'The World' of lady comme ntary

Published : Feb 22, 2003 00:00 IST

Now, Donna eye-riveting viewing did Brian Lara make — in re-arriving as the Dapper 'Dazzler' (10 fours, 2 sixes) while teleracing to 100 of the best, against all odds, vs South Africa.-— Pic. V. V. KRISHNAN Now, Donna eye-riveting viewing did Brian Lara make — in re-arriving as the Dapper 'Dazzler' (10 fours, 2 sixes) while teleracing to 100 of the best, against all odds, vs South Africa.
Now, Donna eye-riveting viewing did Brian Lara make — in re-arriving as the Dapper 'Dazzler' (10 fours, 2 sixes) while teleracing to 100 of the best, against all odds, vs South Africa.-— Pic. V. V. KRISHNAN Now, Donna eye-riveting viewing did Brian Lara make — in re-arriving as the Dapper 'Dazzler' (10 fours, 2 sixes) while teleracing to 100 of the best, against all odds, vs South Africa.
lightbox-info

Now, Donna eye-riveting viewing did Brian Lara make — in re-arriving as the Dapper 'Dazzler' (10 fours, 2 sixes) while teleracing to 100 of the best, against all odds, vs South Africa.-— Pic. V. V. KRISHNAN Now, Donna eye-riveting viewing did Brian Lara make — in re-arriving as the Dapper 'Dazzler' (10 fours, 2 sixes) while teleracing to 100 of the best, against all odds, vs South Africa.

The 'Barbadossier' on her reveals the Symonds Girl as 'the Donna thing' in the Caribbean. Yet Donna Symonds now unfolded as the tube innovation that caught the imagination of The World.

The 'Barbadossier' on her reveals the Symonds Girl as 'the Donna thing' in the Caribbean. Yet Donna Symonds now unfolded as the tube innovation that caught the imagination of The World. Take a second look at this Black 'Bird' having you eating out of her mikogenic hands. As you do so, always remember that, with the English summer of 2000, in the BBC Test Match Special, the legendary twosome of Freddie Trueman and Trevor Bailey came to be displaced by Donna Symonds and Tony Cozier.

Lara's opening-match winning 116 off 134 balls had India watchers marvelling in grasping how Tony Cozier came to build the case for this lissom lefty as the World's Best Batsman.

By simply not even deigning to make a mention of Sachin in the same Sportstar breath! Donna now strikingly took up where Tony Cozier left off.

Alongside Donna, out there to play the male field --- who if not our own Mandira! As a cosy reminder of what writer-director Vijay (`Johny Mera Naam') Anand meant when he observed:

''A willowy beauty, Hema Malini has eyes that talk.'' With swimming eyes does Mandira, too, come through, a comely-homely good-looker rather than a Max-Factory beauty.

Those Bouncing Twins inevitably attract attention as Mandira scores, by just being herself, on the Little Screen. In keeping the Charu charade going, Mandira reveals she knows just enough about the game to set the commentary flowing. Never should this charmer-anchor venture to emerge as the Sardarni of Commentators.

Just once did Mandira make the cardinal mistake — and she let down her Cathedral School `originality of thinking' here — as she strayed into Sherry's crunchy territory. ''Pitches are like wives,'' interposed Mandira, ''you never know how they will turn out.''

If only Mandira had displayed the inventiveness to craft it as: ''Pitches are like husbands, you never know how they will burn out!''

A counter punchline with which Mandira could have scored, on the spot, in the ears of at least Sidhu's wife — answering to the like name of 'Navjot'! No matter, Mandira still displays a healthy appreciation of her cricketing orbits as she talks with her eyes.

'Man' should be growing into the job as a woman of parts, though hype is the name of the Sony game. A Max game sounding Ruby-studded to this day. Where even Tony Greig, as the height of hype, was comparatively restrained, Charu just got transported in portraying the World Cup inauguration as a Sony journey into Heaven.

Nor did Charu deceive viewers for a moment when, after inviting Robin to pick the card, he did the job himself for Ma Prem Rithambara. Charu's right hand, here, knowing exactly what his left hand was doing! Those Charu cards Ma Prem finally held up, almost each one artificially boosting Sourav's India, were plainly 'plants'.

The superstarry slant given to the SonyMax centrespread hurts the eye as you try to concentrate on the third eye-ball to third eye-ball confrontation in the middle — ike the one between the Windies and the Proteas. If Maria Goretti be there, could star hubby Arshad Warsi be far behind? You will see Warsi soon (courtesy Charu), though Arshad certainly knows his cricket.

This is the point, why can't Sony handpick movie stars well versed in the finer points of the game when their tribe is legion in this lapdog eating lapdog industry?

Where it came to the Zing Zinta sounding a game ignoramus, the Preity-struck Kapil Dev kept saying: "I will take you!'' Shades of the `Dilip Diya Waheeda Liya' syndrome?

Really this idea of commandeering the World Cup to sell SonyMax as the quintessential movie channel gets on our crickety nerves. Look at the hash University 'Blue' Rajdeep Sardesai made of `Jung World Cup Ki'. Very simply because Rajdeep lacked the mainstream cinema orientation to dovetail the Sham Glam World into the Real World Cup. In Rajdeep's emcee custody, the Basu Girl was no great Bipashakes in a sari — you 'saw through' her Jezebel `Jism'.

It made saddening telewatch — this no-show business of Rajdeep Sardesai trying to transplant

`The Big Fight' onto Sony. Still you felt for the fall guy, if only because our very own STAR NEWS, in English, ceases to be --- just like that --- after March 31.

It goes Hindi with an AAJ TAK vengeance. A culture shock if there ever was one.

Still that is after the World Cup. For now, we are concerned with Sachin matching Lara in Barry Richards' 'Diamond Cut Diamond' South Africa.

We are concerned with Sourav's India making it to the Super Six in the first place. Even in the second place.

Or in the third. It would have been a tragic launch if the Windies had lost to South Africa after the style Lara brought to lighting the World Cup flame. As Kapil Dev's old flame, the World Cup is ours to woo — now or never. Only a Souravenous appetite to achieve could work the miracle.

For, as the event comes across on the Sony screen, we in India ruefully divine the World Cup to be the `Sub moh Maya hai' mirage it always was. Whatever you do, Sourav, don't come back in the manner Azhar did, not once, but twice.

Don't ever come back, Sourav, with the Azhar philosophy on your lips: "Yeh Duniya agar mil bhee jaaye to kya hai"...

More stories from this issue

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment