India Insight

Yuvraj Singh has finally found a way to make sure the hair gel lying unused in his cupboard is not completely wasted.

The Punjab cricketer, known for experimenting with hairdos, has gone completely bald following chemotherapy sessions in his battle against cancer.

In his absence, Yuvraj’s former India captain Sourav Ganguly is leading Pune in this year’s Indian Premier League and the 39-year-old provided what could be the lasting memory of IPL5 after castling Delhi’s Kevin Pietersen at Ferozeshah Kotla on April 21.

Ganguly darted across the field at a speed unexpected of a cricketer never known for his athleticism even in his prime, pumping air and jumping in joy, his thinning hair dishevelled by the evening wind.

“Dada’s celebration took us back to the good old days,” Yuvraj wrote in a column that appeared in Tuesday’s Times of India.

The upcoming session of the Indian Premier League (IPL), India’s glamour-packed cricket tournament, will see a sartorial anomaly come to life — cheerleaders wrapped in saris.

Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan’s IPL team, the Kolkata Knight Riders, has decided to cover their cheerleaders in one of the most traditional Indian outfits — a marked departure from their 2008 wardrobe when a lot of skin, from midriff to thighs, was on display.

All these sari-clad cheerleaders would be “local hires” and will dance to classical Bengali music in between boundaries and fall of wickets. The team management is of the opinion this will help connect with Bengali cricket fans and improve ticket sales.

It’s intriguing arithmetic. After adding two new franchises to its stable, the Indian Premier League now runs the serious risk of going into its fourth edition with seven cricket teams, one less than the original eight.

In that March 21 news conference in Chennai, Lalit Modi, still one month away from a dramatic dumping, was doing what he does best — reeling off mindboggling numbers.

Modi welcomed Pune and Kochi on board and waxed eloquent on how recession-proof the cash-awash league was.

The Congress-led government, under scrutiny in the wake of allegations of financial irregularities in a multi-billion cricketing tournament, has now come under fire from the opposition over accusations it tapped phones of senior leaders.

A united opposition demanded a joint parliamentary committee to look into these allegations, ruled out by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is in Bhutan attending a summit of South Asian leaders.

Last week, a magazine report said mobile phone conversations of senior politicians were tapped, sparking allegations intelligence agencies were being used to spy on political rivals.

It started with a Twitter post and promptly snowballed into accusations of funding irregularities, corruption and misuse of power. Almost hard to believe it’s cricket that is being discussed here.

Cricket has always attracted controversy because of the large amount of money and sponsorships it involves unlike any other game.

As the game changed its format over the years, the scale and proportion of the scandals grew accordingly.