IPL-2022: 5-Time Champions MI Crashes To 6th Straight Defeat Even As Top Spots Are Up For Grabs!

Five-time IPL Champions Mumbai Indians (MI), the maximum number any franchise has won the tournament title, has crashed to their consecutive sixth defeat in IPL-2022 losing to Lucknow Super Giants (LPG) by 18 runs today at the Brabourne stadium Mumbai. The irony gets even bitter as this time the tournament has most of the league matches being played in Mumbai, the erstwhile home ground for the team, leaving the crowds with nothing to cheer for. I just wonder if this is some kind of a jinx with the newly appointed Team India captain in all three formats going on a losing spree like the former captain Virat Kohli with his team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) figuring at the bottom steps of the points ladder in almost all the previous versions of the IPL! Now, MI is looking at a disastrous ouster from the tournament unless it achieves the near-impossible task of winning at least 7 of its remaining 8 matches to stay in contention.

 

What ails MI? Well, to my mind the biggest factors are the failures of MI Captain Rohit Sharma, opener Ishan Kishan, veteran Pollard and India’s main strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah to deliver. Rohit, even though he has become only the second player after Kohli to amass more than 10k T20 runs, has scored so far just 141 runs (highest 41) in 6 games while Bumrah has taken just 5 wickets in the six outings. There are, of course, other factors: MI has a weaker bowling attack with no one to give moral support to Bumrah; the franchise is sorely missing the absence its erstwhile integral keeper-batsman Quinton de Kock (now in LSG) and the mainstay bowler Hardik Pandya (now captaining Gujarat Titans); and the fall-out overdependence on Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis and the like.

 

However, even as MI is tottering on the brink of an ignominious ouster the tournament is really opening up with 8 teams in contention for the play-offs (the BCCI in the meantime has announced the play-off games to be played either in Lucknow or Kolkata and the Final on 29^th May in Ahmedabad). The newbies GT and LSG occupy the top spots in the points table with 8 points each, the former winning 4 out of 5 and the latter winning 4 out of 6 so far. While GT skipper Hardik Pandya is coming back to his potential the LSG skipper KL Rahul has been on a roll with the bat as well as in the new role of a proactive team leader. In the first of the double-header today Rahul has scored a glorious 103 not out off 60 balls helping his team set up a daunting target of 200 runs for MI.

 

At the moment RCB with its terrific victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) today rises to the third position with 8 points, followed by Rajasthan Royals (RR), Punjab Kings (PBKS), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) locked with 6 points each, the net run-rate putting them in this order that can change instantly. DC remains with 4 points winning just 2 of 5 outings. One highlight of the tournament is the resurgence of the SRH winning all its last three matches under the leadership of Kane Williamson. KKR is, as always, unpredictable just like its vital all-rounder Andrew Russel. Dinesh Karthik whose performance for the KKR was under a scanner is now showering fours and sixes for the RCB: in today’s match building an unbeaten partnership of 97 runs with Shahbaz Ahmed (32 in 21) and contributing a glorious innings of 66 runs in just 34 balls thus rescuing the team from a precarious position to setting a challenging target of 190 runs for DC, finally enabling his team to win by16 runs. There was also a sterling performance by Glen Maxwell of 55 runs in 34 balls earlier in the innings. 

 

Unfortunately, there is nothing to write home about Virat Kohli who is in bits and pieces with the bat for RCB that he had led in earlier versions. Some critics even question his place in the team as he is no longer the captain. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has in the meantime managed to win just one match out of five beating the RCB thanks to great innings of 95 not out by Shivam Dube and 88 by old guard Robin Uthappa thus setting an unassailable target of 216 runs. Apart from the non-performing veterans like Dhoni, Moeen Ali and Bravo the CSK is sorely missing its main strike bowler Deepak Chahar who is ruled out of the tournament due to injury. Captain Ravindra Jadeja and youngster opener Ruturaj Gaikwad are yet to play to potential. For struggling DC Rishabh Pant and David Warner are also not performing consistently; however, this team has the wherewithal to come up anytime.

 

Many more exciting contests are yet to unfold in the coming days that can change the table in any possible way for at least 8 of the 10 franchises. And of course, all teams should be wary of instinctively opting to field first on winning the toss as the results so far show.

Imran Khan: Defiance, Diplomacy And Friendships Of The Unconstitutional Kind!

Imran Khan became the first ever Prime Minister of Pakistan to be voted out of power through a no-confidence motion after a daylong high-voltage drama yesterday that finally culminated in a midnight climax in Islamabad. Perhaps this is the reason as to why the Pakistan parliamentary system had never been used to such political games behind a confidence move unlike in India where such games are very common and often the transfers of power are more or less smooth; Pakistan being more used to army coups and abrupt, often violent, changes. However, the delaying tactics indulged in by Imran and team were not at all constitutional. The irony gets more emphatic as Imran Khan was a democratically elected Prime Minster in 2018 general elections. The monthlong political theatrics had seemingly ended on 7^thApril when the Supreme Court of the country ordered the confidence motion to take place on 9^th April thus reconstituting the dissolved National Assembly. But Imran had other ideas still.

 

His defiance has been phenomenal, not bothering about the constitution or even about the directions of the Supreme Court. On the historic day of 9^th April 2022, termed by many as a sad day for Pakistan democracy, the National Assembly reconvened as ordered, but the motion was not introduced. Imran Khan directed his foreign minister to ask the Speaker for a debate on the foreign conspiracy, and as a result the session was adjourned repeatedly with the opposition having unsuccessful parleys with the Speaker to introduce the motion as ordered by the apex court.

 

Imran stuck to his foreign conspiracy theory even after clarifying in his second national address on 7^th April that the supposed ‘secret cyphered letter’ could not be shared in public as it’d then compromise national security. He, however, said that he’d share in with the Supreme Court. All throughout he openly implicated America as the perpetrator of the conspiracy thus delivering a vital blow to the country’s bilateral relations with the US which is totally contrary to normal international diplomacy apart from his earlier indiscretion of visiting Russia during Ukraine invasion. He also stuck to his praise of India’s non-compromising foreign policy which also would make him unpopular among various Pakistan circles in near future. Imran appealed to the people to come out on the streets and start a revolution in protest against the ‘horse trading traitors’ who were welcoming slavery of a foreign super power again might which might eventually lead to unrest and violence in the country, already on the brink of a looming economic crisis.

 

Contrary to his resolve to play on till the last ball Imran in actuality evaded not only the last ball but the full over yesterday. He did not show his sportsmanship of yore as he never visited the National Assembly along with his PTI supporters and instead, kept on making the unconstitutional moves sitting at his residence. He called for a cabinet meet in the evening and also planned to file a review petition in the Court.

 

From late evening things started happening in quick succession as it was apparent that the Supreme Court deadline was going to be breached. The Chief Justice ordered the doors of the Court to be opened for a midnight review, and the local police began posting forces including a prisoner van in front of the parliament house. The ghosts of a case of the contempt of court, imminent police arrests and a possible Army intervention finally convinced the Speaker to reconvene the session minutes before midnight. And, more appalling scenes were in store.

 

It was unbelievable to behold an almost crying Speaker of the National Assembly demonstrating the ‘foreign conspiracy’ letter before the members and stating emotionally that he had been a worker of the PTI (Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) for decades along with a deep friendship with Imran over the last decades, and that was why he could not betray his leader. He resigned then and there. His Deputy who was delaying the no-confidence vote on 3^rd April followed suit. So then, personal friendships came in the way of observing the sacred democratic and constitutional norms. The newly assigned Speaker occupied the chair now and he introduced the motion moments before midnight.

 

The laboriously manual counting process went for more than an hour, and finally, the results were declared that the motion was passed with 174 votes in favor and none against as the PTI members were not present and the defecting 22 PTI members also did not vote in fear of being disqualified. In the meantime, Imran Khan vacated his official PM residence and shifted to his private residence.

 

The National Assembly is set to continue its full five-year term and the new Prime Minister designate Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of the three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, of the PML-N (Nawaz’ Pakistan Muslim League-N) party to take over charge tomorrow, Monday, the 11^th of April 2022. The 70-year-old Shehbaz Sharif, the three-time Chief Minister of Punjab, does not however have a clean record as he was arrested for money laundering in 2020.

 

Pakistan is looking at an uncertain future, because it is not sure how long the coalition government with PML-N and PPP (Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party) political parties plus the PTI defectors would last as they have a lot of differences on various issues. Of course, the first priority for the new government would naturally be setting the damaged international diplomacy right apart from taking on the economic crisis. Further, the cries of the PTI supporters like ‘bringing back the looters’ or ‘a good man sent home’ combined with the thousands of Imran supporters seen on the streets in Lahore last night are not going to augur well for Pakistan’s secure democratic future. We hope another neighbor of India does not go the Sri Lanka way. 

Russia Ousted From UNHRC Even As India Abstain Again!

In a very significant development on Thursday, April 7, 2022, the 193-member United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has suspended the membership of Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), a UN body formed in 2006 to replace the erstwhile United Nations Human Rights Commission, with 47 elected members and a mission to promote and protect human rights around the world. In an urgently called session of the UNGA 93 nations voted for the suspension of Russia, 24 including China voted against the move and 58 nations including India abstained whose votes did not count in the final tally, and therefore, the UNGA got its two-thirds majority to pass the move. Although the move is not legally binding Russia would be effectively prevented from raising its voice in the UNHRC.  Thus, Russia becomes the first permanent member-nation of the UN Security Council to be ousted from a UN body. The other Security Council members are the US, the UK, France and China.

 

The UNGA move follows in the wake of reports of civilian killings in the Russia-Ukraine war that has been raging for the last 44 days, particularly the recent Bucha massacre near Kyiv. The UNGA resolution expressed grave concern at the violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law by the Russian Federation in Ukraine. While Ukrainian government has welcomed the move the Kremlin authorities have expressed regrets over the decision while denying that Russian soldiers were responsible for the civilian casualties.

 

According to a news agency Russia had called upon some countries prior to the session to vote ‘no’ to the motion instead of just abstaining which might seriously affect its bilateral relations with the abstaining countries. If such reports are true this would impact India both ways: affecting its bilateral relations with Russia adversely and antagonizing the US one more time as India has been abstaining in all the previous sessions of the UNGA on Ukraine invasion.

 

While abstaining from voting against Russia the Indian representative has reiterated India’s resolve for peace and immediate cessation of the conflict. Earlier in regard to the Bucha massacre India had asked for an independent probe into the human rights violations.

 

The UNGA move was expected in light of the fact that the US and its Western allies had had to watch helplessly, apart from imposing more and more sanctions, as the war raged on; their military presence in Ukraine and the involvement of the NATO were avoided to prevent the outbreak of a world war, possibly nuclear; and that recently the US President Joe Biden had downgraded Russia President Putin from a ‘war criminal’ to a ‘butcher’.

 

We feel intensive international diplomacy would be more effective than imposing more and more punitive actions in bringing the war to an end as soon as possible. It’s just unimaginable that destructions and massacre are taking place in a modern world with the digitally connected global citizens made to witness the atrocities in an apparent paralysis.