Duh...Allow foreign retiring citizens to be in India...

Here is a crazy rule being enforced in India; retiring foreigners are not allowed to settle in India. With the globalization of Indian commerce (and way of living, to some extent), this will be the case often. Plus these retirees end up spending their dollars and pounds in India and contribute to the local economy.

Maybe there can be restrictions, but there cannot be a ban. I am guessing that this does not apply to persons of Indian origin. Because soon there will be tons of British and US citizens retiring back to India(and doing social work). Either way, retirees should not be stopped this way; maybe a new visa type can be arranged to take care of this.

City based team angst...

With the heartbreaking Mumbai Indians loss to the Rajasthan Royals, Indian fans get to feel the angst that goes with a city based franchise. Unlike national teams that we support unconditionally(think Harbhajan), our relationship with a city based franchise is more complex as we get bombarded with more up to date information and get to experience them more up close and personal. Plus there are more direct viewing opportunities.

Now we know why Wankhede games have a different feel compared to the DY Patil games. Apparently 70% of the Wankhede tickets are sold inhouse, so it leads to a grumpy knowledgeable crowd, very much like a British crowd. DY Patil has not yet gathered such a crust, plus it is a bigger stadium. But the IPL finals will not have any such allocations, so a true fan can watch the game more easily. Ofcourse there is always a danger of a rabid crowd like the ones you see at Eden park. But that is probably more a sign of a dead city; Mumbai folks typically are more diverse and will not be subject to such combustions.

Mumbai Indians are not out of it yet. A loss by Chennai Superkings can still open the door for Mumbai. And with the semifinals and finals in Mumbai, they will be a very difficult opponent to beat.

As Shane Warne has indicated, having semifinals at a "neutral" venue is not a good idea, there is no advantage for the top seed. Infact, if the local team scrapes through to the semifinal, mentally they end up becoming the top seed due to the support that they will receive. The semifinals have to be held at the home team ground. The finals can be at a rotating prearranged venue as it allows for better planning and showing off of the climactic event of the league.

Cricket, terrorism connection?...

There has been another blast in India; this time in Rajasthan. This seems to happen every time India and Pakistan talk peace and commerce. Since there are a bunch of males across the border who make their money and obtain their wives via such attitudes and behaviors, this is not going to end soon. It is probably a good idea not to have any face to face meetings with Pakistan; the human costs of these useless meetings seems to be pretty high. If Pakistan keeps Kashmir as the top issue locally, there is no point doing any business with them. India can let them rot and fester in the stink of their own hatred.

This also indicates that India has a lot of sleeper cells that can be activated at will. There seems to be a disturbing tie in to cricket as well. When India wins important games, the target is usually Kashmir; the easiest target of all.

This time around, there was some hard bargaining with the cricket board of Pakistan, which is controlled by the military, regarding Shoaib Akhtar. The board was made to drop accusations before providing Shoaib with a chance to play. Plus Shoiab outed them when they asked for their cuts when he makes money in the IPL. This does not seem to have sat well with the military elite that typically use the corruption money to send their male sons to colleges in United States. So they seem to have gone after the IPL Commissioner's home state and the city that hosts the best team at the same time. This also shows you that terrorism and loss of human life has become a fun game for the masters. The Shoaib Akhtar drama played out over just a couple of weeks, so the terrorist cell activation and execution was real quick.

An unexploded bomb has been obtained; this means that the culprits will be found eventually.