Favourites of the List

I have chosen five advertisements from the Pepsi Crash the IPL videos which were made by the fans. I have taken special care not to choose any of the finalists or winners because that would surely be not fair. I had to choose the videos according to my opinion alone, and for the same, I have chosen five of them which I have shared below with the video links and small descriptions for each.

Crash the Pepsi IPL – “The Robber”
Uploaded by Ashutosh Joshi

If you use the phrase “crash the IPL” exactly as it is, I would consider this advertisement the right one to use. Whenever there is a cricket match, we see people crashing into the action from a distance like this. Yes, the climbing is a little overdone, but after seeing the advertisements for Thums Up and Mountain Dew, this is nothing – I expect people to be a lot better than I am, as far as such dangerous stunts are concerned; consider it as a result of looking at the roads all the time.

Crash the Pepsi IPL – “The fault in our Suhagraat”
Uploaded by Anshul Agrawal

This was a cute advertisement, with the need for Pepsi arising during the first night – well, we all have ur preferences, don’t we? I would be highly disappointed in the absence of tea at any moment. Well, they want it and they are going for it without jumping in front of all the available vehicles of the city (sorry, Thums Up and Mountain Dew). The cast is also a nice one, and I thought that this one did treat the idea in a clean manner rather than adding anything unnecessary and without overdoing it – there is some maturity in the treatment here.

Crash the Pepsi IPL – “Jahan Masti, Wahan Pepsi!”
Uploaded by S Bhavini

This is a simple one, but the truth has been spoken. The real truth is that Pepsi doesn’t need an advertisement at all. If advertisements decided which soft drinks we bought, the list would have gone differently – we have never had Pepsi for their advertisements. If we were to choose from them, we would all have been drinking a lot of other things. Drinking Pepsi is something which comes quite naturally related to the mall culture. A bottle of Pepsi comes quite naturally to the new generation.

Crash the Pepsi IPL – “Ahead of time”
Uploaded by Paul Joji Kokkat

I felt this was nicely directed and brought to us, from an idea which has always been there – there are some good changes in the detail made, with two girls’ teams Virat’s XI and Ranbir’s XI playing each other. Well, this is always better to watch rather than having Virat Kohli and Jacques Kallis playing at the stadium – Pepsi should try more of common people than celebrities with the same idea, because it is not the celebrities who make any man drink Pepsi; otherwise why do many other drinks also do good?

Crash the Pepsi IPL – “Hawww Pepsi!”
Uploaded by Jai Sughand

This is another video which follows the usual tactics, and the idea that one will do anything for a soft drink continues. Yes, drinking others’ Pepsi when not looking should come quite naturally, but this surely has a better premise, and this is more possible at college than anywhere else. You can’t leave anything on the table when some people are around, out of the fear for the devourers of all food. The cast is good, and they have timed this one very well. This one works quite nicely in the end.

I haven’t really liked most of the advertisements in the Crash the IPL list, but these five can surely replace those Pepsi advertisements because they have something from the makers who seems to be people with ideas rather than those who keep doing the same thing again and again without any real variety. We need good advertisements, and may be making the common man make them and putting them for vote might be a better solution for the companies considering the current situation of television commercials.

Check out the #CrashThePepsiIPL videos & participate in the activity at BlogAdda

TeNy

Advertisement

Looking at India’s WWE

I haven’t watched WWE for some time, but the memories of the same comes back through IPL, which is more of a result of the need for an Indian WWE rather than a cricket league, the reasons for which you might already know. To be frank, WWE is more clear and a lot more respectable, as it never pretends to be what it is not. There is more reality in a WWE match than a lot of IPL games combined.

I haven’t been following this thing much, but I was caught up with a news that Kolkata Knight Riders might decide not to play in this version of IPL, and memories started coming back to me. Yes, KKR shouldn’t play this version of the game in 2015, and it is because they shouldn’t let some people dictate terms to them. If you look at the flashback, you can’t go on without seeing when Sunil Narine was banned.

He was banned right before the final against Chennai Super Kings in the Champions League. A person getting banned is not a surprise, but the occasion when this happened is strange even for an alien who first sets foot on planet Earth. KKR themselves are known to have doubts about the same, and it is time Shah Rukh Khan takes the right decision, and let a few people know that all teams are equal.

Does a bowling action suddenly become illegal just before a final when a team is finding it difficult to cope with that particular bowler? The way of the world is strange indeed. Kolkata Knight Riders is a team which has played respectable cricket, despite the Fair Play Award being a mockery of sporstmanship. This Fair Play Award has also been a great part of India’s WWE.

Yes, IPL is not only dumb entertainment, but it is also not fair to everyone, and is a terrible blow to the spirit of cricket. In the end, after all the match-fixing scandals, the one who suffers is Sreesanth – why? There are so many bigger names floating over the media, but one man gets quick punishment and the others roam free. Is it because he has lesser influence? Is it because he comes from a team with lesser influence in IPL and the same is the case with his Ranji team?

So, what has IPL provided for the Indian cricket team? Well, they haven’t won a 20-20 World Cup after that. It has surely given them controversies and also created an easy path for the Chennai Super Kings players to get into the team. There are also the finds of the IPL, but one has to doubt how many of them gets to play in the national team – Sanju Samson has waited and waited for no use.

The next version of the tournament begins again. But does it have the same power as it used to? Well, surely not in Kerala. They were too fast to get rid of Kochi Tuskers Kerala, but even with match-fixing around the corner, they can’t disband those teams which have made a mockery of the gentleman’s game and they can’t even seem to find the players involved at least till they come out clean after a thorough investigation – all is fair with power and influence, right? May be I am feeling like this because I am ignorant of the ways of the world; may be this is the only way which things can work and I can’t handle the new generation cricket. Still, I would like to wish the tournament best of luck because it does give opportunity to some young Indian players to prove something.

***I have used the pictures from Official Facebook Page of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 because I don’t want anything to do with the IPL.

TeNy

Because it is World Cup

There are many World Cups that I have liked, but as far as cricket World Cups are concerned, I feel that I am going to like the 2019 World Cup more than the others. The main reason is that it will have no minnows and the games can only get better. Yes, we are love an upset and cheer when underdogs win. But when they are ruthlessly trashed by the opponents on too many occasions and they also make us wonder about the quality of the game, it is not case.

It is a forward step by the International Cricket Council, and I would like to welcome it. There is no need to add more and more teams which can’t play good enough cricket just to increase the number of teams and to let certain cricketers score centuries and get easy wickets. The players who can never hit an overseas century or can’t score more than a run-a-ball against the good teams might find this interesting, but otherwise, it is not a good idea to increase the number of teams.

Talking about the lesser teams, they have to raise their level, and only then should they be allowed in the World Cup. After all, this is a cup featuring the best, and not just some dumb tournament. It should be like, prove yourself and get in. For a beginning, there can be just eight slots. Yes, you heard it right. There is too much miserable cricket going on right now, and some teams need to improve or perish. They shouldn’t take their test status as a guarantee, but just a compliment.

Only the top six ranked teams should be allowed straight into the World Cup, with number seven, eight, nine and ten made to play a qualifying tournament with the associate members. The total number of teams can be eight, with two teams from this competition joining the group of teams, putting them into two pools. Only top two teams from each group should qualify. As the number of matches do decrease, may be the teams can play each other twice and thus also make sure that more consistent team gets in.

The 2019 Cricket World Cup will have ten teams already there, among which only eight of the top ones having a clear place (including the hosts England). The rest will play in the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh which is only fair in making the game of cricket better and of a higher standard. If someone needs to score some runs of take a lot of wickets against the weaker teams, just be at the lower level of rankings – don’t bother the teams playing high standard cricket.

There should be no matches without results. It doesn’t matter whether it rains or the lights go. There should be more than one reserve day. After all, it will be a tournament of the best then. May be Kenya can make a return here. Do you remember them coming second in their group and even doing enough to get into the semi-finals? There is no team like that now, and only the strong teams get stronger and hopes to destroy these teams with ease. So these teams should prove that they are at least as good as the last ranked test playing nations.

When the level of Zimbabwe has only gone down from the past, Bangladesh seems to be coming up with a big slap against the ICC which gave them the test status when they were not ready. The former has gone through some turbulent times, but it is time for them to come back and return to the competitive team that they had often been. The latter should do a lot better than this with the talent and the support of the fans – just defeating a test playing nation on World Cup is not enough. There will be improvement if these two teams are made to earn their place rather than being guaranteed the same.

*If you want to globalize cricket, you need to stop being selfish. It includes not using these teams as the means to score big runs, take wickets and attain huge victories. It doesn’t prove anything. Help them, provide them some assistance with training as well as money, and play some good practice matches with them. May be some of their players can have some chances in the IPL. Ireland is a team with so much potential – I hope one of these over hyped teams is thrown out and they get in for the next World Cup. May be after letting them play with a team like India A and manage to compete with them regularly and even defeat them, we can talk about a fourteen team or even twenty eight team Cricket World Cup with a big qualifier featuring half of the total teams. ***The images used in this blog post are from the Official Page of ICC Cricket World Cup on Facebook.

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TeNy

That Strange World Cup

Another Cricket World Cup comes to the fans, and the Indian team is going to Australia with that ridiculous and selfish motto “We won’t give it back!” as if it has been made the private property of BCCI after stealing it from someone else. This is the season of those fake patriots and new age nationalists who are going to temporarily love their country until this tournament is over. This is also the season of the abusers who are waiting to abuse the players from other countries and some of them might have even got a whole book of abuse ready for the process. Not having a look here means no patriotism and so I will have a look at the chances here.

1. Australia: The bigger one among the hosts missed out on making a four out of four because the last World Cup was held in the sub continent. This competition at their place makes things so easy for them, as we have seen how well they did in the last tournament involving three teams in total. They have fine batting power, deadly bowling and the strength of some of the best all-rounders. When you look at the Australian team, you can say that this is an excellent group of players, something that you never expected when players like Gilchrist, Hayden and Ponting were gone. They might also be having a strong emotional side this time due to the comrade that they lost. Steven Smith will be the key, and even when he is not, there will be someone else on fire – if one man won’t score a century, another one will.

2. India: With an amazing partnership from Dhoni and Srinivasan alienating most of the educated Indian cricket fans, the team still have so much firepower with the batting even as flat-track bullies in the team cannot be trusted. But the batting should click heavily at some point. By avoiding the services of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, the experience factor disappeared and so did a lot of fans. Another big mistake was committed by not including Robin Uthappa and Varun Aaron. But still with BCCI controlling most the ICC and as most of the cricket fans are in India, some special treatment should be given to the Indian team or team BCCI. If you look at the points table, India can easily finish second in their group and Sri Lanka third in theirs, thus making sure that India won’t have to defeat a good non-Asian team till semi-finals – that is a relatively easy path.

3. South Africa: With the official chokers tag, they have somehow managed to loss all the matches which they should have won. With always having a nice team, they have never been to the final and it is a shame. But, things can change this time. AB de Villiers will be a big problem for the opposition and the key player along with Hashim Amla, as the rest of the teams will have to wait an eternity to have both of these players out of form. But it is also a batting line-up that can go deeper, and then there is Dale Steyn and team that can boast of being one of the best bowling line-ups of this World Cup. This might be their time – they should be ready. They can only be given the third best chance due to their history and reputation.

4. New Zealand: Here is another team which has played too many semi-finals, but the engine stops there. Well, even Kenya has been to the semi-finals of a World Cup. This time, they also come to the World Cup as co-hosts, and this is a situation which they should use to their best advantage. The neve-ending form of the young star Kane Williamson and the experienced Ross Taylor can bring fear into the minds of the opposition. Then, everyone also know what Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson are capable of – total annihilation. With no shortage of the all-round skills and the bowling that can use the conditions well, the black caps should consider this their best chance ever.

5. Sri Lanka: For Sri Lanka, the young captain and the nice finisher Angelo Mathews will be the key along with the experienced Sangakkara-Jayawardane-Dilshan combination and the Malinga power. The middle order might be depending too much on Sangakkara and Jayawardane, but they should deliver enough. When there is the need, Thisira Perera should fire too. People are surely going to under-estimate this team, and it is going to be their strengths. They have been finalists for too many occasions, and it is time that they clinch a World Cup. I hope they make use of the opportunity this time – they have been one of my favourite teams.

6. England and Pakistan: Along with England, I was going to put West Indies here, and then I looked at that team, suddenly shifting to Pakistan. They also have a slight chance here, and for that Shahid Afridi has to play a big role along with the talented youngsters. It surely has a better chance than a remotely possible Gayle Storm. England can do well at these conditions as they have proved, but nothing much can be said. About United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, I have no idea why they are playing other than to increase the total number of teams and to give runs to the major teams. But I hope these teams prove me wrong, especially Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland.

*The images used in this blog post are from the official Facebook Page of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

TeNy

Escape from a Lost Planet

There is something about not being an Aluvaite. There is not much about leaving from a land plagued by potholes and disturbed by the Metro construction. It just adds to that harthal which devastates the state from where there is no escape. But forgetting all the troubles which are not really the part of Aluva alone, and missing being part of the same place is another thing. Forgetting having no more friends in the lands and no more of anyone to talk is rather the product of that engineering experiment to which our students have agreed, the result being more engineers than coconuts and all of them exported to Bangalore or Chennai.

The river Periyar which covers most of the town (taken on my DSC-W310)

The first part of not being an Aluvaite is not being UCean, talked about here : (https://theteacerebration.wordpress.com/2014/08/29/uc-as-in-you-see-and-mgu/). Not being part of the college had already happened earlier, but being not at Aluva adds more distance. Union Christian College, Alwaye comes as part of the town and it has been defined as one of the few things that define the muncipality, along with the Federal Bank, Sivarathri Manappuram and the Marthanda Varma Bridge. Therefore, UC College is the first thing to missed while leaving Aluva. For Sivarathri, we can always come here, and not travelling through the bridge is actually a boon considering the potholes – for Federal Bank, I am still a customer 😀

St. Joseph Pontifical Seminary & the church (DSC-W180)

The Aluvaite effect is kind of lessened when you are living in a flat – the feeling of living in a house being taken away for about fourteen years, and never in between those years getting that opportunity to feel really at a house except for may be at some of those tourst destinations. When you live somewhere with rules against playing cricket and football, plus the need to stop any kind of entertainment at 9PM, it gives the feeling of being in a totalitarian state which stretches its arms towards further control. There might be celebrations for Onam and New Year, but who cares anymore?

Siva Temple & Aluva Manappuram (DSC-W310)

Everyone wanted to play cricket and football and the replacement is badminton. But would the kids want to play that? No. Are there any old people who wish to play it? No. Can we ask any of the working people to come and play before 9PM? No, they won’t even reach home at that time. What is this other than an intelligent plot to stop people from having fun along with some exercise? Is it because the fascists can’t do that, the kids shouldn’t also do that? Should they just play the computer games and study during the rest of the time? Yes, create a video game playing, internet addicted future generation.

St. Xavier’s Church in the centre of the town (DSC-W310)

Now, what were these games for us? Were they just about doing something because we had lots of time? No, it was a place for socializing; for they were not just games. I have met more people while indulging in sports rather than being in a boring meeting talking about why we are so awesome and planning for some boring fake celebrations which are conducted. Nobody really cares about this dumb repetition every year, and some people just act as if they do. There is no real effort put into it, and we have a new generation not caring about the same, because it is what some people want, and youth wants no part of it.

UCC. The wonder that is a college (GT-B7722)

It is clear that most of the people don’t know anybody, even their own neighbours. We all know that person who gets out of the nearby door and comes back in. But who on the Earth are these people? Did they drop right out of hell last day with the expression that says “move out of the way or I will deliver you a clothesline”. So many families; we know a lot of them when we are a small group, but as the gang increases in number and diversifies, we ends up knowing none. There was only one cat that cared, but it got run over by a car.

Marthanda Varma Bridge. Defining Aluva (DSC-W310)

Can we be confident about the fact that it will be any better at a new place? No and it can be even worse, but we will live in a house, and when we are bored, we can always take care of a garden, and there won’t be the need to listen to that grilling which happens every day at some random rich guy’s flat who does that too often. What are you building? A Taj Mahal – Victoria Memorial hybrid? Who cares about this bloody bourgeoisie who thinks that money can get them anything; but no, not respect, unless you live like you deserve it. I see that most of the good people have moved or are going to move from our neighborhood – I will miss many good things about Aluva and my best friends were indeed from here, but add me to the list.

Chowara St. Mary’s Church; a beauty (DSC-W310)

TeNy