Of 'streaky' strokes and 'classy' cut...

That was ‘streaky’,” said a youngster soon after Robin Uthappa hit a four at one of the recent IPL matches. During the ongoing IPL matches, new lingoes and expressions are flashed on the screen every time a player hits a four or a six, or fields well, which make sense to none except the ardent IPL fans!

Metrolife spoke to a few IPL enthusiasts to find out the meaning of some of these lingoes and also when are they used during the match. According to Samir Kochhar, actor-cum-cricket presenter, these catchy phrases are fun and unique. He says that some of the expressions are used for certain players only. “A popular one is the ‘Four of a kind’. Literally speaking, it is a poker phrase but in the IPL it is used for Shane Warne because he is considered to be a gambler on the field and no one knows what he is going to strategise next,” explains Samir.

There are some words like ‘Classy’, ‘Streaky’, ‘Penneth’ used only when a four is hit on the field. These words describe the style in which the player bats. “There are some shots that are really a class apart and that’s when the word ‘Classy’ is used,” says Srinath, an engineering student. The word ‘Respect’ is used when a player hits two consequent fours or when he bats well.

“There are also some ‘Hinglish’ words like ‘Chalaak’ which is used when it looks like a player is not going to hit a four but ultimately does,” explains Raghu, a cricket enthusiast. Catchy phrases are used when there is a misfield or a dropped catch. “A lot of these phrases are used to show respect to the way a player bats or fields. Words like ‘Tight’ is
used when the fielder almost runs out a batsman,” adds Srinath.    

lingoes like ‘Huge’, ‘Massive’, ‘Dispatched’ are used to describe sixes hit out of the field. Many fans say that these lingoes are not all that difficult to understand as many are pretty much self-explanatory.

“But when speaking aloud, one does have to stress on the words making it sound like a big six, for example, ‘huge’ is pronounced as ‘huuuugggeee’,” adds Samir.