sports

Dhoni and Nets Walk Outs

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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?

IRace Results

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The IRace results were declared last weekend.

According to the rankings, I performed at 39% of my capacity; the rankings are adjusted for age,height and weight.

Tell me something I don’t know!

I am publishing the email sent out by the race coordinator to race participants.

________________________________________________________________________-

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Very, Very Special Laxman does an encore

On Laxman

Cometh the hour, cometh the man!

How trite it sounds, how repetitive , how boring.

But there is nothing trite about VVS Laxman,nothing monotonous and his sublime touch has cricket fans transfixed and spellbound.

He has always seemed the bridesmaid,never the bride.

Even though he has that very,very special 281 and that blinding, blistering 167, both against the Aussies, one at Kolkata, the other at Sydney in 2000 when he opened the innings at the outset of his career.The 167 denotes a period when the selectors persisted and insisted that he take up the opener’s role.

This at a time when although the Indian team had a multitude of contenders to the middle order , finding a regular opener to see off the new ball was an exercise in futility. Laxman, however, put his foot down and signaled his intention to stake a place in the middle or not play at all. For a lesser light it would have meant a premature eclipse to a budding career, but neither Laxman nor his claim to greatness could be denied, would be denied.

The 2001 home series against the Aussies cemented his place in the pantheon of cricketing greats. Laxman will always be identified by that defining, unbelievable, edifying knock against an Aussie side that seemed nigh invincible.

Steve Waugh’s kangaroos were made to bleed from a thousand cuts by a cavalier Laxman; the Eden loss also ended the Australian team’s run of sixteen victories on the trot. Interestingly, Australia’s world record of sixteen consecutive victories , was ended by India twice over. There really is something about an Aussie-India series; it brings out the best and sometimes the worst in both sides. A rivalry to match and perhaps surpass the Ashes.

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7000: Sehwag crosses another Rubicon

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Virender Sehwag keeps marching to a different beat, massacring pace and spin alike.

The Sri Lankans are at the receiving end this time around and they aren’t happy recipients.

After the exit of Adam Gilchrist from the hallowed sport , Sehwag is dreaded most by  bowlers around the world.

It is not that he simply dominates the bowling; he takes the match by the scruff of its neck and turns it inside out.

Bowlers are said to win games. But Sehwag is a match-winner, in every sense of the term. He is a captain’s delight and when on song is a treat to watch. He is unorthodox but it is this very trait that makes his batting a thing of beauty forever.

He is belligerent,in the Richards mold. But he is ever humble; not for him the swagger and bravado of the West Indian legend.

Quote of the day:
Advice to writers: Sometimes you just have to stop writing. Even before you begin. – Stanislaw J. Lec

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Yuvraj Singh: What a boy!

Yuvraj Singh now has a brand new sobriquet ‘ Water Boy’. No, it’s not a reference to the movie of the same name starring Adam Sandler.

A few inebriated fans at the 3rd Test Match between India and Sri Lanka decided that they were not quite ‘having a ball’ imbibing various liquors,the cricket was not entertaining enough and hence decided to vent their spleen on the players and cricketing officials.

Yuvraj Singh was the target of their ire; ‘water boy’ was the insult they came up with when he was performing 12th man duties for the Indian team.

Yuvraj Singh, however, was not one to take it lying down and decided to retaliate in kind.

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Somdev scores a ton

The Ton Is Here!

He’s done it! Finally!

Somdev Devvarman has cracked the top 100 on the ATP tour. Another milestone in his fledgling career.

He becomes just the second Indian male player in a decade or so to be ranked amongst the top 100. Leander Paes was the last Indian male to be ranked so, achieving that distinction in 1999.

Somdev’s rise to the list of centurions has not been meteoric; rather it has been steady but sure.

He is now ranked 96 in the world. However, he is unlikely to be perched there for too long; he was thwarted in his bid to defend last year’s accumulated points.More on that later.

IIT Bombay – IRace Aug 1, 2010

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I ran my first 10 km race (the IRace) on the 1st of August, 2010 at the IIT Bombay campus at Powai. Running after almost 2 months , I decided not to push myself too much.

However,I was confident I could last the course. But the last 1 km stretch was killing on the feet. 1 hour 35 minutes on a course that was not all flat terrain is not bad ,says I, especially since I have run 10 kms just 2 –3 times in training and not quite recently. The time, incidentally, is the longest period I have run so far. Overall, a satisfying outing for me.

The organizers did a great job. A big Thank YOU!

PS: I would especially like to thank the b*****s yelling ‘Give Up’ throughout the course.Also, the security personnel for acting clueless as to what’s going on and where! (sarcastic note).

Life isn’t about the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away. Anonymous

Source: http://quotes4all.net/quote_1133.html

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Murali erupts, at last! Bedi bears the brunt!

Prologue

The controversy over Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling action will not abate.

Just when we believed that Murali would waltz off into the sunset — peaking at 800 Test wickets — we find alarm bells tinkling in the Indian media.

Bishan Singh Bedi was among those who remarked on Murali’s latest achievement but qualified his congratulations saying that he thought that Murali was a lovely person and a nice chap (something on those lines) but he believed that the ICC had bent its rules to accommodate his equally bent arm. He pronounced him a chucker and maintained that he would always consider him one.

His protégé, Maninder Singh, echoing his godfather, noted that Murali would always remain a disputed figure because of his unorthodox action.

Over the years, Murali chugged along smoothly without responding in kind to any criticism. He let his supple fingers do the talking and ICC could decide on the legality of his action. That was good enough for him.

But all that changed this week, when Murali in an interview with the Indian TV news channel, Times Now, went on the offensive, claiming that there is a lot of jealousy about his achievements among former players. He targeted Bishan Singh Bedi and lambasted him, disparaging him as an ordinary bowler.

Quote of the day:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye. – Miss Piggy

Murali On Bedi

Murali , uncharacteristically , had the following to say about Bedi:

“Bedi, I don’t think he even comes to a contest on that. I saw some (of his) bowling of his playing days. In modern era, if he plays he will get hammered every ball, that is what will happen. So no comparison”

“Prasanna is a good bowler. I have seen his bowling. Venkataraghavan is good. But Bedi does not come under it”

“He (Bedi) is also a controversial person. He has lot of controversies everywhere in the world. And he should think about himself first rather than talking about other people”

“He (Bedi) did not have any variation. He just bowled left arm spin and pitch did the variation for him. That is what he bowled”

Muralitharan also had praise for his contemporary Anil Kumble.
“You forget the best spinner is Anil Kumble. Not Bedi or Venkataraghavan or any other. I think the best ever spinner produced (in India) is Kumble. No doubt about it and nobody can doubt it. Statistics-wise and on the basis of other things, he is far ahead than other guys”,

The Rejoinders

Bedi’s response was swift :

“I don’t call Murali a chucker. He is a chucker.”

Bedi was supported by his colleague-in-arms, Prasanna:

“He (Murali) should have avoided it. Murali should have been little more mature. He just can’t make such loose comments that anybody could have achieved Bishen’s feat. We all admire him for his achievements. He should have avoided making such comments.”

“The fact of the matter is that ICC bent its rules for Murali. With that, flexibility was allowed to him and most of the bowlers.”

“He doesn’t fit into the slot of conventional bowler but fact of the matter is ICC bent the rules and permitted him. Therefore it’s ok.”

Maninder Singh joined the fray next:

“If he (Bedi) was allowed to bend his arm by ICC, he would have taken 5 wickets in every of the 67 matches that he played in his career. Murali should keep his mouth shut really.”

“Whole world knows that he has the licence from the ICC to keep chucking and that’s why he started his ‘doosra‘. Nobody stopped him. Wickets started increasing for him. It’s best time for Murali to keep shut.

“He should understand he is talking about such a great bowler Bedi. I don’t think he is doing justice to himself. I have lost respect for him after this verbal attack.”

Former Australian captain and great Steve Waugh commented:

“Bishen has been very strong in his criticism about Murali. I don’t necessarily agree to what he said but I think Murali must have held his tongue for 15 years and just gave it back today.”

Commentary And Analysis

Let’s look at the protagonists in this war of words, examine their statements and verify the veracity of their utterances.

First, Bedi.

Bedi is right. Murali is unconventional. The ICC, though, has given him the benefit of the doubt. He has been subjected to varied scientific tests but the ICC — unable to slot him into a pigeon hole –– pressurized by the Sri Lankan board caved in and exonerated him of all charges of throwing.

Bedi, however, is an old-fashioned man and speaks his mind. He believes that cricket should be pure and chaste. He does not mince words and has gone head-to-head with various sporting personalities, the most famous example being his spat with Sunny Gavaskar, one that has endured over the years. He has termed Gavaskar a destructive influence and says that he always liked power without accountability.

Bedi has always been critical of Murali; some of his earlier, unequivocal remarks about the bowler were similarly pungent, vehement and caustic.

“If Murali doesn’t chuck, then show me how to bowl.”

He has compared Murali’s action to a javelin throw and shot putting.

Muralitharan “will complete 1000 Test wickets but they would count as mere run-outs in my eyes”.

Muralitharan is a Sri Lankan bandit closing in on a dream artist called Shane Warne.”

Bedi has been equally adept in antagonizing Harbhajan Singh, similarly terming him a chucker.

Murali , in 2004, threatened to take Bedi to court unable to put up with his constant derision and barrage of criticism.

But Murali has been a veritable sea of calm since.

Why this sudden volte face? What made this normally, unaffected person turn on Bishan Singh Bedi and savage him in his own country’s media?

Let’s consider Murali again.

His whole life revolved around cricket. It’s his life, his bread-and-butter for the past nineteen years. Murali would have dearly wished to continue till he achieved the milestone of 1000 Test wickets and why not? He is a spinner and his body could easily withstand the wear and tear for another couple of years.

His decision to retire was prompted by Ranatunga’s televised assertion that it was time for Murali to go. That was the final straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. The exhortation from his former captain and mentor was probably more than the normally stoic, ever-smiling Murali could take. And bear in mind, there were three talented Sri Lankan bowlers nipping at his heels, clamoring to be a part of the Sri Lankan eleven.

Much as we would like our heroes to go quietly into the dark night, they rarely do. Now that Murali has retired from Test cricket, he probably felt a huge weight was taken off his shoulders. Is it possible that he felt it was time to take on his detractors, that he could devote some time to their many allegations? Work, work and more work makes Murali a blinkered boy! He has hit back and how!

Murali declares that Bishan Singh Bedi would be hit out of the attack if he were playing now. There is some truth to that; Bishan played in an era when not much one-day cricket was played and bats were much lighter.

It has been the bane of the current cricketers that they believe that the former greats fail to acknowledge current cricketing realities and seem to live and breathe an anachronistic heyday of their own. It is also true that the spinners of today bowl much flatter; that’s because they are punished by the batsmen (and their captains) when they flight the ball specially when mishits clear the ground and switch hits are the order of the day.

But the great ones will always adjust; they always do. Murali’s criticism of Bedi rings true but slightly muted.

As to, who among the four, Venkataraghavan , Bedi , Chandrashekhar and Prasanna was the best? That debate rages to date. Though it is always felt that Venkataraghavan never really got his due. Murali has an opinion and he’s entitled to it.

As for Bedi being a controversy monger, well, need we say more.

Your Opinion

What are your views on this fracas?

I would love to hear from you.

Have a great day!

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Sania Mirza: Whither Goest Thou?

Sania, A Volcano Of Talent

It was a heady day in 2003, when Sania Mirza burst onto the stream of Indian sport consciousness, an awareness that if India were to ever have a world beater in an individual sport , it would not be a hirsute male, but a member of the weaker, fairer sex.

Sania Mirza erupted onto the scene like a long dormant volcano, heralding the birth of a new breed of Indian athletes , who not only excelled at their sport but were media savvy and clever enough to carve an image, a niche for themselves, in games other than cricket.

She was smart, she was intelligent, she was articulate, she was pretty, she was sexy, she was photogenic and she had attitude with a capital A. She carried off the anachronism of a nose ring with aplomb and style. To top it all , she owned a killer forehand -  the one that drew comparisons with Steffi Graf , her idol incidentally– , that was almost impossible to return when she dispatched the tennis ball with all the power and strength at her disposal. The forehand was flat and it was skiddy.

Sania Mirza had arrived on the stage of world tennis and Indian tennis would never be the same again. Or so we hoped.

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