL.
SCâs Take: If you think the El Clasico comparison was bizarre, you are in for a long week. This piece of news comes from Dilip Vengsarkar, who is known for his strong views about the game, nothing wrong about having âstrongâ views. But clearly, it matters when you are having a strong view on a wrong cause, in this case, supporting the cause for questioning the choice selection from franchisees who have picked foreign coaches. If that wasnât enough, he also went on to add that there is no Indian coach in the foreign leagues, be it the BBL or the CPL.Â
Do you know why? Because currently there is not one strong coach in the country who is talented enough and idle enough to be part of the global T20 leagues. Away from IPL, Kumble, an Indian coach spends his time with the ICC planning for bigger things. In the past, there have been just three Indian coaches for the franchise, Lalchand Rajput (MI), Robin Singh (SRH), and Venkatesh Prasad (RCB). So instead of forcing the franchises to pick up Indian coaches, can the Indian coaches not be strong and evident enough to force a selection, like Kumble?
Misunderstood every âbits and pieceâ of Manjrekar
After the IPL commentary snub, former Indian cricketer-turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has quashed the Indian fans for understanding his words wrongly and not having a clear and concise understanding of the English language.Â
SCâs Take: Before you come and bash me for taking a stance on this matter, against the public opinion, let me clear this - Sanjay Manjrekar was terribly wrong for putting down Harsha Bhogle like that in the public during an encounter. He was wrong there because those statements were clearly tasteless and disrespectful. Apart from that, he got the long âgoâ from the Indian fans for criticizing Ravindra Jadeja as âbits and piecesâ of a cricketer. It might have been the wrong choice of words but his statement was an active part of his job.Â
Imagine you are getting paid to criticise the teams for not showing up and take a proper stance on it, you immediately turn into an overnight villain, thatâs the power of social media. Iâm sure none of you read Sanjayâs statement in an interview with Moneycontrol but straight off put your ego in front and started criticising. Remember Nasser Hussainâs âdonkeyâ comments, where has all that aggression and anger gone since then? Thatâs the thing, we Indians are highly reactive when it comes to our favourite players, it's high time we start taking a different approach instead of putting these professionals down.Â
Indiaâs MS Dhoni or MS Dhoniâs India?
Sunil Gavaskar, one of Indiaâs premier Test openers, had commented that while Sachin had Mumbai and Kolkata, Kohli has Bangalore, MS Dhoni has the entire country supporting him.Â
SCâs Take: This is a terrible statement at its base level coming from one of Indiaâs most respected batsmen, Sunny G. Letâs make this fair and square, Sachinâs fans were never restricted to Mumbaikars, his game was such that it was even marvelled across the tiny portions of the world, be it Otago or Florida. Wait, his statement was because MS Dhoni was from Ranchi which doesnât have a cricket culture, he has the entire country supporting him.
Thatâs outrageous, sorry Sunny G! You could have just mentioned him as getting the support of the entire country because of him as a player but you decided to take a route this low. Another thing is, what makes you think that Kohli has support from just Bangalore. You are wrong, Iâm wrong if I was to say the same statement. Every Indian player gets the praise from every part of the country, isnât that the reason they play for India? When Iâm talking about Sachin and Kohli, they still get a cheer whichever ground they go, doesnât matter which state or city.