Badri

I am not qualified to give advice nor is it sought, but I am going to anyway, as there is no one to stop me:)

Scores in the 20s and 30s with a strike rate of less than 100, without taking the team to victory == not good.

Exude some confidence. If you don't believe you can do it, how can we?

Don't know what your role is, but at this point, the teams would rather have you on strike than any of the other csk batsmen. They then bring in the fielders, add a slip, making it hard to score even singles. Take a risk or two, otherwise scoring becomes impossible.

Take sensible risks. Scoop shot to fine leg for a single -- what is the logic behind that?

As far as your career goes, you have nothing to lose, please play fearlessly. There are other batsmen now looking better for the test spot (and definitely for the ODI).

And practice running between the wickets? Not to lay the blame at your door, but you can't keep colliding.

[PS: if someone does recall the two matches where Dhoni and Badri collided -- what is going wrong -- are they both running where they are not supposed to? ]

The MRF blimp

I watch many of the matches on TV with my nephew (avid cricket fan and 9 year old).

We try not to be cynical during the match and don't comment about the quality of commentary and clichéd phrases or that "like a tracer bullet" are trademarked :) so that we don't spoil his experience.

So yesterday as SMG and others went on and on about how MRF is pioneering some cutting edge technology by bringing the blimp, at some point in the second match, he turns around and says

"Why do they have to say that so many times? They almost say it 50 times a match. Won't once a match be enough?"

Dear IPL commentators: Hope you are listening. Some of the marketing is getting too much for a kid! And isn't the MRF blimp just a big balloon? Hearing the commentators, one would have thought that the blimp is a great technical marvel!

From a Mongoose

Dear Matthew,

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that a bat has been inspired by me. Just look at this, isn't the connection between a bat and me immediately obvious!

However my fraternity have felt left down. After so much hype, they don't understand why you are choosing us after 6.8 minutes in every innings. It seems distracting, halting the momentum and you are not doing our reputation any good by getting out soon after that. So for the future of all mongoose, please select a bat at the start and stick to it.

Also, the intelligent and cynical among us want to know why, if you were the leading run scorer in the IPL last year with a fantastic run rate and average, a large & strong man, doing very well with the conventional bat, why would you want to change it? You don't get 8 runs for a longer six do you?

The kind hearted among us, have felt empathy for the bowlers and have started a research fund for pig ball. Pig ball is to a ball what mongoose is to a bat. The ball will travel faster from the bowler's arm and if you look at it creatively you will see a pig in it.

Please also settle this question between us: when there are several of us around are we mongooses or mongeese?

Also while you are at it, please check if there are more than 1411 of us left?

Sincerely,
(from a concerned and friendly neighborhood mongoose)