Hi,
Lets get straight to the point. Since there has hardly been any cricket in this World Cup for the Indian fan to talk about, we can focus more on Mandira Bedi than cricket. At least she continues her journey in WC 2007 unlike the Indian team who must be busy packing their bags by now.
Mandira has been competing for screen space with the likes of Dean Jones, Henry Olonga, Asif Ali Baig and our own Chalu(I mean Charu) Sharma. Needless to say who the underdog was. I am sure sha has been asked to speak less and as far as poassilbe limit her speeches to "Lets take a short break" and "Welcome after the short break". With so litte of strike, she has still managed to qualify the first round and will continue into the super 8s.
Lets agree: she knows as much about cricket as Maninder Singh knew about openning the batting. She has been doing rather well on this sticky wicket than Maninder did in his days. There has been a marked improvement in her knowledge of cricket between the world cups.She was expecting Sachin Tendulkar to score 200 odd versus Holland in 2003. After watching all 11 players crumble for a similar total, she has become rather conservative in her approach. She expected India to be able to reach 200 against Bangladesh, if they tried hard. She was so correct in her guesses this time.
Our men in blue were not happy that she rode their success in wc 2003 and more so that they could never watch her in those noodle straps that have been making headlines in tabloids. They have ensured that they get to see most of her this time around. So you know why our men in blue fared so miserably. It her noodle straps to blame.
Our poor man Chalu(oh Sorry.Charu) has had the worst of times. Neither has he the background of Dean Jones nor the appeal of Mandira. Paise ke liye aadmi ko kya kya karna padta hai.He runs the risk of being out witted by Harsha Bhogle in real times.Maybe ha can ask Mandira to get a side role in one of her non-cricketing shows / movies. See, Mandira rules here too.
Believe it or not, even the bookies have taken note of her noodle straps. There is a lot of betting going around on what would Mandira’s next faux pas be. I mean, even this can be fixed. So Guys, whenever she stoops next, just remember, she may be doing it on purpose. Dont look at her noodle straps or whatever is inside, beacuse you would be playing into the hands of a bookie.
Ok Ok, that’s enough - let me end it here. there is nothing left for us in WC 2007 except Mandira’s gestures. Had it not been for her, the World Cup would have actually been over for an India fan like me. Hats off to Mandira for keeping the world cup alive. May she come out as the winner.