The Hypothetical T-20 league of Pune.

(Everything in this write up is imaginary. it has no relation to practical everyday life, if u come across one, it is purely coincidental.)

In the recent wake of the ever growing popularity of T-20 cricket, there has been a steady but certain demise of Technically excellent Test cricket, and the somewhat overdrawn One Day cricket. The number of t-20 competitions is growing day by day. Add to that the grand success of T20 world cups and the over the top extravagenza that is the IPL. certainly, T-20 seems the way ahead to blockbuster entertainment.

Based on the success of these international events, the maharashtra cricket board organised its own version of T-20- the MPL, which was again extremely successful, with large crowds. Inspired by this success, and the fact that the tournament was entirely scheduled in Pune, the Pune Municipality has decided(hypothetically) to organise its own version of T-20- The PPL(Pune Premier League).

The Board plans to get started with a pool of 20 teams, which will play each other twice, year round. there will be no finals or knockout games, but only a league.(Based on the EPL). till now, 8 clubs have been formed and registered, although there is need for 12 more teams.

The teams are formed with greatest arealism. each area will have its team, with each associated with the historical importance of that area. the teams formed so far are:

1)SSN Frugals(Sadashiv-Shanivar-Narayan Frugals): Arguably the stingiest team in thw whole competition. they wont spend a single rupee of other players, but nurture everyone and especially all the 'vatrat' youngsters staying in these Peths. The team assumes itself to be extremely old, dating back from the days of the peshwe, and has an image of bajirao on its crest. Its home matches are to be played on Sir Parshurambhau Maidan.(I AM A FAN OF THIS TEAM)

2) Mandai Makads: This is the richest team in the tournament so far. Its been backed by local Mandals such as Dagdu Halwai,Babu Genu& Mandai. They are although without a ground as of yet, and if the situation persists, we hear they are going to use the mahatma phule mandai as their ground- making them the only team with a closed roof stadium.

3) Hadapsar Hippos: This team is extremely atheletic, and with tremendous skills. However, very little is known about them.

4)Kothrud Kutras: This is a newly formed team, with its board members and players consisting of people who have moved out from other teams, especially from the SSN frugals, and so, share the habit of not spending, but encouraging youngsters. Their home games are played at the most elevated point in Pune- The plateau on Hanuman Tekdi.

5) Parvati Popats: They are again an historically important team, with headquarters situated on the kacheri at parvati. here only you can find the famous paati- hi kacheri ahe- aat pahanyasarkha kahi nahi- jata yeta dokavu naka..Their homeground is the Fulora Midan near Relax. they are one of the least favourites to win the competition.

6)Deccan Dukkars: Based at the Deccan Gymkhana, this club is the most professional of all the clubs in PPL, and so are the favourites to win it. Backed by the gymkhana, they however do tend to tap up players from other teams. But never the less, the quality is there. They play their matches at Deccan gymkhana club.

7) Fergussonian Firangs: The team consists of puneri people who talk in english just because they think they are good at it. they are however pathetic, and the team is just like that.:P its based in fergusson college, and also plays its matches on the college ground. The team is sposered by hotelling barons Vaishali, and so players get free food after practice.

8)Ganeshkhind Gorillas: The team consists of residents from areas like aundh, baner etc, and people who go to convents like loyala and KV. again, its a not at all a popular team amongst punekars, as it is considered to be from "outside". they play their matches at the NCL ground.

Two additional teams have also registered:
9) Khadak Maal Laners: They are based near the swargate region, and so will play their matches at the Hirabaug grund(nehru stadium)

10) Kasba Kavalas: the team entry is uncertain as they do not yet have a ground, and so can be barred from playing.

Other teams are yet to be formed. Once the 20 teams are in place, preparations will begin in full swing, and punekars will have a time of their lives on a weekend evening, enjoying loads and loads of cricket, and supporting their local teams, for the Inaugural PPL. lets all join the venture and make it a big success.

Wreck and Run

We all know that Americans have a really weird way of pronouncing and spelling. They are always at loggerheads with what is conventional. I often wonder why. But I never reach to a particular answer.

But, knowingly or unknowingly, they sometimes do add “colour” to the language. Just take this example- they spell colour(oxford word) as color, which sounds similar to things like collar, colon and what not. Again, they spell sulphur as Sulfur. Thank god they don’t call it seal-fur! But Americans being Americans, you simply cannot be sure what they’ll come up with.

Take a current worldwide situation under the perspective. The fertile and once prosperous regions of the Euphrates- Tigris plains, so wonderfully and fondly called as Sumeria, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Assyria, and Persia . At the time of their zenith, the world was in awe of those cultures. Technological advances, agriculture, fertility, all signs of prosperity. The region then came under the rule of the Ottoman Turks, and was flourishing again. Baghdad was a centre for learning, and a very important one too. Numerous references are made about it in ancient literature. Well, after that, like most other nations, the British occupied the region, and renamed it as Iraq and Iran.

That’s the OK part. Americans now, feeling threatened by these two nations, are almost on the verge of warring with them. They have already invaded and destroyed Iraq, and have one eye on Iran. Yes the situation there is bad and the governments may be extremists. But still… why I’m blabbering all this is that the Americans are creating a major Linguistic Parody here.

Iraq (eeraak) and Iran (Iraan) to the whole world are pronounced as I-wreck and I-ran respectively (well, by most of the the American citizens).Now now… is it really a coincidence that it clearly highlight the American Middle east Policy!! More speculation for skeptics!!! The Wreck- and Run policy it seems! They have indeed wrecked Iraq, and are now running after Iran! I wonder how they say “Tehran”? They-ran probably? Or “Baghdad” as Bug-Dad?

Deep within, I feel totally secure as our Constitution has adopted “INDIA” as the formal name in international affairs. Just imagine if we used BHARAT. I mean, I’m still 100 percent for using it, but only not in front of Americans. Otherwise they will pronounce it like Borat. I don’t want my country to be pronounced in a similar way to an idiosyncratic brat!

But yea, definitely, Americans with their distinct lack of linguistic skills (Remember, they don’t have their own language, but have stolen it from England) and an even more distinct and unconventionally weird way of pronunciation are making the funnier side of me tickle…