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The cricket was dreadful: the shot selection was better than Sehwag8217;s, the ball angles sharper than Harbhajan8217;s, but the overall p...

The cricket was dreadful: the shot selection was better than Sehwag8217;s, the ball angles sharper than Harbhajan8217;s, but the overall picture dismal. Indian supporters would have been out or enraged by the quality of DD National8217;s transmission of the cricket test match from Bangalore. It was poorer than what is seen on any other channel, including DD Sports. The next time anyone awards sports telecast rights to Prasar Bharati there should be an exit clause: if fuzz appears anywhere other than on Saurav8217;s or Anil8217;s overnight chins, the contract stands cancelled.

The cricket show, Fourth Umpire with Charu Sharma, Kris Srikkanth, Atul Wassan and a lady not chosen for cricketing reasons, needs a fifth umpire to declare it OUT. Srikkanth is appealingly boyish and Wassan rugged as the turf 8212; attributes unnecessary in expert commentators 8212; but they add little to our appreciation of the action. They8217;re cramped around a table of uncertain shape, and Wassan had to watch his hands as they roved lest they wandered onto the lady. She, poor dear, cast bemused glances from one gentleman to another like the only cricket she knows is the one who serenades the night. We know post-cricket shows are advertising opportunities, but let8217;s at least pretend they serve another purpose. A tip: watch G Boycott on ESPN instead.

Monday saw Aaj Tak give its opinion that in Maharashtra, Congress/ NCP would win 167-175 seats, BJP 95-105. And the winner is8230; on NDTV was the rebel without a party: Cong/ NCP-132, BJP 111 and 45-odd seats to that wild card entry known as Independents and party defectors/ expelled species. Once again, two polls on the same day, poles apart. By the way, why did NDTV speak repeatedly only to Pramod Mahajan 8212; was it because Barkha was on his campaign trail?

The live TV debates in the American Presidential election ended last week, much to the chagrin of CNN. On Tuesday and Friday we had an opinion from everyone of the 50 states and every corner of the world 8212; except India 8212; before CNN had exhausted its possibilities. Seriously, you must know when to stop otherwise, you8217;ll eventually hit a dead end.

Stop is something TV channels do not understand when it comes to Princess Diana. There must have been more programmes based on her life in one year than on all royalty throughout the world in the last decade. We are more intimately acquainted with her life than our own. Diana and Camilla Discovery differed from other hybrids to the extent that it gave undue prominence to Parker Bowles8217;s nose as she poked it into Bonny Prince Charlie8217;s affairs.

Far more rewarding were the Eagles that landed on Star World Hell freezes over. How they sang their hearts out. Everyone who listens to what passes for pop music these days, should have watched their concert. Them stragglers made the tears go pop when they sang Desperado.

FTV8217;s Beach Awards flashed flesh across the screen like it was a breaking news story. It8217;s time to inform the fashion aficionados at the channel that bare bodies held together by a few flimsy adornments here and there are as ancient as Ajanta and Ellora and about as trendy as the Ambassador car. Give us Tom Cruise or Shah Rukh Khan fully clothed any day. If you must display the human anatomy, find better excuses. Listen to Miss Bulgaria introduce herself: 8216;8216;I am 18, 1.76 m, 87-60-90 and Noami Campell is my favorite model.8217;8217; Bully for you, honey, but so what?

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Condom ads are not normally a fitting subject to public scrutiny, however, the ad in question deserves to be noticed. A hard rain is falling and a man soaked to the marrow, enters a shop, politely and quite reasonably asks for an umbrella chhatri if you must know. Umbrella, demands the puzzled chemist. Yes, replies our drip, umbrella as in condom and he dances out clutching his purchase did he pay for it? Notice how often they never do so in TV commercials. Will this kind of ad increase sales of said product?