IPL team sued for using Bhagat Sing's name

IPL team, Kings XI was sued for using the name of Bhagat Singh in the commercial ad of the team. The complaint was filed by the grandson of Bhagat Singh, Abhey Singh Sandhu. The ad of Kings XI read "“The stadium was silent. Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru had just walked into the stands. Are you the wildest Kings XI fan in the stadium? Then you are fan of the match...”The complainant filed the suit in view of the commercial nature of ad. He also criticised the greedy nature of IPL. A week ago some NGOs had moved the court and staged demonstrations against the ad. The team administration had taken steps to withdraw the advertisement.Preity Zinta apologized for the advertisement.

One cannot take a stand on this issue. Since Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru are national heroes this may have hurt the feelings of some section of people. Given the stature of martyrs, this was a normal reaction. The team authorities should have consulted someone, considering the volatility of the issue. There is another view in this issue. Pictures of heroes like Cheguevra , Fidel Castro are used in apparels and accessories. They are even used in shoes and chappals. The Kings XI team used our national heroes in an unprovoked way. Now ball is in the court.It is the court to decide.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

The Indian hockey after World Cup

The Indian Team finished eighth in the world cup hockey held in India. This was an improvement as compared to the last world cup where it finished at the eleventh position. As the world cup comes to an end one must see the positive signs. The Dhyan Chand stadium was in its full capacity for all the matches that India played except for the match against Argentina. The whole stadium thundered with slogans. The whole stadium standing and singing for the national anthem was a true treat to watch. Even the TV viewers reverberated the vibe. The audience included families,youth,senior citizens. Everyone had high hopes on India. The TV viewership for the matches was at an all time record. All this was due to the publicity work done by sponsors,media,government bodies. The Hero Honda, SAIL ads projected the pride of Indian Hockey. I think the strike of Indian players about their payment issue also helped the publicity.

Most of us now feel that cricket hogged undue attention. Hockey is back in the hearts of India. Hockey needs to be promoted as it is a game that demands greater skill and stamina. The game is not at all a child's play. The government,media and corporate world should give hockey its past glory and attention. The Indian hockey administrators must take this opportunity for the popularity of the game. They should conduct more competitive tournaments.The International Hockey Federation must be happy about the overall conduct of the World Cup. The whole committee did their best from their limitations.

The Indian team had done their best in the world cup. They had their problems, but they put them aside for the nation. There is plenty to improve. Everything can't be achieved in a single tournament. We need patience. Let us not axe our coach Brasa. He had done a pretty decent job. Let him continue. We need a permanent coach I think Brasa is the best for that job. Let us hope for the best in Commonwealth games.

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India thrashed by Australia and Spain

Australia was too hot to handle Australia with its speed hockey sneaked into our defense and scored easily. Our defense was really week. We were not adept in handling those long passes which were with pinpoint precision. They easily created tremors in our defence. India surely missed Sivendra. Deepak Thakur was offbeat.We were able to contain the Australians in the second half, but goals didn't come.

Spain was lackluster in the field. It was the weakness of Indian defense that helped Spain. In order to make any impression in the remaining matches we need to get the defense strong. Coach Brasa did a commendable job in transforming the side from broken pieces to a united one. Team had improved a lot.

The IPL Fantasy

IPL(Indian Premier League) is back in India. The league starts next week. The ads this time have given importance to its return to India. Projecting it as a matter of Indian pride with national song Sare Jahan Se Acha .One thing about IPL is its innovative ad campaigns. I like their campaigns. Last year the agency was O&M now it is some other ad agency(JWT). The red carpet ad has some charges of plagiarism. Its similar to the coke ad for Olympics 2008.

I was not at all interested in IPL in its inaugural edition. I was averse to the idea of supporting a club. All that matters was nationality. I supported all Indian players. But when the second edition came I became a CSK fan. During that time we had no other job as it was our final year in the college. We had a TV in our hostel .The petty fight in the name of clubs was really funny to watch. IPL was the talking point whether it was in mess, classrooms, labs or bars.

IPL had changed the mindset of Indian cricket fans. They started supporting Gilchrist against Sevag. Club mattered more than nationality at IPL. All this was a smart move that made BCCI richer. The original credit should go to Zee and Kapil for their ICL.

Sivendra's ban minimised

Good news for India!! Sivendra's ban reduced to two matches. Still he misses the all important matches. If it was cricket the situation would have been different(the ban would have been quashed). Sadly India is not ruling the federation, unlike ICC.

From the replays we can't find the incident as intentional.Even the live TV commentator told that it wasn't intentional. On what basis did they ban him?

All the best for today's match.

Hockey World Cup

India started off the World Cup campaign by drubbing Pakistan. I was watching the live match after a long time. Thanks to the campaign of Hero Honda. Actually our game has improved. We were attacking right from the start. We were converting our penalty corners. I couldn't believe how we missed out Olympics last year. The new coach, Brasa has done his job. But its too early too predict.

There was too much chaos before the start. Issues like player's pay,captaincy, team unity,exhibition match caught the attention of the media. But all these issues were in the back burner once the match started. Sadly, our front player Sivendra is banned from three matches. I think it was too harsh. Whether its cricket or hockey India is always at the receiving end.

The organizing committee had been poor with too many masters. Government too bear the blame for this state of affairs. All this are affecting our Commonwealth games. Before signing off I wish all the best for the hockey team ... DHAK DHAK GO..