TN cricket

[Real McCoy]

15 hours ago, Gollum said:

1% pop and almost all domestic players are Brahmin, all national cricketers Brahmin. Sure Brahmins are overrepresented in Indian cricket but crazy extreme in Chennai. In the past it wasn't uncommon to have zero non-Brahmins in the TN XI, now there are a couple of them. And if you compare it with other sports in that state where Brahmins are absent sure to raise suspicion. Rest of Tamils aren't exactly pygmies, so if they can't enter the cricket scene there may be other obstacles. Waise anyway I said cricket is an exception in the state, a mystery but it is what it is, Srini Mama is very close to DMK top brass. One may ask why Marathi or Kannadiga Brahmins make better cricketers but OTOH counter can be ki why mainly Tamil Brahmins have won science Nobel, Abel, Fields, dominated chess etc, why Bengali Brahmins have dominated Indian football. Maybe culture/preference? TNCA has always been dominated by Brahmins (facts are before our eyes, don't need a movie to spell that out), up to them to figure out if there isn't any half-decent cricketer among remaining 99% pop. Hope other Tamil posters can give their opinion about that, they may know better @Stan AF @Real McCoy @velu etc.

 

I don't agree that Chennai is lesser than Hyderabad when it comes to cricket scene, apart from Azhar and Laxman no standout name... in fact TN (basically Chennai) has made twice as many finals as Hyd...lesser than Bengal which I find very surprising . Comes down to culture and exposure from childhood. I undertook cricket coaching for 5 years and played in decent level CAB tourneys as a kid, thought I was good. Then in college when I played with the Mumbai lads the gulf in class was clear, I wasn't even among the best XI in my hostel team. But when it came to football whilst I was decent in Bengal, in college there were hardly 3-4 players better than me in the whole campus. Football team was dominated by Bongs and Mallus, very few outside these 2 states. I preferred futsal though!!! College was like a microcosm of India.....cricket dominated by Mumbaikars/Northies/Kannadigas, football I already said, basketball and volleyball by Rajasthanis/Punjabis/Tamils/Malayalis, TT by Tamils/Bengalis, badminton by Telugus, chess by Tamils (and in BOSM Chennai colleges got 1-2-3 in every single section/category in chess open, in fact complete domination in top section with many 2300+ rated players !!!). Now we all played sports in school days, in college infra was more or less same, financial background not very different. Still saw the same trends, I put it down to sports exposure and the level we encountered in school days (childhood, formative years whatever). At the end of the day pick a random maidan in Kolkata...high likelihood that the avg standard of football game will be a couple of notches above that in a random Mumbai playground, converse case in cricket. Defending Rajasthani national chess champ is FIDE 1800, every single school in Chennai will have a 1900, every single locality will have a 2200....there are 12 year olds over there who will be state champ in half of our states and national champ in half of the world's countries. Schoolkids in Hyderabad will amaze you in badminton, forget that, when I was in Hyderabad regularly saw 40 yo aunties playing like champs in a CSIR institute park....in Bengal 40 yo aunties would at max play badminton with 5 yo kids without net. Going off topic so sorry for that. 

@Gollum

Cricket in India has always been about who knows who. We speak about mumbai lobby because most of the great cricketers of yesteryear have come from mumbai thereby giving an unconscious bias to mumbai players turned administrators to pick mumbai players. same can be applied to TN cricket. historically Madras was the centre for cricket in TN during the british era and brahmins were well versed in not just english but also intelligent to serve as administrators under the british regime. As was the case with mumbai, TN cricket with its base in Chennai always carried an unconscious bias towards picking brahmin players because they were considered better according to the administrators who were also brahmin. I'm sure if some non-brahmin who was found to have the same "brahmin-like" requirements got in and others were not picked. They were better in some areas of the game such as batting and spin bowling which required precision, co-ordinated movements, intelligence, etc. They were found wanting in other areas such as fast bowling which required effort and physical fitness. Brahmins with their sedentary lifestyle in the recent past were not suited for fast bowling.

I'm generalizing a bit here to make a point and there are examples such as L Balaji who prove that its not always true. Balaji, a brahmin may be an exception that proves the rule. Balaji is one of the reasons why we won the series in Pak for the first time. It seems the troll who started that thread doesnt know the meaning of a journeyman cricketer or is just well trolling. journeymen cricketers are cricketers like akash chopra, vikram rathore all of them from the north but couldnt do jack shite and here he is putting the label on a successful seamer for India. you can ask @express bowling@Rightarmfast who know how fast he bowled in that series. he was measured constantly in the 140s during that series and was quite lively with some swing movement on those placid tracks. I'm only reacting to your post otherwise I would have no clue about this thread as this troll is on my ignore list. I'm creating a new thread to not give that troll anymore attention than it deserves.

also the state is divided on caste lines less visible in Chennai but more in the smaller towns. I can't put a finger on what started it all but the groups don't mingle well. Brahmins are obsessed with madi and aacharam (cleanliness and purity) whereas the lower strata is totally the opposite and do anything as they please. I sit in the middle and don't get along too well with either of them. But atleast the Brahmins are law abiding and don't bother you too much atleast on the outside. again these are sterotypes and I dont want to run off on tangents. Otherwise it will be a thread better discussed in chit chat section.

Edited November 10, 2020 by Real McCoy

[Vilander]

3 hours ago, Real McCoy said:

It seems the troll who started that thread

 

Its not just a troll thread, its an ICF opinion comes endorsed by several posters there like @sandeep , shows that its not just plain CSK hate its more hatred for Tamils.  Apparently posters like @coffee_rules are talking for Tamil Brahmins lol.  

 

Good on you to pick that great post from Gollum and shift it to a productive thread here. Expect a backlash from haters. 

 

On Topic , cricket sucks in TN when you compare it to other states like KA,Mah. But if you look at nominal TN performance in sports -> Cricket is par for the course - well represented not dominant. 

 

[coffee_rules]

21 minutes ago, Vilander said:

 

Its not just a troll thread, its an ICF opinion comes endorsed by several posters there like @sandeep , shows that its not just plain CSK hate its more hatred for Tamils.  Apparently posters like @coffee_rules are talking for Tamil Brahmins lol.  

 

Good on you to pick that great post from Gollum and shift it to a productive thread here. Expect a backlash from haters. 

 

On Topic , cricket sucks in TN when you compare it to other states like KA,Mah. But if you look at nominal TN performance in sports -> Cricket is par for the course - well represented not dominant. 

 

 

Yes, as it is they are discriminated there and above that they get the blame for mediocre returns in Cricket. This caste talk should be avoided in ICF at least.

[Vilander]

1 hour ago, coffee_rules said:

 

Yes, as it is they are discriminated there and above that they get the blame for mediocre returns in Cricket. This caste talk should be avoided in ICF at least.

 

Coffee i agree, its stupid to compare mediocre returns or otherwise from any caste. If Tam brams did so poorly wtf are Venkatraghavan srikanth and More recently Ashwin lol. Its not a sustainable argument. 

 

Infact that whole thread is **** TN does as well or as not well as it does in every other sport. Nothing to write home about and do you realise when you dont point that out you are out there ratifying it ? defending Brahmins is necessary but not on that thread.  

[Vilander]

Besides the point around Brahmins in TNCA is more around City vs Rural players impact we see elsewhere, there is some credence to it. We see a certain increase in quality of players when B,C centers in a state are more active in talent spotting. 

[Real McCoy]

2 hours ago, coffee_rules said:

 

Yes, as it is they are discriminated there and above that they get the blame for mediocre returns in Cricket. This caste talk should be avoided in ICF at least.

I believe talking about this is a must not in this section but in chit chat section. too often this is swept under the rug and doesnt go anywhere and people of all castes are "poor" for not having an honest CONSTRUCTIVE conversation. The point about constructive conversation cannot be emphasized enough as it often results in mudslinging and the wheels usually come off. People need to come with a fresh set of eyes, listen to each other and get some insight into the problem to find out a solution. If we are to become a team like Aus or even NZ, this needs to be addressed