Who on earth is Shashank Manohar?

(A bot tweeted me about this article. An interesting read about Shashank Manohar. Have not verified the facts myself, though.)

The short answer is Shashank Manohar is a NEW President of the BCCI. But there is enough dirt on this clown and he is a perfect example why Indian cricket is in such perfect shambles.

To know Shashank Manohar better, one has to go back to 26th November 1995. It was an ODI played between India and New Zealand when the VCA stadium wall collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring over 70. And who were responsible? Shashank Manohar himself, along with his father V.R. Manohar, the bosses of the VCA stadium - allegedly these guys had contracted a close relative of theirs for the construction of the wall. It isn't a surprise that a man responsible for cricket's biggest on-field tragedy is the NEW president of the board. (Read here)

It's no secret that the betting cartel run from Karachi by Dawood Ibrahim's gang has the BCCI backing. So what's the nexus between the Dawood gang and BCCI? Well. the official link is Shashank Manohar. Manohar's family is quite close to the Dawood gang and defends their gang members in most high-profile cases. So the question arises if a man is so close to the betting cartel, should he be the BCCI New president?

Is he an honest man? Shashank Manohar claims to be one. His sycophant journalists include a certain Ajay Nayudu and Vinay Nayudu who claim that Shashank Manohar does not take a penny from the BCCI, even pays for his travel expenses. Facts state otherwise. Shashank Manohar took money from the VCA offers to sponsor a school-boy team's 3 month tour to England. Why? Just because his son was playing in the team. For the record, his son Adwait Manohar is a pathetic cricketer, with a first class average of 15.

So, he spent millions from the BCCI earnings to give his own good-for-nothing son. An honest douche bag indeed. (Read here)

He is also the guy making the most fuss about contracts, pay-for-performance and endorsement caps. Why? Simply because to cover up all his betting cartel links, he needs an honest image.

As a cricketer himself, he played just one first-class match - thanks to his father's influence, averaging 9. (Read here)

Read the original article here.

IPL – it’s real

I came across this blog post, IPL, Basic Economics & Us, a few days back, while surfing the internet about how IPL is affecting the common man. The ‘phenomenon’ of IPL has gripped the whole nation for the past 3 years with an entire generation from film stars to politicians to you and I involved in it. Everyone wants to be a part of it, the rich men want to buy it, the cricketers want to play it, bloggers like me want to write about it and the common man doesn’t want to miss it either. And yeah, the Bollywood too is not behind in the race.

I am not a great fan of IPL or of cricket for that instance (not that I hate cricket) Actually, IPL is not about cricket at all. It is just another reality show with the world’s finest cricketers as lead actors. The only difference compared to other TV shows is that this reality show is LIVE and is also telecasted on YouTube. No doubt it would be one of the highest grossing shows in television history. Thanks to the amount of money involved.

Now, coming to the article which I read, is by a guy called Buddhiraj. He is not a regular blogger but I liked the only two articles (my kind) he has written so far. In this article he starts off with a story and then goes on to relate economics in IPL to inflation in the country. He also tells about the how the advertising during IPL will (might) influence the prices of day-to-day commodities. It is a short write-up and good read for IPL fans to know that IPL has some serious side effects, other than wasting a few million man-hours.

Read the complete article here. You can also read Buddhi’s other articles on his blog, Buddhi Baptizm.

Forgive me for being blasphemous about IPL and cricket. They are just not my cup of tea.