India

Venus Williams: What she said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Venus Williams is a would-be danseuse.

What she said:

“I want to learn Indian dance. I’ve seen some interesting moves in the movies. I don’t know the names of the movies, but I enjoyed the steps. It would be great to get the help of an instructor. It’ll be a fun activity, and I’m looking forward to it. Who knows where that might take me.”

 

Venus Williams is looking forward to her visit to India next month where she will be participate in Vijay Amritraj’s Champions Tennis League representing her franchise Bangalore Raptors.

Feliciano Lopez, Thomas Enqvist and Ramkumar Ramanathan are her partners-in-racquets.

Venus said:

“India is always in my plans. I’ve been meaning to return after my first visit, but I didn’t get an opportunity…. Serena and I did well in the tournament; we played a great semifinal. I’m excited to be back in Bangalore again. 

Vijay’s (Amritraj) standing in Indian tennis and given all that he has achieved internationally, besides my desire to visit India again, was why I decided to play the league.

Indian tennis has great history. Sania (Mirza) had a good win in Singapore. Doubles success is not something that should be taken lightly. There will come a stage when success in doubles could translate into performances in singles.”

 

On her retirement plans:

“I definitely aim to play Rio, the 2016 Olympics.

After that, let’s see. I don’t think I can plan that far ahead. I have enjoyed this season, played a lot of good matches; got some good results. I’m getting better physically and game-wise, and my confidence is up again. I’m looking forward to 2015. I have a few things that I would like to improve in my game, my second serve for instance. Most of the goals I have in tennis at this stage are to do with skills rather than numbers.”

On the sari:

“It is one of my favourite outfits. I’ve forgotten how to tie it, though. I want to re-learn that. It’s an elegant attire, and I’d like to get a handle on how to wear it.”

What she really meant:

“Bollywood choreographed dancing seems like a great aerobic workout. What a fun way to exercise. Perhaps it’ll help me get on ‘Dancing With The Stars’.”

What she definitely didn’t:

“You think, I can be an Item Girl in ‘Dhoom 4’?”

Ian Chappell: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

English: Image of Australian cricketer Ian Chappell. Courtesy of the National Archive of Australia. The NAA has given permission for the image to be used under the GDFL license. Confirmation of this permission has been sent to the OTRS system. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ian Chappell raises his index finger to doctored pitches and biased adjudicating.

What he said:

“The players need to be careful where tit-for-tat pitch preparation might lead.'”

Ian Chappell is not keen on cricketers’ insistence on having wickets that suit them in home series. The former Australian skipper was responding to Shane Watson’s desire for bouncy pitches in the upcoming series against India.

Shane Watson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Watson said:

“We are hopeful that the groundsmen are going to make the grounds very conducive to what we do, because in India they certainly make sure the conditions are favourable to them.”

Chappell, writing in his column, commented:

“I was reminded of two things when I read that quote. The first was a story told by Tony Greig about playing first-class cricket in South Africa.

It was at a time when umpires were appointed by the local association and the standard had dipped alarmingly. Greig described how the Western Province players would tell their local umpires to ‘send off’ the Transvaal batsmen because that was the treatment they received when playing in Johannesburg. In the end the situation became so dire the players declared a moratorium and agreed to ‘walk’ when they knew they were out.

That situation didn’t last long and soon chaos reigned.

The other was a comment concerning players who decide an umpire is either weak or incompetent and the team agrees to ‘appeal for everything’. Those teams are often the first to complain when the umpiring in a match is below standard. Hence the often-heard and eminently true comment: ‘Beware you don’t get the umpiring you deserve.’

The same could apply to pitches if players are going to start demanding retribution from the home curators.”

Chappell added:

“I’d go one step further and say that as captain, if I’d asked any Australian curator for a certain type of pitch, the answer would have been: ‘Get stuffed. I’ll prepare the pitch, you play on it.'”

What he really meant:

“Tit-for-tat reactions will create a dysfunctional relationship and ruin the ethos of the sport. It also breeds one-dimensional cricketers who cannot adapt to different situations and conditions. It’s  not going to produce great cricketers, but home-grown bully boys.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“How about a tit for two tats instead? Also, you ought to keep in mind that if Team India fold in three days or less, Cricket Australia will lose out on all that gate money and television revenue.”

Virat Kohli: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Virat Kohli does not mind being repeatedly out.

What he said:

“For me it doesn’t matter if I get out playing the same shot again and again, at least I am feeling clear and confident in the mind.”

Virat Kohli is back to his usual cocky self on recovering some semblance of form against the West Indies with a somewhat laboured fifty in the second ODI.

What he really meant:

“I could always eschew the shot, you know. At least, I’m not playing and missing. And hell, my batting’s sure missed by the team and the fans.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Just like it doesn’t matter to me that the arm-chair critics keep harping on my relationship with Anushka Sharma. I am clear and confident in my mind about her.”

English: Anushka Sharma at a Band Baaja Baaraat press event (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Anil Kumble: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Anil Kumble defaulted to skipper status.

What he said:

“‘ok, Anil is the only guy and let’s give it to him’.”

Anil Kumble tells a tale of his ascendancy to the most exalted position in Indian cricket—the captaincy of the national side.

Kumble said:

“I became captain after representing India for 17 years, so, probably, I became captain by default… Because nobody else wanted it..

Rahul Dravid had just given up the captaincy and at that time, it was probably too early for (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni to step in as the Test captain… Sachin (Tendulkar) also did not want it… So they looked around and said ‘ok, Anil is the only guy and let’s give it to him’.”

What he really meant:

“I was the only one in the Fab Five (Sachin, Saurav, Laxman, Kumble and Dravid) willing to take up the onus of leading the country. I got it not because they felt I was the most deserving candidate but because they felt they could not risk putting Dhoni in the hot seat for a tour of Australia right then. It was way too early and he could have fizzled out given the additional pressure. At least, that was the opinion of the then bigwigs (selection committee).”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I wanted it, though, oh , how I wanted it. And I made it mine and how. Success—thy name is desire.”

Michael Kasprowicz: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Michael Kasprowicz does know what pressure is.

What he said:

“What pressure does to you is make you doubt your skills.”

Former Australian fast bowler, Michael Kasprowicz, draws upon his cricketing acumen to chart up success in the business world. Kasprowicz is an MBA from the University of Queensland Business School in Brisbane and now Managing Director of advisory business, Venture India, which promotes business relations for Australian companies in India.

Kasprowicz said:

“I was first picked for Queensland at the age of 17, and had a cricketing career of 19 years. Throughout my career, I never looked for the easy option. I wanted to test myself out in something entirely different; hence I went and did the MBA.”

Kasprowicz adds:

“What I learnt from my career is something I’ll classify in my own 4 Ps—perceptions, dealing with pressure, appreciating that there’s pain and most importantly, possession, the thought that you are in charge of your own journey. In cricket, there are uncontrollables that can always influence decisions—the weather, the pitch, umpiring decisions. It doesn’t matter how well you prepare, quite often, they can dictate or change the result. That lesson in itself is the most important thing, because of the ownership of your journey, you’re not relying on anyone else. You can take control of what you’re doing.”

The pacer believes in adapting his skills to suit the conditions.

He said:

“In 2004, (when Australia won a Test series in India after 32 years), we sat down as a bowling group and decided that we had to change it around a bit. We could not be doing what we did at home and expect to do well as a unit. Businesses come to India and think what they’ve been doing normally would work here in India too. That’s not arrogance as much as it is naivety. You have to be flexible, adjustable and adaptable to the market here and also see what the consumers want.”

So how does Kasprowicz deal with losses?

He says:

“I’ll go back to my Ps, and this time deal with pressure. What pressure does to you is make you doubt your skills. When all of a sudden an organization or cricket association goes through a few losses, it’s almost like a major GFC (global financial crisis) where everyone starts doubting their skills and questions the way they’re doing it. From a sporting background, whenever you have a few losses, we have a performance review. It’s important to go back and draw the straw man again.

I know the Australians get a bad tag for being sledgers, but all that, when you break it down, is to make someone not think about the ball that’s coming down and to doubt their skills, that’s all there is. There are other ways to make them doubt their skills—through field placements or the Three Card Trick (keep a deep-square leg, making the batsman anticipate a short ball, when the bowler delivers a fuller ball). When you’re under pressure, when you’re having a few losses, trust your skills—the ones that got you there, and the ones you’re the best at, but also have the conviction to adjust those skills to suit the conditions.”

What he really meant:

“When you’re under pressure, you tend to doubt yourself and wonder if you should be doing things differently. If the skills are not ingrained, you tend to revert to older, more tried-and-tested methods instead of continuing with the newly learnt skills. That’s what pressure does, that’s what questioning yourself does to you.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Pressure causes some people to shut down. And brings out the best in others. How’s that for a cliché? Or would you rather prefer, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.Over to you, Ravi (Shastri). “

Darrell Hair: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Darrell Hair thinks its hairy that Saeed Ajmal could bowl at 45 degrees or more for so long.

What he said:

“Well, every man and his dog would have known that.” 

Darrell Hair is bemused with the recent crackdown on illegal bowling actions launched by the ICC.

The Australian umpire, who famously called Murali Muralitharan in 1995, said:

“Whatever they’re doing now, they’re doing 20 years too late. They had a chance in 1995 to clean things up and it’s taken them 19 years to finally come back and say they want chuckers out of the game.  I can’t believe that Saaed Ajmal has been able to bowl as long as he has, and they say he is bending his arm by 45 degrees [the legal limit is 15 degrees] or something. Well, every man and his dog would have known that.

He added:

“People say ‘you should be happy with the way things turned out’…with the chuckers being weeded out. But it doesn’t give me any personal satisfaction whatsoever. All I was doing at any time was just doing my job and I think I did it to the best of my ability. The fact was that no other ICC umpires were willing to have a go. Ross Emerson was very adamant about his thoughts about chuckers but they soon put him into the background. 

I suppose I was lucky I had a few games under my belt so they didn’t want to target me, but they certainly got him out of the way fairly swiftly. It’ll be interesting to see how many umpires are brave enough to get involved in it. I said it in the late ’90s that if something wasn’t done about it you’d have a generation of chuckers on your hands and now you have. They try to emulate Harbajan Singh and Saqlain Mushtaq and Murali and that’s the problem. The crackdown should have happened on those players and the ICC should have let it be known that it wasn’t acceptable.”

ICC general manager of cricket operations, Geoff Allardice, believes the game has reached a tipping point on this issue.

He said:

“The game had reached a tipping point on this issue, when many groups within the game felt that there were too many bowlers with suspect actions operating in international cricket.The most prominent of these groups was the ICC Cricket Committee at its meeting in June, when it observed the ICC’s reporting and testing procedures were not adequately scrutinising these bowlers. They weren’t the only ones talking about this issue, as similar views had been expressed by teams, players, umpires, referees and administrators.

Since that time the umpires have felt more confident to report their concerns with certain bowlers, and their concerns have been supported by the results of the testing of these reported bowlers.”

In India, the irrepressible Bishan Singh Bedi could not resist firing a few salvoes of his own at his favourite peeve.

He said:

“I would like to see what happens to Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh) and Pragyan Ojha, now that umpires are reporting bowlers for throwing and action is being taken against them.”

Bedi added:

“The rectification had to come from the establishment.It’s no doubt late, but better late than never.” 

On the timing of the clampdown:

“Timing doesn’t matter for goodness. It was ugly to watch chuckers floating around – someone throwing javelin, some shot put and others darts.” 

What Darrell Hair really meant:

 “If you know it, your best friend knows it.Besides, should the umpire be looking at the bowler’s arm or at the batsman? How do umpires measure the angle with the naked eye? Trained dogs, perhaps? Something like sniffer dogs, eh? Can we umpires have compasses please?”

What he definitely didn’t:

 “I knew it and I was labelled a dog for it, wasn’t I?

Kevin Pietersen: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Kevin Pietersen is utterly professional.

What he said:

“The IPL is professionalism taken to its logical extreme. All the bullshit and hypocrisy have been turned off.”

Kevin Pietersen has extremely positive things to say about Indian cricketer, Rahul Dravid, and the Indian Premier League (IPL) in his autobiography, ‘KP: The Autobiography’.

Pietersen writes:

“Rahul was a great and heroic Indian batsman in his day. He is also a genius at dealing with spin bowlers. Our conversations and emails were a private masterclass from a genuine guru.

Rahul improved my cricket and helped me develop the way I think about the game. His generosity will stay with me always.”

Rahul Dravid, the former captain of the Indian cricket team also represents Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dravid emailed him thus:

“KP, you are a really good player, you need to watch the ball and trust yourself… Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t play spin, I have seen you and you can!”

KP says:

“My playing of spin has gone up a number of levels since I’ve spent time in the IPL, and in particular, since I’ve spoken to Rahul Dravid…In England, batsmen get taught to play with the spin against spin bowlers. In India, the best players of spin get taught to play against it.”

On the IPL:

“The IPL is the future… I could talk about money and the IPL all day to you, but for the friendships alone I would play for free.

I’ve built all my relationships with foreign cricketers while in the IPL. That doesn’t help in the England dressing room… there are not many of those friendships.

There is a culture in India that appreciates if you double down and go for the big shot. It’s a game of cricket, not economics. Not life or death. Take a risk. IPL crowds don’t want to see you batting out singles as you pick and choose which balls to hit. Life is too short.”

What Pietersen really meant:

“All the bullshit and hypocrisy is turned off. Including mine. Or is that especially mine?”

What he definitely didn’t:

“The IPL players, coaches and specially the co-owners are professional in all respects, even the betting. Oye Sressanth, tell them.”

PR Sreejesh: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

PR Sreejesh does a ‘Psy’ act under the bar.

What he said:

“So yeah, you can term my performance in the final as my `Gangnam act under the bar’.”

Indian hockey goalkeeper and member of the victorious Asian Games squad, PR Sreejesh, is happy with his ‘dance moves‘ during the penalty shootout against Pakistan in the final. The goalie foiled two out of four attempts by their sub-continental arch-rivals.

Sreejesh is a huge fan of the Korean pop star Psy specifically his hit number ‘Gangnam Style‘. The Korean singer-dancer performed at the opening ceremony of the Incheon Games.

Sreejesh said:

 “I like music and love to dance as well. Whenever I travel to practice, I listen to music and this time in Korea I was listening to Psy. I was happy to meet him during the opening ceremony and was inspired by him.”

On playing Pakistan twice:

“We didn’t play well against them in the group stage. So we reflected on our performance in that match and felt that we really need to improve. We didn’t want negativity to creep into our minds and thought positively. The team spirit was excellent. We knew the final would be a tough one and fought as a unit. And that paid dividends.

There is extra motivation to do well against Pakistan. Believe me, I was under no pressure when I went into goal for the shootout. I was 100% sure that I am going to keep the Pakistanis at bay and we are going to win. The team had huge belief in me and they also felt I would do nothing wrong in the shootout.”

On his goalkeeping:

“I can still improve. My goalkeeping has improved considerably when I had short stints with two goalkeeping coaches in the past, Martin Drijver and Dave Staniforth.

I hope we can have a permanent goalkeeping coach. Then not just my performance, the performance of other goalkeepers can also improve.”

What he really meant:

 “You’ve got to be light on your feet and agile both as a goalie and a performer. It’s all about style, Gangnam style.”

What he definitely didn’t:

 “Now if I could only get Psy to co-star with me on ‘India’s Dancing Superstar’ or ‘Zara Nachke Dikha’.”

Narendra Hirwani: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Narendra Hirwani is quite a halwai (maker of sweets).

What he said:

“Many of my students at my academy in Indore tell me: ‘Sir, I have bowled 60 balls. Sir, I have bowled 50 balls today.’ I tell them: if you want to make cream, you have to condense it, and that only happens after boiling it for a period of time. A good rabri [sweet] is made only when the cream rises. For quality you need quantity.”

Narendra Hirwani asserts that young cricketers do not bowl enough in the nets.

Nagraj Gollapudi chaired five experts—Bishan Bedi, Maninder Singh, Narendra Hirwani, Murali Kartik and Amol Muzumdar—in a far-ranging discussion that delved into the reasons behind the dearth of quality spinners on the Indian scene.

Hirwani added:

“I would bowl minimum of 90 overs a day as a youngster at the Cricket Club of Indore. I would bowl at just one stump for a couple of hours. In all, I would bowl for a minimum of five hours. If you are bowling at one stump you end up bowling about 30 overs in an hour. This kind of training, bowling at one stump, is equivalent to vocalists doing riyaaz [music practice]. You build your muscle memory.”

What Hirwani really meant:

“Practice does make perfect. You have to make spin bowling a secondary habit before you can add variety to your armor. Your fundamentals have to be sound.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Good coaches can incentivize young bowlers by offering them sweetmeats as rewards. The creamier the better. More malai (cream) and maalish (massage) for more majdoori (hard work).“

Ravi Shastri: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Ravi Shastri foresaw what Sunil Narine did not see coming.

What he said:

“He treated the threat of ban as he views the charge of batsmen ­ ill-advised dashes which could only result in failure.”

Ravi Shastri comments as to why Sunil Narine failed to read the tea leaves and continued his suspect action despite being warned by the Champions League Technical Committee. The West Indian off-spinner and Kolkata Knight Riders stalwart was called again in the Champions League semi-final and will warm the benches for the final against Chennai Super Kings.

Shastri said:

“He might have been emboldened by a fresh set of officials for the semifinals. Or he might have seen the swell of support from his teammates as his validation. Once you are indestructible, you sense you are indestructible at all levels.

Narine now has cost his team its most lethal weapon for the finals. His international career for the moment is unimpeded, but he can’t be dismissive of the threat like he has been in the Champions League. He can’t allow this shadow to lengthen on the IPL door.”

What he really meant:

“Sunil, perhaps, felt it was a one-off or that he could do nothing about his action overnight . Besides, the pressure to perform and keep bagging wickets for the side is too much to allow one to think through the consequences of one’s action (sic). Just because you have a cheerleading squad rooting your every ball doesn’t mean you can chuck. Check that action, Narine.”

What he definitely didn’t literally sing:

“The banned didn’t see it coming.”


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