Vaseline-Gate Controversy: When People Need Something to Talk About!

The word Vaseline-Gate would bring to the memories of many the famous scandal named Watergate, but it is neither so serious an affair, neither are the allegations true.  English have it seems learnt the tricks of media pressure on the touring sides quite well from the Aussie press. The media pressure tactics has been a long affair with teams visiting Australia for their home series. Allegations made by the Australian press have spanned not only across the current form of the players but also their personal lives. When probed deep into these scandals they appeared to be made up stories to exert tension on the visiting sides.

Did He Nick It?

Such occurrences have been seen in the English press during latest Indian cricket teams tour of England. There are baseless allegations being made couple of months before the series even started. It all started with the drawn Windsor Park, Dominica where Dhoni’s men didn’t press for victory. The English press seemed to be more concerned about Indian teams urge for victory! Have they forgotten the times when Nasser Hussain asked Monty Panesar and Ashley Giles to bowl outside leg stump just to keep Sachin Tendulkar quite? Wasn’t that negative tactics, but so what when British do it, it’s smart!

Coming to the Vaseline-gate, it was a brainchild of an ex-skipper of England, Michael Vaughan. In order to draw attention, he quietly tweeted that V.V.S. Laxman, one of the top test batsmen in the world had used Vaseline coating on his blade just to escape the hot-spot technology. Even after repeated replays and use of hot-spot technology it could not be proved that Laxman had nicked the ball. So what could be the reason? Oh yes let me think something extravagant and blame the Indian team of cheating, that would get me into the limelight thought Vaughan and he made allegation against one of the gentlemen that the game has seen in the recent years.

Michael Vaughan: Just for Name?

When contradicted by the ex Indian players doing their broadcasting duties in UK such as Sourav Ganguly and Sunil Gavaskar, and threatened that Laxman could even sue the ex English skipper, Vaughan withdrew from his claims. In his next tweet he accused the Indians of not understanding his joke.  But the fact that Vaughan had himself made a jest out of himself.

Hope the next games are played on the field and not far from the pitch!

Jeopardy between Country and Club

We all love to watch the gripping display of the top players in EPL, Serie A and Spanish La Liga. These are the most popular football leagues in the world and millions of bucks are spent to make them stunning. Barcelona and Real Madrid solely would spend a total sum that would be good enough to feed the hungry people in Somalia! The players are paid handsomely and it is no wonder that they perform to their peak at their respective clubs. But the problem arises when there are national duties. Ask any upcoming player and their dream is to win cups for their nation. But ask the famous players it would be winning championship for their clubs. This how the psychology of the players gets affected after they fall into the elite league.

Everyone was criticizing the performance of Lionel Messi, the magician with the foot. But have you considered the price of that foot. If he incurred any injuries giving his all for Argentina and got wounded doing so then not only him but the club (Barcelona) would lose out on lots of money. Similar was the case with most reputed players featuring in the 2011 Copa America. Some of the national teams were also issued threats that they would be dragged to the court in case of injuries to their star players. This is a piteous situation. No wonder there are some players who think twice before turning up in their national colors.

Another factor that came to the fore in the recently concluded Copa America was the fact that players from the top footballing nations lacked co-ordination, such as Brazil. Most of the Brazil players play important parts in their club teams. They did not get enough time to practice and gel in with their national team members, thus they cut a shabby figure on the field. It was no wonder that the World Cup and Copa America have both been won by underdogs. The leading national team members are just losing interest in serving their national side. This might cause a lot of frustration for the fans, but they will be quenched once the major leagues start over again.

This is the reason people love Manchester United, they do not buy players rather they are a grooming ground for upcoming players. Other teams buy stars and want to get their money’s worth.

Why Play When You are self Assumed Kings?

There are times when I feel proud to be an Indian. We pride ourselves on our rich culture and we should too. We know the manners and how to take defeats. This capability is missing in many other super powers of the world. Take Australia and England as an example. They want to win (that’s fine) at any cost, which is how a competitor should think. But often the fine line between competitiveness and desperation is crossed by the English cricket side. In the recent India’s tour of England, this aspect of the English present and past cricketers is coming to the fore.

Some of the ex-cricketers had claimed that England is the number one test side in the world even before the Indian team landed on English soil. Knowledgeable cricketers of the yester years such as Ian Botham, Graham Gooch and Nasser Hussain have been shelling bombs at the Indian team from time to time. Accusing the Indian team for some reason or the other seems to be the only news worthy item for the English press this English summer.

According to Indian senior ex-cricketers this is a type of mental disintegration planned by the English press beforehand. Well, if this is the way you treat a guest, then I am proud I was not born with the legacy of English culture.