"I believe in human stupidity (my own included!) so fervently that I want to shout it out to the world. Look at history. Hell, look at the evening news. We’re surrounded by evidence of our folly, and yet all we do is congratulate ourselves all the time. Our kids spend two decades being educated, and nowhere – nowhere – are they taught anything about themselves, about the cognitive shortcomings that will lead to their divorces and their addictions, to their prejudices and their self-serving delusions. They come out of university not only ignorant of their limitations, their weaknesses, but convinced that they’re tough-minded critical thinkers.
I actually have a bad habit, which I’m sure has alienated many an acquaintance. Whenever someone tells me they’re a critical thinker – and let’s face it, everyone but everyone thinks they’re a critical thinker – I always ask them “How so?” Usually the answer is that they don’t believe everything everyone tells them. They make fun of Mormons, distrust corporations, or disagree with Fox news or some such. But when I point out that no one believes everything everyone tells them, so that can’t be a criterion for being a critical thinker, they get freaked out.
You get lots of valuable procedural knowledge in school, as well as a smattering of dogma, but nowhere – not even in most philosophy programs – are you taught how to think critically. We are hardwired to bullshit ourselves, and that’s a bloody fact Jack. And what are you taught? What does our system drum into your head at every bloody turn?
To believe in yourself! Believe in yourself when all the research shows that you are in fact the least credible person in the room. Though it seems the other way around, we’re actually much better at critiquing the claims and predicting the behaviour of others than we are ourselves. Check out David Dunning’s Self-Insight if you don’t believe me.
Ignorance is invisible, and so long as we remain ignorant of our cognitive shortcomings we will be slaves to them, we will be condemned to repeat all the same mistakes over and over, only with toys and tools that grow ever more powerful."
R. Scott Bakker, excerpt from an interview
Bakker is the author of the "Prince of Nothing" (PoN) fantasy fiction series. Though he's relatively new on the fantasy scene, he's easily one of the best in my opinion. His style is unique amongst fantasy authors because the actual "action", interesting as it is, takes somewhat of a back seat to the philosophical ponderings of the various characters and intricate analyses of their thought processes. The PoN books critically examine weighy issues such as religion, faith, cosmology and human interactions.
Anyway, looking at this particular excerpt, I love the way in which he states his point upfront ("I believe in human stupidity"), then goes on to expound on his argument with clear examples and drives home his point with an ever more powerful re-assertion of the originally stated point. I know that it sounds pretty simple, but try doing it yourself, it is much easier said than done.
The actual issues Bakker raises are also worth considering, particularly the shortcomings of the modern education systems in place around the world today. We are very good at teaching each other technical skills, but very poor at even recognizing the lack of critical thinking and honest self-appraisal in our curriculums. Like Scott says, "They come out of university not only ignorant of their limitations, their weaknesses, but convinced that they’re tough-minded critical thinkers". I especially love the paragraph about the so-called critical thinker acquaintances that Bakker has alienated through his simple but incisive questioning.
The rest of the interview covers various other topics and is well worth a read if you're at all interested in the things already mentioned above...
Friday 16 May 2008
Tuesday 13 May 2008
My Top Five
We're just over halfway thru the IPL, so I thought I'd comment about the best players so far in no particular order...
1. Shane Watson
An early prediction for the man of the tournament. His batting, particularly his big hitting, was always going to be a factor in t20 matches, but it is his bowling which has really blossomed under the leadership of Shane Warne. Watson is going to displace Hopes from the Australian ODI team. of this I'm fairly sure based on current form. He has has scored 287 runs at an average of 57 and strike rate of 157, and picked up 12 wickets at a fantastic economy rate of 6.8. Add four man of the match awards to that tally and some brilliant outfielding as well.
2. Shaun Marsh
Perhaps the biggest surprise packet of the tournament. At the outset, he didnt even look like he would get a game in squad which featured Lee, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Katich and Sarwan. But ever since he was given a chance, he has impressed mightily with 295 runs at 98 from only 5 innings. Another early prediction- its going to be between Marsh and Gambhir for the orange cap award for the leading runscorer in the IPL. Marsh's simple technique with minimal footwork, backlift and flourish has proven extremely effective on Indian wickets. He is limited one feels in terms of shots, but for t20, with its emphasis on boundary hitting, he is a perfect fit. A certainty for the australian odi team in the west indies, as australia really need to blood some young batsmen for the next world cup.
3. Gautam Gambhir
Has been at the top of the run scoring charts ever since the first week of the IPL. He was also India's leading batsman in the t20 world cup last year and has been in immaculate odi form since then. He has scored four fifties in 8 matches and maintained a strike rate in the high 130's quite consistently. His major blemish has been an inability to convert one of his scores into a highly sought-after century. His fielding has also been very sound, whether on the boundary or in the infield. Gambhir and Sehwag have been the best opening pair so far in the tournament, though Hopes and Marsh are closing in.
4. Irfan Pathan
The equal leading wicket taker with 13 wickets at an average of 18 and economy of only 6.50. Once again, he has proven his potency with a swinging white ball. He has attacked the stumps relentlessly and been very difficult to score boundaries off. Not all the best bowlers have managed to consistently take wickets (eg McGrath, Sharma, Steyn) in t20, so Pathan's performance must be doubly appreciated. His batting has not really been required but he has managed a couple of quick lower order cameos. In any other team, we probably would've seen more of Pathan the allrounder.
5. Adam Gilchrist
Second on the runs chart, Gilchrist's ton against Mumbai demonstrated his full t20 potential. Unfortunately, Laxman's injury and the woeful performances by Gibbs, Styris and Afridi have robbed Gilchrist of the batting support he so badly needed. Rohit Sharma has batted exquisitely, but has not batted with Gilchrist enough for it to make a difference for the Deccan Chargers. This season is effectively over for the Chargers, but next season, I expect that Gilchrist will come to India with a point to prove. With a line-up reading Gilchrist, Laxman, Sharma, Symonds, Afridi, I think 2009 will be the year of the Chargers.
1. Shane Watson
An early prediction for the man of the tournament. His batting, particularly his big hitting, was always going to be a factor in t20 matches, but it is his bowling which has really blossomed under the leadership of Shane Warne. Watson is going to displace Hopes from the Australian ODI team. of this I'm fairly sure based on current form. He has has scored 287 runs at an average of 57 and strike rate of 157, and picked up 12 wickets at a fantastic economy rate of 6.8. Add four man of the match awards to that tally and some brilliant outfielding as well.
2. Shaun Marsh
Perhaps the biggest surprise packet of the tournament. At the outset, he didnt even look like he would get a game in squad which featured Lee, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Katich and Sarwan. But ever since he was given a chance, he has impressed mightily with 295 runs at 98 from only 5 innings. Another early prediction- its going to be between Marsh and Gambhir for the orange cap award for the leading runscorer in the IPL. Marsh's simple technique with minimal footwork, backlift and flourish has proven extremely effective on Indian wickets. He is limited one feels in terms of shots, but for t20, with its emphasis on boundary hitting, he is a perfect fit. A certainty for the australian odi team in the west indies, as australia really need to blood some young batsmen for the next world cup.
3. Gautam Gambhir
Has been at the top of the run scoring charts ever since the first week of the IPL. He was also India's leading batsman in the t20 world cup last year and has been in immaculate odi form since then. He has scored four fifties in 8 matches and maintained a strike rate in the high 130's quite consistently. His major blemish has been an inability to convert one of his scores into a highly sought-after century. His fielding has also been very sound, whether on the boundary or in the infield. Gambhir and Sehwag have been the best opening pair so far in the tournament, though Hopes and Marsh are closing in.
4. Irfan Pathan
The equal leading wicket taker with 13 wickets at an average of 18 and economy of only 6.50. Once again, he has proven his potency with a swinging white ball. He has attacked the stumps relentlessly and been very difficult to score boundaries off. Not all the best bowlers have managed to consistently take wickets (eg McGrath, Sharma, Steyn) in t20, so Pathan's performance must be doubly appreciated. His batting has not really been required but he has managed a couple of quick lower order cameos. In any other team, we probably would've seen more of Pathan the allrounder.
5. Adam Gilchrist
Second on the runs chart, Gilchrist's ton against Mumbai demonstrated his full t20 potential. Unfortunately, Laxman's injury and the woeful performances by Gibbs, Styris and Afridi have robbed Gilchrist of the batting support he so badly needed. Rohit Sharma has batted exquisitely, but has not batted with Gilchrist enough for it to make a difference for the Deccan Chargers. This season is effectively over for the Chargers, but next season, I expect that Gilchrist will come to India with a point to prove. With a line-up reading Gilchrist, Laxman, Sharma, Symonds, Afridi, I think 2009 will be the year of the Chargers.
Why does cricket need cheerleaders
This is what the renowned Indian historian Ramachandra Guha had to say about the cheerleaders controversy in the IPL:
"All the organisers are doing by making scantily-clad white women dance in front of huge crowds is to stoke the base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male. It is revolting, appalling and shows the game in very poor light."
I cannot help but completely agree with Mr. Guha. Revolting and appalling, yes, but I could've come up with that. Stoking the "base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male"- now that is gold!! I think that is such an accurate observation that people in India have generally chosen to ignore it, because to acknowledge it would open a veritable pandora's box of issues that Indian soceity does not want to confront. I'm surpised that feminist groups in India havent picked up on the cheerleaders debate and made their voices heard.
Personally, I think the distasteful way in which the IPL has deployed cheerleaders is just another expression of the gender inequalities and misogyny that is so prevalent in contemporary India. We see enough objectification of women in movies- now, cricket, the other major entertainer in India, has also joined in. It is the one major blight on the IPL so far.
I was very happy when the Delhi Daredevils (my team, as it happens) decided against having their own troop of cheerleaders. Mumbai and Chennai, under pressure from conservative governments, both dumped their scantily-clad foreign cheerleaders, instead hiring strange squads of Indian cheerleaders. These squads are composed of 2 men and 2 women, not scantily-clad of course, whose cheerleading is rather lethargic and soporific. I'm not sure that there's a point to it, but its certainly better than the other teams, with their troops of American (mostly) cheerleaders.
"All the organisers are doing by making scantily-clad white women dance in front of huge crowds is to stoke the base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male. It is revolting, appalling and shows the game in very poor light."
I cannot help but completely agree with Mr. Guha. Revolting and appalling, yes, but I could've come up with that. Stoking the "base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male"- now that is gold!! I think that is such an accurate observation that people in India have generally chosen to ignore it, because to acknowledge it would open a veritable pandora's box of issues that Indian soceity does not want to confront. I'm surpised that feminist groups in India havent picked up on the cheerleaders debate and made their voices heard.
Personally, I think the distasteful way in which the IPL has deployed cheerleaders is just another expression of the gender inequalities and misogyny that is so prevalent in contemporary India. We see enough objectification of women in movies- now, cricket, the other major entertainer in India, has also joined in. It is the one major blight on the IPL so far.
I was very happy when the Delhi Daredevils (my team, as it happens) decided against having their own troop of cheerleaders. Mumbai and Chennai, under pressure from conservative governments, both dumped their scantily-clad foreign cheerleaders, instead hiring strange squads of Indian cheerleaders. These squads are composed of 2 men and 2 women, not scantily-clad of course, whose cheerleading is rather lethargic and soporific. I'm not sure that there's a point to it, but its certainly better than the other teams, with their troops of American (mostly) cheerleaders.
Monday 5 May 2008
english sour grapes
the english response to the ipl has been rather predictable, as i mentioned on this blog a couple of days ago. take a look at this from the english cricketers association.
when india sets up its own t20 competition, then its being predatory. whilst the author doesnt say as such, he is implying that something that belongs to the english is being stolen from them, by these agressive predators:
Some would say the Indian approach to setting up these leagues has been predatory. The country's financial control of the international game has just been given a further cash injection that benefits the Indian board and its ICC-sanctioned IPL. If it was predatory before, how would the Indian board behave if it wanted to pick off England's leading players?
but, if the english were to do the same thing, then they are simply maximizing the opportunity offerred to them by the northern hemisphere summer (when the rest of the world's cricketers arent involved in domestic comps) as well as enhancing the "appeal" of the broadcasting rights they can sell. and, at the same time, this would act as a righteous shield against those predators from india, protecting england's top cricketers:
This means the vast majority of international players from other countries are potentially available during our season. If we could use this advantage alongside and create the leading domestic Twenty20 tournament in the world, then we have a commercial opportunity that would enable us to take advantage of the huge appetite for cricket in Asia.
Our domestic game relies on the substantial revenues of the broadcasting deal. Should events in India threaten this, then our game has serious problems that would affect all professional cricketers and the investment in grass-roots programmes. Losing top players to India would lower the value of any future broadcasting agreement.
but nonetheless, the cool hypocrisy evinced in this article is staggering. the ecb and people connected with english cricket have expressed their bitterness in the last few weeks about the success of the ipl. their sense of entitlement is particularly offensive. simply because they invented the format, it does not mean that every other country has to wait for them before setting up their own t20 competitions.
i think what rankles them even more is comments by their own players expressing their wish to play in the ipl. suddenly, county cricket has been relegated to a second class citizen, as all the players talk about playing in india. even english captain paul collingwood has said that he and many of his teammates would like to play in the ipl. i can understand that it is very difficult for english cricket to standby and watch all of this. but it does not excuse their blatant double standards and veiled condemnation of indian cricket and the ipl.
when india sets up its own t20 competition, then its being predatory. whilst the author doesnt say as such, he is implying that something that belongs to the english is being stolen from them, by these agressive predators:
Some would say the Indian approach to setting up these leagues has been predatory. The country's financial control of the international game has just been given a further cash injection that benefits the Indian board and its ICC-sanctioned IPL. If it was predatory before, how would the Indian board behave if it wanted to pick off England's leading players?
but, if the english were to do the same thing, then they are simply maximizing the opportunity offerred to them by the northern hemisphere summer (when the rest of the world's cricketers arent involved in domestic comps) as well as enhancing the "appeal" of the broadcasting rights they can sell. and, at the same time, this would act as a righteous shield against those predators from india, protecting england's top cricketers:
This means the vast majority of international players from other countries are potentially available during our season. If we could use this advantage alongside and create the leading domestic Twenty20 tournament in the world, then we have a commercial opportunity that would enable us to take advantage of the huge appetite for cricket in Asia.
In short, this could reduce the threat of losing our top players to India during our season; we could attract the finest international players to our shores; and we could significantly enhance the appeal of our broadcasting rights on offer.
Our domestic game relies on the substantial revenues of the broadcasting deal. Should events in India threaten this, then our game has serious problems that would affect all professional cricketers and the investment in grass-roots programmes. Losing top players to India would lower the value of any future broadcasting agreement.
but nonetheless, the cool hypocrisy evinced in this article is staggering. the ecb and people connected with english cricket have expressed their bitterness in the last few weeks about the success of the ipl. their sense of entitlement is particularly offensive. simply because they invented the format, it does not mean that every other country has to wait for them before setting up their own t20 competitions.
i think what rankles them even more is comments by their own players expressing their wish to play in the ipl. suddenly, county cricket has been relegated to a second class citizen, as all the players talk about playing in india. even english captain paul collingwood has said that he and many of his teammates would like to play in the ipl. i can understand that it is very difficult for english cricket to standby and watch all of this. but it does not excuse their blatant double standards and veiled condemnation of indian cricket and the ipl.
Sunday 4 May 2008
IPL- the teams
last time, i wrote about the ipl without really writing about the cricket. so today, lets talk cricket...
1. delhi daredevils
whilst it wasnt my intention to pick a team to support at the start of the ipl, circumstances have forced my hand. delhi are an awesome team. and i particularly like the way they have gone about selecting their players. sehwag was their first player, given icon status and the captaincy. their first targets in the auction were delhi internationals gambhir and ishant sharma. kolkata outbidded delhi for sharma, but they got gambhir. then they went about procuring some of the best young talent from the delhi ranji team. again they missed out on virat kohli, but managed to get dhawan and bhatia. once the big international names were bought for incredible sums of money, delhi went out and snapped up mcgrath and asif for around half a million (a bargain in ipl). the batting was further strengthened with the young indians manoj tiwary (surprisingly not taken by kolkata) and dinesh karthik.
and as one would expect, with a world class bowling attack and a world class batting line-up (sehwag, gambhir, malik, devilliers), delhi are on top a third of the way into the competition. the top three, sehwag, gambhir and dhawan have scored about 80% of the runs and are amongst the top rungetters in the ipl. meanwhile, mcgrath, maharoof and vettori are some of the most economical bowlers in the ipl so far. i think delhi is going to be the team to beat in the ipl. their top players are going to be too strong for the competition.
2. chennai super kings
chennai heavily invested in their batting. hussey, hayden, dhoni, raina, badrinath, oram. however, with hussey, hayden and oram gone after 4 matches, the batting doesnt look quite as invincible. to bolster their bowling, they signed muralitharan, but the other bowling options are quite weak. this is a team that will heavily rely on big hitting for its victories.
chennai have particularly annoyed me by their treatment of raina and badrinath. raina at least has had a few chances to bat early in the innings, but badrinath, the best batsman in indian domestic and india a cricket for the last 2-3 years, has been continually denied opportunities to showcase his talent. the ipl is supposed to provide a stage for young indian cricketers to play against the best in the world, but for badrinath, this just hasnt happened. even after the international exodus, vidyut sivaramakrishnan, a pinchhitter, came into the side and batted at first drop. it just seems to be a ridiculous waste of talent.
3. bangalore royal challengers
an expensive outfit full of world class players. predictably, bangalore have been very slow to start. they have not picked up any sloggers apart from ross taylor who has already left the ipl for international duty. instead, they have stacked their team with proven test players like dravid, kallis, boucher, jaffer, khan, steyn, kumble and misbah. add some inexperienced indian players like u-19 star kohli and the recently successful praveen kumar, and it appears to be a very good team on paper, albeit one unsuited to t20 cricket. this is exactly how the opening exchanges have panned out. however, a team full of class players like this is only going to improve as these players learn to adapt their formidable skills to the new format. i'm expecting a strong finish from bangalore.
4. kings xi punjab
wow!! punjab are an imposing team. just the fact that the departure of simon katich and brett lee hasnt effected their performance gives you an idea about how strong they are. before the start of the tournament, this was the team most people were expecting to win. after 2 quick losses, eyebrows were raised, but since then yuvraj singh's team has looked invincible. a powerful bowling attack comprising of irfan pathan, sreeesanth, chawla, vikram singh (and lee) has lead the way for punjab with excellent support from a star-studded batting line-up that is yet to really strike form. sangakkara, yuvray and jayawardene are going to explode at some stage, but punjab are already winning without huge contributions from them. a possible problem for punjab is going to be that their bowlers, all of them, on a given day can be ridiculously expensive, and we have seen repeatedly that it only takes 2 good overs to get 180-plus scores. i can envisage some problems for these when defending totals...
5. rajasthan royals
the ipl has been rocked by the shane warne led royals. widely expected to struggle, they have swept all before them following a humiliating 9 wicket loss to delhi in the first match. every single player who has played a match has contributed to the effort. this has been the real key to rajasthan's success. whilst chennai have relied on hayden and hussey for all of their wins, and hyderabad on gilchrist for their only win, the royals have produced true team efforts in every one of their games. warne has to be given credit for the way in which he has galvanized an inexperienced group of players into a tough, unforgiving team. his tactical nous has also come to the fore- he has repeatedly outthought and outmanouevred his indian counterparts.
however, despite all of this, i dont think rajasthan will win in the end. i think their lack of true quality players will be their undoing. they are already playing close to their best, whilst many of the other teams are only beginning to gel now. i do think that class will prevail at the end, regardless of shane warne's brilliance.
6. mumbai indians
sachin tendulkar's injury has really hampered mumbai's progress so far. there has been no stabilizing influence on their batting, nor has anyone looked like getting a big score. then there was the harbhajan fiasco. but they are too good a team not pick up the pieces and climb the ladder. once sachin comes back, watch out!! i think having been sidelined for the first half of the tournament, sachin will be desperate to make his mark on t20 cricket, the one form of the game he hasnt yet mastered.
7. kolkata knight riders
after a smashing start to the tournament, kolkata have fallen away. spending heavily on international stars, kolkata was expected to be one of the top 4 teams. but the poor form of their 2 most experienced batsman, ponting and ganguly, as well as the departure of mccullum, have hurt them really badly. ishant sharma has not been as incisive as one may have hoped- his india teammates sreesanth, khan, pathan, agarkar, rp singh have all been more successful than him. kolkata is probably going to finish last now. every other team is going to get better, but i dont see much improvement in kolkata. of course, hodge and hussey are a proven middle order pair in t20 cricket in australia and england, so they shouldnt be written off completely, but i dont give them much hope.
8. deccan chargers
a team selected with one thing in mind- big hitting. apart from laxman, the icon player and captain, the team reads like this: gilchrist, afridi, symonds, gibbs and rohit sharma. kevin pietersen and chris gayle is all they're missing. unfortunately for deccan, t20 is not all about big hitting. this was a surprising revelation to me during the t20 world cup- a team only needs one, or at most two big hitters to win a match, the rest need to be good batsman or bowlers. having spent all their money on batsman, the bowling options for laxman are limited. rp singh, one of the best bowlers in south africa during the world cup, shoulders most of the burden, with support from the promising spinner, pragyan ojha. they will win some games, on the occasions when the batting clicks, but a bottom 4 finish beckons i feel...
1. delhi daredevils
whilst it wasnt my intention to pick a team to support at the start of the ipl, circumstances have forced my hand. delhi are an awesome team. and i particularly like the way they have gone about selecting their players. sehwag was their first player, given icon status and the captaincy. their first targets in the auction were delhi internationals gambhir and ishant sharma. kolkata outbidded delhi for sharma, but they got gambhir. then they went about procuring some of the best young talent from the delhi ranji team. again they missed out on virat kohli, but managed to get dhawan and bhatia. once the big international names were bought for incredible sums of money, delhi went out and snapped up mcgrath and asif for around half a million (a bargain in ipl). the batting was further strengthened with the young indians manoj tiwary (surprisingly not taken by kolkata) and dinesh karthik.
and as one would expect, with a world class bowling attack and a world class batting line-up (sehwag, gambhir, malik, devilliers), delhi are on top a third of the way into the competition. the top three, sehwag, gambhir and dhawan have scored about 80% of the runs and are amongst the top rungetters in the ipl. meanwhile, mcgrath, maharoof and vettori are some of the most economical bowlers in the ipl so far. i think delhi is going to be the team to beat in the ipl. their top players are going to be too strong for the competition.
2. chennai super kings
chennai heavily invested in their batting. hussey, hayden, dhoni, raina, badrinath, oram. however, with hussey, hayden and oram gone after 4 matches, the batting doesnt look quite as invincible. to bolster their bowling, they signed muralitharan, but the other bowling options are quite weak. this is a team that will heavily rely on big hitting for its victories.
chennai have particularly annoyed me by their treatment of raina and badrinath. raina at least has had a few chances to bat early in the innings, but badrinath, the best batsman in indian domestic and india a cricket for the last 2-3 years, has been continually denied opportunities to showcase his talent. the ipl is supposed to provide a stage for young indian cricketers to play against the best in the world, but for badrinath, this just hasnt happened. even after the international exodus, vidyut sivaramakrishnan, a pinchhitter, came into the side and batted at first drop. it just seems to be a ridiculous waste of talent.
3. bangalore royal challengers
an expensive outfit full of world class players. predictably, bangalore have been very slow to start. they have not picked up any sloggers apart from ross taylor who has already left the ipl for international duty. instead, they have stacked their team with proven test players like dravid, kallis, boucher, jaffer, khan, steyn, kumble and misbah. add some inexperienced indian players like u-19 star kohli and the recently successful praveen kumar, and it appears to be a very good team on paper, albeit one unsuited to t20 cricket. this is exactly how the opening exchanges have panned out. however, a team full of class players like this is only going to improve as these players learn to adapt their formidable skills to the new format. i'm expecting a strong finish from bangalore.
4. kings xi punjab
wow!! punjab are an imposing team. just the fact that the departure of simon katich and brett lee hasnt effected their performance gives you an idea about how strong they are. before the start of the tournament, this was the team most people were expecting to win. after 2 quick losses, eyebrows were raised, but since then yuvraj singh's team has looked invincible. a powerful bowling attack comprising of irfan pathan, sreeesanth, chawla, vikram singh (and lee) has lead the way for punjab with excellent support from a star-studded batting line-up that is yet to really strike form. sangakkara, yuvray and jayawardene are going to explode at some stage, but punjab are already winning without huge contributions from them. a possible problem for punjab is going to be that their bowlers, all of them, on a given day can be ridiculously expensive, and we have seen repeatedly that it only takes 2 good overs to get 180-plus scores. i can envisage some problems for these when defending totals...
5. rajasthan royals
the ipl has been rocked by the shane warne led royals. widely expected to struggle, they have swept all before them following a humiliating 9 wicket loss to delhi in the first match. every single player who has played a match has contributed to the effort. this has been the real key to rajasthan's success. whilst chennai have relied on hayden and hussey for all of their wins, and hyderabad on gilchrist for their only win, the royals have produced true team efforts in every one of their games. warne has to be given credit for the way in which he has galvanized an inexperienced group of players into a tough, unforgiving team. his tactical nous has also come to the fore- he has repeatedly outthought and outmanouevred his indian counterparts.
however, despite all of this, i dont think rajasthan will win in the end. i think their lack of true quality players will be their undoing. they are already playing close to their best, whilst many of the other teams are only beginning to gel now. i do think that class will prevail at the end, regardless of shane warne's brilliance.
6. mumbai indians
sachin tendulkar's injury has really hampered mumbai's progress so far. there has been no stabilizing influence on their batting, nor has anyone looked like getting a big score. then there was the harbhajan fiasco. but they are too good a team not pick up the pieces and climb the ladder. once sachin comes back, watch out!! i think having been sidelined for the first half of the tournament, sachin will be desperate to make his mark on t20 cricket, the one form of the game he hasnt yet mastered.
7. kolkata knight riders
after a smashing start to the tournament, kolkata have fallen away. spending heavily on international stars, kolkata was expected to be one of the top 4 teams. but the poor form of their 2 most experienced batsman, ponting and ganguly, as well as the departure of mccullum, have hurt them really badly. ishant sharma has not been as incisive as one may have hoped- his india teammates sreesanth, khan, pathan, agarkar, rp singh have all been more successful than him. kolkata is probably going to finish last now. every other team is going to get better, but i dont see much improvement in kolkata. of course, hodge and hussey are a proven middle order pair in t20 cricket in australia and england, so they shouldnt be written off completely, but i dont give them much hope.
8. deccan chargers
a team selected with one thing in mind- big hitting. apart from laxman, the icon player and captain, the team reads like this: gilchrist, afridi, symonds, gibbs and rohit sharma. kevin pietersen and chris gayle is all they're missing. unfortunately for deccan, t20 is not all about big hitting. this was a surprising revelation to me during the t20 world cup- a team only needs one, or at most two big hitters to win a match, the rest need to be good batsman or bowlers. having spent all their money on batsman, the bowling options for laxman are limited. rp singh, one of the best bowlers in south africa during the world cup, shoulders most of the burden, with support from the promising spinner, pragyan ojha. they will win some games, on the occasions when the batting clicks, but a bottom 4 finish beckons i feel...
much of the heat surrounding the torch relay saga has cooled down this week. the chinese government pulled off a masterstroke by announcing that
they will negotiate with the dalai lama's advisors. with this one brilliant move, they have silenced the western media- after all, it appears that
the chinese have bowed to global protests by initiating peaceful talks. of course, its only the appearance that matters. almost in the same breath
as announcing the talks, the chinese have gone on to accuse the dalai lama of being a terrorist who has sponsored the killling of innocent chinese
etc etc. this gives us an indication of how productive we can expect the talks to be. but nonetheless, china has come out of the whole situation
far better than the west, and tibet. global protests, and particularly the idiot frenchman who attacked the disabled athlete, have firmly united
the chinese. the perceived villification of china by the rest of the world has caused an irresistible swelling of nationalistic pride and further
entrenchment of the victim mentality in the minds of the chinese. then, the global media storm has been blown out to sea by china's apparently
reconciliatory offer of dialogue. the tibetans, for the sake of whom all this was started, have been once again forgotten.
they will negotiate with the dalai lama's advisors. with this one brilliant move, they have silenced the western media- after all, it appears that
the chinese have bowed to global protests by initiating peaceful talks. of course, its only the appearance that matters. almost in the same breath
as announcing the talks, the chinese have gone on to accuse the dalai lama of being a terrorist who has sponsored the killling of innocent chinese
etc etc. this gives us an indication of how productive we can expect the talks to be. but nonetheless, china has come out of the whole situation
far better than the west, and tibet. global protests, and particularly the idiot frenchman who attacked the disabled athlete, have firmly united
the chinese. the perceived villification of china by the rest of the world has caused an irresistible swelling of nationalistic pride and further
entrenchment of the victim mentality in the minds of the chinese. then, the global media storm has been blown out to sea by china's apparently
reconciliatory offer of dialogue. the tibetans, for the sake of whom all this was started, have been once again forgotten.
Thursday 1 May 2008
IPL
i've changed my view about t20 cricket a few times now, initially unimpressed, then sceptical, then somewhat interested but not really satisfied, then suddenly captivated by india's world cup triumph only to be let down immensely by the mcg debacle, then disgusted with the money that was being thrown at average, let alone good players (seriously, $700,000 for albie morkel and david hussey??????), then even more disgusted at the number of foreign players who were signed up and essentially there for a free ride (not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars) at the expense of local players starved of opportunity, but finally won over by the cricket. thats what it comes down to, watching a cricket match. it is the unfortunate truth that i will watch almost any cricket match at any time of the day. but the ipl has produced really high quality cricket, much higher than i thought would be produced by a bunch of freeloading mercenaries. in fact, it turns out that those freeloading mercenaries have their international reputations to play for, as well as bragging rights. the indian players, it goes without saying, have their spots in the team to play for.
so what to make of the ipl?? peter roebuck has written a very good assessment of the tournament so far in this article:
In short, cricket ought not to be shy of providing brief entertainment to the population at large. In some opinions the IPL has laid it on a bit thick, but then, traditionalists are not forced to attend. Suggestions that the game will be permanently damaged by these exuberances are also unduly pessimistic. The trouble with traditionalists is that they present themselves as protectors of the game's values but are actually doomed romantics. They lament the present state of affairs yet resist innovation. Casting themselves as heavyweight, they reject the slap-happy, mistaking it for the slapdash. But it is a mistake to overestimate the past. It was not such a fine place. Nor is it possible to pin cricket into a book, like a dead butterfly.....
-----------
The IPL's other great legacy will be the way it enhances the fellowship of man. Most previous attempts to bring together players from all nations have been unsatisfactory and fleeting. This is different. Now players from different countries, some of them supposedly bitter rivals, some of them with axes to grind, must work together in common cause, discussing tactics, forming partnerships, sharing rooms, socialising and so forth.
gideon haigh, another respected cricket journalist, takes a somewhat different view, and raises far more meaningful questions:
From the combination of 20 overs a side, flat pitches, white balls, and 70m boundaries, however, emerges what sort of cricketer? In fact, you begin wondering which great past players would have found in Twenty20 a welcoming home. Kapil Dev, for sure. Maybe Sunil Gavaskar, when not in one of his obdurate moods. But can you see BS Chandrashekhar, Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna? Given the choice, would you select Gundappa Viswanath and Sanjay Manjrekar, or Sandeep Patil and Chandrakant Pandit?
The argument is advanced that this need not concern us: we are assured that Twenty20 will be only one of cricket's variants. There will still be Test cricket, first-class cricket, 50-over matches. Yet with the animal spirits of the market liberated, how realistic is this? Already players are falling over themselves to make IPL hay, egged on by managers taking a fair clip themselves. The likelihood is that the objective of the majority of cricketers worldwide will become not to play dowdy old domestic cricket that leads on to hoary old national honours, the longer forms of the game that prepare the most finished practitioners. The economically rational behaviour will be to adapt their methods to maximise their IPL employment opportunities. Consider for a moment just who is closer to the role model of the moment: is it Rahul Dravid, the "Wall" with his 10,000 Test runs, or Yuvraj Singh, who once hit six sixes in an over? Who will a rising young cricketer earn more by emulating? If maximising individual income is what matters - and if any cricketer feels otherwise, he is keeping such a heresy to himself - then Yuvraj might well be the cookie-cutter cricketer of the next decade. Twenty20 has rightly been called a batsman's game, but it is a very particular kind of batsman: the type whose game is built on eye and strength. If a new Dravid were to begin emerging now, I suspect he would face a career as a second-class cricket citizen.
haigh also talks about how the bcci bigwigs, lalit modi and sharad pawar, have manipulated the expectations of the public, in order to fulfil their economic goals, and hijack the surging wave of enthusiasm in cricket for commercial purpose:
Profit maximisation is the name of the game - and that goes for administrators, franchisees, players, managers, broadcasters and sponsors alike. The possible negative consequences for other countries or other forms of the game are of no account compared to the commercial, and doubtless also political, ambitions of the likes of Lalit Modi and Sharad Pawar
but the most important question posed by haigh is this:
What might cricket look like after 20 years of Twenty20-centricity? There will likely been a few more MS Dhonis; probably a great many more Uthappas. But can you imagine another Sachin Tendulkar, with the discipline to budget for innings by the day, with his defence as monumental as his strokes are magnificent? And what price a new Anil Kumble - brave, patient, probing, untiring - in a world measuring out bowling in four-over spells?
i especially enjoyed the veiled insult aimed at robin uthappa. i cant help but think that every team should only have one uthappa, it at all. during the entire vb series in australia, i felt that suresh raina and manoj tiwary, two of the most promising batsman in india after rohit sharma, were deprived of vital opportunities to play in australia whilst uthappa wasted chance after chance. unfortunately, the ipl auction provided positive reinforcement for uthappa's methods. he was one of the most sought after indian batsman at the auction, ultimately going for $800,000, as much as ponting, hussey and mcgrath put together.
but back to the main point, what will cricket look like after twenty years of t20? more than the decline in batting, i am more worried about bowling. agarkar, gony, amarnath and joginder sharma are some of the most successful bowlers of the ipl so far. is this the future of medium pace bowling?? no disrespect to any of those four players, but they're not exactly test match quality. in fact, they're not really of any quality. they're not even particularly successful in ranji trophy, the standards of which are already well below sheffield shield and the county championship. where are the successful ranji bowlers?? tyagi and sangwan nowhere to be seen, vinay kumar and bhatia not bowling out their 4 overs. presumably, they bowl too much line and length, or try too hard to swing the ball to be of much use in t20. the quality of bowling has already deteriorated alarmingly during my relatively short lifetime, and that was before t20. now, with the ipl probably looking to expand, one wonders exactly what the top bowlers of the world will look like in 20 years time. will kumble be the last great indian spinner? will vettori be the last quality spinner the world will see??
ok so this is all a bit pessimistic right?? what about england and australia, the traditional bastions of test cricket. no way will they short change cricket like the indians are doing. right??
"The England players are desperate to play in the IPL. Next year they will all put their hands up to come and play. Everyone has watched the IPL in England and what an amazing tournament it is. I have watched all the games. The IPL is big time news in the England newspapers." Dimitri Mascarenhas
"Hopefully it will be a massive success, and I think it's going to be, because you have so much money being pumped into it, and you have the best players in the world, so there's no reason why it won't be. This could be the way cricket goes - everyone wants to see a result in three hours." Kevin Pietersen
well, its quite clear where the players stand on this. as the only major cricketing nation to left out of the ipl, england are going to find it very difficult to stop their players from participating in next year's ipl. already, mascarenhas has made a deal with his county to play in 5 ipl matches. next year, it will be every england who is offered a contract.
this is where allan stanford comes in. he's an ultra-rich american zillionaire, who, whilst busily evading taxes by basing his company in antigua, became interested in cricket. he wants to cash in on cricket too. he actually said that cricket has the potential to become the most popular spectator sport in the world- i'm very doubtful about this claim, but i think he's being genuine when he says that he wants to set up a rival t20 league in england together with the ecb. of course, unless the ecb guarantees stanford's expected return on his investment, he wont spend a single dollar on the league:
hmmm, i've rambled and ranted rather a lot, and i've now forgotten what point i was trying to make. anyway, i'll finish today with a piece of incredible irony. misbah-ul-haq, the man more responsible than any other for the ipl, is yet to feature in a single game. after all, if it wasnt for his mistimed paddle sweep, then india would not have won the world cup, and t20 would not have suddenly taken off.....
so what to make of the ipl?? peter roebuck has written a very good assessment of the tournament so far in this article:
In short, cricket ought not to be shy of providing brief entertainment to the population at large. In some opinions the IPL has laid it on a bit thick, but then, traditionalists are not forced to attend. Suggestions that the game will be permanently damaged by these exuberances are also unduly pessimistic. The trouble with traditionalists is that they present themselves as protectors of the game's values but are actually doomed romantics. They lament the present state of affairs yet resist innovation. Casting themselves as heavyweight, they reject the slap-happy, mistaking it for the slapdash. But it is a mistake to overestimate the past. It was not such a fine place. Nor is it possible to pin cricket into a book, like a dead butterfly.....
-----------
The IPL's other great legacy will be the way it enhances the fellowship of man. Most previous attempts to bring together players from all nations have been unsatisfactory and fleeting. This is different. Now players from different countries, some of them supposedly bitter rivals, some of them with axes to grind, must work together in common cause, discussing tactics, forming partnerships, sharing rooms, socialising and so forth.
gideon haigh, another respected cricket journalist, takes a somewhat different view, and raises far more meaningful questions:
From the combination of 20 overs a side, flat pitches, white balls, and 70m boundaries, however, emerges what sort of cricketer? In fact, you begin wondering which great past players would have found in Twenty20 a welcoming home. Kapil Dev, for sure. Maybe Sunil Gavaskar, when not in one of his obdurate moods. But can you see BS Chandrashekhar, Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna? Given the choice, would you select Gundappa Viswanath and Sanjay Manjrekar, or Sandeep Patil and Chandrakant Pandit?
The argument is advanced that this need not concern us: we are assured that Twenty20 will be only one of cricket's variants. There will still be Test cricket, first-class cricket, 50-over matches. Yet with the animal spirits of the market liberated, how realistic is this? Already players are falling over themselves to make IPL hay, egged on by managers taking a fair clip themselves. The likelihood is that the objective of the majority of cricketers worldwide will become not to play dowdy old domestic cricket that leads on to hoary old national honours, the longer forms of the game that prepare the most finished practitioners. The economically rational behaviour will be to adapt their methods to maximise their IPL employment opportunities. Consider for a moment just who is closer to the role model of the moment: is it Rahul Dravid, the "Wall" with his 10,000 Test runs, or Yuvraj Singh, who once hit six sixes in an over? Who will a rising young cricketer earn more by emulating? If maximising individual income is what matters - and if any cricketer feels otherwise, he is keeping such a heresy to himself - then Yuvraj might well be the cookie-cutter cricketer of the next decade. Twenty20 has rightly been called a batsman's game, but it is a very particular kind of batsman: the type whose game is built on eye and strength. If a new Dravid were to begin emerging now, I suspect he would face a career as a second-class cricket citizen.
haigh also talks about how the bcci bigwigs, lalit modi and sharad pawar, have manipulated the expectations of the public, in order to fulfil their economic goals, and hijack the surging wave of enthusiasm in cricket for commercial purpose:
Profit maximisation is the name of the game - and that goes for administrators, franchisees, players, managers, broadcasters and sponsors alike. The possible negative consequences for other countries or other forms of the game are of no account compared to the commercial, and doubtless also political, ambitions of the likes of Lalit Modi and Sharad Pawar
but the most important question posed by haigh is this:
What might cricket look like after 20 years of Twenty20-centricity? There will likely been a few more MS Dhonis; probably a great many more Uthappas. But can you imagine another Sachin Tendulkar, with the discipline to budget for innings by the day, with his defence as monumental as his strokes are magnificent? And what price a new Anil Kumble - brave, patient, probing, untiring - in a world measuring out bowling in four-over spells?
i especially enjoyed the veiled insult aimed at robin uthappa. i cant help but think that every team should only have one uthappa, it at all. during the entire vb series in australia, i felt that suresh raina and manoj tiwary, two of the most promising batsman in india after rohit sharma, were deprived of vital opportunities to play in australia whilst uthappa wasted chance after chance. unfortunately, the ipl auction provided positive reinforcement for uthappa's methods. he was one of the most sought after indian batsman at the auction, ultimately going for $800,000, as much as ponting, hussey and mcgrath put together.
but back to the main point, what will cricket look like after twenty years of t20? more than the decline in batting, i am more worried about bowling. agarkar, gony, amarnath and joginder sharma are some of the most successful bowlers of the ipl so far. is this the future of medium pace bowling?? no disrespect to any of those four players, but they're not exactly test match quality. in fact, they're not really of any quality. they're not even particularly successful in ranji trophy, the standards of which are already well below sheffield shield and the county championship. where are the successful ranji bowlers?? tyagi and sangwan nowhere to be seen, vinay kumar and bhatia not bowling out their 4 overs. presumably, they bowl too much line and length, or try too hard to swing the ball to be of much use in t20. the quality of bowling has already deteriorated alarmingly during my relatively short lifetime, and that was before t20. now, with the ipl probably looking to expand, one wonders exactly what the top bowlers of the world will look like in 20 years time. will kumble be the last great indian spinner? will vettori be the last quality spinner the world will see??
ok so this is all a bit pessimistic right?? what about england and australia, the traditional bastions of test cricket. no way will they short change cricket like the indians are doing. right??
"The England players are desperate to play in the IPL. Next year they will all put their hands up to come and play. Everyone has watched the IPL in England and what an amazing tournament it is. I have watched all the games. The IPL is big time news in the England newspapers." Dimitri Mascarenhas
"I haven't heard any England players use the fact that the IPL is a massive global event, and the rest of the world's best players are involved, to justify their interest in playing in it, but rather the fact that there are pots of cash to be made.
When news broke of the Allen Stanford £10m match, Pietersen could barely contain himself, salivating at the prospect of pocketing "a mill" for one match." John Stern, Cricinfo journalist"Hopefully it will be a massive success, and I think it's going to be, because you have so much money being pumped into it, and you have the best players in the world, so there's no reason why it won't be. This could be the way cricket goes - everyone wants to see a result in three hours." Kevin Pietersen
well, its quite clear where the players stand on this. as the only major cricketing nation to left out of the ipl, england are going to find it very difficult to stop their players from participating in next year's ipl. already, mascarenhas has made a deal with his county to play in 5 ipl matches. next year, it will be every england who is offered a contract.
this is where allan stanford comes in. he's an ultra-rich american zillionaire, who, whilst busily evading taxes by basing his company in antigua, became interested in cricket. he wants to cash in on cricket too. he actually said that cricket has the potential to become the most popular spectator sport in the world- i'm very doubtful about this claim, but i think he's being genuine when he says that he wants to set up a rival t20 league in england together with the ecb. of course, unless the ecb guarantees stanford's expected return on his investment, he wont spend a single dollar on the league:
There are plenty of hurdles to overcome before Stanford's wishes can be granted, however, not least the likely opposition from the first-class counties who might fear being marginalised in such a deal. "The ECB are conservative," Stanford told The Times. ""They realise they're at a crossroads. They either let the Indians do it or they step up and get a game plan.
"The ECB, for my estimation, need to be the driver," said Stanford. "The organisation here is better, the management is better, the structure is better. It's inevitable that the ECB will create a Twenty20 league, it's inevitable that it will involve the private sector and it's inevitable that the game will evolve."
hmmm, i've rambled and ranted rather a lot, and i've now forgotten what point i was trying to make. anyway, i'll finish today with a piece of incredible irony. misbah-ul-haq, the man more responsible than any other for the ipl, is yet to feature in a single game. after all, if it wasnt for his mistimed paddle sweep, then india would not have won the world cup, and t20 would not have suddenly taken off.....
Sunday 27 April 2008
This blog has been rather neglected for the last few months, mainly due to a tight work schedule, but also due to a lack of inspiration to write on my part. But now, refreshed after a fantastic holiday in europe, i feel inspired to start blogging again.
whilst there is lots to say about europe, i actually first want to write a little about the torch relay and all the controversy it has produced around the globe. its quite ironic, but i knew almost nothing about all of this whilst i was in europe, it was only whilst i was stranded in taipei airport for 9 hours that i caught up on all that had happened in the world in the last 3-4 weeks.
first of all i should make my position on the olympic games and on the tibet issue clear.
i think it was wrong for the ioc to award china the olympics. china's human rights record (i know, its very cliche to complain about china's human rights record) and especially its prosecution and general mistreatment of minorities (tibetans, uighurs etc) should have been enough, in my opinion, to exclude china from contesting for the olympic games. china's record is not dissimilar to saddam hussein's in terms of human rights and the treatment of minority groups. what would the world say if iraq was awarded the olympics (when saddam was alive and in power obviously)?? so i think people are are fully justified in protesting against the chinese olympics and calling for a boycott. i noted that bhaichung bhutia, the captain of the indian soccer team, a sikkimese buddhist, has withdrawn from the olympics squad in protest against china. he's not well known even within india let alone internationally, so his boycott hasnt exactly created waves, but i hope that his lead is followed by many more around the world.
moving on to tibet, i have written about the strangulation of tibetan culture by chinese hegemony before, here. one of the most contentious issues regarding tibet is independance versus autonomy and the (farcical) chinese claim that tibet is china, in the same beijing is china and shanghai is china. i think the first issue is fairly easily solved, unpalatable though the solution may be to some. in the foreseeable future, due to china's military might, there is no way tibet will be able to break the chinese yoke. even the dalai lama is resigned to this fact and asks only for tibetan autonomy within china.
then there is the rubbish about how tibet has been a part of china for 'thousands' of years, and how tibetans are essentially chinese. i found it difficult to get information on this which didnt smack of bias and propaganda, but it seems that the first time the chinese invaded tibet was in the 13th century when china itself was ruled by the yuan dynasty, descendants of genghis khan's mongols. from that period, it had generally been the case that the ruling power in china appointed a high-ranking official who lived in tibet and acted as the representative of the chinese emperor but didnt have much say in the internal governance of tibet. tibet itself was ruled by a variety of different people. the last fifteen rulers of tibet have been the dalai lamas, the leaders of the dominant sect of tibetan buddhism. after the dissolution of the chinese monarchy in the early 20th century, the nationalist movement failed to provide an effective government for china, and tibet enjoyed a few decades of relative independance. in 1950, the communist army invaded tibet, and tibet was brought under the direct control of the chinese government, for the first time in history as far i'm able to make out.
so, tibet historically was not a chinese province, it was an autonomous territory which was brought within the borders and control of china by invasion approximately 800 years ago. prior to this, tibet was an independant kingdom.
coming to the present situation, these two seperate issues, the olympics being held in china and the political situation in tibet, have been sort of merged by misinformed people on both sides of the argument. to the chinese, the beijing olympic games is about nationalistic pride. it is the acceptance of china into the world community, the global recognition of china's greatness. there is little awareness about issues such as those i've written about above within china because of effective government propaganda. however, internationally, these are major talking points regarding china. with the olympics being held in beijing, it was inevitable that the global media and the people of the western world would initiate debates on these issues. i think that the chinese believed and still believe that the world should be talking about how great china is, which is what the state press talks about in china, instead of debating contentious issues which are denied or glossed over in china.
the other big shock for the chinese has been the hijacking of the torch relay by the pro-tibetan protesters in the western world. the olympics, or rather the media coverage that accompanies it, was always going to be used by all sorts of factions to focus attention on their grievances. for the pro-tibetans, their cause was so closely related the olympics being held in china, that again, it was inevitable that they would protest with renewed zeal and vigour in the leadup to the olympics.
[hmmm, i had some things in mind when i started writing, but i have veered away and gotten distracted. well, i'll write some more on subsequent entries...]
to be continued
whilst there is lots to say about europe, i actually first want to write a little about the torch relay and all the controversy it has produced around the globe. its quite ironic, but i knew almost nothing about all of this whilst i was in europe, it was only whilst i was stranded in taipei airport for 9 hours that i caught up on all that had happened in the world in the last 3-4 weeks.
first of all i should make my position on the olympic games and on the tibet issue clear.
i think it was wrong for the ioc to award china the olympics. china's human rights record (i know, its very cliche to complain about china's human rights record) and especially its prosecution and general mistreatment of minorities (tibetans, uighurs etc) should have been enough, in my opinion, to exclude china from contesting for the olympic games. china's record is not dissimilar to saddam hussein's in terms of human rights and the treatment of minority groups. what would the world say if iraq was awarded the olympics (when saddam was alive and in power obviously)?? so i think people are are fully justified in protesting against the chinese olympics and calling for a boycott. i noted that bhaichung bhutia, the captain of the indian soccer team, a sikkimese buddhist, has withdrawn from the olympics squad in protest against china. he's not well known even within india let alone internationally, so his boycott hasnt exactly created waves, but i hope that his lead is followed by many more around the world.
moving on to tibet, i have written about the strangulation of tibetan culture by chinese hegemony before, here. one of the most contentious issues regarding tibet is independance versus autonomy and the (farcical) chinese claim that tibet is china, in the same beijing is china and shanghai is china. i think the first issue is fairly easily solved, unpalatable though the solution may be to some. in the foreseeable future, due to china's military might, there is no way tibet will be able to break the chinese yoke. even the dalai lama is resigned to this fact and asks only for tibetan autonomy within china.
then there is the rubbish about how tibet has been a part of china for 'thousands' of years, and how tibetans are essentially chinese. i found it difficult to get information on this which didnt smack of bias and propaganda, but it seems that the first time the chinese invaded tibet was in the 13th century when china itself was ruled by the yuan dynasty, descendants of genghis khan's mongols. from that period, it had generally been the case that the ruling power in china appointed a high-ranking official who lived in tibet and acted as the representative of the chinese emperor but didnt have much say in the internal governance of tibet. tibet itself was ruled by a variety of different people. the last fifteen rulers of tibet have been the dalai lamas, the leaders of the dominant sect of tibetan buddhism. after the dissolution of the chinese monarchy in the early 20th century, the nationalist movement failed to provide an effective government for china, and tibet enjoyed a few decades of relative independance. in 1950, the communist army invaded tibet, and tibet was brought under the direct control of the chinese government, for the first time in history as far i'm able to make out.
so, tibet historically was not a chinese province, it was an autonomous territory which was brought within the borders and control of china by invasion approximately 800 years ago. prior to this, tibet was an independant kingdom.
coming to the present situation, these two seperate issues, the olympics being held in china and the political situation in tibet, have been sort of merged by misinformed people on both sides of the argument. to the chinese, the beijing olympic games is about nationalistic pride. it is the acceptance of china into the world community, the global recognition of china's greatness. there is little awareness about issues such as those i've written about above within china because of effective government propaganda. however, internationally, these are major talking points regarding china. with the olympics being held in beijing, it was inevitable that the global media and the people of the western world would initiate debates on these issues. i think that the chinese believed and still believe that the world should be talking about how great china is, which is what the state press talks about in china, instead of debating contentious issues which are denied or glossed over in china.
the other big shock for the chinese has been the hijacking of the torch relay by the pro-tibetan protesters in the western world. the olympics, or rather the media coverage that accompanies it, was always going to be used by all sorts of factions to focus attention on their grievances. for the pro-tibetans, their cause was so closely related the olympics being held in china, that again, it was inevitable that they would protest with renewed zeal and vigour in the leadup to the olympics.
[hmmm, i had some things in mind when i started writing, but i have veered away and gotten distracted. well, i'll write some more on subsequent entries...]
to be continued
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