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The IPL Witch-Hunt: BCCI knocks out Kings XI and Royals
The IPL witch-hunt is truly on!
The scrapping of two franchises Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, the 2008 champions, has been swift and clinical.
The BCCI terminated their contracts making it clear that irregularities were not to be tolerated any more. If this signals a move to a more professional setup, the move is welcome.
But if it is seen as another move to further isolate Modi and his supporters, it will be just another instance of intense politicking and jockeying for power in the richest sports body in the country.
The Kochi franchise lives on – for now. It has a ten-day reprieve. And with the reduction in the number of franchises, the Pune and Kerala-based franchises may be profitable sooner than later.
More thoughts on the Mohali cracker!
To put it succinctly: India won a match they should have lost. Australia lost a game they should have won.
Neither team deserved to lose and it was a great advertisement for Test cricket. That’s what Test cricket is all about. It’s not over until it’s truly over!
The difference was that man VVS Laxman, who reserves his best for the kangaroos.
The Aussies kept digging into their marsupial pockets for ways to counter the Hyderabadi’s merry march to victory but there were just no tricks up their sleeves.
Ricky Ponting, unlike his predecessor, Steve Waugh, seems to ,more often than not, let the game drift and that was to be the case once more when the Aussies, by rights, should have gone in for the kayo.
No discredit to the fighting qualities exhibited by Laxman, Sharma and Ojha but Ponting needs a new thinking cap and soon!
In the end, it was yet another famous victory for the No. 1 Test team and Dhoni must thank his stars that he can call upon players of the calibre of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman to do yeoman service without throwing any starry tantrums.
The Fifth Slam: India Opens Her Heart To Top-Flight Tennis
The year is 2011. It is the august month of August.
The India Open is being launched with much fanfare.
The India Open is now officially the fifth Grand Slam tournament , the latest jewel in the ATP and WTA calendars.
In the wake of the unprecedented success of the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi, this tournament has been given hallmark status.
India have thumbed their nose at the Chinese and have cornered a Grand Slam tournament.
This Slam has its unique challenges. The courts are mud and uncovered.
Play continues in the rain. Come rain or shine, play will continue.
Tennis, boxing, cricket and wrestling: Indian sport makes waves
India take on Brazil on Friday the 17th of September , 2010 at Chennai on hard-courts in the Davis Cup World Group playoffs.
The first day’s play features two singles matches : Thomas Bellucci versus Rohan Bopanna & Somdev Devverman versus Ricardo Mello.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi take on Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo on Saturday in a crucial doubles encounter.
The reverse singles will be played on Sunday.
Suffice to say, at least two singles matches will need to be clinched for India to progress to the next round.
The weight of Indian expectations rest on Somdev’s shoulders. Bopanna is not favoured to win either of his singles.
Can Somdev pull it off? The Indian tennis fraternity certainly hope so.
Dhoni’s pressing concerns
Image via Wikipedia
Post another inept batting display aided by a slew of umpiring errors, Team India slid to an abysmal loss against the Lankans on Sunday at Dambulla.
However, this article is not going to lament another inconsistent performance by Dhoni’s boys. There is probably enough media coverage of the defeat.Nor am I one of those who like to get down to it as the match progresses or as soon as it finishes.
An interesting sideshow of yesterday’s loss was that MS Dhoni and his boys refused to attend the press conference that immediately follows the match. This caused the print journalists to throw up their arms in frustration and boycott the press conference.
The captain was ostensibly busy playing football when the scribes frantically tried to contact him. What a s(h)occer!
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Spirit Of The Game:Will and Grace
The fallout of the condemnatory reaction to the no- ball incident has been swift in its dénouement.
Suraj Randiv has been suspended for the next game and fined 100% of his match fee.
Tillekaratne Dilshan has forfeited his entire match fee as well.
Image via Wikipedia
Kumara Sangakarra gets off with just a slap on the wrist – not even a perfunctory rap on the knuckles.
The Sri Lankan cricket board was quick to react and ordered an enquiry into the unsavory affair.
The Sri Lankan board comes out smelling like roses; it has been commended by the ICC for its speedy resolution of the controversy. The Spirit Of The Game has been enforced.
The same cannot be said of the other protagonists in L’affaire No Ball.
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Do our sporting heroes deserve us?
A nation gets the politicians it deserves.
By the same token, do fans get the sports stars they deserve?
Kumar Sangakarra instructed his young teammate and bowler Suraj Randiv to ensure that Sehwag be denied the single he needed to complete his century. Sangakarra was seen to have deliberately allowed four byes past earlier in Randiv’s over ensuring the scores were tied with Sehwag still stuck on ninety-nine.
The youthful Randiv bowls a blatant no ball to finish the match. His interpretation of his skipper’s exhortation was translated into controversial action. The transgression over the line was clear-cut; there was no shadow for doubt. It could not have been overlooked by the hapless umpire.
The shameful act has been debated by cricketing pundits all over the world; more so in the Sri Lankan and Indian media. Can we say that winning at all costs has now become the mantra of the hour?
This was not about winning either. It was the petulant act of a spoilt child when denied a lollipop.
“If I can’t have a win, you shall not have a century either , however well-deserved!”
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The Indian cricket team: Pace bowling riches?
Dhoni’s troubles
On Saturday, the 14th of August, 2010 , Dhoni walked out of a practice session when Dinesh Karthik was struck on the thumb by a nastily bouncing ball. The excuse given was that the practice facilities were inadequate; the pitch was underprepared and dangerous to use.
On Sunday, the 15th of August, Dhoni sought to underline his independence from the BCCI requesting that the Indian bowlers be rotated more often to allow them more rest and time to recover from their many niggles.
So what gives? Is the pressure of arguably the hottest seat in the country getting too much for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to handle?
The weight of a billion expectations is overwhelming. Is Dhoni finding the captain’s kitchen too warm for comfort?
Or is Dhoni trying to cut manic expectations of his young, troubled side?
Is he beseeching the Indian cricket fan to be more understanding, more kind, more real?
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Dhoni and Nets Walk Outs
Image via Wikipedia
Dhoni walked out of the practice session on Saturday when Karthik was injured on the right thumb by a nasty delivery.
Wonder how soon will it be that touring teams walk out of Test matches where sub-standard pitches have been laid just so to ensure that the home team can find its way back into the series? There are turners and then there are sub-standard ones. Sometimes, they seem to be synonymous.
Is this a bad pitch for Team India?
Have a great day!
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Is India’s No. 1 ranking truly deserved?
Is India’s No. 1 ranking in Test cricket , a fair assessment of their status in the pecking order of Test playing nations?
Does it reflect consistent performance? Is the Indian team head and shoulders above the competition?
Can Team India lay claim to greatness? Or is it an aggregation of some great individuals who have not always jelled together as a fighting unit?
Is India’s bowling truly world-class? Would India’s bowlers walk into a world eleven on the strength of their performance?
Are the accumulated points over a window of three years enough for cricket crazy fans in Indian to tom-tom India’s superiority and paper over the inconsistencies and sometimes abysmal losses?
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Make Time For Sports. 