So will Poonam Pandey strip tonight?! And why the WC format needs to change

I hope she does. Not because I particularly fancy the sight of her in her birthday suit, but only because the alternative is far worse. As per a joke doing the rounds, it would be Dolly Bindra who would strip if the Indians lose! Talk of a carrot and stick policy in cricket!

Couple of points I want to make in today’s post. One.....the very offer of stripping from an Indian woman is interesting. In some ways it shows how much India has changed. It speaks of the evolution of the Indian woman. Gone are the days when Indian women were expected to be coy and act in appropriately coy ways. One saw the transition in films a few years back when kissing became a way of life. In earlier days, one would wonder if a top level actress would ever agree to it. No such worries these days..... the younger crop considers kissing to be just another ordinary scene. The film industry has of course seen another transition......the casting couch is feared more by aspiring men rather than women these days! Poonam Pandey’s offer reflects a new confidence; a disdain for societal mores; a “don’t care a damn” attitude and probably even represents an act of dare to the parochial elements in the society. While I don’t support her offer, I certainly do applaud her for her confidence.

The second point is one that I have written about earlier. The WC rules need to change. If ever there was proof required, consider this statistic. Apparently, of the last 9 WC finals, the team that has batted first has won the match 7 times. This is awful. It makes the game into a pure lottery....whoever wins the toss wins the match. Since this is a long-term average, one cannot question its accuracy. Since the WC finals have been played around the world, there is no bias created by sub-continental conditions or the like. So are we saying that rather than practice and choose a team correctly, Dhoni would be better off visiting a temple and praying for a favorable toss today?! I don’t think there were any such clear statistics for the Semi Finals......and that’s one reason why the India-Pak match was so much of a thriller.

What should ideally happen is for the final to be a best of 3 contest. Imagine, if one of these could be in Mumbai, one in Colombo and one in a neutral venue like Dhaka. That would nullify any home advantage that a team got. It would also nullify the effect of the toss as over the 3 matches, one would expect the tosses to go more evenly. It would also make for a more exciting match schedule. Imagine if the finals was not a day; but a week! Imagine how much money TV channels would make (boosting the media industry)! Imagine how many more kilolitres of liquor would be consumed (boosting the Indian economy)! Imagine how much more feeling of national unity would be generated! And last and most most importantly, imagine how many days will we be spared the negativity of the TV news channels!

For the sake of cricket, I hope India win the match today after losing the toss. If we have to be considered the best in the world, we have to make this happen. Winning the game after winning the toss will only add to an already lousy statistic.

The real truth is that at least today, no one will care for what I write about the change of rules. But maybe tomorrow.....just maybe.....people will hope the rules were different. I think the Sri Lankans can spring a surprise. Just like they did when they routed the LTTE.....one of the rare examples worldwide of a nation state crushing a decades-old insurgency. Trust the Lankans to put up a good fight. I hope we don’t lose, but if we do, will we then demand a change of rules?!