Fake IPL player and scandal monger par tabloids is full of juice in his first-ever print interview

Fake IPL player and scandal monger par tabloids is full of juice in his first-ever print interview

IT wasn't Sachin Tendulkar or Rohit Sharma's form that created a buzz during IPL 2009. Cricket fatafat suddenly had a new posterboyu00a0-- an anonymous, purported Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player who "revealed" everything that went on behind the scenes on his blog, www.fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com.

Packed with nicknames like Lordie for Sourav Ganguly and Prince Charles of Patiala for Yuvraj Singh, the blog became a rage, with the KKR reportedly launching a witch-hunt to dig out the mole. Fans and authorities went into a tizzy over his wildly entertaining posts. Just out with his debut novel, The Gamechangers, FIP chatted with MiD DAY on why he loves it when Ness Wadia gets smacked, and how he plans to launch a book Mr India-style.

A supporter of Chennai Super Kings at a game against Royal Challengers
Bangalore in the second semi-final of the IPL Twenty20 league match at
The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on May 23, 2009.
AFP PHOTO/Saeed KHAN

Now that the book is out, will you reveal yourself?
Anonymity gives me the space I need to work on my next project. So, I have no plans to reveal myself in the near future.u00a0u00a0

Will the blog be back during IPL 3?
The blog in its earlier avatar has lived its life. I don't want to flog a dead blog. But I believe that the Fake IPL Player will still stay relevant. He will come, periodically, in various avatars, on different media and hopefully continue to shock and entertain. The book was a logical extension of the blog. Sometimes, your entire life boils down to one moment of madness.

Are you looking forward to IPL 3?
I love the IPL! It's a cricket lover's fantasy come true. Ever since the 1996 World Cup, I had dreamt of watching Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya open the batting together. IPL made it possible. I always wanted to see Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist have a go at each other.
Again, IPL made it happen. It also tends to throw up the most unexpected gems. Like Shilpa Shetty asking a fast bowler to spin the ball more. Or Ness Wadia getting bashed up. There's never a dull moment.

What are your predictions for IPL 3 ?
I think Chennai is the best team. Rajasthan Royals have a method to their madness. Both are led by two exceptionally sharp minds. Twenty20 is really a captain's medium u2014 you can plan and plan, but it all boils down to snap decisions on field.
The smart gambler streak in Warney (Shane Warne) and MS Dhoni makes them the two best captains. Bangalore too has a good chance. They have the best Indian contingent. It's the team with the best lesser-known Indian players who are the hardest to beat. They may reach the finals again.
The team most likely to repeat last year's performance is Kolkata Knight Riders. I'm not sure they've got their act right, with their recent complaints about being hard-hit and their baffling approach in the auctions. When they couldn't get Abdur Razzaq, they maxed out on a batting all-rounder, Kieron Pollard. To compensate, they went with Shane Bond for reportedly $1.3 million.
If they wanted a specialist bowler, wouldn't Clint McKay, who's got the best slower ball in business today,be better value for money than the injury-prone Bond?
And given how badly their Indian batsmen let them down last year, they should have grabbed Kaif when he became available. They could have had Kemp or McKay, and Kaif for less than $400,000.

What is your favourite form of cricket?
There is no greater sport than a test match played on a sporting wicket between two evenly matched sides. Following it is like being in a serious relationship. You invest a bit of your soul in it. And after five days of tribulations, it could end in heartbreak or pure ecstasy. T20 is like a quickie in the back of a car, but it's also an ODI killer. ODIs are on life support right now.

How do you see the IPL?
IPL is primarily a sports-based reality entertainment show. It's got celebrity-spotting, plots and conspiracies, rags-to-riches stories, and the Grand Jackpot.
But these games are real, and people like Warne, Ganguly and Kumble don't like to lose. T20 is definitely demanding. But test cricket can be a lot more demanding, especially for bowlers. Warney can easily play through IPL, but I'm not sure he can last another test match now.

Rahul Dravid said the big money in 20-20 cricket has spoilt young players. Do you agree?
A man of Dravid's intelligence can rarely be incorrect. Imagine you're a 20-year-old, taking the local from Dahisar to Dadar every day with your face snuffed under somebody's smelly armpit. After a few years of playing for India, you bag an IPL contract. Your life changes! You buy a Mercedes and a sea-facing apartment, walk the ramp and have girls throwing themselves at you. Even if you get dropped from the India side, your life in the fast lane continues, and you realise that you don't really need to score runs to enjoy this. It's hard for a 20-year-old to resist.
But it's the BCCI that should be asked these questions. What are they doing to mentor India's young talent? Sir Alex Ferguson personally nurtured players like Beckham and now, Rooney. Barcelona raised Messi like a child. Our young players are thrown into shark-infested seas without so much as a life jacket on. We have almost lost Rohit Sharma. I hope Manish Pandey doesn't go that way.u00a0u00a0u00a0

How did the blog happen?
I had been sharing stories with close friends for years. One day, they said they wanted to read it while the IPL was on, in real time. A blog sounded like a fun idea, and it was supposed to be a dirty little black book between the four of us. I never expected anyone to find out about it. One day, I woke up to see saw five 'followers' and several comments. My friends denied having told anyone about it, though I doubt that. At the time I felt differently about it, but now I am not complaining. When the follower count reached double figures, I was a bit worried, but friends encouraged me to go on. A couple of days later, Cricinfo put it on their home page. By the end of the day, the follower count was 150. Eventually, it reached almost 9,000.

Why did you pretend to be a member of the KKR?
The world assumed I was a KKR player. I never accepted or claimed it. If I had, I could have landed myself in very serious legal trouble.

John Buchanan was clearly one of your least favourite people last season. Why? Who's your favourite IPL personality?
I think John Buchanan was single-handedly responsible for KKR's performance last year. Lalit Modi's my favourite. He's a flawed genius.

Were you ever worried about the blog leading to the expulsion of innocent players?
I always ensured I gave enough clues to who I could or could not be. When the blog was still private, I was a bit careless. But once it got popular and I decided to continue, I edited out earlier indiscretions and made sure I didn't put anyone under the scanner. I was concerned when Aakash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar were sent back and even stopped blogging for a few days till I was sure that it wasn't because of me.

Did you ever come close to being discovered?
I don't know. But I lived in morbid fear of being found out every day. The rush of it was intoxicating, though. Every night I'd decide to end it, only to change my mind in the morning. Eventually, the decision to stay anonymous was decided via a best-of-three coin toss.

How did you manage to keep your identity a secret? Secrets have a way of getting out.
Those in the know-how of FIP are a tiny group. Funnily, some people have come to me saying that they know who FIP is!u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

Tell us about your book.
It's is a fictionalised behind the scenes account of a high-profile cricket league with many sub-plots. An Australian coach conspires against India's favourite son, a Bollywood star is desperate to win, two warring princes of Indian cricket stake claim to a dynastic sword, and a self-proclaimed Caesar of cricket plots his way to world domination. Upsetting the apple-cart is an evil blogger. The core is that the authorities hire a detective to hunt him down. The book explores imagined machinations and deceptions of the rich and powerfulu00a0-- everyone with something to gain and a lot to lose. It's a story of big bucks, bigger personalities, and fragile egos battling for supremacy.

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