India Vs Australia Cricket series

First Posted on Facebook on 26th November 2020.

I started teaching way back in 1997 and my first assignment was with CBIT, Hyderabad. At that time, I performed pantomime in the class when I wanted to explain advertisements for my session in Marketing, especially in my sessions of Integrated Marketing Communications. Advertisements at that time were difficult to bring to the class and were not available like they are now, on tap on YouTube.

Of course, the students liked my pantomime and always remarked that the sessions were memorable. Marketing teachers nowadays are lucky. They can bring in the latest advertisements thanks to YouTube and can make the sessions that much more interesting.

I just saw the India Vs Australia cricket tour promotion and frankly, it was overboard and unnecessarily jingoistic. The advertisements stick out like a sore thumb and the chest-thumping machismo that the advertisement depicts is in stark contrast to what the series is all about.

The series is being seen as a thank you gift from the BCCI to Cricket Australia. Cricket Australia conveniently postponed the T20mworld cricket cup and the cancellation/postponement led to BCCI holding the cash-rich IPL in UAE.

So instead of the thanks what do the Australian cricket board get? A chest-thumping overboard advertisements which even dragged in the Covid – 19 fighters to promote the series. Talk about crash cheesiness! And the advantage of YouTube is that one can browse and try to see how the Australian media is projecting the same cricket series in Australia.

Even though I could not get my hand on any advertisements that talk about the forthcoming India Vs Australia cricket series, I could get my hands on a pretty funny advertisement. It features Veeru paaji (Veerendra Shewag) and Mathew Hayden.

I don't want to spoil the fun. Watch India vs Australia advertisements of Sony Six first and watch the Veeru paaji and Mathew Hayden advertisements later. You will be tickled pink!

First watch this advertisement  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrLAqDCA2t4

Then watch this advertisement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rfM3T6b2nA

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Retires - Right time to Retire - Fading into the Sunset

 

Just thinking aloud! it is very difficult for sports legends to fade off into the sunset gracefully.

Either they have to be dumped or have to be removed forcefully. For a very long time Virendra Shewag persisted to play and hoped for a recall and Harbhajan still has not retired!

At the end of their careers Kapil Dev and Sachin more or less played for records. 434 wickets for Kapil and 100 test centuries for Sachin. It was quite painful to see them continue.

Players like Dravid and VVS Laxman had an inglorious retirement. The guy to retire in a flash was Adam Gilchrist who retired the minute he missed what he considered a regulation catch (in his view).

The Indian I admire who timed his retirement to a perfection is Sunil Gavaskar. He played a gem of an inning, 97 not out, almost guided India to a win against arch rivals Pakistan in 1987! He retired when he was at his peak! He retired when people were thirsting to see him bat on and on. But Gavaskar knew when to call it a day!

This is what Vijay Hazare once said about retirement, "retire when people ask why? Not when people ask why not?" How very thought provoking!!!

Why this monologue? I am quite perplexed at the negative publicity Dhoni is getting online. Ofcourse most of it is from Twitter which is known for blowing things out of proportion, but it is a medium that many swear-by and follow.

This is the same Dhoni that entire cricket world waited with bated breath to return. Pages and pages and many GBs of space was spent on him and within 4 days of IPL starting he has become the topic for heated discussion.

Do we want to remember Dhoni for all his exploits and his services to Indian cricket from 2004 to 2019 or do we want to remember Dhoni as he is portrayed in the dog-eat-dog world of social media! Choice is ours!