By P.T. Bopanna
Hailing from Kodagu (Coorg) district in Karnataka, I am passionate about the game of hockey. It is said that hockey flows in the blood of Kodavas (Coorgs).
But I am not a cricket buff. I sometimes wonder why so much importance is being given to cricket, a game played by just over a dozen countries. Maybe because that is the only game in which Indians excel.
Taking advantage of Indians’ obsession with cricket, Lalit Mody conceived the Indian Premier League (IPL) and showed how millions of rupees can be made by politicians, businessmen, power brokers, and betting syndicates.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wonders how Jay Shah, son of Union Home minister, Amit Shah, who “does not even know how to hold the bat, has been made the chairman of the International Cricket Council.”
Elections to the Karnataka State Cricket Association is round the corner. Former Indian cricketer Venkatesh Prasad, is contesting for the post of president and he being opposed by K.N. Shanth Kumar, a journalist and director of the Deccan Herald newspaper group.
In his bid to control the affairs of Chinnaswamy stadium, Venkatesh Prasad is being supported by his old cricketing buddies, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath.
Being a journalist myself, I would support a fellow journalist, and not Venkatesh Prasad, about whom I do not know much because I am not a cricket enthusiast.
But I must confess I am a fan of Venkatesh Prasad, who played for India in the 1990s, when it comes to his dancing skills after watching the CRED ad campaign, where he played the role of “boy band”.
The CRED ad was conceptualised by Devaiah Bopanna and team. In the campaign called “Venkaboys”, cricketers, including Venkatesh Prasad, parody the popular music group Vengaboys (in picture).
Sharing the link to the video where Venkatesh Prasad is jiving with his fellow cricketers:
