Padma Lakshmi: Boxing

“…a boxer is trained to sustain pain, to absorb it, to let it happen and let it go. And that’s a very important skill to have in life. Because you will get hit.”
—Padma Lakshmi.


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Marlon Samuels: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Marlon Samuels faces off with Shane Warne.

What he said:

“Maybe I have a real face and he doesn’t.”

Marlon Samuels was not a gracious winner despite his match-winning knock in the World T20 final at Kolkata against England.

The volatile West Indian was quick to let loose a volley at his long-time bete-noire Shane Warne dedicating his man-of-the-match award to the Australian spin king turned commentator.

The duo have a history of clashes dating back to the second edition of the Big Bash league.

Samuels said:

“I woke up this morning with one thing on my mind. Shane Warne has been talking continuously and all I want to say is ‘this is for Shane Warne’. I answer with the bat, not the mic. I played a Test series in Australia (in January 2016) and Shane Warne has a problem with me. Don’t know why. I’ve never disrespected him. It seems that he has a lot inside him that needs to come out. I don’t appreciate the way he continues to talk about me and the things that he keeps doing.”

The facial jibe was a reference to Warne having admitted to using Botox in the past.

What he really meant:

“It’s my turn to face the mike. Warney, can you stand the music?”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I’d really like a bearded and moustachioed Warne, wouldn’t you?”

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Sreesanth would have been a Scottish tearaway.

What he said:

“All I wanted to do was go to Scotland, study, settle there and marry a blonde.”

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth admits that he was never interested in politics when he was young.

The banned fast bowler turned politician is standing for elections to the Kerala State Assembly on a BJP ticket.

He laughs:

“When I was younger, I was not interested in politics or even knowing about the ruling party. All I wanted to do was go to Scotland, study, settle there and marry a blonde.But my life changed because I decided to stay back.”

Sreesanth’s father was a Communist leader.

On questioned if politics is merely a shortcut to return to cricket, the ex-cricketer replied:

“My decision to join politics has nothing to do with my personal life. The first time I was asked to contest (from Madhya Pradesh) was two years ago when I had just gotten married. So if I wanted a shortcut, I could have done that back then. I haven’t even spoken to Anurag Thakur yet. Even after being given a clean chit by the court, I was told very clearly that the (BCCI life) ban will remain. I am not someone who looks for favours — in fact, I was not even the most liked player by my captains.”

Power is what draws him to this game of Russian roulette.

He adds:

“Power is everything. But there was no support till I won the (match-fixing) case.If I can change somebody’s life with a bit of power and help from the government, that’s the best gift I can give someone. I am done with the game……I am putting it on hold for now.”

What he really meant:

“Life was simpler when I was younger. I had simple dreams and Hollywood tastes.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“If I were to do that now, would you term that getting away Scot-free?”

 

England verus West Indies: Let the fireworks flow

England take on the West Indies tonight in Kolkata in the sixth edition of the T20 World Cup.

Neither team is a stranger to the pressures of a final; both have emerged victors in the shortest format of the game.

Joe Root and Chris Gayle will be the cynosure of all eyes.

They are key players for their respective sides.

But finals have an uncanny knack of producing unlikely heroes.

The biggest stars have to perform to the greatest expectations.

Can they? Will they?

Some simply choke under the weight of expectations. Remember Ronaldo in the World Cup final in France in 1998 and his mysterious illness? It could well have been him and not Zinedine Zidane holding up the trophy. (Ronaldo did make amends in 2002. And it was Zidane who got the boot for his infamously provoked headbutt in 2006.Still not a Suarez.)

That’s not the point of this exercise.

It’s simply that cricket is a team sport and that it takes eleven players to get the side across the line.

The better side is simply the one that can keep it together more consistently and more often than other sides.

Those are the teams that make it through a tournament and emerge victorious.

Will it be Eoin Morgan’s England? Or will it be lovable Darren Sammy’s musketeers?

I really don’t know and I really don’t care.

For once, in this tournament I can be neutral and simply say, “Let the fireworks begin.”

Sanjay Manjrekar: Self-confidence

“…one important quality needed for true greatness is great self-confidence……………if there is a hint of self-doubt, then that will stop you from being truly great.”
— Sanjay Manjrekar.

Will this be Mahi’s last World T20?

India take on Australia in a virtual quarter-final this evening at Mohali.

The other three semi-final places have already been booked.
West Indies, New Zealand and England are through to the business end of the World T20.

India are favourites having thrashed the Kangaroos 3-0 Down Under but not before losing the ODI series 1-4.

No team has won the World T20 more than once.

Every edition has been unpredictable.

India, Pakistan, England, West Indies and Sri Lanka have all been crowned victors in this topsy-turvy format.
With no time for recovery from any mistakes, the team which turns up wins.
A stellar performance with the bat or ball is more than enough to decide a game.
If past trends hold, we ought to have a new champion.
Should Australia win tonight and the trend continue, it could be either New Zealand or Australia lifting the trophy, with the prospect of a mouth-watering repeat of last year’s ODI World Cup final.
Indian fans will be disappointed though.

This is probably MS Dhoni’s last T20 World Cup.
Dhoni does not see himself participating in the 2019 ODI World Cup.
Don’t be surprised if Mahi pulls out yet another rabbit from his hat and calls it a day—win or lose.

Johann Cryuff: Extraordinary quotes from an extraordinary player

Johann Cryuff passed away yesterday—aged 68—of lung cancer.

One of the pioneers of Total Football, the Dutchman was part of the side that played the 1974 World Cup final.

The Netherlands were unfortunately  edged out by Franz Beckenbaeur’s West Germany.

They reached the finals once again in 1978—without Cryuff—losing out to Argentina.

Holland made the finals only one more time—in 2010—succumbing to Spain.

Here are some astounding quotes from Cryuff—Player, Philosopher, Manager:

On technique:

“Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your team mate.”

“Someone who has juggled the ball in the air during a game, after which four defenders of the opponent get the time to run back, that’s the player people think is great. I say he has to go to a circus.”

On teamwork:

“Choose the best player for every position, and you’ll end up not with a strong XI, but with 11 strong 1’s.”

“In my teams, the goalie is the first attacker, and the striker the first defender.”

On rich clubs:

“Why couldn’t you beat a richer club? I’ve never seen a bag of money score a goal.”

On leadership:

“Players that aren’t true leaders but try to be, always bash other players after a mistake. True leaders on the pitch already assume others will make mistakes.”

On speed and timing:

“What is speed? The sports press often confuses speed with insight. See, if I start running slightly earlier than someone else, I seem faster.”

“There’s only one moment in which you can arrive in time. If you’re not there, you’re either too early or too late.”

“When you play a match, it is statistically proven that players actually have the ball 3 minutes on average … So, the most important thing is: what do you do during those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball. That is what determines whether you’re a good player or not.”

On mistakes:

“Before I make a mistake, I don’t make that mistake.”

On winning:

“After you’ve won something, you’re no longer 100 percent, but 90 percent. It’s like a bottle of carbonated water where the cap is removed for a short while. Afterwards there’s a little less gas inside.”

“If you can’t win, make sure you don’t lose.”

On team tactics:

“We must make sure their worst players get the ball the most. You’ll get it back in no time.”

“If you have the ball you must make the field as big as possible, and if you don’t have the ball you must make it as small as possible.”

“There are very few players who know what to do when they’re not marked. So sometimes you tell a player: that attacker is very good, but don’t mark him.”

“Every disadvantage has its advantage.”

“There is only one ball, so you need to have it.”

On tough first rounds:

“Surviving the first round is never my aim. Ideally, I’d be in one group with Brazil, Argentina and Germany. Then I’d have lost two rivals after the first round. That’s how I think. Idealistic.”

On results, quality and integrity:

“Quality without results is pointless. Results without quality is boring.”

“People who are not of my level can’t affect my integrity.”

On using computers:

“I find it terrible when talents are rejected based on computer stats. Based on the criteria at Ajax now I would have been rejected. When I was 15, I couldn’t kick a ball 15 meters with my left and maybe 20 with my right. My qualities technique and vision, are not detectable by a computer.”

On keeping it simple:

“Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.”

On being understood:

“If I wanted you to understand it, I would have explained it better.”

Finally:

“In a way I’m probably immortal.”

Ravichandran Ashwin: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Ravichandran Ashwin’s cheeky advice is not tested.

What he said:

“I probably gave him a cheeky idea to try a mankad in the end. We might have taken flak, but why not.”

India’s Ravichandran Ashwin claims that he wasn’t averse to his teammate Hardik Pandya running out his Bangladeshi opponents in the final over of the crucial group encounter played at Bengaluru last evening.

The controversial method of getting batsmen out has been in the news ever since West Indian Keemo Paul mankaded a Zimbabwean player in the recent Under-19 ODI World Cup.

Pandya didn’t have to resort to such an eventuality; his skipper ran out Mustafizur Rahman at his end to clinch the game for India by one run.

What he really meant:

“The Mankad’s not illegal and a win is a win by any legal means.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Hardik Pandya and I  wouldn’t take a running start at the bowler’s end were my team in the same situation.”

Raymond Moore hits all the wrong buttons at Indian Wells

In 2014, it was Shamil Tarpsichev, the President of the Russian Tennis Federation , who set the blogosphere afire with his ill-advised comments about the Williams’ gender on national television.

This time, it’s Raymond Moore, the Indian Wells tournament director who put his foot into his mouth when he remarked thus:

“In my next life when I come back I want to be someone in the WTA, because they ride on the coat tails of the men. They don’t make any decisions and they are lucky. They are very, very lucky. If I was a lady player, I’d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport. They really have.”

The South African is  a  former tennis player and helped establish the joint ATP-WTA tourney.

Moore compounded his folly further by speculating on the future of women’s tennis without Maria Sharapova.

He named Garbine Muguraza and Genie Bouchard as being both “physically attractive and competitively attractive” and that they “can assume the mantle of leadership once Serena decides to stop.”

Moore later apologised but not before a flurry of rejoinders and calls for his resignation from players, commentators and fans alike.

While these are the sort of comments that one can expect from arm-chair fans and critics of the game in the comfort of their homes , or even spectators in sports bars after the influence of a few drinks in rowdy company, it’s not becoming from the CEO of the tournament. He risks alienating women players and their fans.

Serena Williams responded:

“I don’t think any woman should be down on their knees thanking anybody like that. I think Venus, myself, a number of players — if I could tell you every day how many people say they don’t watch tennis unless they’re watching myself or my sister — I couldn’t even bring up that number. So I don’t think that is a very accurate statement.

I think there is a lot of women out there who are very exciting to watch. I think there are a lot of men out there who are exciting to watch. I think it definitely goes both ways.

There’s only one way to interpret that.  ‘Get on your knees,’ which is offensive enough, and ‘thank a man’? We, as women, have come a long way. We shouldn’t have to drop to our knees at any point.”

Patrick McEnroe was among those calling for Moore’s sacking.

Novak Djokovic, however, was his incorrigible self.

He said:

“I think that our men’s tennis world, ATP world, should fight for more because the stats are showing that we have much more spectators on the men’s tennis matches. I think that’s one of the, you know, reasons why maybe we should get awarded more.

Women should fight for what they think they deserve and we should fight for what we think we deserve. I think as long as it’s like that and there is data and stats available and information, upon who attracts more attention, spectators, who sells more tickets and stuff like that, in relation to that it has to be fairly distributed.

Knowing what they have to go through with their bodies — and their bodies are much different than men’s bodies — they have to go through a lot of different things that we don’t have to go through. You know, the hormones and different stuff — we don’t need to go into details. Ladies know what I’m talking about. Really, great admiration and respect for them to be able to fight on such a high level.”

Moore may have apologised and the brouhaha over his remarks will probably die down in a week or so. The average fan’s memory is short-lived.

The gender divide persists.

There exists parity in earnings between men and women at the Grand Slams and other joint tournaments like Indian Wells. Scoffers and skeptics may enquire whether women shouldn’t play five sets as well at the Slams.

Also, shouldn’t, as Djokovic points out, there be attempts to make the women’s game more interesting to the spectators? How many fans can testify to finding women’s matches as evenly matched as men’s?

Also, at the risk of sounding sexist, why shouldn’t the attractiveness of women players be a reason for drawing fans in? The modern men’s game has no real personalities.

Without one of the Big Four—Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray, it’s relatively difficult to market a tourney to fans.

Is there no shred of truth in Moore’s remarks , misogynistic as they seem?

Gautam Gambhir: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Gautam Gambhir is quite tone-deaf when it comes to Bachchan.

What he said:

“I am nothing more than a mere mortal when it comes to judging Bachchan, even if he was cooking an omelette.”

Former India cricketer and opener Gautam Gambhir professes his unreserved admiration for the great Hindi film thespian Amitabh Bachchan. The baritone-voiced actor sang the Indian national anthem prior to the Indo-Pak World T20 encounter last evening at Eden Gardens in Kolkatta.

Gambhir added:

“Here he was, at my beloved Eden Gardens, his deep voice in its full youth, loaded with grace and admiration for the national anthem. Only soldiers can sing better that Bachchan did on Saturday.”

What he really meant:

“I’m a huge fan of Hindi film cinema and Amitabh Bachchan in particular. In my eyes, he can do no wrong. He could even boil water and I’d watch with open-mouthed admiration.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I wonder how Shah Rukh Khan would have sung the anthem instead. Perhaps, a duet with Kajol would have baked an Eden cake.”