Prabha had just returned from a day IPL game at Wankhede where Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings in the last over in a tight finish. Padma had come after attending a wedding and was all decked up in Kancheepuram Silk saree. Both wanted to talk about their outing but Prabha prevailed and the discussion moved to cricket. Padma quipped chirpily, ”What a difference seeing the match live than on TV – it is a totally different experience”.
She went on to describe things minutely. It was Kaushik who finally broke Prabha’s unstoppable monologue. There are three types of cricket matches – Test, ODIs and T20. There are three types of Bridge event – Team event, IMP pairs and Match Point pairs. Can we say that strategy in Bridge also varies according to the event you are playing?
Padma said that if we were to go by the luck factor, Team games will be like Test matches, MP pairs will be like ODI and T20 like IMP pairs. Kaushik did not quite understand the comparison especially between MP-ODI and T20-IMP pairs. Padma elaborated that there is nothing to discuss that test matches are like team games in Bridge. Statistics don’t lie – If you drop one board in MP you recover next board by getting a good score. However if someone makes a slam against you in IMP pairs, you may have to wait for many boards before you get a board to recover.
Kingo interjected and said it was about when to be aggressive and when to be passive. You have to be more aggressive and bid close games in IMP events but be passive and not bid close games in MP. It is only towards the end if you are not doing well that you may start becoming aggressive to make up.
A heated debate took place as they could not conclude if an MP or IMP pair event was linked to ODI or T20. With no conclusion, the discussion went on to whether a dropped catch or missed opportunity was more costly in ODI, T20 or test matches. Kaushid was quick on the trigger “A dropped catch is a dropped catch. In a team game you drop one board and you have lost the match. You keep making unforced errors then you lose whatever be the format of the game.” Padma tugged at her sari palloo and said – We don’t have a conclusion on the comparison today but agree that dropping catches are expensive in Bridge and Cricket”
Tailpiece: Goofy was puzzled at all the heat the debate generated. Woof Woof he said -Why compare a mind sport with and outdoor sport. He had to be told this is called technical time pass doing meaningless comparisons.
