Make Time For Sports.
cricket
Indian cricket: Tendulkar seeks the next level, Gambhir bats for Kirsten
Image via Wikipedia
It’s true that geniuses and champions are never satisfied with what they have achieved.
They are always thinking of the next level, the next summit, the next goal.
They dare not rest on their laurels.
There’s always the next mountain to climb, the next peak to scale.
And so it is with Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
14,000 Test runs in test cricket, over 30,000 international runs and 49 Test centuries to his credit.
Yet, the gentleman talks about yearning to reach the next level.
"I’m really focusing now on how I can get to the next level as a batsman. How can I get even more competitive? How can I get even more consistent? How can I get better?"
What else does Tendukar have to say in his interview to The Guardian?
On dreaming, Tendulkar has this to say:
"Life would be flat without dreams. I think it’s really important to dream — and then to chase those dreams.”
2010 has been Tendulkar’s best year in recent times, reminding us of the young Sachin, unburdened by the cares of the team and varied niggling injuries.
Tendulkar is also back at the top of the ICC rankings, the first time since 2002.
It is said that all’s well with the world when Tendulkar is in full flow and so it is for cricket fans.
The full interview will be published this Saturday.
_______________________________________________________________________
Australian cricket: The Big Bash à la IPL raises more than a few questions
Image via Wikipedia
The Big Bash League
If the BCCI is not quite open to having private equity from foreign investors in the IPL,that is not quite the case with the Australian version (The Big Bash League) of the IPL scheduled to begin in the 2011-12 Australian summer season.
New South Wales and Victoria have allegedly already sold shares in their state associations to two giant Indian corporations.
Brisbane-based Adani Group and Jay Mehta, co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, have been named as Indian corporates with possible interest in the Big Bash league.
Gautam Adani recently bid unsuccessfully for an IPL team.
In breaking news, Cricket Australia (CA) has approved minority private ownership paving the way for Indian investors.
The Australian Cricketer’s Association had backed the entry of private overseas investment saying that it will not only bring in much need investment into the sport but also raise the profile of the sport Down Under.
Each Big Bash franchise is valued initially at $20 million each which is expected to rise to $80 million over the next few seasons.
The Australian cricket calendar is being punctured to accommodate the new entity; tests will be foregone for the period of the tournament to ensure the availability of top Australian cricketers for the duration of the tournament.
Sunil Gavaskar: A Contradiction In Terms, From Calypso King To IPL Flop
Gavaskar , The Original Little Master
I have always been a huge fan of Sunil “Sunny” Gavaskar, the cricketer — the original Little Master.
When the rest of the world cowered under the barrage of bouncers and intimidating pace bowling unleashed by the marauding, rampaging Windies side of the late 70’s , 80’s and early 90’s, one man stood firm amidst the ruins.
That man was Sunil Manohar Gavaskar; thirteen of his 34 hundreds were against the mighty West Indians.
Another eight were belted against the Australians.
Whenever India played a series against the West Indians, we knew that as long as Gavaskar occupied the crease we were safe.
When the ace batter succumbed, the Indian team surrendered weakly as well.
At a time when India were making the transition from being mostly a spin bowling side to a pace bowling attack (thanks to another all-time great, Kapil Dev), we depended on the batsmen to save Test matches.
Bowlers win matches, batsmen save them.
This was a time in Indian cricket when a draw was always a noteworthy achievement; Indian sides rarely had the bowling strength to bowl out a team twice.
IPL: Kochi franchisee in ICU , issued a thirty day termination notice
Image via Wikipedia
If the BCCI bigwigs were in a tearing, unholy hurry to terminate the Lalit Modi-associated franchisees — Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab — they are now dragging their feet and going by the book in their dealings with the Kochi consortium.
The IPL governing council met this morning , October 27, 2010 . After due deliberations they issued a thirty day termination notice to the alliance partners.
Shashank Manohar — a lawyer by profession — pronounced that the Kochi franchise’s case is quite different from the other two expelled franchisees. Since there were no new partners added to the shareholding structure , it is considered a ‘remedial breach’ of the agreement. The Kochi franchisee lives on for another thirty days.
"The Governing Council has invoked clause 12 (1) and given them a 30 days notice that in case they don’t remedy these disputes in the 30 days, the franchise would stand cancelled on the 31st day," he said.
The infractions by the other two franchisees have been termed ‘intermediary breaches’.
IPL: Sunny Gavaskar’s ‘revolving door’ is greeted with disdain in the Indian media
Doubts still linger about Sunny Gavaskar’s role in the Kochi franchise bid.
Was he just being helpful when he informed the Kochi consortium members about how the bidding process worked?
Should not the Kochi franchisee members have approached the BCCI for clarifications rather than a sitting member of the IPL Governing Council?
The question of propriety is yet to be answered comprehensively by the master batsman.
If the Kochi proposal is accepted by the BCCI and Sunny Gavaskar handles the newly formed team’s cricketing operations, would this not be a case of a ‘revolving door’ where Sunny has moved from a governing body to being part of a governed body?
IPL: Sunny Gavaskar hits the headlines, Kochi decision on Wednesday
Sunny Gavaskar hits the deadlines once more; this time it is his links with the Kochi franchise that have drawn flak from all quarters.
The Indian batting legend , the first cricketer to score 10,000 runs and surpass Don Bradman’s 29 tons, is mulling over an offer from the Gaikwads, the Rendezvous group owners, to handle all matters cricketing.
The news comes as a bit of a surprise and there exists speculation about Gavaskar’s role in the bidding process as a possible conflict of interest ; the master batsman was then on the IPL governing council.
(The fallout between Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor was the result of allegations that Tharoor sought Modi’s interference in the bidding process to ensure that the Kochi group’s bid would be successful.)
Gavaskar is no longer a part of the IPL set-up; he quit the re-constituted governing council citing differences with the BCCI.
Was the conflict of interest a reason for the differences? If yes, why then was just the super accumulator penalised?
IPL: A Sea Of Storms For Kochi, Kings XI and Rajasthan Royals
Image by kdewhunter via Flickr
The route to IPL4 has never seemed as foggy as it is today.
And there seems to be no one sounding the fog horn either!
The three vessels SS Kings XI Punjab, SS Rajasthan Royals and SS Kochi are stranded in the stormy seas seeking a lighthouse to guide them to safety.
But their distress signals , their SOSs, have received little response from the current keepers of the beacon.
The IPL seas are still uncharted waters and the reefs are mapped as they are traversed.
Three voyages in three seasons and it was Heigh Ho! Life’s a bottle of rum!
Life’s not so rummy any more for the voyagers.
Nor quite so profitable!
The treasure hunt continues!
IPL: The octopus spreads its tentacles to South Africa, Kochi and Lalit Modi in troubled waters
Image via Wikipedia
Cricket South Africa (CSA) reminded us that the tentacles of the IPL mess are not restricted to just Indian and English shores.
CSA have terminated an external investigation into the bonuses paid by Lalit Modi to CSA chief executive Gerald Majola and 40 other staff during the IPL’s second season.
The IPL was moved to South Africa in 2009 following the Indian government’s refusal to provide adequate security for the event because of the clash with the general election. The security apparatus of the state could not be stretched to meet both concerns.
A payment of 4.7 million rands was made to Majola and his associates.
The South African opposition has slammed the switch to an internal investigation as ‘disappointing’.
The Enforcement Directorate(ED) is known to be investigating the payment back in India as apparently there was no tax paid on the foreign exchange transfers.
Indian cricket: More cricketing mores
Image via Wikipedia
The third one-day between India and Australia was rained off. A similar fate befell the first one-day at Kochi.
It just goes to show that cramming in a series in what’s usually the off-season requires detailed planning. Though we had a wonderful Test series, the fans and spectators were left short-changed by the washout of the two ODIs.
Rain, rain, go away, the Ozzies and Indies want to play!
The Australians are probably left a little shell-shocked by the way their curtailed tour of India turned out. A winless tour for a team of their calibre will rankle for a long time.
I don’t envy the Poms when they meet the kangaroos down under.
The Australians will be doubly motivated to move up the rankings and prove that their recent losses are just an aberration.
Ponting, undercover agents and acclimatisation
Image via Wikipedia
A non-IPL post, for a change. Some ramblings on the latest happenings in the cricketing world.
Number of readers subscribed
Read it on Apple News
Read it on Apple News
Stat Counter
Sports, Health and Exercise
- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
Make Time For Sports. 