Indians, Indians Everywhere

[triam]

There are 2 categories of voters in this. 1. Think Harsha Bhogle is really the best commentator out there and vote for him. ( can find fault with their taste but nothing really right or wrong, it is their personal taste) 2. Dont know who the best commentator or dont care but vote for HB because he is an Indian. The second group is dangerous, very similar to desis in the US who would vote for Bobby Jindal because he is "apna puttar". This demographic is probably the group in India who vote for a particular politician because he belongs to his/her own sub caste, or caste, or religion or speaks the same language. Agreed, this demographic exists everywhere in the world, although with respect to cricket it is visible more from India just because of the sheer volume of people from India who are passionate about cricket. This does tend to become very annoying for other Indians who are probably not jingoistic enough to be in group number 2 and have a more refined taste than group number 1 but are completely outnumbered by groups 1 and 2 together.

[Dravid]

lol, so what ppl voted for harsha... not every1s definition of a good commentator is that he has to speak good english Doc... english is not our 1st language.. and still ppl like him do a decent job... maybe you should go for the commentator job? :D

[fineleg]

There are 2 categories of voters in this. 1. Think Harsha Bhogle is really the best commentator out there and vote for him. ( can find fault with their taste but nothing really right or wrong, it is their personal taste) 2. Dont know who the best commentator or dont care but vote for HB because he is an Indian. The second group is dangerous, very similar to desis in the US who would vote for Bobby Jindal because he is "apna puttar". This demographic is probably the group in India who vote for a particular politician because he belongs to his/her own sub caste, or caste, or religion or speaks the same language. Agreed, this demographic exists everywhere in the world, although with respect to cricket it is visible more from India just because of the sheer volume of people from India who are passionate about cricket. This does tend to become very annoying for other Indians who are probably not jingoistic enough to be in group number 2 and have a more refined taste than group number 1 but are completely outnumbered by groups 1 and 2 together.

Excellent post, triam. You have it nailed down superbly! :hatsoff: My intuition is that Group2 elevated Harsha Bhogle over true commentators like Benaud and Lawry.

[punjabi_khota]

There are 2 categories of voters in this. 1. Think Harsha Bhogle is really the best commentator out there and vote for him. ( can find fault with their taste but nothing really right or wrong, it is their personal taste) 2. Dont know who the best commentator or dont care but vote for HB because he is an Indian. The second group is dangerous, very similar to desis in the US who would vote for Bobby Jindal because he is "apna puttar". This demographic is probably the group in India who vote for a particular politician because he belongs to his/her own sub caste, or caste, or religion or speaks the same language. Agreed, this demographic exists everywhere in the world, although with respect to cricket it is visible more from India just because of the sheer volume of people from India who are passionate about cricket. This does tend to become very annoying for other Indians who are probably not jingoistic enough to be in group number 2 and have a more refined taste than group number 1 but are completely outnumbered by groups 1 and 2 together.

Thats the definition of snobbery RIGHT THERE. :giggle:

[triam]

Thats the definition of snobbery RIGHT THERE. :giggle:

maybe I should have said "different" taste. oh well

[Ram]

Harsha is the most 'favorite' commentator? In my book, he's not even a commentator. He offers little insight into the game, gets nostalgic/melodramatic for totally trivial reasons, which is really annoying. Harsha the show-host is one of the best in the world, but as a commentator, he can be classified as 'average', at best.

[punjabi_khota]

maybe I should have said "different" taste. oh well

Take it easy dude, I know what you mean. :D I was just teasing you.

[Brainfade]

There are 2 categories of voters in this. 1. Think Harsha Bhogle is really the best commentator out there and vote for him. ( can find fault with their taste but nothing really right or wrong, it is their personal taste) 2. Dont know who the best commentator or dont care but vote for HB because he is an Indian. The second group is dangerous, very similar to desis in the US who would vote for Bobby Jindal because he is "apna puttar". This demographic is probably the group in India who vote for a particular politician because he belongs to his/her own sub caste, or caste, or religion or speaks the same language. Agreed, this demographic exists everywhere in the world, although with respect to cricket it is visible more from India just because of the sheer volume of people from India who are passionate about cricket. This does tend to become very annoying for other Indians who are probably not jingoistic enough to be in group number 2 and have a more refined taste than group number 1 but are completely outnumbered by groups 1 and 2 together.

A third category: 3. People who know the difference between an insignificant internet poll and a political election of consequence. These folks will vote for HB in the former just for the fun of seeing an Indian anointed the "best" commentator. But, when faced with an election of consequence, they will actually use their heads.

[Dravid]

lol, was watching that gayle 100 against SA in 20-20 WC... gayle hits a 6... harsha is like " OMG, thats ......pauses......i actaully dont know what it is" :haha: and then the other commentator had to pick him up :hahaha:

[Ram]

The problem with Harsha is, his mind works in a VERY one-dimensional way. You can almost pre-empt what he is gonna say next. He tends to focus too much on the 'mind' part of the game, rather than the game itself. He definitely has his merits, but its a shocker to see him win this award. Ok, understood the majority were Indian voters, still, how in the world did he manage to pip Shastri?

[fineleg]

The problem with Harsha is, his mind works in a VERY one-dimensional way. You can almost pre-empt what he is gonna say next. He tends to focus too much on the 'mind' part of the game, rather than the game itself. He definitely has his merits, but its a shocker to see him win this award. Ok, understood the majority were Indian voters, still, how in the world did he manage to pip Shastri?

You have stated reason #1 above. pip Shastri may have been thanx to MBA :giggle:

[Holysmoke]

Dhondy, do one thing. Read this http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/cricket/article4322660.ece and then, read this. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/37590-king-kev-still-a-long-way-to-go

[Dravid]

thats 2 things :eyedance: sorry... bored :-D

[Dhondy]

Dhondy, do one thing. Read this http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/cricket/article4322660.ece and then, read this. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/37590-king-kev-still-a-long-way-to-go

Simon Wilde is just one person. This was a worldwide poll. The incumbent who won was so stupefyingly bad, that it made the whole process a joke. I really wouldn't have been this pizzed if it was Shastri who had been chosen.

[Ram]

Is KP the best? Even reading it makes me laugh! :D Oh my my... strange are the ways of the English sometimes......:haha:

[observer1]

Is KP the best? Even reading it makes me laugh! :D Oh my my... strange are the ways of the English sometimes......:haha:

I dont think it can be generalised, Sriram - but, all the tabloid press, and some of the broadsheet press are blindlingly myopic,and boringly predictable. But, they cater to the masses. The question is 'does the author believe in what he has written'? I suspect that if you meet the writer in person, he will not defend his article too strongly. A mere year ago, Matt Prior was the best WKB in the world. FF is still the best all rounder according to them - I really admire FF, and am not looking forward to seeing him limp off the field this weekend.

[Desi Cartman]

Harsha is very popular in Aus as well . He is always in the ABC radio's commentary team whenever India tours Aus and has a fan following in Aus .. dont believe it .. then read this "he was made an honorary member of the Geelong football club (Aussie rules)."

[punjabi_khota]

Reading some stuff in English press after ANY decent effort in the field by English team, makes me think that English are as bad in this jingoism as Dhondy claims we are. Atleast, the voting is done by normal public, where as those articles were written by reputed journalists. Too bad now they are a teeny weeny nation without any international impact, full of snobby people, who are just mad that sun now does set in English empire, and also that their former colony is doing SO well despite their best efforts...hahahahaa. Their football team failed to qualify for Euro cup, and hasn't done anything of note for a long long time, despite having some excellent players.

[Dhondy]

Harsha is very popular in Aus as well . He is always in the ABC radio's commentary team whenever India tours Aus and has a fan following in Aus .. dont believe it .. then read this "he was made an honorary member of the Geelong football club (Aussie rules)."

Harsha is made for radio.

[Desi Cartman]

Harsha is made for radio.

yes because he is a smart guy , he can talk about anything. he probably knows more about Australian politics/history than I do. I think Harsha's other strength is that he is not one of the ex-cricketers , so he talks in layman's language and people love him for that !