Who is Fake IPL Player?

While IPL 2009 is slowly turning into a (literally) damp squib, the Hatters thoughts turn to a most singular blog has made its appearance - Fake IPL Player.

Who's the culprit? The Kolkata Knight Riders (their name took longer to write than their average batting stint lasts) have strenuously denied that Fake IPL Player is one of theirs, which does raise suspicion that he just might be a player and an insider after all. Methinks they do protest too much.

But, all said and done, he or she is probably a journalist, letting out all the gossip that staid editors and libel laws won't let him or her publish.

But, leaving reality aside for a moment, what if one tries to deduce the identity of the player believing the claims on the blog, in the fashion of Sci-Fi fans (or theologians, for that matter) making reasoned arguments based on their fictional canon?

The game is afoot ...

Let's see, what clues do we have, my dear Watson?

1. He is a Ranji player, and somewhat of an all-rounder, and a very good fielder
2. He grew up in Kolkata (or some other place also referred to as Cal.)
3. One of the opening bowlers is his state-mate - either Ashok Dinda or Ishant "little John" Sharma.
4. He hasn't met Shikhar Dhawan before the IPL.
5. One of his former school team-mates plays for the Bangalore Royal Challengers
   
6. He is not a Ganguly-camper
7. He does not think much about Sreesanth (well, not too many do)

From clues 3 and 4, it would seem he plays for Bengal (since if Ishant were his state-mate, he'd have met Shikhar Dhawan , another Delhi-ite) before.

Let's see, the Bengal players in KKR are (according to Wikipedia)

1. Debabrata Das
2. Wriddhiman Saha
3. Ashok Dinda
4. Laxmi Ratan Shukla
5. Sourav Ganguly

Saha is ruled out, being a wicketkeeper batsman rather than someone who "bowls a bit". Ganguly is of course, ruled out. Ashoke Dinda is ruled out, ignoring the pathological case of him being his own state-mate. That leaves Lakshmi Ratan Shukla (Ranji Veteran, bit of an all-rounder) and Debabrata Das (bit of an all-rounder, but a Ranji greenhorn). Hmmm...

Ok, now clue number 5 comes in handy. Looking at the Royal Challengers profiles, the only stand-out Bong seems to be Shreevats Goswami - 19 years of age. Das is 21. Shukla is 27.

Someone's out to frame Debabrata Das, eh? Who's even heard of Debabrata Das???

And then again, if one ignores all those clues as deliberate misdirections, one cricketer who's known to be a decent blogger, and short in stature is Aakash Chopra. Incidentally, he's playing for Kolkata Knight Riders. Hmm...

The rain still falls ... I might as well go to sleep instead of trying to play Sherlock Holmes

Update: More here. This feller refuses to go away!

PS: for those who missed the allusion - Fake Steve Jobs was a blogosphere mega-hit a while ago.

Epilogue(or Prologue to the future?): So FIP has created a video, purportedly his shadow talking. He now claims to be an "insider", which means he's likely to be a journalist. He claims to have grown up in Delhi, and loves Kolkata, enough to utter the odd phrase in well accented, probably native, though not 100% natural Bong. Probashi? Possibly. The liberal use of "ch****a kaat diya/kat gaya" is interesting. That particular phrase, though not the obscenity that it centres on, is a Delhi staple.

So, my dear Watson, we shall pursue all Delhi-Bong journalists with a vengeance. The game is afoot again! But is FIP throwing another red herring our way to lead us astray? ....