Sports : life magnified

There was a time when I used to reflect on the composition of the Indian test team. There used to some basis for team selection then. The test squad chosen to face England is the latest in a series of many whimsical selections.

Picture some recent inconsistencies in selection -

Famously choosing Ganguly to play as an all rounder in the team.
Dropping/choosing him regardless of match performances.
The treatment of Yuvraj, Kaif. (In and out of the XI, team)
Choosing Parthiv Patel above Dinesh Karthik as reserve wicket keeper for tour of Pakistan. This despite Karthik not doing much wrong.

And we haven’t even gone to the bowlers yet.. The first two tests in Pakistan were on flat tracks. No bowler should be judged based on that. The third test at Karachi was a failure for Zaheer Khan. Ajit Agarkar wasn’t even included in the first XI for that test. Without given a proper run, the two players were dumped.

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Barcelona won the first leg 2-1 after dominating possession and could have scored more than they did. The header from Eto’o sealed it. So that should have been the end of it with all the focus on March 7.

Well this is Barcelona versus Chelsea. The clash which has developed into the biggest game in club football. Of course there was more.

Jose Mourinho, the loudmouth that he is, likes to speak. Mourinho said this on Messi:

How do you say cheating in Catalan? Can Messi be suspended for acting? Barcelona is a cultural city with many great theatres and this boy has learned very well. He’s learned play-acting.

Of course he forgot, as Jonathan Stevenson from the BBC points out:

It is only 17 days since English football widely condemned Blues winger Arjen Robben for theatrically diving to get Liverpool keeper Jose Reina sent off in a key Premiership encounter. There is little doubt that Robben’s acting was greater than Messi’s, yet Mourinho accused Reds boss Rafael Benitez of sour grapes for bringing up the incident in his post-match analysis.

Step back in time at this juncture. Chelsea was down after the first leg similarly. In a few minutes of inspirational football in which they caught Barcelona napping. Chelsea capitalised and took the tie away from Barcelona. Did Barcelona fans cry over the fact that Barcelona dominated possession for much of the two matches last year and still lost?

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