Monkey chatter

Ok you know where you heard this phrase. It’s about Andrew Symonds being called a monkey and jeered at by the crowd. I am against such mischief-mongering as it is distasteful, but Australia of all teams have no right to tell us that, beyond that the incident doesn’t interest me.

I am interested in some comments Mr.Symonds made at the start of the tournament,

” We have been winning all the time and we have been very humble about it. I have been watching this Indian team’s celebrations and they have been way over-the-top. Yuvraj Singh got a Porsche for his six sixes.” Ahhhhhh!!!! There, that’s the catch. Why does it infuriate Symmo how much adulation Yuvi gets or not. Or is a he car freak who looks down on the Porsche and wanted – ahem – a better choice for Yuvi?? Well I enjoy Symmo’s batting and bowling but wouldn’t credit him with so much grace *cough*.

One thing is clear though,  Symmo . You didn’t hit six sixes mate, not in any form of the game, but he did and against England, no less.  Sure our govt has been doling out awards wildly, but then, we don’t win World Cups too often, you do, maybe it pays to lose sometimes, lol, and learn to respect your opposition a little more, else what you get back is monkey or whatever faces, from the players, from the crowd. Sorry to say so but only two players from the mighty Aussie side have done that consistently, good ol’ Gilly and then Brett Lee, gracious off the field, now just excuse his unforgivable ‘unintentional’ beamers.

But more than ‘monkey chatter’ (just a phrase, no racist intent there if you will excuse me)  it is Punter chatter that really takes the cake. Ponting declared boldly that they would win and deflate the Indians at Brabourne. Uthappa coolly retorted that they weren’t particularly looking forward to the game to prove anything, they would only go and enjoy themselves. Boy and did we enjoy watching the haughty Roos brought to their feet. Brad Hogg at the 10th over of the Indian innings : “This is a great game but we are not winning it right now.” Savour this any India fans out there, you won’t hear such diffidence too often from the Aussies. Those of us who retained a semblance of equanimity during the Twenty 20 World Cup knew that the semifinal was a close affair and Australia deserved to win it as much as we did, only they lost their way when it mattered most and there was no time to claw back into the game. But this time, India’s champions status was driven down Punter’s throat emphatically; he said it in as many words, “Well, they are the world champs and they have won.” Ooh, that did take a lot of ego-swallowing, eh Rick?

In case you think this is my way of getting back at the Aussie press’s extremely racist comments on Sreesanth’s antics on the field,  buddy, I have always admired the Aussies – for their sheer formidable talent, for their mental strength, for their never-give-up attitude, for their intuitive understanding of the game’s flow and thus the ability to apply pressure on the most painful points. But the whole post-T20 fracas has brought out a less admirable facet of this great team – they are bad losers, nay, they are foul losers, sour grapes overflowing from their mouths. They didn’t wish to admit they lost to a team that played better on the day and made a big deal about India beating them till it induced headaches for all and sundry.

So, India ‘deflating’ them first at Wankhede, then at Brabourne, served another purpose : it finally shut them up, put an end to all the grumbling, to all the bad mouthing, to all the grudges, to all the debates. India took some time getting over the T20 triumph for sure, but they were catching up halfway through the ODI tournament already and but for a combination of Dada’s atrociously lazy middle overs running and Dravid’s capitulation under pressure in the 6th encounter, the scoreline would likely have been 3-3.  And now, there’s proof that they can not only match Australia in all departments but even outdo them, atleast we didn’t concede 8 runs in overthrows, lol!!! Will they be as consistent, as intense as Australia?? Who cares, enjoy the moment, mate, you won’t get too many of these, I should know, having waited 22 years to catch a proverbial repeat of the 1983 triumph.

Oh, what was it the Aussies said, they don’t enjoy T20…well, here’s the news, all ye blokes, Uthappa doesn’t enjoy it either..but that didn’t stop him demolishing the fastest bowler in the world!!!

P.S: And the news of the day, Dumbledore is gay, it seems.  Oh, perhaps, Hermione thought he was straight and fantasised about him at night,lol!!! I read the first four Potter editions with lot of interest thought I was already ‘too old’ for such books because I was elated that Rowling had reinvented the Blyton days for a new generation. Well, I stand disillusioned.  She probably just discovered it’s hard to cut out of the Potter mania and break free as a writer, so why not feed the franchise while it is still hot??? But I will admit to one good outcome of this apologetic media gag she has subjected herself to: maybe this will ensure that gays are no longer looked at in a derogatory sense as a new generation grows up idolizing a gay wizard.