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Five Sizzling Questions Facing Indian Tennis
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The Wall Street Journal—at the start of the 2011 Australian Open—published an article titled Five Sizzling Tennis Questions.
The questions were:
Are Rafael Nadal‘s injuries behind him?
What about Roger?
Who are the other challengers on the men’s side?
Is this the year of the Woz?
Is the women’s ranking system legitimate?
The answers to four of the questions are still up in the air.
Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open victory has given doubters more than a hint as to who’s not hanging to the coat-tails of the big guns—Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Using the article as inspiration, I arrived at five burning questions for Indian tennis:
Cricket Bytes: Of Saurav Ganguly,spot-fixing verdicts and World Cup contenders
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Saurav Ganguly is going, going, gone…
The Bengali player’s hopes of participating in IPL4 were dealt a death-blow by objections raised by Royal Challengers Bangalore,Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. Team Kochi had evinced interest in the former Indian captain but could sign him on only if none of the other franchisees demurred. The iconic batsman remained unsold in the 2011 auction.
Although Ganguly fans—particularly Kolkattans—will be disappointed, bending over backwards to accommodate anyone is not the way to run a premier tournament. Accusations of ad-hoc decision making were leveled against Lalit Modi, the ex-IPL honcho. Modifying the rules to suit two interested parties is not in the best interest of the IPL. The IPL Governing Council is managing a business, not a charity.
Besides, if the Kochi team really needed the ex-skipper on their side, they ought to have purchased him outright when they had the opportunity. The chasing after Ganguly now smacks of ill-preparation. Verily, a case of putting the cart before the horse.
Indian cricket: Of team selections and plate to cup journey for Rajasthan in Ranji
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The debate rages on.
Have the Indian selectors chosen the best possible side for the ODI World Cup?
The argument centres on whether there ought to have been a back-up keeper. MS Dhoni—as captain and stumper—shoulders a heavy responsibility.
To his credit, he has borne the burden well and there is no reason to believe that he will not do the same in February-March—should he remain fit.
As for the pessimists, they will wonder who will keep wickets if Dhoni is forced to miss a match.
IPL: Lalit Modi, the know-it all, really knows it all (Satire)
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Wikileaks—the pro-transparency website— has released transcripts of the Parliamentary Standing Committee hearing into the finances of the IPL.
The BCCI officials summoned include president Shashank Manohar, secretary N Srinivasan and IPL commissioner Chirayu Amin. The panel is headed by BJP MP Yashwant Sinha, the former finance minister.
League of Champions: Out of the Indian Premier League (Satire)
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The dust has settled on the IPL auctions.The players have been bought (or not).The teams have been formed (or not). The franchises are happy (or not).
The rumour mills ,however, have been overactive.
Among the numerous reports floating around, these are the more salient ones:
Bolshoi The Boxer forms the Indian Doggy League (IDL) (Satire)
My dog, Bolshoi The Boxer, said to me this morning: “Botox and I are going to form our own super sports league.”
“Hmm…. That’s interesting.” I reply, sipping my ante meridiem cuppa tea.
“If the Indian cricketers can have the ICL and IPL, the hockey players, the IHL and the tennis players, the ITL, then us canines should have a league of our own.”
Tennis Bytes:Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi triumph in Chennai and other stories
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Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes have done it again.
The Indian Express triumphed at the 2011 Aircel Chennai Open subduing the Dutch-American pair of Robin Hasse and David Martin 6-2, 6-7 (3), 10-7.
The Chennai tourney has Indian champions once more. This is the first time since 2002 that an Indian pair have inscribed their names on the trophy. It was the duo of Bhupathi and Paes who claimed it then as well.
Somdev Devvarman came close in 2009, losing to Marin Cilic in the final.
It was fitting that the duo came together in the sweltering environs of the South Indian city that boasts the best-known tennis families in India—the Krishnans and the Amritrajs, to clinch their first title this year.
Sceptics felt that the two would find it difficult to reprise their form of the late 90s and early oo’s, given their aging bodies and slower reflexes.
India versus South Africa: Series ends tied one all
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I must admit that I am relieved that the twin Test series in South Africa and Australia have ended. The cricket has been exhilarating, the battle has seesawed between the sides and there has been no respite from the all-encompassing media hype.
I hope to catch a break from all forms of cricket until the World Cup. I have seriously overdosed.
India finish tied 1-1 on the Last Frontier in the Rainbow Nation. This will be a result they will cherish , but they will also regret that they could not make it a more memorable tour.
Anil Kumble bids farewell to IPL, continues as chief mentor to RCB
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Anil Kumble will not be on sale in IPL 4.
The former India captain and leg-spinner has withdrawn his name from the list of players for the Jan 8-9 auction.
The move, by itself, is not a surprise;its timing and suddenness has aroused speculation.
Jumbo is a busy man. He has a lot on his plate. He was recently elected President of Karnataka State Cricket Board. He is also a businessman and a keen wildlife photographer.
Tennis Bytes: Of Grand Slam rivalry,aces for charity and Indian hopes
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Will 2011 see more head-to-head matches between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?
The man from Mallorca certainly hopes so.
“I would love to play against Roger Federer this year a few more times because when we play each other it’s in the final, so that’s already a very good result for both of us to be in the final of important tournaments,” said Nadal.
Federer seconded the motion: “We only played twice last year in Madrid and the [Barclays] ATP World Tour Finals in London, which was a great end for both of us.There’ll be huge hype going into the new season with him going for his fourth Grand Slam in a row and me trying to defend the Australian Open title. So right off the bat we’ll have some excitement.”
The recent invitational Abu Dhabi tourney finished with Nadal edging out Federer in two sets 7-6, 7-6.
Here’s a toast to the New Year and more exciting tennis and finals between the supremoes of the sport.
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Make Time For Sports. 